BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 7 Al Rayyan gun for the fourth title Qatar industrial output up 2% y-o-y in February published in QATAR since 1978

FRIDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 10794 April 20, 2018 Sha’baan 4, 1439 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals PM meets award-winning Qatari innovators

In brief

QATAR | Greetings Emir congratulates new Ethiopian PM His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday held a telephone conversation with Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed. At the beginning of the call, the Emir HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday met with the Qatari innovators who were awarded gold and silver medals at the International Exhibition of congratulated Ahmed on the occasion Innovations Geneva held recently. The prime minister praised the eff orts of the Qatari inventors and their achievement in the international scientific forum, which brought together inventors from around the world. He of assuming his duties, and wished wished them success and further scientific achievements to bring more glory to Qatar in regional and international forums, adding that the winning inventions contribute to improving the quality of life and achieving him success. Talks during the call also further economic and social well-being. The prime minister highlighted the attention the state pays to innovators in diff erent fields and encouraged them to promote the country’s direction towards a knowledge-based dealt with ways to boost the friendly economy. The inventors from the Qatar Scientific Club were awarded six medals – four gold and two silver – in a strong competition with 600 inventors from 40 countries around the world. relations and co-operation between the two countries, in addition to a number of issues of mutual interest.

QATAR | Offi cial Emir condoles with Economic ruler of Kuwait His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim roadshow bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness Qatar’s private sector the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime starts today Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday sent cables of in N Carolina condolences to the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al- credit growth ‘to rise’ QNA Sabah on the death of Sheikh Fadel Raleigh Duaij al-Salman al-Sabah. zOpportunities are being created in the consumer goods sector, say bankers QATAR | Diplomacy two-day exhibition will begin Defence minister gets By Tom Arnold and Davide Egypt in June and the subsequent scal- as the market share shrinks of suppliers QR29bn of contracts to support growth today in Raleigh, North Caroli- Barbuscia/ Reuters ing back of some companies and in- like Saudi Arabia’s Almarai, the Middle in the private sector next year, part of Ana, as part of Qatar’s ‘economic call from UK counterpart Doha vestments from those countries is cre- East’s biggest dairy company, because a drive to diversify and strengthen the roadshow’ in the US. HE the Deputy Prime Minister and ating a vacuum gradually being fi lled, of the embargo. economy. The exhibition will bring together Minister of State for Defence Aff airs in part, by Qatar’s private sector. One company fi lling the vacuum is So far, the pick-up in private sector representatives from major institu- Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah atari banks expect private sec- QNB is targeting the private sector Baladna, which is creating a dairy in- growth is far less steep than the period tions in Qatar, including the Ministry yesterday received a telephone call tor credit growth in the coun- to contribute around 50% of lending dustry in the country and is planning up to mid-2015 when it reached highs of Economy and Commerce, Supreme from British Defence Secretary Gavin Qtry to pick up speed in 2018 as growth in 2018, up from 22.5% in 2017, an initial public off ering in the fi rst half of around 27%. Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Williamson. During the phone call, companies borrow and invest to ex- said a spokesman for QNB, the largest of 2018. It since slowed but has shown signs Qatar Airways, Doha Film Institute they exchanged views on further pand their business, taking advantage bank in the Middle East and Africa by Other sectors where higher demand of recovery in recent months, despite and Qatar Foundation along with a development of bilateral relations of opportunities created by a regional assets and the lender that has benefi ted is anticipated include manufactur- the impact of the boycott. number of US companies that have between the defence ministries of the political impasse. most from huge government spending ing and hospitality, while investment “The previous tightening of fi nancial partnered in investment projects with two friendly countries and means of The government and state-linked in recent years. is expected in the LNG sector due to a conditions between mid-2014 to mid- Qatar, such as Occidental Petroleum, enhancing them. companies have long been the mainstay “Looking ahead to 2018 and beyond, sharper rebound in hydrocarbon out- 2016, when hydrocarbon prices precip- Boeing, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhil- of credit growth and will continue to the projected growth of the private sec- put itously declined, does not seem to have lips. QATAR | Impact be, especially as Qatar prepares to host tor will present several opportunities The government has embarked on a harmed private sector lending post- This is the third such exhibition to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. for the bank to fi nance the expansion of strategy of making the economy self- impasse from June 2017 onwards,” said take place during the US tour, with the Iran quake tremors But a political rift that erupted be- business,” said Commercial Bank. suffi cient to help weather the eff ects of Ehsan Khoman, Mena head of research previous editions being held in Miami, felt in West Bay tween Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Bankers say opportunities are being the boycott. and strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Finan- Florida and Charleston, South Caro- Tremors were felt in Doha’s West Bay United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and created in the consumer goods sector This year’s budget includes awarding cial Group. lina. Page 3 area after an earthquake measuring 5.9 struck the Iranian province of Bushehr yesterday morning. The Qatar Qatar to buy US Air Defence System Meteorology Department, part of the Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed this in an Arabic tweet, which said the “tremors felt by people in the Towers Qatar Airways fi rst to off er Zone of Dafna were due to the seismic waves caused by the earthquake of Iran”. Many Doha residents also discussed the tremors on social media. There was no immediate report of gate-to-gate Internet in Mena damage or injuries in Iran. atar Airways is the fi rst airline in sengers on board and helping them stay use of mobile GSM services and SMS ARAB WORLD | Decision the Middle East and North Africa connected throughout the fl ight.” when the aircraft is below 3,000m. Qregion (Mena) to provide gate- Approval by the CRA means that While on board, passengers can con- Sudan’s president to-gate Internet connectivity onboard. Qatar will be the fi rst country in the tinue to enjoy Qatar Airways’ in-fl ight sacks foreign minister A decision by Qatar’s Communica- Middle East and North Africa region to entertainment system, Oryx One, which Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has tions Regulatory Authority (CRA) will provide gate-to-gate Internet connec- off ers passengers up to 4,000 entertain- issued a presidential decree relieving allow the provision of Internet service tivity onboard aircraft. It also refl ects ment options from the latest blockbust- Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour of onboard aircraft at all altitudes. Previ- CRA’s alignment with Qatar’s high rate er movies, TV box sets, music, games his position, state news agency Suna ously, the Internet connection was only of technology adoption across vari- and much more. reported yesterday. The news agency permitted when an aircraft was higher ous sectors, particularly those aff ecting Passengers fl ying on Qatar Airways did not provide any further details. than 3,000m above sea level. transport and communication that are fl ights served by its B777, B787, A350, Qatar Airways Group Chief Execu- strategic to Qatar’s future development A380, and select A320 and A330 aircraft AFRICA | Protests tive Akbar al-Baker said: “In another and economic growth. can also stay in touch with their friends fi rst for the Mena region, Qatar Airways Improvements in technology and de- and family around the world by us- Ramaphosa cuts passengers will be able to enjoy uninter- velopments in global technical stand- ing the “award-winning” airline’s on- short Britain trip rupted Internet connectivity from the ards now ensure that on board Internet board Wi-Fi service. South Africa’s President Cyril moment they step on board a Qatar Air- service does not cause harmful inter- Qatar Airways operates a modern The Qatar armed forces signed an agreement to purchase air defence system from Ramaphosa has cut short his visit to ways fl ight. This is another signifi cant ference to either aircraft operations or fl eet of more than 200 aircraft to a net- US firm Raytheon at the headquarters of the Qatari military attache in Washington Britain by a day to return home to enhancement to our award-winning land-based public mobile networks. work of more than 150 key business and DC. The agreement was signed by Commander of the Emiri Air Defence Forces, deal with protests in the country’s levels of service that our passengers However, to avoid any interference to leisure destinations across Europe, the Brigadier General Hamad bin Mubarak al-Douai, and Raytheon Chairman and Chief North West province, his off ice said around the globe have come to appreci- aircraft and land-based mobile services, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacifi c, North Executive Off icer Dr Tom Kennedy. Qatari Military Attache in Washington, Staff yesterday. ate. We look forward to welcoming pas- restrictions still apply to the onboard America and South America. Brigadier Yousef Mohammed al-Kuwari, attended the signing ceremony. Qatar steps up eff orts for food security in dryland countries

QNA fairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi and The alliance also aims to provide the best ment them in order to face challenges exchange the benefi ts of new techno- and will work in full co-ordination and Doha GDA Executive Director Ambassador practices that can be shared with dryland related to agriculture, water and energy logical and research innovations with consultation with them in the area of Bader al-Dafa. countries around the world. in dryland countries, the spokesperson the least developed dryland countries in food security for dryland countries. The GDA initiative was put forward After the signing, Foreign Ministry added. an eff ort to reduce hunger and poverty. He said there was an urgent need to atar yesterday took a major step by His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim spokesperson HE Lulwah al-Khater She said the alliance aims to engage The spokesperson added that some intensify the eff orts in developing food towards achieving food security bin Hamad al-Thani during his speech said food security for dryland countries in joint research and technological in- land will be allocated to set up storage security programmes, as the world pop- Qfor dryland countries by making at the 68th UN General Assembly in would result in further stability and novation relevant to the members’ ag- for cattle, a farm and a laboratory to ulation increases by 200,000 per day, Doha the new headquarters of the Glo- 2013. peace around the world. ricultural, water and energy needs. It conduct research on desert and dryland. with a gap between consumption and bal Dryland Alliance. The GDA aims to provide support to GDA also aims to co-operate with lo- also aims to co-ordinate with the private Al-Dafa said the alliance is not an al- agriculture investment, as well as cli- The agreement for this was signed by researches and new innovations of mem- cal, regional and international partners sector to implement and spread innova- ternative to organisations that work in mate challenges that impose a diffi cult HE the Minister of State for Foreign Af- ber states and to implement the results. to fi nd solutions and spread and imple- tive solutions related to food security, this fi eld, but complements their eff orts reality on dryland countries. Gulf Times 2 Friday, April 20, 2018 QATAR

PM meets Liberian ministers Culture Ministry signs co-operation protocol The Ministry of Culture and Sports has signed a co- operation protocol with Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Co-operation (ICYF-DC), which is aff iliated with the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC). HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem al-Ali signed the protocol with ICYF- DC president Elshad Iskandarov on the sidelines of the meeting of ministers of youth and sports of OIC member states as part of the fourth Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers. The event concluded yesterday in Baku, Azerbaijan. The protocol includes organising joint youth activities between both parties to be held in Qatar or any other country, in HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met yesterday with Liberian addition to supporting events Minister for Labour Moses Y Kollie and Deputy Minister of Internal Aff airs for the Republic of Liberia Varney A Sirleaf on the for Jerusalem, capital of the occasion of their visit to the country. During the meeting, they reviewed co-operation between the two countries and ways of Islamic youth. developing them in various fields.

Minister meets ambassadors Chief of Staff in US Centcom Riyadh meet

HE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi met yesterday with ambassador of Canada to Qatar Adrian Norfolk. The meeting discussed bilateral relations and means of supporting and developing them in addition to matters of mutual concern.

HE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al- Muraikhi met yesterday with ambassadors of American friendly countries accredited to the State of Qatar. The HE the Chief of Staff of the Qatar Armed Forces Major General (Pilot) Ghanim bin Shaheen al-Ghanim meeting discussed the yesterday participated in a meeting of the US Central Command in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The meeting developments of the Gulf was co-chaired by Chief of the General Staff of Saudi Arabia, First Lt General Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwayli crisis and enhancing the and Commander of the US Central Command, General Joseph Votel, in the presence of the Chiefs of Staff prospects of co-operation of the GCC states, Jordan and Egypt. The meeting discussed the US Defence Strategy 2018 in addition to as well as issues of a number of issues related to security and regional aff airs and the fight against terrorism and extremism. common concern. HE the Chief of Staff was accompanied by a number of senior off icers from the Qatar Armed Forces.

Qatar, Britain joint naval exercise Mubadara Awards to fete outstanding entrepreneurs

njaz Qatar, a non-profi t organi- up venture as they develop a business the Year Award (University level) will Qatar’s board members and repre- sation and a member of Junior idea, form a team, raise capital of up be given ongoing support by Qatar sentatives from the private and public IAchievement (JA) Worldwide, will to QR11,000, devise business plans, Business Incubation Centre (QBIC) sector including the education sector host the Mubadara Awards Ceremony and produce and sell a product or a and seed funding of QR35,000 from in Qatar. at Hamad Bin Khalifa University Stu- service. Towards the end of the fi ve Boeing to start their real business. Boeing Middle East, North Africa dent Center on April 30, recognising months of activity, students present Elaborating on the upcoming event, and Turkey president Bernard Dunn some of Qatar’s most outstanding their entrepreneurial ideas before Emad al-Khaja, CEO of Injaz Qatar, stated that the company is extremely young entrepreneurs. a judging panel of business leaders observed that each year, the depth of proud of the Company Programme JA’s globally recognised Company from the local market. talent amongst the participants con- and Start-Up, which allows students The British ship HMS Bangor arrived in Doha yesterday to participate in a joint Programme is Injaz Qatar’s most in- In the upcoming Mubadara 2018 tinues to amaze the organisers. to experience the full life cycle of a naval exercise between the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces and the British Royal Navy teractive and popular education exer- Awards Ceremony, the innovative “Qatar’s youth have an incredible company but also provides them with in Qatari territorial waters. The Directorate of Defence Communication at the cise during which student enterprises products and services developed by level of talent and business intuition. viable ideas with the resources they Ministry of Defence said the exercise comes on the basis of prior agreements are established. It has evolved to be the student companies will be ex- Through events such as the Mubadara need to develop their ideas into busi- within the framework of bilateral defence co-operation between the two friendly a prominent event in the Injaz Qatar hibited and the winners of this year’s competition, Injaz Qatar provides nesses. countries to support eff orts to combat terrorism, piracy and smuggling, and to calendar of activities. competition will be announced giv- these young men and women with an “It is a great platform for students maintain security and stability in the region. A total of 22 student teams were ing them the opportunity to represent opportunity to showcase these capa- to develop critical business skills provided with the unique opportuni- Qatar at the 2018 regional fi nals. bilities. To be able to build up a tan- regardless of the career path they ty to establish and run a real business Students will vie for one of four gible business setup from an idea, is chose,” the Boeing offi cial added. over a period of fi ve months with the awards: The Best Company of the in itself an achievement for each one This year’s Mubadara Award Cer- guidance of professionals from lead- Year award sponsored by ExxonMo- of them. This will automatically give emony has ExxonMobil as platinum ing businesses across Qatar. bil, the Best Social Impact Award them the confi dence, and the skills, sponsor, Ooredoo as gold sponsor As many as 18 student teams, com- sponsored by Ooredoo, the Most to actively contribute towards Qatar’s and Hamad Bin Khalifa University as Ministry closes down prising 12 from independent and pri- Innovative Product/Service award economic and social development silver sponsor. Boeing is the strategic vate secondary schools and six from sponsored by Hamad Bin Khalifa when they enter the workforce in a partner for the Start-Up programme, universities, made it to the fi nal stage. University, and the Best Marketing few years.” QBIC is the incubation partner who commercial entity for month During the programme, students go Plan award sponsored by Frame. The Awards Ceremony will host will host the winner and Frame the through the entire life cycle of a start- The team winning Best Company of more than 350 guests, including Injaz media partner. he Ministry of Economy and Com- to comply with their obligations under the merce (MEC) has closed down a Consumer Protection Law and its executive Tcommercial entity for a month for regulations, and will intensify its inspec- Minor detour on Al Gharrafa Street selling counterfeit sporting merchandise. tion campaigns to control such practices. The closure came within the frame- It added in a statement that any case work of intensive inspection campaigns involving a violation of the relevant laws Ashghal will implement a nearly Al Hazm Street traff ic signal will Top Qatar employers at CMU-Q carried out by the MEC to monitor the will be forwarded to the competent au- 17-month long minor diversion be reduced from three lanes to markets and commercial activities in thorities for appropriate action. on Al Gharrafa Street from today, two lanes (as illustrated on the the country with the aim of controlling The ministry urged all consumers to it was announced yesterday. map). ore than 35 or- prices and detecting infringements and report violations to the Department of The diversion, scheduled to last The authorities will install road ganisations came counterfeit goods, as well as products not Consumer Protection, which receives until September 30, 2019, will signs guiding motorists to the Mto Carnegie Mel- conforming to standard specifi cations. complaints, suggestions and enquiries facilitate the works completion diverted route. Ashghal has lon University in Qatar The ministry affi rmed that it will be through its various channels of commu- of the underpass on Al Gharrafa requested all road users to abide (CMU-Q) to meet and fi rm in dealing with all those who neglect nication. QNA Street, as part of the Khalifa by the existing speed limit at network with students, in- Avenue project. During the 50kph, and follow the road signs cluding this year’s gradu- detour, both directions of Al to ensure safety. The diversion ating seniors. The Careers Qatar urges United Nations framework for Gharrafa Street between Thani is designed in collaboration with Platform event hosted bin Jasim Street traff ic signal and the General Directorate of Traff ic. potential employers from keeping pace with outer space technology government agencies, multinational corpora- he State of Qatar called for united plementation and use of space activities tions, and local, Qatar- international eff orts to promote in the light of the conventions and the based businesses. The Tand frame the United Nations in- promotion of international law on outer Class of 2018 will graduate struments on outer space to keep pace space, which would contribute to the op- on April 30 at a ceremony The Careers Platform event hosted potential employers with the signifi cant development of space timal regulation of the use and utilisation at CMU-Q. from government agencies, multinational corporations, technology and its uses. This came in a of outer space resources. Michael Trick, dean of and local, Qatar-based businesses. speech delivered by Sheikh Ali bin Jassim The ambassador also pointed to Qa- CMU-Q, said, “It is en- al-Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to Austria tar’s accession to the Treaty on Princi- couraging to see so many tion smoothly into the now working within Qatar. and permanent envoy to the UN organi- ples Governing the Activities of States in employers reaching out workplace: they are team Most CMU-Q graduates sations in Vienna before the 57th session the Exploration and Use of Outer Space and providing opportu- players, ask the right ques- choose careers in Qatar, of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of and the ratifi cation of the Agreement nities, especially for our tions, solve problems, and working for top organisa- Outer Space, which was held in Vienna. on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return graduating students. For work very hard.” tions in the areas of busi- Sheikh Ali said that space activities of Astronauts and the Return of Objects the members of the Class Many of the organi- ness, science and technol- had become indispensable tools for eco- Launched into Outer Space, as well as the of 2018, this is the begin- sations at Careers Plat- ogy. The total number of nomic, social, environmental and health ratifi cation of the Convention on Regis- ning of a new chapter and form were represented by CMU-Q alumni is nearly development and resource management, tration of Objects Launched into Outer I believe they will transi- alumni of CMU-Q who are 800. emphasising the importance of the im- Space. QNA Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 3 QATAR/ARAB WORLD

Katara Publishing House inaugurated Minister discusses co-operation prospects with N Carolina offi cials

E the Minister of Econo- my and Commerce Sheikh HAhmed bin Jassim bin Mo- hamed al-Thani has discussed means of enhancing co-operation with of- fi cials in Raleigh, North Carolina, during separate meetings held on the sidelines of Qatar’s ‘economic road- show’ in the US. During his meeting with Will Miller, deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, HE the Minister discussed mecha- nisms to develop co-operation be- tween the two countries, expand trade exchanges, encourage the pri- vate sector to establish joint ventures HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin to benefi t from the promising invest- Mohamed al-Thani with Will Miller. ment opportunities and the excellent Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation held the opening ceremony of Katara Publishing House at a special ceremony business environment provided by of Commerce, to discuss means of witnessed by Qatar as well as its high yesterday evening. A number of dignitaries, including HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Qatar. developing co-operation between purchasing power. al-Sada, HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti and others were HE Sheikh Ahmed also discussed the two countries, expanding trade HE the Minister invited the Cham- present on the occasion. Katara Publishing House “aims to become a driving force behind the publishing industry in with Chris Chung, CEO of the Eco- exchanges and encouraging the pri- ber of Commerce in Raleigh to visit Qatar and a connecting link between readers and writers”, the Cultural Village said in a statement. nomic Development Partnership of vate sector to establish joint ven- Qatar with a delegation of major North Carolina, possibilities of co- tures. companies in order to identify in- operation in the economic, trade and The meeting also reviewed the vestment opportunities in the State. investment fi elds and ways of devel- investment incentives and facili- The Greater Raleigh Chamber of oping them, investment incentives ties provided by the Qatari economy, Commerce includes under its um- and the economic diversifi cation which would strengthen partnerships brella more than 2,200 companies. strategy adopted by Qatar in order to and attract US investments to open Qatar and the US have strong eco- Offi cial hails agro sector’s achievements achieve Qatar National Vision 2030. new markets in the region, includ- nomic, trade and investment ties that Meanwhile, HE the Minister met ing the Qatari market as a promising were reinforced by the signing of the Adrienne Cole, president and CEO one that the US companies look for in Framework Agreement on Trade and QNA private sectors in cooperation with the He noted that the second National of the Greater Raleigh Chamber light of the strong economic growth Investment in 2004. Business 12 Doha Swiss Agency for Development and Co- Development Strategy 2018-2022 has operation (SDC). already started. Sheikh Dr Falih bin Nasser al-Thani The self-suffi ciency in local vegeta- heikh Dr Faleh bin Nasser al-Tha- said that fi nding appropriate solutions bles stands at 24%, 86% in dates, and ni, assistant undersecretary of the to the challenges facing food security about 50% in green fodder, he added. SMinistry of Municipality and En- can only be achieved by coordinating As for animal products, he said that vironment for agricultural, livestock and eff orts, exchanging experiences and self-suffi ciency in milk and dairy products fi sheries aff airs, yesterday reaffi rmed utilizing all the available resources of in the country has increased to more than that, thanks to the increasing attention government, academic and research 82%, while fresh chicken and table eggs of the wise leadership, the agricultural institutions at the local, regional and cover more than 98% and 23% respective- sector has managed gigantic leaps to- international levels. ly of Qatar’s market consumption. wards covering the requirements of the He pointed out that based on the The number of economic animals in- local market and raising the self-suffi - leadership’s adoption of Qatar National creased to about 1.6mn heads, while self- ciency rates in the agricultural, livestock Vision 2030 and the National Food Se- suffi ciency in fi sh reached about 80%. and fi shery sectors despite the unjust curity Program to raise the level of self- Sheikh Dr Falih bin Nasser al-Thani siege imposed on the country. suffi ciency in basic commodities for said the state has undertaken a number The assistant undersecretary made citizens and residents, where the gov- of initiatives to boost food security by the remarks at the end of a two-day ernment and private sectors in exert ef- providing opportunities for private seminar on food security the ministry forts to achieve the goals of this nation- investors in the agricultural fi eld by organized along with the committee al vision through the implementation launching four large strategic projects on following up the implementation of of well-studied strategies for national for the production of vegetables over an food security policies in the public and development. area of 1mn sq m per project. HE Sheikh Ahmed during his meeting with Chris Chung. Assad ups eff orts to crush last of besieged enclaves

