BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Chelsea, Arsenal upset as INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 4-8, 24 COMMENT 22, 23 REGION 9 BUSINESS 1-5, 17-20 City hit 7 QIIB seeking new 22,830.00 8,342.09 51.45 ARAB WORLD 9, 10 CLASSIFIED 6-16 +32.00 +8.25 +0.85 INTERNATIONAL 11-21 SPORTS 1-8 global partnerships past Stoke +0.14% +0.10% +1.68% Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

SUNDAY Vol. XXXVIII No. 10607 October 15, 2017 Muharram 25, 1439 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals FM meets UNDP official Ministry sets In brief minimum 5-yr

QATAR | Offi cial Emir congratulates warranty for Macron on Azoulay’s Unesco victory His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held yesterday evening a telephone conversation AC compressor with French President Emmanuel Macron to congratulate him on O MEC lays down terms for such as gas refi lling. The replaced parts his country’s candidate Audrey sale, maintenance of air should be under warranty for at least Azoulay’s winning the post of six months for durable items and not Director-General the United Nations conditioners in Qatar less than three months for disposable Educational, Scientific and Cultural HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met yesterday with the Associate Administrator of the ones from the date of installation. Organisation (Unesco), wishing her United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Tegegnework Gettu. The meeting reviewed ways to support the UNDP n a move aimed at protecting the Regarding the AC’s compressor, success and the people of France programmes, especially in energy, infrastructure and reconstruction. interests of owners and users of air the circular states that the warranty further progress and prosperity. Iconditioners (ACs), the Ministry of period should be a minimum of fi ve HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Economy and Commerce (MEC) has years, covering repair costs, labour Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani issued a circular that lays down clear charges, spare parts and gas refi lling. If also held a telephone conversation norms for their display, sale, warranty, the compressor has to be replaced, the with his French counterpart Jean- repair and replacement. new one should be under warranty for Yves Le Drian, congratulating Distributors and dealers of air condi- six months or until the original com- him Azoulay’s victory, reaff irming Unesco vote proved Qatar’s tioners have to implement the circular, pressor’s warranty expires, whichever the important role of Unesco in which is in line with Law No 8 of 2008 comes later. education, culture and science and on Consumer Protection, within a Due maintenance should be pro- wishing to work together with France three-month period starting from Oc- vided by the distributor within a in support of the organisation and its international standing tober 15, the MEC said in a statement maximum of 48 hours of a customer honourable mission. The ministers yesterday. requesting for it on working days. The also reviewed bilateral relations QNA tions in a dig- derscored Qatar’s international standing The ministry has specifi ed the obli- customer should also be provided with between Qatar and France and Paris nifi ed manner, and the suitability of its candidate. gations of the supplier to the consumer, a detailed price list of the services re- means of enhancing them, besides where the dif- In the fi rst round, Dr al-Kuwari the main information that should be quired and these should be explained issues of mutual interest. ference in the obtained 19 votes, six more than his provided in the warranty conditions to him/her before undertaking any re- he fi nal round of elections held fi nal round be- nearest rival, the French candidate. He and details of the retailer’s return and pairs. Accordingly, the approval of the QATAR | Education on Friday by the Executive tween him and continued his leading position in the exchange policy. The circular envis- customer should be obtained prior to TCouncil of the United Nations the French can- second round with 20 votes to increase ages a wide range of benefi ts for the conducting any repairs, the circular Honorary doctorate Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural didate was only the diff erence to seven votes from the consumer, including those related to points out. for prime minister Organisation (Unesco) for the post of two votes. Since French candidate. warranty. In addition, a consumer has the Seattle Pacific University (SPU) of Director-General of the world body the start of the Dr al-Kuwari got 22 votes in the For instance, the warranty of an air right to choose whether to replace a the United States has awarded HE ended with the victory of the French fi rst round, Dr fourth round ahead of French and conditioner starts from the actual op- defective AC or take back the price the Prime Minister and Interior candidate Audrey Azoulay over Qatar’s al-Kuwari had HE Dr Hamad bin Egyptian candidates, who received 18 eration of the device or as stated in the paid in case of the same problem oc- Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser candidate HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz received wide Abdulaziz al-Kuwari votes each. agreement between the buyer and sell- curring for the third time and despite bin Khalifa al-Thani an honorary al-Kuwari. support from His programme, launched two years er. It should be written on a document repairs carried out twice before during doctorate in law. The prime Held at the headquarters of the or- the board members as well as Unesco ago, included a new vision to restore separate from the purchase invoice the warranty period. This will depend minister received the certificate ganisation in Paris, the election to pick member states. He has been leading the cultural renaissance of the organi- with the warranty conditions and time on the type of failure and the duration in Doha. SPU president Daniel J the 11th director of the UN body was the race during all the initial rounds sation under the slogan “Towards a stipulated clearly. for which the customer has used the Martin said the prime minister was keenly fought by the candidates. and was securely placed to win the New Beginning for Unesco.” The warranty card has to be linked to machine. awarded the honorary doctorate The French candidate, in the last election but lost to the French can- Local newspapers Al-Sharq and Ar- the purchase invoice through the serial The circular further details the terms for “his leadership of Qatar” and round, received 30 votes, compared didate to such a slender margin. The rayah said Qatar’s candidate leading number. and conditions of replacing a device “commitment to education”. The with 28 votes for Dr al-Kuwari. Azou- third candidate to reach the fi nal round in the vote until the last round was The supplier, according to the circu- and getting back the paid sum, which prime minister, who enrolled at lay is to succeed Bulgarian Irina Bok- was Moushira Khattab of Egypt. a victory for the State of Qatar and a lar, has to provide comprehensive war- include defects that aff ect the safety SPU during his educational career, ova, whose term expires in November During the fi ve rounds of the elec- great loss for the siege countries which ranty for the fi rst year after a purchase, and health of the consumer, or if the was entrusted with numerous civil after two consecutive terms. tions, Dr al-Kuwari was able to win the spared no eff ort to topple the Qatari covering labour charges, spare parts, machine is not compliant with the ap- service roles ranging from law Dr al-Kuwari conducted the elec- confi dence of many countries which un- candidate. repairs and all other relevant aspects proved standards. To Page 24 enforcement to leading security initiatives. Founded in 1891, SPU aims to equip people with knowledge to engage the culture and change the world.

SPORT | Football Growing interest in agriculture as farming season begins TV deal ‘advantageous’ By Joseph Varghese than in previous years. Offi cials at various nurseries said the varieties of vegetables such as tomato, An offi cial from Florenza Nursery, for FIFA, says beIN Staff Reporter Some of the vendors feel that the in- demand for vegetable seeds was greater eggplant, broccoli, leafy vegetables, another leading agricultural nursery in The TV broadcasting rights deal creased interest in farming can be due among nationals compared to expatri- chilli and others. There is also great de- the country, said the season has started agreed for the 2026 and 2030 to the recent political situation. Earlier, ates. Ratheesh Nair of Greenland Nurs- mand for seasonal fl owers. We import and the demand is “very high” com- World Cups, which is under s the farming season picks up in farming was just one of the hobbies for ery, Mamoura, said: “With the start of most of these seeds from a number of pared to previous years. investigation by Swiss prosecutors, the country, there has been in- many while this year, several of them the farming season, we are getting a countries,” Nair explained. “We are witnessing a big demand for was “advantageous for FIFA”, a beIN Acreased interest in agricultural have taken it up seriously and are cul- large number of customers every day. “The season has just started and will vegetable and fl ower plants this season. spokesman claimed yesterday. activities among both nationals and tivating a good number of vegetables in Of late, we have about 50 customers per continue until March. People gener- Citizens are showing greater interest in “The financial conditions were expatriates, it is observed. larger spaces than previous years. day and 25-30 of them are Qataris. We ally ask for seeds of vegetables. We also vegetable seedlings as well as seeds. We the most advantageous for FIFA,” Nurseries selling plants and seeds They also feel that citizens, espe- also have a good number of Indians and have plants that are brought from large import a large part of our fl ower plants the spokesman said, after it was are witnessing a high customer turn- cially, are engaging in serious farming Europeans, who come mainly in search farms in the country. In addition, we from Europe, especially the Nether- announced on Thursday that beIN out with greater demand for veg- so that it makes them and the country of vegetables, ornamental plants and have several imported fl ower plants, lands and Belgium. We also get supplies Media chief and PSG chairman Nasser etable saplings and seeds, enquiries self-reliant in vegetables - taking care fl ower seedlings and seeds.” which are used all over the country from many Asian countries and the de- al-Khelaifi was under investigation have found. It is also noted that the of such requirements for a period of at “The major demand is for vegetable throughout the winter season,” the of- mand will continue until the end of the over the sale of the rights. demand has been several folds higher least six months. seedlings and seeds. We have several fi cial added. winter season,” he added. Page 24

Gulf Times 4 Sunday, October 15, 2017 QATAR

Interfaith Dialogue centre to hold event in Ukraine

Doha International Centre for Interfaith researchers from the three heavenly Dialogue (DICID) will organise an religions. In a statement yesterday, DICID international conference in Ukraine on said the conference touches on three main October 17 and 18 on the role of religious pillars, it said - the role of religious values values in promoting community stability in disseminating the culture of coexistence and spreading a culture of coexistence and rejection of hatred, the role of religious and rejection of hatred. The event will be leaders in raising generations to embrace held in co-operation with the Ukrainian dialogue and accept the other, and the Dialogue and Communications Centre. role of governments in consolidating ties It will be attended by intellectuals and between followers of diff erent faiths.

Senior members of HBKU with Daniel J Martin. PICTURE: Ram Chand ‘Qatar will emerge out of crisis stronger than ever’ zHBKU hosts public lecture on education and blockade

By Joey Aguilar The lecture focused on the evolv- not only in the region but also in dif- Among the challenges highlighted Staff Reporter ing role of the education sector in light ferent regions globally. “Be a force by him were disrupted alliances and of the illegal blockade, highlighting that can bring about change, think partnerships, which he said inhibit the primary value of education in the about the actions and activities that higher education from being a place he ongoing illegal blockade advancement of societies, HBKU - a our students can do with legislators where innovative solutions can be imposed on Qatar, as well as member of Qatar Foundation for Edu- to extend their voice and infl uence developed. Other challenges include Tother challenges in the region, cation, Science and Community De- in creating change,” he said. inadequate access to students. provide an opportunity for the coun- velopment (QF) - said in a statement. About Qatar’s eff orts in de- He also spoke of numerous op- try to further strengthen its various “This call for lauding the power veloping its human potential, he portunities, including possibilities sectors, especially education, Seattle of education is in line with HBKU’s lauded the country and its leaders for enhanced partnerships on an in- Pacifi c University (SPU) president Dr commitment to excellence and con- for investing heavily in education ternational level, as well as promot- Daniel J Martin has said. tinuous capacity building eff orts, and supporting “the education for ing the use of technology to counter “It is time to reinforce your eff orts by hosting renowned scholars and growth in young women as equal impaired access to education. to assess what you can do collectively holding public lectures, and availing participants in society”. Dr Ahmad M Hasnah, president and independently,” he stressed, ex- of new insights to public discourse, Dr Martin commended Qatar of HBKU, said: “The current politi- pressing confi dence in Qatar’s ability which supports the development of for establishing Education City at cal situation in the region is a topic to emerge out of the crisis stronger the nation, region and beyond,” the Qatar Foundation, which brought of international interest; therefore, than ever and describing the resil- statement noted. world-class universities and educa- it is essential that educational in- ience shown by Qataris as unlike that In his lecture, Martin commend- tional programmes for the country. stitutions in Qatar explore the crisis of any other nation. ed QF’s and HBKU’s progressive “It is a wonderful opportunity to through an analytical lens. Dr Martin was the main speaker at mandate in providing fi rst-grade gather with academics from diff er- “By hosting informative lectures a public lecture titled “Education and education, emphasising the grow- ent parts of the world, share mu- and seminars on the blockade, we the Blockade: Challenges and Op- ing demand for higher education all tual interests, insights and common are giving community members an portunities” hosted by Hamad Bin around the world, and fuelling Qa- goals on the impact of education opportunity to engage with leading Khalifa University (HBKU) in Educa- tar’s advancement. on our society. We will continue experts on the topic, enabling them tion City on Thursday, which was at- He underscored the importance to strive towards cultivating a di- to understand the critical role of ed- tended by students, university repre- of identifying and working with verse academic environment for our ucation and its importance in foster- sentatives and senior SPU delegates. students to understand the crisis young generation,” he stressed. ing a politically conscious society.”

