BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 PSG lift third Al Kass title INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2-10, 24 COMMENT 22, 23 Commercial Bank has to create REGION 10 BUSINESS 1-6, 10-12 ‘suffi cient potential to 26,149.39 9,204.62 64.85 ARAB WORLD 10 CLASSIFIED 7-10 +72.50 -123.62 +0.35 INTERNATIONAL 11-21 SPORTS 1-8 grow’ in Qatar: CEO history +0.28% -1.33% +0.54% Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

THURSDAY Vol. XXXVIII No. 10716 February 1, 2018 Jumada I 15, 1439 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals US ready to In brief work with

QATAR | Offi cial Emir congratulates to Czech president Qatar to ‘deter His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani sent yesterday cables external threat’ of congratulations to President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic on his re-election for a second term. (From left) HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, HE the Minister of he US has expressed its readi- conversations continue, both the United Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Mohamed ness to work jointly with Qatar States and Qatar believe their continued QATAR | Energy bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of Defence James Mattis, HE the Deputy Prime Tto deter and confront any exter- mutual co-operation will benefi t the in- Minister and Minister of State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, HE the Minister of Finance Ali Sherif al-Emadi nal threat to Qatar’s territorial integ- terests of both countries, as well as the QP wins fi ve exploration and HE the CEO of Qatar Investment Authority Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani in Washington, DC on Tuesday. rity that is inconsistent with the United security and stability of the Gulf region,” off shore blocks in Mexico Nations (UN) Charter, according to a the statement continued. Qatar Petroleum (QP) has won joint statement issued following the Qatar and the US discussed and wel- exploration rights in five off shore inaugural US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue. comed enhanced co-operation, partic- blocks in Mexico. The winning bids were While highlighting the strength of ularly, but not limited to the following announced yesterday by the National Qatar-US relations, the two sides dis- areas: Hydrocarbon Commission of Mexico cussed the Gulf crisis and expressed zPolitical co-operation: The two (CNH) at the conclusion of a public Qatar ‘highly attractive’ for the need for an immediate resolution sides expressed satisfaction at the re- bidding session in Mexico City, during that respected Qatar’s sovereignty, the cently strengthened and expanded which CNH also received the competing statement noted. bilateral relationship. This highlights bids. QP won the exploration rights for The two countries welcomed the their shared commitment to advance blocks 3, 4, 6, and 7 in the Perdido basin Strategic Dialogue, highlighting the global peace and prosperity. as part of a consortium comprising US investments: minister strength of their bilateral relationship The two sides discussed the Gulf cri- Shell (operator with a 60% interest) and the mutually benefi cial opportuni- sis and expressed the need for an imme- and QP (with a 40% interest). QP also atar has weathered the block- to invest $35bn in 2015-20 and an ad- ing on these achievements and that the ties for the peoples of both countries to diate resolution, which respects Qatar’s won the exploration rights for block ade and enhanced its economic ditional $10bn for infrastructure sector private sector in both countries is well deepen co-operation, the offi cial Qatar sovereignty. The two governments ex- 24 in the Campeche basin as part of a Qcompetitiveness, thus posi- in the US. positioned to tap a multitude of exist- News Agency (QNA) reported. pressed concern about the harmful se- consortium comprising Eni (operator tioning it as a “highly attractive” des- There were also representatives of ing investment opportunities. The statement said the two sides look curity, economic and human impacts of with a 65% interest) and QP (with a 35% tination for the US investments, HE the Ministries of Foreign Aff airs, Fi- As much as 16% of Qatar’s imports forward to making progress in the areas the crisis. Concern was also expressed interest). Page 4 Minister of Economy and Commerce nance, Economy and Commerce, came from the US in 2017 with the of co-operation when the Dialogue re- over peace and stability in the Gulf and Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Moham- Transport and Communications, Ad- trade balance registering a surplus of convenes in Qatar in 2019. “Both sides adherence to international law. QATAR | Health ed al-Thani said. ministrative Development and Labour $5bn in favour of the US, the commerce look forward to further enhancing bi- Qatar emphasised its appreciation The US, which is at present Doha’s and Social Aff airs. minister said, adding some 102 fully- lateral relations during the visit of His for the role played by the United States Private sector urged to sixth largest trading partner, has the Confi dent that the US would tap owned US entities and 505 Qatari-US Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin in the mediation of the dispute in sup- invest in medical fi elds potential to become Qatar’s top trading the opportunities off ered by Qatar to joint ventures are at present operating Hamad al-Thani to Washington later port of the eff orts of the Emir of Ku- Qatar’s Health Committee has urged the partner due to the umpteen opportuni- build on the historic bilateral relations, in Doha. As many as 40 US fi rms are li- this year,” it added. wait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber private sector to invest in the medical ties for investments, especially in the pri- Sheikh Ahmed said Doha has sought censed under the umbrella of the Qatar The US and Qatar underscored the al-Sabah. Also, Qatar and the US af- sector and work to develop it in line vate sector, he told a reception held by the to issue new laws and introduce key Financial Centre. strength of their ties and established fi rmed their backing for a strong Gulf with Qatar’s National Vision 2030. The US Chamber of Commerce for Qatar’s amendments to several existing legis- Qatar has not only made amend- a shared vision for the future of their Co-operation Council that is focused committee reviewed at its meeting delegation participating in the Qatari-US lation in order to attract and promote ments to its law on investment zones, strategic partnership. The two govern- on countering regional threats and en- yesterday the vision and the platform Strategic dialogue in Washington. local and foreign investments. which provides further incentives to ments took an important step to elevate suring a peaceful and prosperous fu- of its strategy, mechanisms and The session brought together HE Ali Highlighting that the Trade and investors seeking to set up businesses the bilateral relationship by signing a ture for all its peoples. course of action. The committee also Sherif al-Emadi, Minister of Finance; Investment Framework Agreement, in Qatar, but also drafting a new law memorandum of understanding (MoU) Qatar also stressed the role of the US reviewed the functions of the sectoral HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed bin signed in 2004, bolstered these ties; he that ensures incentives, including tax establishing an annual Strategic Dia- in the region and the signifi cant part it committees contained in Law No. 23 of Saud al-Thani, chief executive of Qatar said the US-Qatari strategic dialogue exemptions, for new fi rms to enhance logue, the statement noted. plays in countering threats of terrorism 2017 amending certain provisions of the Investment Authority, which pledged represents a key step towards build- foreign investments. To Page 4 The Strategic Dialogue was held in and violent extremism. The two gov- law establishing the Qatar Chamber of Washington, DC on January 30. US ernments discussed regional security Commerce and Industry. Secretary of State Rex W Tillerson and and stability, including joint eff orts to Secretary of Defence James N Mattis defeat ISIS, ongoing confl icts in Syria, SPACE | Astronomy co-chaired the opening session of the Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, as well as Strategic Dialogue jointly with HE the eff orts to resolve the Israeli-Palestini- Stargazers witness rare Woqod fuel stations accept card payment Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of an confl ict, QNA reported. ‘super blue blood Moon’ State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin The US acknowledged Qatar’s gen- Stargazers across large swaths of atar Fuel (Woqod) has announced al-Muhannadi said. “We are excited Mohamed al-Attiyah and HE the Dep- erous humanitarian role bilaterally and the globe — from the streets of Los that it will accept debit and credit to collaborate with QNB as our strate- uty Prime Minister and Foreign Minis- multilaterally through the work of vari- Angeles to the slopes of a smouldering Qcards for payments at its fuel sta- gic partnership will provide a broader ter Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman ous UN agencies, in supporting forcibly Philippine volcano — had the chance to tions from today as part of eff orts to pro- range of customers with industry- al-Thani. displaced populations and in assisting witness a rare “super blue blood Moon” vide seamless service to customers. leading services and deliver hassle-free HE the Minister of Energy and In- refugees, including millions of vulner- yesterday, when Earth’s shadow bathed This new Woqod PoS card service, and quick service at Woqod stations.” dustry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada able young children and women. Also, our satellite in a coppery hue. The for which it has partnered with QNB, He added that in the near future, and HE the Minister of Economy and the US acknowledged recent progress celestial show was the result of the Sun, will “provide convenience and a better Woqod is “planning to add many petrol Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim and commitments made by Qatar on Earth, and Moon lining up perfectly for fuelling experience to customers at all stations in the country to serve the in- bin Mohamed al-Thani participated in combatting human traffi cking and ad- a lunar eclipse just as the Moon is near Woqod stations, the company said in a creasing demand”. sessions with US Secretary of Energy vancing labour rights. The two gov- its closest orbit point to Earth, making statement. Meanwhile, Ali al-Kuwari, QNB James R Perry and Secretary of Com- ernments signed an MoU to continue it appear “super” large. It is the second Saad Rashid al-Muhannadi, CEO Group CEO, said: “QNB is pleased to merce Wilbur L Ross Jr, respectively. progress in these areas. full Moon within the same month, a of Woqod, said the move is part of the partner with Woqod to provide its cus- HE the Minister of Finance Ali Sherif The statement observed that the two phenomenon called a “blue” Moon company’s “commitment to provide tomers with an outstanding service al-Emadi and US Secretary of Treasury governments intend to identify and which has nothing to do with its colour. outstanding services to customers and a more convenient way to pay. We Steven T Mnuchin co-chaired the clos- prioritise areas for further co-opera- The “blood” in the name comes from across the country and deliver payment operate the largest integrated payment ing ceremony. tion based on the results of the inau- the reddish brown colour the Moon facilitation”. The Woqod PoS facility. network in Qatar built on innovation The two countries discussed specifi c gural dialogue and decided to establish takes on when Earth enters between “This card payment solution ini- and service excellence, which will pro- areas of partnership, including defence, a working group to advance common it and the sun, cutting off the light rays tiative comes in line with Woqod’s ket leadership in innovative services vide Woqod customers with a seamless counterterrorism, combating extrem- policy priorities and political partner- that usually brighten the lunar surface. ongoing eff orts to emphasise its mar- and meet customers’ expectations,” experience.” ism, and trade and investment. “As those ships. To Page 2

Trump’s renewed reconciliation calls could help solve Gulf crisis: expert

Interview by Faisal Abdulhameed “But even that may not be enough,” the GCC summit in Kuwait,” Ulrichsen of any agreement is necessary, because al-Mudahka he noted, citing how Trump “encour- told Gulf Times in an exclusive inter- otherwise, it could easily become the Editor-in-Chief aged” a telephone call between His view on Tuesday. fl ashpoint for the next argument. And Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin He continued: “Even if they do meet, there seems to be less trust and confi - Hamad al-Thani and Saudi Crown we see that there’s still such tension dence right now that almost anything is enewed calls for reconcilia- Prince Mohamed bin Salman in Sep- today. So President Trump could try to immediately the focus of another argu- tion from US President Donald tember 2017. renew his call for all the leaders to go to ment,” Ulrichsen stressed. RTrump could help rekindle hopes “And that was right when the Emir Camp David, for example. But according to Ulrichsen, holding for a speedy and immediate resolution of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad “That’s only one side of the coin. The a bilateral dialogue at this point shows of the Gulf crisis, which is nearing its al-Jaber al-Sabah was meeting with other half is to try and rebuild the trust that “Qatar is, once again, illustrating eighth month this week, according to President Trump, and then the next and that’s going to be much diffi cult be- its partnership and its value to the US, an expert in Middle East aff airs. day we had that telephone call but then cause this has happened twice in three but it is also a signal from the US side But aside from a dialogue between you saw how straightaway even the tel- years; we also had the diplomatic row in that they want to see a resolution.” Qatar and the Saudi-led quartet, ephone call became a focus of division 2013-2014, so from the Qatari perspec- “And it is primarily a signal to Abu which imposed an air, land, and sea because both sides blamed each other, tive it would be very hard to trust some Dhabi and Riyadh that the US govern- blockade against the LNG-rich nation trying to sort of mischaracterise it; and of their neighbours,” he said. ment is not going to take sides even on June 5, 2017, lies the challenge of we saw there is so little trust between Ulrichsen also pointed out some risks though President Trump seemed to dissolving tension and mending trust the diff erent groups. if a treaty signing between the aff ected take sides in June. That was then and issues between the Gulf states, ac- Gulf Times Editor-in-Chief Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka gestures during an “Even if the US were to really try to parties were to be held in the presence this is now. And the US government cording to Baker Institute fellow for interview with Baker Institute fellow for the Middle East Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen. push for a resolution what concerns us of other international bodies. now will not take sides. And it seems to the Middle East Dr Kristian Coates is that the damage that has been done “Well, I also think the Riyadh agree- be a signal that whatever hope you may Ulrichsen. “would need to make it very clear to against Qatar that it wants to see an to the trust and confi dence of the six ment of 2014 has become politicised. have had, it doesn’t exist any longer,” Ulrichsen emphasised that the US all the parties, including the quartet end” to the Gulf crisis. states is so great; we saw this even with So some sort of international guarantee Ulrichsen said. To Page 6 Gulf Times 2 Thursday, February 1, 2018 QATAR

OFFICIAL

FM holds meetings Economy minister holds with US off icials in Washington

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met the Chairman of the talks with top US offi cials House Committee on Homeland Security Committee Michael QNA McCaul in Washington. Washington HE the Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister also met separately with a number of E the Minister of Econ- Minister highlights members of the US Senate, omy and Commerce House of Representatives and HSheikh Ahmed bin Jas- representatives of various sim bin Mohamed al-Thani yes- committees in the US Congress. terday held separate meetings Qatar’s eff orts to The meetings discussed issues with US Secretary of the Treas- of mutual interest regarding the ury Steven Mnuchin and US strategic dialogue between Qatar Secretary of Commerce Willbur and the United States. Ross and several other US econ- promote business omy-related offi cials. Attorney General The two meetings, held on the meets delegation sidelines of his participation in QNA the Qatari-US Strategic Dia- Washington from Palestine logue in Washington, DC, dealt with reviewing economic and investment ties and the means overnment offi cials of HE the Attorney General Dr Ali to advance them, in addition to Qatar and the United bin Fetais al-Marri yesterday discussing the outcomes of the HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani holding a GStates of America dis- met a delegation of government session on enhancing commerce meeting with the Assistant United States Trade Representative Dan Mullaney on the sidelines of the cussed trade and investment, experts of the State of and investment in the Qatari-US US-Qatar strategic dialogue in Washington, DC. including bilateral defence co- Palestine concerned with the dialogue session. operation priorities, market ac- preparation of the report of For his part, the US Secre- memorandums of understand- investment and commerce be- bin Mohamed al-Thani stressed cess barriers, US companies’ the review mechanism for the tary of Commerce Willbur Ross ing and reviewed facets of co- tween the two countries. the strength of the historic ties concerns, and inward and out- HE the Minister of Finance Ali implementation of the United praised the performance of the operation in diff erent sectors. Participating in the session on between Qatar and the US and ward investments during the Sherif al-Emadi speaking at the Nations Convention against Qatari economy and expressed The minister invited the the American side were assistant noted that the two sides signed inaugural annual Strategic Dia- closing ceremony of the Corruption headed by Judge Bilal his satisfaction of the American American side to hold the next secretary of state for economic a commerce and investment logue held in Washington, DC, US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue in Abu Hantash. companies there. meeting in Doha, which will take and business aff airs, assistant agreement in 2004 in order to on Tuesday. Washington, DC, on Tuesday. During the meeting, views were He also highlighted the per- place before the end of the cur- secretary of commerce for global expand co-operation. HE the Minister of Finance exchanged on a number of legal formance of Qatari investments, rent year. markets, the Bureau of Democ- He also highlighted that the Ali Sherif al-Emadi, reiterated expand their business.” issues of common interest in which helped create jobs for Separately, the minister also racy, Human Rights and Labour strategic dialogue was an impor- Qatar’s eff orts to promote busi- Several memorandums of un- crime prevention and criminal American citizens. met the President of the US- Aff airs, a representative of the tant step to enhancing ties fur- ness, stating: “Qatar has recently derstanding were signed during justice as well as ways to HE the Minister of Economy Qatar Business Council ambas- US for international relations, ther. Qatar and the US have strong undertaken several reforms and the session, including those on strengthen co-operation. and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed sador Anne Patterson. and the Offi ce of Intellectual investment and commerce ties in initiatives to further attract FDI food security, cybersecurity and The Attorney General also met bin Jassim bin Mohamed al- They discussed bilateral rela- Property Enforcement. the fi eld of oil and gas. Trade vol- by enhancing existing platforms, Intellectual Property Rights. the General Manager of FEIG Thani also held a meeting with tions between the private sectors Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin ume for 2017 reached $6bn. such as the Qatar Financial Cen- The dialogue, which was held electronics Eldor Walk to discuss the Assistant United States of both countries in all sectors Mohamed al-Thani discussed There are a total of 102 com- tre, and promoting new ones, as Qatar celebrates 45 years of co- the implementation mechanism Trade Representative Dan Mul- and the latest developments of ways to increase trade volume panies working in Qatar that such as the establishment of the operation with the US, explored of the file tracking system in laney on the sidelines of the the council. between the two sides and lift have 100% American ownership, new Free Trade Zones.” He added: various areas of partnership, in- the Public Prosecutor’s Off ice. strategic dialogue. The American side presented challenges facing investments in compared to 505 other compa- “We are continuously developing cluding defence, counterterror- The Public Prosecution has They discussed the outcomes the council’s plan for the next the two countries. nies that are in partnership with our core sectors and expanding ism, and combating extremism. been ranked first in the world of the latest talks between the fi ve years. The two sides also discussed a Qatari side. There are also 40 our infrastructure to ensure that The closing ceremony was co- in the application of electronic United States-Qatar Council on On Tuesday, HE the Minis- the incentives off ered by Qatar companies that are licensed and our nation prospers.” He con- chaired by HE Ali Sherif al-Ema- file-tracking through RFID (Radio Trade and Investment (TIFA). ter of Economy and Commerce to attract foreign investments. work under the umbrella of Qa- cluded: “Qatar off ers attractive di and US Secretary of Treasury Frequency Identification). They also discussed the latest chaired a session on enhancing HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim tar Financial Centre (QFC). platforms to investors looking to Steven Mnuchin. US ready to work with Qatar to ‘deter external threat’

From Page 1 “The US welcomed Qa- ing leading donors of the TIFA continues to serve as tar’s off er to expand criti- Global Counterterrorism a platform for increased z Defence: Qatar and cal facilities at US bases in Forum and the Global Com- co-operation in the fi elds of the US emphasised the vital the country. Qatari funding munity Engagement and job creation, property law, contribution their defence of capital expenditures and Resilience Fund. communications, customs, partnership provides for sustainment off ers the pos- z Trade and investment: SMEs and new markets. the security and stability sibility of an enduring pres- In the fi eld of trade and in- Qatar and the US signed of the region. This co-op- ence, as with US facilities in vestment, the two govern- various memoranda of un- eration is key to success- Europe and the Pacifi c. The ments acknowledged the derstanding and letters of fully combating terrorism, two governments acknowl- challenges facing Qatar as a intent in the fi elds of bi- countering violent extrem- edged the strong and lasting result of the GCC dispute, lateral trade, investment ism and deterring external bilateral security partner- which prompted Qatar to and technology. They wel- aggression. US offi cials ship, and looked forward to seek alternative trading comed the United States lauded Qatar’s contribu- further discussions on the partnerships. Qatar noted Commercial Law Develop- tions in supporting the possibility of permanent that despite the dispute, it ment Programmes part- sizeable US military pres- basing,” the statement ob- has honoured its interna- nership with the Ministry ence in Qatar under the US served. tional trade obligations. of Finance, and offi cials Central Command. z Counterterror- Qatar and the US com- signed letters of intent on The two governments is- ism: Both sides intend to mitted to boosting bilateral cybersecurity co-operation sued a Joint Declaration on strengthen their security trade, the statement said, and smart technologies Security Co-operation, af- and counterterrorism part- and they also welcomed collaboration. fi rming the two countries’ nership to eradicate terror- the role of US companies The two governments commitment to promot- ism and violent extremism. in Qatar’s development welcomed a set of under- ing peace and stability and They reviewed the positive and of Qatari investment standings on civil aviation, countering the scourge of progress made under the in US fi rms and jobs. Both reached on January 29, terrorism. The US expressed terms of the MoU on coun- countries recognised the aimed at ensuring healthy its readiness to work jointly terterrorism signed on July importance of bilateral in- competition in the glo- with Qatar to deter and con- 11, 2017, including with re- vestment and reiterated bal aviation sector while front an external threat to spect to information shar- their commitment to dis- maintaining the Open Skies Qatar’s territorial integrity ing, countering the fi nanc- cuss bilateral investment framework of US interna- that is inconsistent with the ing of terrorism, aviation frameworks that address tional aviation policy. UN Charter. security and capacity build- tax policies and reduce reg- Anchored in the two The two governments ing. The US thanked Qatar ulatory barriers. The Qatari countries’ close bilateral discussed the $24.7bn For- for its action to counterter- delegation described recent economic and strategic re- eign Military Sales (FMS) rorism and violent extrem- reforms designed to at- lationship, the understand- programme that currently ism in all forms, includ- tract foreign investment in ings represent important, exists between the US and ing by being one of the few Qatar, including free trade high-level political com- Qatar. Since 2014, Qatar countries to move forward zones, expanding owner- mitments. They affi rm both has used its national funds on a bilateral MoU with the ship for non-citizens, im- governments’ intention to to purchase state-of-the- US. provement of the banking promote best practices for art military systems and Qatar and the US intend system and consolidation marketplace participation conduct extensive train- to begin the Anti-Terrorism of the rule of law, includ- by their airlines, while en- ing at US facilities. The US Assistance training pro- ing the development of suring a continuation of the thanked the Qatari govern- gramme as soon as possi- a mechanism for dispute important economic, politi- ment for those purchases, ble, as set forth in a Letter resolution. cal and cultural benefi ts of noting they have resulted of Intent signed in 2017; the The two governments air services made possible in over 110,000 American programme will focus on recognised the importance by Open Skies. jobs and the sustainment of key areas such as aviation of Qatar Investment Au- Qatar and the US stressed critical military capabilities security, terrorism investi- thority’s previously com- the importance of main- for the US. gations and the protection mitted investment of $45bn taining freedom of naviga- Qatar highlighted the of soft targets. in American fi rms, real es- tion, of overfl ight and of continued opportunity for The two governments tate and jobs. HE the CEO of unimpeded lawful com- future FMS and direct com- also noted the recent con- Qatar Investment Authority merce in accordance with mercial sales, particularly clusion of the MoU between Sheikh Abdullah bin Mo- international law. relating to the development the US Attorney-General hamed bin Saud al-Thani zForward Together: of the Expeditionary Am- and his Qatari counterpart described plans to increase This new Strategic Dia- phibious Capability, which on the fi ght against terror- investments in US infra- logue process underlines could lead to several billion ism and its fi nancing and structure and to expand the commitment of Qatar dollars of future acquisi- combating cybercrime. across the US. and the US to increase co- tions and training in the near Qatar and the US ex- The two governments operation in fi elds that are term, as well as an improved pressed the need to address also recognised the posi- of the greatest mutual and ability to defend against ex- violent extremism through tive outcomes emerging practical benefi t. ternal aggression and to bet- preventive frameworks. from the bilateral Trade The two governments ter interoperate with US and They emphasised the role and Investment Framework outlined a way forward to- Nato military forces in coali- that both countries are Agreement (TIFA) signed gether for the development tion operations. playing in founding and be- in 2004. It was noted that of their partnership.

Gulf Times 4 Thursday, February 1, 2018 QATAR

QP, partners win fi ve FM, Defence Minister meet US House speaker off shore exploration blocks in Mexico atar Petroleum (QP) has won ex- Al-Kaabi said: “Winning these off - ploration rights in fi ve off shore shore exploration blocks in Mexico, Qblocks in Mexico. which contain some of the most promis- The winning bids were announced ing hydrocarbon prospects in the world, yesterday by the National Hydrocarbon is an important achievement for Qatar Commission of Mexico (CNH) at the Petroleum. It represents another step in conclusion of a public bidding session in implementing our strategy to expand our Mexico City, during which CNH also re- international footprint, and to pursue ceived the competing bids. Latin America as an important core area Qatar Petroleum won the exploration for Qatar Petroleum.” rights for blocks 3, 4, 6, and 7 in the Per- “I would like to take this opportunity dido basin as part of a consortium com- to thank the Mexican authorities for the prising Shell (operator with a 60% inter- transparent and effi cient process, and est) and Qatar Petroleum (with a 40% our partners Shell and ENI for their ex- interest). cellent collaboration on this opportu- Qatar Petroleum also won the ex- nity,” al-Kaabi concluded. ploration rights for block 24 in the The exploration blocks were off ered Campeche basin as part of a consor- as part of the Mexico Deep Water Round tium comprising Eni (operator with 2, Phase 4 bid round, which covered 29 a 65% interest) and Qatar Petroleum blocks in the Perdido, Campeche and (with a 35% interest). Mexican Ridges areas in the Gulf of Mex- Mr Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, the Presi- ico. dent & CEO of Qatar Petroleum wel- The relevant legal agreements, in- comed the announcement of the winning cluding the concession agreements, are HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and HE the Deputy Prime Minister and bids, which he said was a clear example expected to be signed between the Mexi- Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani have met Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives. During the meeting, of the important role Qatar Petroleum can authorities and the various winning the two sides discussed Qatar’s eff orts in countering terrorism as part of the implementation of a memorandum of understanding signed between plays in the global oil and gas industry. entities by May this year. Qatar and the US on combating terror financing. Issues pertaining to the Middle East and Gulf region, especially the Gulf crisis, were also discussed. HE Dr al-Attiyah and HE Sheikh Mohamed stressed the resilience of GCC unity in the light of the circumstances facing the region. Turkey plans to deploy air and naval forces to Qatar

Al Jazeera a timeline for the move. deployed through talks”, modate up to 5,000 soldiers. denies the accusations. Doha “According to the agree- he said. Turkish President Recep Shortly after the dip- ment signed between Qa- The planned deployment Tayyip Erdogan has been lomatic crisis erupted, tar and Turkey in 2014, all is part of an agreement that a major supporter of Doha Turkey’s parliament fast- urkey plans to deploy ground, air, and naval forces also saw Turkey set up a since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, tracked the Qatari-Turkish air and naval forces to will be deployed to Qatar,” military camp in Qatar. the United Arab Emirates agreement in question along TQatar in addition to he told reporters in Doha The fi rst batch of Turkish (UAE) and Egypt severed with another agreement ground troops that are al- yesterday. troops arrived at the Tariq diplomatic and trade rela- that allows the Turkish mil- ready stationed in the coun- Ankara and Doha Bin Ziyad military base in tions with Qatar on June 5. itary to train Qatari security try, a Turkish diplomat has would determine the 2015. The four Arab countries forces. said. “timeline of the con- The camp, located south accused Doha of sup- Ankara has also been try- Fikret Ozer, Turk- struction of the neces- of Doha, is Turkey’s fi rst porting “terrorism” and ing to mediate between the ish ambassador to Qatar, sary infrastructure and such installation in the fostering ties with their opposing sides to fi nd a so- however, declined to state when these forces will be Middle East and can accom- regional rival Iran. Qatar lution to the crisis.

Qatar ‘highly attractive’ for US: minister

From Page 1

tressing that the pri- vate sector in both Scountries is well posi- tioned to tap a multitude of existing investment oppor- tunities; Sheikh Ahmed said these include infrastructure projects related to the 2022 World Cup, investments in Qatar’s tourism sector ahead of state plans to attract 5.6mn visitors annually by 2023, in addition to large scale projects in food secu- rity, education and health services. He highlighted that Qa- tar is currently working on the development of key legislation, especially re- lating to a public-private partnerships, which could boost the country’s busi- ness environment. Quoting the World Bank report that projected Qatar’s real GDP growth at 2.6% this year; Sheikh Ahmed said Qa- tar has managed to weather the challenges of the block- ade and maintain normal activity across all economic sectors. “The siege presented Qatar an opportunity to fast track the implementa- tion of measures aimed at achieving self-sufficien- cy across vital sectors, in partnership with the pri- vate sector,” he said, im- plying more business po- tential for Qatar and US Inc. to work together.