Reuters The last rebels withdrew from Tuesday, the Organization for the Iraq carries out air strikes on Islamic State in Syria “We hope the Russians keep State militants had been given 48 Beirut eastern Ghouta hours after the Prohibition of Chemical Weap- their promises, even though we hours to agree to withdraw from Western bombing. ons said. Iraq yesterday carried out air Earlier this month, Abadi had have no trust in them,” he said. an enclave centred around the Since then, the government The Western countries say strikes on Islamic State posi- said Iraq would “take all neces- In the nearby enclave of East- Yarmouk camp for Palestinian he Syrian government has focused on regaining four less Moscow and Damascus are pre- tions in Syria a week after Prime sary measures if they threaten ern Qalamoun, which consists refugee south of Damascus. yesterday stepped up its populous encircled enclaves. venting the inspectors from Minister Haider al-Abadi said his the security of Iraq”, referring to of several towns and an area of “If they refuse, the army and Teff orts to retake the oppo- Their capture would leave the reaching the site and may be de- country would defend itself from the militants who just three years hills and has also been covered supporting forces are ready to sition’s last besieged enclaves, as opposition holding only its two stroying evidence. militant threats across the border. ago overran a third of Iraq. by an informal ceasefi re, rebels launch a military operation to rebels prepared to withdraw from main strongholds, located in the Russia and Assad’s govern- Iraqi F-16 warplanes crossed The prime minister declared said they were also negotiating a end the presence of the organisa- one and a newspaper reported an northwest and southwest along ment deny this. into Syria to carry out the strikes final victory over the ultra hard- withdrawal deal with Russia. tion in the area,” al-Watan said. ultimatum against another. Syria’s international borders. Meanwhile, the Western inter- after co-ordination with Syr- line group in December but it still The army has put military Most residents have fl ed the President Bashar al-Assad Diplomacy this week has fo- vention has had no measurable ian President Bashar al-Assad’s poses a threat from pockets along pressure on rebels in Eastern camp, once Syria’s largest for scored a major victory this month cussed on the accusations of impact on the wider war, with government, an Iraqi military the border with Syria and has Qalamoun to start negotiations Palestinian refugees, but thou- by retaking eastern Ghouta, the poison gas use in Douma, the rebels continuing to surren- spokesman said. continued to carry out ambushes, to withdraw, the Syrian Observa- sands of civilians are still inside. biggest rebel stronghold near Da- last town to hold out against the der under deals that allow them “Carrying out air strikes on assassinations and bombings tory for Human Rights war mon- Christopher Gunness, a mascus, putting his forces in by government advance in eastern to withdraw to the opposition Daesh gangs in Syrian territories across Iraq. itoring group said. spokesman for the United Na- far their strongest position since Ghouta. pocket in the northwest in return is because of the dangers posed Iraq currently has good rela- A military news service run by tions Relief and Works Agency the early months of the seven- Western countries say scores for abandoning territory. by said gangs to Iraqi territories tions with Iran and Russia, Assad’s the government’s Lebanese ally (UNRWA) which looks after year-old civil war. of people were gassed to death in State television showed live and is proof of the improved main backers in the seven-year Hezbollah reported yesterday Palestinian refugees said it was The United States, Britain and the April 7 chemical attack. footage of buses entering the capabilities of our armed forces,” Syrian civil war, while also enjoy- that the army had moved into deeply concerned for their safety. France launched a volley of air Syria and its ally Russia deny town of Dumayr, northeast of the Iraqi military said in a state- ing strong support from the positions inside the enclave to A commander in the regional strikes last Saturday against three it. Damascus, to bring out fi ghters ment. US-led coalition. entirely encircle one of its towns, military alliance that backs the Syrian targets in retaliation for Now that the rebels have sur- and their families, while soldiers al-Ruhayba. Syrian government said the Syr- a suspected chemical weapons rendered, the area is under gov- stood by the roadside. The Observatory said there ian army had begun shelling the strike during the Ghouta assault. ernment control, and a team of Twenty buses would be used an informal ceasefi re for years, one of the rebel groups in the were also talks under way be- militant enclave on Tuesday in But the limited Western inter- international inspectors has so to transfer about 5,000 people, but its recovery is important for area, said his group had no choice tween Russia and rebels over the preparation for an assault. vention, far from any contested far been unable to reach it. including 1,500 rebels, to north the government because it makes but to go along with a Russian- fate of an enclave in central Syria Islamic State lost most of its battlefront, has shown no sign of The inspectors have delayed Syria after they surrendered their it possible to guarantee the safety backed deal to leave the town, around the town of Rastan. territory last year, but it still having any impact on the ground, their visit to Douma after their heavy weapons, Syrian state TV of vehicles travelling on the Da- because there were no other out- Separately, the pro-govern- holds small areas of desert in where Assad’s forces have security team were shot at dur- said. mascus-Baghdad highway. side forces that could guarantee ment Al-Watan newspaper re- eastern Syria on either side of the pressed on with his off ensive. ing a reconnaissance trip on Dumayr has been covered by Said Saif, a senior offi cial with their safety. ported yesterday that Islamic Euphrates river. Morocco’s child maids still suff er like ‘slaves’

By Hamza Mekouar, AFP told AFP. “But gradually, violence cence and long abused by her em- SAF’s programme against child la- port, rehabilitation, to identify fam- Rabat became my daily life. ployer. bour, says that the fate of maids, ilies,” says Saadoun. “The mistress used to beat me, INSAF has helped her fi nd shelter. such as Fatima, starts with “failure “Many maids who are minors do insult me, she always had a reason.” For Fatima, work began at 7am and at school in rural settings, poverty not even know the address of their ven a pet animal is better Fatima El Maghnaoui, who runs ended late into the night, “some- and parental ignorance”. employer.” treated,” sobs 17-year-old the Annajda shelter, talks of slavery times 3am,” she says. In some areas, “girls are consid- And, noted El Maghnaoui, “work EFatima, one of thousands of and says teenage Fatima should be at “I used to sleep on the terrace in ered inferior to boys and are the fi rst inspectors are not authorised to in- young girls exploited and too often school. the cold, like a domestic animal. I in line to be married off or sent to vestigate inside households where abused while working as house- “It’s a form of slavery, a viola- used to eat the scraps and my feet al- work as a servant when extra money abuse can take place far from prying maids for unscrupulous employers tion of the right to education and of ways ached from standing up.” is needed,” he said. eyes.” in Morocco. Morocco’s international commit- She was not even paid. Long awaited amid years of de- Despite the new legislation, non- She has managed to get to the An- ments,” she said. “A salary of 800 dirhams a month bate, legislation to protect maids government agencies such as INSAF najda help centre for battered wom- There are no offi cial fi gures on the ($85, or a third of the minimum was passed in the summer of 2016. report that girls as young as eight or en in the capital, Rabat. employment of maids. wage) was agreed, but I didn’t get a It sets a minimum age of 18 for nine are still being taken on as serv- “I only wanted to help my parents, But a study carried out in 2010 by penny,” she adds. household work. ants. my family was living in destitution,” non-governmental bodies reported After the fi rst year she asked for The law covers labour contracts, After years of servitude, many still murmurs the teenager, who has that Morocco had between 66,000 what she was owed, only for the a minimum wage, one day off a bear the scars. worked as a household servant for and 80,000 domestic workers aged mistress of the house to confi scate week, annual holidays and fi nancial Hayat, now 38, became a maid at two years. under 15. her identity papers and forbid any penalties for failure to abide by the the age of nine. For the volunteers who off er sup- INSAF, an NGO which has cam- contact with her family. rules. “When I think back today, 30 port, such stories are commonplace paigned for women’s rights for near- Caught in a trap, Fatima decided Government has hailed the law as years after, it’s still just as painful,” despite recent legislation to protect ly 20 years, lists “degrading working to run away. major social progress. she laments. minors from servitude. and living conditions” suff ered by “I didn’t know anyone, I had no However, it allows another fi ve “I lost my childhood. My fi rst em- Fatima’s parents agreed to let her the girls, who are usually from the money and did not even know the years for the employment of 16-18 ployer mistreated me, gave me lefto- leave their southern village at the country and illiterate. address where I was working,” she year-olds, much to the annoyance vers to eat. He constantly humiliated age of 15 to work as a domestic, with Latifa’s story caught public atten- says. of human rights activists, and there me. It was exhausting. I did not have the aid of a local intermediary, or tion recently after the 22-year-old In the end, a young man who lived has been little or no assessment of the strength needed for housework.” “semsar”. was taken to hospital in Casablanca nearby helped her get in touch with implementation. Today she’s a mother and does A place was found and she was with third-degree burns and broken an aunt and “bring the ordeal to a “We need a global strategy...the “everything to take care of my chil- Former Moroccan underage maid Fatima, now 17, sent to work with a family in Rabat. bones. close”. legislation does not bring any guar- dren so they do not live through the talks to AFP inside a house in Rabat. “At fi rst I was well-treated,” she She had been a maid since adoles- Omar Saadoun, who heads IN- antees, there is no system for sup- same thing.” Gulf Times 4 Friday, April 20, 2018 AFRICA

Ethiopia’s new PM Dakar erupts in protest reshuffl es cabinet

Reuters over election law change Addis Ababa Reuters/AFP who had barricaded a street keeper Baba Kane, who closed Dakar near parliament were dispersed his business to join the protests thiopia’s new premier by tear gas, AFP journalists re- yesterday morning. Abiy Ahmed named a new ported. Critics of the law say that Edefence minister yester- rotests fl ared yesterday Police also fi red tear gas at making candidates travel across day as part of a reshuffl e to help in Senegal’s capital and a around 50 protesters who were the country would rule out implement reforms demanded Pparliamentary debate de- throwing stones at a police ve- smaller campaigns with low by the public during unrest in scended into pushing and shov- hicle. budgets. which hundreds were killed by ing over a proposed change to an Protests were also held in the “You need a lot of money to do security forces. election law that critics say will northern town of Saint-Louis, this, so to become president you Abiy named 10 new ministers make it impossible for minor Thies in the west and the central need money,” said student Alas- but retained the fi nance and for- candidates to run for president city of Mbacke. sane Samb at the protest. eign ministers from the cabinet in 2019. It was a rare outbreak of un- Tempers fl ared inside parlia- of his predecessor Hailemariam Hundreds of people took to rest in a country widely seen as ment and a debate on the bill Desalegn, who resigned in Feb- the streets of Dakar’s downtown a beacon of stability and democ- was disrupted when politicians ruary to pave the way for the re- Plateau district, burning tyres racy in West Africa, and came rushed to the front of the cham- forms. and setting up barricades before ahead of elections in February ber, near the speaker’s chair, “To respond to public demand police dispersed crowds with next year in which President and began arguing furiously and a cabinet reshuffl e is essential. tear gas and arrested dozens. Macky Sall is seeking a second pushing each other. This follows the change of lead- Two opposition fi gures – term. Last month, former Dakar ership that was enacted in an Malick Gakou of the Grand Parti The proposed bill requires all mayor and presidential con- attempt to change the existing and Thierno Bocoum of the Agir election candidates to collect tender Khalifa Sall was sen- situation in the country,” Abiy, movement – were among those the supporting signature of 1% tenced to fi ve years in jail for a former army offi cer, told law- arrested, their parties said. of registered voters in each of embezzlement and falsifying makers. Idrissa Seck, who headed the Senegal’s 14 regions, amounting documents, a penalty that Kha- He told the new ministers to government between 2002 and to 60,000 people. lifa’s supporters say was politi- tackle graft and streamline bu- 2004, was also arrested while Ruling party member Abdou cally driven. reaucracy. “en route for the Assembly”, said Mbow told Reuters that the pro- Police off icers fire tear gas during anti-government demonstrations in Dakar. Rights monitor Amnesty In- Unrest broke out in the larg- an offi cial from his Rewmi party, posed law would prevent elec- ternational meanwhile urged est province of Oromiya in 2015 Mbacke Seck. tions from being “chaotic” by increase in the number of presi- problems caused in part by the law is attempts by Sall to silence Senegal to “respect the right of largely fuelled by young people Kilifa, a popular rapper and ruling out candidates with no dential candidates in a country record 47 candidate lists which opponents. people to demonstrate peace- who said they were marginalised political activist, was also de- chance of winning. with nearly 300 parties. voters had to choose from. “Macky Sall wants to impose fully and to air their opinions economically and politically in tained. The authorities say that they Parliamentary elections last However, opposition party this law on us, it’s a dictator- against a backdrop of repres- the country of around 100mn Around 100 demonstrators are concerned over a possible year were marred by voting members say that the proposed ship,” said 40-year-old shop- sion”. people.

King renames Swaziland as ‘eSwatini’ Nigeria’s Buhari stirs social media

AFP eral years, with lawmakers considering Mbabane the issue in 2015. storm with remarks about youth Mswati III has used the new name in previous offi cial speeches. he king of Swaziland, one of the The king, who was crowned in 1986 Reuters on oil but it fell into recession in 2016, world’s few absolute monarchs, aged 18, rules by decree and has often Lagos largely due to low crude prices. Tannounced yesterday that his been criticised for his lavish lifestyle Growth returned last year but re- country had changed its name to eS- despite the grinding poverty suff ered mains sluggish, and four out of every watini to mark 50 years since inde- by many of his citizens. resident Muhammadu Buhari 10 people in the workforce are unem- pendence from British rule. Political parties are banned from has drawn criticism from social ployed or underemployed. Meaning “place of the Swazi”, eS- taking part in elections and only can- Pmedia and the opposition alike The opposition People’s Democratic watini is the Swazi language name for didates approved by chiefs loyal to the for saying that many young Nigerians Party (PDP) described Buhari’s com- the tiny nation landlocked between King Mswati III with Taiwan President king can stand for offi ce. think they need “do nothing” to enjoy ments as “false, derogatory and un- South Africa and Mozambique. Tsai Ing-wen after awarding her with The country, which has a popula- free homes, hospitals and schooling patriotic”. Unlike some countries, Swaziland the Order of the Elephant during her tion of about 1.3mn people, suff ers because they live in an oil-rich coun- “Most disheartening is that these did not change its name when it gained visit at an off icial ceremony in Lozitha the highest HIV rate in the world, with try. are the same young persons who form independence in 1968 after being a Palace, Manzini, on Wednesday. 27% of adults infected. Buhari, who said last week that he the highest demography of voters that British protectorate for more than 60 The name change could mean that will run for a second term in elections put their confi dence in him in 2015,” it years. independence reverted to their ancient the country’s constitution is re-writ- next February, made the comments in said in a statement. King Mswati III declared the name names before they were colonised. ten, as well as changes for the Royal London where he is attending a Com- The PDP, which was in power in change during Independence Day cel- “So from now on the country will be Swaziland Police Force, the Swaziland monwealth Heads of Government 1999-2015, has not selected a presi- ebrations at a packed sports stadium in offi cially be known as the Kingdom of Defence Force and the University of Meeting (CHOGM). Buhari: said last week that he will run dential candidate. the second city of Manzini. eSwatini.” Swaziland. “More than 60% of the population for a second term in elections next Buhari himself still requires his par- “I would like to announce that Swa- The name Swaziland angers some After independence, Rhodesia be- is below the age of 30,” he told a busi- February. ty’s endorsement, although many see ziland will now revert to its original citizens as it is a mix of Swazi and Eng- came Zimbabwe, Nyasaland became ness forum on Wednesday. “Many of this as a formality. name,” he said, wearing red military lish. Malawi, and Bechuanaland became them haven’t been to school and they a day, the quality of public services is Atiku Abubakar, a former vice- uniform. “African countries on getting The move has been mooted for sev- Botswana. are claiming that Nigeria has been poor and public corruption is rife. president and erstwhile Buhari ally, an oil-producing country, therefore, “Imagine living and surviving in a said that he backed the young. they should sit and do nothing, and get country that has no plan for you and “I will never refer to Nigeria’s youth housing, healthcare, education, free.” constantly tries to make life hard, yet as people who sit and do nothing. They This went down badly with the very we survive and try to break through. are hard-working,” Abubakar, who left people the 75-year-old will need if he We are not #LazyNigerianYouths,” the president’s party in November and is to remain leader of Africa’s top oil wrote Twitter user @UmehOMA. rejoined the PDP, said in a tweet. producer. Others used another hashtag – Abubakar, who has declared his The median age in the nation of #LazyNigeranPVC – in reference to readiness to run for president in 2019, around 190mn people is just 18, ac- the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) used also said “their entrepreneurial spirit, cording to the United Nations. to cast a ballot, linking Buhari’s com- work ethic, and creative abilities are His remarks prompted the ironic ments to next year’s election. things of pride and should be applaud- hashtag #LazyNigerianYouths on “Dear #LazyNigerianYouths 2019 ed”. Twitter even though Buhari, a former is around the corner let us get our Bashir Ahmad, a presidential aide, general who was also a military ruler in #LAZYNIGERIANPVC so that we tweeted that Buhari had “always ap- the 1980s, did not use the word “lazy”. can show him our Laziness,” said one plauded and celebrated Nigerian Young Nigerians cited examples of Twitter user called @Blessmhe. youths who excel in diff erent areas of their industry and fortitude in a nation Buhari has promised to fi x the econ- endeavour, from sports, to academia, where most people live on less than $2 omy and reduce Nigeria’s dependence and other realms”. Burundi MPs approve law to allow police searches without warrants

AFP “In light of the evolution of crimi- for the International Federation for Nairobi nality in Burundi these past few years, Human Rights (FIDH), said that the it was necessary to introduce new rules draft law was “clearly a wish to legal- exempt from common law in criminal ise the illegal and arbitrary practices he lower house of Burundi’s proceedings,” Justice Minister Aime- that the forces of law and order have parliament has voted to allow Laurentine Kanyana told MPs while already resorted to for three years in Tsecurity forces in the politically presenting the bill. this country”. tense nation to conduct night raids The new measures will apply in cas- Independent media, together with without a search warrant. es of “terrorism, traffi cking, and illegal local and international NGOs, regu- The draft law changing the criminal possession of weapons or narcotics”, larly report incidents where the secu- code was passed late on Wednesday in the minister said. rity forces seal off whole districts and the lower house, with 90 votes in fa- Security forces would be authorised carry out raids and arrests without vour and 22 against after eight hours to carry out “multiple searches target- mandates, Duby said. of debate, parliament announced on ing entire districts and they would also The main targets of the crackdown Twitter. be allowed to seize computer systems have been parts of the capital Bujum- The bill must now go before the to investigate data”. bura reputed to be opposition strong- Senate before being passed into law MPs from the Amizero y’Abarundi holds. by President Pierre Nkurunziza “as (Hope of the Burundians) coalition, On Tuesday Human Rights Watch fast as possible”, a senior member of including politicians close to historic accused the regime of killing, beating the ruling CNDD-FDD party told AFP, rebel leader Agathon Rwasa, voted and intimidating suspected opponents asking not to be named. against a bill that was “contrary to the of a constitutional referendum due on The measure comes in a climate of constitution”, the spokesman for the May 17 that could enable Nkurunziza tension, arrests and sporadic violence parliamentary group, Pierre-Celestin to stay in power until 2034. which has mounted since Nkurunziza Ndikumana, told AFP. The International Criminal Court in 2015 stood for a third term in offi ce “The ruling party has just buried has started to investigate a political in a hotly disputed election. democracy in Burundi,” Ndikumana crisis that has left at least 1,200 people He has ruled Burundi since 2005 af- charged. dead and forced more than 400,000 ter a devastating civil war. Justine Duby, a Burundi specialist others to leave the country. Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 5 AMERICAS

PLEDGE Cuba president vows to defend Castro legacy

Cuba’s new president, Miguel Diaz- Trump unveils Canel, began his term yesterday with a promise to defend the socialist revolution led by the Castro brothers since 1959, giving a sober speech that also emphasised the need to modernise the island’s economy. Diaz-Canel was sworn eff ort to boost in to replace Raul Castro by the National Assembly in a carefully managed new chapter for the Caribbean island. RECOMMENDATION US weapons UN urges Bogota to make progress on peace

Warning of new challenges to Colombia’s peace deal, the UN sales abroad envoy urged the government to quickly integrate former rebels Reuters works for a year, with White The planned revision of US into civilian life as elections loom. Washington House trade adviser Peter Nav- weapons export policy also in- The first round of a presidential arro playing a major role in driv- cludes a new drone export policy election will be held on May 27 ing the project forward. that allows smaller lethal drones following parliamentary polls he Trump administration Navarro said in a statement that can fi re missiles and sur- last month won by right-wing rolled out a long-awaited the new policies “will create veillance drones of all sizes will parties opposed to the peace Toverhaul of US arms ex- American manufacturing jobs, soon become more widely avail- deal — though they fell short port policy yesterday aimed at strengthen our allies and part- able to US allies, Reuters report- of a majority. UN envoy Jean expanding sales to allies, saying ners, support a robust defence ed in March. Arnault told the Security Council it will bolster the American de- industrial base at home, and Two potential benefi ciar- there must be “a sustained fence industry and create jobs at promote American economic ies of the rule changes, Textron drive to put the reintegration of home. and security interests abroad.” and Kratos Defence and Secu- former combatants on a more The White House aims to rity Solutions, currently market solid basis before the end of the cut the time it takes to approve The initiative builds on smaller armed drones interna- government’s mandate.” arms deals, lowering the hurdle President Donald Trump’s tionally. to bigger sales and sales of more efforts to personally boost The full text of the drone pol- OUTAGE powerful weapons, and increas- arms sales on calls with icy will remain classifi ed along ing the role of senior US offi cials foreign heads of state a list of potential buyers being Puerto Rico in shepherding deals across the given fast-track treatment is ex- restores power fi nish line, as earlier reported by Human rights will now carry panding to include more coun- Reuters. equal weight alongside other tries, a state department offi cial to customers The initiative builds on Pres- considerations in planned arms said. ident Donald Trump’s efforts sales including the needs of al- Trump has pressed foreign Puerto Rico’s power company to personally boost arms sales lied nations and the economic governments to buy more US- said it had restored power to on calls with foreign heads of loss if the US contractor does not made weapons in nearly every over 1.1mn homes and businesses state. win the sale when decisions are call he has had with a head of by yesterday morning after a Companies that stand to made on whether to approve an state of major allies, a state de- transmission line failure cut benefit from the new policy arms deal. partment offi cial said earlier this service to almost all of the island’s most include Boeing Co and the “This is a balanced policy,” week. 3.4mn residents the day before. other top US defence contrac- said Ambassador Tina Kaid- The new policy will go well The Puerto Rican Electric Power tors, Lockheed Martin Cor- anow, an offi cial with the state beyond a relaxation of rules Authority, known as PREPA, was poration, Raytheon Co, Gen- department who oversees arms for foreign military sales under working to restore power to the eral Dynamics Corporation and export agreements. “We abso- president Barack Obama in 2014 less than 30% of customers in the Northrop Grumman Corpora- lutely look at human rights as that enabled US arms contrac- US territory still without power US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a visit to Joint Interagency Task Force tion. one of a set of considerations tors to sell more overseas than after Wednesday morning’s South at Naval Air Station Key West yesterday. The plans have been in the that we look at.” ever before. blackout.