Gulf Times 6 Sunday, October 15, 2017 QATAR QRCS provides aid to fl ood-hit families in Nepal atar Red Crescent So- received shelter and hygiene the Qatari embassy, Nepal Red Ambassador Yousef Ahmed al-Hail, along with QRCS volunteers speaks at a press conference in Kathmandu. ciety (QRCS) has said kits, including material such as Cross Society, the International Qits relief delegation to mosquito nets, tarpaulins, soaps, Federation of the Red Cross and through disaster response, wa- Nepal has completed the fi rst washing powder, toothpaste, Red Crescent Societies, United ter, sanitation, healthcare and phase of quick response to the toothbrushes, hair shampoo Nations agencies, and the Health food security activities. recent fl oods and landslides in and nail clippers, QRCS said in a Services and Relief Association The worst since 2010, the the country. statement. of Nepal. fl oods of August 2017 caused The intervention was funded The distribution covered the At the end of the mission, the serious landslides. According by Qatar Fund for Development most-aff ected families in the QRCS team honoured al-Hail to preliminary reports, the dis- (QFFD) and supervised by the districts of Banke (Kathkui- for his contributions to the suc- aster had a toll of 149 dead, 27 Qatari embassy in the Nepalese ya), Bardiya (Gulariya), Jhapa cess of the intervention. He was missing, dozens injured, 372,733 capital Kathmandu. (Kamatoli), Morang and Sarlahi. closely following up on the in- families aff ected, 92,216 fami- At a press conference held In the early days of the disas- tervention plan, had appointed lies displaced, 64,997 houses by Qatar’s ambassador to Ne- ter, QRCS activated its Disaster a team of the embassy staff to destroyed and 144,973 houses pal, Yousef Ahmed al-Hail, the Information Management Cen- facilitate the mission and co- damaged, QRCS said. QRCS team gave an overview of tre and allotted $240,000 for the ordinated with the ministers of Blocked roads and toppled the organisation’s humanitar- initial intervention in emergen- interior and foreign aff airs. bridges hindered the evacuation ian achievements in Nepal since cy shelter, hygiene and health The next phase of response of thousands of families and de- 2013. The media was also in- awareness for the benefi t of would involve additional 2,700 livery of aid. There is also a high formed about the details of the 4,000 families (20,000 people). families (13,500 people), the risk of malaria and other endem- current relief intervention plan. Over 30 days, the team made statement added. ic diseases due to mosquitos, wet Until September, 1,298 af- fi eld visits to assess needs and During the 2013-2017 period, weather and large swampland fected families (6,490 people) deliver aid in co-ordination with QRCS helped 90,850 families areas. Distribution of relief by QRCS volunteers.

UNHCR, Jassim Foundation ink deal to provide healthcare to Yemeni refugees

assim and Hamad bin The agreement includes sim and Hamad Bin Jassim project will make a diff er- Jassim Charitable Foun- a $250,000 grant from the Charitable Foundation,” to ence in the lives of these Jdation and the UN High Jassim and Hamad bin Jas- co-operate with the offi ce refugees and will provide Commissioner for Refu- sim Charitable Founda- of UNHCR with a view to them with a healthier life,” gees (UNHCR) have signed tion to provide healthcare providing a better life for he added. a co-operation agreement to more than 2,000 Yem- refugees to preserve their Estimates suggest there aimed at providing emer- eni refugees in Somalia, dignity “. are more than 5,000 Yeme- gency healthcare to Yemeni focusing on people suf- For his part, the UNHCR ni refugees who have fl ed to refugees in Somalia. fering from chronic dis- regional representative Somalia since the outbreak The agreement was signed eases and those in need of stressed the importance of of the confl ict in Yemen, by Saeed al-Hajri, board psychological support. the support, expressing his most of them arrived by member and chief executive In a statement on the oc- gratitude for the donation boats. offi cer of Jassim and Hamad casion of the signing of the provided by the Jassim and Most of the Yemeni refu- bin Jassim Charitable Foun- agreement, al-Hajri noted Hamad bin Jassim Chari- gees are concentrated in the dation, and Khalid Khalifa, the importance of the co- table Foundation for Yem- Puntland and Somaliland The initiative was held in conjunction with the Hamad Hospital Blood Donor Center. regional representative of operation with UNHCR. eni refugees in Somalia, regions, while some have the UNHCR for the Gulf Co- “This agreement stems because of the urgent need. taken refuge in Mogadishu. operation Council (GCC). from our full faith as Jas- “We are confi dent that this (QNA) QNB employees donate blood

NB has held a blood dona- within the communities the group op- tion drive with employees in erates in, the statement notes. Qconjunction with the Hamad This initiative also benefi ts the do- Hospital Blood Donor Center. nors as studies have shown that blood This important annual Corporate donation reduces cancer risk and Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative other blood diseases, it also purifi es was held in three locations this year at the donor’s system from toxins and QNB’s head offi ce, Al Mathaf build- stimulates blood circulation. Blood ing and Grand Hamad branch over a donation also off ers the opportunity three-day period and witnessed the to know that the donor is free of blood participation of employees from all diseases. departments. QNB stressed that it was pleased to This year’s campaign followed continue its partnership with Hamad the success of last year’s turnout, Medical Corporation (HMC) in this strengthening the established objec- initiative as it highlights the impor- tives of enhancing blood bank stocks tance of health and wellbeing. This at HMC and raising awareness of the initiative is one of the pillars of QNB’s importance and benefi ts of blood do- CSR strategy, which includes Health nations in the community, QNB said and Environment. in a press statement. “The blood donation drive is one of The QNB staff eagerly participated QNB’s many CSR initiatives that the in the event, as employees from all A QNB employee donating blood. Group holds in co-operation with HMC branches gathered to be part of the and other prominent organisations initiative. their donation to ensure their aware- in Qatar and across its international The event entitled the staff mem- ness of the importance of blood dona- network in its eff orts to support and One of the journalists addressing NU-Q students. bers to undergo a blood pressure test, tion. The campaign pushes the em- strengthen the communities in which it stamina and eligibility test prior to ployees towards sharing responsibility operates in,” the statement added. International reporters discuss climate change

limate change was shared his personal experi- NU-Q is one of 30 inter- desert landscape and the the centre of discus- ences covering the Arctic, national universities that region surrounding it, and Csion during a week- where glaciers are melting, partner with the Pulitzer Janice Cantieri, a North- long visit by distinguished temperature is drastically Centre to foster greater dis- western alumna and Ful- journalists from the Pulitzer increasing and wildlife is cussions around prevalent bright-National Geograph- Centre on Crisis Reporting being severely aff ected. global issues and involve ic digital storytelling fellow to Northwestern University “Antarctica is diff erent students in projects and who most recently reported in Qatar (NU-Q). from the Arctic because fellowships at analysing on the impact of rising sea As part of an annual visit Antarctica is land sur- worldwide areas of concern. levels in Kiribati, an island to NU-Q to raise awareness rounded by water, whereas “The Pulitzer Centre’s mis- in the South Pacifi c. of journalism campaigns the Arctic is water sur- sion is to support journalists Accompanying the jour- that focus on global issues, rounded by land, which who are covering urgent is- nalists was Tom Hund- three international report- makes for a very interest- sues and to improve cover- ley, Pulitzer Centre senior ers who specialise in re- ing climate,” said Kinitsch. age on global issues. NU-Q is editor, who has almost four porting on climate change “The temperature in the committed to educating our decades of experience as shared their experiences Arctic has increased by two students on the importance of a foreign correspondent and discussed the future of degrees, twice as much as accurate and objective report- for the Chicago Tribune. the environmental issue. the rest of the earth, and as ing, as well as exposing them He served as the Tribune’s As part of a presentation the temperature has gone to the realities of crisis report- bureau chief in Jerusalem, to the NU-Q community, up, the sea ice, which usu- ing,” said Everette E Dennis, Warsaw, Rome, and Lon- Eli Kintisch, a contributing ally refl ects solar energy dean and CEO of NU-Q. don, and reported from correspondent for Science back into the atmosphere, This year’s visiting jour- more than 60 countries, magazine and author of has plummeted, and that nalists included Ako Sa- including three wars in the Hack the Planet: Science’s is contributing to global lemi, an award-winning Arabian Gulf, the Arab- Best Hope — or Worst warming, rising sea levels photojournalist from Iran Israeli confl ict and the rise Nightmare — for Avert- and even hotter summer who documents the impact of Iran’s post-revolutionary ing Climate Catastrophe, days in Qatar.” of climate change on Iran’s theocracy. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 7 QATAR International consultants to visit HMC

number of international and Agnes Hunt Orthopae- consultants from vari- dic Hospital NHS Foundation Aous medical specialties Trust in Oswestry, England, will visit Hamad Medical Cor- UK, who will visit from Octo- poration (HMC) this month, it ber 22 to 26; and Prof Christian has been announced. Dumontier, a plastic, recon- One of the visiting consult- structive and aesthetic sur- ants is Dr Fred Muhletaler geon located in Guadeloupe, Maggiolo, a fellowship-trained France, will visit from October Sultana Afdhal and Machaille al-Naimi with the children and trainers at the end of Liverpool Football Club Foundation’s ‘Respect 4 All, Qatar’ training programme. robotic urologist and on- 28 to November 3. cologist and director, Robotic Other experts are sched- Urologic Surgery at Palms uled to visit throughout the West Hospital in Loxahatchee, remainder of the year as part Florida, US. He will visit HMC of HMC’s focus on hosting from October 9 to 16. highly-respected physicians Others are Prof Alan Saber, and surgeons from around the WISH, Liverpool FC hold course chief of bariatric and mini- world. Hosting visiting inter- mally invasive general surgery national consultants who are at the Brooklyn Hospital Cen- experts in their fi eld is in line tre in Brooklyn, New York, US, with HMC’s policy to provide who will visit from October specialised medical services to on coaching kids with autism 13 to 20; Dr Alexander Lyon, the people of Qatar, according senior lecturer in cardiology to a press statement. he World Innovation Summit for The training culminated in a festival were Awsaj Academy, Qatar Autism tion team to Qatar and to work with them at Imperial College London Members of the public wish- Health (WISH) collaborated with day that brought together the participat- Families Association, Primary Health to deliver a programme that we hope will and consultant cardiologist at ing to book an appointment Tthe LFC Foundation, the offi cial ing coaches and children for a range of fun Care Corporation, Shafallah Center for have a positive impact on the health and the Royal Brompton Hospital with one of the visiting con- charity of Liverpool Football Club (LFC), activities. Alongside coaches from LFC Children with Special Needs, Evolution wellbeing of children with disabilities in London, England, UK, who sultants have been advised to to host a week-long football training Foundation, the day was also attended by Sports Qatar, the Ministry of Interior - within our local community for many will visit from October from 14 discuss this option with their course that addressed eff ective ways for Machaille al-Naimi, president of Com- Police Sports Federation, the Ministry of years to come.” to 19; Prof James B Richardson, physician. If the doctor agrees people working in sports in Qatar to en- munity Development, Qatar Foundation Education and Higher Education, Qatar Since the inception of WISH in 2013, consultant orthopaedic sur- that an appointment with a gage with children who have autism, or for Education, Science, and Community Foundation Recreation Services, Qatar children’s health has been a core research geon and professor of ortho- visiting consultant is appropri- sensory or physical impairments. Development (QF), and Greg Gomis, goal- Paralympic Committee, Renad Acad- area. To date, WISH has worked with its paedics from the Robert Jones ate, a referral will be provided. The training programme, titled ‘Respect keeper from Al-Sailiya Sports Club, a Qa- emy and Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Sports global community of healthcare experts 4 All, Qatar’, took place at Education City tar Stars League football club. Academy. to create two evidence-based reports - from October 8 to 12. It focused on giving Also, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar Andrea Cooper, head of LFC Founda- ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing in Children’ sports coaches targeted practical training supplied a juice kiosk and bicycles as part tion, said: “We are delighted to collabo- and ‘Autism: A Global Framework for Ac- in helping children with autism reach their of its ‘Sahtak Awalan’ healthy living initia- rate with WISH on their inclusive train- tion’. potential, socialise and pursue a healthy tive. ing programme for local children in Qatar. WISH, an initiative of QF, has also made lifestyle through participation in football- The new programme follows on from a Our coaching team is highly experienced it a priority to highlight innovations that related activities, according to a press workshop held in May this year, which was in delivering specialist sports sessions expand access to eff ective mental health statement from WISH. organised by WISH and delivered by LFC that promote inclusion and wellbeing and treatment and the care of people with au- The course included both classroom Foundation community coaches. At the achieve our goal of creating life-changing tism. sessions and practical outdoor workshops, May workshop, representatives from a va- opportunities for children and young peo- WISH’s collaborative work with the the latter of which saw coaches work di- riety of local government, health and edu- ple in Liverpool and beyond.” LFC Foundation is in line with its com- rectly with local children who have au- cational organisations were briefed on the Sultana Afdhal, acting chief executive mitment to establishing a sustainable pro- tism. The sessions discussed topics such skills required to set up successful training offi cer of WISH, who brought LFC Foun- gramme that supports Qatar’s National as the evolution of working practices and programmes for children with autism. dation’s ‘Respect 4 All’ programme to Qa- Mental Health Strategy, ‘Changing Minds, language, how people with additional Among those taking part in the work- tar, added: “WISH is delighted to have had Changing Lives 2013-2018’, the statement needs engage in sport, and best practice. shop and subsequent training programme the opportunity to bring the LFC Founda- adds. Dr Fred Muhletaler Maggiolo Gulf Times 8 Sunday, October 15, 2017 QATAR