Al-Hammadi meets US embassy off icial

HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs Dr Ahmad bin Hassan al- Hammadi yesterday met the political and economic adviser at the US embassy in Qatar Thomas Rosenberger. They discussed bilateral relations and the means to enhance them, in addition to issues of joint interest. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2017 5 QATAR

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Strategic dialogue refl ects depth of Qatar-US ties: FM

QNA ness sector is an important between the two countries. adding: “Qatar knows that it Washington element in this partner- HE the Minister noted can rely on the United States ship,” he said. that Qatar’s exports rose by to stand with it in terms of HE expressed the hope that 19% to $68bn in 2017, com- compliance with all UN trea- he strategic dialogue in the next round of strategic pared to $57bn in 2016. ties to preserve the sover- between the US and dialogue, the two countries HE Sheikh Ahmed bin eignty of the State of Qatar”. TQatar, which took place will celebrate the progress Jassim bin Mohamed al- During the strategic dia- in Washington, DC on Tues- made in the partnership dur- Thani underlined that num- logue, the two sides will day, for the fi rst time indicates ing the current year. bers and positive indicators discuss the memorandum the depth of bilateral relations He highlighted the mutu- prove that Qatar has over- of understanding on com- between the two countries, al trust which the US-Qatari come the siege imposed on bating terrorism, signed HE the Deputy Prime Minister partnership has strength- it, noting that the Qatari by the two countries last and Foreign Minister Sheikh ened over the past years. economy was not aff ected summer, he said, adding Mohamed bin Abdulrahman The ceremony was also thanks to the wise policies that the two countries will al-Thani has said. attended by HE the Minister of the State. help each other to cut off Speaking at the US Cham- of Economy and Commerce He added that the busi- terrorist financing net- ber of Commerce, which Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim ness climate in Qatar en- works and identify terror- hosted high-ranking Qatari bin Mohamed al-Thani and courages foreign invest- ists to be tried, ensuring and US offi cials participating HE the Minister of Energy ment, especially in light of their support for a stable in the strategic dialogue, on and Industry Dr Mohamed the low uniform tax. Middle East. Tuesday HE Sheikh Moham- bin Saleh al-Sada. Regarding Qatar’s invest- Regarding the current Gulf ed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani From the US side, the event ments in the United States, crisis, Tillerson affi rmed that said that 2018 marks the 45th was attended by US Secretary the Minister said that the the US President Donald anniversary of the establish- of State Rex Tillerson, and Qatari investments have Trump is committed to do- ment of the Qatari-US rela- President of the US-Qatar helped create jobs in the US. ing everything in his power to tionship. Business Council ambassador For his part, the US Sec- bring the parties together. HE the Deputy Pre- Anne Patterson. retary of State Rex Tillerson Meanwhile, Tillerson mier and Foreign Minister Speaking at the event, HE stressed the importance of the urged US businessmen to in- stressed Qatar’s keenness the Minister of Economy and Qatar-US strategic dialogue in vest in Qatar, stressing that on developing the partner- Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin consolidating the important “Qatar is an ally that has al- ship with the US in various Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani security partnership between ways adhered to its promises”. fi elds, saying: “We are not underlined the strength of the the two countries. For its part, ambassador only talking about a security Qatari economy and the in- He underlined that the Anne Patterson underlined and defence partnership, vestment opportunities in the United States is committed the continuing development but we believe that the busi- country, and the trade relations to the sovereignty of Qatar, in US-Qatari relations. Gulf Times 6 Thursday, February 1, 2018 QATAR ‘Renewed reconciliation calls from Trump could help solve Gulf crisis’ From Page 1 board; it’s not that Qatar was free- handled all of the accusations and the time when they most needed to be ex- Asked to trace back the roots of the lancing, which is sometimes what is allegations, which “have never been plaining to people what they were do- motive behind the Gulf crisis, Ulrich- alleged. So, again I think this whole underpinned by evidence,” was “to fol- ing, why they were doing it, what they sen said the issue goes back to 2011 “to involvement has become part of the low the rule of law and to follow a very hope to achieve. And that I think was the fact that Qatar and its neighbours campaign of information and misin- practical response.” a weak point at that time,” Ulrichsen followed diff erent approaches.” formation but at that time Qatar was “Qatar’s response was to actu- said. “Qatar was much more comfort- acting with the support of the other ally put in place measures such as the But today, Ulrichsen said Qatar’s able with the direction of some of the stakeholders. They were not doing it memorandum of understanding with Government Communications Offi ce changes. It did not feel that it had any- alone.” the US to address and to acknowledge has taken a more proactive stance for thing to fear from political challenges Ulrichsen also pointed to the in- there are some concerns but then to “a much more active campaign to try to authoritarian leaders in North Africa experience of Trump’s aides in the act to address them. And I think that and explain why Qatar is. It’s to kind of and also in Syria. Some of the neigh- White House as well as the lack of the US government recognises this as open Qatar up to the outside.” bouring Gulf states were much more background knowledge on Middle a protective partnership and practical “And to give the credit, I think that concerned about the rise of Islamists East affairs as reasons that added to response,” he said. they have realised that. But to some to power and wanted to maintain the the Gulf crisis. Asked about Qatar’s “weak points” extent I think it was too late. And it re- political status quo. “I think what happened was when that led to the Gulf crisis, Ulrichsen ally had encouraged a lot of conspiracy “I think the Qataris felt that they the Trump administration came to traced these factors to the Arab Spring. theories that the quartet against Qatar were much more comfortable with a offi ce, it was unprecedented in the “The Arab Spring began as a very now keeps referring back to,” he point- political Islam model – a form of po- sense that you had the entire politi- momentous opening and then took ed out. litical Islam dominating the transitions cal class coming into offi ce with much turns that people did not necessarily According to Ulrichsen, the “intan- in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria and less experience, with much less policy expect in 2011 and Qatar was trying to gible” aspects of the Gulf crisis “will be they were willing to assist the popular experience, much less foreign aff airs support that opening and clearly, per- the most diffi cult to resolve.” demands for change,” Ulrichsen said. experience than most presidential ad- haps, didn’t have, at that time…try- “Interfering with tribal and ruling But this, according to Ulrichsen, ministrations would have. And espe- ing to take on the size of Libya or Syria family politics is really a red line and I “was not an option that the Emiratis, cially that was the case with the White perhaps was too great even for a coun- think it’s going to be very diffi cult once especially, wanted to follow because House rather than say, the State De- try with the resources of Qatar; that this has happened to try to kind of get for them their perception was Islam- partment or in the Pentagon. to think that you could steer a transi- beyond that. I think an agreement is ism was a security threat domestically, “So, in the White House there were tion, to support and kind of shape that one thing but even if there’s a sort of as well as regionally. people, I think, who had little back- transition was maybe too much and too political reconciliation at an elite level, “And I think the fact that the UAE ground knowledge of the Middle East ambitious for any one country, espe- we could see just such a cold peace for saw such a domestic security challenge or of the Gulf and so when you saw the cially when there are other actors who a long time to come because the social for many potential Islamist opposition UAE in particular reaching out to peo- are trying to do something diff erent. fabric of Gulf society has been shaken made them the leader of the campaign ple like Jared Kushner very quickly and “And so I think after the initial and of course there are so many mem- to try to roll back the kind of Islamist trying to help them to understand the moves to oust Gaddafi there was a bers of families on diff erent sides who expansion in North Africa and then Gulf, it was obvious that this was going backlash and the resources were not have been torn. I think that’s one issue once in 2013. to be a very specifi c perspective on the necessarily there. And in Syria, not just that is going to be diffi cult to rebuild “Once the Arab Spring really came Gulf,” Ulrichsen said. Qatar but other regional states, per- mutual confi dence and trust now it’s to an end when Mohamed Mursi was “And so I think we saw very quickly haps supported groups that they didn’t happened two times in three years,” he toppled in Egypt, the Emiratis and the the Saudis and the Emiratis reaching have time to do due diligence on be- said. Saudis acted very quickly to ensure out to Jared Kushner…to President cause things are changing so fast. Ulrichsen also noted that Gulf poli- that never again could either an Islam- Trump…it was an opportunity to try “The civil war was so chaotic and tics “is realigning around the crown ist group or a country like Qatar, again, and influence some of the thinking groups were appearing so quickly that princes of Saudi Arabia and Abu threaten that status quo.” and especially with the run-up to the in many cases there perhaps wasn’t the Dhabi.” He added that while Qatar is not a Riyadh summit a lot of the prepara- ability to or the kind of understanding “And this is a very hawkish, very revolutionary power, the fact that it tions were undertaken by the White of who was on what side,” Ulrichsen security-focused partnership and I was “much more comfortable” with House rather than by the State De- said. think that’s going to dominate regional the given idea that regimes could be partment. Another “weakness” Ulrichsen politics for a long time. And we see a changed “was a step too far for the “So, again it was the White House Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen pointed out was that Qatar, “at that much more assertive, a much more in- other states and the other side of the heavily involved with Jared Kushner time, seemed to be quite limited in ex- terventionist approach and so you may argument.” working with Mohamed bin Salman knowledge there was a direct link be- of State Rex Tillerson, who, Ulrichsen plaining what they were doing and why see kind of a two-track Gulf since the Ulrichsen also said Qatar’s “active” and Mohamed bin Zayed and then try- tween whatever was said in Riyadh and described as “a man who has extensive they were doing it.” Qatar-Kuwait-Oman will be a sort of role in trying to be a messenger be- ing to do it together without necessar- the embargo…and Steve Bannon said experience of Qatar from his time with “But I think at the time Qatar had counterbalance, and Kuwait will be in- tween Hamas, the US government, and ily involving the institutions. And, so the same thing in October in the con- ExxonMobil and who knows probably been so active even before the Arab teresting to see where they try to sort Israel fuelled rumours that the Israeli- when we had the meeting in Riyadh, I ference at the Hudson Institute…he more than anyone else in the US the Spring in mediation in Lebanon, in of traditionally balance between the Palestinian confl ict is part of a “bigger think it was probably no coincidence also drew a linkage between whatever true value of the Qatari partnership to Yemen, in Darfur, and active also in two. deal” to blockade Qatar. that the next day was the day of the was said in Riyadh and the subsequent the US. 2011 and 2012 in the transitions but “And I think people in Oman and “The value that Qatar could bring hack,” he continued. move,” Ulrichsen said. “I think that change matters in the not explaining, not really answering Kuwait are looking at the Qatar case was that it could sort of send messages Ulrichsen said the hacking of the According to Ulrichsen, the Saudis context of General Mattis at the Penta- properly, not responding to people’s study, you can say, and to see if it’s a between groups that could not speak Qatar News Agency in May 2017 was and Emiratis “miscalculated” and “as- gon, who also knows full well the value questions so that I think encouraged concern that they will have to have directly to each other, and we saw that part of a media campaign designed to sumed” that if Trump would change of CENTCOM and also the value that conspiracy theories. political transitions at some point… in 2014 during the last major confl ict “shape the perceptions in Washing- sides, “the US government would do Al Udeid gives the US “I think we saw that in Mali. In and I think they are looking at what’s between Israel and Hamas when Qa- ton.” the same.” the ability to project power not just 2012, there was an Islamist uprising happening to see what sort of clashes tar was very active in trying to fi nd the “I think it was a campaign to try “And what I think we saw was a in the Gulf but across the region in Af- in Northern Mali and there was a Qa- they may also face from this axis that outlines and to negotiate a settlement and shape the perceptions of the echo pushback straight away from the State ghanistan, Yemen, and elsewhere.” tari Red Crescent team who were there now runs from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi,” that could end the fi ghting. chamber in Washington. And again I Department, from the Department of Ulrichsen said that over time the US and they became the focus of an in- Ulrichsen said. “We saw the same with the Taliban think the ultimate prize was to try and Defence, and from all the commercial government has realised, especially, tense media speculation why they were He added: “And we’re seeing in Afghanistan for the US where the secure President Trump’s support for groups who, perhaps, had more of an Trump, “that this crisis does not help there: ‘Are they somewhat involved in this new generation of leaders act- Qataris were able to do this interme- the measure against Qatar,” he said. understanding that this was not an the US.” doing more than just humanitarian ing without the kind of consensus diary work to pass messages between Ulrichsen added that Trump’s opening shot. And so I think we saw “I think it took him some time but work?’ And we saw how quickly Qatar of the past and so I think that is go- groups and this I think has become a tweets on June 6 and former White straight away the government did not I think President Trump’s telephone was suspected of doing many things. ing to dominate regional politics for source of a lot of controversy,” Ulrich- House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s swing as President Trump had changed conversation with His Highness last “And because I think they weren’t a long time, particularly since some sen said. speech at the Hudson Institute “drew his mind. And I think that was the mis- week…his position was the opposite necessarily explaining; and the public of the new people in charge are so He added: “A lot of the critics of a direct line between his conversations calculation,” he said. of what he said back in June. Now he is diplomacy aspect was perhaps miss- young and I think the old GCC is now Qatar perhaps forget that Qatar acted in Riyadh and the move against Qatar.” Ulrichsen said Qatar “was fortu- thanking Qatar for their support.” ing. And at that time when Qatar was changing very fast and what will fol- throughout with Israel and the US on “So, he (Trump) appeared to ac- nate” to have on its side US Secretary Ulrichsen also said the way Qatar in its most active, that was I think the low I think is still unclear.”

Petrol and diesel prices go up uel prices will go up will be QR1.85 a litre in Feb- by Dh5 a litre for pet- ruary compared to QR1.80 Frol and Dh10 for diesel last month. in Qatar from today, Qa- Diesel will be priced at tar Petroleum announced QR1.85 a litre this month yesterday. compared to QR1.75 in The price of 95-octane January. super gasoline (petrol) will Fuel prices in Qatar be QR1.90 a litre this month were allowed to fl uctu- compared to QR1.85 in ate in response to changes January, while the price of in the global market from 91-octane premium petrol May 2016.

Gulf Times 8 Thursday, February 1, 2018 QATAR Minister of Economy named CSR Person of the Year 2017 atar University (QU) has “The award puts me back promote the success of the eco- of HE the Minister of Economy named HE the Minister right in the exam room; nomic policies adopted by Qatar. and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed Qof Economy and Com- it challenges me to push Over the past few years, Qatar bin Jassim bin Mohamed al- merce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim forward with the eff orts to managed to diversify its sourc- Thani, are a source of pride and The second Harrods store at HIA features a range of carefully bin Mohamed al-Thani as CSR promote the success of the es of income and contribute to honour for Qatar. The ministry selected items. Person of the Year 2017. economic policies adopted building one of the most impor- led the National Products sup- The award is in recognition by Qatar” tant economies in the region and port initiative under his supervi- of the Minister’s leadership in the world,” the Minister said. sion and was the fi rst to promote the eff orts that helped Qatari with Qatar CSR Network, and The coming edition of the re- the slogan ‘together to support corporations beat the blockade, sponsored by the Ministry of For- port documents the CSR and national products’, in co-opera- especially through the National eign Aff airs, with the contribution citizenship eff orts and achieve- tion with major commercial and Qatar Duty Product initiative, QU said in a of ministers, ambassadors and ments of the Qatari corpora- consumer centres.” statement yesterday. leading fi gures and the sponsorship tions and their success in beating The award ceremony will in- The National Corporate So- of major institutions. the blockade, highlighting the cludes the unveiling of a painted cial Responsibility (CSR) report “Nothing is better than being progress made throughout 2017 portrait of the Person of the Year monitors the achievements of HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin honoured by the fi rst national and the commitments towards by a reputable artist to be put up Free opens inspirational fi gures who show Mohamed al-Thani university in my country. The the four pillars of Qatar National permanently in a dedicated place outstanding leadership in CSR CSR Person of the Year Award Vision 2030 and the sustainable on the university’s campus, in ad- matters. Minister and Minister of Interior 2017 puts me back right in the development of the country. dition to granting the named per- The report is issued at QU un- Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin exam room. It challenges me to Dr Hassan Rashid al-Derham, son a special shield and certifi cate der the patronage of HE the Prime Khalifa al-Thani in partnership push forward with the eff orts to president, QU, said, “The eff orts made of fi ne wood. 2nd Harrods QTA hosts global partners to store at HIA atar Duty Free (QDF) an enhanced product range of has opened its sec- luxury items. By opening our Qond Harrods signature second Harrods store, we will store at Hamad International continue to provide travellers promote upcoming events Airport (HIA). with one of the most desirable According to QDF, this ex- luxury shopping experiences pansion “will bring travellers at QDF,” Musleh stressed. atar Tourism Authority’s an enhanced product range Harrods managing director (QTA’s) international in a luxurious new shopping Michael Ward said Harrods is Qmarketing strategists environment fi tting of two delighted to be expanding its and members of the tourism iconic destinations, Harrods off ering at HIA, which he de- sector gathered in Doha recently and HIA”. scribed as one of the most im- to present plans of leveraging The second boutique at pressive airports in the world. upcoming events in the coun- Rashed al-Qurese HIA features a “range of care- “We look forward to show- try, aimed at expanding the fully selected items, includ- casing our much-loved Har- presence of Qatar’s destination Asia are also well underway.” ing timeless favourites such rods products to the millions brand globally. Besides China, India and Rus- as Harrods bags, wallets, of passengers that are set to The event, held as part of sia are among the more than 80 accessories and food gifting”. pass through this year,” he QTA’s fi rst quarterly Tourism countries whose nationals have Harrods gifting products, noted. Marketing Framework Sum- been granted a visa waiver by such as the iconic Harrods As one of the largest duty- mit for 2018, is in line with the Qatar and plans to establish a shopping bags and the re- free retailers in the world, QDF sector’s focus on diversifying presence in the latter in 2018 are nowned Harrods bear, are fa- boasts of more than 90 bou- visitor source markets and pro- well under way. mous across the world. tiques and luxury, high-end moting Qatar’s unique tourism For example, the VisitQatar The gifting items give cus- stores, as well as more than 30 off ering internationally. website now features a Russian tomers a chance to take a piece restaurants and cafés covering Representatives of QTA’s glo- language option to cater to po- of the brand away with them an area of 40,000sqm at HIA bal offi ces, along with members tential visitors from the country. to cherish as a permanent in Doha. of the local tourism industry, Attendees at the summit also memento, QDF said. Luxury brands available at discussed ways on how to in- discussed Qatar’s representa- “Harrods is one of the the fi ve-star airport include crease the impact of interna- tion at upcoming global tour- world’s most iconic luxury Bulgari, Hermès, Giorgio Ar- tional promotion campaigns ism trade shows, which include retailers and our fi rst store at mani, Hugo Boss, Mont Blanc, that echo Qatar’s message of QTA’s global off ice representatives gather in Doha. ITB Berlin and Seatrade Cruise HIA has been hugely popular Rolex and Chanel. welcoming the world. Global in March. among passengers travelling HIA, the home of QDF, “As the majority of tourists intensify their eff orts to attract ternationally to stay abreast of plans in the Chinese market now Marketing Qatar internation- through the award-winning achieved a number of mile- make their travel plans for the visitors to Qatar,” QTA’s chief the destination’s developments, that we have gained Approved ally entails close collaboration airport,” QDF head Thabet stones in 2017, including being year ahead in the fi rst quarter, marketing and promotion offi cer align and synergise their eff orts Destination Status and opened between public and private sec- Musleh said. classifi ed as a fi ve-star airport we understand that it is critical Rashed al-Qurese said. for the months ahead,” he noted. offi ces there,” al-Qurese added. tor partners, including hotels, “This is why we decided to by Skytrax, making it one of that our partners have the tools “Our quarterly summits al- “We are particularly looking “Plans to establish our presence tourism establishments and the open an even bigger branch to only fi ve other airports in the and information they need to low stakeholders locally and in- forward to kicking off our 2018 in other major source markets in national airline – Qatar Airways. give travellers more choice and world to achieve this status.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds unveils ‘Heart to Heart’ jewellery collection

alabar Gold & Dia- of a branded Daniel Hechter monds has announced watch absolutely free with this Mthe global launch of a limited-edition jewellery,” the special collection of diamond statement adds. and 18K gold jewellery, named These promotional sets will be ‘Heart to Heart’, to celebrate the available at outlets in Qatar until season of love. February 14. “The ‘Heart to Heart’ jewel- In addition to these, Malabar lery collection showcases ex- Gold & Diamonds is showcasing clusive heart-shaped jewellery, A set from the collection. a collection of “unique designs” which symbolises the best way in gold and diamond jewellery to express your love. As the de- QR650 to QR3,250, there is from Italy, Singapore, Turkey, mand for heart-shaped jewel- “something to fi t everyone’s Bahrain, India, etc to suit the lery increases during this season budget”, it added. tastes and budget of diff erent Indian ambassador P Kumaran with other dignitaries and off icials at the Mahindra New Age XUV500 launch ceremony at LuLu Hypermarket – Gharafa. of love, the jewellery retailer has Apart from the diamond customers. launched the exclusive collec- pendants, customers can also Customers can also choose tion to cater to the customer de- choose heart-shaped diamond gifts for their loved ones from mand,” the leading jeweller said bangles and rings to gift to their the branded jewellery segment in a press statement. loved ones. The company has that includes Era – Uncut Dia- The collection is a “perfect also launched a special 3-in-1 mond Jewellery, Ethnix – Hand- Two variants of Mahindra’s gift to express true emotions diamond ring that can be worn crafted Designer Jewellery, Mine to loved ones”, the statement in three diff erent ways. “To – Diamonds Unlimited, Precia- noted. add more delight to this occa- Gem Jewellery, and Divine – New Age XUV500 launched “With prices ranging from sion, customers can also avail Indian Heritage Jewellery.

ahindra & Mahin- are confi dent that it will soon we will be able to tap the huge a tremendous response from Oryx GTL supports seminar for students dra and Ibin Ajayan become the preferred choice in potential in this segment.” customers and reviewers alike MTrading Co have an- the SUV segment in the Qatar The New Age XUV500 “is the and was the most awarded car nounced the launch of the all- market.” only SUV in its class to off er a with 22 awards in its fi rst year new automatic version of the Joydeep Moitra, head of in- second-generation, 6-speed after launch, and 29 awards till New Age XUV500 in Qatar. ternational operations at Mahi- automatic transmission with date from auto experts, aside The vehicle will be available ndra & Mahindra, noted, “The AWD as an option”, the state- from numerous other acco- in two variants: the W8 FWD Middle East SUV market is one ment notes. “The New Age lades,” the statement added. and W10 AWD, according to a of the most dynamic and de- XUV500 Automatic takes the The XUV500 has notched statement. manding in the world and we driving experience to the next up wins in the Indian Rally Elaborating on their asso- look forward to the challenges it level with easy cruising on city Championship and in the ‘Ex- ciation with Mahindra, Ajayan presents. Globally, the XUV500 roads as well as challenging treme’ category of rally-raid al-Ahbabi, chief executive of- has been well received with its terrain.” The all-new automatic events such as Desert Storm fi cer, Ibin Ajayan Group, said: unique blend of style and util- transmission has been sourced Dakshin Dare. The XUV500 is “We are proud of our asso- ity, luxury and ruggedness and for the fi rst time from a leading the fi rst vehicle to win podiums ciation with Mahindra. For the we are confi dent that custom- global supplier, Aisin, Japan. in the Indian motorsport cir- customer, the competitively ers here would be similarly de- The New Age XUV500 has cuit, beating 54 competitors in priced XUV500 will be a great lighted with its powerful drive been conceptualised and de- the Desert Storm event. Right Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) has hosted a student seminar as part of a programme of initiatives value-for-money purchase. experience. signed by Mahindra’s in-house from the day of its launch, the supported by Oryx GTL. This was in line with the company’s corporate social responsibility to contribute to Launching the XUV500 in the “We are confi dent that with engineering team, “incorpo- XUV500 has “become a trend- the national education capacity required to implement the knowledge economy, especially to enhance the Qatar market is in tune with our Ibin Ajayan’s extensive reach in rating the most contemporary setter for the Indian automotive prestige of and attitudes toward research-focused education for Qatar as a major component of fulfilling objective of off ering custom- Qatar and their renewed com- styling, design and technology”. industry as the fastest selling its National Vision 2030, according to a statement. ers world-class vehicles and we mitment to after-sales services, “The XUV500 has received SUV in the premium category”. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 9 QATAR Aspire to conduct ‘varied and rich programme’ for National Sport Day

spire Zone Foundation of fi tness. We plan to put on an- In addition to walking, the ac- rewarding set of challenges for Park, near Burgery Restaurant (AZF) has announced that other spectacular show.” tivity will include fun games and all ages, increasing endurance, (8-11am), Aspire Park, Step into Aits National Sport Day Aspire Zone will be ‘buzz- diff erent exercises for stretch- strength and fl exibility. Health booth near the lake (8- (NSD) celebrations are rapidly ing with activity from morn- ing, balancing and conditioning. In addition, the Sports Sci- 11am), and near The Torch Doha taking shape as the organising ing to night’ Japanese Kendo returns ence and Football Performance (11am to 1pm) to answer ques- committee puts the fi nishing Early risers will be able to take to Aspire Zone department at Aspire is organ- tions and provide best practice touches to this year’s programme part in AZF’S NSD activities In collaboration with the Jap- ising several football-related tips on physical activity and of activities. early on in the day, as the Aspire anese embassy in Qatar, Foot- activities, including shooting, health. AZF and its member organisa- Park will be open round the clock ball Pitch 10 will host Kendo dribbling and more. The Dome A wide range of internal tions, Aspire Academy, Aspetar for walking and jogging, until the shows, one of the oldest martial will also host several fun and activities for AZF’s employ- and Aspire Logistics, are organ- fi rst round of activities begins. arts in the world that originates challenging activities by the ees ising more than 20 events for The Fun Run is back ‘by in Japan. Audiences will be able Multi Sports Development Pro- In addition to public activi- all members of the community popular demand’ to watch and participate in the gramme. Football enthusiasts ties, AZF will be organising a wide to enjoy what promises to be a The Fun Run activity, one of sport from 9am to 12noon. will have the chance to watch the range of activities for its employ- “varied and rich programme of the most popular events in AZF’s Play area for children and best go head to head in the fi nals ees at Football Pitch 10, including activities.” NSD programme in previous families of the Aspire Football League. a volleyball competition featuring “As with previous years, tens years, is back by popular demand AZF is also organising many Six teams from the Football 12 teams of seven players each, and of thousands of local community and will be open to all members activities aimed at families and Talent Centre & Feeder Group dedicated fi tness classes for wom- members will celebrate National of the community, including children on Football Pitch 10. generations will compete for the en from 10.30am to 1pm. Sport Day at AZF’s world-class men, women, families, children These will include jumping cas- title this year. Many organisations and outdoor and indoor facilities this and persons with special needs. tles, miniature football, basket- The Academy’s Education and pitches open to all year, with 2018’s plans prov- It will include a 2.5km course ball, volleyball, obstacle jump- Student Aff airs Department will Finally, AZF will host several ing once again that AZF off ers around Khalifa International Nasser Abdullah al-Hajri: plan for another spectacular show ing, telematch games and more. also be organising a ‘Team Build- public and private sector entities something for everyone, no Stadium. These will run from 9am to 3pm. ing’ event, including multiple celebrating NSD with their em- matter their age or level of fi t- Registration for the race will in which players on two teams off er a two-hour Nordic walking Challenge yourself and games fostering crucial educa- ployees and the public. ness,” AZF said in a press state- begin at 6.30am and last until try to throw balls at each other activity from 11am at Aspetar’s discover your potential at tional values. AZF has said more details will ment yesterday. 7.30am. while avoiding being hit them- West Wing. Aspire Dome Namat Physical Activity be made available by the organ- Nasser Abdullah al-Hajri, The race will then start at 8am selves. Nordic Walking is low im- Aspire Dome will host a va- and Health Education Sta- ising committee closer to NSD chairman of the NSD Organising between Khalifa International The event will begin at 9am pact, delivers total body fi tness, riety of activities for families tions through the Life in Aspire mobile Committee at AZF, said: “Over Stadium and The Torch Doha. and last until 3pm. It takes place increases cardio fi tness, burns and friends, including running, Namat, AZF’s initiative to application, the Life in Aspire the past seven years, Aspire Zone Dodgeball is new in this on Football Pitch 10. calories and activates 90% of the hammer throwing, plyometric promote physical activity, is or- website (www.lifeinaspire.qa/ Foundation has become the top year’s programme Aspetar organises Nordic body’s muscles. challenges and a 200m bike race ganising three sessions across NSD) and AZF’s various social destination in Qatar for National Dodgeball joins the wide range walk for second consecutive It is a ‘total body’ version of from 9am to 4pm. Aspire Zone to spread awareness media channels. Sport Day celebrations, thanks of activities that visitors have year walking that can be enjoyed by Aspire Dome’s activities typi- of the importance of physical AZF has invited all members of to its diverse range of activities, come to expect from AZF. Aspetar teams from the ‘Exer- non-athletes as a healthy physi- cally attract up to 2,500 people activity and health. Aspetar ex- the community in Qatar to join its which cater for all ages and levels It’s similar to a handball game cise is Medicine’ programme will cal activity. because they off er a diverse and perts will be available at Aspire NSD celebrations. Ooredoo offi cial sponsor of Qatar Airways off ers special Qsuite Al-Galayel Championship oredoo has announced director of PR and Corporate experience without boarding aircraft that it will once again be Communications at Ooredoo Othe offi cial sponsor of the Qatar, said: “Ooredoo is proud annual Al-Galayel Champion- to once again be supporting such atar Airways has said it chief executive Akbar al-Baker ship. an important event in Qatar’s is welcoming travellers said. The Al-Galayel Champion- cultural calendar. Quntil February 7 to ex- “Additionally, this is an op- ship is a regional hunting tour- The Al-Galayel tournament perience its globally-acclaimed portunity for passengers fl ying nament, which this year will take is an amazing opportunity for Qsuite Business Class concept our valued local partner airline, place from February 3 to March 1. families to teach their children fi rsthand at New York City’s JetBlue, to explore their op- During the event, 25 teams about the traditional skills of John F Kennedy International tions for premium international compete in a number of contests, hunting, as well as see the beauty Airport (JFK). Business Class travel. We are designed to test their traditional of Qatar’s deserts.” The Qsuite display will be confi dent that once they expe- hunting abilities in the southern According to the Al-Galayel available after the security rience Qsuite, nothing else will nature reserves of Qatar. tournament organisers, the checkpoint to individuals trav- compare,” he noted. This is the fi fth year that event welcomes a cross-section elling through Terminal 5, home First revealed at ITB Berlin in Ooredoo will support the event. of hunting teams from all over to Qatar Airways codeshare March 2017, the patented Qsuite To ensure that teams are able the region and plays a key role in partner and New York’s Home- allows multiple confi gurations to stay connected 24/7, even in Qatar’s conservation. town Airline, JetBlue. for passengers to tailor their remote parts of the desert, Oore- During the tournament, pre- For a limited time only, trav- infl ight experience to their spe- doo has said it will provide Tetra approved animals are marked ellers will have the opportunity cifi c needs. radio communications to the by the organising committee to to experience all the luxurious Aside from featuring the event organisers. distinguish from those animals features found in the patented, world’s fi rst-ever double bed To make the contest more that are protected in the nature state-of-the-art Qsuite, with- in Business Class, Qsuite is the exciting, Ooredoo will also be reservation. out boarding the aircraft. airline’s fi rst-ever cabin to off er providing next-generation M2M This is the fi rst in a line of Qsuite features the world’s aft and forward-facing seats, technology so that contestants community events Ooredoo will fi rst-ever double bed in Busi- taking cabin innovation to an can easily track their falcons support in 2018, as the company ness Class and a new custom- entirely new level with its quad using innovative GSM/GPS continues to invest in keep- isable quad confi guration that confi guration. Qsuite features the world’s first-ever double bed in Business Class and a new customisable quad configuration. technology, according to a press ing Qatar’s traditional and cul- is perfect for family, friends, or Qsuite empowers passengers statement by the company. tural events alive, the statement business colleagues travelling with more choice, privacy and Manar Khalifa al-Muraikhi, added. together, as well as for individ- personalisation in their travel ual travellers seeking the ulti- experience. mate in privacy and comfort. Sliding panels enable pas- The display seats will be fully sengers to transform their space dressed for fl ight and will fea- into a shared area customisable ture items from Qatar Airways’ for groups of two, three or four, Italian designer’s lectures at extensive Business Class menu, allowing them to work, dine or with visitors able to experience socialise at 40,000 feet. Qatar Airways’ renowned hos- A fi rst in Business Class, VCUarts Qatar, Fire Station pitality fi rsthand. Qsuite made its offi cial US de- “Qsuite has truly set a new but last month at New York standard in luxury travel, allow- City’s JFK International Air- talian industrial designer and two-time Compasso d’Oro award- ing a more customisable Busi- port, and most recently, winner Giulio Iacchetti will be visiting Virginia Commonwealth ness Class experience infl ight launched on fl ights from Wash- IUniversity School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) and the Fire than ever before. With this, we ington, DC’s Washington Dulles Station Cinema early this month as part of the Crossing Boundaries are delighted to provide an op- International Airport. lecture series. portunity to travellers at JFK’s The innovative product also The lectures will be titled ‘Giulio Iacchetti: an Italian designer’. In Terminal 5 to see for themselves fl ies from London Heathrow his lectures, Iacchetti will talk about concepts and drawings, about what all the Qsuite excitement Airport and Paris Charles de The Qsuite display will be available after the security checkpoint to individuals travelling through the love for modularity and archetypes, and about the relationship is about,” Qatar Airways Group Gaulle Airport. Terminal 5 at JFK airport. between artisans and inclusive projects to describe a very Italian way of making industrial design. The lectures will take place on February 5 at 7pm at the Fire Station Cinema, and on February 6 at 1pm at VCUarts Qatar’s Atrium. The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be present- ed in Italian. Vodafone hosts Media Centre for Youth students Simultaneous translation in English will be available. Iacchetti has designed for many brands, including Moleskine, Ales- si, Abet Laminati, Ceramiche Refi n, Danese, Fontana Arte, Artemide, odafone Qatar yesterday The students were given the Foscarini, Magis and Pandora design. hosted female students opportunity to speak to two He has twice won Italy’s most prestigious industrial design award, Vfrom the Media Cen- Discover Programme recruits the Compasso d’Oro. The fi rst time was in 2001 for the Moscardino, tre for Youth at the company’s who shared their experience the biodegradable spoon/fork he designed with Matteo Ragni. In headquarters in Qatar Science of rotations across Vodafone’s 2009, he was awarded the Premio dei Premi prize for innovation by and Technology Park (QSTP). business and how this helped the President of Italy, for the Coop Eureka project. The students, aged 14 to 20 form their career aspirations. In 2014, he won his second Compasso d’Oro for his designs of man- years, spent four hours learn- The students also had fun post- hole covers called ‘Sfera’ (the Italian word for sphere), which he de- ing about one of the largest tel- ing stories from their day on signed with Matteo Ragni for Montini. ecommunications companies their social media channels. For more information, one can visit www.qatar.vcu.edu in the world, and were given “We’re delighted to welcome insights into Vodafone Qatar’s students from the Media Centre marketing and social media ac- for Youth to Vodafone. Engag- tivities, business services. They ing and hiring Qatari youth is were also involved in an exercise a key focus for Vodafone and on how to best engage with cus- an important element of sup- tomers. porting Qatar National Vision Moreover, the students were 2030,” said Mohamed al-Yami, introduced to Vodafone’s grad- director of External Aff airs at uates Discover Programme, de- Vodafone Qatar. veloped to identify and recruit The Media Centre for Youth talented Qatari nationals “that was established as a platform will help drive Vodafone to the that encourages and grows new era of telecoms”, the com- young Qatari voices in the fi eld Giulio Iacchetti pany said in a press statement. of media. Students from the Media Centre for Youth at Vodafone Qatar’s headquarters in QSTP. Gulf Times 10 Thursday, February 1, 2018 QATAR/REGION/ARAB WORLD