JUSTICE Ex-emergency operator jailed forhanging up on No charges over calls Prince drug death A former emergency operator in Texas was convicted of hanging up on thousands of AFP criticised, questions and judged in the 911 calls and was sentenced to Chaska, US days and weeks to come.” 10 days in jail and 18 months of But he added: “Suspicions and in- probation. Crenshanda Williams, nuendo are categorically insuffi cient to 44, was found guilty in Houston wo years after pop icon Prince support any criminal charges.” of systematically hanging up died of an overdose, prosecutors Prince died on April 21, 2016 at age on people trying to report Tyesterday said they would not fi le 57 — stunning fans and bandmates who emergencies, the off ice of Harris any criminal charges and announced a recall the singer as an outward model County District Attorney Kim Ogg settlement with a US doctor who pre- of health who rarely drank alcohol, ate said in a statement. A jury found scribed powerful painkillers for the star. a vegetarian diet and would kick out Williams guilty of interference A prosecutor in Prince’s home state musicians who abused drugs from his with emergency telephone calls, a of Minnesota said it remained unclear studio. misdemeanour. how the Purple One obtained counter- But the pop star — so versatile he feit pills containing fentanyl, an intense could literally play guitar blind-folded LEGAL opioid, that ultimately killed him. behind his back — secretly suff ered from “The bottom line is we simply do pain stemming from a hip operation. Governor’s bid to not have suffi cient evidence to charge In his death, Prince became the most dismiss case fails anyone with a crime related to Prince’s famous face of the epidemic of painkill- death,” Mark Metz, the attorney of er abuse in the US. Carver County, home to Prince’s Pais- Last year, more than 42,000 people A St Louis judge rejected a bid ley Park estate, told reporters. died and 2.1mn others abused opioids to dismiss a criminal invasion of After searches, Metz said that Prince around the country, according to the privacy charge against Missouri had bottles of pills marked with com- department of health and human serv- governor Eric Greitens stemming mon commercial pain relief labels such ices. from a sex scandal involving as Bayer and Aleve and that the singer Moments before the announcement, an extramarital aff air. Judge thought he was taking Vicodin — but federal prosecutors said that they had Rex Burlison ruled against the was in fact taking the more potent fen- reached a settlement with Minnesota Republican governor’s legal team, tanyl instead. doctor Michael Schulenberg. which filed a motion accusing Kim Metz acknowledged that someone The physician had given pills to Gardner, the Democratic circuit gave Prince the counterfeit pills, say- Prince by making out prescriptions to attorney for the city of St Louis, of ing: “There is no doubt that the actions Kirk Johnson, a longtime associate of prosecutorial misconduct. of individuals around Prince will be the artiste who managed Paisley Park. Man trolled for jet disaster posts

Reuters thing, but to morbidly video and take power of live streaming. “Live can be a Dallas pictures to post publicly is completely powerful tool in connecting and sup- disgusting. Evidently the wrong per- porting communities during moments son was taken from that fl ight,” Dennis of crisis,” Simo said in a post. he fi rst reaction of Southwest Miller said on Facebook in a posting Martinez explained why he opened Airlines passenger Marty Mar- that included colourful language to his laptop and fumbled for his credit Ttinez when an engine exploded describe Martinez. card to pay $8 for WiFi while other pas- on the plane on Tuesday was to live Many social media users defended sengers were grabbing oxygen masks. stream what he feared might be his last Martinez’s use of Facebook Live, but “All I could think of in that mo- minutes of life. some said he violated passengers’ pri- ment was, I need to communicate It was possibly the fi rst time some- vacy and sought cheap fame. with my loved ones,” he said on ABC one who thought he was going to die in Others said he was selfi sh to focus on Television.”I thought, ‘These are my a plane crash live-streamed the expe- messaging instead of on the critically last few moments on Earth and I want rience. Martinez lived. injured passenger a few rows away. people to know what happened.’” One passenger, bank executive Jen- “You represent the worst of social me- Some social media users questioned nifer Riordan, was killed when she was dia,” Tom Burke said on Facebook. his motives. “I didn’t see you say an- partially pulled through a shattered The event illustrates thorny issues ything to the people you love,” said plane window. facing platforms such as Google’s Lakeya Collins on Facebook. “This But while Martinez, who runs a Dal- YouTube, Twitter’s Periscope and Fa- social media world today is sickening las marketing agency, said on Wednes- cebook, already under pressure over Everyone wants to go viral ugggh.” day he wanted to communicate with privacy and news curating, over host- Other users said he provided impor- loved ones, many social media users ing live-streaming material. tant images. “God forbid the outcome attacked him in expletive-laced post- Facebook did not respond to a request had been diff erent, surely friends and ings, with one saying Martinez himself for comment on Martinez’s posts. family of those you captured would should have been the one who died. Earlier this month, Facebook vice have at least had closure knowing the “Trying to contact loved ones is one president Fidji Simo talked about the exact truth,” said Klaudia Olszowka. Gulf Times 6 Friday, April 20, 2018 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA China fl ies bombers around Taiwan, holds live-fi re drills

AFP H-6K bombers, Su-30 and near Japan’s southern Okinawa also conducted live-fi re drills fi ring missiles at distant objects tilla spearheaded by China’s sole Beijing has stepped up mili- Beijing J-11 fi ghters and reconnaissance island — into the western Pacifi c with missiles off southeast Chi- in the water. The reports did not aircraft carrier would take part in tary patrols around Taiwan and aircraft took part in a patrol before returning to their base via na, state media said, without say exactly where the exercises the exercise. used diplomatic pressure to iso- around Taiwan, air force spokes- Bashi Channel off southern Tai- confi rming whether the exer- took place, but they occurred on But Taiwan’s defence min- late it internationally since Tsai hinese bombers and man Shen Jinke told the offi cial wan. cises took place in the sensitive the same day that China con- istry said Wednesday that took offi ce. Beijing has also been spy planes have fl own Xinhua news agency. Taiwan “China has deliberately ma- Taiwan Strait. ducted live-fi re drills in the Tai- the drills only involved land- angered by Washington’s arms Caround Taiwan, the air Aff airs Offi ce spokesman Ma Xi- nipulated (the exercise) to pres- The People’s Liberation wan Strait. based artillery conducting sales to Taipei, and China pro- force said yesterday as Taipei aoguang said the exercise served sure and harass Taiwan in an at- Army (PLA) exercise took place Beijing had announced the “routine” shooting practice, tested last month after President accused Beijing of trying to as a warning against those push- tempt to spark tensions between Wednesday and involved vari- Taiwan Strait drills last week, accusing Beijing of exaggerat- Donald Trump signed a bill al- stoke regional tensions with its ing for Taiwanese independence. the two sides and in the region,” ous types of helicopters that further ramping up tensions fol- ing its plans as a form of “ver- lowing top-level US offi cials to military drills. China sees the Taiwan’s defence ministry Chiu Chui-cheng of Taiwan’s tested “all-weather operational lowing stark warnings against bal intimidation and sabre- travel to Taiwan. democratically-governed island said yesterday multiple Chi- Mainland Aff airs Council told a capability of the air force at sea,” any independence moves by the rattling”. The drills coincided Washington switched dip- as a renegade part of its territory nese aircraft including bombers regular briefi ng. “(We) will never the offi cial Xinhua news agency self-ruled island. Vessels had with Taiwanese President Tsai lomatic recognition from to be brought back into the fold and reconnaissance planes were bow down to any military threat said. been ordered to avoid a certain Ing-wen’s visit to Swaziland, Taiwan to China in 1979 but and has not ruled out reunifi ca- spotted on Wednesday after- and incentive.” State broadcaster CCTV area off the Chinese mainland, one of Taipei’s few remaining maintains trade relations with tion by force. noon fl ying over Miyako Strait — Chinese combat helicopters showed footage of helicopters triggering speculation that a fl o- international allies. the island.

New role for wife of Kim: First Lady

North Korean leader Kim report was the first time the Jong-un has given his young, “First Lady” title had been used stylish wife the title of First to describe the leader’s spouse Lady in what analysts say is since 1974, when it was applied a major boost to her status to Kim Song-ae, the second A peace treaty ‘must ahead of back-to-back summits wife of North Korea’s founder with South Korea and the Kim Il-sung. United States. Ri Sol-ju has Little is known about Ri, who is often accompanied Kim to believed to be 29 and to have off icial events but made her three children with Kim, at first solo public appearance least one of them a daughter. last weekend at a ballet South Korean intelligence performance by a visiting reports have described her be pursued’: Moon Chinese troupe. as coming from an ordinary The North’s state media family with a teacher father AFP national community a willing- reported the outing referring and a doctor mother. Seoul ness for a complete denucleari- to her as the “respected First A former member of the sation,” Moon said, but added it Lady” – the first time the North’s Unhasu Orchestra, Ri was “too early to guarantee the title has been used in more reportedly attended a music peace treaty to formal- success of dialogue”, which could than 40 years, and with the school in China and visited ly end the Korean War only come “after a successful US- addition of an adjective usually South Korea in 2005 as a A“must be pursued”, South North Korea summit”. reserved for the country’s cheerleader for her country’s Korean President Moon Jae-in North Korea’s state media leaders. North Korea’s elderly squad in an international said yesterday, ahead of a sum- yesterday announced it will con- star anchorwoman Ri Chun- sporting event. mit with Kim Jong-un, leader of vene a full meeting of the ruling hee – who is often drafted in She is known to be a fashion the nuclear-armed North. The Workers’ Party of Korea central for major announcements aficionado and is often 1950-53 Korean War ended in committee to make key policy – delivered the news of her pictured wearing luxury a ceasefi re rather than a peace decisions. attendance on television, outfits – on one occasion treaty, leaving the two sides The offi cial KCNA news agen- further enhancing Ri’s carrying what appeared to be technically at war, and the De- cy gave no indications what they standing. a Christian Dior handbag – in militarised Zone between them might be about, saying only that Dressed in a dusty pink a country plagued by chronic — where Moon and Kim will Friday’s gathering will address two-piece skirt suit, Ri was poverty. Some analysts point meet next Friday — bristles with issues of a “new stage” in what accompanied by senior North to Kim’s marginalised mother minefi elds and fortifi cations. it called “the important historic Korean off icials often seen Ko Yong-hui as another factor “The armistice that has period of the developing Korean with the leader, including Kim’s driving Ri’s expanded role. dragged on for 65 years must revolution”. Analysts say there younger sister, Yo-jong. Ri, a Ko, an ethnic Korean from come to an end,” Moon told media could be changes to its stance former star singer, emerged in Japan, had three children with executives at the presidential Blue towards the US. “It needs a logi- 2012 and has been regarded Kim’s father and predecessor House, adding: “The signing of a cal explanation and justifi cation as one of the most high-profile Kim Jong-il, but had a low peace treaty must be pursued af- for the shift in its ties with the women in the isolated, deeply profile throughout her 28- ter an end to the war is declared.” South Korean soldiers standing guard before a United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission ‘enemy’ US, which has held the patriarchal nation, but with a year marriage. She died in But Moon signalled that a treaty (UNCMAC) meeting hut in the truce village of Panmunjom within the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating North Koreans together for the limited role as Kim’s stylish, 2004, reportedly from breast would depend on the North giving North and South Korea. past 70 years,” said Kim Dong- coy wife. cancer, and her body is said up its nuclear weapons. yub, a researcher at the Institute Analysts say her promotion to have been secretly flown “If the inter-Korean sum- spectfully leave the meeting.” for Far Eastern Studies at Ky- is likely to be part of an eff ort from Paris, where she was mit or North Korea-US sum- Trump previously off ered his ungnam University. to paint North Korea as a being treated, to Pyongyang. mit lead to denuclearisation,” “blessing” for the two Koreas to “It looks like they are ready to “normal state” as it prepares A grave was only built for her he said, “I think that it won’t discuss a peace treaty to formally do that,” Kim added. for summits with South in 2012, after Kim inherited be too diffi cult to reach practi- close the decades-old confl ict. Even so there are multiple Korean President Moon Jae-in power. cal agreements in the big picture But the question of whether the obstacles to reaching a fi nal next Friday and later with US “I think Kim Jong-un’s trauma on creating a peace regime, nor- North is willing to give up what it Korean War treaty, involving President Donald Trump. It also of watching his own mother malising North Korea-US ties, or calls the “treasured sword” of its both sides of the peninsula and gives her a title matching that living in the shadows also providing international aid for nuclear arms will be key to any other countries. While the US- of their wives Kim Jung-sook factored in,” said Shin Beom- the improvement of the North broader settlement. led United Nations command, and Melania. “Promoting Ri chul, an analyst at the Asan Korean economy.” North Korea has long said it China and North Korea are sig- Sol-ju is the most eff ective Institute for Policy Studies. The summit between Moon needs nuclear weapons to de- natories to the decades-old ar- marketing strategy,” An Chan- “Growing up watching his and Kim will be the biggest fend itself against a possible US mistice, South Korea is not. Both il, a defector researcher who mother could have motivated highlight of a whirlwind of di- invasion, and both South Korean Pyongyang and Seoul claim sov- runs the World Institute for him to elevate the status of his plomacy on and around the pe- and Chinese offi cials have cited ereignty over the whole Korean North Korea Studies, told AFP. wife.” ninsula triggered by the Winter Kim as saying he is committed to peninsula, but a treaty could im- “The summit is being held as Unlike his father and Olympics, and a precursor to a denuclearisation of the Korean ply mutual recognition of each equals, so if Melania Trump grandfather, Kim is often seen much-anticipated meeting be- peninsula — code for the with- other. attends, Ri will attend,” he said, accompanied by the women tween Kim and US President drawal of US troops and Wash- And such promises have been noting that the North Korean in his life – namely Ri and Yo Donald Trump. The US leader ington’s nuclear umbrella over made before – in the joint state- leader’s wife accompanied him Jong – in a break from the warned earlier that his summit its security ally, something un- ment after the last inter-Korean when he went to Beijing last past when leaders’ spouses could still be called off , saying: thinkable in Washington. summit in 2007, they agreed to month on his first overseas trip or sisters rarely made public “If I think that it’s a meeting that For its part the US stresses it work together to have the leaders since inheriting power. appearances. Kim sent his is not going to be fruitful, we’re wants to see the complete, irre- Journalists and South Korean and US soldiers inside a United Nations of “the three or four parties di- Ri was previously referred to younger sister to the Winter not going to go. versible and verifi able denuclear- Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) meeting hut in rectly concerned ... convene on as “comrade” by the North’s Games in the South on a “If the meeting, when I’m isation of the North. “Right now, the truce village of Panmunjom within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) the peninsula and declare an end state media, and the weekend diplomatic charm off ensive. there, is not fruitful, I will re- North Korea is showing the inter- separating North and South Korea. to the war”.

No-go warning as Japan volcano erupts for first time in 250 years Australian Cambodian journalists charged A volcano in southern Japan reports of injuries, Chief army bans erupted for the first time Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide in 250 years yesterday, Suga said, adding that the with espionage denied bail spewing steam and ash government was “taking symbols hundreds of metres into the all possible measures” air, as authorities warned to prevent damage Reuters locals not to approach and casualties. The DPA Phnom Penh the mountain. “There is eruption occurred a few Sydney a possibility that (Mount kilometres (miles) away Io) will become more from Shinmoedake, which court in Cambodia active,” said Makoto Saito, featured in the 1967 James ustralia’s army has banned yesterday declined to an official from the Japan Bond film You Only Live the use of ‘death’ symbols Agrant bail to two jour- Meteorological Agency Twice and erupted in March. Asuch as the pirate Skull and nalists who have been charged (JMA), confirming the Japan, with scores of active Crossbones, local media reported with espionage for fi ling news eruption. volcanoes, sits on the so- yesterday. General Angus Campbell, reports to a US-funded ra- In a televised press called Pacific “Ring of Fire” who is to take over as the country’s dio station. The case of the conference, he warned where a large proportion next chief of defence in July, issued two, Uon Chhin and Yeang residents in the area to stay of the world’s earthquakes the order earlier this week, broad- Sothearin, has compounded away from the mountain, and volcanic eruptions caster ABC reported. concern about a crackdown part of the Mount Kirishima are recorded. In January, a Campbell said emblems such as on criticism and dissent by group of volcanoes, as major Japanese soldier was killed the Grim Reaper, Spartans, Skull and Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ash deposits spread from and several other people Crossbones and comic book vigilan- aims to extend his rule of more Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, former journalists of the Radio Free Asia (RFA), inside a police the crater. It was the first injured after an eruption te characters Phantom and Punisher than three decades in a general vehicle as they arrive for a bail hearing at the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. eruption of the mountain near a popular ski resort encouraged a “general disregard for election in July. “The court de- since 1768, the JMA said. The in northwest of Tokyo. the most serious responsibility of nied our appeal,” Keo Vanny, a complaining of a “relentless against them which carries a the pair, saying: “We cannot ac- agency warned that large On September 27, 2014, our profession: the legitimate and lawyer for the pair, told report- crackdown on independent prison term of up to 15 years. cept what he said.” flying rocks could fall over Japan suffered its deadliest discriminate taking of life.” ers after the hearing. “They voices”, which made it impos- “It is very unjust. They in- The reporters were arrested a three-kilometre (two- eruption in almost 90 years “As soldiers our purpose is to serve upheld the Phnom Penh court sible for it to guarantee “the tend for us to suff er,” a hand- days before the Supreme Court mile) radius. The eruption when Mount Ontake, in the state, employing violence with decision which continues the integrity of RFA’s journalistic cuff ed Yeang Sothearin told dissolved the main opposition threw smoke and ash 400m central Nagano prefecture, humility always and compassion pre-trial detention.” mission”. The two journalists reporters as police took him Cambodia National Rescue (1,300ft) into the air. burst unexpectedly to life. wherever possible. This symbology The two used to work for the have been in pre-trial detention away after the hearing. Party after it was accused of Footage captured by An estimated 63 people to which I refer erodes this ethos of Washington-based Radio Free since their arrest in November. “The government took re- plotting to take power with the the JMA and local media were killed in the shock service.” Campbell led the govern- Asia (RFA), which broadcasts in They were charged with “pro- venge on us because we broad- help of the United States. The showed thick white and grey eruption which occurred as ment’s controversial campaign Oper- the Khmer language, and which viding information that is de- casted the real situation about party and the United States smoke rising from several the peak was packed with ation Sovereign Borders to intercept the government criticised for structive to national defence Cambodia.” A government denied the accusation. areas of the mountain. hikers out to see the region’s refugee boats before they reached being biased towards the oppo- to a foreign state” after they spokesman, Phay Siphan, re- Hun Sen and his govern- There were no immediate spectacular autumn colours. Australian soil and take the asylum- sition. RFA shut down its Pho- were caught fi ling stories to jected any suggestion the gov- ment reject accusation of hu- seekers to Nauru and Manus Island. nom Penh offi ce in September RFA. Both men deny the charge ernment was taking revenge on man rights violations. Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 7 BRITAIN/IRELAND

PLAN POLITICS DATA FALLOUT CRIME Plastic straw and cotton Labour makes new Social media fuelling rape Councillor suspended over Two arrested after man’s bud ban proposed pitch to financiers by boys aged 12: police Facebook post on May murder in Belfast

The government yesterday announced plans to Shadow chancellor John McDonnell yesterday Children as young as 12 are being prosecuted A Labour councillor has been suspended from Two men have been arrested on suspicion of ban the sale of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton off ered a new pact to the financial services for rape in London amid police warnings that the party for “abusive” online posts aimed at murder following the death of a man in north buds in England, as part of a push to tackle global industry: higher taxes in return for a seat at social media is fuelling serious sexual off ending senior Tory women. Featherstone councillor Belfast. The body of the man, who is believed to be marine pollution. Prime Minister Theresa May the policymaking table if Labour wins the next among juveniles. The crimes include some in Richard Taylor is under investigation about a foreign national, was found in Orient Gardens, off said her government will launch a consultation on election. McDonnell, a veteran socialist who has which girls have been blackmailed into sex over a Facebook post in January containing an the Cliftonville Road, on Wednesday night. Police banning the single-use items later this year, ahead won over many voters with his promises to re- pictures taken on phones in “revenge porn type” expletive to describe Prime Minister Theresa have appealed for anyone who was in the area of legislation on the issue. The move follows the nationalise services and increase public spending, off ences. Detectives say that girls are also being May. The same word appeared in posts about between 1900 and 2200BST on Wednesday, and 2015 introduction of a small charge for carrier bags said he wanted a “new start” in relations with provided as “rewards” for boys carrying out Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey and has any information about the death, to contact in most shops, a ban on plastic microbeads and last London’s lucrative financial sector. “There are some drug-running and other crimes. Some victims Telford MP Lucy Allan, said the Local Democracy detectives. The men who have been detained by month’s announcement of plans for consumers to policies that you will like and some which you will have been subjected to multiple attacks. New Reporting Service. Taylor was unavailable for police are 26 and 28. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly pay a deposit on plastic bottles. “The government be less enthusiastic about,” he told a conference figures from the Metropolitan police reveal that comment regarding his suspension. He was said it was understood a neighbour discovered the is a world leader on this issue, and the public have on the future of finance in London. “I don’t expect 13 children aged between 10 and 12 were among suspended by the party on Wednesday after the body and contacted police. He believes police are shown passion and energy embracing our plastic some people to be overjoyed at having to pay a bit 196 juveniles from the capital charged with rape content of the now-deleted posts came to light. “close” to identifying the victim who is thought to bag charge and microbead ban,” May said. more in income tax or corporation tax.” between the start of 2015 and the end of last year. Labour has launched an investigation. have been lying in the street for two hours. May’s policy on immigration almost Nazi-like, says ex-offi cial