Sony, Fifty One East QFC, ministry take part introduce new home theatre system

ifty One East and Sony Mid- dle East and Africa have an- in legal regulators’ meet Fnounced the launch of the HT-RT40, a new 5.1 channel home epresentatives from the and other emerging markets. of vast importance to the glo- theatre system. Qatar Financial Centre Al-Taweel said: “We are de- bal legal community. Our par- Priced at QR1,099, the home R(QFC) Authority and the lighted to have been given the ticipation further cements our theatre system comprises a three- Ministry of Justice have par- chance to not only attend but eff orts to provide a world class channel sound bar, two rear speak- ticipated in the ‘6th Annual also lead a discussion at this legal environment in Qatar that ers and an active external subwoof- International Conference of year’s ICLR conference in Sin- can benefi t the Menasa region er, according to a press statement Legal Regulators’ (ICLR) held gapore. Events such as this give as a whole. ” from Fifty One East. The new HT-RT40. in Singapore. the QFC the opportunity to The QFC’s international HT-RT40 is now available at all Co-organised by the Singa- stay abreast of recent develop- award-winning Legal De- Fifty One East outlets located in Al speakers with dedicated centre pore Ministry of Law and the ments in the global legal regu- partment provides a compre- Maha Center on Salwa Road, FNAC speakers to enhance clear dialogue. Law Society of Singapore, legal latory environment, to learn hensive set of in-house legal at Lagoona Mall and Doha Festival One of the most impressive fea- professionals and leaders in the about best practices, and to services and is at the centre of City, Virgin Megastore branches in tures of the HT-RT40 is the one fi eld of legal regulation from network with other legal regu- the strategic development, en- Landmark, Villaggio and Doha Fes- touch wireless connectivity via around the globe attended the lators from around the world – hancement and advocacy of the tival City, as well as selected outlets Bluetooth and NFC support. The conference to discuss a variety all of which contribute to fur- QFC’s legal environment. in Doha. Sony HT-RT40 can also be easily of topical issues surrounding ther developing the QFC’s legal The QFC’s legal environ- “With a total power output of synced with BRAVIA TVs in a sin- the theme of this years’ confer- regulatory environment and ment provides an internation- 600W, users can look forward to a gle-step process. ence entitled ‘Legal Regulation the wider regulatory regime in ally-recognised platform for true 5.1 surround sound experience The HT-RT40 also comes with in a Borderless World: Building QFC Authority chief legal officer Nasser al-Taweel. Qatar.” leading Qatari and interna- when watching movies or listen- ‘Music Centre’ through which us- Networks.” Al-Marri added: “We would tional companies to expand ing to music,” the statement noted. ers can browse music through their QFC Authority chief legal of- Justice. They also hosted and led regulation, key principles for like to thank the Singapore in Qatar or overseas from the “The HT-RT40 is easy to install and smartphones, using an app for An- fi cer Nasser al-Taweel and QFC a roundtable discussion at the sound regulatory design, and Ministry of Law and the Law QFC. This, in turn, supports can simply be connected to televi- droid and iOS powered by the ‘Smart Authority legal director Roscoe conference titled ‘Setting Up a emulating global best practice Society of Singapore for bring- Qatar’s economic development sion sets via HMDI cables.” Remote Commander’ concept. Banks were accompanied at the New Regulator: Where to Start’. in good legal governance. The ing together legal professionals and diversifi cation eff orts and The “powerful 5.1ch provides real Other specifi cations include an conference by Salem Fahad al- The discussion covered discussion also touched on the and leaders in the fi eld of legal contributes to knowledge and surround sound experience” that HDMI out, optical input, analogue Marri, acting director of Law- various topics, including the development of the legal regu- regulation from around the expertise sharing in Qatar and is available in the form of a thinner input, and a USB port to play MP3 yers Aff airs at the Ministry of underlying reasons for new latory environment in Qatar globe to discuss issues that are beyond. sound bar as well as tallboy surround fi les from USB sticks.

Indian film actress Kareena Kapoor Khan giving away 1/2kg gold to Preeti Seema Dsouza, a draw winner in the ‘Win up to 100 kilos of gold’ campaign, in the presence of M P Ahammed, chairman – Malabar Group; K P Abdul Salam, Group executive director – Malabar Group; Shamlal Ahamed, managing director - International Operations, Malabar Gold & Diamonds; Asher O, managing director – India operations, Malabar Gold & Diamonds; and management team members of Malabar Gold & Diamonds. Malabar Gold & Diamonds off ers more chances to win

alabar Gold & Diamonds of gold each and three have won Customers can browse from over Customers can also protect the has said it is continuing to 100gm of gold each. Also, there have 130 designs, which have been spe- gold rate at Malabar Gold & Dia- M“change the fortunes” of been a total of 5,487 winners of gold cially introduced this festive sea- monds by paying 10% of the entire gold and diamond jewellery shop- coins so far, the statement notes. son and whose prices starting from amount on the selected gold jewellery pers across the world with its festive Malabar Gold & Diamonds has QR650, the retailer has said. until October 17. Besides, they get a campaign. also unveiled a “huge collection” In Qatar, with every purchase of chance to buy 8gm gold coins with A total of 5,515 customers have won of jewellery in gold, diamonds and gold and diamond jewellery worth no making charges from any Mala- gold prizes in 14 days of the promo- precious gems from diff erent parts QR500, customers get a chance to bar Gold & Diamonds outlet in Qatar tion so far, the jewellery retailer has of the world to enthral jewellery lov- enter raffl e draws to win 1/4 kg of gold during this period. Further, custom- said in a press statement, adding that ers. The latest jewellery collection is each in eight raffl e draws. In addition, ers can avail of the zero deduction the ‘Win up to 100 kilos of gold’ cam- specially designed to celebrate the customers get a 2gm gold coin on dia- off er on 22K (GCC) gold jewellery paign continues until October 29. festive season, keeping in mind the mond jewellery purchases of QR5000 exchange as well. All these off ers will Fourteen customers have won tastes of the multicultural and mul- and a 1gm gold coin on diamond jew- be valid at Malabar Gold & Diamonds 1/2kg of gold each, 11 have won 1/4kg tinational customers. ellery purchases worth QR3,000. outlets in Qatar until October 29.

Rayyan channels now available in HD on Ooredoo tv

oredoo has announced that popular Qatari chan- nels Al Rayyan HD and Al Rayyan Al Qadeem HD Oare now available in full HD on Ooredoo tv. The upgraded channels are available thanks to a part- nership between Ooredoo, Al Rayyan Media and Market- ing, and Es’hailSat - Qatar Satellite Company, Ooredoo has said in a press statement. Established in Qatar in 2010, Es’hailSat works to sup- port key broadcasters in the region with its advanced sat- ellite services, including broadcast, telecommunications and broadband. Talking about the partnership, Manar Khalifa al-Mu- raikhi, Ooredoo’s director of PR and Corporate Commu- nications, said: “We’re proud to be part of this agreement between three Qatari companies to bring the best-quality local television to our customers. Since its launch, Oore- doo tv has gone from strength to strength and now off ers close to 400 channels, including premium packages from around the world. “We hope this is the beginning of a great partnership between Ooredoo, Al Rayyan Media and Marketing, and Es’hailSat, and look forward to working together again in the near future.” Hamad Omar al-Mannai, executive director for Com- mercial, Es’hailSat, added: “Es’hailSat provides inde- pendent, high-quality, advanced satellite services to broadcasters, businesses and governments in the Mena region and beyond. We’re proud to be working with other Qatari companies to broadcast the latest Qatari content in high defi nition.” Al Rayyan HD is available on channel number 151, while Al Rayyan Al Qadeem HD is available on channel number 156. Al Rayyan channels aim to provide a variety of pro- grammes to show interest in Qatar’s culture, highlight the national identity, interests and aspirations, and respect Qatar’s customs and traditions. Existing Mozaic TV customers who want to upgrade to Ooredoo tv and take advantage of the HD content can visit any Ooredoo shop, order and collect a free Ooredoo tv set- top-box. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 9 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Iranians respond Evacuation deal for Raqqa with anger to as city’s capture nears Trump speech

AFP ate (them)... to protect the lives AFP tion, saying that Iran is clearly Kobane, Syria of civilians who were taken as Tehran sticking to its commitments. human shields,” the statement In an interview with the US added. television channel CBS News, oreign and Syrian militants “We as tribal leaders guaran- ranians responded with Zarif said Trump’s assault on from the Islamic State tee the lives of those who will be anger and mockery yester- the nuclear deal sealed under Fgroup are to evacuate their taken out.” Iday to the bellicose speech his predecessor Barack Obama former stronghold of Raqqa, as Alloush said up to 500 Syrian against their country by US had served to undermine US US-backed forces near the cap- and foreign-born militants re- President Donald Trump and credibility on the international ture of the city, a senior offi cial mained in Raqqa. his threats to tear up the land- front. said yesterday. “They have 400 hostages with mark nuclear deal. “Nobody else will trust any Omar Alloush, a senior mem- them — women and children — “I was so angry last night,” US administration to engage ber of the local Raqqa Civil in the national hospital,” he said. said Layla, 42, who runs an ar- in any long-term negotia- Council, said the deal would see He confi rmed foreign IS fi ght- tisan shop in Tehran. tion because the length of any IS fi ghters either turn them- ers are “included in the deal” to “This person hates Iran so commitment, the duration of selves in or leave on buses, pos- evacuate militants. much that even if we don’t any commitment from now sibly to neighbouring Deir Ezzor “The foreign fi ghters have support the ideas of the re- on with any US administra- province. two choices: either surrender gime, we fi nd ourselves sup- tion would be the remainder The news of an evacuation of or be taken out” of the city, Al- porting them and the Revolu- of the term of that president,” IS fi ghters came shortly after loush said, saying it was “pos- tionary Guards.” Zarif said. Trump’s eff orts to the US-led coalition backing the sible” they would be taken to Like millions of other Ira- reach out to ordinary Irani- assault on the city announced Deir Ezzor, an eastern Syrian nians, she spent Friday night ans, who he referred to as the a convoy would leave Raqqa in province where IS still holds watching Trump reel off a list “longest-suff ering victims” a deal to minimise new civilian territory. of grievances committed by of the regime, also appeared to casualties. The US-led coalition back- Iran.He threatened to “ter- have fallen on deaf ears, with But the coalition specifi cally ing the SDF earlier announced a minate” the 2015 nuclear deal many recalling the travel ban ruled out the exit of foreign IS convoy would leave Raqqa yes- signed between Iran and six he slapped on them earlier this fi ghters while making no men- terday under a deal negotiated world powers unless Congress year. tion of local fi ghters, and warned by local offi cials. Displaced Syrians collect water from a tank at a camp housing people who fled the fighting in Deir Ezzor, passed stringent new sanc- His Instagram page was in- against any deal that allowed “The arrangement is designed Mayadeen and Albu Kamal, yesterday, in the town of Arisha in the neighbouring province of Hasakeh. tions. undated by more than a mil- militants safe passage without to minimise civilian casualties “Everyone knew Trump’s lion comments, mostly from “facing justice”. Once the de and purportedly excludes for- ment allowed several dozen mil- friendship was for sale to the jeering Iranians. facto Syrian capital of IS’ self- eign Daesh terrorists as people itants to fl ee the town of Tabqa, highest bidder. We now know “Trump stopped Iranians styled “caliphate,” most of Raqqa trapped in the city continue to west of Raqqa. IS captured that his geography is too,” going to the US. How can he is now held by the US-backed fl ee the impending fall of Daesh’s Raqqa in 2014, and the city has wrote Foreign Minister Mo- say he’s on our side?” said Syrian Democratic Forces. so-called capital,” the coalition become synonymous with the hamed Javad Zarif on Twitter, Layla. In recent days, fi ghting said, using the Arabic acronym worst of the group’s abuses, and referring to the US alliance For all the bluster, Trump’s dropped off as local offi cials for IS. infamous as a centre for plan- with Saudi Arabia. strategy was not as tough as tried to negotiate a way to secure “People departing Raqqa un- ning attacks abroad. “Trump’s statements are many had predicted. the last 10% of the city held by IS der the arrangement are sub- Since breaking into Raqqa so ridiculous that it actually It placed new sanctions on while preventing further civilian ject to search and screening by in June, the SDF has captured works in Iran’s favour,” said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, casualties. Syrian Democratic Forces,” it around 90% of the city, backed Abbas, a 40-year-old banker but did not designate them a Local tribal leaders issued a added. by heavy US-led coalition on his way to work. foreign terrorist organisation statement late yesterday say- It had earlier insisted that strikes that have rendered whole “The reaction of the Euro- as trailed in the run-up to the ing they had urged the SDF and “foreign fi ghters are not be- streets unrecognisable and killed peans shows that the United speech. US-led coalition to fi nd a way ing allowed to leave Raqqa”, and scores of civilians. States is isolated, and only The hardline Kayhan news- to “settle the status” of Syrian cautioned that it still expected “Daesh is on the verge of being Saudi Arabia and Israel have paper spun this as a victory, militants in the city and “secure “diffi cult fi ghting in the days fi nished in Raqqa in the com- supported Trump,” he added. saying Trump had not “dared” their exit”. ahead”. Deals to allow IS fi ght- ing days,” said Nuri Mahmud, a A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces and other mourners weep The other signatories to the to do so after the Guards “The Syrian Democratic ers to withdraw from territory spokesman for the Kurdish Peo- over the coffins of a Kurdish fighter and a Syrian journalist killed nuclear deal — Britain, France, warned the US would have to Forces agreed. We are now pre- have been negotiated in the past, ple’s Protection Units that form by the Islamic State militants at the frontline in Deir Ezzor, during Germany, China and Russia move its regional bases out of paring a mechanism to evacu- including in May when an agree- the SDF’s backbone. a funeral in Kobane, yesterday. — have called for its preserva- reach of Iranian missiles.