BeIN Sports ‘shocked’ by huge Egyptian fine Separatists pin down Yemen

AFP in full compliance with all rel- Doha evant laws, including compe- tition law, and will pursue all legal means available to chal- govt as aid hangs in balance atar’s BeIN Sports lenge the judgment.” said yesterday it was It added the court’s decision Q“shocked and ap- would be “deeply troubling” AFP palled” by the decision of an for any international com- Aden Egyptian court to fi ne the pany seeking to do business in broadcaster $22mn for violat- Egypt. ing anti-trust regulations. The Cairo court said on emeni ministers were In a strongly worded state- Tuesday that BeIN had violat- holed up in Aden’s presi- ment, BeIN also denied any ed competition rules through Ydential palace yesterday wrongdoing and said the its package deal system, which after separatist forces seized ef- judgement — which includ- forces viewers to pay for events fective control of the southern ed a fi ne of 400mn Egyptian they may not be interested in port city, dealing another blow pounds against its chief execu- watching. to the country’s embattled gov- tive, Nasser al-Khelaifi — was Egypt’s anti-trust author- ernment. politically motivated. ity had in 2014 accused BeIN The United Nations agency “BeIN categorically rejects, of violating rules by requiring for humanitarian aff airs re- and is shocked and appalled viewers interested in football’s ported a “cautious calm” in the by, the judgement of the Cairo World Cup to subscribe for city, but damage to aid distribu- Economic Court in Egypt,” at least a year and purchase a tion channels and donor nation read the statement. specifi c satellite receiver. confi dence had already been in- “The judgement is based The Confederation of Afri- fl icted. on unfounded and politically can Football (CAF) in July sus- Kuwait’s deputy foreign min- motivated allegations by the pended and fi ned the coach of ister Khaled al-Jarallah said the Egyptian Competition Au- Cairo club Al-Ahly, Hossam infi ghting in Yemen’s de facto thority (ECA) that have no ba- El Badry, after he boycotted a capital had prompted his coun- sis in fact or law. news conference over the pres- try to halt multi-million dollar “At all times, BeIN has acted ence of BeIN Sports. development programmes. In Aden, pro-separatist forc- es backed by the UAE known as the “security belt” fanned out across the city after three days of fi ghting that left 38 people dead. Oman and US hold The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have backed the beleaguered government of joint military exercise President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Smoke billows from a car parts store hit by shells during the conflict in the port city of Aden. Hadi since intervening against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s civil homes to stock up on essen- people of Aden, and of Yemen,” QNA of Oman Artillery, the Sultan’s war in March 2015. tial supplies,” it said, adding Zoubeidi told France24 via sat- Muscat Armed Forces Engineering with But the Arab allies, whose however that most schools re- ellite link. support from the Royal Air Force military coalition was launched mained closed and entry points He declined to confi rm the of Oman (RAFO). to roll back rebel gains and re- for aid cut off . STC had its sights set on form- he Royal Army of Oman The activities of the joint ex- store Yemen’s “legitimate” “There are still no humani- ing its own government, say- (RAO) carried out the ercise took place in the fi elds government to power in Sanaa, tarian fl ights or vessels into or ing: “the people of south Yemen TOmani-American Joint of Rabkut in the Governorate have not intervened to prop up out of Aden. have the right to determine their Exercise (Valley of Fire) with the of Dhofar, where the Omani- Hadi against his separatist ri- The VOS Apollo is still an- own future when the interna- participation of units from the American participating forces vals. chored in international waters tional community responds”. US Marines. carried out the targeted plans set The coalition has instead off the Aden coast,” OCHA said. The clashes have sparked fears According to Oman News for them, in order to achieve the urged the separatists to exer- At least 38 people have been of a repeat of South Yemen’s Agency (ONA), the joint exercise planned training objectives by the cise restraint and called on the killed and 222 wounded in Aden 1986 civil war, a failed social- was represented by personnel of exercise activities, during which government to weigh up the de- since Sunday, according to the ist coup which killed thousands the 11th Infantry Brigade, with the participants showed a high mands of its rivals. International Committee of the in just six days and helped pave the participation of the Sultan level of performance and morale. While Yemen’s president Red Cross. the way for the 1991 unifi cation resides in the Saudi capital, The UN earlier yesterday of South and North Yemen. the power struggle in the anti- raised alarm bells over the im- The separatists, who enjoy CONFLICT Houthi camp has left Prime pact of the violent standoff on Fighters from the separatist Southern Transitional Council stand at the popular support and are backed Turkey ramps up Syria incursion Minister Ahmed bin Dagher and more than 40,000 Yemenis re- entrance of a military camp after they took control of the pro-government by some regular troops, rapidly a number of senior government cently displaced to Aden, say- position in the Dar Saad district, in the north of Aden, yesterday. gained control over all but one Clashes raged between Turkish-backed forces and Kurdish militia in Syria’s fi gures holed up in the Aden ing planned aid distributions district in Aden since Sunday. Afrin region yesterday, as wounded civilians fled intense Turkish air strikes. presidential palace. had been postponed with cargo recent fi ghting. “What is hap- ern Transitional Council. In his The UAE has close ties to sep- Turkey and allied Syrian rebels have pressed on with Operation Olive Branch A high-ranking military stuck at Aden port. pening in Aden is regrettable fi rst public appearance since aratist leader Hani bin Breik while in the Kurdish-controlled Afrin enclave despite mounting international con- source said the separatists had Since 2015, Aden had served and painful,” Khaled al-Jarallah the clashes erupted, STC chief its “security belt” force backs the cern and reports of rising civilian casualties. An AFP correspondent in Afrin also taken over bin Dagher’s of- as a refuge for tens of thousands told the Kuwait Chamber of Aidarouss al-Zoubeidi stressed STC. More than 9,200 Yemenis heard warplanes flying overhead, and Kurdish off icials said rocket fire on the fi ce chief overnight. of Yemenis fl eeing confl ict in Commerce and Industry. the separatists were still fi ght- have been killed since the coali- town wounded 12 civilians. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said The UN Offi ce for the Co- their hometowns across the “Meaningless and unjustifi ed ing alongside the Arab military tion intervened in the war three heavy bombardment and Turkish air strikes were accompanying ground ordination of Humanitarian Af- country, as the Saudi-backed fi ghting will only worsen Yem- coalition, which has staunchly years ago, triggering what the UN fighting around Jandairis and Rajo, two areas to the west of Afrin near the fairs, or OCHA, said staff were government battled Houthi en’s wounds,” he said, calling on backed Hadi for three years has called the world’s largest hu- Turkish border. The Britain-based war monitor reported that Turkish-backed able to work a half day yester- rebels allied with Iran. all parties to restore calm. against the Houthi rebels. manitarian disaster. forces had seized control of the border village of Shinkal to the northwest. day, citing a “cautious calm” Kuwait — which according Separatists, mainly based “We have warned this failure The coalition’s original mis- “Turkish forces dispatched new military reinforcements overnight, including after separatists seized most of to its deputy foreign minister in Aden, have gained trac- of a government time and again sion of rolling back Houthi gains fighters and equipment, to Shinkal in an attempt to consolidate their control the city from government loy- has pledged $100mn to UN aid tion since April in their push that the economic situation has expanded to include fi ghting over several points and support attacking forces,” said Observatory head alists. agencies in Yemen and another for self-rule, accusing Hadi’s in the south in particular, and jihadist groups that have fl our- Rami Abdel Rahman. Turkey and its Syria rebel allies launched Operation “Some shops have re-opened $400mn through its own devel- government of corruption and Yemen in general, was unbear- ished during the war, and now Olive Branch against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), on January in the city and civilians have opment fund — has suspended demanding the reinstatement able and that they had no choice keeping the peace between its al- 20. been able to move out of their its contributions in light of the of South Yemen under a South- but to heed the demands of the lies on the ground.

PEACE BID Putin, Erdogan Israel, Lebanon argue ‘satisfied’ with UN appeal may be ‘lifeline’ Sochi congress over energy block President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday expressed for Palestinian refugees Reuters maritime border dispute with “satisfaction” with the results Beirut/Tel Aviv Israel over a triangular area of of a Syria peace congress, the sea of around 860 sq km (330 Kremlin said. “The heads of state AFP square miles) that extends expressed satisfaction with the Beirut srael described as “very along the edge of three of the results of the Congress of Syrian provocative” yesterday blocks. National Dialogue held in Sochi on Ia Lebanese off shore oil “Lieberman’s words about January 30,” the Kremlin said in n urgent plea for hundreds and gas exploration tender Block 9 are a threat to Leba- a statement. On Tuesday, Russia of millions of dollars in in disputed territory on the non and its right to sover- hosted a Syria peace congress in Aaid to Palestinian refu- countries’ maritime border, eignty over its territorial wa- an eff ort to find a peace settle- gees from Syria could provide a and urged international fi rms ters,” Aoun said on his offi cial ment after seven years of war but “lifeline” after “catastrophic” not to bid. Twitter account. the conference closed without a US funding cuts, UN offi cials in Lebanese President Michel Lebanese Prime Minis- significant breakthrough after a Beirut said yesterday. Aoun, whose country con- ter Saad al-Hariri said the string of boycotts and last-minute On Tuesday, the United Na- siders Israel an enemy state, country would take up the cancellations. Nevertheless, UN tions Palestinian refugee agency, described the comments as comments with the “relevant Syria envoy Staff an de Mistura said UNRWA, launched its annual “a threat to Lebanon”. international bodies to affi rm delegates had agreed to the for- funding appeal for $800mn, “When they issue a tender its right to act in its territorial mation of a committee to discuss about half for Palestinians in on a gas fi eld, including Block waters”. the war-torn country’s post-war the occupied territories, and the 9, which by any standard is “For the past few days Is- constitution. other half for those aff ected by ours...this is very, very chal- raeli offi cials have been de- Syria’s war. lenging and provocative con- liberately sending threaten- UNRWA is facing an addi- duct here,” Israeli Defence ing messages to Lebanon,” REACTION tional funding challenge to its Minister Avigdor Lieberman Hariri said in a statement US move against 2018 budget after its largest do- Palestinians run for cover from tear gas during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the village of Mugheer, said. from his press offi ce. nor to date, the United States, about 25 kilometres northeast of the city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, yesterday, following the “Respectable fi rms” bid- Hariri said Lieberman’s Haniya won’t announced it would contribute funeral of a young boy reportedly killed by Israeli forces the previous night. ding on the tender “are, to my words were “blatant provo- deter ‘resistance’ just $60mn, down from around mind, making a grave error — cation”. The contracts are ex- $360mn last year. and other everyday expenses. “The sudden removal of this heads the agency in Lebanon. because this is contrary to all pected to be offi cially signed The US decision to put the head Making up the diff erence “Before the war, only about funding from UNRWA creates “So our cash assistance and of the rules and all protocol in on Feb 9, the Lebanese Pe- of Palestinian movement Hamas would require a major eff ort seven % (of Palestinian refugees huge problems for us. UNRWA is any form of assistance that we cases like this,” he told an in- troleum Administration said, on its terror blacklist yesterday from the agency, offi cials said. in Syria) were dependent on UN- trying to do everything we can to can give — clinics, education — ternational security confer- allowing exploration to be- will not deter the group’s “resist- “This is emergency funding. RWA for assistance,” said Adar. bridge the gap,” he said. is absolutely indispensable for ence hosted by Tel Aviv Uni- gin. ance” to Israel, the movement It is life saving,” said Mohamed “Today, it is 95% of that “I hope that they will be able their survival,” he said. versity’s INSS think-tank. The licensing round was said. “The American decision to Adar, who heads UNRWA’s Syria population which is entirely de- now to revisit their decision that UNRWA’s Lebanon branch Lebanon in December ap- relaunched in January last include (Ismail) Haniya on the branch. “Whatever we are pro- pendent on the support and as- they have taken because simply will run out of cash assistance proved a bid by a consortium year after a three-year delay list is a failed attempt to pressure viding to them, we are throwing sistance that we give.” the impact on the civilian popu- by the end of February and un- of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni caused by political paralysis. the resistance,” said the group to them a lifeline,” Adar said. The The growing vulnerability lation will be severe,” he said. less funding comes through, the and Russia’s Novatek for Lebanon is on the Levant that runs the Gaza Strip. “This agency is requesting $409mn to of the Palestinian community UNRWA has registered 32,561 agency will have to let go of 18 two of the fi ve blocks put up Basin in the eastern Medi- decision will not deter us from support 438,000 Palestinian meant US funding cuts could Palestinians from Syria who teachers in their educational vo- for tender in the country’s terranean where a number of continuing the resistance option refugees in Syria, but also nearly lead to a “humanitarian crisis,” have fl ed to Lebanon, about 90% cational centres. much-delayed fi rst oil and big sub-sea gas fi elds have to expel the occupation,” it said 50,000 Palestinians who fl ed said Adar. of whom live below the poverty “The impact of this unprec- gas off shore licensing round. been discovered since 2009, in a statement. In a separate Syria to Jordan and Lebanon. American government fund- line. edented fi nancial crisis on UN- One of the awarded blocks, including the Leviathan and statement, Hamas said the deci- Those funds are primarily ing represented 60% of UN- “We are talking of a popula- RWA and more importantly on Block 9, borders Israeli wa- Tamar fi elds located in Israeli sion “demonstrates the Ameri- used by families to pay for rent, RWA’s received contributions for tion that is extremely vulnera- the refugees that we serve is re- ters. waters near the disputed ma- can bias in favour of the Israeli as well as food, clothes, blankets, Palestinians in Syria in 2017. ble,” said Claudio Cordone, who ally catastrophic,” said Cordone. Lebanon has an unresolved rine border with Lebanon. occupation.” Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 11 AMERICA

Mnuchin urges Trump pushes hardline Congress to raise debt ceiling as immigration policies shutdown looms Reuters Reuters in the speech, Trump denounced Washington Washington the “depraved character” of North Korea’s leadership and said Pyongyang’s “reckless pursuit of reasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday S President Donald Trump nuclear missiles could very soon called on the Republican-controlled Congress urged lawmakers on Tues- threaten our homeland.” Tto lift the US debt limit “as soon as possible” Uday to work toward bipar- “We are waging a campaign of so the government can pay federal employee benefi ts tisan compromises, but pushed a maximum pressure to prevent that and other obligations. hard line on immigration, insisting from happening,” he said. In a letter to congressional leaders and key com- on a border wall and other conces- In a surprise moment, he singled mittee chairmen, Mnuchin said the Treasury De- sions from Democrats as part of any out a North Korea defector in the partment would continue to suspend payments into deal to protect the children of illegal crowd, Ji Seong-ho, as an exam- federal employee retiree, health and disability funds immigrants. ple of what he called the reclusive through February 28. Trump, in his fi rst State of the country’s brutal nature. Congress must raise the nation’s debt ceiling to Union speech, gave no ground on Trump also said he had signed an avoid a government default. the contentious issue of whether to order to keep open the US military The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Offi ce has shield young immigrants known as prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, estimated that the US Treasury would exhaust its “Dreamers” from deportation. for foreign terrorism suspects. borrowing options and could run out of funds to pay Aiming to keep conservative Former Democratic president its bills by late March if lawmakers do not act. supporters happy as he looks to Barack Obama had vowed to close The request comes as Congress is already wrestling November congressional elections, the prison, which has been con- with federal spending for the current fi scal year and Trump stood by a set of principles demned by human rights groups, faces the possibility of another government shut- opposed by Democrats, including but was unable to shut it down down, with approved funding due to run out on Feb- the border wall with Mexico and completely. ruary 8. new restrictions on how many fam- Whether Trump would follow Thanks to deep partisan divisions and intraparty ily members that legal immigrants through on his appeal for bipartisan squabbles, lawmakers have passed a series of short- can bring into the United States. harmony was far from clear. term funding bills since the fi scal year that began last “Tonight, I call upon all of us to Trump’s past attempts at a unify- October 1 but have been unable to agree on spending set aside our diff erences, to seek out ing message have been undermined for the rest of that year, which ends September 30. common ground, and to summon by his later rancorous tweets and President Donald J Trump delivers the State of the Union address as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of The government shutdown earlier this month for the unity we need to deliver for the divisive statements that angered the House US Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) look on in the chamber of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. three days when Republicans and Democrats failed to people we were elected to serve,” Democrats and frequently annoyed fi nd common ground. Trump said in his address. lawmakers in his own Republican Controversial Republican memo to come out quickly, White House says In his letter dated January 30, Mnuchin urged Trump used the hour-and-20- Party. members of the US Senate and House of Representa- minute speech, given annually by The unity plea will fi rst be put to The White House plans to release a his State of the Union speech on Tuesday document shows anti-Trump bias by tives “to protect the full faith and credit of the United presidents to Congress, to try to the test in his drive for a compro- classified House Intelligence Com- that suggested there was a “100% the FBI and the Justice Department States by acting to increase the statutory debt limit as overcome doubts about his presi- mise on protecting 1.8mn Dream- mittee memo that Republicans say chance” the memo would be made pub- in seeking a warrant to conduct an in- soon as possible.” dency at a time when he is battling ers — people brought illegally to the shows anti-Trump bias by the FBI and lic. Justice Department off icials report- telligence eavesdropping operation. The request was released publicly yesterday and a probe into his campaign’s alleged country as children — who face a the Justice Department, US President edly advised Kelly on Monday against Democrats have said the memo Mnuchin was scheduled to meet later in the day with ties with Russia and suff ering low March 5 deadline on whether they Donald Trump’s chief of staff John releasing the memo on grounds it could selectively uses highly classified ma- Republican President Donald Trump. job approval ratings. can begin to be deported. Kelly said yesterday. jeopardise classified information. terials and is misleading in an eff ort The Treasury Department’s deputy assistant sec- Trump made no mention of the Republicans welcomed Trump’s “It will be released here pretty The memo has become a lightning to discredit Special Counsel Robert retary for fi nancial markets, Clay Berry, said in a sep- federal probe into whether his cam- immigration proposals, with US quick, I think, and then the whole rod in a bitter partisan fight over Mueller, who is leading the Justice arate statement the department can fund the govern- paign colluded with Russia in the Senator James Lankford of Okla- world can see it,” Kelly said in an the FBI during ongoing probes into Department’s Russia probe. ment through the end of February. 2016 presidential election, a con- homa saying Trump tried to strike a interview on Fox News Radio, adding alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 The House panel voted along troversy that is dogging his presi- middle ground. that he has seen the four-page docu- US election and any possible collu- partisan lines earlier this week to dency. “My Democratic colleagues can ment and that White House lawyers sion by Trump’s campaign. release the memo under a rule that Trump has denied collusion and say he didn’t move enough, but you are currently reviewing it. Republicans, who blocked an ef- had never been invoked before. has called the probe a “witch hunt.” can’t deny he moved a lot. There are Kelly’s comments follow Trump’s fort to release a counterpoint memo Trump has until the weekend to The speech was short on details people in his core base who think he response to a Republican lawmaker after by Democrats on the panel, say the decide whether to make it public. CDC director about Trump’s policy proposals. has moved way too far.” But his sober, measured approach But Senator Patrick Leahy, a Ver- was welcomed by the public. mont Democrat and the longest- Democrats hissed when he said he “This is our new American mo- minders of partisan battles over the resigns over A CNN/SSRS snap poll said 48% serving senator, said Trump’s words wanted to rein in “chain migra- ment.There has never been a better past year. of those surveyed had a “very posi- about unity, after a year of “divisive tion,” the ability of legal immigrants time to start living the American He singled out a speech guest, tive” response to the speech and actions, petty insults and disgrace- to bring a wide-ranging number of Dream,” he said. 12-year-old Preston Sharp, for lead- fi scal ‘confl icts’ 22% “somewhat positive.” ful race-baiting...ring hollow.” family members into the country. Trump said he would like a com- ing an eff ort to put American flags on There was little sign of unity in- Trump said he was “extending an “Let’s come together, set politics promise over a plan to rebuild age- the graves of 40,000 veterans, saying side the House of Representatives open hand” for an immigration deal aside and fi nally get the job done,” ing roads, bridges and other infra- the initiative was “why we proudly Reuters chamber where Trump spoke. and that he would provide Dream- Trump said. structure. stand for the national anthem.” Washington Republican lawmakers cheered ers a pathway to citizenship over 10 Trump took credit for US eco- He said he wanted legislation to His criticism of National Football wildly at the president’s applause to 12 years in exchange for funding nomic gains including a soaring generate at least $1.5tn through a League players who refused to stand lines. the border wall, which he promised stock market and a low jobless rate. combination of federal, state and for the anthem in protest against r Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the US Cent- Democrats often sat in their seats during his campaign, and restric- He boasted about the econom- local spending as well as private- police shootings of minorities and ers for Disease Control and Prevention, has silently and many booed when he tions on legal immigration. ic growth he believes will result sector contributions. racial disparities in the justice sys- Dresigned her post over fi nancial confl icts of laid out his immigration proposals. He called his plan a “down-the- from tax cuts Republicans pushed While Trump spoke of compro- tem, dominated headlines last au- interest, the US Department of Health and Human Turning to foreign policy late middle compromise,” but some through Congress late last year. mise, his speech provided some re- tumn. Services (HHS) said yesterday. Newly confi rmed HHS Secretary Alex Azar said he had accepted Fitzgerald’s resignation because of Fitzgerald’s “complex fi nancial interests” that have forced her to recuse herself from a broad range of her duties as the CDC director. Melania braves public eye after Trump cheating claim Due to the nature of these fi nancial interests, the HHS said, Fitzgerald could not divest them in a de- fi nitive time period. AFP Stormy Daniels in 2006. as, and parents of children killed by lead largely separate lives. The White House declined comment, referring Washington But for Trump’s big night in Con- the gang MS-13. Speculation fl ared anew when questions to HHS. gress, Melania arrived smiling and Breaking with tradition, the fi rst The Wall Street Journal reported Politico reported on Tuesday that Fitzgerald, a waving, to warm and extended ap- couple arrived separately to the Capi- on January 12 that Trump had paid physician and former commissioner of the Georgia irst Lady Melania Trump made plause — dressed in a crisp cream tol, because, according to the fi rst Daniels $130,000, one month be- Department of Public Health, bought shares in a to- a very visible return to the pub- white pantsuit that stood in contrast lady’s spokesperson Stephanie Gri- fore the November 2016 election, to bacco company a month into her leadership of CDC, Flic stage Tuesday by attending to the black donned by Democratic sham, she was accompanying guests. keep their adulterous liaison quiet. an agency charged with safeguarding public health, her husband’s maiden State of the lawmakers in solidarity with the vic- Afterwards, the fi rst lady was seen Melania, her opinions and goals including reducing rates of smoking. Union address, her fi rst offi cial ap- tims of sexual harassment. Minutes being escorted out of the gallery by have remained a mystery to millions After advising the HHS secretary of the status of pearance since accusations of infi - First Lady Melania Trump waves later, her husband took the fl oor and a military offi cer, as Trump spoke of Americans. She is a former model her fi nancial interests and they way in which it lim- delity surfaced about the president. as she arrives for the State of the exchanged waves with his wife. with lawmakers and administration and the fi rst foreign-born wife of a ited her ability to do her job, Azar accepted her resig- The enigmatic wife of Donald Union address at the Capitol in Among Trumps’ guests in the offi cials on the House floor. US president in nearly 200 years. nation, HHS said in a statement. Trump emerged publicly for the fi rst Washington. fi rst lady’s box were a US Marine As the 47-year-old wife of a She spent her fi rst months as fi rst Fitzgerald is the second top health offi cial from the time since she fed the Washington corporal who stepped on an explo- 71-year-old man known for past lady living in New York, and refused Trump Administration to resign, following the resig- rumour mill by cancelling her trip Melania’s no-show in Davos sive device and lost both legs while lewd remarks about women, and to move to the White House until their nation in September of Trump’s fi rst health secretary, to Davos, Switzerland, leaving her came on the heels of a bombshell deployed in Iraq in 2007; fi rst re- whose two past divorces became young son Barron fi nished the school former US Representative Tom Price, over his use of husband to attend last week’s World report that the billionaire Trump sponders who helped save hurri- public spectacles, Melania Trump year. She makes few public speeches, expensive taxpayer-funded private charter jets for Economic Forum on his own. allegedly had a fl ing with porn star cane victims in Louisiana and Tex- is dogged by speculation that they and is rarely seen in Washington. government travel.