Guardian News and Media to the top. But he later fell out with London the Cameron administration. For two years from 2012, he was joint head of the civil service, shar- he hostile immigration en- ing the running of Whitehall with vironment Theresa May set Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabi- Tout to create when she was net secretary, before departing at the Home Offi ce was regarded abruptly after two years. by some ministers as “almost The job was then reunited under reminiscent of Nazi Germany” in Heywood, in what was widely re- the way it is working, the former garded as a political move. head of the civil service, Lord Permanent secretaries like Kerslake, has said. Kerslake meet every week to dis- Kerslake, who was speaking cuss and co-ordinate government on BBC Newsnight, was the sen- business, and he would have been ior offi cial at the department for very familiar with problems in communities and local govern- other departments. Former Lib- ment until 2014, a job that put him eral Democrat ministers in the co- at the heart of Whitehall. He was alition and some special advisers commenting on the decision to have been speaking out about their scrap thousands of landing cards fi ght to try to soften the policy. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles arrive for the formal opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace in London yesterday. that was taken in 2010, which he Sarah Teather, who was min- insisted would have been referred ister for children and families, to ministers. But the Environment revealed in 2013 that an internal Secretary, Michael Gove, who was working group on immigration education secretary for some of was initially named the “hostile the time and would have been in- environment working group, with volved in aspects of the policy, dis- its name only changed following missed the claim. LibDem objections. Queen backs Charles to be “I’ve never heard anyone make Teather, who is now the director that comparison before Lord of the Jesuit Refugee Service, said: Kerslake. It’s not for me to criti- “Theresa May was determined to cise a distinguished former public transform things. She was proud servant like Lord Kerslake but I re- of wanting to generate a really spectfully disagree.” hostile environment. He added that after the Brexit “The Home Offi ce has a cul- next Commonwealth head vote, people felt able to be com- ture of enforcement and disbelief passionate because countries that which runs deep into the walls, AFP ed under her father King George The position is not hereditary, Commonwealth at the opening focuses on development and de- could control their borders were but it is politically led. It’s a culture London VI with the London Declaration but Prince Charles, who is also ceremony. mocracy, but is placing greater at- able to be more generous. from the top, and it has been a bit of 1949. the heir to the thrones of 16 Com- “You have been the Common- tention on boosting trade. “I think we can see in the na- rich for the Home Secretary, Am- “It is my sincere wish that the monwealth nations, is expected wealth’s most steadfast and fer- During the two days of talks, the tional conversation that we have ber Rudd, to blame civil servants. ueen Elizabeth II, the head Commonwealth will continue to to get the nod, despite some un- vent champion,” May said. “You group is hoping to agree an ocean had about the Windrush genera- When you’ve had a Conservative of the Commonwealth, off er stability and continuity for ease among ardent republicans. have seen us through some of our governance charter, an agenda for tion that people are so glad that home secretary that long, you Qyesterday opened the future generations and will de- Charles, 69, told Common- most serious challenges. trade and investment, and a dec- this country has had a tradition of cannot moan when civil servants Commonwealth summit for what cide that one day, the Prince of wealth leaders the body had been “And we commit to sustaining laration on tackling cybercrime. welcoming people from abroad.” deliver those policies.” may be the last time, voicing hope Wales should carry on the impor- “a fundamental feature of my life this Commonwealth, which you Given its highly diverse mem- Gove’s remarks came as the A LibDem special adviser at the that her son would be allowed to tant work started by my father in for as long as I can remember”. have so carefully nurtured.” bership, if agreements can be prime minister addressed the time, Polly Mackenzie, tweeted carry on her role. 1949,” she said, referring to her “The modern Commonwealth A spectacle of pomp and pag- struck within the Common- opening session of the Com- on Tuesday night that the “hos- Queen Elizabeth, who turns 92 son Prince Charles. has a vital role to play in building eantry was staged to welcome the wealth, they can likely achieve monwealth heads of government tile environment” mission started tomorrow, welcomed leaders from Queen Elizabeth, who has been bridges between our countries,” leaders, with a guard of honour wider support. meeting (CHOGM) yesterday. with an inter-ministerial group set the 53 Commonwealth nations the group’s symbolic fi gurehead he said. and fl ag bearers greeting arriving At the last Commonwealth At the gathering, the Queen up on “migrant access to benefi ts — mostly former colonies — to since 1952, gave up long-haul Maltese Prime Minister Joseph dignitaries. summit in 2015, leaders struck a met the heads of government of and public services”. Buckingham Palace for two days travel in support of the bien- Muscat said of Charles: “We are More than 100 troops from deal on climate change that helped the Caribbean countries, some of Gove went out of his way to of talks that will include discus- nial summit in 2013 and the 2020 certain that when he will be called the Coldstream Guards were in pave the way for the Paris agree- whose former citizens’ lives have stress Britain’s open approach to sions on trade, marine protection gathering is set to be held in Ma- upon to do so, he will provide a the honour guard, wearing their ment days afterwards. been blighted by the chaos over migration and to praise Amber and tackling cybercrime. laysia. solid and passionate leadership famous scarlet tunics and bear- Today’s sessions take place at immigration documentation. Rudd’s handling of the aff air. He In her opening speech, Queen On the closing day today, lead- for our Commonwealth.” skin hats. Born out of the former Windsor Castle, west of London, Kerslake came to Whitehall said her apology had been “grace- Elizabeth spoke of her own “ex- ers are expected to discuss who Prime Minister Theresa May, British empire, the voluntary or- where the leaders are left entirely from a highly successful career in ful” and “a model”, and insisted traordinary journey” as head of should follow Queen Elizabeth in the summit host, paid tribute to ganisation, covering a third of alone to discuss whatever they local government, and rose rapidly she had “taken a grip”. the Commonwealth, which start- the role. Queen Elizabeth’s service to the the world’s population, typically wish. Woman dies after van Hottest April day Half-brother slams ‘phoney’ Meghan crashes into house AFP front of 600 invited guests. London A further 2,640 people will be welcomed into the castle Guardian News and Media woman who was inside the one who may have seen the van grounds. London property at the time died as a in the moments before the colli- eghan Markle’s half- Thomas Markle revealed he result of the incident. The wom- sion. The van is quite distinctive brother has accused had not received an invite, de- an’s family have been informed as it is white with a black bonnet Mthe royal bride-to-be spite claiming to have spent 90-year-old woman has and are being supported by spe- and two white stripes. It also has of forgetting “her roots and her many weekends together car- been killed after a van cially trained offi cers. Formal ladders on the roof.” family” and “acting phoney” ing for their dementia-strick- Asmashed into her house identifi cation has not yet taken Julie Elson, 57, who lives four in a stinging interview with a en grandmother from 2009 to in Somerset shortly after leaving place.” doors away from where the crash British newspaper. 2011. a pub. Inspector Frazer Davey added: happened, said: “The lady was Thomas Markle, who lives He is the latest relative on her Police said they had arrest- “This was a terribly sad incident on the phone to her great-grand- in the US state Oregon, hit out father’s side to go public on the ed a 34-year-old woman and and our thoughts are with the daughter at the time and she (the at Prince Harry’s 36-year-old apparent family rift. 33-year-old man on suspicion woman’s family at this diffi cult great-granddaughter) heard the American fiancee for losing Half-sister Samantha Grant of causing death by dangerous time. While we’re in the early bang and came down the road touch with relatives in recent has given interviews and post- driving and they remain in police stages of our investigation we in her nightie because she lives years after finding fame acting. ed messages on social media custody. know the van involved, registra- in the area. She was hysterical, “She is giving the greatest concerning the fractured rela- Neighbours ran to help the tion WR65 LNC, left the Crab screaming. performance of her life,” he told tions. woman after the vehicle crashed Apple pub moments before col- “She heard the whole thing the Daily Mirror in an inter- The half-brother said he into the living room of her semi- liding with the house. over the phone, the poor girl. The view published yesterday. “She hoped senior royals might step detached home in the seaside “We have already reviewed lady would always speak to you, a is acting phoney. Once she got in to ensure he and other rela- town of Clevedon, but say she some CCTV from the local area true neighbour. into Hollywood she turned into tives get invited to the wedding. died instantly beneath the rub- and as a result of this proc- “Everything was manic on a different person. She’s clear- The siblings share the same ble. ess we have identifi ed a witness Wednesday night. Everybody ly forgotten her roots and her father, who reportedly lives in A spokesman for Avon and who we’d like to talk to. At about is shocked. My eyes have been family.” Mexico. Somerset police said: “We’re 8.25pm someone is seen talking welling up this morning. I’m so He added: “Meg likes to por- There has been no confirma- continuing to investigate to the occupants of the van out- sad. She was still very lively and tray herself as a humanitarian, tion on whether he will attend Wednesday night’s fatal collision side the pub. hadn’t long given up driving.” a people’s person and a chari- the May 19 nuptials. on Yeolands Drive in Clevedon. A “I’m keen for this person to Another neighbour, Robert A couple eat ice cream as they walk near Tower table person but she is none of Thomas Markle noted their white Ford Transit van collided call us as soon possible as I be- Cornock, 71, was one of the fi rst Bridge, in London yesterday. Temperatures have those things to her family.” father was present for Meghan with a house causing substantial lieve they may have information to enter the house after the crash. soared to over 29C in parts of London, making it the Markle will marry Prince Markle’s first wedding, to film damage shortly before 8.30pm. which could help our inquiry. He said the woman had lived warmest April day for nearly 70 years. Harry in exactly one month in a producer ex-husband Trevor “Tragically, a 90-year-old We’re also keen to speak to any- there for more than 35 years. chapel inside Windsor Castle in Engelson, in Jamaica in 2011. Gulf Times 8 Friday, April 20, 2018 EUROPE

Germany to take 10,200 North Africa, Middle East refugees next year

DPA Citizenship Commissioner Dim- putting the number at 10,000. The UN High Commissioner said. “At the same time, thou- 50,000 people, mostly from duction of controls during peri- Berlin itris Avramopoulos. As other EU member states for Refugees lauded the move. sands of refugees are being sent North Africa, should fi nd a new ods of crisis, but Avramopoulos This year, around 4,600 refu- had agreed to take in 40,000 “Resettlement is an important back to torture centres in Libya.” home in the EU. said he could not allow this to gees will be allowed to enter Ger- refugees, the resettlement pro- instrument in the international He called for an end to co- The EU has funded the pro- continue indefi nitely. ermany is to take in a fur- many, with 5,600 following in gramme’s targets had been protection of refugees,” said its operation with the Libyan coast- gramme with €500mn ($617mn). “We must return speedily to ther 10,200 refugees this 2019, Seehofer said. achieved and would probably be German representative, Dominik guard. Avramopoulos has urged Ger- the normal functioning of the Gyear and next as part of Avramopoulos had earlier told exceeded, Avramopoulos said Bartsch. The programme announced many to remove border controls Schengen system,” Avramopou- a European Union programme, the newspapers of Germany’s ahead of a meeting with Seehofer. The Pro Asyl aid organisation last summer is intended to pro- introduced during the refugee los said. German Interior Minister Horst Funke Media Group that the Ger- “The German government is immediately expressed criticism. vide a direct and secure route to crisis that saw 890,000 seek asy- Germany has announced that Seehofer said in Berlin yesterday. man government agreed to a plan once again at the fore in mat- “Germany and the EU are Europe for those most in need of lum in the country in 2015. it plans to extend controls on its Seehofer spoke after meeting to take in refugees from North ters of international solidarity,” gloating about the wrong point,” asylum. Europe’s border-free Schen- border with Austria beyond a EU Migration, Home Aff airs and Africa and the Middle East, Avramopoulos said. spokesman Guenter Burkhardt By autumn 2019, at least gen zone allows for the reintro- May deadline.

Kyrgyz cabinet falls in surprise confidence vote Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov sacked his cabinet yesterday after it lost a surprise no-confidence vote in parliament, French union’s attempt the latest round in an apparent power struggle between the head of state and the leader of the ruling party. Prime minister Sapar Isakov lost his job after the ruling coalition, led by former president Almazbek Atambayev’s Social to broaden protest fails Democratic party, suddenly pulled its backing. Reuters nomic reform drive. Of 112 deputies present, 101 voted Paris But a CGT strike call at the against him in the no-confidence Paris subway train and bus vote. group RATP appeared to have Sacking Isakov completes a series far-left union bid to turn little impact: RATP manage- of reshuff les that Jeenbekov a protest yesterday over ment reported normal service began shortly after coming to Aa shake-up of the state across most of the grid. power last November, removing railways into a bigger show of re- The march turnout was way Atambayev’s appointees from sistance to President Emmanuel short of rallies in the not-too- state security and the prosecutor- Macron appears to have fallen distant past. general’s off ice. fl at, with the labour movement The CGT union said that Volatility has plagued Kyrgyzstan, split and fewer people taking 300,000 people demonstrated a Central Asian nation of part. across the country, while the in- 6mn people, since it gained Thousands took part in street terior ministry put the fi gure at independence from Moscow in marches that it called in Paris 119,500. Employees of French state-owned railway company SNCF and CGT 1991. and other cities but the other big The police counted 11,500 labour union members sit on a pavement during a demonstration in Political conflicts erupted into union stayed away and criticised marchers in Paris. Paris against French government reform plans. violent revolutions in 2005 and the CGT’s endeavour despite By comparison, hundreds of 2010. their joint battle over the biggest thousands more hit the streets rail workers halted train service latest reform, the CFDT union is Hours after the no-confidence railway reform since nationali- in 2010 to contest a rise in retire- for the eighth day this month, demanding that the government vote, the Social Democrats sation in 1937. ment age which ex-President with just one in three high- mop up the SNCF’s €46bn debt nominated Mukhammedkaliy The CGT was seeking a “con- Nicolas Sarkozy went ahead speed TGV trains running and and wants a new deal in place on Abylgaziyev, Jeenbekov’s chief of vergence of struggles”, where with anyway. SNCF management saying more work conditions when the sector University students and others shout slogans during a staff , for prime minister. various industrial disputes and Even the police put the fi gure than 20% of staff stopped work. opens to competition. demonstration in Paris yesterday against the French government’s Parliament is expected to confirm causes of discontent fuse in one at 1.2mn at the height of that Two things are working The head of the CFDT union, reform plans, as part of a national day of protest. The placard reads his appointment today. mass upheaval against the gov- protest. against a repeat of the upheaval Laurent Berger, told a parlia- ‘Macron kills students’. ernment, as happened in May Nonetheless, a sea of fl ags that the CGT successfully ral- mentary news channel that his 1968 and more recently at the and slogans fl uttering over the lied in late 1995 with the help of union had nothing to do with He said that he did not share involved in very separate pro- Woman who end of 1995. crowds showed some people broad public support and other yesterday’s marches. the CGT objective of uniting tests about university entry cri- “This is just the start,” said from beyond the state-owned unions, forcing the then gov- Neither, he said, would it very diff erent groups with very teria. refused to shake Yann Bernard, a representative railways joined the fray, includ- ernment to pull rail and welfare stand side-by-side with the diff erent grievances, from rail- Forty-year-old Macron has hands loses appeal of the CGT union’s railway di- ing people from the state hospi- reforms. CGT on May 1, a day when labour way workers to power sector stood fi rm and on Wednesday vision, promising more action tal sectors. While the CGT opposes rail rights are celebrated in France employees and state hospital urged the rail unions to “stop France’s highest administrative against Macron’s broad eco- As they did, a rolling strike by liberalisation, one goal of the and many other countries. staff , and even some students holding the country hostage”. court has upheld a decision to deny a French passport to an Algerian Muslim who refused to shake hands with off icials during her citizenship ceremony, according to a ruling seen by AFP Armenia police arrest dozens in anti-PM demonstrations yesterday. The woman argued that her “religious beliefs” prevented AFP On Wednesday evening, her from shaking hands with Yerevan 16,000 rallied in central Yer- a senior off icial presiding over evan’s Republic Square. the citizenship ceremony in the Protests began in Yerevan last southeastern Isere region in ass anti-government Friday and have since spread to June 2016, as well as with a local protests in the Arme- the country’s second and third politician. Mnian capital Yerevan largest cities, Gyumri and Va- The government said that her against ex-president Serzh nadzor. behaviour showed she was Sarkisian’s election as prime On Monday police used stun “not assimilated into the French minister entered their seventh grenades against protesters who community” – one of the reasons day yesterday, with police de- tried to break through a barbed it can invoke under the civil code taining dozens of demonstra- wire cordon to get to the parlia- to oppose citizenship for the tors. ment building. spouse of a French national. Led by opposition MP Nikol Authorities said that 46 peo- The woman, who has been Pashinyan, more than 2,000 Special police forces personnel block the entrance of the ple, including six police and married to a Frenchman since protesters marched towards government’s headquarters during an anti-government rally in opposition leader Pashinyan, 2010, appealed the April 2017 government headquarters in central Yerevan. sought medical assistance. decision, calling it an “abuse of the afternoon where a cabinet The country’s new president power”. meeting was under way. 26-year-old protester Misak that he invited “all parties to was sworn in last week but his But the Council of State, the court Protesters held up a huge, Mesropyan told AFP at the rally. start dialogue to fi nd the best powers will be weaker under the of last appeal in such matters, upside-down offi cial portrait of Another protester, pensioner way out of the situation”. new system of government. ruled the government “had not Sarkisian and shouted anti-gov- Ruben, said: “Protests must Pashinyan – who earlier an- A former military offi cer, improperly applied” the law. ernment slogans. continue if we want Serzh (Sark- nounced the “start of a peace- Serzh Sarkisian, 63, has been in “Serzh Sarkisian ... we came Demonstrators attend a protest in Yerevan against the isian) to fi nally step down.” ful velvet revolution” – has said charge of the landlocked South here to tell you that the people government after parliament voted to allow former president The infl uential head of the that the movement’s objective Caucasus nation of 2.9mn peo- British activist hate you!” Pashinyan shouted. Sarkisian to become prime minister. Armenian Apostolic Church, is to bring about a change of ple for a decade. Earlier, several hundred dem- Catholicos Garegin II, expressed leadership in Armenia through He also held the offi ce of wins ‘Children’s onstrators attempted to block- to denounce Sarkisian’s eff orts Controversial constitutional concern over the political tur- a nationwide campaign of civil prime minister from 2007 to Nobel Prize’ ade the entrance to the govern- to remain in power as prime amendments approved in 2015 moil. disobedience. 2008. ment building before riot police minister under a new parlia- have transferred governing “Inciting hatred and enmity However, the number of After he was fi rst elected in Rachel Lloyd, a British-born intervened, arresting dozens mentary system of government. powers from the presidency to as well as any form of violence demonstrators has dwindled 2008, 10 people died and hun- activist who has campaigned and taking them to a local police On Tuesday parliament elect- the premier. are unacceptable,” he said. over time, down from roughly dreds were injured in bloody against sex-traff icking, was station. ed Sarkisian to the post of prime “Armenians are ready to fi ght New President Armen Sarki- 40,000 on Tuesday evening clashes between police and sup- named yesterday the winner Protesters have held mass minister, after he had served a for their future, we will not sian, who is not related to his – the largest protest that the porters of the defeated opposi- of the World’s Children’s Prize, demonstrations over recent days decade as the nation’s president. stop, our victory is imminent,” predecessor, said in a statement country has seen in years. tion candidate. sometimes called the Children’s Nobel Prize. Lloyd was a victim of sex- traff icking as a young girl in Britain. In 1998, at the age of 23, Lloyd Italy ramps up hunt for Mafi a godfather after dawn busts founded the organisation Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), which off ers AFP law Gaspare Como and Rosario cluding dozens of murders, and ing in the longstanding Mafi a support to girls and young Rome Allegra, both in custody, who al- authorities say that he has evad- industries of extortion, property women who have been subjected legedly manage their boss’s most ed justice by being more “mo- fraud and clinching public works to sex-traff icking and sexually important aff airs. bile” than others on the lam, who contracts. exploited. talian police arrested the “The Trapani Mafi a is (secure- tend to hunker down in hideouts. Police told AFP that the gang Lloyd received 375,000 kronor closest aides of Cosa Nos- ly) in the hands of fugitive Mat- “It would be pointless to say used people apparently above ($45,000) for her organisation’s Itra kingpin Matteo Messina teo Messina Denaro and we can we’re closing in on him. He’s a suspicion to take part in judi- work. Denaro yesterday, clamping say that because its most impor- diff erent type of fugitive to the cial auctions to buy seized as- Former winners of the prize down on a tightknit, family-run tant members are his own fam- other big targets, who’ve all been sets cheaply and sell them on at include teenaged education clan which has kept the mobster ily,” said Pasquale Angelosanto, arrested, and that means locating a profi t. activist and Nobel Peace Prize safely hidden over a quarter of a head of the Italian carabinieri’s his whereabouts is particularly Denaro, a former trigger man laureate Malala Yousafzai of century on the run. ROS special investigative unit. hard,” said Palermo prosecutor who once reportedly boasted that Pakistan. Twenty-one people were ar- Angelosanto was speaking at a Francesco Lo Voi. he could “fi ll a cemetery” with The award was established in rested in towns near the Sicilian press conference in Sicilian capi- Police also arrested a business- his victims, is believed to have 2000 by the Swedish non- city of Trapani where Denaro’s tal Palermo. man involved in the online gam- become the “boss of bosses” governmental organisation criminal empire is based, as part Palermo’s assistant public bling industry, one of Denaro’s following the death of Salvatore Children’s World. of the “Year Zero” police investi- prosecutor Paolo Guido said that suspected income sources. “The Beast” Riina in November. Sweden’s Queen Silvia, one of the gation that allowed authorities to six of the accused were local Ma- Police told reporters that de- In 2015, police discovered that patrons, presented the awards uncover a system of paper notes, fi a bosses. spite reports of Cosa Nostra’s he was communicating with his at a ceremony at Gripsholm A Carabiniere military police off icer stands by a screen reading or “pizzini”, that Denaro uses to Denaro, now 55, vanished in decline, the Trapani branch was closest collaborators via the use Castle in Mariefred, 70km west of ‘operation year zero’, prior to a news conference yesterday by give orders to his associates. 1993, with the police seeking his “particularly lively and active in of pizzini, which were being left Stockholm. prosecutor Franco Lo Voi in Palermo. Those include brothers-in- arrest on a range of crimes in- control of the area” and operat- under a rock at a farm in Sicily. Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 9