South Yemen leader sees independence vote

Reuters city to mark 54 years since the October seeks the secession of southern Yemen Aden 1963 uprising against the British. and is looking to establish a political Zubaidi, who has previously de- leadership under his presidency that clared a council that seeks secession would administer the south. rebel former governor of Aden for southern Yemen, said in a televi- The move threatens more turmoil who is leading a movement for sion interview late on Friday that an in the Arabian Peninsular country Asouthern Yemen’s secession independence referendum would be where the internationally-recognised has said an independence referendum held soon. Speaking to supporters yes- government is forced to sit in Aden would be announced soon and a par- terday, Zubaidi said a new 303-mem- because Houthi rebels control the liamentary body set up to administer ber parliamentary body, the National capital Sanaa. The council was born the territory. Association, would act like a small out of a power struggle between the Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, who was sacked parliament to represent Yemenis from southerners and President Abd-Rabbu as Aden governor by President Abd-Rab- all areas of the south. Mansour Hadi that has undermined bu Mansour Hadi, set out his secessionist Zubaidi announced in May a new regional power Saudi Arabia’s eff orts plans to thousands of supporters gath- council formed by senior tribal, mili- to co-ordinate a military campaign ered yesterday in Yemen’s main southern tary and political fi gures. The council against the Houthis.

PEOPLE Former president Saleh stable after Russian medics operate Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has had a successful operation at a Sanaa hospital after a Russian medical team was flown in to perform it, government sources said yesterday. The Russian team arrived in Sanaa two days ago and operated on Saleh on Friday for wounds he sustained in an assassination attempt in 2011. Saleh’s General People’s Congress Party said the procedure was successful, and that his condition was stable. Saleh was severely wounded in an attack on the presidential palace in Sanaa in June 2011. He went to the United States for treatment on one occasion, before a travel ban was imposed. The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Saleh in 2014, accusing him of threat- ening peace and obstructing Yemen’s political process, subjecting him to a global travel ban and an asset freeze. Government sources told Reuters the Russian team had arrived with approval from the Saudi-led alliance but did not reveal the precise nature of the surgery. Saleh ruled Yemen for 34 years, but was forced from power after pro-democracy protests in 2012. Forming a surprise alliance with the Houthi movement when they seized Sanaa in 2014, Saleh’s army loyalists and Houthi fight- ers have weathered thousands of air strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition in more than two years of war. Gulf Times 10 Sunday, October 15, 2017 ARAB WORLD Iraqi troops in armed standoff with Kurd forces

AFP “Our forces are not moving have massed around Kirkuk. city of Sulaimaniyah. The June Maryam Beik, Iraq and are now waiting for orders They have already retaken a 2014 lines are those that the from the general staff ,” an Iraqi string of positions to the south Kurds held before IS militants army offi cer said, asking not to of the city after Kurdish forces swept through vast areas north housands of Iraqi troops be identifi ed. withdrew. The Kurds have de- and west of Baghdad, prompt- were locked in an armed The two sides have been at ployed thousands of peshmer- ing many Iraqi army units to Tstandoff with Kurdish loggerheads since the Kurds ga fi ghters to the area around disintegrate and Kurdish forces forces in the disputed oil prov- voted overwhelmingly for inde- Kirkuk itself and have vowed to to step in. ince of Kirkuk yesterday as pendence in a September 25 ref- defend the city “at any cost.” The Kurds control the city of Washington scrambled to avert erendum that Baghdad rejected Just hours before the deadline, Kirkuk and three major oil fi elds Iraqi forces gesture from a river bank across from Kurdish peshmerga positions yesterday, on the fi ghting between the key allies in as illegal. a peshmerga commander on the in the province which account southern outskirts of Kirkuk. the war against the Islamic State Polling was held not only in western front said Kurdish fi ght- for a signifi cant share of the group. the three provinces of the auton- ers had “taken all the necessary regional government’s oil rev- last town in Kirkuk province The clock was ticking down omous Kurdish region but also in measures” and were “ready for a enues. in IS hands, but there has been to a 2am (2300 GMT Saturday) adjacent Kurdish-held areas, in- confrontation” if necessary. Washington has military ad- fi ghting in the countryside since. deadline today that the Kurds cluding Kirkuk. If “the other side makes the visers deployed with both sides The tensions between the say Baghdad has set for their Iraqi Prime Minister Haider mistake of advancing, we’ll give in the standoff and Defence Sec- Kurds and the militias in Kirkuk forces to surrender positions al-Abadi has said there can be no them a lesson they won’t forget retary Jim Mattis said on Friday have spilled over into sporadic they took during the fi ghtback further discussion of the Kurds’ in a hurry”, Kamal Kirkuki said. that it was working to reduce violence elsewhere in Iraq. against the militants over the longstanding demands to incor- So far the front lines have been tensions. In the mainly Turkmen town past three years. porate Kirkuk and other histori- quiet but the Kurds said they had “We are trying to tone every- of Tuz Khurmatu in neigh- Armoured cars of the Iraqi cally Kurdish-majority areas in received an ultimatum to with- thing down and to fi gure out how bouring Salaheddin province, army bearing the national fl ag their autonomous region until draw. we go forward without losing three PMF paramilitaries and were posted on the bank of a riv- the independence vote is an- “The deadline set for the sight of the enemy,” Mattis told two Kurdish peshmerga were er on the southern outskirts of nulled. peshmerga to return to their pre- reporters. wounded in a fi refi ght overnight, the city of Kirkuk, an AFP pho- He insisted on Thursday that June 6, 2014 positions will expire “Everybody stay focused on town council spokesman Shalal tographer reported. he was “not going...to make war during the night,” a senior Kurd- defeating ISIS. We can’t turn Abdul said. On the opposite bank, Kurdish on our Kurdish citizens”. ish offi cial said, asking not to be on each other right now. We In the city of Hilla, south of peshmerga fi ghters were visible But thousands of heavily identifi ed. don’t want to go to a shooting Baghdad, the offi ces of a Kurd- behind an earthen embankment armed troops and members of The offi cial’s comments came situation,” he added, using an ish-owned mobile phone com- topped with concrete blocks the Popular Mobilisation Force as Iraqi President Fuad Masum, alternative acronym for IS. Last pany were fi rebombed and three painted with the red, white green (PMF) — paramilitary units who is himself a Kurd, was hold- week, the Iraqi army retook the of its staff briefl y abducted, po- Kurdish peshmerga fighters hold a position on the southern outskirts and yellow of the Kurdish fl ag. largely made up of militias — ing crisis talks in the Kurdish insurgent bastion of Hawija, the lice said. of Kirkuk. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 11 AFRICA

Offi cial says ANC needs 20 dead as truck bomb to put an end to scandals

Reuters rocks Somalia capital Johannesburg AFP Mogadishu outh Africa’s ruling African Na- tional Congress (ANC) needs to put San end to scandals that are tarnish- truck bomb exploded yester- ing its image, an ANC offi cial said, af- day outside a hotel at a busy ter a court ruling that paved the way for Ajunction in Somalia’s capital President Jacob Zuma to face nearly 800 Mogadishu, causing widespread dev- counts of corruption. astation that left at least 20 dead, with Zweli Mkhize, one of the ANC’s “top the toll likely to rise. six” leaders, also called for an end to fac- “Initial reports from emergency de- tionalism within the party at a public lec- partments indicate more than 20 bod- ture late on Friday, saying it was playing ies picked up off the street and many into the hands of the opposition. more are under the wreckage of build- Mkhize is in the running to replace ings destroyed by the blast”, said Ibra- Zuma as ANC leader at the party’s elec- him Mohamed, a senior police offi cer. tive conference in December, and his Government security offi cial Mo- campaign has been gathering momen- hamed Aden said that bombing took tum in recent weeks. place in a busy part of the city. The battle between the two frontrun- “There was a huge blast caused by a ners for ANC leader — Deputy President truck loaded with explosives. It went Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini off at the entrance of a hotel alongside Zuma, an ex-wife of Zuma and former the K5 intersection,” he said. chairwoman of the African Union — has There was no immediate claim bitterly divided the party that has gov- of responsibility, but the Al Qaeda erned South Africa since the end of white aligned Shebaab carries out frequent minority rule in 1994. suicide bombings in the capital and Aff able and a long-serving cadre, elsewhere as it fi ghts to overthrow the Mkhize is touted as a compromise candi- internationally-backed government. date who could soothe tensions between Witnesses said the blast, which the party’s primary factions. He is also threw a thick cloud of smoke into the well-liked by investors unnerved by the sky that could be seen across the city, Civilians evacuate from the scene of an explosion in the Hodan district of Mogadishu yesterday. party’s swing toward populist policies. badly damaged a nearby hotel and left “We see fractions and divisions in the scenes of devastation on the busy road. how many people they have collected The explosion occurred outside the was, “the biggest blast I have ever wit- and Somali troops, and subsequently regions, at the national level. And you’ve “This was very horrible, the bomb because of the high number of the Safari Hotel, a popular place but not nessed, it destroyed the whole area”. lost control of major towns across got court cases all over,” Mkhize told ANC went off alongside the busy road and casualties,” said Abdukadir Haji Aden, one that is commonly used by govern- “There were dead bodies eve- southern Somalia. supporters packed into a hall in the Kagiso left many people dead. I saw several director of Mogadishu’s main Amin ment offi cials. rywhere and injured people were However, the militants continue to township to the west of Johannesburg. dead bodies strewn about but could Ambulance Service. It is not known whether the hotel screaming, some of them from under control rural areas and launch attacks “We need to say to each other enough not count them,” said witness Ismail “They have collected tens of dead was the target on this occasion, but in the rubble of destroyed buildings,” on military, government and civilian is enough....The image of the African Yusuf. “It was horrible.” and injured and the work is still ongo- the past the Shebaab has frequently said Fadumo Dahir, a witness. targets in Somalia, as well as terrorist National Congress rests on the behaviour Emergency services were over- ing,” he said. attacked hotels where offi cials stay. “The whole area looks like a scene raids in neighbouring Kenya. of its own leaders,” Mkhize said. whelmed as they sought to respond to The so-called ‘Kilometre 5’ junc- In any case, the devastation caused from a war,” said Ahmed Bare, another Yesterday’s blast comes two days On Friday, South Africa’s Supreme the bombing. tion is in the Hodan district, a bustling was widespread. witness. after Somalia’s defence minister and Court of Appeal upheld a High Court rul- “This was very horrible incident. commercial part of the city with many Muhidin Ali, a Mogadishu resident The Shebaab was forced out of the army chief both resigned from their ing reinstating 783 corruption charges The emergency team don’t even know shops, hotels and businesses. who was close by at the time said it capital six years ago by African Union posts without explanation. against Zuma from before he became president. Zuma, who has denied numerous other corruption allegations since taking of- fi ce, has asked prosecutors to “consider representations” before deciding wheth- 4 die as French army-chartered er to proceed against him. Mkhize avoided mentioning Zuma by name in his speech in Kagiso. He hails plane crashes off Ivory Coast from Zuma’s home province of Kwa-Zulu Natal and was formerly a staunch Zuma supporter. AFP ried out a wave of bloody bombings, shoot- Asked whether Zuma should step Abidjanb3 ings and kidnappings. down as president after a new ANC lead- The French military base in Abidjan pro- er is elected in December, Mkhize said vides logistical support for the operation that would be up to the party to decide. our Moldovan nationals were killed which is headquartered in N’Djamena, the Zuma’s term as president ends in 2019, yesterday when a transport plane char- capital of Chad. when South Africa next holds a gen- Ftered by the French army crashed off French special forces are stationed in Oua- eral election, but his predecessor Thabo Ivory Coast, fi refi ghters said. gadougou. Mbeki was ousted before the end of his Another six people were injured in the Every year, around 100 sorties are fl own term in 2008 after losing out in a power crash of the Antonov aircraft which had 10 out of Abidjan airport as part of Barkhane, struggle with Zuma. people on board, fi refi ghter Colonel Issa Sa- often by former Soviet army pilots in Ukrain- “We believe the ANC is strong enough kho told local television. ian-made Antonovs. to survive all of this, and we want to be Four French nationals were among the in- The planes frequently carry French mili- able to show that the ANC is serious jured, a French military source said, indicat- tary personnel and sub-contractors accom- about acting on corruption,” Mkhize said. ing that the plane had been chartered as part panying their cargo. of the anti-militant Operation Barkhane. There was a heavy storm over Abidjan early “There were 10 people on board, Moldovans yesterday, but it was unclear whether the and French people. The four victims who died heavy weather was the cause of the accident. are Moldovan nationals,” Sakho said. France keeps around 950 military person- The plane had taken off from Ouagadougou nel in Ivory Coast as part of the FFCI force Lad lynched in Burkina Faso and crash-landed in the sea based in the biggest French army base on Af- near Abidjan, breaking in half, he explained. rica’s Atlantic coast. Other bases are in Libre- Local forces were hoping to secure the ville, Gabon and Dakar, Senegal. after deadly wreck before it drifted away “so investigators One of their key missions is to extract can do their job”, he said. French or other western civilians in case of A French military source said the Antonov trouble in Ivory Coast or neighbouring coun- school attack was chartered as part of Barkhane, under tries. which France maintains a 4,000-man mis- Abidjan is strategically well-placed in the sion in the region. region as most French-speaking African AFP The wreckage of an Antonov cargo plane that crashed off Ivory Coast sits on the beach of Port-Bouet The operation aims to shore up fragile Sa- countries can be reached by air in under three Nairobi in Abidjan. hel countries against militants who have car- hours.