Man who murdered girlfriend Celestial show! The ‘Super Blue Blood Moon’ sets yesterday during a partial and wife executed in Texas lunar eclipse as seen from Brooklyn, New York.

AFP Rayford said. “By no means am I happy for Chicago what I’ve done. I have asked the Lord to for- give me.” Both of Rayford’s murders were brutal at- he US state of Texas executed an in- tacks that occurred in front of the women’s mate Tuesday for the brutal killing of children. Hall’s body was found beaten, This girlfriend while he was on parole strangled and stabbed. Hall’s then 11-year- for the murder of his wife. William Rayford old son was also beaten and stabbed when he lost his fi nal appeals just hours prior to his tried to stop the attack. He survived and was a evening execution, including at the US Su- witness in Rayford’s trial. preme Court. The appeals delayed the proc- Rayford’s attorneys had asked the US Su- ess for a few hours, but the lethal injection preme Court to halt the execution, alleging the was ultimately carried out and Rayford pro- convict, who was black, had insuffi cient rep- nounced dead at 8.48pm. resentation and that his initial sentencing may The 64-year-old was convicted of kill- have been marred by race-based prejudice. ing his girlfriend Carol Lynn Thomas Hall in In another appeal, they claimed recent tests 1999, after an argument the two had in her showed Rayford suff ered decades-long brain home. At the time, Rayford was on parole, damage caused by lead poisoning from bullets having served eight years of a 23-year sen- and bullet fragments lodged in his body, and tence for the 1986 murder of his estranged from contaminated water. None of the ap- wife Gail Ann Rayford. His last statement peals panned out, as judges rejected them all. included a request for forgiveness from the The number of executions in the US de- family of his second victim, according to the clined to a near-historic low of 23 last year, Texas Department of Criminal Justice. according to the Death Penalty Information “Please fi nd it in your hearts to forgive me,” Center. Gulf Times 12 Thursday, February 1, 2018 AFRICA

Cameroonian troops among anglophones fl eeing to Nigeria Odinga inauguration a

AFP Ikom, Nigeria

ameroonian forces have crossed into neighbouring bid to ‘overthrow govt’ Nigeria, where thousands of people have fl ed from CCameroon’s restive anglophone regions, local sources By Fran Blandy, AFP constitution, the consequences of and state offi cials said yesterday. Kenya Odinga’s act of political theatre re- “Last week, 50 to 70 Cameroonian soldiers came to (the main unclear. village of) Danare to tell us our village (in Cameroon) was safe Three of Odinga’s co-leaders now and that we could go back home,” said Tony Kajang, a enya’s interior minister said of NASA failed to show up at the 22-year-old displaced Cameroonian. yesterday that opposition event, including Kalonzo Musyoka Other Cameroonians who have fl ed to the southeast Nige- Kleader Raila Odinga’s mock who was to be sworn in as his dep- rian state of Cross River and a local resident in Danare also inauguration as “people’s presi- uty, raising speculation of a rift in confi rmed the soldiers’ presence. dent” was an eff ort to overthrow the opposition. Kalonzo said they But they said the forces were not on a military opera- the government and media outlets did not attend after their body- tion. were shut down for their complic- guards were withdrawn. The head of Cross River state emergency management ity in the event. Then, he said yesterday his agency, John Inaku, also said the troops were in Danare, in the Odinga, 73, held a swearing-in home had been attacked in the Boki area of the state, early on Monday. ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday in early hours of the morning, with “There were people coming in from the neighbouring front of thousands of supporters in shots and a stun grenade fi red at country. It is not the fi rst time. The fi rst time was in (the dis- another challenge to President Uhu- his house. Police said they were in- trict of) Ekang in December,” he told AFP. ru Kenyatta’s re-election last year. vestigating. A police source in the southeast Nigerian state said only: The lawyer and MP who swore Odinga has refused to accept “Yes, it’s true. There were men on the ground.” Odinga in — TJ Kajwang — was Kenyatta’s victory, which came Thousands of Cameroonians have fl ed to the remote bor- arrested yesterday afternoon and after last year’s deeply-divisive der region from violence in English-speaking southwest was being investigated for his role election season in which rights ac- Cameroon, which abuts Nigeria. in the ceremony, according to a tivists say at least 92 people were Media on both sides of the frontier yesterday reported that senior police offi cer speaking on killed. some 80 Cameroonian gendarmes had been in Danare. condition of anonymity. First was an election on August According to Nigeria’s The Punch daily, they were targeting After initially vowing to block 8 that was won by Kenyatta then suspected anglophone separatists among the infl ux. the gathering, police kept their annulled in a historic decision by Cross River state security adviser Jude Ngaji was quoted as distance, but a furore broke out af- the Supreme Court, which or- saying: “The issue has gone beyond the police and the Nige- ter the Communication Authority dered a re-run on October 26. Od- rian Army has just deployed a battalion to the area.” shut down three of the country’s inga boycotted the second vote and Cameroon’s government is fi ghting an insurgency by a main private television channels Kenyatta won with 98 %. group demanding a separate state for two regions that are who were covering the ceremony. Kenya’s Interior Minister Fred Matiangi speaks at a press conference in Nairobi yesterday. Since boycotting the re-run poll, home to most of the country’s anglophones, who account for “What was witnessed at Uhuru citing a lack of reform at the elec- about a fi fth of the population. Park was a well-choreographed at- Matiangi said the outlets — other senior offi cials warned edi- Kenyatta took offi ce for the fi rst tion commission, NASA’s strategy On October 1 last year, the breakaway movement issued a tempt to subvert or overthrow the among them NTV, Citizen TV and tors against live coverage of the time” of intimidation, harassment has been to challenge Kenyatta’s symbolic declaration of independence for “Ambazonia,” their legally-constituted government KTN — would remain shut until an ceremony and threatened to re- and threats aimed at the media. legitimacy by seeking to establish name for the putative state. of the Republic of Kenya,” Interior investigation was fi nished. voke their licenses if they failed to “Kenya is on a very slippery tra- parallel government structures. Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, has met the agitation Minister Fred Matiangi said in a The Media Council of Kenya said comply, according to Linus Kaikai, jectory in regard to human rights, Matiangi on Tuesday denounced with a crackdown, including curfews, raids and restrictions statement. in a statement it was “shocked at chairman of the Kenya Editors’ and president Kenyatta urgently the opposition’s National Resist- on travel. “Some elements in the media the recent turn of events.” Guild. needs to reverse this trend,” Nam- ance Movement wing, tasked with Around 30,000 people have fl ed into Nigeria. fraternity participated in further- “A political contest has turned Rights groups yesterday criti- waya said. implementing a threatened pro- Despite their military collaboration against Boko Haram ance of this illegal act,” he charged. into the greatest threat and as- cised the gagging of the media. Matiangi said Odinga’s swear- gramme of boycotts and civil diso- Islamists in northeast Nigeria and northern Cameroon, the Matiangi said the authorities sault on freedom of expression and “Kenyan authorities have re- ing-in itself was also under in- bedience, as an “organised crimi- two countries have long had tense relations. had information that “criminal media in Kenya’s recent history,” it stricted media coverage at a criti- vestigation and that “appropriate nal group”. For years, the neighbours staked claims to the oil-rich Ba- elements operating under the ban- said. cal moment, and violated the pub- legal action” would be taken. “It is a group of individuals who kassi peninsula until an International Court of Justice ruling ner” of the National Super Alli- The shutdown came after media lic’s right to information about Authorities had repeatedly are bent on causing anarchy and ceded it to Cameroon in 2002. ance (NASA) opposition coalition organisations were summoned to important events,” said Otsieno warned that such an inauguration mayhem,” he added yesterday. Nigeria is also facing an independence movement from had planned to “shed blood” at the State House last week for a meet- Namwaya, Africa researcher at would be treasonous and that Od- “We will not accept subversion pro-Biafran supporters in the southeast but Abuja has moved event and “blame it on the police”. ing. Human Rights Watch (HRW). inga could face arrest. and criminal acts disguised as po- closer to Yaounde in recent weeks. That was why police had with- During the meeting, Keny- HRW said the shutdown “un- However, as the wording of the litical activities. This will not be On Monday, the head of the Ambazonia separatist move- drawn from the venue, he said. atta, his deputy William Ruto and derlines a trend since 2013, when oath was diff erent to that in the tolerated.” ment, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, who was arrested in the Nigerian capital in early January, was extradited with 46 of his sup- porters. Yaounde has called them “terrorists”. Amnesty International has expressed concern about the fate of the arrested separatists, saying they could face torture and an unfair trial in Cameroon. Harare picks judge as election Cameroon’s communications minister, Issa Tchiroma Tempers fl are Bakary, this week congratulated what he saw was the “excel- lent co-operation” between the two governments in terms of panel chief, woos white farmers security. He also said both countries would “never allow their ter- ritory to act as bases for destabilising activities against the at Cape Town AFP/Reuters Mawarire, who had faced trial on charges of at- other”. Harare tempting to subvert Mugabe’s government. Separately, Zimbabwe has announced that white farmers still in business after controver- imbabwe President Emmerson Mnan- sial land reforms will be able to obtain 99-year water point gagwa has named High Court Judge Pr- leases, signalling a new government approach to Ziscilla Chigumba as head of the election the key agricultural sector. agency, according to an offi cial letter, ahead of a Mnangagwa has vowed to revive the moribund AFP tion of 25 litres per person — less than vote this year whose credibility will be key in re- economy, boost investment and create employ- Cape Town a two-minute shower. building the nation’s foreign relations. ment after years of decline. The Newland spring has attracted The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has not The agriculture ministry directed “all remain- hundreds of residents keen to supple- had a permanent chair since Rita Makarau re- ing white farmers be issued with 99-year leases ensions are mounting at a ment their current 87-litre quota. signed in December. instead of fi ve as per previous arrangements,” natural spring in Cape Town “A physical confl ict broke out and Makarau was seen as an ally of 93-year-old according to a statement seen by AFP yesterday. Tthat is popular with residents a person was arrested by the South former president Robert Mugabe, whose in- Thousands of white farmers were forced off forced to contend with water restric- African Police Service,” said city se- creasingly repressive 37-year rule alienated Afri- their land by violent mobs or evicted, with Mu- tions due to severe drought, the city curity chief, councillor Jean-Pierre can and Western nations alike. gabe saying the reforms would help black people council said yesterday. Smith in a statement. “Congestion But she gave no reason for her resignation, a marginalised under British colonial rule. A fi ght broke out and one person and noise from cars and persons visit- month after Mugabe stepped down when the Critics blame the land redistribution, which was arrested by police earlier in the ing the site at all hours of the day and army and his ZANU-PF party turned against began in 2000, for the collapse in agricultural week in long queues at the Newland night is causing many complaints.” him. production that saw the former regional bread- spring, southeast of the city centre, Residents will only be able to col- A copy of Chigumba’s appointment letter basket become a perennial food importer. and local residents have complained lect 25 litres per visit to the spring written by the chief secretary to Mnangagwa and Mnangagwa has pledged to compensate farm- of traffi c gridlock. and offi cials will be posted to the site his cabinet showed that Chigumba would start ers who lost their properties, but said they would Capetonians will be expected to 24-hours a day to keep order in the her new job immediately and was expected to be not be given their land back. abide by a 50 litre-a-day personal queue. Current dam levels fell last sworn-in today. Ben Gilpin, director of the Commercial Farm- consumption limit from today in an week to 26.3%. But only about 55% of A government source also confi rmed her ap- ers’ Union, reacted cautiously to the policy an- eff ort to avert the so-called “Day residents stuck to last week’s limit of pointment. nouncement. Zero” scenario which would see taps 87 litres a day. Mnangagwa said last week the southern Afri- “We have seen the letter and we are seeking shut off across the city. “Day Zero” is A typical shower uses 15 litres per can country would hold transparent elections by clarifi cation,” he told AFP. currently forecast for April 16. minute while a standard toilet con- July and he would respect the result if the oppo- “People have gone to various offi ces and there Householders and traders would be sumes 15 litres per fl ush, according to sition wins. hasn’t been a uniform response.” forced to queue at 200 water collec- WaterWise, a South African water us- Chigumba’s last high-profi le case was in No- The CFU says there are about 200 white farm- tion points to collect a daily alloca- age awareness campaign. vember when she freed activist pastor Evan ers remaining in Zimbabwe. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 13 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

Australia seaplane ‘inexplicably’ off course before deadly crash

AFP the height of the surround- Sydney ing terrain. Witnesses said the plane’s engine sounded normal but then they saw the “aircraft seaplane that crashed suddenly enter a steep right near Sydney on New turn and the aircraft’s nose sud- AYear’s Eve killing fi ve denly drop before the aircraft British tourists and the pilot collided with the water in a near veered signifi cantly off course vertical position”, according to just before plunging into the the report. water, investigators said yes- The head of Sydney Sea- terday. planes said he was perplexed by The boss of the company the pilot’s turn into Jerusalem which operated the plane de- Bay “which is surrounded by scribed the pilot’s manoeuvres steep terrain and has no exit”. ahead of the crash as “inexpli- “It is not a route we author- cable”. A preliminary report re- ise in our landing and take-off leased by the Australian Trans- register and the plane simply port Safety Bureau (ATSB) should not have been where it identifi ed no fl ight control or was,” Aaron Shaw, CEO of Syd- structural issues which might ney Seaplanes, said in a state- have caused the crash. ment. Shaw said the steep turn, But the report noted that the reported to be at an 80-90 de- accident location was off the gree bank at a low altitude, “by standard path for the sightsee- a pilot with Gareth (Morgan)’s ing fl ight. skill, experience and intimate British chief executive Ri- knowledge of the location is to- chard Cousins, his two sons, tally inexplicable”. Morgan had fi ancee and her daughter were a total fl ying experience of more killed alongside the pilot in the than 10,000 hours, with 9,000 accident on the Hawkesbury on fl oatplanes, the ATSB said. River some 50 kilometres north The de Havilland Canada of Sydney. DHC-2 Beaver aircraft was re- Shortly after taking off , wit- covered on January 4 after sink- nesses told the ATSB they saw ing to a depth of 14.5 metres, the Sydney Seaplanes aircraft with ATSB investigators carry- enter Jerusalem Bay outside its ing out an initial examination of fl ight path at an altitude below the wreckage. Supporters of an ivory ban protest outside the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, yesterday.

China urges US to drop HK bans ivory sales ‘Cold War mentality’ AFP the common interests of the Beijing US and China “far outweigh our differences and disagree- ments”. eijing criticised the A steady relationship with “outdated Cold War the United States is “also Bmentality” of the United in the interest of the whole in landmark vote States yesterday after Presi- world,” Li said after meeting dent Donald Trump named with British Prime Minister AFP “Today is a great day for el- trade in hunting trophies and Angry ivory traders have said African ivory is highly China among threats to Amer- Theresa May. Hong Kong ephants. Hong Kong has always ivory dating from after 1975, they will be forced to close down sought after in China, where it ican values in his State of the “China hopes that the been the ‘heart of darkness’ of when a global treaty regulating their businesses and demanded is seen as a status symbol, and Union address. United States will work with the ivory trade with a 670-tonne the trade took eff ect. the government compensate used to fetch as much as $1,100 In recent weeks, US of- us and continue to view this ong Kong voted to ban stockpile when international It would later extend to ivory them for their stock — which the a kilogram ($500 a pound). ficials have laid the ground- relationship in a positive ivory sales in a landmark trade was banned in 1989,” said acquired before 1975, and fi- new ordinance rejected. Despite Poaching in Africa has seen work for a strategic pivot that overall perspective,” he said. Hmove yesterday to end Alex Hoff ord of WildAid Hong nally traders would have to dis- the planned ban, the trade was the elephant population fall by envisions a world of renewed But Chinese foreign min- the infamous trade in the city. Kong. pose of their stock by 2021. still fl ourishing in Hong Kong, 110,000 over the last 10 years to great power competition istry spokeswoman Hua Lawmakers overwhelmingly The amendment to the Pro- Penalties for offenders will which saw its biggest ivory bust just 415,000, according to the with the likes of Russia and Chunying had more critical voted for the bill that will abol- tection of Endangered Species be increased to a maximum fine in three decades last July, when International Union for Con- China. words. ish the trade by 2021, following of Animals and Plants ordinance of HK$10mn ($1.3mn) and 10 more than seven tonnes of tusks servation of Nature. In his State of the Union “We hope the US side can on the heels of China’s complete will phase out the trade in three years’ imprisonment. worth over $9mn were seized. Despite an overall fall in address to Congress and the abandon the outdated Cold ban on ivory sales that went into stages, a time period some con- Dozens of demonstra- In the months ahead of yes- poaching, Africa’s elephant nation on Tuesday, Trump War mentality to work for eff ect at the end of last year. servationists say could be ex- tors including schoolchildren terday’s vote, the legislature population has declined in part described Moscow and Bei- the shared goal with China of “Shutting down this mas- ploited as a loophole and too gathered outside the city’s heard tales of murder and suf- because of continued illegal jing as challenging “our in- properly managing our dif- sive ivory market has thrown a late for African elephants which legislature to protest against fering involving African park killing, said a report last year terests, our economy, and our ferences and upholding the lifeline to elephants,” said Bert continue to be killed in huge ivory sales holding up signs rangers who were shot dead by the Convention on Inter- values”. steady development of Chi- Wander of global advocacy numbers. that read, “Do you really need while protecting elephants and national Trade in Endangered In Beijing yesterday, Chi- na-US relations,” she told a group Avaaz in a statement. The steps include a ban on ivory chopsticks?” others drowned or set on fire. Species. nese Premier Li Keqiang said regular press briefing.

More than 80 people on missing ferry, search for North Korea calls US survivors continues Vietnam marks 50 years Authorities confirmed yesterday administration ‘racist’ that a missing Kiribati ferry had held more than 80 passengers, as Australian and US planes Reuters misanthropy are serious mala- since launch of Tet Off ensive scoured the central Pacific ocean Geneva dies inherent to the social sys- for survivors, more than a week tem of the US, and they have after it sunk. The 17-metre cata- been aggravated since Trump AFP southern capital of Saigon. maran was reported missing on orth Korea struck back took offi ce,” the North Korean Ho Chi Minh City Although the US and their Jan 20, two days after it departed at the United States paper said. South Vietnam allies eventually Nonouti Island on a 250km trip Nyesterday, accusing “The racial violence that beat back their communist en- to Betio in Kiribati. Seven people the Trump administration of took place in Charlottesville, ietnam marked 50 years emies, the off ensive electrifi ed rescued from a drifting dinghy on being a billionaires’ club that Virginia, on August 12 is a typi- since the audacious Tet the anti-war movement in the the weekend said the ferry broke harbours a “policy of racism” cal example of the acme of the VOff ensive yesterday, in US and persuaded politicians to up soon after setting out on Jan while denying freedom of the current administration’s poli- a bittersweet ceremony featur- pull out years later. 18 and that they had seen other press and health coverage to cy of racism,” it said. ing patriotic dance perform- The Vietnam War, known as passengers scramble aboard a citizens. Trump, who took offi ce a ances recalling the attacks that the American War among Vi- liferaft, which was now the focus The “White Paper on Hu- year ago, had fi lled his cabinet changed the course of the Viet- etnamese, killed an estimated of the aerial search. The New man Rights Violations in the with billionaires, it said, cit- nam War. 2.5mn northern fi ghters and Zealand Defence Force had previ- US in 2017”, was issued by ing US Secretary of State Rex The surprise military off en- 58,000 American servicemen, ously reported eight people had the Institute of International Tillerson, Secretary of Com- sive in 1968 — launched by the along with some three million been rescued, but had revised Studies in the Democratic merce Wilbur Ross, Treasury communist north on the eve of civilians. that number. Reports on the People’s Republic of Korea Secretary Steven Mnunchin the Tet lunar new year — tar- The bodies of an estimated total number of passengers had (DPRK) and circulated by its and Secretary of Defence geted more than 100 cities and 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers varied in recent days between 35 diplomatic mission in Geneva. James Mattis. “The total assets outposts in southern Vietnam. A revolutionary dance is performed during a ceremony marking the are still missing, and govern- and 100. The Rescue Co-ordi- It did not refer to the row of public servants at the level of The assault eventually 50th anniversary of the Tet Off ensive in Ho Chi Minh City, yesterday. ment eff orts to recover them nation Centre of New Zealand between North Korea and the deputy secretary and above of prompted the US to withdraw have been slow. (RCCNZ), which is supporting United States and its allies over the current administration are from the bloody war, though at low fi ghters. “We resisted the bering the campaign as a heroic Some families hire psychics the search, said in a statement Pyongyang’s nuclear and mis- worth $14bn,” the paper said. the time it was a military disas- enemy until we had no bullets, sacrifi ce. or private investigators to locate yesterday that Kiribati authori- sile programmes, or to the in- North Korea’s paper said that ter for Hanoi which lost an esti- we left our guns and retreated,” “The 1968 spring general of- their lost loved ones in order to ties had confirmed about 80 ternational sanctions imposed genuine freedoms of the press mated 58,000 fi ghters. Nguyen Van Duoc, 75, said, fensive will forever be a bright perform traditional burial and passengers and five crew were against it. and of expression did not ex- On Wednesday entertainers adding that the remains of eight symbol of patriotism, strong worship rites. aboard the ferry and seven of US President Donald ist in the United States and that dressed as soldiers and peas- comrades who died in the battle determination, and the party, Fellow vet Nguyen Van Tau them had been rescued. Two Trump, in his fi rst State of crackdowns against the media ants took to the stage at an of- have never been found. people and military’s willing- said the fi ghters who have never Australian aircraft and one from Union speech to Congress on had intensifi ed in the past year. fi cial ceremony in Ho Chi Minh The Tet Off ensive is remem- ness to fi ght for independence been recovered deserve special the US coastguard were comb- Tuesday, branded North Ko- More people have joined the City, followed by a string of bered with mixed emotions in and freedom,” said HCMC par- recognition. ing around 92,000 square km rea’s leadership “depraved”. He ranks of the unemployed and performances from fl ag-bear- Vietnam — especially among ty leader Nguyen Thien Nhan. “Many of them are gone for- of ocean for the missing liferaft, told Americans that its pursuit the homeless, it said. The United ing dancers and martial arts former southern soldiers who More than 80,000 northern ever but their bodies have never which was designed to hold of nuclear missiles could “very State is one of few countries that performers in red and gold. don’t agree with Hanoi’s narra- soldiers and Viet Cong fi ght- been found...they lived, fought about 25 people but capable of soon threaten our homeland” have failed to off er paid mater- Some war vets attending tive of events. ers participated in the January and sacrifi ced their lives for the squeezing on more. and vowed a continued cam- nity leave, and many sick citi- the event recalled the thrill of But offi cials glossed over the 1968 coordinated attacks, in- nation,” he said, recalling the paign to prevent that. zens cannot aff ord to pay their hard-fought battle, followed darker aspects of the war at cluding in major cities Hue and “cold forests” and battlefi elds “Racial discrimination and medical fees, it added. by the heartache of losing fel- yesterday’s ceremony, remem- Ho Chi Minh City, formerly the where they fought. Gulf Times 14 Thursday, February 1, 2018 BRITAIN Lord Bates makes dramatic resignation in House of Lords

Guardian News and Media Michael Bates, a minister at since 2008, stood up to say he had questions from this dispatch box immediate eff ect. I do apologise.” ministers when he’s answer- was a sort of spontaneous ‘no’. London the department for international not been in his place when he was on behalf of the government, He then tucked his ministerial ing questions at the dispatch I’m not sure we’d respond to development (DfID) since 2016, supposed to answer a question I’ve always believed that we papers under his arm and left to box. Although I didn’t put it in many other ministers in that said he was “thoroughly ashamed from the Labour peer Ruth Lister. should rise to the highest possi- cries of protest. the letter, many ministers show way.” government minister has at not being in my place” for the “I want to off er my sincere apol- ble standards of courtesy and re- Lister told the Guardian she us much greater discourtesy by Bates had been due in the resigned from his job with question, and walked out to loud ogies to Baroness Lister for my dis- spect in responding on behalf of had subsequently written a note evading the questions we’re ask- chamber at 3pm yesterday to Aimmediate eff ect for be- shouts of “no!” from others in the courtesy in not being in my place to the government to the legitimate to Bates saying she hoped he ing, whereas he always tries to answer a scheduled question ing absent from the House of chamber. answer her question on a very im- questions of the legislature. would reconsider. “Of all the answer them.” from Lister on income inequality Lords when he should have been In one of the most dramatic portant matter at the beginning of “I’m thoroughly ashamed at ministers I’d want to cause to re- Lister said she assumed Bates but arrived a couple of minutes there to answer a question, then ministerial resignations in recent questions,” Lord Bates said. not being in my place and there- sign, he’d be the last,” she said. had resigned as “he felt it was late. In his absence the question walked out of the chamber to the years, the former Conservative “During the fi ve years in which fore I shall be off ering my resig- “I made the point that he was the right thing to do”. She added: was answered by the Lords chief shock of his fellow peers. MP, who has been in the Lords it’s been my privilege to answer nation to the prime minister with one of the most courteous of “The response from our benches whip, John Taylor. Shortage of teachers putting schools in crisis, says watchdog

Guardian News and Media lands and the north of England London more than 20% of pupils were in secondary schools rated as “requires improvement or inad- chools across England are in equate for teaching, learning and crisis, parliament’s spend- assessment”. Sing watchdog has conclud- “The quality of teaching and the ed, because of a failure to persuade level of teaching vacancies vary disenchanted teachers to stay in signifi cantly across the country,” the profession. the report said. The public accounts committee “However, the department yesterday admonished the edu- does not seem to understand the cation department (DfE) for not reasons for the variation or the foreseeing the shortage of teach- diff erent challenges that schools ers and taking action to avoid it. in diff erent regions face. By its own admission, the de- “The failure of the department partment has given insuffi cient to get to grips with the number of priority to teacher retention and teachers leaving puts additional development. pressure on schools faced with Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip watch a cultural performance at the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, yesterday. Meg Hillier, the committee’s rising numbers of children need- chair, said the government has ing a school place and the teachers been “sluggish and incoherent” in to teach them.” its response to falling teacher and While the overall number of rising pupil numbers. teachers rose by 15,500 between “It should have been clear to November 2010 and November senior civil servants that growing 2016, the number of teachers in demand for school places, com- secondary schools dropped by bined with a drive for schools to 10,800 in the same period. Govt to release leaked make effi ciency savings, would The number of teachers leaving only build pressure in the system. the profession for non-retirement “Instead they seem to have reasons increased from 22,260, or watched on, scratching their 6%, in 2011 to 34,910, or 8.1%, in heads, as more and more teachers 2016. quit the profession. The committee said pressure of “Government must get a grip workload was a big factor, as well Brexit papers to MPs on teacher retention and we ex- as living costs. pect it to set out a targeted, meas- The report called on the gov- Reuters end more than 40 years of union. The report leaked to BuzzFeed Lee was rebuked yesterday for and rational consideration indi- urable plan to support struggling ernment to look at whether fund- London The main opposition Labour News said the economy would expressing on Twitter his sugges- cate would be damaging”. schools as a matter of urgency,” ed initiatives could help teachers Party forced the government into be worse off after Brexit whether tion that if the report were true Government aides say the pa- she said. Schools fi lled about half with housing costs in areas where handing over the report, enti- Britain left the EU with a free “there would be a serious ques- per had not even considered the of vacant posts in 2015-16 with property is expensive. he government yesterday tled “EU Exit Analysis — Cross trade deal, single market access, tion over whether a government government’s preferred goal of a qualifi ed teachers who had the ex- Commenting on the report, said it would hand over Whitehall Briefi ng” and dated or with no deal at all. could legitimately lead a country bespoke future relationship with perience and expertise required, Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow Tto parliament a leaked re- January 2018, by using an ancient The government has called it along a path that the evidence the EU after leaving. according to the report. education secretary, blamed the port that suggested Brexit would parliamentary procedure. a partial piece of work that had The DfE forecasts that sec- Conservatives for presiding over hurt the economy, trying to de- Parliament’s treasury commit- yet to be signed-off by minis- I am ‘not a quitter’: May ondary school pupil numbers the crisis. fl ect accusations that ministers tee called on the government to ters. will increase by 540,000 (19.4%) “Their cap on public sector pay are badly prepared for leaving publish immediately. How to deal with its leak has Prime Minister Theresa May batted elling with her on a visit to China. between 2017 and 2025, and that has left the average teacher over the European Union. “In seeing this analysis, mem- exposed divisions in government. away critics of her leadership yes- “That job is about getting the best pupil-teacher ratios will continue £5,000 worse off and makes it im- The report has struck at the bers of the House will be sharing Earlier yesterday, May, on a terday, saying she was “not a quit- Brexit deal, it’s about ensuring that to rise. possible for many schools to retain heart of government Brexit strat- in the responsibility and obliga- visit to China, said lawmakers ter”, according to media reports. we take back control of our money, The committee said the gov- the staff that they need,” she said. egy, with one minister suggesting tion that the government has to would be given offi cial analy- May is under pressure from across our laws, our borders, that we can ernment had got the balance A DfE spokeswoman said there that analysis by offi cials should ensure the security of negotia- sis on any Brexit deal before her Conservative party over her sign trade deals around the rest of wrong by spending £555mn a year are now a record number of teach- be discounted and another urg- tion-sensitive materials,” junior they are asked to approve it. On Brexit strategy and her domestic the world. But it’s also about our training new teachers, and just ers in schools, while 32,000 train- ing the government to reconsider Brexit minister Steve Baker told Tuesday, Baker rebuff ed calls for policy programme, with one vet- domestic agenda. Yes, we want to £36mn on retaining and develop- ee teachers have been recruited. its stance. It has piled pressure parliament. the government to release the eran MP calling it “dull, dull, dull”. get Brexit right and we are working ing teachers. “Retention rates have been on Prime Minister Theresa May, He said the report, which he full report by saying it was not “First and foremost, I’m serving on that, but we also alongside that MPs called on the government broadly stable for the past 20 who is under fi re from some in her denied was any kind of impact as- ready, while Phillip Lee, a min- my country and my party. I’m not a are working on the key issues that to end wide variations in the qual- years, and the teaching profes- own Conservative Party for lack- sessment, would be kept “strictly ister at the justice department, quitter and there’s a long-term job matter to people on a day-to-day ity of teaching across the country. sion continues to be an attractive ing leadership and a clear Brexit confi dential” and unpublished suggested the government to be done,” she told reporters trav- basis”, she added. The report said that in the Mid- career”. plan, as she negotiates a deal to during the Brexit negotiations. change tack in the talks.