INDIA

LEGAL POLITICS INVESTIGATION BIZZARE PROPOSAL Kejriwal discharged in Yeddyurappa files Parrikar death claims were Foreign rule ‘to blame for Delhiites may soon get DDCA defamation case poll nomination act of revenge: Goa police lack of respect for women’ payout for power outage

A New Delhi court yesterday discharged BJP chief ministerial candidate for the May 12 The fake post on Chief Minister Manohar Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal yesterday Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and suspended Karnataka Assembly polls, B S Yeddyurappa, Parrikar’s death by Kenneth Silveira, who blamed colonial and foreign rule in India approved a proposal from the Delhi government BJP parliamentarian Kirti Azad in a criminal yesterday filed his nomination papers has been arrested, was made to avenge the for the lack of respect towards women to compensate consumers for unscheduled defamation complaint filed by the Delhi and from Shikaripura segment, a party official latter’s 2017 Assembly poll defeat to Parrikar, which was leading to crimes against power cuts lasting longer than one hour. District Cricket Association (DDCA) and its then said. Shikaripura in Shivamogga district, Goa Police crime branch claimed yesterday. In them. Naidu said the Indian tradition had “Approved proposal for issue of policy directions vice-president Chetan Chauhan. Additional about 300km northwest of Bengaluru, is an application filed in the trial court to oppose always accorded a lot of respect to women. regarding payment of compensation to chief metropolitan magistrate Samar Vishal his hometown from where he is contesting Silveira’s bail plea, the crime branch said it is Addressing the 31st convocation of the consumers in case of power failure,” Baijal allowed Kejriwal’s application for discharge, for the ninth time since 1983, BJP state unit in the process of tracking all Facebook groups Kurukshetra University, in the historical tweeted. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called it saying that there was not an iota of evidence spokesman S Shantharam said. Yeddyurappa, and their members with links to the accused, town of Kurukshetra, around 100km from an “innovative policy” and said it would make that the DDCA or any off icial were personally 75, a Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga who has been remanded in two-day police Chandigarh, he urging the youth and power distribution companies accountable to defamed by his statement. The court observed in the state’s Malnad region, was the custody. “The accused had contested the polls students to shun violence, and said issues people. On Tuesday, Kejriwal had approved that the allegation is of defamation of DDCA as Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first state from Panaji and lost to Parrikar. The accused could be resolved peacefully and without the policy to provide compensation to users in a body and therefore it is necessary that some chief minister from 2008 to 2011 when he used the social media to post his ill-feelings,” damaging public property. He asked case of “unscheduled power cuts by the private person outside the DDCA come and say the resigned following an indictment by the state police Inspector Rajan Nigalye said in his students to be disciplined and have an power distribution companies” and it was sent to association has been defamed. ombudsman in a multi-crore mining scam. application before the Panaji court. outlook for the development of the country. the lieutenant governor for approval. Rape victims Anger as ATMs run dry denied speedy justice despite changes in law

Reuters — are lower than for most other New Delhi crimes. “The government can make a hundred laws and yet it will fail he government launched because there is no enforcement,” fast-track courts and a said Dushyant Dave, a senior law- Ttougher rape law that in- yer at the Supreme Court. cluded the death penalty after “It needs to take this as an epi- a gruesome assault on a young demic and treat it accordingly, by woman shocked the country in completely overhauling the police 2012, but crime statistics indicate machinery, prosecutors and the the situation has got worse, not judicial system.” better, since then. Crime statistics showed that The data was collated by Reu- police fi les remain open for about ters amid mounting public an- a third of all rapes that were in- ger over crimes against women vestigated for each year between after two horrifi c cases in recent 2012 and 2016. months that has, once again, cast Understaffi ng is an issue. a harsh light on systemic prob- The government told parlia- lems plaguing the country’s po- ment last month police had a lice and courts. sanctioned strength of nearly 2mn Congress workers stage a demonstration in Allahabad yesterday against the cash crunch and empty ATMs in several parts of the country. The gang rape and murder of an offi cers, but almost a quarter of eight-year-old girl in Kashmir and those positions were vacant. Some the arrest of a ruling party legisla- of the worst accusations against tor for the rape of a teenage mother the police stem from cases, like the in Uttar Pradesh have sparked na- ones in Uttar Pradesh and Kash- tionwide outrage, drawing night- mir, where they are alleged to have marish parallels with the gang rape bowed to pressure from people of and murder of a student in New infl uence to bury cases. Delhi six years ago. Vappala Balachandran, a Amid the wave of anger at that former top police offi cer in Ma- Furore as top court rules time, the government promised harashtra who has criticised the to speed up rape trials, provide government’s response to the re- harsher penalties, including the cent cases, described how pow- death sentence in extreme cases, erful local politicians stall police and a law against stalking. investigations. But statistics show that since “The one weapon the politician out probe into judge death 2012, reported rape cases climbed has is the threat of transfer (of po- 60% to around 40,000 in 2016, lice offi cers) and which they rou- IANS said judge Loya met a natural accused was Amit Shah, who was cally motivated and were aimed mands for an independent probe with child rape accounting for tinely exercise. So the investiga- New Delhi death while in Nagpur. then the home minister in Gujarat at defaming Shah. “He (Gandhi) into Loya’s death. about 40%. tion is slow, improper and weak,” Dismissing the petitions, the when the chief minister was now got a befi tting reply from the Su- The judgment pronounced by The conviction rate of people Balachandran said. court said: “There is no doubt Prime Minister Narendra Modi. preme Court today.” Justice Chandrachud took excep- arrested for rape remains stuck So far the only policy response he Supreme Court yester- and it is clear from the state- After Loya’s death in Novem- Law Minister Ravi Shankar tion to the way the public inter- around 25%. to the latest cases has come from day dismissed petitions ments of the judicial offi cers that ber 2014, Shah was discharged Prasad echoed the sentiment est litigation (PIL) was fi led and The backlog of rape cases Maneka Gandhi, the minister for Tseeking a SIT (special in- Loya died of natural causes.” and the Central Bureau of Inves- and said Gandhi should hang his insinuations were made against pending trial stood at more than women and child development, vestigation team) probe into the Three of the judicial offi cers, tigation refused to fi le an appeal head in shame. The Congress the committee of administrators 133,000 by the end of 2016, up who has advocated applying death of judge B H Loya, who the court said, had travelled with against it. retorted that it was a “sad let- of the Bombay High Court and from about 100,000 in 2012, Na- the death penalty for rape cases was conducting a trial in the judge Loya by train from Mum- The Supreme Court ruling ter day” in India’s history and the judges of the Supreme Court tional Crime Records Bureau data where the victim is under 12 years killing of gangster Sohrabuddin bai to Nagpur to attend a wed- yesterday did nothing to qui- reiterated its demand for a fair in the course of the hearing. showed. old. Sheikh in Gujarat in which now ding reception. They stayed to- eten the political temperature. investigation into Loya’s “mys- But the court said it was not In each year during that period, Currently, the Supreme Court BJP president Amit Shah was an gether at Ravi Bhawan, attended The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) terious death”. It listed the chain initiating civil contempt against about 85% of the total rape cases reserves the death penalty for ex- accused. the function and during the day came down heavily on Congress of events leading to his death. the petitioner for scandalising being heard remained pending. treme cases, as in the 2012 Delhi Holding that there was abso- they also visited the residences president Rahul Gandhi, saying The Communist Party of In- the judiciary. It pulled up the pe- In general, conviction rates for case. Five people were convicted lutely no merit in the petitions, of a few judges. he should apologise to Shah, the dia-Marxist demanded that the titioners for making unfounded crime against women — deaths of rape and murder in that case a bench of chief justice Dipak Sohrabuddin Sheikh was al- country and the judiciary. case be heard by a larger bench allegations against the judicial following demands for dowry, as- within nine months, a remarkably Misra, justice A M Khanwilkar legedly shot dead in a stage- BJP spokesman Sambit Patra and described as “unfortunate” offi cers which were extraneous sault, kidnapping as well as rape swift decision for India. and justice D Y Chandrachud managed shoot-out. One of the said all the petitions were politi- the apex court’s rejection of de- to the issue.

Crawling out to sea Policemen held for man’s YouTube helps family death allege frame up fi nd man after 40 years AFP hir down to the suburb of Bandra Mumbai where he was living rough. By Ashraf Padanna rested Jitin Raj, Santosh Kumar and his mother had sent him with “He was making money as a Thiruvananthapuram and Sumesh, all belonging to the them. “We then handed him over beggar signing old Hindi songs,” Rural Tiger Force (RTF) formed to offi cers from the local police man missing for 40 years Firoze Shakir, who shot the video by the district police chief to station,” the policeman claims in was reunited with his and uploaded it to YouTube in hree Kerala policemen ar- catch criminals on the run. the video. Afamily yesterday after a October last year, said. rested over the death of a They face charges of murder of “After handing him we left for YouTube video of him singing Shakir, a street photographer, Tman in custody claim they a man arrested in a case of mis- another place. They didn’t talk a popular Hindi fi lm song went said Gambhir, now 66, had told are being framed to save their taken identity. to us after that. We therefore feel viral. him that he had been a construc- seniors. Four other policemen, includ- there’s a conspiracy against us. Khomdram Gambhir Singh tion labourer but had suff ered a In a video message addressed ing Varappuzha sub-inspector We demand justice,” the arrested was 26 when in 1978 he left his couple of accidents and turned to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi- G S Deepak and North Paravur policemen pleaded in the video. home in Imphal, in the remote to drink. jayan and police chief Loknath circle-inspector Crispin Sam, The Congress-led opposition northeastern state of Manipur, Shakir used to see him around Behera, the men requested their are also under suspension. rejected the ongoing investiga- and never returned, according to a lot so one day decided to fi lm intervention in the investigation. “The policemen were arrested tion and asked Chief Minister reports. him singing. The police had detained S R based on solid evidence. We will Pinarayi Vijayan to take moral For four decades his family The video has been viewed Sreejith, 26, from his home in the arrest all culprits in the case,” responsibility for the collapse heard nothing. 55,000 times and has helped port city of Kochi on the night of inspector general S Sreejith told of the law and order situation in Then a clip showing a grey- trace the missing man. April 6. He was allegedly brutally reporters in Kochi. the state. bearded man singing a Bolly- “This is something that has thrashed from the moment of his “We have also constituted a Vijayan and his senior minis- wood song on a Mumbai street happened accidentally but I arrest. fi ve-member medical board to ters in Hyderabad for a national 3,300kms away appeared online. am hoping this video touches A day after his arrest the po- analyse the post-mortem report, meeting of his Communist Party In it the singer identifi es him- hearts,” Shakir said. lice shifted Sreejith to a hospital which is vital for further investi- of India (Marxist). self as Khomdram Singh of Ma- On Wednesday Imphal offi cers where he died. An autopsy found gation.” “The investigation is not pro- nipur. fl ew to Mumbai to take Gambhir 18 wounds, big and small, on the The RTF personnel were ac- ceeding satisfactorily consider- A viewer brought the video back to his family. young labourer’s body. cused of acting on false informa- ing the gravity of crime which is to the attention of a local asso- They departed Mumbai yes- The police chief has since sus- tion that Sreejith was part of a unprecedented,” said Congress ciation in Imphal who informed terday and arrived in Imphal late pended seven offi cers, including gang that attacked his neighbour, leader Ramesh Chennithala, the Newly-hatched baby Olive Ridley turtles are dwarfed by the Gambhir’s family. afternoon. the circle inspector, and con- Vasudevan, who later committed former home minister. larger adults as they make their way to the sea on a beach in They recognised him as their The Times of India reported stituted a departmental inquiry suicide. “The arrest of the three and Ganjam district, Odisha. Millions of baby Olive Ridley turtles missing relative and contacted that Gambhir, an ex-army of- headed by inspector general S Recalling the incident, one of sparing others has deepened the have been hatching and entering the Bay of Bengal Sea on Imphal police who spoke to their fi cer, had separated from his wife Sreejith. the arrested policemen claimed mystery. Anti-social elements are the coast of Odisha over the past few days. counterparts in Mumbai. following a brief marriage short- On Wednesday, the police ar- they had gone to Sreejith’s home now ruling the police station.” Offi cers then tracked Gamb- ly before he left Imphal. Gulf Times 10 Friday, April 20, 2018 PAKISTAN Pakistan elected to Pakistan cutting two key UN bodies

Internews Islamabad its dependence akistan was elected to two United Nations panels on PMonday, a feat that am- bassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi said is in recognition of Islamabad’s positive contribution to the work of the world body. The panels are the UN Com- on US arms: FT mittee on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the Internews have plummeted from $1bn to this development, noting that the last decade, China collabo- Unicef Executive Board. Islamabad just $21mn last year. sales of weapons systems, often rated much more expansively The elections took place at During the same period, those backed by preferential fi nancial with Pakistan. a session of the 54-member from China have also fallen, but terms, are central to the way the Since 2010, China has pro- Economic and Social Council akistan is gradually re- by much less, from $747mn to US managed its network of mili- vided A-100 rocket launchers (ECOSOC), the economic arm ducing its dependence on $514mn, making China the big- tary alliances and partnerships. and HQ-16 air defence missile of the United Nations. PAmerican military tech- gest weapons exporter to Paki- But many of those countries systems to Pakistan, while VT-4 Re-elected for the sixth time nology, with China fi lling the stan. were now buying some of that tanks are now being tested in Pa- to the UN Committee on NGOs, gap, says a Financial Times (FT) “The shift coincided with Is- hardware from other govern- kistan. Pakistan polled 43 of the 53 report, which also warns that lamabad’s growing suspicion ments, particularly China. The report, however, focused member states present and vot- Lodhi: Pakistan’s election to the Committee (on Non-Governmental this shift will have geo-political about the closeness between the The Financial Times noted that on three weapons systems that ing. Organisations) is a strong vote of confidence by the international repercussions. US and India, but was acceler- Pakistan has been buying from encapsulate the new Chinese ca- Five candidates were com- community in our positive role and contribution in the work of the The long, almost 2,000-word ated by the killing of Al Qaeda Beijing for decades, starting after pabilities, and threaten US infl u- peting for four seats in the Asia United Nations. report notes that the shift start- leader Osama bin Laden on Pa- the US placed an arms embargo ence in South Asia. Pacifi c Group. ed in the last few months of the kistani soil in 2011, which badly on it in the wake of the 1965 war The fi rst is the JF-17 fi ghter “Pakistan’s election to the ECOSOC and its subsidiary dren’s Fund (Unicef) works in Obama administration, when damaged relations with the US,” with India. aircraft. Committee is a strong vote of bodies, UN conferences, and 190 countries and territories to Congress blocked the sale of the report added. “After that, every time Is- In 2007, Pakistan fl ew its fi rst confi dence by the international events organised by the presi- save children’s lives, to defend eight F-16 fi ghter jets to Pakistan. US President Donald Trump’s lamabad has suff ered diplomatic two JF-17s, which cost about community in our positive role dent of the General Assembly. their rights, and to help them In Islamabad, this move was decision to suspend $2bn of mili- problems with Washington, sup- one-third of the price paid for an and contribution in the work of “Pakistan has a diverse and fulfi l their potential. seen as a confi rmation of Paki- tary aid to Pakistan – announced plies of Chinese weapons have F-16. the United Nations,” Lodhi said thriving civil society,” Lodhi “Pakistan attaches great im- stan’s fear that the United States in January – further exacerbated risen,” it added. Later, China also shared the after the election. said, adding: “The govern- portance to protecting and pro- “could no longer be relied on the situation. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bei- designs so the Pakistan’s armed “As a member, Pakistan will ment has always demonstrated moting the rights of children, as their armed forces’ primary Identifying one immediate jing provided supplies and tech- forces can build their own, and continue to promote co-oper- a long-standing commitment which is both smart economics source of advanced weapons”, the impact of the move, the Finan- nical knowledge to help Pakistan even export them. ation within the UN, with civil to, and encouraged participa- and a moral obligation,” Lodhi report adds. cial Times noted that US offi cials develop nuclear weapons, and in In 2015, Pakistan used a drone society organisations working tion of, civil society in discus- commented after the election, Pakistan shifted its focus from are “now fi nding that Islamabad the early 1990s shocked Wash- to attack militants near the Af- alongside governments to im- sions aimed at fi nding solutions pointing out that Pakistan was F-16s to the JF-17 fi ghter jets it is less responsive than usual” to ington by selling more than 30 ghan border, which strongly re- prove the lives of people across to the challenges faced by the one of the co-initiators of the is developing with China, and their requests for support in Af- M-11 missiles, capable of carry- sembled a Chinese design. the world,” she said. world today.” 1990 World Summit for Chil- which is catching up with the ghanistan. ing nuclear warheads. In October 2016, just a month The Committee oversees the She assured the countries dren, which led to the adoption F-16 in terms of capabilities. Harrison Akins, a research The report also noted that in after the US refused to subsidise implementation of the legal that voted for Pakistan of the of the landmark Conventions The ban accelerated Pakistan’s fellow at the Howard H Baker Jr the past decade, the nature of the new F-16s, Beijing agreed to sell framework governing the par- country’s fi rm commitment to on Rights of Child. eff orts to shift its “military pro- Centre for Public Policy at the military relationship between eight attack submarines to Paki- ticipation of NGOs in the work uphold the purposes and the “As a member of the Unicef curement away from American- University of Tennessee, told the China and Pakistan had changed. stan for about $5bn – the biggest of the UN. principles of the UN Charter. Executive Board, Pakistan reaf- made weapons towards Chinese FT: “The Trump administration’s China is now selling the “high- single arms export deal in the It considers the applications Pakistan’s last term in the fi rms its commitment to imple- ones, or those made domestically decision can only push Pakistan end systems, which the US once country’s history. of NGOs for consultative status Unicef Executive Board was ment the ambitious SDG targets with Chinese support”. further into the arms of Beijing specialised in, to Pakistan’s mili- The report noted that the sub- and makes recommendations to from 2013-2015, during which on improving child health and The report also quotes data – especially with Pakistan’s shift tary, and is co-developing many marines deal came at a time when the ECOSOC. Lodhi also served as its presi- education, addressing malnu- from the Stockholm Interna- from US military supplies to Chi- others”. Washington was relying on India This consultative status pro- dent. trition, ending violence against tional Peace Research Institute, nese military supplies.” Jon Grevatt, an analyst at the to provide a bulwark against per- vides NGOs access to a range Created in 1946 by the UN children, eradicating poverty showing that since 2010, US The report also identifi ed defence research company Jane’s ceived Chinese maritime expan- of fora at the UN, including General Assembly, the United and reducing inequality among weapons exports to Pakistan longer-term consequences of IHS Markit, told the FT that in sionism. the Human Rights Council, the Nations International Chil- children,” Lodhi said.