student suspected of joining in an armed raid yesterday that killed Asix at a school in Kenya’s far north, was stoned to death by angry locals and his body burned, offi cials said. Nigerians fl eeing Boko cannot escape hunger The suspect — a suspended student at the school in Lokichogio — was arrested before irate locals forced their way into the By Kristin Palitza, DPA Babamadu is one of 450,000 chil- and her fi ve children fl ed to Maidugu- ten, several families have to share the to a burned-out settlement where police station and dragged him from his cell. Maiduguri dren at high risk of starvation in ri, the capital of Borno State. monthly allocation for one of them. his house once stood. “We had just He was being held over the school at- north-eastern Nigeria, according to They now live in an unoffi cial refu- Those who made it to Maiduguri planted our fi elds,” the 35-year-old tack that left fi ve students and a security Unicef. The region is in the midst of gee camp with tens of thousands of and found space one of the camps are farmer says. Bukar hopes he will be guard at the boarding school dead. anna Maibula watches over her a humanitarian crisis after eight years others who compete for their daily doing relatively well. able to return home soon, but that’s “Six people were killed in the attack, 18-month-old son Babamadu, of Boko Haram attacks that have killed share of the aid supplies. According to the United Nations unlikely. including students, and we have others Fwho lies motionless in the in- an estimated 20,000 people. The population of Maiduguri, for- Offi ce for the Coordination of Hu- Although Nigeria’s military has injured,” said Seif Matata, Turkana coun- tensive care unit for severely mal- Some 2.5mn people fl ed their merly a city of 1mn people, has at least manitarian Aff airs (OCHA), some made progress in the fi ght against ty’s commissioner. nourished children at the University homes in north-eastern Nigeria and in doubled as a result of the displace- 350,000 people have to squat in the Boko Haram since President Muham- Matata said the incident occurred at of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital in the neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cam- ment crisis. city, without any access to humani- madu Buhari was elected in 2015, the around 3am while students at Lokichogio north-eastern Nigerian city. eroon, according to the UN. Public and social services that tarian aid. region remains extremely volatile. Mixed Secondary School were asleep in Babamadu’s diaper looks huge in re- About 8.5mn people are dependent were already inadequate before the The UN says it lacks almost To survive, Bukar and other men their dormitories. lation to his emaciated body. Tubes are on food aid in north-eastern Nigeria insurgency are now completely over- $400mn, or about a third of the mon- from his village walk across the es- Turkana governor Josphat Nanok said stuck into the child’s skinny arms, and alone, with hundreds of thousands stretched. ey necessary to reach all those in need. carpment each morning to collect 18 people suff ered bullet wounds in the a machine regulates the oxygen con- stuck in areas that aid organizations Mais, a little bit of oil and salt. On the outskirts of Maiduguri, doz- fi rewood at the edge of the forest. attack. tent of his blood. The infant had been cannot access due to ongoing insecu- “That’s the only food we have been ens of families live in bamboo huts af- The price of wood is high because Members of the Toposa tribal militia drifting in and out of consciousness rity. surviving on for many months,” says ter their village, Kolori, was attacked hardly anyone dares to approach the from South Sudan, 200km to the north, are for several days by the time Maibula Maibula is riddled with regret. Haruna Ibrahim, who has been living and burnt down by Boko Haram a few forest out of fear of the terrorists. believed to be responsible for the violence. brought him to the hospital in June. Speaking in the local language of in Bakassi, another overcrowded refu- weeks ago. “It’s very dangerous. We are con- Matata alleged that a suspended stu- “His chances of survival were very Gamergu, she says she should have gee camp in Maiduguri, for the past The camps are full, they say, and stantly on guard. When we hear a dent, identifi ed by offi cials as 20-year- slim when he was admitted,” says pae- taken her son, who suff ered from di- three years. newcomers have to fend for them- noise, we run,” explains Alhaji Ali, old Abraham Lochor from South Sudan, diatrician Lawan Bukar. arrhoea, fever and vomiting for weeks, Every now and then there is rice, selves. who escaped from Kolori with his wife led the raid. Several days in intensive care have to the doctor much earlier. but never enough for everyone, the The families can still see the ruins and eight children. “The suspect was held at Kakuma increased Babamadu’s odds of sur- Public health care is not aff ordable 61-year-old tells DPA. “Many people of their village, located only one kilo- Risking one’s life to gather a few police station for interrogation over the vival to 60%, the doctor says. for people like Maibula, who lost eve- are sick. We feel abandoned by gov- metre away on the other side of an es- sticks and branches indicates the de- morning killings, we are trying to estab- Babamadu was lucky to be admit- rything when she fl ed the terrorists. ernment,” Ibrahim says. carpment. gree of their hopelessness. lish how they managed to get him. It’s ted to the hospital’s specialized unit, Free treatment funded by aid organi- There are never enough stamps for From there, the dreaded Sambisa “Look at our children,” says Ali, unfortunate,” said Turkana police chief which only has space for 10 patients. zations is accessible to few. all of the roughly 25,000 people who forest, where Boko Haram has its pointing to a group of the girls and Ronald Opili. The hospital plans to add 30 beds over When Boko Haram attacked Maib- live in Bakassi, a camp managed by hideouts. boys with swollen bellies and skinny The Kenya Red Cross said it had evacu- the next few weeks, but demand is a ula’s village, Sunabaya, in the district Nigeria’s Emergency Management Abatcha Bukar, who fl ed with his arms and legs. “They are crying from ated those injured in the school attack by thousand times higher. of Dikwa four years ago, the mother Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim says. Of- two wives and 13 children, points hunger.” plane for emergency treatment. Gulf Times 12 Sunday, October 15, 2017 AMERICAS Trump era feels like 1930s, says Atwood

AFP “One wonders what the Dem- Frankfurt am Main ocrats are going to come up with because so far...’hello, where are you?’” she said. Asked what she A woman surveys the remains of a home destroyed by wildfire in Napa, California. ward winning novelist would say to Trump, Atwood Margaret Atwood yester- jokingly replied: “Could you get Aday said Donald Trump’s that Twitter account away from America reminded her of Eu- him, please?” rope in the 1930s, and warned But she also praised the that the world was “at a mo- power of social media in giv- ment of change and disruption”. ing a voice to the voiceless, as “I think it’s a moment of tur- highlighted in the sexual assault moil everywhere,” the 77-year- scandal surrounding Holly- old author said at the Frankfurt wood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Winds stir deadly book fair. “He had nothing to do with “This feels like the 1930s,” our show,” she said, before she told a press conference, adding that the exploitation of referring to the rise of populist young women by powerful men leaders and fascism that ulti- has been going on “for really mately led to World War II. quite a long time”. “And what’s surprising to But the recent downfalls of many people in Europe is that some of these men showed that California wildfi res this is also happening in the things were changing. United States” which was long “I think there have been a Firefighters are searching for over The 35 confi rmed fatalities — 19 in these fi res and help residents get back on seen as “a beacon of democ- number of cases involving large 200 missing people Sonoma County — mark the greatest loss their feet in these trying times,” he said in racy”, Atwood added. powerful men with lawyers in of life from a single fi re event on record in a statement. George Orwell’s 1984 and which, partly due to social me- Reuters California, surpassing the 29 deaths from Offi cials have said power lines toppled her own 1985 book The Hand- dia, it has become possible for Sonoma the Griffi th Park fi re of 1933 in Los Angeles. by gale-force winds the fi rst night may maid’s Tale, about a totalitari- people to speak about it publi- Some victims were asleep when fl ames have sparked the confl agration, though an regime where fertile women cally in a way they would not engulfed their homes, and many survivors the offi cial cause remained under investi- live in sexual servitude, were have been able to do once upon ierce winds were expected to stir had only minutes to fl ee. gation. resonating right now because a time.” wildfi res and test fi refi ghters in With 235 people still missing on Friday The picturesque town of Calistoga, at those worlds no longer seemed “It all comes down to the FNorthern California where the most in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from the northern end of Napa Valley, faced one so far-fetched. question: who is a person? The lethal outbreak of wildfi res in state history thousands of incinerated dwellings yet of the biggest remaining hazards. “People suddenly feel that only reasonable answer to that has killed 35 people and forced more than to be searched, authorities have said the Its 5,000-plus residents were ordered it’s a possible reality for them,” has to be: everyone is a person,” 90,000 residents from their homes. A structure burns in the early morning number of fatalities from the so-called from their homes on Wednesday night as a said Atwood, a prolifi c Cana- she said. The wind-driven blazes, which erupted hours in Sonoma, California. North Bay fi res would likely climb. fi erce blaze dubbed the Tubbs fi re crept to dian author and poet famed for “(And) they should not be on Sunday night in the heart of Califor- The fi res have thrown California’s within 3.2km of city limits. her cautionary tales. treated the way Harvey Wein- nia’s renowned wine country, north of San night and yesterday with gusts of up to wine-producing industry, and related On Friday, fi res raged along mountain The Handmaid’s Tale is stein was treating people.” Francisco, have destroyed an estimated 55mph along with 10% humidity, the serv- tourism, into disarray at the end of the ridges overlooking Calistoga, threaten- now a major television show, Atwood was in Frankfurt 5,700 homes. ice warned. region’s annual grape harvest, damaging ing to rain embers onto the resort and spa and the story’s trademark red to receive the German book A total of 17 major wildfi res — some en- “If new fi res start they could spread ex- or destroying at least a dozen Napa Valley destination if strong winds blow out of the cloaks and white bonnets have trade’s annual “Peace Prize” compassing several smaller blazes merged tremely rapidly,” said Brooke Bingaman, a wineries. north as predicted, Cal Fire spokesman been donned as symbols of for her prescient body of work, together — had consumed nearly 222,000 National Weather Service meteorologist in Some 45 search-and-rescue teams and Dennis Rein said. protest at US demonstrations due to be awarded today. acres of dry brush, grasslands and trees Sacramento, California in a video posted 18 detectives were deployed to scour oblit- “It’s surreal. against threats to women’s Regularly tipped for the across eight counties. on Facebook. erated neighborhoods for victims. It’s eerie,” Mayor Chris Canning told healthcare under Trump. Nobel Prize for Literature, At- Ground crews on Friday gained ground “Those fuels are super dry right now. More than 90,000 residents have been a local ABC affi liate as he surveyed the “There’s a widespread feeling wood was asked whether she on the wildfi res on Friday as they raced This also could cause problems for the evacuated, said Jaime Williams, a spokes- empty town on Friday.”It’s calm now and of dissatisfaction and resist- was disappointed when the ac- to clear drought-parched vegetation current wildfi res and the fi refi ghters who woman for the California Department of it’s giving Cal Fire an opportunity to really ance, but no leading fi gure has colade went to British novelist along the southern fl anks of fi res, remov- are trying to suppress them.” Forestry and Fire Protection. bang it down.” appeared yet,” Atwood said. Kazuo Ishiguro last week. ing highly combustible fuels adjacent to Wildfi re ripped through the Sonoma Governor Jerry Brown planned to visit The year’s wildfi re season is one of the The US Republican party is “I am very used to not win- populated areas before extreme heat and County town of Santa Rosa, where whole the area with California’s two US senators worst in history in the United States, with “in disarray”, she said, while ning the Nobel prize. So it’s re- winds were forecast to revive over the neighborhoods were reduced to land- yesterday. nearly 8.6mn acres burned, just behind the Democrats had yet to for- ally not a concern for me,” she weekend. scapes of gray ash, smoldering debris and “We’ll keep working day and night with 2012, according to the National Interagen- mulate a response. quipped. Winds were expected to intensify over- burned-out vehicles. our local and federal partners to fi ght cy Fire Center.