Fighting plastic Scientists call on govt to Foreign Offi ce puts fortify fl our with folic acid embassy for sale Guardian News and Media been established, including the London confl ict security and stability Reuters Folic acid can be taken as pills “It’s a completely avoidable fund. The transparency of the London or added to staple foods such as tragedy,” said Joan Morris, who spending in these budgets has flour and cereals. works with Wald. he scale of fi nancial been repeatedly challenged. In countries that have intro- She said that from 1998, pressure on the British The Bangkok embassy is ritain’s failure to legislate duced mandatory folic acid for- when the US introduced man- Tdiplomatic service has being sold to a joint-venture to make food producers tification, neural tube defects datory folic acid fortification, been underlined by a Foreign consortium of Hongkong Bfortify fl our with folic acid in babies have fallen by as much to 2017, an estimated 3,000 Offi ce announcement that it is Land, a member of the Jardine to help prevent babies being born as 50%, according to experts neural tube defects could have raising £420mn by selling its Matheson Group, and Central with birth defects is based on from Queen Mary University of been prevented if the UK had embassy in Bangkok. Group. The new Bangkok em- fl awed analysis and should be re- London and the School of Ad- adopted the same level of forti- The sale is the largest land bassy building will be based in versed, scientists said yesterday. vanced Study at University of fication. deal in Thai history and the the AIA Sathorn Tower in the Urging the UK to follow more London, who published a study In the UK, white flour is al- Foreign Offi ce’s biggest ever central business district. than 80 other countries, in- on the issue yesterday. ready fortified with iron, cal- sale. The department said the Johnson, announcing the cluding the US, who have man- The US Centers for Disease cium and the B vitamins niacin proceeds would be reinvested sale, said: “Britain is a lead- datory fortification, the sci- Control and Prevention esti- and thiamin. elsewhere in the overseas es- ing player on the global stage entists said there was no need mates the cost of folic acid for- Yet despite recommenda- tate and would fund 30-40 and I’m determined to ensure for an upper limit on folate in- tification at around one cent tions from experts, Britain has modernisation projects around that our diplomats have all take because there is no risk of per person per year. not introduced mandatory folic the world, including in Wash- the necessary tools to do their harmful overdose. “Failing to fortify flour with acid fortification, partly due to ington DC. job eff ectively. This includes Deficiency in folate, by con- folic acid to prevent neural tube concerns it might lead to some The Foreign Offi ce has long working in modern, safe, fi t trast, can cause pregnant wom- defects is like having a polio people having too high a folate complained that its budget is for purpose premises not just en to have babies with serious vaccine and not using it,” Ni- intake. being cut to the bone at a time in Bangkok but around the birth defects called anenceph- cholas Wald of Queen Mary’s However yesterday’s new re- when the parallel budget of the world.” aly and spina bifida. Wolfson Institute of Preven- search, published in the journal Prince Charles, Prince of Wales speaks during a meeting department for international Simon McDonald, the per- Also known as neural tube tive Medicine told a briefing in Public Health Reviews, found of business leaders to discuss the role of plastics in the development is booming. manent under-secretary at defects, the conditions affect London. those concerns were unjusti- economy in London yesterday. The Prince of Wales, Foreign Secretary Boris the Foreign Offi ce, said: “In a one in 500-1,000 pregnancies He said that on average every fied. president of the Prince’s International Sustainability Unit, Johnson has been looking to tight fi scal environment, it is in Britain. day in Britain, two women ter- “With the upper limit re- joined a meeting of key plastics stakeholders and business see how he can capture parts right that we take tough de- Folic acid is a synthetic form minate pregnancies because of moved there is no scientific or leaders to discuss the role of plastics in the economy and of the DfID budget without cisions to ensure that the UK of the B vitamin folate, which neural tube defects, and every medical reason for delaying the the steps that can be taken to prevent plastic build up in the breaching international rules can maintain a global presence is found in asparagus, broccoli week two women give birth to introduction of mandatory folic oceans. on the defi nition of aid. A se- while getting the best value for and dark leafy vegetables. an affected child. acid fortification,” Wald said. ries of pooled budgets have taxpayers”. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 15 EUROPE

POLITICS LEGAL JUSTICE TRAVEL PROBE German parties agree 19 on trial over German who bragged Melania factor helps to Dutch ‘ill-prepared’ for on pensions issue Brussels diamond heist about murder gets life boost Slovenian tourism cross-border nuke accident

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s The trial of 19 suspects believed to be involved A German man who stabbed to death a The number of foreign tourists visiting Slovenia The Netherlands must boost co-operation conservatives yesterday agreed with their in a spectacular $50mn diamond heist at nine-year-old boy, bragged about it online jumped almost 17% last year to 3.4mn, the with neighbouring Belgium and Germany to would-be Social Democrat (SPD) partners to Brussels airport in 2013, opened yesterday in and then killed another man while on the run statistics off ice said yesterday. The figure was better prepare for any cross-border nuclear cap pension contributions, a sign of steady the Belgian capital. The February 2013 robbery, was sentenced to life in jail yesterday. Marcel boosted by the fact that US First Lady Melania power accident, Dutch safety off icials warned progress in coalition talks which both sides aim one of the world’s biggest diamond thefts, saw Hesse, 20, committed the grisly crimes out of Trump was born in the country. Slovenia has yesterday. That was the conclusion of an to conclude within a week. Merkel is pinning her a gang of men posing as police seize the gems “bloodlust”, dissatisfaction with his life and show also been successfully promoting itself as a safe investigation by the Dutch Safety Board (OVV), hopes for a fourth term on a re-run of the ‘grand from a plane in an operation that lasted barely off ”, prosecutors said during his trial. Hesse had and green destination at the heart of Europe amid rising Dutch concerns over Belgium’s coalition’ with the SPD to end four months of 10 minutes without a shot fired. The hooded lured the boy from a nearby family home, in the — off ering access to the Adriatic and mountain ageing Doel and Tihange nuclear reactors, which political limbo in Europe’s biggest economy. men, armed with machine guns, pulled up in a western town of Herne, into his basement and locations. The country had its fourth successive lie in a densely-populated area just across the After a breakthrough on the contentious issue car on the runway at Brussels’ main Zaventem stabbed him 52 times before going on the run. year of record tourism numbers in 2017. southern Dutch-Belgian border. The OVV also of family reunions for migrants on Tuesday the airport where an armoured vehicle had just As a large-scale manhunt began, Hesse hid out Melania Trump was born in the town of Sevnica included the Borssele nuclear power plant, in the parties ticked off some other, less tricky, issues. unloaded diamonds into a plane about to take at the home of an acquaintance who had not yet in southeastern Slovenia before becoming a Netherlands, and Germany’s Emsland nuclear They agreed to cap pension contributions, off for Zurich. The men forced open the hold and heard of the crime. When his 22-year-old host fashion model and moving to the US. Most power plant in its 19-month probe. “Cross-border divided between workers and employers, at removed about 120 boxes of diamonds before heard of the search the following morning and foreign tourists came from Italy, Germany and co-operation in a number of areas has to be 20% of an individual’s salary to 2025. making off with the haul of about $50mn. confronted Hesse, the killer murdered him too. Austria. improved,” the report concluded. 50 suspected Macron in Tunisia ISIS fi ghters have landed in Italy: Interpol

Guardian News and Media and updates to its national central Palermo bureaux (NCB) on wanted terrorists and criminals via the agency’s se- cure global police communications nterpol has circulated a list network,” a spokesman for Interpol of 50 suspected Islamic State told the Guardian at the time. Ifi ghters who it believes have A European counter-terrorism recently landed in Italy by boat, offi cer told the Guardian that the and may be attempting to reach Tunisians on the most recent list other European countries. are believed to have arrived in Sic- The list, obtained by the ily between July and October 2017 Guardian, was drafted by the on fi shing boats or small vessels general secretariat of the inter- that were then abandoned on the national police organisation. It beach. was sent on November 29 to the Torre Salsa beach in Agrigento Italian interior ministry, which has recently become one of the subsequently distributed it to most popular landing points for national anti-terrorism agencies Tunisian migrants attempting to Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed (left) meets with French President Emmanuel Macron and other off icials in Tunis yesterday. Macron arrived in Tunisia yesterday on across Europe. reach Europe. Most depart from a two-day visit intended to support the North African country’s democratic transition. The suspects listed are all Tu- Ben Guerdane, a Tunisian city on nisian nationals, some of whom the border with Libya, where ISIS were identifi ed by offi cials when clashed with the Tunisian army in they landed in Italy. The docu- 2016, killing at least 28 people. ment shows their fi rst names, Tunisians, many of who are surnames and dates of births. economic migrants, are packed Around 5,500 Tunisians were on the small boats and mainly believed to have travelled to ISIS disembark on the beach at night, territory in Syria and Iraq to fi ght 20 or 30 at a time. The groups for the terror group, accord- disappear into the countryside, a ing to UN estimates – more than few miles from the coast, avoiding Austria to dissolve ‘Nazi any other country. Now, after the Italian coastguard and police its collapse, governments have controls. expressed concern that former Local authorities call these ar- fi ghters may try to mount attacks rivals “ghost landings” and be- in Europe. lieve more than 3,000 Tunisians Four of the suspected ISIS have secretly landed on the coast songbook’ fraternity fi ghters on the Interpol list are of Agrigento since July. Of these, already known to European in- the police managed to block and telligence agencies. One of them identify only 400 people. AFP Other songs in the book, belong to student fraternities, nothing to do with the verse was printed and only found out “may have already crossed the Luigi Patronaggio, Agrigento’s Vienna which only became public many of which believe in re- about gas chambers and that the about it last week. “You can Italian-French border, to reach chief prosecutor, said “investiga- last week, praised the Waffen unifying Austria into a “Greater song in question was meant as a imagine what decision I would Gard, a department in southern tors cannot exclude that, behind SS and Nazi paratroopers be- Germany”. “joke”. make if this was in the OeVP,” France, in the Occitanie region,” these ghost journeys, they may be ustria’s government yes- hind war crimes committed in The FPOe says the fraterni- “The pictures show scenes of Kurz said yesterday as he an- the agency says. militant loyalists hidden amongst terday said it plans to dis- Greece. ties are harmless, with its leader students, drinking or celebrat- nounced the government’s aim “According to the information the people travelling into Sicily”. Asolve one of the country’s The scandal took on a political Heinz-Christian Strache saying ing. There are also soldiers be- to disband the fraternity. obtained in the fi eld of interna- Since October, the Italian gov- controversial nationalist frater- dimension because until recent- on Friday that “anti-Semitism, cause there are corresponding The Austria Press Agency tional co-operation, the Tunisian ernment has been implementing nities after it emerged that it had ly the fraternity’s vice-chairman totalitarianism (and) racism are songs in the book,” the 70-year- meanwhile quoted a lawyer as citizens are linked to ISIS/Daesh a counter-terrorism strategy, us- printed song texts celebrating was Udo Landbauer, a candidate the opposite of fraternity think- old fraternity member told local saying that the government and would have reached Europe ing naval patrols to prevent the the Holocaust and other Nazi for the far-right Freedom Party ing”. media. might fi nd it hard to dissolve aboard unidentifi ed boats,” it “ghost landings’’ along the Sicil- atrocities. (FPOe) in local elections in Low- The aff air has also embar- “But what this is not is a Nazi the fraternity unless it could be added. ian coast. The lyrics in the book pro- er Austria state. rassed the centre-left So- songbook...This stupid verse proven that the song was actu- Last July, the Guardian obtained “We do not know what they duced in 1997 by the Germania It also put Chancellor Sebas- cial Democrats (SPOe) after it was discovered at some point ally sung. an Interpol list of 173 suspected were doing before they got here, zu Wiener Neustadt organisa- tian Kurz under pressure since emerged that a party member — and blacked out, about 20 years Interior Minister Herbert Islamic State fi ghters, which we do not really know who they tion included “Step on the gas... he had formed a coalition at the one of four people under inves- ago. Basically the song is a joke Kickl, who is from the FPOe, the agency said could have been are and where they were before we can make it to seven million”, federal level in December with tigation by prosecutors — had song...It was never sung.” said in a statement that the fra- trained to mount attacks in Eu- they arrived in Sicily,” Salvatore media reports said. the anti-immigration FPOe. illustrated the song book. The FPOe, however, has not ternity would be disbanded “if rope, as revenge for the group’s Vella, a prosecutor in Agrigento, Six million Jews were killed in Several leading members of The unnamed man, since ejected Landbauer. criminally relevant activities are military defeats in the Middle East. and head of investigations, told the Holocaust during World War the FPOe — a party created by expelled by the party, said yes- The 31-year-old has said he established... Mere suspicions “Interpol regularly sends alerts the Guardian. II, many of them in gas chambers. former Nazis in the 1950s — terday that his drawings had was 11 years old when the book are not suffi cient.”

Jolie mission Furore over luxury trips Supermarket rapped over ‘Nutella riots’ by Ukraine politicians AFP The three-day promotion Paris prompted shoving and even full- blown fi ghts in several stores. AFP of his pricy break fi rst emerged Ukrainians enduring endemic Intermarche apologised to Kiev he had enjoyed “a short rest” and corruption. he French government has customers, but it has since con- that he “paid for the trip himself “It’s time for travel agencies to implored supermarkets tinued with aggressive discounts from his own account” which he launch tours ‘following Porosh- Tto refrain from the kind of on coff ee and nappies. uxury holidays enjoyed or would be listing in his earnings enko and Lutsenko’: Maldives — promotion deals that have led to The DGCCRF consumer planned by Ukraine’s presi- and expenditure submission. Seychelles — Panama,” Ukrainian in-store scuffl es over cut-price agency on Monday announced it Ldent and prosecutor general Lutsenko for his part respond- MP Sergiy Leshchenko wrote on jars of Nutella, a minister said was launching an investigation revealed by media have sparked ed yesterday on his Facebook Facebook, alluding to the recent yesterday. into the discounts. uproar in a country battling page by saying his son partly paid Panama papers leak that revealed Videos of French shoppers Le Maire urged Intermarche large-scale corruption — though for the trip. Poroshenko’s use of off shore ac- jostling as they tried to grab to “stop this kind of promo- the latter played down the claims “For those worried about my counts. heavily discounted tubs of the tion”, saying that the pushing yesterday. expenses, at the end of Septem- “And we all need to send them chocolate spread in Intermarche and shoving seen as customers Soon after the New Year, Presi- ber my older son got married and along the route: “resignation stores have gone viral over the clamoured to get their hands on dent Petro Poroshenko and 10 postponed a traditional honey- — investigation — court,” Lesh- past week. the Nutella tubs must not be- other people including friends moon at a later date,” Lutsenko chenko added. “I met with the director of In- come “normalised”. and family went on a secret posted. Corruption was one of the rea- termarche,” Economy Minister He reminded Intermarche’s seven-day vacation on a private “In 2018, Iryna, my wife, and sons that led people to take to Bruno Le Maire said, as his gov- management that like other island in the Maldives, spend- I celebrate our 30th wedding an- the streets during the 2013-2014 ernment prepared to unveil a bill supermarket chains, it had ing some $500,000, Ukrainian niversary and we’ve decided to Maidan revolution, a series of that will tighten rules on super- already “signed a deal to no investigative TV show Skhemy travel in January as a family and bloody events that culminated market promotions. longer carry out these kind of reported on January 18. share a vacation,” he added. with the ousting of Russia-backed “I told him that this must promotions. They must keep Tuesday, the same show re- He also published pictures con- President Viktor Yanoukovych. be stopped — we can’t have their word.” vealed an expensive family va- fi rming that he donated 450,000 The new authorities who came scenes like this every few days in Videos of the shopping frenzy cation for Ukraine’s prosecutor gryvnya (about 13,000 euros) to to power after the revolution France,” Le Maire told RTL radio. have been shared thousands of general Yuriy Lutsenko in the help soldiers wounded by Russia- made some positive changes in UNHCR special envoy actor Angelina Jolie is welcomed Intermarche sparked the shop- times on social media, with co- Seychelles, estimating the cost at backed rebels in a confl ict that has reforming Ukraine, but Ukraini- by Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg at the ping frenzy last Thursday when it median Anthony Joubert rack- more than 52,000 euros for three already killed more than 10,000 ans as well as the country’s West- Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday. slashed the price of a 950-gram ing up 700,000 plays on a song people. people in country’s east. ern allies still fear the interests of Jolie said she would work with the Nato military alliance pot of Nutella — a favoured featuring the lyrics, “A euro for Poroshenko’s press-offi ce told a Both investigations led to oligarchs and tycoons will come to combat sexual violence. breakfast spread in France — from Nutella, I’d kill a mother or fa- Ukrainian news agency after news a wave of indignation among fi rst. 4.50 euros ($5.60) to 1.41 euros. ther for that.” Gulf Times 16 Thursday, February 1, 2018 INDIA

LEGAL PROPOSAL DISASTER PROTEST DEFENCE Top court reserves order Govt drafts plan to end Earthquake jolts Woman throws eggs at IAF off icer held on on Agusta copter purchase drive against traders northern India Odisha chief minister charges of spying

The Supreme Court yesterday reserved its Union Housing and Urban Aff airs Minister A 6.1 magnitude earthquake on the Afghanistan- A woman, identified as the wife of a BJP worker, An Indian Air Force off icer, posted at the order seeking a probe into alleged irregularities Hardeep Singh Puri yesterday said the Tajikistan border region yesterday shook several yesterday hurled eggs at Odisha Chief Minister headquarters in New Delhi, has been taken into in the purchase of AgustaWestland helicopter government were planning to amend the Master parts of north India, including the national capital Naveen Patnaik in Balasore. Patnaik was custody on spying charge, sources said yesterday. for VIPs in 2006-07 and the foreign bank Plan 2021 for Delhi in an attempt to provide a and the Kashmir Valley, the met department said. addressing a gathering at the inauguration of According to a source, during a routine counter accounts purportedly linked to the son of relief to traders from an ongoing sealing drive The quake, which was felt in the Delhi-NCR region Talsari beach festival when the woman threw intelligence surveillance carried out by the IAF’s Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. in the city. Addressing media, Puri said that after as well as the Kashmir Valley, led to panic in some two eggs at him. While other leaders on the central security and investigation team, the off icer, The court reserved the order after hearing meetings with stakeholders they have come up parts with people rushing outdoors for safety. stage were hit, the chief minister was escorted who is a group captain, was found indulging arguments from the Chhattisgarh government with proposals for amendments and it would There were no reports of any damage due to the away unhurt, said a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader. in “unwanted activities through unauthorised and petitioners NGO Swaraj Abhiyan and T S be taken up in a Delhi Development Authority earthquake, off icials said. “The epicentre of the The woman was protesting the arrest of her electronic devices”. The case, said the source, was Singhdeo, the leader of the opposition in the (DDA) meeting tomorrow. Once the proposed quake was near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border husband Dillip Kamila, and was detained by of “honey trapping” after the off icer is said to have Chhattisgarh Assembly. The court said it was amendments are accepted, a notification will and occurred at a depth of around 190kms,” an police. Balasore superintendent of police (SP) befriended a woman on Facebook. The source concerned whether any “fraud” was committed be issued about the amendments and it will be off icial said in Srinagar. In New Delhi, Delhi Metro Niti Sekhar said the woman brought the eggs in a added that the off icer has been taken into custody while purchasing a VIP AgustaWestland placed in public domain, before it comes into trains were halted briefly but services were not bag and threw them from behind the barricade. for further questioning. The services have a strict helicopter. force, he said. disrupted, said a Delhi Metro off icial. Meanwhile, the BJD blamed the opposition for it. code on engaging on social media.

Court told Anti-Modi protest to decide UP probing on Karti lookout notice plea if Kasganj

IANS New Delhi violence was he Supreme Court yester- day asked the Madras High TCourt to decide in entirety all issues, including territorial jurisdiction, in Karti Chidambar- am’s plea challenging the CBI lookout circular against him in the pre-planned INX Media case. A division bench headed by the Agencies a car were burnt by a violent mob. out of control. According to wit- high court chief justice will de- Lucknow The district administration said nesses, the group was stopped at cide the plea within two months, a it had taken a slew of measures to Baddu Nagar by Muslim residents bench of chief justice Dipak Misra, contain lingering tension, with the who had blocked the road for a fl ag justice A M Khanwilkar, and jus- he Uttar Pradesh govern- state government removing the hoisting ceremony. tice D Y Chandrachud said. ment in its report to the superintendent of police. “The bikers demanded they be The lookout circular was issued TUnion home ministry yes- As many as 118 persons have allowed to pass but the others re- on June 16 and July 18, 2017. terday said it was in the process been arrested in connection with fused. This led to a skirmish and Karti Chidambaram is the son of ascertaining if the violence and the violence, according to inputs escalated into a communal clash,” of former Union fi nance minister arson were pre-planned in Kasganj from the home ministry. they said. P Chidambaram. where communal riots broke out Besides police, units of the anti- This was the fi rst communal “All issues raised in these writ after a youth was killed on Repub- riot Rapid Action Force have been clash in Kasganj since 1992. petitions, including territorial ju- lic Day. deployed in sensitive locations in “There was anger on both the risdiction, are kept open and shall In the report, the Uttar Pradesh the district to check untoward in- sides due to which violence fl ared be addressed to by the high court,” Police said it “swung into action cidents, a senior home ministry up so quickly,” said Rakesh Singh, a the apex court said. after the violence was reported offi cial said. resident of Chamunda area. As Karti said that he may have and brought it under control Meanwhile, media reports Hardly half a kilometre from to travel abroad regarding his quickly”, according to home min- claimed that trouble had been Baddu Nagar is the “Badi Masjid” businesses matters, the court said: istry offi cials. brewing in the area for long. – the biggest mosque in Kasganj. “If any application for travelling It mentioned the arrests made On the evening of August 15 Sitting on a wooden bed near the abroad is fi led before the high by the police and the circumstanc- last year, a few months after the mosque, Mohamed Aftab, a re- court, the same shall be appositely es leading to the death of 22-year- Bharatiya Janata Party came to tired teacher, said: “The country is addressed.” old Chandan Gupta. power in Uttar Pradesh, a group of above all but one must not mix the The court reiterated its August “All facts are being ascertained Muslim residents of Baddu Nagar two. I will hoist the tricolour with 14, 2017, order putting on hold the to know if violence was pre- – a Muslim majority area in Soron, pride but why should I raise a saf- high court stay on the lookout cir- planned or not,” said the report. Kasganj, around 70km from Ali- fron fl ag.” cular. The Uttar Pradesh govern- garh – had approached the police “The men on the motorcycles The court said the circular will ment’s move comes a day after the and complained about the “rowdy forced us to hoist saff ron fl ag, in- remain operational till the matter home ministry sought a detailed behaviour of bikers” who passed stead of the tricolour. They called was decided by the high court in report on the incident and the cur- through the area earlier that day as us traitors and what not. The two months. rent situation in the state, includ- part of Tiranga Yatra. violence had to happen,” said a The apex court, however, did ing on measures taken to ensure “At least 12 men on motorbikes middle-aged man of the area, on not accept the plea of additional peace in the district. passed through the area. A couple condition of anonymity. solicitor general Tushar Mehta Meanwhile, inspector general of them had the tricolour tied to “The bikers shouted provoca- that the circular should remain (Aligarh range) Sanjeev Gupta said their bikes while the rest had saf- tive slogans, which might have operational for one more week be- the Uttar Pradesh Police have ar- fron fl ags,” recalled Rehan Shah, led to the clashes. Our teams are yond the high court verdict as the rested the main accused in the one of the complainants. also looking at this,” said Kasganj CBI may have to rush to the top Kasganj arson. He was identifi ed “Though they were carrying the superintendent of police Sunil court to challenge it. as Salim. national fl ag, they were shouting Kumar Singh who has since been The CBI has alleged irregu- Kasganj superintendent of po- objectionable slogans,” he added. transferred. larities in the Foreign Investment lice, Piyush Srivastava, said that The then in charge of the Soron A senior police offi cer who Promotion Board clearance in the notices pertaining to attachment police post, Narendra Kumar Gaur, spoke on condition of anonymity INX Media case and is investigat- of properties of the accused earlier overlooked the complaint. Five claimed that the police were slow ing Karti’s alleged role in the mat- arrested in connection with the months later, on Republic Day this to respond to the violence. Most ter. National Students’ Union of India activists stage a demonstration against Prime Minister violence have been pasted on their year, a much bigger group of young of them were participating in Re- Karti is also facing an enforce- Narendra Modi in Bengaluru yesterday. The prime minister had claimed that people selling houses. men attempted a similar rally public Day celebrations at the Po- ment directorate probe for alleged pakodas (a fried snack) could also be considered as employed. Following the killing of the through Baddu Nagar. The result lice Lines about 10km away from money laundering in the case. youth, three shops, two buses, and was a tragedy that rapidly spiralled Kasganj. India enhances maritime Winged guests Top court ‘concerned’ reach with Seychelles deal over toddler’s rape IANS The court was hearing a New Delhi public interest litigation fi led Reuters exclusive economic zone of 1.3mn prevent intrusions by potential by Alakh Alok Srivastava, a New Delhi/Port Victoria square kms, Faure added. economic off enders,” he said. practising advocate of the First announced during Prime These are people engaged in il- xpressing concern over court, who sought directions Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to legal fi shing, poaching, drug and the rape of an eight- to the authorities to immedi- ndia has signed a 20-year pact the islands in 2015, the pact faced human traffi cking, he added. Emonth-old baby girl al- ately shift the child to AIIMS with the Seychelles to build an problems, as critics who feared a China has been building ports, legedly by her cousin here, and to ensure best possible Iairstrip and a jetty for its navy handover of territory demanded power stations and highways the Supreme Court yesterday medical facilities for her. in the island chain, the two coun- that the Seychelles government across Asia, but the terms of some directed AIIMS to send two He said that the external and tries said, as New Delhi steps up a make clear the terms of India’s of its investments have angered doctors to visit the child in internal injuries on the child contest with China for infl uence role. people. the hospital and assess if the were very severe that she had in the Indian Ocean. In Sri Lanka, China faced criti- she can be shifted to a premier to undergo a three-hour sur- China last year inaugurated “The development is a cism after taking control of the medical facility. gery. its fi rst overseas military base in clear indicator that India’s southern port of Hambantota A bench, headed by chief jus- “The girl belongs to an ex- Djibouti, near one of the world’s geo-strategic frontier is it had built in a debt-to-equity tice Dipak Misra, ordered that tremely poor family. Her father busiest shipping lanes, deepening expanding in tandem with swap deal. in case the infant could not be works as a labourer and her Indian insecurities and pushing it China’s growing strategic India has tried to be more care- shifted, the All India Institute mother works as a domestic to gain a foothold in the region. footprint in the Indo-Pacifi c” ful, avoiding giving hard loans of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) help,” said the plea. The agreement signed in the and casting its assistance as a doctors shall tender personal The 28-year-old cousin Seychelles’ capital of Victoria last joint endeavour. assistance to the baby. confessed to raping the baby weekend provides for India to de- But those concerns have since But military offi cials called the The court said it is “very on Sunday under the infl uence velop the airstrip and jetty on the been tackled, offi cials said. Seychelles pact a big step in ex- much concerned” about the of alcohol. Assumption islands, near another India and Seychelles are mari- tending the reach of India’s navy, alleged sexual assault on the The child’s parents, resi- shipping route. time neighbours with a stake in which is expected to rotate its infant and sought a report from dents of west Delhi’s Netaji “India is helping us free of each other’s security, said Foreign ships and aircraft through the is- the doctors on her condition by Subhash Place, used to go charge, and the facilities and Secretary Subrahmanyam Jais- lands. today. out for work and leave their activities will entirely be at the hankar, who signed the agree- “The development is a clear in- The government has assured daughter in the custody of control of Seychelles and will be ment in his last offi cial action be- dicator that India’s geo-strategic Migratory bar-headed geese land at the Gharana wetlands it that the child will get the their sister-in-law. conducted as per the laws of Sey- fore retiring this week. frontier is expanding in tandem near the India-Pakistan border in Ranbir Singh Pura, about best medical care. Since it was a Sunday, their chelles,” Barry Faure, its secretary “India and Seychelles have with China’s growing strategic 37km from Jammu, yesterday. Every year, thousands of The court also asked a mem- sister-in-law’s son was at of state for foreign aff airs, said. drawn up a co-operation agenda footprint in the Indo-Pacifi c,” migratory birds from northern areas including Siberia ber of the National Legal Serv- home and when he saw that his But nothing had been leased to that covers joint eff orts in anti- said Captain Gurpreet Khurana of arrive at the Gharana wetland and other parts of India ices Authority to accompany mother was not around the ac- India and the new facilities would piracy operations, and enhanced the Indian Navy’s National Mari- during the winter season. the doctors when they visit the cused allegedly assaulted the help Seychelles better control its surveillance and monitoring to time Foundation. infant. baby, the police said. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 17 INDIA