Savings scheme for disabled launched

Royal engagements The government of Pakistan has launched a savings certificate scheme PTI loses majority for special people in line with its announcement made in the budget for the current fiscal year of 2017/18. “The government has formally launched the scheme aiming at payment of profit to disabled persons at par with Behbood savings certificates,” in KP assembly a statement said. Launched in 2003, Behbood savings certificates with a 10-year maturity period and monthly profits initially targeted widows, but the following Internews motion moved by the opposi- year it started accepting investments with denominations in the range Peshawar tion to de-seat KP Chief Min- of Rs5,000 to Rs1mn from senior citizen aged 60 years and above. ister Pervez Khattak would The government announced plans to launch the savings certificates for succeed and bring about a disabled individuals in the budget for the fiscal year of 2017/18. ith just weeks re- change in government. The government has already directed the Central Directorate of maining before However, it seems that the National Savings (CDNS) to implement the scheme. Wthe term of the as- PTI had very coldly calculated sembly expires, the Pakistan the timing of its move. Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has an- With only 40 days left be- Eighth Wage Board formed for media nounced that it would take ac- fore the assembly completes tion against more than a dozen its term, the party had already The federal government of Pakistan has constituted the Eighth Wage provincial lawmakers for alleg- made it clear that it did not Board for Newspaper Employees. edly selling their votes in last have any intention to present According to a notification issued yesterday by the ministry of month’s senate elections. the budget for the next fi scal information and broadcasting, Shahid Mehmood Khokhar has been But in doing so, it has thrown year 2018-19. appointed as chairman of the board for 180 days. away its simple majority in the Hence, they did not require Ten members of the board were also named. legislature. a majority in the house to pass They are Hameed Haroon of Dawn Group, Rameeza Nizami and Curiously, the opposition in the fi nancial bill. Above: Britain’s Queen Shoaibuddin of Nawa-i-Waqt Group, Asif Zubairi of Business Recorder, the house says that it will not However, the government – Elizabeth II engaging Prime Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami of Daily Pakistan, Jang Group’s Sarmad Ali, bring a no-confi dence mo- if it hosts a new session of the Minister Shahid Khaqan Sahibzada Zulfiqar of the PFUJ (Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists), tion and seek to capitalise on assembly – will face trouble Abbasi during a lunchtime APNEC (All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation) chief the PTI’s precarious position, in passing a number of bills reception yesterday for new Shafiuddin Ashraf, Bakhtzada Yousafzai of Daily Aaeen, and Nasir terming such a move pointless. and amendments which it has Commonwealth Heads of Chishti, who heads the Jang Workers Union. In a news conference in the pending in the pipeline, in- Government at Buckingham federal capital yesterday, PTI cluding one that would allow Palace in London. chairman Imran Khan an- it to borrow from the hydro- 1,655 KP off icers killed in the line of duty nounced the names of 18 party electric development fund. Right: Prime Minister Shahid lawmakers (including two who However, that may not force Khaqan Abbasi with Britain’s As many as 1,655 off icers and jawans of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had joined it from the Qaumi the government to summon a Prince Charles yesterday at police have lost their lives in the line of duty during the long years of Watan Party and the rival Paki- session of the assembly since Clarence House in London, on war against terror up till the first three months of 2018. stan Muslim League – Nawaz) they can pass ordinances in- the sidelines of the Capital City Police rendered more sacrifices than other districts in the and two coalition members stead of resorting to the assem- Commonwealth Heads of war against terror, losing 458 up till the end of March, an off icial said. who had indulged in horse- bly to clear amendments. Government Meeting KP police public relations director Waqar Ahmad said that Bannu Police trading in the recent Senate Should the provincial gov- (CHOGM). came second and Dera Ismail Khan third, with the loss of 159 and 136 elections. ernment call a fresh session of off icers and jawans, respectively. Khan said that they had is- the house, it would give the op- sued show-cause notices to position an opportunity to cash these lawmakers and would in on the PTI’s self-infl icted even take their alleged disloy- weak position in the house. alty to the National Accounta- However, opposition parties bility Bureau (NAB) for further in the parliament are hesitant More parties oppose amending Constitution for polls legal action. and said that they will have to Some PTI lawmakers in- think about a no-confi dence cluded in the list, though, have motion. Internews During the meeting the re- to defi ne and interpret the rules and it should be allowed to carry to attend its meetings – said that vehemently denied the accusa- Opposition Leader Maulana Islamabad port of the committee’s working itself. on with its mandate. legislating is the parliament’s job tions of horse-trading. Lutfur Rahman of the Jamiat group led by Privatisation Minis- The third recommendation PTI dissident Siraj Muham- and cannot be termed as “inter- Javed Naseem said that the Ulema-e-Islam – Fazlur (JUI- ter Daniyal Aziz was discussed at of the report was to launch an mad surprised many in the meet- ference”. party had fi rst tried to expel F) said that it is useless to table fter the Pakistan Tehreek- length. inquiry into the delimitation ing by announcing that there is He alleged that gross irregu- him three years ago and it took the motion since the assem- e-Insaf (PTI) and the The working group had made process to investigate the “gross no harm in postponing the elec- larities had been committed in a court order to reclaim his bly’s term is almost over. APakistan Peoples Party three broad demands in its re- negligence” of the delimitation tions, if necessary, to correct the the delimitation process, which valid seat. “If we bring the motion, it (PPP) refused to take part in the port. committee. errors in delimitation. were meant to benefi t certain el- Yasin Khalil refuted the alle- will take time, and bringing in proceedings of the special parlia- The fi rst is introduction of a Representatives of the Jamiat Iqbal Qadri of the MQM said ements within the political sys- gations and stated that he had a new chief minister for merely mentary committee on delimita- constitutional amendment do Ulema-e-Islam – Fazlur (JUI-F), that a party’s appeal to the Su- tem. even met with Khan and the 10 to 12 days is useless,” he said. tion of constituencies yesterday, away with the requirement of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement preme Court on an objection The National Assembly Dep- KP chief minister to convince Rahman, however, criticised three other mainstream parties holding the general elections ac- (MQM), and the Jamaat-e-Islami concerning delimitation – which uty Speaker Abbasi hinted that them that he did not partake in the government for refusing to opposed the report of the work- cording to the provincial census (JI) opposed the recommenda- had been rejected by the Elec- the parliament might amend the horse-trading. present a budget. ing group, which called for an results. tions of the report. tion Commission – should be Election Act and said the ECP As a result, the PTI is now “They are running away amendment to the Constitution This would result in the polls The PTI and the PPP have al- disposed of by the court within would do well to reclaim its cred- only left with just 41 lawmak- from the budget as they know to allow the upcoming general being conducted according to the ready disagreed with the working 30 days and that the apex court ibility among political parties. ers of its own, seven from its that they will not be able to elections to be held according to older demarcation of constitu- group. should constitute three-member Speaking with reporters af- coalition partner, the Jamaat- pass it and that the opposi- the existing demarcation of con- encies. Both parties have also argued benches in all provinces to deal ter the meeting, Privatisation e-Islami (JI), and an independ- tion will mold it according to stituencies. The second is defi nition of the that there is no requirement for a with appeals. Minister Aziz said that the ECP ent member in the 122-mem- their priorities, hence they A meeting of the committee principles of delimitation in leg- majority in the house to get a bill Committee chairman Murtaza must name the members of the ber house. announced not to present the was held with Deputy Speaker islation, rather than rules taking passed and pointed out that the Javed Abbasi – criticising a letter delimitation committee so that Hence, there is a high prob- budget to cover-up their own of National Assembly Murtaza away the power of the Election ECP is examining the objections written to the committee by the they could be investigated for ability that a no-confi dence failure,” he said. Javed Abbasi in the chair. Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against delimitation right now, ECP conveying its decision not negligence. Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 11 PHILIPPINES

Outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa (left) salutes incoming PNP chief Oscar Albayalde during President Rodrigo Duterte holds a Galil sniper rifle next to outgoing Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa the change of command ceremony at Camp Crame in Manila yesterday. during the National Police chief handover ceremony in Camp Crame, Quezon City, metro Manila. Drugs war offi cers given key posts in

Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) troopers march during the police reshuffl e National Police chief handover ceremony in Camp Crame. Reuters ties of executing suspects and Manila staging crime scenes. Police New police chief vows reforms deny that and say their more than 130,000 arrests prove their The Philippines’ police forces of the national police from the change promised by the olice at the helm of the intent to preserve life. need an “internal cleansing,” Ronald Dela Rosa, who led president.” “I shall continue Philippine war on drugs Cascolan is the latest offi cer said the country’s new national President Rodrigo Duterte’s my low-key but stern kind of Pwere given top posts in promoted to a top command post police chief yesterday, in campaign against illegal leadership,” he added. Dela the national force yesterday, having served in the Davao re- response to criticism about drugs. At the same time, Rosa relinquished his post to indicating no let-up in a brutal gion during the 22 years Duterte violations and abuses by Albayalde said he would also: Albayalde amid calls for Dela crackdown that has caused in- was a mayor there. The outgoing the force in its aggressive intensify the campaign against Rosa to be held accountable ternational alarm, and defi ned police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, campaign against illegal drugs. illegal drugs and criminality; for the spate of killings amid Rodrigo Duterte’s 21-month also served in Davao. Director Oscar Albayalde strengthen public engagement; the anti-drug war begun when presidency. Cascolan’s position as head of said he would “implement and implement practical Duterte’s administration took The job of national police operations will go to Mao Aplas- reforms at all levels” of the programmes against crime off ice on July 1, 2016. chief was given to Oscar Albay- ca, also from the Davao region. national police, which has been prevention. Human Rights Watch said the alde, a strict disciplinarian who Albayalde vowed no relent in the criticised by rights groups for “The fight against criminality former police chief, popularly has been in charge of Metro Ma- campaign and to ensure conti- ignoring civil liberties during and illegal drugs has already called Bato, the Filipino word nila, where the vast majority of nuity of its “remarkable accom- the anti-drug crackdown. come a long way,” he said. “The for rock, will “leave behind a the thousands of drugs war kill- plishments”, including arresting “We will focus on imposing crime rate in the country has police force with sordid human ings have occurred. or convincing tens of thousands strict discipline, reform and gone down ... and I will make rights record unmatched since He was succeeded as com- of people to surrender, and the internal cleansing,” he said sure that we will continue the ... dictatorship” of late mander of the capital police by “neutralising” of drug suspects. after taking over as head the good start in achieving strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Camilo Cascolan, the architect Duterte inspects the police formation with outgoing PNP chief “We will not relent on our war of the controversial operational Ronald dela Rosa during the change of command ceremony at against illegal drugs and other plan of the anti-drug campaign, Camp Crame in Manila. forms of criminality. The drug The outgoing police chief, for the New York based Human questionable loyalty” to him. “It “Double Barrel”. About 4,100 menace, we must all understand, Dela Rosa, will head the bureau Rights Watch. was an order I certainly could people have been killed by po- ing anti-narcotics operations. say are unknown assassins. is a worldwide phenomenon,” of corrections. He is leaving be- In his departure speech, Dela not refuse. I shared the same lice in the Philippines since At least 2,300 drug-related Human rights groups believe Albayalde said in a speech. “We hind a police force with “a sordid Rosa lauded Duterte’s for his sentiments as the president and July 2016 in what the authori- deaths have occurred separate- the death toll has been under- will help and support each other human rights record”, according courage to order an all-out war would not let pass the opportu- ties said were shootouts dur- ly, at the hands of what police stated, and accuse the authori- to fi ght and win this war.” to Carlos Conde, a researcher on drugs, and pledged his “un- nity to do my share,” he said.

Military exercise expanded to include Japan, Australia

Annual US-Philippine military the Philippines, would join the and dental services in poor rural exercises involving thousands of exercises taking place in multiple areas, the embassy said. troops will be expanded for the locations on the main island of Philippine military spokeswoman Driven from home, indigenous first time to include other countries, Luzon, starting on May 7. Britain Liezl Vidallon said the four with Japanese and Australian forces has also been invited to observe countries would exchange and invited to join what will be the training for the mitigation of post- share information and conduct 34th edition of the war games. The disaster suff ering. live-fire training. Philippines and the United States The two weeks of exercises The exercises were scaled back population long for their land have been holding the “Balikatan” will focus on mutual defence, last year in response to President (shoulder-to-shoulder) drills counter-terrorism, humanitarian Rodrigo Duterte’s disdain for the annually to test the readiness of assistance and disaster relief that US-Philippine defence alliance. He By Rina Chandran have been forced to leave our A spokesman for Duterte did on the rights of indigenous their militaries to respond to threats can also “provide assistance in has made no secret of his grudge Thomson Reuters homes, and we are being told not respond to e-mails seeking peoples and internally dis- that include natural disasters and the event of crises that endanger against the United States and we need to give up our lands for comment. The Philippines was placed people. militant extremist attacks. public health and safety”. Soldiers believes a US military presence our own good. But we cannot the deadliest country in Asia Some of the attacks by mili- The United States embassy from United States, Australia, of any kind in the Philippines s Philippine military live like this — we belong in our last year for land and environ- tary personnel were based on in Manila said in a statement Japan and the Philippines have puts his country at risk of being battalions closed in, ancestral lands, and we want to ment activists amidst a gov- suspicions that the Lumad are yesterday Australia and Japan, already been renovating schools dragged into conflict, especially Ashutting down schools, go back,” he said. ernment crackdown on rural involved with militant groups, two US allies countries with in four provinces north of Manila with China, as it beefs-up its rounding up men and harassing communities, according to ad- or because they resisted min- strategic partnerships with as well as providing medical maritime defences. women, Tungig Mansumuy had Minority groups vocacy group PAN Asia Pacifi c. ing activities on their ancestral to make a tough decision: stay The Lumad in Mindanao in Campaigners say indigenous land, they said in a report last and protect their homes, or fl ee southern Philippines are part of people in Mindanao are par- December. “They are suff ering to save their lives and risk los- nearly 17mn indigenous people ticularly vulnerable under mar- massive abuses of their human ing their land. After discussions in the country. They are among tial law, imposed after militants rights, some of which are po- Robredo files appeal with other tribesmen, Man- the poorest of minority groups, took over the city of Marawi. tentially irreversible,” they said. sumuy, the chief of a Lumad with little access to social serv- At least 60 tribal people have “Forcing indigenous peoples to tribe in Mindanao island, de- ices including education and been killed since 2016 when leave their homes has an in- cided they had to leave and seek healthcare, experts say. They Duterte came to power, many of calculable impact on their very shelter until martial law was have been caught in the middle them in Mindanao, according lives and ways of living — one lifted and it was safe to return to of a fi ve-decade old insurgency, to rights groups. that risks erasing their culture their homes in Talaingod village. as well as a push by logging and Duterte, who is from Mind- and existence.” A few men stayed behind to mining companies to tap Mind- anao, has threatened airstrikes Tauli-Corpuz and more than guard their homes, while the anao’s rich resources including on indigenous schools that he 600 others were denounced as rest fl ed by foot in February, gold, copper and nickel, after said are teaching “subversion” communist guerrillas whom carrying few belongings as they President Rodrigo Duterte said and communism. Lumad elders the government wants declared made the two-day trek down he would welcome investors. deny this, but dozens of schools as “terrorists”. She has denied the mountain, Mansumuy said. Their vulnerability has been have been shut or destroyed. the allegations. Campaigners Today 244 of them, mostly exacerbated by the extension of The government says it is say the extended militarisa- women and children, are in martial law imposed in Mind- worried that mountainous, jun- tion of Mindanao is intended rickety shelters of bamboo and anao last May by Duterte, who gle-clad Mindanao, a region the to force indigenous people off tarpaulin in the middle of a has called the island a “fl ash- size of South Korea that is home their land, so they can be hand- banana plantation in Madaum point for trouble” and atroci- to the Muslim minority, could ed over to mining, energy and village, about 80km from Dav- ties by Islamist and communist attract international extremists. logging companies. ao City, with no inkling of when rebels. But activists and United Nations Ancestral domains are pro- they can return to their homes. “Duterte is waging war experts have said the Lumad tected by the Indigenous Peo- “We have endured milita- against defenceless indigenous have suff ered widespread hu- ples’ Rights Act 1997, which risation for a long time, and people in Mindanao,” said Du- man right abuses that could recognises their control of we have fl ed several times be- phing Ogan, secretary-general intensify with the extension of these lands. Commercial use fore. But we were always able of indigenous peoples’ alliance martial law to December. of the land needs the free, prior to go back,” said Mansumuy, Kalumaran. “They are target- Thousands of Lumad people and informed consent of in- as his wife nursed their new- ing our lands, destroying our have been displaced and some digenous people, according to Philippine Vice-President Leni Robredo gestures while filing a motion for reconsideration born child, and older children mountains and our forests, and killed, said Victoria Tauli- UN guidelines. But it is rarely requesting the justices of the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier decision on the ballot shading carried fi rewood and water to selling out to corporations. This Corpuz and Cecilia Jimenez- sought, and social and envi- threshold, at the Supreme Court in Padre Faura, Metro Manila, Philippines. women cooking on fi res. is an all-out war against minor- Damary, the UN Human Rights ronmental impacts are never “This time feels diff erent; we ity people, not against terror.” Council’s special rapporteurs revealed, campaigners say. Gulf Times 12 Friday, April 20, 2018 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

4 rescuers among 5 killed by ammonia in Lanka factory

Reuters Colombo

t least fi ve people were killed yesterday in Sri Lanka after a worker at a rubber factory fell into a tank of Aammonia and co-workers and residents tried to save him, police said. The worker who fell into the ammonia tank died, along with four of those who tried to save him in the accident in the town of Horana, 50km from the capital, Colombo. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said 10 people were treated in hospital for exposure to ammonia, which is used in the production of rubber. He declined to identify the factory where the accident happened. An offi cial at the state-run hospital in Horana confi rmed the death toll. “Workers from a next-door garment factory were also aff ected by the gas and they are being brought to hospital,” said the hospital offi cial, who declined to be identifi ed. “They are still being brought in.” Television showed rescue offi cers wearing breathing ap- paratus, taking injured out of the factory and searching the ammonia tank for any other casualties.

Over 500,000 still affected by drought in Sri Lanka

ver 500,000 people still remain aff ected by the drought in 10 districts of Sri Lanka, according to a Oreport released yesterday by the Sri Lankan Disas- ter Management Centre (DMC). The DMC said the 10 districts located in the northern, A handout photo released yesterday by Save The Children of pools of water at a refugee camp for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district. northwestern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka had been aff ected. The Puttalam district in the northwestern province is the worst-aff ected with 216,670 people suff ering from the drought, Xinhua news agency reported. DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili said people had been aff ected in terms of scarcity of drinking water and crop failures. However, he said the southern, central and western Rains fl ood Rohingya parts of Sri Lanka were experiencing rain. 15 hurt in Swiss road accident involving Sri Lanka tourists

ifteen people were the accident remained un- injured when a coach clear. camps in Bangladesh Fcarrying tourists According to the ATS from Sri Lanka crashed news agency, the coach was AFP lence in Myanmar. deadly in southeast Bangladesh, rain had already “wreaked havoc” Nurul Haq, a Rohingya refu- with a two trucks on a carrying tourists from Sri Dhaka “We are seeing areas of fl ood- which is also prone to powerful but the monsoon proper posed a gee, said the brief downpour had Swiss highway, police and Lanka. ing in the camps and parts of some cyclones. much greater threat. turned paths through the camps media said. The driver of the coach roads have been churned up,” said Last season, heavy rain trig- “If a big storm hits the camps, it “into long and continuous puddles A tourist coach carry- and a female travel com- he fi rst rains of the year Fiona MacGregor, a spokeswoman gered mud slips in Cox’s Bazar and would be nothing short of disas- of thick mud”. ing 40 passengers collided panion riding up front were have fl ooded parts of the for the International Organization nearby Chittagong Hill Tracts, trous,” she said. The UN says about 150,000 with two trucks near the stuck and needed to be ex- Tcrowded Rohingya camps in for Migration in Cox’s Bazar dis- killing at least 170 people. There are fears heavy fl ooding refugees are extremely vulnerable Winterthur-Wulflingen tracted by rescue workers, Bangladesh, aid workers said yes- trict where the camps are located. More than 100 died in landslides could also overfl ow latrines and this rainy season and Bangladesh’s exit on a motorway not police said. terday, wreaking havoc and raising Humanitarian agencies have in the region in 2012, and two years spread disease in the close con- refugee commissioner has said far from the northern city The driver suff ered mod- fears for nearly 1mn refugees ahead been warning for months about earlier heavy downpours killed fi nes of the camps, where around that 100,000 refugees would be of Zurich, at 3.15pm on erate injuries, while the of the monsoon. the danger posed by the impend- around 50. 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have shifted to safer ground. Wednesday, regional police woman was seriously in- A brief but heavy downpour ing monsoon, due to start in June, Aid agencies have been rein- arrived from Myanmar since Au- Bangladesh has said it would said. jured, they said. turned roads into quagmires in the to the welfare of refugees who live forcing tents with concrete and gust. also start relocating another “Fifteen people were Twelve of the tourists world’s largest refugee camp, hin- cheek by jowl in cramped tents on sandbags in anticipation of the Many of the hillsides were 100,000 Rohingya to a desolate is- injured, one of them seri- were meanwhile slightly dering relief eff orts and hinting at hillsides. monsoon. cleared of trees to make way for land off its southern coast in June, ously,” Zurich’s cantonal injured, as was the driver the danger ahead for the Rohingya Landslides and fl oods caused Save the Children spokeswoman shelters, leaving the land highly despite warnings the site is prone police said in a statement, of one of the trucks, police who have sought refuge from vio- by violent monsoon storms can be Daphnee Cook said yesterday’s unstable. to violent weather. adding that the cause of said.

Trek trail Former child circus slaves tackle traffi cking in Nepal

By Emma Batha, Reuters “The families are sold a lie. Most- London ly the children are just never seen again,” said McLarnon. “The training is brutal and very epal’s fi rst contemporary dangerous, and the conditions are circus is not just remark- terrible.” Nable for its gravity-defying Members of Circus Kathmandu, acts, but for its artists — the contor- which was created in 2010, are now tionists, aerialists and jugglers are using the skills that once enslaved former child slaves. them to rebuild their self-esteem. Having been rescued from In- The circus has performed in Du- dian circuses, they are now using bai and at Britain’s Glastonbury their skills to educate communities music festival and will shortly visit across Nepal on the dangers of traf- Australia. fi cking — a crime that has increased Co-director Sky Neal, a former since a massive earthquake in 2015 circus aerialist, began work on the devastated the poor Himalayan fi lm after helping set up a rehabili- country. tation programme for rescued child The story of Circus Kathmandu is performers at a refuge in Kathman- told in a fi lm Even When I Fall now du. on release in Britain. “I was really shocked to realise An estimated 10,000 women there was a dark side to a world I and children are smuggled into In- love so much,” she said. dia every year, making it one of the “(But) this is not a black and white world’s busiest traffi cking routes, story. It’s full of complexity and we according to the directors. chose not to shy away from that.” Shot over six years in Nepal, the In Nepal, the troupe now rais- fi lm follows hula hoop performer es awareness around traffi cking Saraswoti and aerial artist Sheetal through workshops using drama as they reclaim their lives, overcome and circus skills. the stigma faced by traffi cking sur- They will use the fi lm in new vivors and reconnect with the fami- workshops they are creating for key lies that sold them. high risk regions. “There’s an incredible trans- “Circus is a great tool for break- formation. They are inspirational ing down barriers. It’s a family en- women,” co-director Kate McLar- tertainment and it’s the families you non told the Thomson Reuters need to be talking to,” said McLar- Foundation. non. Saraswoti was eight when she was The circus is also helping dispel sold into a circus where she learnt the stigma suff ered by traffi cking how to throw knives blindfolded. survivors when they return home, At 14 she was married off to the she says, particularly girls and owner’s son and by 17 she had three women. children. “In Nepal circus has a very bad Sheetal was traffi cked around the name,” one performer says in the age of fi ve. fi lm. Trekkers walk along a path at the Everest region, some 140km northeast of Kathmandu. The route is a busy gateway for tourists, climbers and porters heading Her family were living in a cow- “People assume that all bosses to the Mount Everest region in Nepal. shed when she was handed over to rape the girls. But circus is an art. I traffi ckers promising a better life. don’t feel ashamed.” Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 13 THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH 30 steps in Sha‘baan to prepare for Ramadan