Only the Brave honours heroes of Yarnell fi re Music festival

AFP The movie off ers insight for those 20-year veteran, guided his crew halt the progress of wildfi res. Los Angeles watching the increasingly grim from one protected “black zone” — The term “hotshot” is usually headlines from northern California charred ground protected from the reserved for Forest Service spe- into the lives of the men and women blaze — toward a diff erent safe site. cial units and the Granite Moun- n a blistering June morning who run toward danger to protect But the fl aming front approached tain crew were just a band of local in 2013, Arizona’s Granite people and property, real-life he- faster than anyone had anticipated, fi refi ghters that Marsh dreamed of OMountain Hotshots elite roes in an age of superhero movies. and the crew’s escape route was turning into an elite crew. fi refi ghting squad went into the “We all are asked to be brave in suddenly cut off . This had never been achieved, wilderness to protect the town of our own lives, and bravery is such Caught in a freak inferno, they but years of training paid off and Yarnell from a ferocious blaze. an interesting thing,” seven-time deployed their fi re shelters but per- they became the fi rst certifi ed mu- By the end of the day, all but one Oscar nominee and one-time win- ished in the extreme heat. The story nicipal hotshot crew in the United of the 20 man crew were dead. ner Jeff Bridges, who co-stars, told resonated particularly strongly States. It was the largest loss of life a news conference in Los Angeles. with Brolin, who drew on his expe- The 20 actors playing members among American fi refi ghters since The Yarnell Hill Fire was ignited rience as a volunteer fi refi ghter in of the unit immersed themselves. the attacks of September 11, 2001 by a lightning strike on June 28, Arizona when he was in his 20s to The Granite Mountain Hotshots and the deadliest US wildfi re in 2013 and, two days later, the gusting play Marsh. crew was discontinued after the more than 20 years. winds fanning it changed direction, The 49-year-old actor, Oscar- tragedy, with Arizona’s Forestry Di- Only the Brave, a major new twisting and rotating its progress. nominated for Gus Van Sant’s Milk, vision fi nding no evidence of negli- movie starring Josh Brolin, Jennifer Sole survivor Brendan Mc- describes fi refi ghters as the “last gence. Connelly and Miles Teller, pieces Donough, who was the lookout for profession that are untouchably But the Industrial Commission together the fi nal hours of the crew. the Hotshots that day, alerted his uncorrupt”. of Arizona, which oversees work- Its release on Friday next week crew and retreated down the moun- Hotshots, the country’s top wild- place safety, blamed the division could hardly be more timely, with tain. land fi refi ghters, don’t carry water, for the deaths, arguing that offi cials the deadliest week of wildfi res in As the winds gusted ever hard- instead literally fi ghting fi re with knowingly put protection of prop- Jennie Vee of the Eagles of Death Metal in concert on the second day of week two of the California’s history leaving 33 dead er and the fi re rapidly picked up fi re, using chainsaws to fell trees erty ahead of safety and should have Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. and hundreds still missing. progress, supervisor Eric Marsh, a and burn barrels to light blazes to pulled crews out earlier.

Rat Film highlights Baltimore’s rodents, racism

AFP get food and shelter while we get chewed ca- more’s infestation as a corollary of the urban city government practice of denying home Los Angeles bles, parasites and the Black Death. neglect caused by racist housing policies. and business loans to people living in major- US television channel Animal Planet Anthony grew up in nearby Annapolis but ity-black neighbourhoods. named Baltimore the third most rat-plagued lived in Baltimore for years before a recent City offi cials, he demonstrates, were using ne evening fi lmmaker Theo Anthony city on Earth in 2014, behind two other US move to upstate New York, and still keeps a the same language in the 1930s to talk about noticed an unnervingly large brown destinations, Boston and New York. room in the city. the “infi ltration” of black populations as Orat trapped in his trash can, trying A post-industrial Rust Belt town built for It was the fi rst city in early 20th century they do now to talk about rats. repeatedly but in vain to escape a receptacle 1mn people, Baltimore is actually under- America to pass a residential segregation law To underline his point, Anthony lays sta- specifi cally designed to contain it. populated, with large swaths of its housing — later scrapped by the Supreme Court — tistical maps of present-day Baltimore’s un- “I came home, heard this sound and went boarded up and abandoned — making it a restricting blacks and whites to certain parts employment and mortality rates over a racial to my iPhone and started fi lming,” the Bal- paradise for rats. of the city. segregation map from 80 years ago, showing timore-based director says of the incident, The rodent population swelled from fewer “Ain’t never been a rat problem in Balti- how accurately they dovetail. the basis for Rat Film, his essay on the city’s than 10 rats per 1,000 residents in 2002 to more; it’s always been a people problem,” He discovered that medical research being war with its rodent population — and its 60 in 2009, according to local government says one of his subjects, a wise and wizened carried out in some of the most impover- problematic history of racial segregation. fi gures uncovered by Karen Houppert writ- rat exterminator who notes that the critters ished sectors led to Curt Richter, a biologist “I had this piece of footage and I had no ing for The Washington Post. thrive in poor housing areas. at Johns Hopkins University, inventing the idea what it was going to be...It was just this A Baltimore City Health Department re- Fusing old photographs, poetry, 3D simu- fi rst-ever eff ective rat poison. really haunting image.” port that year noted “the rodent infestation lations and interviews with an eccentric as- Back in the present day, we meet a pair of Brown rats — otherwise known as Nor- rate in Baltimore is six times the national sortment of rodent lovers and rat killers, the “rat fi shermen,” who use meat and peanut way, wharf or sewer rats — are thought to average”, Houppert wrote in her 2013 article. fi lmmaker charts Baltimore’s eff orts to con- butter on the end of a fi shing line to catch have spread across the world from China in Rat Film — which gets its theatrical release front its pest problem since the 1930s. rats in alleyways. the Middle Ages and can grow to the size of this weekend in Los Angeles, having toured His insight is that population control and rat Elsewhere, a rat hunter proudly shows a domestic cat. the worldwide festival circuit — is much control appeared to be enmeshed in the city’s off his armament of pellet guns, and we are They have thrived in America’s garbage- more than a fi lm about rats. development, with poor, rat-infested areas introduced to a homeless duo freestyling a strewn east coast cities but their relation- The feature-length debut for 27-year-old “redlined” by insurers as forever undesirable. poem about hating rats, as well as a snake ship with humans is hardly symbiotic: they Anthony, it invites audiences to see Balti- The fi lmmaker highlights the historical handler who uses baby rats for food. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 13 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

WATERWORLD IN LOVE IN THE DOCK XI SHOW TRAFFIC JAM Japan zoo mourns death of Australian charged in Bali China communists to amend Mongolia coal exports cool off love-struck penguin for drugs after escape bid constitution at key conclave over China border bottleneck

An elderly penguin who shot to fame in Japan An Australian who was nabbed with drugs in his China’s Communist Party yesterday announced Mongolia’s coal exports, which have helped after falling in love with a cardboard cut-out luggage in Bali and briefly escaped custody by that it agreed to amend its constitution, ahead lift its slow-growing economy this year, are of a cartoon character has died, at the ripe old climbing through a toilet air vent has been charged of a keenly-watched congress, with speculation losing steam, according to trade data. In the age of 21. Off icials at Tobu zoo in Saitama, north with narcotics possession, a police spokesman said mounting that leader Xi Jinping’s name will be first nine months of the year, exports earned of Tokyo, said Grape passed away after a brief yesterday. Joshua James Baker was detained after added to the document, enshrining his legacy. $1.73bn, or more than double the same period illness with the object of his desire right by his arriving at Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport from Bangkok The Central Committee said it had passed an of 2016, data posted by the National Statistics side. He would have been around 80 in human on October 8 when Indonesian police found drugs amendment to the party’s constitution at the end Off ice over the weekend showed. But the pace years. Earlier this year, the Humboldt penguin in his luggage. “He had 28gm of marijuana and of a plenary meeting held in advance of the main of growth has slowed in recent months. For became smitten with a cut-out of Hululu — a 37 diazepam pills,” Bali police spokesman Hengky twice-a-decade congress, which opens Wednesday January through July, exports were more than character from the Japanese anime ‘Kemono Widjaja said. But Baker slipped away when he was and is expected to see Xi tighten his grip on power. four times the total for the first seven months A man helps push a dead motorcycle taxi on Friends’ — after being dumped by his former led to a toilet for a urine test on Monday, climbing “The document will be submitted to the upcoming of 2016. The loss of steam reflects issues at a flooded street in Bangkok yesterday after mate, a female called Midori. The plight of the through a ventilation shaft to make his getaway. 19th CPC National Congress for review,” it said in the border with China, Mongolia’s largest coal overnight torrential rains flooded many romantic penguin went viral, earning Grape Baker is charged with drug possession and faces a a statement released through the off icial state customer, that have created a queue of trucks slow-to-drain thoroughfares in the capital. millions of fans worldwide. minimum of five years in prison if convicted. news agency, without giving further details. stretching 100km into the Gobi Desert. Malaysians march to demand Najib explain missing money Reuters Kuala Lumpur

housands of protesters gathered yesterday at an Tunsanctioned rally to de- mand action against Prime Min- ister Najib Razak over the mis- management of billions of dollars by a state fund. Malaysia’s opposition are counting on the 1Malaysia Devel- opment Berhad (1MDB) scandal to turn as many voters as they can against Najib, who can call for national polls anytime between now and the middle of next year. The prime minister has so far been able to weather the scandal, Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and opposition consolidating power by clamping leader Wan Azizah listen during an anti-kleptocracy rally in Petaling down on dissenters and curbing Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur. local media and activists even as he faces a fi erce challenge from to attend the evening rally. leged to have been misappropri- his former mentor, Mahathir Yesterday’s rally was touted as ated from the 1MDB fund. Mohamed. the fi nale of a two month-long A rebounding economy and But rising living costs and a anti-kleptocracy roadshow, a strengthening ringgit currency, broad-based consumption tax platform set up by the opposition however, are working in Najib’s are leaving people like Hasmur- Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition favour. ni Tamby, a 42-year-old single to convince the majority Malay- The prime minister is expected mother of fi ve, fed up with the Muslim voters in rural battle- to announce plenty of people- way things are going under Na- ground areas that the country has centric initiatives later this jib. suff ered from Najib’s handling of month when he tables his last “Prices of everything have 1MDB. budget before the polls. People hold placards reading “Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy” during a rally yesterday in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur. gone up but not our salaries. We Najib’s popularity took a hit Just a few months prior, he an- can’t save. So we don’t want this from persistent bad press linked nounced billions in housing and Malaysia’s industrialisation as its protege to continue to rule. ble life,” Mahathir told the crowd tocracy in our country...Najib’s leader anymore,” said Hasmurni, to 1MDB, especially after the US cash aid for the Malay commu- longest-serving prime minister, “Never before have we had a when delivering the fi nal speech fate is in our hands. We can get who travelled several hours north Department of Justice fi led civil nity. warned that nothing good will prime minister who is a thief. He of the night. rid of him, just by voting PH,” the from her home state of Malacca suits to recover over $1.7bn al- But Mahathir, who saw through come out of allowing his former steals so he can have a comforta- “We need to bring down klep- former prime minister said. N Korea readies missile launch ahead of drill