CONTROVERSY CRIME CONTROVERSY APPOINTMENT LAW AND ORDER Congress call for probe BSF commandant held with Delhi Speaker snubs call Saseendran to be sworn Conman accused of into judge Loya’s death Rs4.5mn from Alappuzha to remove Tipu’s portrait in as Kerala minister Rs10bn fraud arrested

The Congress has demanded a Supreme Court- The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Amid BJP’s opposition to the putting up of Tipu A K Saseendran, who had quit as Kerala transport A conman from Chhattisgarh wanted in connec- monitored probe into the “suspicious” death of a BSF commandant in Kerala’s Alappuzha with Sultan’s portrait in the Delhi Assembly, Speaker minister in 2017 over a sleaze charge, will be tion with fake lottery schemes and floating bogus judge B H Loya in December 2014, saying there Rs4.5mn in cash allegedly collected from smug- Ram Niwas Goel yesterday said it wouldn’t be sworn in as a minister today. The Nationalist Con- companies to cheat people in the state has been seemed to be a “cover-up” and “some serious glers on the India-Bangladesh border, an off icial removed “at any cost.” “Won’t remove the portrait gress Party leader had to resign in March 2017 nabbed by the Maharashtra Police from Thane, an questions were unanswered”. Congress leader said yesterday. Jibu D Mathew, in charge of Border at any cost. (The) BJP always creates controver- after a sleaze chat of his with a woman journalist off icial said. The accused – a gold medal-winning Kapil Sibal said the party was putting out some Security Force’s (BSF) 83rd Battalion at the south sies,” Goel said. On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind had surfaced. Last week, a court cleared Saseen- medico, Prithipal Ramsinh Sethi, 65 – had been hitherto unknown “facts” in the public domain, Bengal frontier, was arrested on a tip-off after he got Kejriwal unveiled the portraits of 70 personali- dran of the charge. Kerala Governor P Sathasivam absconding from the clutches of police in Chhat- including that Justice Loya, who was holding the off the Shalimar Express train at Alappuzha. Mathew ties who played a vital role in nation-building. will administer the oath of off ice to Saseendran in tisgarh’s Mahasamund since 2015. He is accused of trial into the alleged staged shootout death of regularly took bribes from smugglers for facilitat- These national heroes include freedom fighters the Raj Bhavan. Yesterday, a woman filed a fresh duping people of over Rs10bn. “He used to set up Sohrabuddin Sheikh and two others, had told a ing their illegal activities across the border, said the Ashfaqulla Khan and Bhagat Singh, Birsa Munda, petition in the Kerala High Court questioning bogus firms, claim to install machinery, and issue lawyer-activist in a video conversation about “a CBI off icial. The 4,096km India-Bangladesh border Rani Chennamma and Subhas Chandra Bose. BJP the way the case was disposed off by the lower advertisements luring investors with high returns. draft order” which he was being “pressurised to manned by BSF sees large-scale smuggling of cat- MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa took exception to Tipu court. The woman had earlier approached the After the gullible investors put in their money, he sign”. BJP president Amit Shah was an accused in tle, drugs, and counterfeit Indian currency notes as Sultan’s picture and urged the Speaker to order lower court requesting Saseendran should not be would simply shut down the off ices and disappear the case but later acquitted. well as human traff icking. its removal. cleared. However, her plea was dismissed. to another location,” the off icial said. Mumbai’s Navy launches new submarine fi rst ‘slum hotel’ opens for tourists

Guardian News and Media a new mattress – all of which are London considered luxuries for the ma- jority of residents. Bijl says the entire Rs2,000 ourists are being off ered a rate for one night’s stay will go night’s stay in a Mumbai to the host family. “I am already Tslum to experience the getting a lot of interest from “reality” of life in India’s fi nan- (other) slum families who want cial capital, including using a to invite guests to stay,” he said. public toilet shared by more than Around 60% of Mumbai’s 50 other families. 20mn residents live in slums, The scheme is being run by giving rise to the city’s moniker David Bijl, 32, a Dutch citizen “Slumbai”. Housing is scarce who works for a Mumbai NGO and so expensive that even the in conjunction with a local resi- wealthiest residents grumble dent, Ravi Sansi. He argues that over rents and purchase prices. slums are “part of the reality of Tours of Mumbai’s slums are Mumbai – not the only part, but not new, but remain controver- a part” and anyone who wishes sial. Supporters say they off er a to understand the inequalities window into the true nature of of the city needs to understand poverty, arguing that both sides slum life. Other tours of Mumbai benefi t from the interaction, slums, he said, can often be “su- particularly if the proceeds go to perfi cial”. residents. India’s third Scorpene-class submarine INS Karanj is pulled by a tugboat to sea during its launch at the Mazagon Dock naval shipbuilding yard, in Mumbai yesterday. “Visitors come in, take a few But critics decry what they snapshots for their Facebook see as “poverty tourism”, which page and go off without really they claim is exploitative and de- understanding anything,” he meaning. said. “I have worked in many Asim Shaikh, manager of slums and I know there is a posi- Reality Tours and Travels, has tive impact for both sides when been taking foreign tourists an outsider takes an interest in into Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, slum dwellers’ lives and how which sprawls over more than they cope by connecting with 160 hectares, for the past 11 them.” years. He claims the trips are “a Army fi les counter charges Sansi’s family home will be way to dispel the negative im- available for tourists to stay in. It age of life in the slums as dirty includes a new “loft” which has and crime-infested, and of see- been equipped with a fl atscreen ing normal people going about television, an air conditioner and their lives”. in Shopian fi ring incident

Paint makeover puts slum on tourist map IANS Ganowpora village of Shopian was passing through Ganau- The state Bharatiya Janata from the funeral march. New Delhi district in south Kashmir on pura chowk when it came under Party has demanded withdrawal The Joint Resistance Leader- A colourful paint job has of a creative agency, was keen January 27, when security forces “unprovoked and intense stone of the earlier chargesheet, while ship, a separatist body, headed transformed one of Mumbai’s to brighten the lives of slum resi- opened fi re after an army con- pelting” by a group of 100-120 Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz drab hilltop slums into a tourist dents, while also changing the he army has fi led a coun- voy came under a stone pelting people. said the investigation into the Umer Farooq and Mohamed Ya- destination, even prompt- perception of slums being dirty ter charge-sheet in the attack. The army said the crowd sur- killings of the civilians would be sin Malik, has called for a protest ing comparisons with Italy’s and dangerous, and decided on Tfi ring incident in Shopian Two youths, identifi ed as rounded an isolated portion of taken to its logical conclusion. march to Shopian on Friday to picturesque Amalfi Coast. During a simple makeover. Armed with district of Jammu and Kashmir, Javaid Ahmad and Suhail Ah- the convoy consisting of four A magisterial probe has also express solidarity with the fam- a recent journey on a Mumbai dozens of cans of colourful paint, informed sources said yesterday. mad, died of bullet injuries vehicles. A junior commissioned been ordered by the state gov- ilies of the three killed youths. metro train, Dedeepya Reddy Reddy and a team of about 700 The counter charge-sheet the same day, while another, offi cer accompanying the con- ernment into the fi ring incident. Malik made the announce- was struck by the grim appear- volunteers painted the walls and was fi led on January 28 in re- 19-year-old Rayees Ahmad voy got hit on the head and fell Meanwhile, hundreds yester- ment yesterday in old city No- ance of a slum in Asalpha in the alleyways of the hilltop slum over sponse to a charge-sheet lodged Ganai, who was admitted in unconscious suff ering serious day joined Ganai’s funeral pro- whatta area of Srinagar while city’s eastern suburbs as she two weekends last month. Resi- by the Jammu and Kashmir Po- the hospital on Saturday, suc- injury. cession. leading a protest march against stared out from her air-condi- dents, at first sceptical, also got lice over the killing of civilians cumbed to his injuries yesterday Considering the “extreme Hundreds of mourners gathered the civilian deaths. tioned carriage. Reddy, a Harvard involved and helped paint quirky that mentions soldiers from 10 morning. gravity of the situation, the at Narpora, the ancestral village of Geelani and Mirwaiz have University-educated co-founder murals, the 31-year-old said. Garhwal Rifl es as the accused. In a statement, the army army was constrained to open Rayees where he was buried. been placed under house arrest Three youths were killed in said the administrative convoy fi re in self defence”, it said. Security forces kept away in Srinagar. Man ends 782-day sit-in as BJP mocks Rahul custody death probe starts over ‘Rs63,000 jacket’ IANS a celebration of Meghalaya’s mu- New Delhi sic, culture and way of life. By Ashraf Padanna to withdraw his strike, the man The State Police Complaints Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Thiruvananthapuram refused to budge. Authority (SPCA) on May 16, leader and BJP general secretary “My only demand is an inde- 2016, confi rmed Sreejeev’s death controversy erupted yes- Ram Madhav also hit out at Gan- pendent investigation without as a custody death and ordered terday after Meghalaya dhi, saying the Congress left the Kerala man who has been the interference of state agen- the suspension of three offi cers, Aunit of the BJP mocked northeast states poor while their on a sit-in before the cies,” said the frail 30-year-old and further investigation. Congress president Rahul Gan- leaders roamed around in costly Astate’s administrative Sreejith who was once a body- It also recommended the gov- dhi accusing him of wearing a jackets. headquarters for the past 782 builder. A Mr Kerala runner-up ernment to pay a token compen- Burberry jacket worth $995, or “The Congress doesn’t under- days seeking justice for his dead a few years back, Sreejith now sation of Rs1mn. Rs63,000 allegedly at the cost of stand popular sentiment in the brother has fi nally called off the weighs only 49kg. The offi cers soon moved the the state exchequer. northeast today. The four states strike. “Now that I have achieved my high court and obtained a stay “So @Offi ceOfRG, wear- have rejected Congress already S R Sreejith has been demand- goal, I am ending my sit-in. But order. Though the government ing jacket with ‘black’ money and Meghalaya is ready to do the ing a probe by the Central Bu- I will continue my struggle for paid the money, it did nothing to fl eeced from Meghalayan state same now. Congress not even in reau of Investigation (CBI) into justice till all offi cers responsible vacate the stay. exchequer through rampant cor- reckoning in the Tripura and Na- the death of his brother Sreejeev for my brother’s death in custody “All the three offi cers belong ruption? Instead of singing away galand. Congress left northeast in police custody four years ago. are sentenced,” he said to the ruling Communist Par- our woes, you could have given poor and underdeveloped while The federal agency yesterday re- According to Sreejith, his ty of India (Marxist),” claimed a report card of your ineffi cient their leaders roam around in corded Sreejith and his mother’s brother Sreejeev was picked up Sreejeev’s mother Ramani govt in Meghalaya! Your indif- Rs70,000 jackets,” Madhav said. statements. from an eatery on the night of Prameela, 49. ference mocks us!,” the BJP said However, the Congress rebutted Ignored by the authorities all May 19, 2014, on charges of mo- “We were therefore certain in a tweet. the BJP’s claim, saying the same these days, the case suddenly bile phone theft and died in hos- that this government will do The saff ron party also tweeted jacket was available for Rs700. grabbed the national headlines pital three days later. nothing to harm them. In fact, an image of a jacket similar to the “I don’t know whether to last month after an independent The family alleges that the all the offi cers linked to the case one Gandhi wore with a price tag laugh or to cry at the desperation social media campaign. police intentionally framed him were given promotions after the of $995. Gandhi wore the jacket of the BJP. You mean to say they Though Dr Shashi Tharoor MP one of the police offi cers feared current government came to on Tuesday when he attended a have no other work than to search had got an assurance from Home Sreejeev was preparing to elope power,” she said concert in Shillong. online for jacket rates. I can get Minister Rajnath Singh last with a daughter of his The SPCA had held that Five musical bands, includ- the same jacket for Rs700. If the month and Kerala Chief Minister relative on the eve of her marriage Sreejeev “life was snuff ed out by ing Shillong-based Soulmates, prime minister wants I can make Pinarayi Vijayan sent one of his as they were in love. The boy was a the police by brutal physical as- Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrives at Lokpriya Gopinath performed at the concert entitled a jacket for him too,” Congress aides to Sreejith with an appeal Hindu and the girl a Christian. sault in custody.” Bordoloi International airport in Guwahati yesterday. “Celebrate Peace and Way of Life”, leader Renuka Chaudhary said. Gulf Times 18 Thursday, February 1, 2018 LATIN AMERICA Lula leads in Pardon protest opinion polls despite graft conviction

AFP A crowded fi eld is disputing quent economic disarray and for Sao Paulo third place in the poll, including overseeing the systemic graft un- environmentalist Marina Silva, covered by prosecutors since 2014. leftist Ciro Gomes, and Sao Paulo As a result, Lula’s rejection razil’s fi ery left-wing Governor Geraldo Alckmin, from rate is easily the highest among former president, Luiz In- the establishment centre-right the candidates, at 40%. Bacio Lula da Silva, retains a party PSDB. A big benefi ciary of this voter strong lead ahead of presidential In a second round on October unrest — which extends to anger elections despite his conviction 28 — if Lula were allowed to run against all the mainstream par- on graft charges, according to an — the former president would ties — has been former army of- opinion poll published yesterday. easily defeat Bolsonaro by 49% fi cer Bolsonaro. An appeals court last week to 32%, Datafolha found. A veteran politician, he has upheld a money laundering and If Lula were absent, Bolsonaro long been on the margins. corruption conviction against would lose easily to Silva in the However, his attacks on cor- Lula and imposed a more than 12 runoff round, Datafolha said, ruption and outspoken nostalgia year prison sentence. while losing by just two percent- for the days of Brazil’s military The sentence means that the age points against Alckmin. dictatorship have caught the Workers’ Party founder and icon The poll was carried out this mood, seeing him shoot up in the of the Latin American left has week with 2,826 respondents polls over the last year. Peruvian police off icers shadow hundreds of protesters who had gathered in Lima on Tuesday for the fifth time against the few avenues left to being allowed and a two percentage point mar- That momentum appears to presidential pardon granted to former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). The December 24 pardon, allowed on humanitarian to run in October’s election. gin of error. have stalled in the latest poll, Da- reasons, sparked a wave of protests against political corruption in Peru as Fujimori was released after serving less than half of a 25- Even with the scandal, Lula Brazilian voters are in an angry, tafolha said. year sentence for human rights abuses at a time Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s political stability pended on the balance. remains a clear frontrunner, the volatile mood after coming out of Alckmin, who would represent A delegation of victims’ relatives of massacres will attend a hearing tomorrow of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights in San respected Datafolha pollsters the country’s worst recession in the greatest continuity with the Jose, Costa Rica, to demand the annulment of the pardon granted by Kuczynski to Fujimori and the impeachment of the later for his found in the fi rst survey taken history and in the aftermath of a current centre-right government relationship with Brazilian company Odebretch during his political life as minister of past administrations. since the appeals court decision. giant corruption scandal that has of President Michel Temer, con- In the poll, published by Folha tainted not only Lula but scores tinues to lag behind leftist can- de S Paulo newspaper, Lula would of other politicians. didates. get between 34% and 37% of Lula has a passionate following He is polling almost neck and votes in a fi rst round on October 7. among Brazilians who remember neck with television presenter This is easily ahead of right- strides in reducing poverty dur- Luciano Huck in the latest poll. wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro, ing his 2003-2010 presidency. Huck hasn’t even declared who polls with 16% to 18%, ac- However, opponents feel just as himself a candidate and does not belong to a political party. Violent Northern Triangle cording to Datafolha. strongly, blaming him for subse- now in Trump crosshairs Peru widens corruption probe By Carlos Mario Marquez, AFP countries last year — a drop per 100,000 inhabitants — ac- because for each killing, there San Salvador from previous years but still a cording to the National Forensic are fi ve to eight relatives of the Reuters offi cials...on the contrary, we are It was not clear what the im- very high rate given the nations’ Institute. That number was ba- victim,” said Salvadoran analyst Lima an organisation with no room for mediate impact might be if Grana relatively small populations. sically stable from 2016. Roberto Canas. irregular practices or fraud,” the were formally placed under in- ebate is raging in Ameri- That persistent violence Mario Polanco, head of the Those who depended on the company said in a statement. vestigation. ca over how to adapt the spurs emigration. Mutual Support Group, a Gua- person killed “end up desperate, eruvian prosecutors in- Grana has been hit by a se- Under an anti-graft law passed Dcountry’s immigration Guatemalans, El Salvadorans temala-based crime tracker, orphaned and living a profound vestigating a $20mn bribe ries of setbacks that have sunk last year, companies that have laws — a process that will invar- and Hondurans are together the said it was a “failure” that his social pain that is often suff ered Pthat Brazilian builder Ode- its share price since late 2016, acknowledged or been found iably aff ect Central America’s second largest group of undocu- country’s murder rate had not in silence and in private because brecht allegedly paid a former when its partner Odebrecht ac- guilty of corruption cannot bid so-called Northern Triangle. mented immigrants in the Unit- dipped signifi cantly. of the fear of more violence,” he president have sought a judge’s knowledged paying local offi cials on new government contracts The region, made up of El ed States after unauthorised The murder rates for each of the said. approval to formally investi- $29mn in bribes to secure lucra- and must comply with a series of Salvador, Guatemala and Hon- migrants from Mexico, accord- three countries in 2017 were far In an eff ort to stem the out- gate Peru’s biggest construction tive construction contracts. fi nancial restrictions. duras, remains one of the most ing to the Pew Research Center. above the global average of 5.3 per fl ow of people from the North- company, Grana y Montero. As Grana has been paying Critics say the law has dis- violent parts of the world out- El Salvador (population 100,000 inhabitants, according to ern Triangle seeking refuge in Grana said late on Tuesday down debt stemming from the couraged other companies from side of war zones, according to 6.3mn) topped the regional data compiled by the World Bank. the United States, Washington that a judge had summoned it cancellation of a pipeline project off ering prosecutors details of national statistics for 2017. ranking for the murder rate: 60 Venezuela was by far the risk- has allocated $750mn to the to a February 16 hearing regard- it was building with Odebrecht, potential corruption and the It is a major source of mi- per 100,000 inhabitants, ac- iest country in Latin America Central American region to ing the prosecutors’ request to its former executives have been government of President Pedro grants fl owing into the US, often cording to police data. It re- and the Caribbean, with a rate boost security and rule of law, include it and other units in the placed under pre-trial arrest and Pablo Kuczynski has said it plans without legal documentation — corded a total 3,954 murders, of 89 murders per 100,000 in- and increase prosperity. Grana y Montero Group as “in- prosecutors have raided its offi ces. to replace it ahead of its expira- placing the region on the front- 25% lower than in 2016. habitants, according to regional So far under Trump, hardline vestigated subjects” in the far- Grana reiterated on Tuesday tion next month. line of policy changes pushed by Honduras (population 9mn) crime monitor InSight Crime. immigration policies have been reaching graft probe. that it had no knowledge that Judge Richard Concepcion, President Donald Trump, who followed with a rate of 43 per El Salvador came next, fol- enacted, making it more dif- Grana rejected the notion that any of its employees or former who has approved prosecutors’ made immigration a key part of 100,000 inhabitants, for a total of lowed by Jamaica, then Hondu- fi cult for Central Americans to any of the Grana companies employees took part in corrup- requests to order the pre-trial his State of the Union address 3,791 — a 26% drop over the pre- ras, Brazil and Guatemala. get into the United States, and should be targeted. tion and said it was willing to detention of corruption sus- on Tuesday. vious year, police data showed. “They should declare perma- exposing them to greater risk of “These companies are not or- collaborate with probes by public pects, summoned Grana to the A total of 13,129 people were Guatemala (population nent mourning across the three deportation if they are caught ganisations designed to corrupt prosecutors. February 16 hearing, Grana said. slain in Northern Triangle 16.6mn) saw 5,384 murders — 32 (Northern Triangle) countries, without permission to stay. Idyllic hammerhead shark nursery comes up in Galapagos

By Jordi Miro, AFP grow and need more food, they make water, they move its head and tail to re- Santa Cruz, Ecuador their way to the open ocean and can vive it, until it swims off on its own. travel for thousands of kilometres, “They cannot spend more than two growing as long as 3m and living for up minutes out of water because they need or millions of years, new-born to 50 years. a constant fl ow to avoid dying. It’s like hammerhead sharks have grown The park rangers have for years been a pit stop in Formula 1 racing,” said the Fup in nurseries sheltered by the monitoring and tagging hundreds of biologist. mangrove swamps and reefs of the sharks, one of the landmark species To save the hammerheads, the gov- Galapagos Islands, safe from all human of the 138,000sq km marine reserve, ernment of Ecuador, to which the is- threat. the second-largest oceanic park in the lands belong, added an extra layer But until November, biologists had world, which has been named a Natural of protection in 2016 — a 38,000sq no idea the sharks had their own hide- Heritage Site. km sanctuary zone between Darwin away that could hold some of the fi - But the discovery of these small and Wolf islands, where all fi shing is nal secrets of this remote archipelago sharks has been a particularly sensitive banned. 1,000km off South America’s Pacifi c issue, as overfi shing and the illegal cap- The area is the mostly densely popu- coast. ture of sharks has placed them on the lated zone for shark populations in the “It was quite by chance that we found list of endangered species, two levels world. this natural nursery for baby hammer- below extinction, according to the In- Jose Marin, a biologist at the Charles heads, a species that is under a high ternational Union for the Conservation Darwin Foundation, an international level of threat,” said Eduardo Espinoza, of Nature. scientifi c research NGO, said Ecuador the biologist in charge of monitoring Their slow physical development and was making “titanic eff orts” in the fi eld ecosystems in the Galapagos Marine low reproduction rates have only exac- of conservation of sharks, whose fi ns Reserve. erbated the threat. are a highly prized delicacy in Asian “It is a unique area, of great interest That makes the operation to attach cuisine. to conservationists,” he told AFP. tracking devices all the more delicate. “These studies, sometimes using Still stunned by the fi nd, Espinoza “Shark, there to the right!” shouts satellite tracking, alert us to where and his team are returning by boat to one of the team members. these sharks are being caught when the spot in northeastern Santa Cruz, At this point, everything moves at a they leave the marine reserve, and al- one of the main islands in the archipel- frantic speed. low us to notify other countries so they ago, to collect data and attach tracking The captain moves the boat closer to can help us protect them,” he said. devices to the young sharks. the net. In August, a Chinese-fl agged ship The picturesque journey takes the One of the assistants grabs the shark, was intercepted in the Galapagos ma- scientists past sea turtles and white A Galapagos National Park Marine Ecosystems monitoring team member releases a baby hammerhead shark after half a metre long, and holds it on a ta- rine reserve with 300 tons of fi sh, in- beaches where black marine iguanas measuring and tagging it off Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos. ble so that Espinoza and the others can cluding some hammerheads. sun themselves while enormous peli- measure and weigh it, determine its sex The Ecuadorean courts, which hand cans soar overhead, before their small Clearly visible in the water, dozens of fi sh, looking for the crustaceans they they need here and the reefs aff ord protec- and insert a tracking chip in its back so down stiff sentences for environmental boat winds its way down a narrow of small, silver-skinned sharks, one eye feed on during their early years. tion from large predators,” said Espinoza its habits and migration routes can be crimes, sentenced the captain and his channel between the mangroves to a on either extremity of their T-shaped “The females arrive to give birth and as he cast a wide net into the water. logged. offi cers to three years in jail, and fi ned shallow, rocky pool. heads, glide gently among other species then leave. The young have all the food After one or two years, when they Putting the young shark back in the the owners of the ship $6mn. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 19 PAKISTAN 27 militants Afghan refugees given handed over fi ve-month extension to Kabul in Reuters neighbours have deteriorated in stan’s ministry of states and burden, and says that Islam- Assistance said. Islamabad recent years and took another frontier regions said it had de- ist militants often hide among On the outskirts of Kabul, ref- turn for the worse this week after cided that permission to stay them, but humanitarian agen- ugees who have come back from bloody Taliban attacks in Kabul. should be extended for another cies say Afghanistan could not Pakistan and internally dis- November Pakistani government Afghanistan and the United fi ve months. cope with an infl ux of repatri- placed people eke out a living on ministry recommended States say Taliban and other “The main reason for the ex- ated refugees at this time. a windswept, muddy plain and Ayesterday that Afghan militants plot carnage in safe tension is that it isn’t possible It is already struggling to help wait for help. Internews information about the hando- refugees be given a fi ve-month havens on the Pakistani side of humanly to ask over 1mn people those refugees who have come “We returned from Pakistan Islamabad ver of Taliban and Haqqani extension of their stay, dispelling the border and have repeatedly to leave at once,” the spokesman, back over recent years as well and have nothing here,” said one fi ghters hours before Presi- fears that a large-scale repatria- called on Pakistan to do more to Aqdas Shaukat, said. people displaced internally by woman called Shazia, who came dent Trump’s fi rst State of the tion back to violence-plagued rein them in. “Our understanding is that fi ghting. back three years ago. aking a major disclo- Union address yesterday. Afghanistan was imminent. The tense relations led to another fi ve months will give In 2017, fi ghting forced “Our children collect plastic sure, the foreign of- The address was expected Pakistan is home to the concern that Pakistan might re- the refugees a good time to leave 360,000 people from their and paper to keep us warm.” Mfi ce (FO) of Pakistan to touch upon the situation in world’s second-largest refu- taliate by pushing back Afghan gradually.” homes, the United Nations said Another returnee from Pa- stated yesterday that 27 sus- Afghanistan, where President gee population, with a total of refugees, particularly since of- The cabinet would decide on in a recent report, while more kistan, Etibar Gul, also worried pected Taliban and Haqqani Trump has decided to add 2.5mn Afghans, many of whom fi cial permission to stay was the recommendation next week, than 17,000 people were dis- about his children. network fi ghters were handed 4,000 more troops under his been living there since the Soviet only extended for 30 days at the he said. placed over the past week, the “There is no food or cloth- over to Kabul in November new strategy for the confl ict. invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. beginning of this month. Pakistan complains that the UN, Organisation for the Co- ing,” he said. “Our children have last year and vowed continued Three terrorist attacks in But relations between the But a spokesman for Paki- large number of refugees are a ordination of Humanitarian nothing to wear in this cold.” pressure against the two out- Kabul over the past few days fi ts, said to have been involved in which around 130 people in the recent wave of terror have been killed have left lit- attacks in Afghanistan. tle doubt that the aggres- The revelation was made sive Trump strategy is not Fruitful attempt in a tweet by spokesman working well. Muhammad Faisal, who in The administration blames a post on Twitter said, “27 Pakistan for not taking action Petroleum against alleged Taliban and individuals suspected of be- longing to TTA (Tehreek-i- Haqqani network sanctuar- Taliban Afghanistan) and HN ies from which they are said (Haqqani network) have been to be sustaining the attacks in handed over to Afghanistan in Afghanistan. prices to hit President Trump, after a November 2017.” However, no details were meeting with ambassadors provided about who was from UN Security Council handed over to the Afghan member countries on Mon- government and under what day, ruled out peace talks with 3-year high Taliban. arrangement. It is, however, presumed that the transfer He said: “So there’s no talk- Internews of HSD would go up by 11.4%, took place ahead of US De- ing to the Taliban. We don’t Islamabad kerosene by 19.8%, LDO by fence Secretary James Mat- want to talk to the Taliban. 20.1% and petrol by 3.7%. tis’s trip to Islamabad on We’re going to fi nish what we In a summary sent to the December 4. have to fi nish. What nobody rices of major oil prod- government, Ogra maintained The secret transfer may else has been able to fi nish, ucts are set to pass be- that the adjustment in prices have ensured that the trip we’re going to be able to do it.” Pyond three-year high in of petroleum products was re- went smoothly, but it did not Although US offi cials have Pakistan, with diesel crossing quired to pass on the impact of have any signifi cant impact been saying that his speech Rs100 per litre mark – highest fl uctuation in international oil on US perceptions about Pa- would be “optimistic” and since November 2014 – amid prices and the rupee against US kistan, much like the Joshua “forward looking”, it could rising international prices and dollar during January as crude Boyle-Coleman recovery by contain a bitter tone about Pa- falling rupee value. priced touched $70 a barrel. Pakistani troops. kistan if Trump has not recon- However, the government Therefore, on the basis of It was praised by President sidered so far his utterances has the cushion to absorb the existing tax rates and im- Trump, but the goodwill was against this country. estimated increase partly by ported cost of PSO, Ogra cal- short-lived and the allega- Faisal, in another tweet, bringing down the 31% gener- culated the new ex-depot tions returned soon. said Pakistan was exerting al sales tax rate on high-speed price of HSD at Rs100.16 per Weeks after the handing pressure on the Taliban and diesel (HSD) in view of its di- litre instead of existing rate over of Taliban and Haqqani the Haqqani network. rect psychological impact on of Rs89.91 per litre. This is fi ghters, the US president “Pakistan continues to push infl ation and transportation the highest HSD rate since A vendor hangs bananas for sale at his fruit stall along a roadside in Islamabad yesterday. lashed out at Pakistan while any suspected TTA and HN ele- costs, an offi cial explained. November 2014. unveiling his national secu- ments to prevent them from us- Currently, the government For petrol, the ex-refi n- rity strategy and then followed ing our soil for any terrorist ac- is charging 31% GST on HSD ery price was worked out at up with his new year tweet in tivity in Afghanistan,” he said. and 17% on other products in Rs84.51 per litre instead of ex- Earthquake kills child, injures dozens in Baluchistan which he said: “The United He said terror attacks in addition to Rs8 per litre pe- isting rate of Rs81.53 per litre, States has foolishly given Pa- Pakistan claimed the lives of troleum levy on HSD, Rs10 per highest since December 2014. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake depth of 180km, the European chief, Shabbir Megnal, said. kistan more than $33bn in aid 75,000 civilians and 6,000 litre on petrol and Rs6 and Rs3 Likewise, Ogra calculated struck Pakistan yesterday, Mediterranean Seismological Large parts of the region are over the last 15 years, and they soldiers. Pakistan has one of per litre on kerosene and light ex-refi nery price of kerosene at shaking large parts of the Centre said. seismically active because a have given us nothing but lies the highest offi cer-to-soldier diesel oil (LDO) respectively. Rs77.06 per litre highest since country and killing a child and A baby girl was killed and 10 tectonic plate, known as the and deceit, thinking of our casualty rate globally. Based on existing tax rates July 2015 against existing rate injuring several people, off icials people were injured when Indian plate, is pushing north into leaders as fools. They give safe Pakistan and the US are en- and import prices reported of Rs64.32 per litre, showing an said. roofs of mud-walled houses the Eurasian plate. haven to the terrorists we hunt gaged in a secret dialogue to by Pakistan State Oil (PSO), increase of Rs12.74 or 19.8%. The quake, struck 270km (167 collapsed in the southwestern A 7.6-magnitude quake in in Afghanistan, with little mend the damage caused to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Also, it proposed Rs11.72 miles) northeast of Kabul in Pakistani province of northern Pakistan in October help. No more!” the relationship by Trump’s Authority (Ogra) on Wednes- per litre increase in the price the Hindu Kush mountains, at a Baluchistan, a district deputy 2005 killed about 75,000 people. The spokesman tweeted this anti-Pakistan rhetoric. day worked out an increase of of LDO to Rs70.09 – highest Rs10.25 per litre in the prices since August 2015 –instead of HSD and Rs2.98 per litre of existing rate of Rs58.37, in motor gasoline (petrol) for up 20.1%. February. The summary has been The regulator also recom- forwarded to the petroleum Iran assures of reopening Zero Point Gate mended Rs12.74 and Rs11.72 division that would seek its per litre increase in the prices of approval from the prime min- kerosene and LDO respectively. ister. Under the practice in Internews Iran at the border near Taftan quences the people were suf- In the two-hour long meeting, Pakistani territory. However, However, oil companies vogue, oil prices are revised on Islamabad yesterday. fering due to the closure of the border control measures – par- Pakistani offi cials denied any would be at will to set the end the last day of every month. Pakistan’s side was headed by border-crossing point. ticularly curbing drugs and hu- such activity. price of HSD after deciding The erstwhile ministry of Chagai deputy commissioner Jannati assured reopening man traffi cking – were discussed Iranian offi cials demanded the quantum of margins for petroleum under the min- ran has assured Pakistan Imran Bangulzai, while Meer of the Zero Point Gate as soon thoroughly. handing over of certain Iranian themselves and the dealers in istership of Shahid Abbasi that the Zero Point Gate Jawah district administrator Ib- as the construction work was Pakistani offi cials raised res- citizens believed to be conduct- view of a recent government and Ogra have been recom- Iborder checkpost in Taftan rahim Jannati represented the complete. ervations over cross-border ing criminal activities from Pa- decision to deregulate diesel mending for almost two years will reopen once fencing is Iranian side. The civil and paramilitary of- fi ring and shelling. kistan, but the Pakistani delega- rates. a substantial increase in the complete. Bangulzai requested the Ira- fi cials from both the sides agreed Iranian offi cials stated that tion ruled out such perceptions As such, if the regulators’ prices of kerosene oil and The assurance came during a nian authorities for reopening to enhance joint patrolling on they only retaliated to cross- and made it clear that handing calculations are approved by LDO to minimise a huge price regular border meeting between of the Zero Point Gate and in- Pak-Iran border to avoid any border attacks that were report- over of criminals was the domain the prime minister, the price diff erential with petrol. the delegations of Pakistan and formed them about the conse- outside interference. edly being conducted from the of higher authorities. Model’s killing unleashes rage over extrajudicial murders