he Messenger of Allah, hand committed and your feet walked and needy, and provide meals for the attends the funeral until the prayer has sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam, towards. Remember that Allah The fasting people to break their fast. been off ered will have one Qiraat (of said about Sha‘baan: “That Almighty feels Jealous (which implies Increase the quantity of food you reward).” [An-Nasaa’i] The Messenger Tis a month concerning which His wrath) when the matters He The prepare for lunch, for instance, and of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, the people are heedless, between Rajab Exalted has forbidden are violated. give out the extra food to the poor was asked about the Qiraat, he replied: and Ramadan. It is a month in which Beware of putting off repentance or in your neighbourhood or to your “It is equal to ‘Uhud” (a mountain in good deeds are taken up to the Lord of procrastinating in this matter. Do not building’s janitor. ‘Ataa’, may Allah Al-Madinah).” [Al-Albaani: Saheeh] the worlds, and I would like my deeds be deceived by the patience of Allah have mercy upon him, narrated on Abu Bakr ibn Ka’b, may Allah be to be taken up when I am fasting.” [An- The Almighty and His concealment of the authority of Zayd ibn Khaalid al- pleased with him, narrated that the Nasaa’i; Al-Albaani; Hasan] your sins. Indeed, Allah The Almighty Juhani, may Allah be pleased with him, Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi If you observe the habits of the gives respite to the oppressor, but that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu wa sallam, said: “Whoever attends successful people in diff erent walks of when He fi nally seizes him, He does `alaihi wa sallam, said: “Whoever gives a funeral prayer he is rewarded with life, you would notice that they strive not let him escape. Iftaar (the meal to break the fast) to a Qiraat, and if he attends its burial hard to prepare and get ready for their 2- Do not start a deed unless you one who is fasting will have a reward he is rewarded with two Qiraats. By tasks. A student who excels prepares have a sincere intention. Your deed like his, without that detracting from He whom the soul of Muhammad is for his studies before the year begins; will not be accepted unless it is done the reward of the fasting person in in His hands, a single Qiraat is larger a good runner prepares for the race with a sincere intention in accordance the slightest.” [At-Tirmithi and An- than mount ‘Uhud.” [Ibn Maajah, Al- long before it starts and there other with the rulings of the religion (Islam). Nasaa’i, Al-Albaani: Saheeh] Albaani: Saheeh li-ghayrih] numerous examples in our daily life. Therefore, you should learn the rulings 14- Give alms on a daily basis in the 22- Organise your time and make a Not everyone who prepares gains the of fasting and teach them to your month of Sha‘baan, so that you may timetable to evaluate your performance fruit of his endeavours or reaches the family and acquaintances starting now. get used to daily charity in Ramadan and the acts of worship you schedule peak of success. People vary even in the 3- Discipline yourself and be and to be among those mentioned in for yourself. This is not an innovation success of their preparation and each committed to righteous deeds as of the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah, in the religion, but is only a practical one attains success according to the now, for Ramadan is the school of may Allah be pleased with him, that measure to monitor your acts of eff ort they exert. Keeping this in mind, the righteous. Allah The Almighty the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu worship and to attain Paradise, Allah we must ask ourselves: how can one Says (what means): {O you who have `alaihi wa sallam, said: “There is no willing, which is your chief aim. attain any fruits without preparation, believed, decreed upon you is fasting day on which the people get up but two 23- Withdraw bit-by-bit from or rather without any concerns as it was decreed upon those before angels come down and one of them meaningless gatherings that waste whatsoever to prepare for it? you that you may become righteous.} says, ‘O Allah, give in compensation your time. Boycott TV and all As we have now entered the month [Qur’an 2: 183] And the Prophet, to the one who spends (in charity),’ other distraction – even if they are of Sha‘baan, we must have a specifi c sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam, said: and the other says, ‘O Allah, destroy permissible. Naturally, if they are stance of determination. It is the last “Whoever does not give up false the wealth of the one who withholds.” forbidden then it is compulsory to stage in the preparation of entering the speech and ignorance and acting [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] abandon them completely and repent month in which one can be saved from accordingly, Allah has no need of his If it was your habit to give charity with the intention of never returning to Hellfi re, i.e. the month of Ramadan, giving up his food and drink.” [Al- in other than Ramadan, then increase them again. the month of the Qur’an and the Bukhari] the quantity you give out in Sha‘baan 24- Ramadan is a great chance for month of mercy. So, contemplate the 4- Make haste to maintain the ties of whenever you can. Ibn ‘Abbaas, may smokers to quit this harmful and evil conditions of those who seek to win kinship and beware of severing them. Allah be pleased with him, said: “The habit. Accustom yourself from now worldly competitions and the eff ort The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu `alaihi on to leave it and make an intention to they exert to achieve that. What then `alaihi wa sallam, said: “Allah created wa sallam, was the most generous quit it completely for the sake of Allah should be the case with those who His creation, and when He had of people, and he was at his most The Almighty and then for the sake of seek the reward of the Hereafter? fi nished, Ar-Rahim (the womb) got generous during Ramadan, when your health. Ask Allah The Almighty to Indeed, there is no point of comparison up. He said, ‘What is it?’ Ar-Rahim Jibreel (angel Gabriel) met him. Jibreel help you with this and rest assured that between them. Is not the reward of the said: ‘This is the position of one who is used to meet with him every night and if you ask Him with sincerity He will Hereafter more deserving of our eff ort? seeking refuge with You from being cut teach him the Qur’an. The Messenger help you. Immediately after Ramadan, our off .’ He said, ‘Will you not be pleased of Allah, sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam, 25- From this moment on, engage Salaf (righteous predecessors), may if I should maintain ties with the one was the most generous person, even your tongue to be moist with the Allah have mercy upon them, used to maintain ties with you, and cut off the more generous and faster in spending remembrance and mention of Allah ask Allah The Almighty for six months one who cuts you off ?’ Ar-Rahim said, than a strong blowing wind.” [Al- The Almighty; do not slacken in the to accept Ramadan from them and ‘Of course, O Lord.’ He said, ‘Then it Bukhari and Muslim] remembrance and mention of Allah then for the next six months, they will be so.’” Then, Abu Hurairah, may 15- If you intend to perform ‘Umrah The Almighty, seeking forgiveness, would ask Him to enable them to live Allah be pleased with him, recited the during Ramadan, walk daily for half an glorifying Allah The Almighty and until the next Ramadan. This is the verse in which Allah The Almighty Says hour in the last 10 days of Sha’baan in reciting Takbeer (i.e. Allahu Akbar). It degree of importance they accorded (what means): {So would you perhaps, order to prepare yourself, as ‘Umrah in is an easy form of worship with a heavy Ramadan and its precious days. if you turned away, cause corruption Ramadan involves physical eff ort. and great reward from Allaah The Allah willing, what we aim for and on earth and sever your [ties of] 16- Lessen your intake of food Almighty. prepare for are acts of worship from kinship?} [Qur’an 47: 22] [Al-Bukhari] during Sha’baan; the more food you 26- Organise your daily work the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition), not If we know this, let us ask, who is eat the more diffi cult it is to perform schedule beginning from Sha‘baan innovated acts, but our objective is to the person that upholds the ties of acts of worship in Ramadan. Accustom so that your distraction from worship increase the frequency of performing kinship? This is what the Messenger yourself to smaller portions of food may decrease in Ramadan. Prioritise these acts. of Allah, sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam, from now or eat several small meals your tasks and needs so that you cover Allah The Almighty Says (what has explained saying: “The one who throughout the day. Include plenty of most of it before Ramadan starts. means): upholds the ties of kinship is not the vegetables, fruits and dates in your diet 27- Revise what you have memorised {And hasten to forgiveness from one who reciprocates, rather the one to maintain the level of hydration in the of the Noble Qur’an or memorise some your Lord and a garden as wide as the who upholds the ties of kinship is the body and to provide energy. new Surahs (chapters) in Sha‘baan heavens and earth, prepared for the one who upholds those ties even if his 17- Avoid staying up late, try to sleep so that you could recite it in your righteous.} [Qur’an 3: 133] relatives cut him off .” [Al-Bukhari] earlier, and wake up one hour prior supererogatory prayers in Ramadan. {So for this let the competitors 5- Is there better bliss than a clean to Fajr prayer or earlier to practise How happy is the one who prays and compete.} [Qur’an 83: 26] heart? You spend your day and night in Qiyaam (voluntary night prayers) supplicates with verses he knows by We must be determined to make peace of mind while others burn with and supplicate to Allah The Almighty heart! the best use of Ramadan by the will of jealousy and hatred towards others. before dawn. 28- Malls and shops are crowded in The Most Gracious. Do not let its days Be keen on having a clean heart from 18- Train yourself to sleep less. If Ramadan and unfortunately, all kinds slip by like any other days; the days of now on, clearing it to be occupied your habit is to sleep eight hours, make of indecency is widespread in such Ramadan are precious, if they lapse by Ramadan and nothing else. The it six or less without exhausting your places, so avoid going there during they may never come back again. How Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu `alaihi body, compensating for it with a mid- Ramadan by buying your grocery, ‘Eid many people do not reach or witness wa sallam, was asked who is the best day (short) nap. clothes, and other things in Sha‘baan. Ramadan? How many people were of people. He answered: “The one with 19- If you are unable to perform 29- Try to formulate a plan for all not destined to reach the upcoming a pure heart and a truthful tongue”. ‘Umrah this Ramadan for some reason, the people around you to implement Ramadan? From now on, put down a They said: “The one with a truthful know that if you remain seated after to prepare for Ramadan in your house, plan with an objective and a sincere tongue we know, but who is the one Fajr prayer until sunrise and perform workplace and the masjid. By doing intention to prepare for Ramadan. with a pure heart?” He, sallallaahu two Rak‘ahs (units of prayer) you so, people will feel the greatness of Hence, if death overcomes you before `alaihi wa sallam, replied: “He is pious would receive the reward of a complete this beautiful month rather than being reaching Ramadan, then you will and pure with no sin nor injustice nor Haj and ‘Umrah. Anas ibn Maalik, may misled by the dissolute people who call die with a sincere intention and a grudge nor envy (against anyone).” [Ibn Allah be pleased with him, narrated towards watching serials and indecent righteous deed, Allah willing. Maajah] are accustomed to recite one part daily likely to be answered, Allah willing. that the Prophet, sallallaahu `alaihi shows. Many TV channels make it a Let us take a look at some of the 6- Unfortunately, many people let it be two or even three – in fact, why 11- Accustom yourself to spending wa sallam, said: “Whoever prays point to broadcast their grandest and plans of preparation for Ramadan spend long hours on the Internet, not complete a full recitation every 10 more time in the Masjid (mosque) Fajr in congregation then remains most lascivious productions during during the days of Sha‘baan. However, wasting many bounties and golden days? after performing congregational sitting (in the masjid) remembering Ramadan, as opposed to ordinary days, before that, keep in mind the opportunities in Ramadan. How far 9- In Ramadan, diff erent prayer to prepare for I‘tikaaf (staying and mentioning Allah until the sun in order to mislead people and draw importance of time, do not let even removed are they from Imaam Maalik voluntary prayers are performed in seclusion in the mosque with the rises, then prays two Rak‘ahs (15 them away from worship. a minute in Sha‘baan pass without ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy upon such as Taraaweeh (night prayer intention of worship) in the last 10 minutes after the sun rises), will have 30- Approach children over seven benefi ting from the preparation for him, who, when Ramadan arrived, that takes place after the prayer days of Ramadan, Allah willing. If you a reward like that of performing Haj years of age in your family, and Ramadan. used to withdraw from reviewing of ‘Ishaa’), Qiyaam (standing in cannot perform full I‘tikaaf, you could and ‘Umrah, complete, complete, motivate them to get used to fasting. 1- What would you do if you were Hadith and sitting with the people supererogatory prayer at night), prolong your stay in the masjid, which complete.” [At-Tirmithi, Al-Albaani: Let them begin with a quarter of a day to expect an important guest, while of knowledge to dedicate himself to and other supererogatory prayers. is also considered I’tikaaf , as there is Hasan li-ghayrih] then increase to half a day and more your home is in a mess and needs to be reciting the Noble Qur’an from the In order to get used to long periods no minimum stipulated time limit for 20- Perform new acts of worship and reward them for their eff orts. cleaned? Would you start decorating Mus-haf. Start now: if you are an of standing without any fatigue or it. that you have never done before. For Thus when Ramadan begins, fasting it in its unclean state or start cleaning Internet addict, lessen the hours you exhaustion, dedicate a longer time 12- Get used to fasting so that you example, recite 1,000 verses (that is becomes easy for them. before anything else? spend surfi ng the Internet and know for night prayer starting in Sha‘baan. do not feel worn out while fasting the equal to Part 29 and Part 30 in the This was an attempt to provide some Begin by setting right your that Ramadan will not wait for you. Begin by dedicating an hour, increase fi rst couple of days in Ramadan. Fast Qur’an) or give a large sum of money guidelines to follow during the month obligations, adhere to the limits of 7- Hasten to make up for the days it gradually, and start getting used to on alternate days or in the most of the as charity, to prepare yourself and be of Sha’baan in preparation for the Allah The Almighty, and hold yourself of fasting you missed in the past long bowing and prostrating. days of Sha‘baan, Imaam al-Bukhari, inclined to perform greater acts of blessed month of Ramadan. However, accountable for the sins you committed Ramadan for a legitimate excuse. 10- Accustom yourself to dedicating may Allah have mercy upon him, worship in Ramadan. one can custom make his own list and throughout the last 11 months since the 8- In Ramadan, most people are a longer period of time for supplicating reported that ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be 21- Try to attend a funeral prayer add to this whatever he/she sees more past Ramadan. Repent from the past keen to make a complete recitation of Allah The Almighty, and memorise pleased with her, said: “The Prophet, then follow it until burial, since doing suitable for his/her own situation. sins of the year before receiving the the Noble Qur’an. In order to make some of the authentic supplications sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam, did not so entails great reward, and the reward Article source: http://www. new month of Ramadan. Purify your the recitation and completion become of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alaihi wa fast in any month more than he did multiplies in Ramadan. Ibn ‘Umar, may islamweb.net/emainpage/ heart of any doubts or desires, repent easy and swift for you, begin reciting in sallam, for they include precise words in Sha‘baan, and he used to fast all of Allah be pleased with him, narrated from every forbidden glance, or sins the month of Sha‘baan, increasing the with comprehensive meanings, and Sha‘baan.” that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu involving hearing, or any misdeed your time of recitation gradually, so if you they are better, more blessed, and more 13- Be prepared to feed the poor ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Whoever The benefi ts of hoping for the best

aving hope in Allah The plicate to Him; He is angered by those for his Lord, because the more he gets When one hopes for something Him for His bounties. Thus, Allah becoming more attached to his Lord. Almighty bears fruit to the who shun supplicating and asking what he asked and hoped for, the more and Allah The Almighty grants it to The Almighty decreed that people sin There are three types of hope, following: Him. The one with hope usually sup- his love for his Lord will increase and him, this encourages him to ask for in order for him to fulfi l these ranks, two of which are praised and one H *It makes one strive more plicates much more than others who the more grateful he becomes to his more and strive harder to please Allah so His slaves seek the forgiveness dispraised: and exert greater eff ort in performing are not, and Allah The Almighty is Lord – which is one of the implica- The Almighty, which consequently of Allah The Almighty and humble 1. The hope of an obedient person acts of worship. angry with those who do not harbour tions of the state of servitude. increases his level of faith and brings themselves before Him in order to be who hopes for the reward from Allah It makes one even more inclined any hope in the mercy and kindness of Hope makes one reach the state him close to the All-Merciful. forgiven. If people did not sin, they The Almighty. to be constantly obedient to Allah The Allah The Almighty. Thus having hope of being thankful; which is what ser- The more hope that slaves har- would not feel the need to humble 2. The hope of a sinful person who Almighty. rescues one from the wrath of Allah vitude is all about. bour during this life, the more they themselves before Him or seek His hopes for the forgiveness of Allah The It makes one enjoy drawing closer The Almighty. Hope makes one research more will rejoice when attaining what they forgiveness, nor would they repent to Almighty. to Allah The Almighty, and makes one Hope is what makes the person into the Names and Attributes of Allah have hoped for in the Hereafter, and Him; this is why Allah The Almighty 3. The hope of a negligent person experience the thrill of supplicating enjoy his journey towards Allah The The Almighty. the best and highest of all causes for tests people with these sins, in order who continuously sins and then hopes to Him. Almighty and the Hereafter; it makes Hope is interconnected with fear rejoicing is seeing Allah The Almighty to purify their hearts by this humil- for the forgiveness of Allah The Al- It makes one express his ser- him steadfast upon the path because of Allah The Almighty, because the and attaining His pleasure. ity and seeking His pardon. Thus, a mighty, without exerting any eff ort to vitude to and need for his Lord, and had it not been that people hoped for one who hopes for the mercy of Allah Furthermore, Allah The Almighty very important aspect of servitude is attain His forgiveness. This is a false makes him realise that he cannot do Paradise and that their rewards be The Almighty and His Paradise will wishes that His slaves fulfi l the other fulfi lled. hope and wishful thinking, which without the favours and kindness of multiplied, then nobody would have fear that he may not be doing enough ranks of servitude, such as hum- After the slave sins, he humbles deceives no one but the one who har- his Lord, even for a period that is as been able to continue on their path to be worthy of them; this is indeed a bling themselves before Him, relying himself before Allah The Almighty, bours it; it is by no means considered rapid as the blinking of an eye. towards Allah The Almighty and the wonderful relationship between the on Him in everything, seeking His and then begins to have hope that to be real hope in Allah The Almighty. Allah The Almighty loves that Hereafter. two diff erent states of the believer’s support, fearing Him, persevering Allah The Almighty will forgive his Article source: http://www.is- His slaves ask favors of Him and sup- It makes one increase in his love heart: hope and fear. through His decrees and thanking sin. This results in the slave’s heart lamweb.net/emainpage/ Gulf Times 14 Friday, April 20, 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 Macron’s party faces dissent over immigration bill

The French parliament votes today on a tough immigration 20-04-2018 bill that has sparked rumblings of revolt within President Emmanuel Macron’s party, with several MPs openly challenging his plans to speed up deportations of failed asylum-seekers. The government argues that tighter controls are needed to check the rise of anti-immigration populists, who are on the march across Europe from Berlin to Budapest after suff ering a setback in last year’s French elections. The bill aims to both cut waiting times for asylum applications – from around a year currently to six months – UK Windrush issue sours and make it easier to deport those turned down as “economic” migrants. The right-wing opposition say the bill is too soft but left- wing parties and NGOs have branded it repressive. “We cannot take on the misery of the world,” Macron, who campaigned as a champion of open borders but has adopted a mood at ‘Family’ reunion tough line on migration since taking offi ce, said in an interview with BFMTV on Sunday. Macron pointed to the “ticking bomb” of population growth By William James Barbados high commissioner “If you lay down with dogs, you get for the resignation of Home Secretary in Africa, wars and climate change among factors that would and Andrew MacAskill/ Reuters Guy Hewitt told the BBC that some fl eas, and that is what has happened Amber Rudd, one of the most pro-EU London “Windrush Kids” were being treated with the far-right rhetoric in this ministers in May’s cabinet. continue driving migration to Europe in the years to come. as illegal immigrants even though they country.” As international alliances go, the Faced with an “unprecedented” wave of arrivals the had gone to school in Britain and paid Tighter border policies, which have Commonwealth is a loose network government would focus on welcoming those whose lives were s it prepares to leave the their taxes. left some migrants and their children linking large economies like India, at risk in their country of origin, he said fi rmly. European Union, Britain’s The Commonwealth evolved out struggling to prove their citizenship, population 1.3bn, with tiny pacifi c France received a attempts to revitalise links of the British empire in the mid-20th are largely a legacy of May’s time as states like Nauru, population 13,000. France received record 100,000 asylum Awith former colonies at a century, and Queen Elizabeth has been Home Secretary – a role she held for six Even within the family, there applications last year, lavish summit in London have been its head since she ascended the throne years before becoming prime minister is disagreement about the a record bucking the general trend overshadowed by outrage over Prime in 1952. in 2016. Commonwealth’s direction, and in Europe, where the Minister Theresa May’s treatment of She regards the Commonwealth as In 2012 May said: “The aim is to Britain’s role within it: questions 100,000 asylum number of asylum seekers Commonwealth migrants. the greatest success of her reign. create here in Britain a really hostile have been raised over whether the halved between 2016 and Threats to deport some relatives of Critics say it is an outdated relic of environment for illegal migration.” queen’s son and heir, Prince Charles, applications last Caribbean workers who helped rebuild Britain’s imperial past and attempts to As a result, life for many legal should succeed her as the head of the 2017. Britain in the decades after World War give it new life are a desperate bid by migrants who had never previously organisation. year, bucking the A shortage of II have soured the mood at the London nostalgic Britons to create an “Empire needed to prove their British Opposition Labour Party leader accommodation means reunion of the self-styled “Family” – 2.0” that will cushion the impact of the heritage has become harder, with and royal sceptic Jeremy Corbyn general trend in many wind up on the the 53 Commonwealth nations bound country’s exit from the European Union. some of the Windrush generation has said it may be time to allow the streets of Paris, or the together by the shared history of the Advocates, thousands of whom sensing a recurrence of the racial Commonwealth to decide its own head. Europe northern port of Calais, a now-defunct British Empire. assembled from across the globe discrimination they faced when they May’s government said it would gateway to Britain, where “It is a matter of denial of the dignity in London to talk about topics like first arrived. lobby for Charles. a squalid camp housing thousands of migrants was razed by the of citizenship, which really cannot be trade, the environment and women’s Sally Daghlian, chief executive of “If you decide to give the headship state in late 2016. restored,” Jamaican Prime Minister rights, say it is a lifeline that gives Praxis Community Projects, says her to Charles then you are talking another A February survey by pollsters BVA showed 63% of voters Andrew Holness told the Good Morning small countries a seat at the table with organisation has supported more 10 or 20 years of a kind of embalming felt there were too many immigrants in France, home to around Britain television show. larger states, and has huge potential to than 120 people who arrived from the fl uid,” said Philip Murphy, professor of 6mn people who were born in another country. Speaking alongside May at the improve life for its 2.4bn residents. Caribbean more than 50 years ago and British and Commonwealth history at Commonwealth meeting, Holness hoped Despite a steady drumbeat of have now been wrongly labelled as the School of Advanced Study. The bill doubles the time that failed asylum seekers can be for the “speedy implementation” of the discontent over Windrush, Prime illegal immigrants. “It removes any kind of incentive for detained to 90 days, making it easier to deport them. government’s proposals to fi x the crisis. Minister May has been caught off - In some cases, she said people have it to survive on its own merits.” It also reduces the time they have to lodge their application “It is only fair. It will lead to security, guard by the issue and forced into a been refused entry to Britain after going For Britain, hosting its fi rst from 120 to 90 days and gives them just two weeks to appeal certainly for those who have been series of apologies and admissions. to funerals overseas or denied access Commonwealth Heads of Government if unsuccessful, a period slammed by NGOs as far too short to aff ected, and it is the kind of inclusive “These people are British, they to healthcare, lost jobs, and even been meeting for 20 years, the aim was made gather more evidence in support of their claim. prosperity for which we stand as are part of us,” May told parliament made homeless because they do not clear on the eve of the gathering: trade. Once accepted, however, refugees will be given more help to Commonwealth peoples,” he said. on Wednesday. “I want to say sorry have suffi cient paperwork. And it may well be that the Windrush integrate, by, for instance, gaining the right to work and being The aff air has undermined eff orts to to anyone who has had confusion or “Every story that I have come across row will not aff ect such calculations in given more French classes. revive the Commonwealth and promote anxiety felt as a result of this.” has been appalling, it is diffi cult to the end. The government has defended the legislation as balanced but ‘Global Britain’ – the rebranding The crisis has cast Britain, and May quantify the human misery,” she said. Even though the Commonwealth several members of Macron’s usually compliant Republic on exercise aimed at building trade in particular, in an unsympathetic light “We have created a Britain where accounts for less than 10% of British partnerships and developing a new and raised awkward questions about there is great suspicion of anyone who exports, compared to 44% which go to the Move (LREM) party have vowed to reject the bill or abstain way of projecting British ‘soft power’ how the aggressive pursuit of lower has a migrant background.” the EU, bilateral trade deals with the when it is put to a vote today. worldwide as the country prepares to immigration sits alongside the desire to The episode has raised concerns likes of India, Canada and Australia are “This bill stigmatises foreigners,” Francois-Michel Lambert, exit the European Union. be an outward-looking global leader. about whether the Home Offi ce can high on the government’s priority list. an LREM lawmaker representing the southern Bouches-du- The so-called Windrush generation, “This is a day of national shame,” fairly handle the claims of EU residents “As the United Kingdom leaves Rhone region, told BFMTV. named after one of the fi rst ships said David Lammy, a London-based after Brexit, when thousands of EU the European Union we have the Delphine Bagarry, an MP representing Alpes-de-Haute- bringing Caribbean citizens to Britain, opposition lawmaker and son of citizens will need to show they have the opportunity to reinvigorate our Provence, told France Inter radio that while she supports the arrived as children between 1948 and Windrush migrants, who blamed rising right to remain in Britain. Commonwealth partnerships and usher need to shorten the agonising wait for asylum, “it cannot be at 1971 and some who cannot produce anti-immigrant sentiment in Britain The European Parliament’s Brexit in a new era harnessing the movement the expense of their right to a defence”. citizenship documentation are being over recent years. co-ordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said full of expertise, talent goods and capital Fearing that any sign of weakness could embolden dissidents denied healthcare, prevented from Nationalist rhetoric was widely guarantees on EU citizens’ rights were between our nations in a way that we to break ranks on other issues, party leader Richard Ferrand has working, and even threatened with deployed by parties campaigning for needed in the wake of the crisis. have not done for a generation or more,” threatened LREM naysayers with expulsion. deportation. Brexit. The aff air has also prompted calls said trade minister Liam Fox. But the bill is expected to pass, despite strong opposition from far-right leader Marine Le Pen – the runner-up to Macron in last year’s election – and the conservative opposition Republicans. The Republicans’ hardline leader Laurent Wauquiez charged that Macron’s presidency was on course to legalise “a million more immigrants” by 2022. Right-wingers have also argued that provisions allowing underage refugees to bring siblings to live with them in France will have a “pull eff ect” on migration.