AFP Australia warned over US military support Seoul North Korea has threatened and later held a meeting with Australia for “showing danger- their South Korean counterparts orth Korea is believed to ous moves of zealously joining in Seoul. be preparing to launch a the frenzied political and military The four ministers issued a Nballistic missile ahead of provocations” of the United States joint statement on Friday calling an upcoming joint naval drill by against its regime. on Pyongyang to refrain from the US and South Korea, a news The “provocations aggravate provocative behaviour and to report said yesterday, citing a the situation of the Korean penin- abandon all nuclear weapons and government source. sula into a touch-and-go phase,” programmes. The US navy had said on Fri- the North’s Korean Central News “North Korea’s actions are day that a US aircraft carrier will Agency illegal...and Australia will play our lead the drill in the coming week, (KCNA) said, according to part in supporting South Korea, a fresh show of force against Yonhap news agency. our friends and allies, in deterring North Korea as tensions soar “The Australian foreign min- North Korea from further pro- over the hermit state’s weapons ister personally expressed her vocative acts, and compelling it to programme. support for the stand of the US return to the negotiating table,” The move will likely rile to consider all options including Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Pyongyang which has previously the use of force towards DPRK reporters in Seoul. responded angrily to joint exer- (Democratic People’s Republic of “Should Australia continue to An undated photo released yesterday shows family members watching Albert Namatjira sitting on a rock as he paints. cises. Korea),” KCNA said. follow the US in imposing military, The Donga Ilbo daily, quot- Australian Foreign Minister economic and diplomatic pres- ing a government source, said Julie Bishop and Defense Minister sure upon the DPRK despite our satellite pictures show ballistic Marise Payne visited the truce vil- repeated warnings, they will not be missiles mounted on launchers lage of Panmunjom on Thursday able to avoid a disaster,” KCNA said. Aboriginal artist’s family gets back copyright being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Phyongan Province. ment on any matters of military staging the fi rst night-time joint Reuters Born in 1902 in Hermannsburg, a remote They put together a theatre show called US and South Korean military intelligence”. aviation exercises with Japan and Sydney Aboriginal community in central Australia’s ‘Namatjira’ which toured Australia for offi cials suspect the North might “We are keeping a close watch South Korea. West MacDonnell ranges, Albert Namatjira three years before travelling to London be preparing to launch missiles over the North,” he added. That mission came 17 days af- rose to prominence as the fi rst Aboriginal where in 2013 Queen Elizabeth met two of capable of reaching US territory, The joint drills led by the USS ter four US F-35B stealth fi ghter he impoverished family of Australia’s artist to master a Western tradition. Namatjira’s grandchildren. the newspaper said. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier jets and two B-1Bs fl ew over the most famous Aboriginal artist, Albert In 1957, he sold partial copyright for his News reports caught the eye of Smith, This could be the Hwasong-14 come after hectic US military peninsula. TNamatjira, has been given copyright works to a friend, John Brackenreg. whose father once worked for Brackenreg. inter-continental ballistic mis- hardware movements around the Professor Yang Moo-jin of to his works after years of fruitless cam- Two years later, Namatjira died and his Smith persuaded Brackenreg’s children sile (ICBM), whose range could Korean peninsula in recent days. the University of North Korean paigning triggered the intervention of a phi- will passed the copyright remainder to his to give copyright to the Namatjira Legacy extend to Alaska, or Hwasong-12 These follow a fl urry of mis- Studies said it was “highly likely” lanthropist. widow, Robina, and their children. This gave Trust, which represents the family, for A$1 intermediate-range missiles siles from Pyongyang, which that the North could launch mis- Namatjira’s vibrant water colours are in- his family a source of royalty income when on Friday. which Pyongyang threatened to conducted its sixth and most siles in response to next week’s ternationally celebrated for the way he cap- reproductions of the images were used. Smith also donated A$250,000 fi re towards the US Pacifi c terri- powerful nuclear test last month joint navy drill. tured the hues of the Western Desert in the However, his estate executors gave the ad- (US$197,200) to the trust. tory of Guam in August, the re- in defi ance of international sanc- US President Donald Trump’s centre of the country. ministration of his will to the public trustee It is the latest in Smith’s long list of chari- port said. tions. continued threats of military ac- One of his paintings was given to Britain’s of the state of the Northern Territory, which table acts which included contributing to Another possibility is that the On Friday, the nuclear-pow- tion against Pyongyang if it does Queen Elizabeth in 1947 on her 21st birthday sold the copyright to Brackenreg’s company, the ransom that freed Canadian journalist North might be preparing to test ered USS Michigan submarine not tame its weapons ambitions and he met the queen during her 1954 coro- Legend Press, in 1983 without consulting Amanda Lindhout and Australian photog- a new Hwasong-13 ICBM, it add- arrived at the southern South have fuelled fears of confl ict on nation tour in Canberra. the family, ABC News reported. rapher Nigel Brennan, taken hostage in So- ed, that has a longer maximum Korean port of Busan, just days the Korean peninsula. Dick Smith, the Australian businessman All royalty payments to Namatjira’s de- malia in 2008. range than the other two missiles after another nuclear-powered But military intervention whose intervention secured the agreement, scendents ceased and when Brackenreg Sophia Marinos, the chair of the and could potentially reach the submarine — the USS Tuscon — against North Korea would have told Reuters it was the most satisfying phil- died, he passed copyright to his children. Namatjira Legacy Trust, said the money US West Coast. left after a fi ve day visit. “devastating consequences”, anthropic thing he had done. Eight years ago, arts organisation Big would benefi t the whole Aboriginal com- A defence ministry spokes- Earlier this week the US fl ew Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg “It’s a just cause,” Smith told Reuters in a hART, began campaigning for the return of munity with funds for language and cul- man declined to comment on the two supersonic heavy bomb- warned Friday, after Trump said telephone call yesterday. the copyright. tural programmes. report, saying: “We don’t com- ers over the Korean peninsula, diplomatic eff orts had failed. Gulf Times 14 Sunday, October 15, 2017 BRITAIN EU ‘plans’ goodwill Brexit summit move Reuters of transition to a new trade rela- deem there has been “suffi cient Brussels tionship will function. progress” on three issues the EU Otherwise, some fi rms say, says must be settled before Brit- they may assume a disruptive ain leaves. ritain will be off ered a “hard Brexit” and move some These are the rights of EU goodwill gesture at a Eu- operations to continental Eu- citizens in Britain, Northern Ire- Bropean Union summit next rope. land’s new EU border and the in- week, European nations agreed As the process approaches tractable “Brexit bill”. on Friday, seeking to break the the half-way stage between last Tusk, who met Merkel and deadlock over Brexit, but no wa- June’s referendum vote for Brexit French President Emmanuel Ma- tering down of their demand for and Britain’s departure on March cron in a week when he has spo- tens of billions of euros they say 30, 2019, tensions are building ken to almost all other EU leaders Britain owes. not just between the two nego- including May, off ered a draft British Prime Minister Theresa tiating sides but also within the text saying there is not enough May also indicated that she might bloc of 27. progress but welcoming the ad- make a move at next week’s sum- While hardliners would prefer vances there have been and fl ag- Clinton stands by a commemorative stone at the Swansea mit. less or no talk of a future after ging a hope that the next summit University Bay Campus, where she received an honorary A spokeswoman said that Brexit and more about demand- in December could open trade doctorate at a ceremony yesterday, in Swansea, south Wales. The “there will be more to say there” ing money, others are keen to talks. award is being made by the university in recognition of her on a promise May made last give May, beleaguered at home, In its strongest conclusion, commitment to promoting the rights of families and children month to honour fi nancial com- something to show for the eff ort it proposes that Barnier start around the world, the university said in a statement. mitments when Britain leaves. May ‘is so weak at the moment she can do nothing’, a European to compromise she displayed in working out internally – without Both sides are making the diplomat has said. a speech at Florence last month. negotiating with London – what moves to end an apparent stale- One diplomat called the draft will happen after Brexit. mate in talks on Britain’s leaving off er is conditional on Britain enemy” at one point, but then a “search and rescue mission” to Barnier himself has sought the EU. making progress toward agreeing apologised. help the British premier out of a fl exibility to break the deadlock, Clinton: Brexit vote At heart is a proposal by sum- Brussels’ terms. He said he regretted his choice jam. diplomats say. mit chair Donald Tusk to tell May “Time is running out”, Ger- of words and had meant to make Another said it was a bid to “If this is the concession May next week that the EU will start man Chancellor Angela Merkel’s the point that the UK cabinet break “stalemate” and avert needs to be able to make a move was a precursor to internal work on a post-Brexit spokesman had warned after should be united against the oth- “disaster” over the winter. on fi nancial settlement, let’s try transition plan. week of stalemate in negotia- er side. “Some states were not very it,” said a diplomat from one of “This is a very big gesture to- tions and faction-fi ghting within However, his characterisation happy about this but what else Britain’s close EU trading part- US election defeat wards Britain, maybe way too May’s government that have of the EU as an enemy risked fur- can we do?” the diplomat added. ners. “She is so weak at the mo- big,” a senior EU diplomat said raised concerns that talks could ther souring relations between “We are trying to reach out.” ment she can do nothing. And we ahead of an evening meeting of collapse, leaving Britain bump- Britain and Brussels at a time But then the diplomat added: need the money.” Former US secretary of US election and the EU refer- envoys from the 27 remaining ing out into legal limbo in March when both sides are now bracing “They must come up with some- Despite protestations of unity, state says false claims of endum. states to discuss Tusk’s draft for a 2019. for Brexit without a deal. thing on the money.” some diplomats detect nuance EU referendum campaign The Information Com- statement to be made after lead- Hammering the point, EU His remark came as he defend- Diplomats said Germany and in approaches to the prospect prepared the ground for missioner’s Offi ce in the UK ers meet in a week’s time. chief executive Jean-Claude ed himself against accusations France co-ordinated on Friday of talks collapsing, with those Donald Trump win launched an investigation into Ambassadors broadly agreed Juncker said in Luxembourg: from hardline Brexit supporters to limit any watering down of countries with most to lose from the fi rm after complaints the the plan on Friday despite scep- “They have to pay. They have to who say he is soft on Brussels. the EU position – that its nego- trade barriers with Britain most By Damien Gayle Leave.EU campaign, backed by ticism, including from power- pay.” Businesses planning invest- tiator, Michel Barnier, cannot so keen to avert a meltdown. Guardian News & Media the former UK Independence house Germany. Underscoring tensions, Brit- ment decisions are calling for a much as mention to his British Essentially that means its near Party (Ukip) leader Farage, had They requested some harder ish fi nance minister Philip Ham- clear idea by the new year of how counterparts – on what might neighbours like the Nordic states, not declared the role of Cam- language to ram home that any mond referred to the EU as “the the split and subsequent years come after Brexit until leaders the Netherlands and Ireland. illary Clinton has said bridge Analytica in its cam- the vote for Brexit, and paign. Hspecifi cally the false The same fi rm, of which claims made in the EU refer- Trump’s former chief strat- endum campaign, were a fore- egist, Steve Bannon, was a runner of her defeat to Donald board member, earned £5mn Six-month minimum Trump in last year’s US presi- from the Trump campaign for a dential election. contract trying to swing voters. During an interview for BBC Clinton’s campaign and sentence proposed for One’s Andrew Marr Show, she those of Barack Obama in pre- said: “Looking at the Brexit vious years also employed be- vote now, it was a precursor to havioural profi ling companies. repeat acid off ences some extent of what happened Dominic Cummings, the di- to us in the United States.” rector of the Vote Leave cam- Referring to “the amount of paign, said it owed “a great ‘Two strikes’ rule, mirroring The full Home Offi ce consul- fabricated, false information deal of its success” to a £3.5mn regime for knife crime, is part tation document, published yes- that your voters were given by contract with AggregateIQ, of proposals to counter threat terday, reveals that the proposed the leave campaign”, she said: which specialises in targeted of acid attacks crackdown will also see those “You know, the big lie is a very Facebook advertising and pro- who are convicted for a second potent tool, and we’ve some- fi ling. By Kevin Rawlinson time face a mandatory minimum what kept it at bay in western “We couldn’t have done Guardian News & Media sentence. democracies, partly because of it without them,” he said in The approach will be modelled the freedom of the press.” March. on a system rolled out in 2015 for “Obviously there have al- Clinton also said that the UK nyone caught twice pos- off enders repeatedly caught with ways been newspapers who would be put at a “very big dis- sessing corrosive sub- knives. leaned right or leaned left and advantage” if it failed to secure Astances without a good The minimum sentences were they kind of counterbalanced a Brexit deal. reason will automatically face introduced for those aged 16 each other,” she said. “But She said the country could a prison sentence of at least six and older who are convicted of a given the absolutely explosive not pin its hopes on a deal with months under government pro- second or subsequent off ence of spread of online news and sites Trump, who “doesn’t believe posals to counter the threat of possession of a knife or off ensive that have sprung up that are in trade” and was close to pull- acid attacks. weapon. very eff ective at propagating ing out of Nafta, the US’s free The “two strikes” rule would The punishment is at least six false stories, we’ve got some trade deal with Canada and mirror the regime for those con- months’ imprisonment, which thinking to do ... there has to Mexico. victed of more than one knife can include suspended terms for be some basic level of fact and The prospect of no deal possession off ence. adults, while young off enders evidence in our politics. Well, between the British govern- In addition, online retailers face a minimum four-month de- frankly, in all parts of our so- ment and Europe has as- face criminal proceedings un- tention and training order. ciety.” sumed prominence after talks der the proposals if they deliver Judges must impose the mini- Activists in central London protesting against acid attacks and motorcycle theft. The EU referendum and in Brussels continued to be knives to a buyer’s home, in a mum sentence unless there are the US presidential election deadlocked over the scale of measure aimed at clamping down particular circumstances relating unpleasant to the victim but the The home secretary, Amber “All this consultation will do is campaigns last year were both Britain’s fi nancial obligations on the sale of blades to children to the latest off ence, the previ- eff ect is not lasting”. Rudd, said: “All forms of violent defi ne the off ence a little more,” marked by a slew of dubious to the bloc. and teenagers. ous off ence or the off ender which A new off ence to stop the sale crime are totally unacceptable, said Rachel Adamson of the law claims calibrated to appeal to “I mean, no deal meaning The steps form part of a drive would “make it unjust to do so in of acids and the most harmful which is why we are taking ac- fi rm Slater and Gordon. “It may key sections of the electorate, no preferential trade deals, to tackle violent crime following all the circumstances”. corrosive substances to people tion to restrict access to off en- be that some courts are reluctant and targeted social media ad- which means products in Brit- a surge in off ences recorded by The consultation document younger than 18 is also being sive weapons and crack down on to call [a corrosive substance] an vertising. ain would not have the kind of police. says it is not intended that “cor- weighed up. those who carry acids with the off ensive weapon, so this might Fingers have been pointed easy access to the European After a series of high-profi le rosive substance” will be defi ned Police recorded 408 attacks intent to do harm.” make it easier. at the role allegedly played by market that you’ve had under incidents, the government an- in legislation, as the off ence using corrosive substances be- The proposals relating to on- She said the “two strikes” pro- Russia, but domestic actors are EU membership,” Clinton said. nounced plans to create a new “must be fl exible enough to cover tween November 2016 and April line sales of knives and posses- posal already existed and could also implicated. “It could very well mean that off ence of possession of a corro- a range of possible situations: this year. sion and sales of corrosive sub- be used to cover cases of posses- Clinton noted that Nigel there would be more pressure sive substance in public without from someone possessing a cor- “The use of corrosive sub- stances apply to England, Wales sion of a corrosive substance – Farage had campaigned for on businesses in Britain, if not a good or lawful reason. rosive substance in a public place stances as a weapon is centuries and Scotland. and that the existing sentencing Trump as well as for Britain to leave completely, at least to Currently, corrosive substanc- that if used as a weapon can leave old, but whilst the number of of- One lawyer suggested that the guidelines were similar. leaving the EU. also have sites and employ- es are treated by prosecutors as life-changing injuries; through fences is relatively small, we are powers already existed under “If anything, it would be bet- Questions have been raised ment elsewhere in Europe,” off ensive weapons, possession of to someone using a less harm- concerned about its increasing the current law that makes pos- ter if they put it in the sentenc- about the role of Cambridge she added. “I think that the which carries a maximum sen- ful corrosive substance which if use as a weapon,” the document session of an off ensive weapon a ing guidelines as an aggravating Analytica, a data mining and disruption for Britain could be, tence of four years in prison. used as a weapon can still be very says. crime. factor.” analysis company, in both the you know, quite serious.” Former education secretary Morgan to lead inquiry into student loans