By Ashraf Khan, AFP “We demand that his killer be crime networks and armed force’s battle-hardened ranks in ous armed political factions and Karachi hanged publicly,” said Moham- political muscle. the 1990s, has been accused of often heavily-armed insurgents. mad Khan Mehsud of a national In its wake, the Human Rights spearheading hundreds of killings “The investigation proce- outcry over his son’s death. Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) including that of Mehsud. dures are archaic,” said Asad he killing of a young so- “We saw people from all said there were at least 598 ex- Last week a Karachi lawyer Iqbal Butt, director of HRCP. cial media star in Paki- the four provinces (of Paki- trajudicial killings in 2014 and fi led a petition in the Sindh High “So they (police) are left with Tstan’s chaotic port city of stan) – men and women, kids, an additional 343 the following Court, listing 250 allegedly fake only one option... pick a guy, Karachi has unleashed festering youngsters and sisters – show year. encounters involving Anwar hang him, beat him and if he anger at a rash of alleged extra- solidarity with Naqeebullah”. A preliminary investigation since 1992. survives that is his fate and if judicial murders and the police Mehsud was shot dead along headed by Sanaullah Abbasi, The police offi cer has also he dies, just dump him in the accused of orchestrating them. with three other people in what chief of Karachi’s Counter Ter- been added to a travel ban after bushes.” Hundreds of people die each police say was an operation tar- rorism Department, said the en- trying to fl ee the country. The rise in encounter killings year at the hands of law en- geting Taliban insurgents on counter involving Mehsud was He has missed successive accompanying the clean-up of- forcement offi cers under pres- January 3. probably staged. court summonses and is now fensive has coincided with a sure to crack down on kidnap- Friends and relatives insist “We have interviewed some believed to be on the run, ac- drop in violent crime – with in- ping, murder and gang crime in the Internet celebrity had no militants (purportedly linked cording to a senior police offi cial stances of kidnapping, murder a city routinely ranked among connection to militancy. with the case) in jail and in- familiar with the case. and terrorism all dramatically the most dangerous in the They say he was the victim of spected the scene of crime that Yet as anger grows against down. world. a so-called “encounter killing” seemed to be very doubtful,” him, experts warn that the cam- “It is good that crimes and But the fatal shooting of – an “encounter” being police Abbasi said. paign is not the work of a few bad violence have come down in the 23-year-old Naqeebullah Meh- shorthand for when a suspect “Prima facie, it was a fake cops, but rather the result of in- city as police and (paramilitary) sud, an aspiring model whose resists arrest. encounter.” stitutional shortcomings in the Rangers have been killing the goofy dance videos and air- Such deaths have surged Much of the anger following sprawling and violent megacity. terrorists and criminals. But A protester holds a photograph of 23-year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud, brushed brown locks had earned in Karachi since 2013 when the social media star’s death has Long before Anwar, bul- common and innocent people during a protest in Karachi. him a large Facebook following, paramilitary forces and po- focused on Rao Anwar, senior let-riddled bodies were being must be not the victims,” said brought thousands of people lice launched a massive “clean superintendent of the Karachi dumped in barren neighbour- Umeed Ali, an auto rickshaw police offi cer, said that in de- “Here it takes place because we onto the streets to urge an end to up” operation targeting Tali- police force. hoods as police with little faith driver in Karachi. veloped countries, “encounter” are incompetent professionally impunity. ban militants, organised Anwar, who rose through the in the courts took on danger- Rehmat Khan, a retired senior killings were rare. we look for short cuts.” Gulf Times 20 Thursday, February 1, 2018 PHILIPPINES Graft agency Govt welcomes US chief defi es Duterte’s order comments on rights Reuters of pesos in undeclared funds in Manila bank accounts. Last year, Caran- AFP against humanity,” it said in a dang revealed to the media Du- Manila statement. terte’s bank accounts, which “To date, police have been he head of the Philippine showed discrepancies with his allowed to operate in a culture anti-corruption agency offi cial statement of assets, li- hilippine offi cials yester- of almost total impunity,” Am- Tyesterday said she would abilities and net worth, a poten- day welcomed comments nesty added. defy an order from President Ro- tial violation of the law. Pby a US offi cial noting It repeated calls for inde- drigo Duterte’s offi ce suspend- The inquiry followed a com- what he described as its im- pendent investigations into ing a deputy, saying the consti- plaint by Senator Antonio Tril- proving human rights record in each death, “and all perpetra- tution guaranteed independence lanes that Duterte had amassed the drugs war, but they denied tors, including those in posi- for the agency. 2.2bn pesos ($43mn) in three Manila abetted the extrajudicial tions of command, must be Duterte’s offi ce on Monday bank accounts between 2006 killing of suspects. held to account”. ordered the 90-day suspension and 2015, when he was mayor of James A Walsh, a senior US The government has said of the deputy, Melchor Arthur the southern city of Davao, com- State Department drug offi cial, almost 4,000 “drug person- Carandang, after he revealed mitting a criminal off ence by said Tuesday he was “cautious- alities” have been killed by law confi dential information last failing to include them in an of- ly optimistic” the rights record enforcers since Duterte took September about the agency’s fi cial declaration. was improving, even though office in mid-2016, but says inquiry into the unexplained Duterte has denied the allega- President Rodrigo Duterte is officers shot the suspects in wealth of the president. tions. pressing on with a war on drugs self-defence. Conchita Carpio-Morales A lawyer for Duterte, Salva- in which law enforcers have Human rights groups charge expressed “concern” over the dor Panelo, said Carpio-Morales killed nearly 4,000 suspects. File photo shows Nanette Castillo grieving next to the body of her son Aldrin, an alleged drug user killed that thousands more have order, describing it as “an im- must comply with the order or Foreign rights monitors have by unidentified assailants in Manila. been murdered by shadowy pairment of the constitutionally risk facing administrative and described the crackdown as a vigilantes. enshrined independence” of the criminal sanctions. possible crime against human- comes to a good...appropriate illegal killings of drug suspects, group Amnesty International The anti-drugs campaign agency. “The ombudsman can- “Until a competent court de- ity. way for a drug campaign,” add- a position repeated by Press warned that people should enjoys popular support while not seriously place at risk the clares that such offi cial act is “Many folks have been track- ed the deputy assistant secre- Secretary Martin Andanar. stay vigilant and keep pressing the fiery-tongued Duterte has independence of the very offi ce in violation of the law and the ing the EJKs (extrajudicial kill- tary for international narcotics “While we welcome US State for an investigation into rights rejected any criticism of his which she has pledged to pro- constitution, President Rodrigo ings) in the Philippines and the and law enforcement. Department senior official abuses. human rights record. tect, on the strength of the con- Duterte’s order of preventive trends are going down so there Walsh’s remarks “hint of a James Walsh ‘cautiously opti- “Since President Duterte Previous US criticism frayed stitutional guarantees which the suspension for offi ce of Deputy is some encouragement that we growing appreciation of the mistic’ view of President Du- came to power, police have Manila’s ties with Washington High Court has upheld,” she said Ombudsmaan Carangdang is are seeing in some of our human positive impact of the admin- terte’s successful anti-illegal unlawfully killed thousands under former president Barack in a statement. presumed to be valid and legal,” rights training working,” Walsh istration’s anti-illegal drug drugs campaign, we maintain of people, the vast majority of Obama. Duterte has threatened to Panelo told reporters. told reporters. campaign”, Duterte spokesman that there are no EJKs under them from poor and marginal- New US leader Donald fi le an impeachment complaint The fi rebrand leader won the “I would describe the United Harry Roque said in a state- the Duterte administration,” ised communities, in attacks Trump has been noticeably against Carpio-Morales after her presidency in May 2016 on the States as being cautiously op- ment. Andanar said in a statement. so extensive and brutal they less critical and US-Philippine offi ce launched an inquiry into platform of fi ghting corruption, timistic in the trends when it He also said there had been no However human rights may well amount to crimes ties have since improved. allegations that he had billions crime and drugs. Gasps, awe as supermoon rises over erupting volcano

AFP a bad omen as they fret about the Ligao crops and livestock they had to leave behind. “It’s scary because this hap- ilipinos sheltering from the pened along with the volcano’s erupting Mayon volcano eruption,” Helen Ocbian, 38, said Fgasped in delight as an or- inside one of the classrooms in ange full-moon eclipse shone Ligao. “We have been evacuating above the mountain’s smoulder- for years and this is the fi rst time ing crater yesterday in what was we saw the moon this big.” both a once-in-a-lifetime dou- Others simply revelled in the ble spectacle and a rare moment moon’s beauty. “It’s huge and of relief. bright. It’s exciting to see. God Mount Mayon — the country’s created this beautiful moon and most active volcano — has been the volcano,” farmer Jose Alm- spewing spectacular but po- esolano, 75, told AFP at another tentially lethal ash and lava for school in nearby Guinobatan the last fortnight, forcing some town. 90,000 people into cramped safe For those living under the zones where sanitation condi- The full moon rises from Legazpi City, Albay province, south of Manila. shadow of Mayon, its periodic tions are dire. eruptions — now 52 in the past But the “super blue blood “I feel happy seeing the moon within the same month, a phe- 400 years — are a lot more com- moon”, the fi rst to be seen in 36 but also nervous especially now nomenon called a “blue” Moon mon than a super blue blood years, provided a moment of that the volcano is erupting,” which has nothing to do with its moon. awe, entertainment and refl ec- Richel Toledo, a 38-year-old colour. It is the most active of 22 tion for many of those gazing pig-rearer, said.”I don’t under- The “blood” in the name volcanoes in the Philippines, a skywards yesterday evening. stand if this is some kind of mys- comes from the reddish brown country which is itself part of the At schools in the towns of tery that is unfolding.” colour the Moon takes on when Pacifi c “Ring of Fire” of islands Ligao and Guinobatan where The celestial show was the re- Earth enters between it and the formed by volcanic activity. hundreds of refugees from the sult of the Sun, Earth, and Moon sun, cutting off the light rays The old church belfry of Cag- volcano were crammed, up to lining up perfectly for a lunar that usually brighten the lunar sawa town juts out of the grass 80 in each classroom, children eclipse just as the Moon is near surface. more than two centuries after and adults alike squealed as the its closest orbit point to Earth, For superstitious farmers Mayon buried 1,200 of its resi- moon fi rst took on a spectacular making it appear “super” large. who fl ed Mayon’s wrath, some dents alive in a catastrophic 1814 An astronomy enthusiast peers through a telescope during the lunar eclipse at Rizal Park, Metro Manila. crimson hue. It is the second full Moon viewed the celestial spectacle as eruption. Displaced fear catastrophic eruption on anniversary

DPA Villadolid said the timing of have set up small stores outside tion,” said Paul Alanis, science Legazpi City Mayon’s current eruption was the classrooms. research specialist at Phivol- a cause for concern among tens Some families opted to set up cs. “If a volcano is primed for of thousands of displaced resi- tents or makeshift huts along eruption, it will erupt regard- atching her two chil- dents, who were waiting to see a hilly road in Santo Domingo less of the time or the occa- dren play outside a “a one-time, big-time explo- town, to avoid the congestion sion.” Wmakeshift, roadside sion” could occur. and to have privacy. Alanis said that while the hut in the eastern Philippine Their fears have intensifi ed Marlyn Balunso, a 27-year- eclipse might have an effect on village of Calayucay, Edna Vil- with the approach of February old mother of two, is among the volcano’s activity, it will be ladolid could not mask her anxi- 1, the date of Mayon’s most de- those who set up a small hut negligible. ety. structive eruption in 1814, when along the road, which she “Based on our studies, the The 38-year-old mother has it buried an entire town and shares with about 10 family eclipse will have no significant lived here with her family since killed 1,200 people. members. effect since the volcano is al- Mayon Volcano erupted two “What if that’s repeated?” Balunso said she has not ready erupting,” he said. weeks ago, and though she has she asked, rubbing her arms as slept well since she learned that Phivolcs warned it could take experienced more than fi ve goosebumps swept over them. there will be a super blue moon up to one month before Mayon eruptions of the cone-shaped “It’s a scary thought.” eclipse on January 31, just one calms down. volcano since she was a child, More than 80,000 people have day before the 204th anniver- The volcano’s activity has so she had grown more nervous. fl ed their homes in three cit- sary of the 1814 eruption. far been a quiet but continuous “I used to roam around the ies and six towns in Albay since “Everyone’s afraid of the emission of lava, but a more haz- rice fi elds with my girlfriends Mayon woke on January 13 after blue moon eclipse and the an- ardous eruption was still pos- while Mayon was erupting be- four years of slumber. niversary of the worst eruption sible. cause it’s such a beautiful sight,” Since then, the volcano has on February 1,” she said, cra- On Monday, boulders as big Villadolid said. “But now, I have been regularly belching out hot dling her six-month-old son as cars were observed cascading my children to think about.” gasses, thick ash and fi ery lava. outside a temporary shelter down the slopes of Mayon, while Mayon Volcano in the eastern The volcano’s activity ap- they built along a road in Santo the volcano ejected lava fountain Philippines is the country’s most peared to have eased over the Domingo town. as high as 200 metres and ash active volcano, having erupted weekend amid non-stop rains, Scientists at the Philippine plumes as far as 1.5 kilometres more than 50 times since 1616. which triggered volcanic mud Ash spews from the Mayon volcano, as seen from the city of Legazpi in Albay province, early yesterday. Institute of Volcanology and into the air, Phivolcs said. The last deadly eruption was flows, but scientists said the Seismology (Phivolcs) have re- Sporadic lava fountains and in May 2013, when fi ve hikers level of agitation was still high. classrooms, tents and other volcano’s crater. Several fami- one bathroom for as many as 50 jected the residents’ fears. ash ejections were also moni- were killed and seven people in- Displaced residents have makeshift shelters outside of lies share one classroom of people. Clothes are hung to dry “Those things have nothing tored throughout Tuesday, the jured in that incident. been staying in public school a 9-kilometre radius from the about 30 square metres, with on walls, while some evacuees to do with the volcano’s erup- agency said. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 21 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

Warrant issued for arrest of former lawmaker A warrant has been issued for the arrest of former member of Lanka sets up special courts parliament Sarana Gunawardena by Colombo additional magistrate court. The warrant was issued as the former lawmaker failed to appear for the case filed by the bribery commission. The case pertains for Rajapakse-era corruption to the lease of vehicles without following due tender procedure. AFP/Reuters clusively to hear bribery and courts could start functioning government from abroad, only This is alleged to have taken Colombo corruption cases which are by the middle of this year. about Rs1tn could be accounted place when he was serving as the currently clogging the lower Last Friday, President Sirise- for in the assets and huge sum of chairman of the development courts,” the government said in na said that more than $58bn, or money could not be accounted lotteries board. ri Lanka is to set up spe- a statement. 90%, of foreign loans borrowed for in the documents in the fi - Meanwhile, the Colombo High Court cial courts to investigate Sirisena has said as many as by the previous government nance ministry,” his offi ce said has ordered that the case filed by Scharges of corruption half of all public procurement was unaccounted for in fi nance in a statement. the attorney general against former amounting to billions of dollars contracts under the Rajapakse ministry records. The president also criticised minister Basil Rajapakse and former under former president Mahi- administration were corrupt Sirisena also said a large sum his own coalition government, director general of Divineguma nda Rajapakse, the government and the new government has re- of funds under the previous saying some of the sales of state development department Kithsiri said yesterday. negotiated several multi-billion government that should have properties during the last three Ranawaka, be postponed until The move, designed to accel- dollar projects. been deposited with the treas- years were done without in- March 13. erate the process of trying such Rajapakse’s chief aide Lalith ury have gone to private compa- forming the cabinet. The case is filed under the cases, follows criticism over the Weeratunga has already been nies. This was done in a system- However, ministry offi cials charge of misappropriating slow pace of justice under the convicted on a charge of mis- atic manner to avoid disclosure, of the last government said Rs29.4mn of funds belonging to government elected three years appropriating $4mn and sen- he said. President Sirisena’s numbers the Divineguma development ago. tenced to three years in prison. His administration is facing were false. department to print and President Maithripala Two of the former president’s a debt crisis and struggling to The central bank’s latest distribute 5mn Lith documents Sirisena came to power in three sons have been charged face an expensive loan repay- records show Sri Lanka’s total with the image of former 2015 promising to stamp out with money-laundering and ment cycle started this year. outstanding debt was Rs10.3tn president Mahinda Rajapakse. corruption and punish mem- other family members face It must repay an estimated as of the end of September The senior state counsel pointed bers of the former adminis- allegations of corruption. Rs1.97tn ($12.85bn) in 2018 – a last year. out that the court of appeal had tration accused of stealing Rajapakse, who is not un- record high – including $2.9bn Under the previous govern- issued an order barring the case vast sums from Sri Lanka’s der investigation, denies any of foreign loans, and a total of ment from 2004-2015 led by being taken up before High Court coff ers during Rajapakse’s wrongdoing and says his suc- $5.36bn in interest. Rajapakse, Sri Lanka borrowed Justice Gihan Kulatunga until decade in power. cessor is carrying out a witch “President Maithripala Rs5.17tn of total loans including February 02. “There will be special three- hunt. Sirisena said of the Rs10tn ru- Rs2.16tn ($14.06bn) of foreign The case was postponed, taking judge high courts set up ex- Offi cial sources said the new pees loans taken by the previous loan. Mahinda Rajapakse ... facing the corruption heat this fact into consideration. Candle vigil for murdered journalists Women still face sizeable gender gaps: ADB report

IANS of Governance and Develop- for Bangladesh Manmohan this is managed strategically, Dhaka ment, the report aims to guide Parkash. it can cause reversals in the the design of gender features “We also hope in so doing, progress that has been made for of ADB-supported projects in it will help bring about sig- women’s empowerment. angladesh’s women have four key sectors – skills, voca- nifi cant positive changes in the Besides lack of access to made progress in various tional, and tertiary education; lives of women and men, and services such as power, sani- Baspects of health, edu- energy; transport; and urban in the promotion of inclusive tation, water, and transport, cation, and work, but still face development. development.” women are subject to frequent sizeable gender gaps, says a new It was introduced at a launch The report fi nds that the sexual harassment and vio- report by the Asian Develop- event and panel discussion country has generally made lence in dense slum areas where ment Bank (ADB) released in on Tuesday featuring gen- rapid progress on several social they have to put up with fl imsy Dhaka. der and sector specialists and and economic indicators. For housing, common toilets and The report, the Bangladesh economists. example, while the maternal water points, and insuffi cient Gender Equality Diagnostic of “We hope this publication mortality ratio remains higher lighting. Selected Sectors, presents an will be a useful resource not than the 2015 Millennium De- The report points out that a in-depth analysis of the dif- only for ADB, but also for our velopment Goal of 143, it has survey carried out by the Bu- ferent areas and disparities in partner government agen- fallen from 472 deaths per reau of Statistics in 2011 shows each sector, and recommends cies and other development 100,000 live births in 1990 to that as many as 87% of cur- Journalists and activists hold candles during a vigil for murdered colleagues in Colombo on Tuesday. sector-specifi c strategies on partners to achieve the gen- 181 in 2015. rently married women report Sri Lankan journalists and activists have held a vigil for journalists killed while working, and are gender. der targets of the Sustain- The report sees rapid ur- experiencing some kind of demanding justice for those allegedly killed for their profession. Prepared in collaboration able Development Goals,” banisation as another key pri- violence during the previous with the local BRAC Institute said ADB country director ority for action, since unless 12 months.

Bangladesh to appoint new chief BNP leaders Nepali Congress ‘leaders justice today Bangladesh is likely to appoint its new chief justice today as the post has remained vacant since former chief justice Surendra arrested for off er shoe shine services’ Kumar Sinha stepped down on November 10 last year. The Daily Star quoted Law Minister IANS The NC leaders sat in a row a “symbolic move to cleanse Prasad Bhattarai),” NC leader Anisul Huq, as saying that President Kathmandu holding boot polish and brush malpractices and anoma- Binod Bhattarai said, adding, Abdul Hamid would appoint the new attack on in their hands at Naya Banesh- lies prevalent in the Nepali “This programme is the begin- Chief Justice very soon. wor Chok. Party leaders Dhan- politics”. ning of political purging from President Hamid knows that who will he Nepali Congress (NC) raj Gurung, Chandra Bhandari, Apart from the NC lead- ourselves”. be the next chief justice, he added. party leaders on Tues- Binod Bhattarai and Panchkhal ers, human rights activists, More than two dozen peo- Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah Tday off ered shoe shine Municipality Mayor Mahesh political fi gures and general ple, who sat at Chhakubakku has been performing the duties in policemen services to passers-by in capital Kharel, among others, were public also participated in the Park in Baneshwor, rose the absence of a Chief Justice. Kathmandu as part of a “po- seen shining the shoes of pe- programme. around Rs30,000. The fund Justice Sinha had resigned litical cleansing” campaign destrians, the Kathmandu Post “This is a symbolic step will be spent for public service due to his diff erences with the organised by late prime minis- reported. initiated to pass on the val- and for promoting Bhattarai’s government over several issues, By Mizan Rahman “Bangladesh National ter Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s The leaders urged the people ues and principles of saintly ideologies, according to the including cancellation of the 16th Dhaka Party activists also foundation. to take part in the campaign as leaders like Kishunji (Krishna report. Amendment to the Constitution. snatched fi rearms from two policemen olice in Bangladesh and dismantled them have arrested two during the attack Pleaders of major op- that left seven cops position BNP, including its wounded, standing committee mem- ‘Tree man’ trapped in hospital for two years ber Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, and demanded his immedi- on charges of “plotting” an ate release. attack on policemen near Roy is one of the few BNP IANS “But now I again feel pain; I a nightmare as the warts keep the Supreme Court and leaders vocal against the Dhaka cannot bend my fi ngers so growing back. snatching two party activ- government. After a Dhaka I need the help of my wife “I was feeling well after what I ists from a prison van, a top court set February 8 for pro- or my mother, who visit believed was my last operation six police offi cial said. nouncing verdict in a cor- bul Bajandar, better sometimes, to eat ... I don’t months ago. At least I could eat by “BNP activists also ruption case against BNP known as Bangladesh’s know if I will ever be cured myself using a spoon,” Bajandar snatched fi rearms from two chief Khaleda Zia, he called A“tree man” for large bark- and will return home” told Efe from his hospital bed. policemen and dismantled on BNP men to protest the like warts on his body, remained “But now I again feel pain. I them during the attack that trial. in hospital yesterday, with doc- Bajandar’s daughter – who has cannot bend my fi ngers so I need left seven cops wounded,” He also warned of a tors saying he might need fresh not been to school for two years the help of my wife or my moth- said Dhaka Metropolitan tougher movement in case surgeries in coming days. as there are no public schools er, who visit sometimes, to eat. I Police (DMP) Commissioner Zia is convicted “wrongly”. Bajandar, 27, has been living around and the family cannot don’t know if I will ever be cured Asaduzzaman Mia. Plainclothes policemen in a twin-bed room in the Dhaka aff ord the fees of a private school and will return home or to work,” “We have arrested him picked up another BNP Medical College Hospital for the – lives in the room with him, he rued. (Roy) after getting specifi c leader Islam Amit from his last two years and has undergone occupying the second bed. The prolonged treatment evidence that he gave in- Shantinagar house around 19 surgeries to remove the warts According to doctors, Ba- and the decision by the doctors structions for attacking po- midnight, said Shamsud- on his body that were the result jandar suff ers from epidermod- to keep him in the hospital is licemen,” added the DMP din Didar, an offi cial of Zia’s of a rare genetic disorder that is ysplasia verruciformis, a disease also taking an emotional toll on chief. press wing. incurable. that is not contagious but incur- Bajandar’s family. Abdus Salam Azad, a Three lawsuits have been “He could need one or two able and surgeries only provide “We don’t have to pay for any- Bangladesh National Party fi led against several hun- operations more but we are not temporary relief. thing here, but still we are suff er- leader, said a police vehicle dred BNP men, including going to release him soon. We “We carried out an operation ing from the long stay,” Bajandar’s stopped Gayeshwar’s mi- Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, are planning to give him ad- on Bajandar last week. We had wife Halima Akter said. crobus and detained him over incident of snatch- equate work in our new unit so removed all the warts earlier, but The doctors are unsure of how when he was returning ing of from police’s prison we can keep him here and moni- later we discovered new warts the disease will progress. How- home from party offi ce. van near the High Court, tor his condition,” Samanta Lal had developed,” said a doctor. ever, Dr Sen is hopeful that the In a media briefi ng, BNP DMP Deputy Commis- Sen from the hospital’s burn Bajandar’s dream of resuming warts could stop growing some- senior leader Kabir Rizvi sioner Hossain Sarder told and plastic surgery Unit told normal life after the fi rst spate day considering the new warts “Tree Man” Abul Bajandar showing his palms where the warts are condemned the arrest of Roy newsmen. Efe news. of surgeries has now turned into developed after a signifi cant gap. regrowing at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in Dhaka. Gulf Times 22 Thursday, February 1, 2018 COMMENT

CHAIRMAN Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko

P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar [email protected] 44350478 (News), 44466404 (Sport), 44466636 (Home delivery) 44350474 facebook.com/gulftimes twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar GULF TIMES Trump is preaching co-operation, but can he follow through?