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Timothy Harris, St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, and other Caribbean leaders and representatives leave following a meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May at © 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved 10 Downing Street in London. May has been caught off -guard by the Windrush issue. Gulf Times Friday, April 20, 2018 15 COMMENT The West’s crisis of confi dence

By Carl Bildt will require new, comprehensive Stockholm international agreements to protect the interests of sovereign countries. Sadly, the pronouncements from n an age defi ned by US President Trump’s White House seem to be Donald Trump’s rage, Russian aimed at undermining any sense President Vladimir Putin’s of order, with the hope that the US Irevisionism, and Chinese will come out on top in some future President Xi Jinping’s unbridled Hobbesian struggle for total global ambition, the international order is dominance. By this logic, international becoming increasingly disorderly, trade should be regulated not by dysfunctional, and even dangerous. rules and institutions, but through How did we arrive at this state of unilateral protectionist measures and aff airs? And how can we leave it arm-twisting. And institutions like behind? the EU – which aims to ensure order Until recently, the era following and stability through integration – World War II was a time of benevolent are treated with indiff erence, if not liberal internationalism. The postwar disdain. order had begun to take shape as early From China’s perspective, the as 1941, when US president Franklin D Trump administration’s Hobbesian Roosevelt and British prime minister vision could prove appealing, provided Winston Churchill drafted the Atlantic that its economy continues to grow, Charter on a ship anchored in Canada’s and that it avoids serious domestic Placentia Bay. Though Hitler had social or political upheaval. After all, been victorious on the battlefi elds with fewer global rules, China will face of Europe, Churchill and Roosevelt even fewer obstacles when asserting its were determined not only to defeat growing infl uence abroad. the Nazi onslaught, but also to lay the In this scenario, the loser would groundwork for a future of peace and undoubtedly be the wider West, democracy. meaning not just Europe but They succeeded beyond what they countries like India, which will remain probably imagined was possible. committed to liberal democracy, After the Atlantic Charter came the economic openness, and the values UN, the Bretton Woods institutions, underpinning that miraculous quarter- the global trade system, the Universal century after the Cold War. Declaration of Human Rights, and The politics of idealism and hope has been replaced by the politics of identity and fear. Even barring worst-case scenarios, much more. During the postwar the West will be facing a new world decades of decolonisation, many between superpowers, global trade previous period of miraculous progress But the confused politics of Trump’s Revisions to America’s strategic with new aspirants making new new countries emerged, and former expanded and drove economic possible in the fi rst place. White House are of even greater posture would be a reasonable demands about the future. It would enemies united under new alliances growth, poverty was more than Today, the confused political debates consequence. For decades, the White response to Russian aggression and thus be a fateful mistake for Western and an overarching structure of halved, and rapid advances in science in the United Kingdom are tragic to House was a font of global leadership; rule-breaking, particularly in Eastern powers to abandon the ideas and integration. and technology delivered benefits to behold. Since the June 2016 Brexit today, it is a source of belligerent Europe, and to China’s growing institutions that delivered prosperity China’s great “opening up” and every corner of the world. referendum, Britain has searched rhetoric that does not even pay lip assertiveness on the world stage. and stability in previous decades. the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 In recent years, however, the world in vain for an illusory concept of service to the idea of a global order. But the US president’s fi rst instinct Above all, the two countries most marked the start of a quarter- has entered a new phase. The politics sovereignty that might prevent the Indeed, the Trump administration’s should be to defend the international responsible for creating the postwar century of truly remarkable global of idealism and hope has been replaced massive loss of international power offi cial National Security Strategy order against rising threats, while international order must not turn progress. In fact, judging by standard by the politics of identity and fear. This and infl uence that awaits it after its portrays US eff orts to safeguard the making adjustments to account for their backs on it now.- Project economic, political, and social trend took root in one Western country departure from the European Union. global order as counterproductive and new realities. Addressing climate Syndicate indicators, it might well have been after another, but its most notable The kind of global statesmanship that self-defeating. The future it envisions change, increased migration, and the best quarter-century in human manifestations have been in the two the UK once off ered the world has will be defi ned wholly by confl icts the revolution in information and zCarl Bildt is a former prime minister history. There were no major wars Anglo-Saxon countries that made the given way to parochial bickering. between sovereign countries. communication technologies (ICT) and foreign minister of Sweden Diamonds in meteorite ‘remnants of lost planet’ Three-day forecast the Almahata Sitta meteorite will be Early inspections of the meteorite Communications, the Swiss team TODAY By Ian Sample Maximum Temperature : 340c London the only known remnants of one of revealed it to be a ureilite, an unusual now describe fresh analyses that these long-lost planets. The material composition that does not match show that diamonds in the meteorite Minimum Temperature : 230c will give scientists a unique window other space rocks known to have come contain specks of an iron-sulphur SATURDAY iamonds found in a into the cosmic conditions that from the moon or Mars. The fi nding compound that is thought only to Maximum Temperature : 330c meteorite that exploded prevailed in the deep history of the led some scientists to speculate that it form at pressures greater than 20 Minimum Temperature : 260c over the Nubian desert in solar system. may have had a more exotic origin. gigapascals. They conclude that the SUNDAY Sudan a decade ago were “Simulations have suggested that That suspicion grew when researchers diamonds formed with the specks Maximum Temperature : 370c D Minimum Temperature : 270c formed deep inside a “lost planet” that the early solar system had tens of noticed little diamonds in the meteorite inside them, deep beneath the surface these embryonic planets that collided material. While other meteorites are of an unknown world. once circled the sun in the early solar Fisherman's forecast system, scientists said. with each other to form the terrestrial known to contain diamond crystals, “We are probably looking at an Microscopic analyses of the planets, but having evidence of one they are generally far smaller. Typical object that was one of the fi rst planets WARNING meteorite’s tiny diamonds revealed of them? I wasn’t expecting that,” meteorite diamonds are only a few to circle the sun before they collided Inshore : Nil they contain compounds that are said Farhang Nabiei, who studied millionths of a millimetre across and are with each other to create the actual Offshore : Nil produced under intense pressure, pieces of the meteorite at the Federal thought to form in collisions with other planets we have today,” said Gillet. James Wittke, who runs the WEATHER suggesting the diamonds formed far Institute of Technology in Lausanne, space rocks that send brief but intense Inshore : Relatively hot daytime and beneath the surface of a planet. Switzerland. shockwaves through the carbon-rich meteorite laboratory at Northern scattered clouds at times In this case, the mysterious world Philippe Gillet, a senior author asteroids. Arizona University, said the scientists’ with weak chance of light was calculated to be somewhere on the study, said: “We are doing In 2015, researchers at the Swiss lab conclusions were reasonable. “We rain at places WIND between Mercury and Mars in size. archaeology, looking into the past, teamed up with Japanese scientists think that there were probably many Inshore : Southwesterly-Southeaster- Astronomers have long and trying to decipher the story of the to argue that the diamonds in the larger ‘parent’ bodies in the early ly 05-15 KT hypothesised that dozens of fl edgling solar system.” Almahata Sitta meteorite, which are solar system, which have since been Offshrore : Northwesterly-Southwester- ly 03-13/18 KT planets, ranging in size from the moon The Almahata Sitta meteorite was up to 100 micrometres long, were destroyed, so a since-destroyed body to Mars, formed in the fi rst 10mn the fi rst to be tracked by telescopes as much larger than could be formed the size of Mercury is reasonable,” Visibility : 04-9 KM years of the solar system and were it sped towards Earth and exploded in collisions with other asteroids. he said. “One as large as Mars seems SEA STATE broken apart and repackaged in violent over the Nubian desert in 2008. The They speculated at the time that the a little surprising, but this paper Offshore : 1-3 FT, Rises 5 FT at places collisions that ultimately created the event prompted a recovery eff ort by meteorite might have come from a lost presents the best, and perhaps only, at first terrestrial planets that orbit the sun the University of Khartoum, which planet, but sought more evidence to type of evidence for determining today. gathered 480 pieces of the meteorite bolster their theory. the sizes of these parent bodies.” – Guardian News and Media If the latest fi ndings are confi rmed, amounting to 4kg of battered material. Writing in the journal Nature Around the region Weather Weather today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Baghdad Sunny 36/19 P Cloudy 31/20 Kuwait City Sunny 33/24 M Sunny 33/22 Live issues Manama M Sunny 33/24 Sunny 36/26 Muscat Sunny 30/24 Sunny 31/24 Tehran Sunny 22/14 S Showers 22/12 Tech problems have become part of our daily lives

By Barton Goldsmith who just want to mess with someone Tribune News Service else’s life because they aren’t having any fun with their own. The marketing calls may be the ately it seems that I have most annoying, and thankfully new had more problems with apps are helping with that, but I fi nd my computer, phone, and that routinely spending an hour in the Ltablet than I’ve had trying to morning fi xing an issue that wasn’t my housebreak the new puppy. It seems fault is really cutting into my coff ee- that device issues are so common by-the-lake time. I have tech support these days that I’ve started to make and people I can call, but it still takes Around the world dealing with them part of my morning time and isn’t any fun, and in truth can Weather Weather routine. Wake up, go to the bathroom, cause more anxiety than a traffi c jam. today Max/min tomorrow Max/min feed the cat, let the dog out, make I’m lucky because I have a tech Athens M Sunny 26/12 M Sunny 21/11 coff ee, and fi x the techno dilemma of savvy nephew who will come by when Beirut Cloudy 23/18 Showers 22/16 the day. things get really out of control. He Bangkok S T Storms 33/27 P Cloudy 34/27 I’m not ungrateful. I know that does this for a living, so for him it’s Berlin Sunny 27/12 Sunny 21/08 without a spell checker in word like cleaning up spilt milk, and it just Cairo P Cloudy 33/19 P Cloudy 31/16 processing, I wouldn’t have graduated makes me want to cry. Having kids Cape Town P Cloudy 19/12 P Cloudy 19/12 from school or become a writer. in your life can make your tech issues Colombo S T Storms 32/26 S T Stroms 32/26 Computers gave me a living, and I’ve much easier. You may have to bribe Dhaka S T Storms 36/27 S T Storms 36/27 even become a better speller, but them, but that isn’t necessarily a bad Hong Kong P Cloudy 26/23 P Cloudy 26/24 sometimes I long for the dark ages of thing. In fact, I suggest you make Istanbul Showers 14/08 P Cloudy 16/08 the dictionary. computer trouble-shooting a regular Jakarta T Storms 33/25 S T Storm 32/25 True, growing up I couldn’t household duty and tie it to their Karachi Sunny 37/21 Sunny 37/22 understand how you could look up a allowance. London Sunny 26/12 P Cloudy 24/14 word if you couldn’t spell it, and now I guess you have to be wired, or in Manila M Sunny 36/26 M Sunny 35/27 all you have to do is say the word and it my case rewired, for this stuff . Many Moscow P Cloudy 14/07 Rain 18/03 appears onscreen. It’s really helpful for you’ve ever been hacked, you know Now you have to change your people have a hard enough time New Delhi S T Storms 39/22 Sunny 37/22 those of us who deal with dyslexia, but what I’m talking about. First you password, which I am told you should just taking care of their daily lives, New York M Sunny 12/03 Sunny 16/06 computer-related issues like updates, discover that some robot has sent do monthly these days. There are tech issues aside. My number one Paris M Sunny 29/14 M Sunny 27/15 hacking, and even robocalls are getting e-mails about free money to everyone apps that help you remember all your suggestion (if you don’t have a kid in Sao Paulo P Cloudy 26/13 P Cloudy 24/16 in the way of enjoying life. I used to on your contact list, and then you passwords, but just needing one is your life) is to pay for tech support. Seoul Sunny 25/09 M Sunny 25/12 look forward to hearing from friends get some e-mails from those people kind of creepy. There are just too Your time is the most valuable thing Singapore T Storm 31/26 T Storm 31/26 and family, and now just the sound of letting you know you’ve been hacked many people using the Internet to bilk you have, and paying for support Sydney M Sunny 23/18 P Cloudy 22/17 the phone ringing is a tiny bit scary. or asking if the scheme worked for innocents out of their hard-earned will also help you reduce any device- Tokyo Clear 26/13 Clear 26/15 But there are worse problems. If you. And that’s just the fi rst step. money, and too many other people related stress. Gulf Times 16 Friday, April 20, 2018 QATAR QU partners BHC on joint studies, events

he Center for Humanities and Social Sci- utes to fulfi lling the national aspirations towards ences (CHSS) at Qatar University College sustainable development and a knowledge-based Tof Arts and Sciences (QU-CAS) yester- economy at the local and international levels. QU day signed an agreement with the Behavioural contributes to building knowledge as a cornerstone Healthcare Center (BHC) to establish collabora- of the education process and knowledge transfer tion in the fi eld of graduate studies and organise and production to shape generations who are ca- joint studies and events. pable to work in and deal with the labour market. QU vice president for Research and Graduate “BHC is committed to spread behavioural Studies Prof Mariam al-Maadeed and BHC gen- awareness within the society, to promote positive eral manager Rashid bin Mohamed al-Nuaimi behaviour in compliance with the principles of signed the agreement in the presence of CHSS Islam and ethical values, and to fi nd the mecha- director Dr Kaltham al-Ghanim and offi cials from nisms that ensure the protection of the society’s QU and BHC. members by preventing them from being victims The terms of the agreement include collabo- to deviations and behavioural disorders.” ration between both parties to prepare scientifi c Dr Kaltham al-Ghanim said: “This collabora- studies on “Social media and behavioural change tion serves to strengthen the agreement that was among youth” and “Organisational structure of signed between CHSS and BHC last December moral values among young in the Qatari society”, with the aim to establish collaboration between an international conference titled “The First In- both parties in the fi eld of promoting behavioural ternational Interdisciplinary Congress on Behav- health within the society, to boost the capacity ioural Health”, and a roundtable on “Family role of young people to face and solve behaviour de- model”, as well as a seminar on “Youth and val- viation problems, and to provide eff ective thera- ues”. peutic and awareness services in the fi eld of be- Prof al-Maadeed said: “QU has many compe- havioural health and behavioural and cognitive tencies in various fi elds including energy, envi- treatment. ronment, health, and information technology as “This agreement aligns with QU’s ongoing ef- well as society and humanities. The support of forts to promote excellence in interdisciplinary behavioural health is very important for excel- research and conduct high-quality research HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani presents the award to Msheireb Properties’ acting lence in all disciplines and jobs. We are pleased to projects that address contemporary challenges. It CEO Ali al-Kuwari as HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada and Kahramaa president Essa bin Hilal al-Kuwari collaborate with the BHC in various areas such as also underlines QU’s role to provide research con- look on. research activities and student involvements, the sulting services and expertise to meet the needs organisation of joint events, and the provision of of the society for theoretical and applied research training to the members of the BHC.” studies in order to develop the productivity of Al-Nuaimi said: “This agreement aims to serve various institutions, improve the quality of life Qatari society and to support research. QU is a and achieve the goals of Qatar National Vision Msheireb earns prestigious educational institution that contrib- 2030 and the national development strategies.” Tarsheed award sheireb Properties, a subsidiary of Qatar MFoundation and Qatar’s leading sustainable developer, for the second time in a row, has claimed an award at the National Programme for Conservation and Energy (Tarsheed). Launched as part of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation’s (Kahramaa) Na- tional Programme for Conser- vation and Energy, the Tarsheed Awards’ ceremony is held under the patronage of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- mad al-Thani. The ceremony on Wednesday at Qatar National Convention Centre was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Interior Min- ister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. The objective is to motivate The National Archive located at Msheireb Properties’ flagship project, Msheireb Downtown Doha, claimed developers to adopt building con- the Best Conserving Building Award in the Government category of the Tarsheed competition. servation practices and encourage them to embrace energy conserva- and acknowledged for our com- terms of both the conservation of adoption of the latest technology tion strategies that work towards mitment to sustainable urban natural resources and the quality enables Msheireb Properties to Qatar’s National Vision 2030. regeneration, which shows our of its design. produce renewable energy, mon- The National Archive located endeavours to support the plans The National Archive’s energy itor electricity use, and make the at Msheireb Properties’ fl agship of sustainable development effi cient building design includes most effi cient use of water. All project, Msheireb Downtown as stated in Qatar vision 2030. improved building envelopes these translate to reduced emis- Doha (MDD), claimed the Best Msheireb Downtown Doha is of walls and windows, recessed sions, energy and water savings Conserving Building Award in emblematic of our mission to windows, energy recovery to the and minimised waste. the Government category of the build sustainable modern com- outside air entering the building, Winning the Best Conserv- Tarsheed competition. munities that change the way optimised ventilation using car- ing Building Award in the Gov- This landmark building aims to people think about urban living.” bon dioxide (CO2) detectors and ernment category of last year’s reduce energy and water waste by The National Archive was a high effi ciency district cooling Tarsheed competition, the Cul- utilising the best technology and honoured and acknowledged plant. tural Forum building is located unique architectural language. for its energy and water sav- Thicker walls and orientation at MDD. With aims to have the Receiving the award, Ali al- ing features, use of non-potable enables building to benefi t from largest concentration of gold and Kuwari, acting CEO, Msheireb water, rainwater recovery and the shade of adjacent buildings, platinum LEED certifi ed build- Properties said: “We are ex- on-site renewable energy gen- which cools the local environ- ings – while MDD is set to be the tremely pleased that our fl ag- eration. Sustainability is central ment and reduces air-condi- world’s fi rst sustainable regen- ship project is being recognised to Msheireb Downtown Doha, in tioning requirements. While eration project. Rashid bin Mohamed al-Nuaimi receiving a commemorative plaque from Prof Mariam al-Maadeed. Scientist elaborates on climate evolution at QNL event

atar National Library prehend that the coastline was (QNL) yesterday hosted a changing.” Qlecture on the way Qatar’s Dr Heggy also elaborated on changing natural environment the ways space exploration al- defi nes its past, present, and fu- lows scientists to better under- ture, and what that means for stand water and desert evolution similar regions around the world, on Earth, and how technologies as well as other planets. that are being designed to ex- Planetary scientist Dr Essam plore water in the solar system Heggy’s presentation on ‘Under- benefi t from being tested in standing Space Exploration and Earth’s deserts. the Natural Forces that Shaped He concluded with an exami- the Qatar Peninsula’ capped a nation of Qatar’s current chang- week of events celebrating QNL’s ing climate, and how under- grand opening. standing and adapting to it will Dr Heggy is a planetary sci- aff ect the nation’s growth. entist at the Viterbi School of In her concluding remarks, Dr Engineering at the University Dr Heggy addressing the audience at the lecture at QNL yesterday. Sohair Wastawy, executive direc- of Southern California, and a tor, QNL, said: “Dr Heggy will be Rosetta co-investigator at the have been one of the few cultures and the only way to survive it is directing the Science Book Fo- National Aeronautics and Space that developed a scientifi c herit- to understand it.” rum at QNL in September, and Administration (NASA) Jet Pro- age associated with both desert The scientist talked about the we look forward to that taking pulsion Laboratory. and coastal changes, including meaning of Qatar’s map, and shape. We also welcome the op- He discussed how climate groundwater and sea levels, dune presented his views about the portunity to provide a forum for evolution has shaped the history movements, coral reef evolution, changes in Qatar’s coastline. scientifi c debate, and we will of Earth, as well as that of other and shallow-water navigation. He said: “The climate and en- hear a diff erent view from to- planets in the solar system. Talking about climate evolu- vironment in Qatar have shaped day’s lecture during the ‘Qatar on In the case of early residents tion, during his lecture Dr Heggy, the society. The people of Qatar Maps’ talk, taking place at QNL A view of the audience at the lecture. of the Qatar peninsula, they may said: “Our climate is changing, were able to intuitively com- on April 29 at 6pm.”