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump spoke of unifying the country and delivering for the American people — and he has the opportunity to back up his words with action almost immediately. Trump faces a series of policy choices in the next few weeks and months that will show whether he is sincere in his pledge to “seek out common ground” and could also shape his presidency and legacy. With congressional elections nine months away, Trump’s course of action could decide whether his Republicans maintain control of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, or if one or both fl ip to a Democratic AI revolution will majority, an outcome that would almost certainly derail his policy agenda. Trump faces near-term deadlines on reaching an agreement to protect young immigrants known as “Dreamers” and on avoiding another government shutdown. He also hopes to muscle an infrastructure bill through a make humans duller divided Congress. In his address, Trump pushed a hard line on immigration, produced visibly different people. once required human intelligence and embarking on a life of leisure. It insisting on a border wall and other concessions from By Harold James Princeton Waistlines expanded as previously – making connections and drawing turns out that not having to think on Democrats, even as he urged lawmakers toward bipartisan salubrious diets, needed to fuel inferences; recognising patterns; a regular basis is neither restful nor compromises. massive physical exertion, became tracing the implications of complex enjoyable. On the contrary, it tends to “Substantively, ost discussions about increasingly unhealthy. events – are now better handled by AI lead to poor mental and physical health, In his address, he didn’t move the the march of robotics Some people saw these changes applications. Whether the job is to scan and a deteriorating quality of life. needle on policy, but and artifi cial intelligence happening, and worried about them. thousands of pages of legal contracts for The elimination of countless Trump pushed the much sunnier M(AI) have understandably A growing minority started to pursue inconsistencies, or to make radiological cognitive tasks has alarming concentrated on fears of massive job intense physical activity not in fi elds assessments, an algorithm can now do implications for the future. Just as a hard line on and more optimistic losses. But the implications of these or factories, but in leisure settings. it more reliably and less expensively. the Industrial Revolution made most tone was a welcome technologies are actually far more The sweat of one’s brow was no longer Soon, this will also be true of driving a humans physically weaker, the AI immigration change,” Michael Steel, terrifying. We have been brought to associated with productive work, but vehicle. revolution will make us collectively a Republican strategist, the brink of an alarming evolutionary with consumption – often conspicuous At the same time, modern duller. In addition to fl abby waistlines, said of Trump’s speech. “Now let’s see if he can and will transformation, not just of human consumption. Gyms became new behavioural economics has shown we will have fl abby minds. It’s not stick with it.” capacities, but of the individual self. sources of community. And as co- that human thought can introduce the economy, stupid; it’s the stupid History provides only a partial guide workers started to exercise together, irrational elements into otherwise economy. Already, central banks The consistency of Trump’s focus and tone has been a for the uncertain future we face. What enlightened employers came to see straightforward processes. The search are urgently exploring new ways to serious issue since his term began. we know from the fi rst Industrial such recreation as a valuable source of is on to discover and control for dumb down their statements for an A year ago, he delivered a well-received speech to Revolution is that new technologies physical and mental well-being. characteristics of the human mind that increasingly unsophisticated public. Congress, only to render that an afterthought when he began can fundamentally alter humans and The Industrial Revolution was could produce distorting, unproductive, Mass stupidity will be driven by alleging that former president Barack Obama had ordered his other species. The key to this process, driven by mental activity. Another or ineffi cient results. Apparently, the technology. But, as with the cult phones wiretapped during the 2016 presidential campaign. according to Cambridge University’s way of thinking about it, then, is as next stage in human perfectibility of physical fi tness that took hold As he looks for wins on domestic policy issues, Trump’s Tony Wrigley, the great historian of the an “industrious revolution,” a term will require us to give up independent during the Industrial Revolution, a era, was the replacement of human- advanced by Jan De Vries of the thinking and judgment altogether. new industry of intelligence training handling of a special counsel’s probe of alleged Russian and animal-driven mechanical energy University of California, Berkeley, Joel AI and automation have obvious will likely emerge to counter mental interference in the 2016 presidential election will be closely by more productive forms, such as coal Mokyr of Northwestern University implications for employment. But they deterioration. Listening to someone scrutinised. and other fossil fuels. and the University of Tel Aviv, and will also aff ect the human mind. The constructing a logically articulated Media reports that Trump last year considered fi ring To be sure, the large-scale other historians. In an industrious jobs of the future, most of them in the argument will become an exclusive Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is conducting the devaluation of human and animal revolution, inter-connected groups of services sector, will require a diff erent source of aesthetic pleasure and Russia investigation, drew new attention to a probe that has muscle power did not happen innovators compete with one another set of skills, particularly interpersonal distinction. “Diffi cult” works of hung over Trump since the start of his presidency. immediately. At fi rst, many auxiliary to devise new solutions to existing skills that robotic applications – even literature or visual arts will become tasks – including mining the coal, problems, resulting in a virtuous Siri or Alexa – cannot provide. The an ever more attractive form of Any move against Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, a top Justice or creating intermediate products in circle. ability to perform complex calculations conspicuous consumption. Department offi cial who oversees the probe, would likely workshops – still required enormous By putting a premium on mental or sophisticated analyses will be far less And yet something about this seems spark a political fi restorm. physical exertion. But, after around two endeavours and making physical important. deeply unpleasant. It is bad enough And each day, Trump risks undermining any goodwill he centuries, physical strength was rarely routines obsolete, the transformation The problem is that many older to listen to people boast about their builds with an errant tweet or outburst. in demand. over the past three centuries gave activities – be it driving in diffi cult physical fi tness. But braggadocio about The address was fi lled with lofty calls toward a higher duty Gradually, the basic nature of work people more opportunities to think. As conditions on a mountain road or taking superior intellect will be far worse. The that transcends party, an ideal that presidents often urge in had changed. By the late 20th century, humankind’s collective intelligence rose on a complex legal case – are a source of need to prove oneself as a lasting relic of the State of the Union addresses but rarely fulfi l. farmers sat on tractors, and even coal to new heights, the dream of human fulfi lment for countless people, because the old human supremacy will threaten mining had become largely mechanised. perfectibility emerged. But that, we they provide opportunities to confront not just the common good, but also our “This is, in fact, our new American moment,” Trump said, There were few people in developed now know, was an illusion. The level of diffi cult, intrinsically motivated common humanity. – Project Syndicate adding that “all of us, together, as one team, one people, and economies still earning incomes from intellectual attainment that resulted challenges. Soon, those activities, like one American family can do anything.” the sweat of their brows. from the Industrial Revolution may turn ploughing a medieval fi eld, may be lost zHarold James is professor of History As the congressional elections approach, Trump remains Human physiognomy also out to have been a plateau. forever. and International Aff airs at Princeton mired at about 40% approval in polls, a historic low for a changed, especially when the The technological revolution now Worse still, ample evidence shows University and a senior fellow at the president this early in his tenure. Industrial Revolution’s full potential underway is generating a diff erent that people may have reason to regret Centre for International Governance Trump was, in fact, speaking to two audiences on Tuesday: was realised. Sedentary lifestyles sort of replacement. Many tasks that retiring from mentally demanding jobs Innovation. his passionate base of supporters, and the rest of the country that has yet to embrace him. Accordingly, he had to talk tough on issues such as immigration, trade, foreign policy, and the national anthem, to reassure his base that he was the same hard-liner they elected, while also suggesting to other voters that he supports helping “Dreamers,” rebuilding infrastructure, fi ghting the opioid epidemic and reforming the prison system. Republicans likely will need voters from both those camps to hold onto the House and Senate.

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© 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Mass stupidity will be driven by technology. Gulf Times Thursday, February 1, 2018 23 COMMENT US News is wrong about ‘best diet’

By Gary Taubes and Nina Teicholz overall mortality or weight loss. And That’s too bad: Early results of a Los Angeles Times the trial itself was fl awed; it didn’t current trial reported that Type 2 have an adequate, comparative control diabetes symptoms can be reversed group. in just 10 weeks on such a diet. ieter beware: US News & It’s clear that US News – which Subjects suffering from diabetes were World Report, in its high- employed an expert panel to rate 40 educated about carbohydrates and profi le January cover story diets on various criteria – merely coached over the study period. They Don “best diets,” calls the recapitulated questionable dietary effectively cured themselves of their DASH and Mediterranean diets tops advice that has gone by a succession disease, something that mainstream for health, though these regimens of names since the 1970s - “low- medicine does not even believe represent the failed nutritional status fat,” “DASH,” “USDA-style,” possible. quo of the last 50 years. “plant-based.” The basic set of These are preliminary results, DASH is listed fi rst in the US News recommendations have remained but many other studies on low-carb rankings, but authoritative reviews the same, emphasising plant foods diets contain positive results that are have found that it’s been tested on (grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables) similarly encouraging for people with only about 2,000 subjects (mostly over animal products (eggs, regular nutrition-related diseases. Low- middle-aged hypertensives) in studies dairy, meat), and vegetable oils over carbohydrate diets have now been lasting no longer than six months. Its natural animal fats such as butter. tested in at least 70 clinical trials on eff ects can hardly be generalised to all According to government data, nearly 7,000 people, including a wide Americans. Americans have largely followed variety of sick and well populations, In those limited studies, the diet, these recommendations over the last mainly in the US. Thirty-two of these which promotes fruits, vegetables 50 years, notably increasing their studies have lasted at least six months and low-fat dairy, did lower some consumption of grains, vegetables and six trials went on for two years, cardiovascular risk factors, such as and fruits and eating less whole milk, enough time to demonstrate the lack blood pressure. But it usually worsened butter, meat and eggs. The outcome? of any negative side eff ects. In virtually others, such as HDL cholesterol (the In that time, rates of obesity and every case, the lower-carb, higher- good kind) and triglycerides. And the Type 2 diabetes have skyrocketed. fat diets did as well or better than one and only time it was tested against Something has gone terribly wrong. competing regimens. The cumulative a higher-fat version of itself, the Why would 25 doctors, dietitians evidence shows that low-carb diets higher-fat version performed better. and nutritionists on the US News are safe and eff ective for combating DASH – the acronym stands panel choose a dietary philosophy that obesity, highly promising for the for Dietary Approaches to Stop has – so far, at least – failed us? They treatment of Type 2 diabetes, and Hypertension – has been promoted might be entrenched in their opinions, they improve most cardiovascular risk by the American government for supported by the industries that factors. more than 20 years, but the evidence benefi t from these diets, motivated by In the midst of a worldwide obesity still falls far short of demonstrating non-nutrition agendas such as animal- and diabetes crisis, we don’t need a signifi cant impact on the major rights activism, or they might simply more input from experts who aren’t nutrition-related diseases of our have fallen into the easy convenience paying attention to the latest science time, especially obesity and diabetes. of groupthink. or who can’t break free from 50 years These twin disorders constitute a The loss to would-be healthy of conventional thinking about healthy global public health epidemic of crisis eaters is profound. For instance, diets eating. Promoting the same dietary proportions, a “slow-motion disaster,” lower in carbohydrates and higher advice over and over again while in the words of the director-general of The ‘DASH’ food pyramid. DASH – the acronym stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension – falls far short of in fat – called, variously, “Atkins,” expecting diff erent results is indeed a the World Health Organisation. The US demonstrating a significant impact on the major nutrition-related diseases of our time. “paleo,” “ketogenic” or “South Beach,” kind of insanity, and worse, is doing News “best of” rankings pay lip service and based on the simple idea that nothing to combat rising disease and to these diseases, but end up extolling News (but formally ranked as tied selected by the US Department of subjects in Spain. After fi ve years, carbohydrates are uniquely fattening death rates. Consumers need solid a diet with virtually no demonstrated with DASH), fares little better on the Agriculture in 2015 as one of its three those on the diet had reduced their - were all stiff ed in the US News information about how to eat for good ability to treat or prevent them. evidence. Highly popular since its recommended “dietary patterns,” risk of cardiovascular events by an rankings. Indeed, the ketogenic diet, health. The US News “best diets” issue The Mediterranean diet, listed formal introduction in 1993 by the the diet has principally been studied underwhelming 2%, in absolute terms. which acutely restricts carbohydrates doesn’t measure up. – Tribune News second for overall healthiness by US Harvard School of Public Health and in one 2013 trial, on about 7,500 Moreover, the diet had no impact on in favour of fat, came in dead last. Service

Refl ective cities, fi elds could cut extreme heat risk Three-day forecast

TODAY Scientists warn such measures Maximum Temperature : 220c Thomson Reuters Foundation Minimum Temperature : 140c London could have hard-to-predict regional or global impacts, such as FRIDAY unintentionally shifting monsoons in Maximum Temperature : 220c aking cities and farm Asia. Minimum Temperature : 140c fi elds more refl ective — Changing the reflectivity of SATURDAY including by painting cities and fields, in comparison, Maximum Temperature : 230c Mbuildings white or leaving would have a local — rather than Minimum Temperature : 140c global — impact on temperature more land unploughed after harvests Fisherman's forecast — could reduce extreme heat by up to peaks, so would likely be much 3 degrees Celsius in areas where the less controversial and less likely to WARNING provoke regional or global disputes, Inshore : Strong wind expected techniques are used, scientists say. to the northern areas While such measures would not researchers said. by mid-day lower global temperatures — which “Compared to some other Offshore : Strong wind and high are rising as a result of climate change things proposed, modifying albedo sea WEATHER — such simple changes could provide (refl ectivity) could be done with less Inshore : Moderate temperature substantial local or regional relief on risky techniques,” Seneviratne said. with scattered clouds the hottest days, according to research Even so, the report noted that and slight dust at places at times, cold by published this week in the journal modifying the refl ectivity of cities and night. Nature Geoscience. farm fi elds appears to work best in WIND “This is clipping the upper tail of North America and Europe, where it Inshore : Northwesterly 8-17 KT /22 KT at places mid- extreme temperatures,” said Andy has no clear negative side eff ects. day Pitman, director of the ARC Centre In parts of Asia, however, where Offshrore : Northwesterly 15-25/32 of Excellence for Climate Extremes contrasts between land and sea KT at the University of New South Wales temperatures help drive monsoon Visibility : 4-9 KM /3 KM in Australia — one of the countries rains, changing local temperature SEA STATE struggling with blistering hot days. extremes might have some impact on Offshore : 4-8 FT, Rises to 12 FT at The measures could mean fewer monsoons, the report warned. places at times. Pitman said the fi ndings do not heat deaths in cities during scorching Around the region weather and fewer threats from mean that “someone should take a Weather everything from heat-warped rail paintbrush and wander over all the Weather tomorrow Max/min lines to electrical outages from excess “rediscover what some countries or “With the harvest happening in Earth’s cities painting them white”. today Max/min Sunny 19/06 demand for electricity, said Pitman, populations have done for a long time”, August in Europe, the weeks that Instead, as cities renovate and Baghdad Sunny 18/05 Sunny 21/08 one of the authors of the study. he said. follow often tend to have heatwaves,” build new infrastructure, they should Kuwait City Sunny 21/08 Cloudy 21/14 “If you can bring the extreme New advances, such as more she said. “So in Europe this could be “consciously make the city brighter”. Manama Sunny 20/14 Sunny 23/17 temperature down a degree or two you refl ective road paving materials and useful.” At the moment that is not Muscat M Sunny 22/18 Sunny 04/-3 reduce the risks. roof tiles, could also help, he said. With the world struggling to hold happening widely, he said — Tehran Sunny 03/-5 And that might mean you don’t On farms, leaving fi elds unploughed global temperature increases to below including in his own steamy Sydney trigger the brownout — or a human after harvest to increase the amount of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial neighbourhood where a new electrical health catastrophe,” he said in an sunshine they refl ect, could also help times, in line with the Paris Agreement substation was just built, in dark grey interview with the Thomson Reuters lower local temperatures, said Sonia on climate change, such measures materials. Foundation. Seneviratne, the study’s lead author could provide a fairly benign way to Taking measures to curb Painting homes white — something and an expert on land and climate cut risks from rising heat, she said. temperature extremes also will common across parts of the dynamics at ETH Zurich, a Swiss That’s particularly true in not work in the long run unless Mediterranean, for example — is university. comparison with more controversial efforts to curb climate-changing hardly a new idea to combat heat. Changing the types of crops planted and global “geoengineering” emissions are stepped up, the “Italians and Greeks worked this out a — or developing ones designed to technologies being discussed, such researchers said. thousand years ago,” Pitman noted. refl ect more light from their leaves, as spraying sulfate aerosols into the “Land-based climate engineering is But as climate change brings more potentially using genetic modifi cation planet’s stratosphere to block some not a silver bullet,” Seneviratne said. heat threats around the world, many — also could help, she told the of the sun reaching the planet, the “It’s just one part of a possible climate other parts of the world may need to Thomson Reuters Foundation. researchers said. solution.” Around the world Weather Weather today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Athens Sunny 16/08 M Cloudy 16/12 Beirut Sunny 18/12 Sunny 19/13 Live issues Bangkok P Cloudy 28/21 M Sunny 31/22 Berlin P Cloudy 06/0 M Cloudy 06/0 Cairo P Cloudy 21/09 P Cloudy 22/11 Cape Town Sunny 26/17 Cloudy 22/16 Colombo S T Storms 31/24 S Showers 30/24 Bright light therapy may help cancer survivors Dhaka M Sunny 26/15 Sunny 27/15 Hong Kong M Sunny 13/09 M Sunny 14/07 Istanbul Sunny 12/10 M Cloudy 14/11 ancer survivors often suff er suffered from whats known as poor easily rest at night and wake during much brighter than light received Jakarta S T Storms 31/24 T Storm 31/24 from chronic fatigue, and sleep efficiency, a measure of how the day, said study leader Lisa Wu of indoors, the addition of artificial Karachi Sunny 29/13 Sunny 27/12 when they do, a new study much time in bed people spend the Northwestern University Feinberg bright light each morning helps London P Cloudy 07/03 P Cloudy 08/01 Csuggests that waking up to asleep. School of Medicine in Chicago and the cancer survivors reduce fatigue Manila P Cloudy 31/23 P Cloudy 31/23 bright white light may help them sleep After a month of treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount and improve their sleep quality Moscow P Cloudy -10/-13 S Showers 01/-1 better. however, 86% of the people exposed Sinai in New York City. by strengthening their circadian New Delhi Sunny 27/11 M Sunny 26/11 For the month-long study, to bright white light had normal sleep “Cancer survivors and even other rhythms.” New York Cloudy 08/-1 Cloudy 01/-7 researchers had 44 cancer survivors effi ciency, while 79% of the people individuals who spend most of Beyond just improving sleep Paris P Cloudy 08/02 M Cloudy 07/02 sit very close to a light box early every exposed to dim bright light still had their days indoors may not receive effi ciency, bright white light was Sao Paulo P Cloudy 26/17 P Cloudy 26/17 morning for 30 minutes. poor sleep effi ciency. enough bright light to keep their also associated with medium to large Seoul Sunny 0/-9 Sunny 2/-8 The patients were randomly It’s possible that the bright white biological rhythms synchronised,” improvements in sleep quality, total Singapore T Storm 31/24 T Storm 28/24 assigned to therapy with either bright light helps cancer survivors reset Wu said. sleep time and wake time, researchers Sydney Cloudy 21/16 P Cloudy 23/17 white light or dim red light. their internal clocks, or circadian “Given that light exposure report in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Tokyo Cloudy 07/02 Cloudy 04/0 More than half of the participants rhythms, so that their body can more from being outside is generally Medicine. – QNA Gulf Times 24 Thursday, February 1, 2018 QATAR

Culture initiative

HE the Minister of Culture and Sports, Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, dignitaries and off icials participate in a conversation panel with filmmakers in Qatar at the Museum of Islamic Art, organised by the ministry in collaboration with Doha Film Institute. HE the Minister presented the ministry’s strategic vision for the upcoming stage. The aim of the meeting was to introduce creative individuals to the strategic vision of the ministry and its objectives and plans to support artists and cultural projects in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. The session witnessed a rich dialogue between the audience and HE the Minister, who answered questions and heard suggestions from the participants. Residents, visitors explore the ‘hidden gems’ of Souq Waqif Performers from Qatar. By Joey Aguilar Staff Reporter

hop Qatar’s recently con- Arabian folklore fest at cluded Souq Waqif tours Sattracted many residents and international visitors who Hyatt Plaza until Feb 3 had the chance to explore the “hidden gems” of one of Qatar’s historic and most popular tour- yatt Plaza is currently families and children at Hyatt ist destinations. hosting its fi rst-ever Plaza, the statement notes. Qataris served as guides for HArabian Folklore Festival, The fi rst few days of the fes- the tours, categorised for men, which features a variety of live tival have drawn and impressed women and families, taking par- shows in collaboration with Shop a large audience. Hamad Sultan, ticipants to “an authentic and Shops at Souq Waqif off er an array of unique items. Qatar 2018. a member of the audience, said: culture-fi lled” stroll to explore For 10 days, well-known bands “I was surprised by the absolute Souq Waqif beyond the tradi- perfumes, how to distinguish a ample,” she added. from Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, beauty of the shows and the over- tional restaurants, cafes and bad or good quality product, and “We wanted to start with the Syria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, all presentation. The shows gave souvenir shops, organised by Souq Waqif tours attracted many residents and foreign visitors. which brand is better for a par- changes so we preserve our cul- Palestine and Sudan are perform- us a fascinating glimpse into the festival partner Embrace Doha ticular item, among others. ture and not by keeping it for our- ing live folklore shows daily at the culture and traditions of various from January 18 to 27. Some of the tour activities Qatari way’ and it means like we’ll Al-Shammari said the tours selves as Qataris but by teaching Hyatt Plaza Food Court. The shows countries, allowing us to learn “A lot of people say they’ve included exploring and discov- take you to Souq Waqif and to a attracted a diverse range of visi- others and giving opportunities are being held until Saturday, Feb- and have fun at the same time.” been to Souq (Waqif) a number ering local men’s fabrics, thobe certain station where Qataris usu- tors, from cruise passengers who to others to know and understand ruary 3, from 6.45pm to 9pm, Hyatt Noor Ahmad added, “I attend- of times but never seen or vis- tailoring, accessories perfumes, ally go and buy from, and teach come for one day to transit pas- the Qatari culture and then adopt Plaza has said in a statement. ed the fi rst day and it was amaz- ited ‘this path’,” Embrace Doha art, coff ee, dates, Qatari snacks, you how to bargain for example,” sengers who want to maximise it,” al-Shammari noted. The bands portray a mix of cul- ing, I was excited to come back CEO Amal al-Shammari told re- local handicrafts, fabrics women al-Shammari explained. “We do it their stay in the country. With positive feedback from ture and an insight into the cus- with my family and am planning porters at a press briefi ng on the and incense. The tours off ered a authentically and in a local style.” “One of the challenges listed the public, she expressed opti- toms and traditions of the diff er- to attend the rest of the shows.” tours and Shop Qatar recently. series of sessions to introduce She noted that such activi- in Qatar National Vision 2030 mism that the tours will return ent countries through traditional Fuad Shaqadan, marketing “So we take them deep inside Qatari culture and traditions to ties received a positive response is how can we become mod- in the next edition of Shop Qatar. clothes, dance, music, dialect and manager of Hyatt Plaza, said: the Souq ... the main way where the participants “in a short yet from the public who want to ernised, having all these towers Born and raised in Doha, and folklore. The festival is consid- “As a socially responsible shop- there is shisha, we ignored it. We simple and sweet” manner, ac- have a deeper understanding of and businesses in the region, proud of her culture and heritage, ered a live platform for local and ping mall in Qatar, we are always went inside to show them the cording to al-Shammari. the Souq. and preserve the Qatari culture al-Shammari founded Embrace Arabian talents to present their committed to supporting and shops where our parents would “During the festival, we intro- Participants also witnessed because you don’t want to lose Doha as a cultural resource for culture and history, amid an am- hosting festivals and events that go and buy things,” she said. duced a service called ‘shop the how to prepare karak and Arabic your identity, like Dubai, for ex- people visiting and living in Qatar. biance of fun and excitement for add value to the society.” Dana Alfardan celebrates year of international success

oard any Qatar Airways fl ight and In 2017, Dana visited Moscow where possible to see the potential revenue with performances at the British em- tion of our nation’s culture and cultural you will experience the music of her music was chosen to be performed this industry can contribute to our na- bassy, and the Abdul Aziz Nasser Thea- initiatives becomes even more impor- BQatari composer Dana Alfardan. by visiting members of the QPO, playing tion with the presence of key institu- tre at Souq Waqif. tant than ever.” Being appointed the airline’s offi cial alongside Russian musicians, to mark tions such as Katara Studios and the After what was a challenging year Dana’s new year started on a very composer was just one of the highlights the launch of the Qatar Russia Year of presence of a Philharmonic Orchestra, for her nation, Dana is very much look- positive footing as she looks forward to of 2017 for Dana, not just here in Doha, Culture 2018, so she is now refl ecting on as well as the educational components ing forward to 2018 with an optimistic the launch of an album she was commis- but internationally, too. a productive and exciting year. under Qatar Foundation. outlook, not just for her music, but for sioned to compose for the Qatar Muse- Another was writing a track for Syr- As she said in her opening speech to “These are all key to manufacturing Qatar itself. ums. Beyond that, she is excited about ian superstar Assala Nasri’s latest al- an audience of invited dignitaries and and exporting original content. Hav- “Last year proved how able we are the international premiere of a musical bum. The song, Sandoo’ Segheer, has diplomats in Moscow, 2017 saw Dana’s ing experienced such a warm response in Qatar to come together in solidar- she has co-written, based on Khalil Gi- enjoyed huge global success with more material performed in the true spirit of to my music in 2017, I look forward to ity in diffi cult times. With tenacity and bran’s 1912 poetic novel, Broken Wings. than 4mn plays across Spotify and the unique ability music has to unify more opportunities to showcase cul- national resourcefulness, we have not The musical will go to workshop in YouTube. nations by transcending all cultural di- tural preeminence internationally.” only survived the last six months, but January, featuring a group of West End Other landmark moments included vides. Following the success and hugely have felt a sense of revitalised strength stars, followed by an album recording seeing a full programme of her music “I am privileged to be working with positive response to her debut London in our people’s ability to look ahead mid February. performed in London for the fi rst time, some incredibly talented musicians and Dana Alfardan (Picture courtesy: Sara concert in the autumn, Dana has since in partnership with the international The album will be launched on April at the Haymarket Theatre, featuring arts professionals, both here in Doha Lincoln Photography) been working on three fi lm scores for community both inside and outside of 10 worldwide, both digitally and physi- the London Metropolitan orchestra and internationally, and to be an active established British movie producers. the country,” Dana said. cally. Broken Wings world premiere is with guest musicians from the Qatar component in building the foundations within Qatar for international export,” She sees this collaboration as a re- “I felt that strongly when my song, due to take place at the end of July in Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), and a of a Qatari music industry,” Dana said. she stressed. fl ection of the strength of the long- One Nation, was released last year. London’s West End. special appearance by Assala, to sing “This industry includes the key “ When you consider the annual standing commercial and cultural rela- That was my opportunity to pay tribute A series of events in London and Sandoo Segheer. The year 2017 closed element of creative education pro- value of music to our great commer- tionship between Qatar and the UK. to my beloved country and leverage the across the UK, in partnership with with Dana being named Woman of The grammes for our next generation and cial and diplomatic partners in the UK, A medley of two scores was pre- support of my fellow musicians,” she the Qatar embassy in London, are also Year by Grazia Magazine. the creation of original musical content which was around £4.4bn in 2016, it’s miered during the Qatar British Festival said. “At times like these, the cultiva- planned throughout the year.

Sky show!

Though the viewing conditions were not perfect due to an overcast sky, people in Qatar could still witness a lunar spectacle yesterday evening, which included the first lunar eclipse of the year. Yesterday’s rare celestial treat, which was viewed in parts of western North America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Australia, caused a buzz as it combined three unusual lunar events — an extra big ‘super moon’, a ‘blue moon’ and a total lunar eclipse. PICTURES: Jayan Orma and Khanssaa Tahesh