Nicky Morgan to chair The House of Commons’ £21,000 a year to £25,000. ture developments closely.” take action on student debt and The system introduced since Any debt or interest remaining committee examining Treasury select committee, The Institute for Fiscal Stud- The Treasury committee is to “undertake a major review of 2012 means undergraduates take unpaid 30 years after graduation university costs in England which Morgan chairs, will next ies (IFS) has estimated that the to scrutinise the recent changes university funding and student out loans of £9,250 per year for is written off by the government, and the possible introduction week launch an investigation into changes will shift the cost of to student loans, including the fi nancing”. tuition fees, and maintenance leading the system’s supporters of a graduate tax the system of student loans, a higher education by £2.3bn a year repayment thresholds, interest But since then there have been loans of up to £8,400 a year for to argue that the funding does subject transformed into a major from graduates to taxpayers, with rates, level of tuition fees and the no details of a review taking students living away from home not strictly qualify as debt or By Richard Adams political issue by the steeply ris- 83% of recent graduates unlikely impact on student fi nances. place. outside of London (and £11,000 loans. Guardian News & Media ing levels of debt carried by grad- to repay their income-contin- But the committee will also The inquiry was backed by the in London). The Treasury committee’s fi rst uates after leaving university. gent loans in full. look at more controversial areas, Russell Group of leading research Graduates have to pay interest hearing will be held on Wednes- Morgan’s inquiry comes after “Student loan debt is projected including the viability of a gradu- universities. on the debt while studying and day. icky Morgan, the former Theresa May announced changes to be around £160bn within six ate tax to replace the loans sys- Tim Bradshaw, the group’s after graduation, of up to 6.1% The inquiry will run alongside education secretary, is to to funding and repayments for years, and the government has tem, as well as the government’s acting director, said: “I have pre- based on income. similar hearings being run by the Nlead an inquiry into the undergraduates in England, by announced that it will review the plans to manage and eventually viously called for the interest rate But they only have to make re- House of Lords’ economic af- rising costs of the controversial freezing tuition fees at their full- whole student fi nance system,” sell its stock of student loans. attached to student loans to be payments worth 9% of their in- fairs committee, which will hear student loans system in England time level of £9,250 a year and the former minister said, adding: In her speech to the Conserva- looked at again and am pleased come above £25,000, while those evidence from Martin Lewis, the and its possible replacement by a raising the income level that trig- “The committee will scrutinise tive party in Manchester confer- that this will be considered by the who earn less than £25,000 pay personal fi nance guru, on Tues- graduate tax. gers graduate repayments from the current system and any fu- ence this month, May pledged to committee.” nothing. day. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 15 EUROPE

Former Vatican hospital Catalan talks ‘would aim president convicted at independence’: offi cial

Reuters AFP told members of his Esquerra Rajoy has said Madrid will start ment who want the region to Vatican City Barcelona Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) taking direct control over the break away immediately. party in Barcelona. semi-autonomous region. Adding to tensions, Catalonia The wealthy region’s drive to As the stand-off drags on, is deeply divided over independ- he former president of a senior Catalan offi cial break away from Spain has un- dozens of companies have ence, and those who want to stay Vatican-owned hospital said yesterday that an of- leashed the country’s worst po- moved their legal headquarters in Spain are increasingly making Tin Rome was convicted A fer of talks with Madrid litical crisis in a generation. out of Catalonia, and concerns their voices heard, having staged yesterday of abuse of offi ce for over his region’s independence After staging a banned refer- are rising that the crisis will two mass rallies in just fi ve days. diverting nearly half a million push was aimed at negotiating endum on October 1, in which severely damage the region’s “The Spanish government is dollars of funds to renovate a top secession from Spain, not halt- separatists say 90% of people economy and even dampen rejecting every day,” the chance cardinal’s luxury apartment. ing it. voted for secession, Catalan Spain’s growth prospects. of international mediation in the The Vatican court, a three- The central government has president Carles Puigdemont Spain’s deputy prime minis- crisis, Junquera said. judge panel, gave Giuseppe given the Catalan president said last week that he had ac- ter Soraya Saenz de Santamaria But Madrid has never counte- Profi ti a one-year suspended Carles Puigdemont until next cepted a “mandate for Catalo- warned on Friday that if “there nanced talks on a push it insists sentence. Thursday to abandon designs on nia to become an independent is no quick solution, we see our- violates the constitution. The prosecution had asked for independence, failing which it state”. selves having to lower economic It is ready to invoke article three years for the former head may trigger unprecedented con- He immediately suspended forecasts for 2018”. 155 of Spanish law, a never-be- of the prestigious Bambino Gesu stitutional steps that could see the declaration, however, osten- The International Monetary fore-used provision that allows hospital. Madrid take control of the semi- sibly to allow time for dialogue Fund has also voiced concern Madrid to take direct control of Junqueras: We need to be clear that the best way of achieving an It also reduced the serious- autonomous region. with Madrid. and ratings agency Standard and its devolved regions if it deems independent republic is to talk to everyone, including the ness of the charge against Profi ti Puigdemont’s number two Prime Minister Mariano Ra- Poor’s said the region’s economy them to be acting against the international community. to abuse of offi ce from the initial Oriol Junqueras said yesterday joy, who has repeatedly said that risked sliding into recession if national interest. embezzlement. that dialogue with the central Catalan independence is not up the crisis persists. The head of Rajoy’s Popular by the Monday deadline, but it is essary measures to return to Massimo Spina, the hospital’s government “must have at its for discussion, responded by Spain’s Association of Reg- Party in Catalonia, Xavier Gar- thought the Catalan leader could normality,” said Interior Minis- treasurer, was acquitted. heart the formation of the (Cat- giving Puigdemont a deadline to istrars said on Friday that 540 cia Albiol, said on Friday that deliver what the central govern- ter Juan Ignacio Zoido Alvarez. Testimony at the trial, which alan) republic and our commit- make up his mind. fi rms had sought to relocate measures could include chang- ment deems another “ambigu- Junqueras, who is under in- began in July in the city-state’s ment to independence”. The journalist-turned-pol- their legal addresses from Cata- ing the structure of the local ous” response to the question of vestigation for civil disobedi- courtroom, again exposed the “We need to be clear that the itician now has until tomorrow lonia between October 2 and 11. Mossos d’Esquadra police force, independence. ence, abuse of offi ce and misuse lack of transparency in the fi - best way of achieving an inde- morning to declare Catalonia Puigdemont is under pressure as well as imposing more direct “If that’s the case, that will of public funds over the referen- nancial handling of Vatican as- pendent republic is to talk to independent or not. from Madrid and EU states to re- rule over education. show that he doesn’t want dia- dum, said that Catalans needed sets in Italy, where it owns nu- everyone, including the inter- If he does, he has until Oc- main part of Spain but also from Offi cials in Madrid are waiting logue and so the Spanish gov- to be united “for the good of merous institutions and much national community,” Junqueras tober 19 to change his mind or his allies in the Catalan parlia- to see what Puigdemont decides ernment will need to take nec- (Catalonia)”. real estate. Profi ti and Spina were charged with spending €422,000 ($481,000) in 2013 and 2014 on refurbishing the large Vatican retirement home of Cardinal AfD member triggers book fair fracas Tarcisio Bertone, the Holy See’s former number two. His retirement apartment, DPA release of the book Mit Linken Police were forced to inter- weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit which has a huge terrace and Frankfurt leben (Living with Leftists) by the vene. (Young Freedom). breath-taking view of the dome Antaios publishing house. Later, a second reading by two A spokeswoman for the of St Peter’s Basilica, has become Protesters demonstrated authors from the right-wing ex- Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s a symbol of the diffi culty of the n appearance by a mem- against the event with banners tremist Identitarian Movement largest trade fair for books and frugal-minded Pope’s eff orts to ber of the far-right Alter- and chants of “Nazis out!” while was abandoned because of loud the publishing industry, con- rein in the luxury some church Anative for Germany (AfD) Hoecke’s supporters responded protests. fi rmed yesterday that a member leaders still enjoy. party, Bjoern Hoecke, at a book with “Everybody hates the An- On Friday, a violent incident of the audience at the reading Bertone, 82, was the Vatican launch led to raucous scenes at tifa”. took place at the book fair when had attacked Achim Bergmann, secretary of state, eff ectively the Frankfurt Book Fair yester- Antifa, a contraction of the a music executive was punched head of Trikont record label. the deputy pope, for most of the day afternoon. word anti-fascist, is a radical in the face during a reading at Bergmann is believed to have pontifi cate of former pope Ben- Hoecke was attending the left-wing movement. the stand of a right-leaning made a passing comment during edict and was one of the most the reading that prompted the powerful men in the Roman attack. Catholic Church. The audience member was He was removed from offi ce briefl y detained in order to con- in 2013, eight months after the fi rm his personal details, the election of Francis. spokeswoman said. The renovation started a few Bergmann was treated for his weeks later on the spacious injuries in hospital and is press- property, which is next door to ing charges. the Vatican guest house where Munich-based label Trikont, Pope Francis lives in a modest originally founded 50 years ago suite. as a book publisher, is now en- Bertone hired the construc- tirely devoted to music produc- tion fi rm of a friend to do the tion. reconstruction work, bypassing The presence of right-wing the customary bidding process, publishers at this year’s book and made a down payment with fair has stirred controversy and his own money. protests. The company eventually Antaios and other right-wing went bankrupt but the founda- publishing houses have accused tion that runs the hospital sent the fair’s organisers of not off er- €422,000 to a London-based ing their stands enough protec- company affi liated with the con- tion from left-wing activists. struction fi rm. A visitor stands in front of the stand of online encyclopedia On Thursday night, the stands Neither Bertone nor the owner Wikipedia at the Frankfurt Book Fair. belonging to the magazine Tu- of the construction company he mult and Manuscriptum pub- had hired were called to testify at Right: Visitors take a virtual reality ride called The Fair Grounds at lishing house were emptied by the trial. ‘The Arts+’ section of the Frankfurt Book Fair. unknown trespassers. German minister upsets party allies over holiday talk

Reuters years are also Muslims. gionalwolfsburg.de he also said tivals they wanted but added: Christian nature “and don’t have Berlin Speaking on the campaign trail Germany’s public holidays were “Whether the state should also any other roots”. ahead of an election in the north- generally Christian, and should protect non-Christian holidays The constitution sets out that ern state of Lower Saxony due remain that way. with legal regulation in future is Germany’s individual states de- erman Interior Minister today, de Maiziere – a member His proposal prompted a back- a diff erent issue entirely.” cide on religious public holidays Thomas de Maiziere has of Merkel’s Christian Democrats lash from fellow conservatives, Alexander Dobrindt, a senior so the federal interior minis- Gupset fellow members of (CDU) – said that he was open to who are due to start tricky three- fi gure in the Christian Social Un- ter has no infl uence on whether Chancellor Angela Merkel’s con- certain regions of Germany hav- way coalition talks with the lib- ion (CSU) – the Bavarian sister there should be Muslim public servative bloc by proposing that ing Muslim public holidays. eral Free Democrats (FDP) and party of Merkel’s CDU – told the holidays, she added. Germany introduce Muslim pub- He pointed out that All Saints’ the Greens next week. same newspaper that Germany’s She said the northern city lic holidays. Day was only a public holiday in The conservatives won a Sep- Christian heritage was non-ne- states of Hamburg and Bremen Germany is home to around Germany’s Catholic regions and tember election but suff ered gotiable, adding: “We won’t con- had signed agreements with 4.5mn Muslims, many of whom added: “In places where there their worst result since 1949 as sider introducing Muslim public some Muslim organisations so have a Turkish background. are many Muslims, why can’t we they lost support to the far-right. holidays in Germany.” that Muslim pupils could have Many of the more than a mil- think about introducing a Mus- Senior CDU member Wolfgang A spokeswoman for the interi- such time off school and workers lion migrants who have arrived in lim public holiday?” Bosbach told the newspaper Bild or ministry said that de Maiziere could take holidays for festivals De Maiziere: In places where there are many Muslims, why can’t we the country from the Middle East In a speech posted in an audio that everyone in Germany could remained of the view that Ger- important to Islam, adding that think about introducing a Muslim public holiday? and elsewhere over the last two clip on local news website re- celebrate whatever religious fes- many’s public holidays were of a some other states did the same.

FDP doesn’t expect coalition before Christmas ‘Gross mistakes’ in run up to Berlin Christmas market attack comings, a revelation that is subject to a criminal A senior member of the pro-business Free migrants, tax, European Union reform, and An investigation into a truck rampage through a happened,” said former prosecutor Bruno Jost in investigation. Democrat (FDP) party that is likely to be a the environment. Berlin Christmas market pointed on Thursday to a presenting the 72-page report. Six months before the carnage in Berlin, Amri had partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new Asked whether the parties could work catalogue of “gross mistakes” by security services in Berlin police who had been tipped off that Amri been arrested in the southern city of Friedrichshafen government said in a magazine interview together, FDP deputy leader Wolfgang the lead-up to the deadly attack. was a potentially violent extremist had conducted carrying two fake Italian passports. that he did not expect the coalition to form Kubicki told news magazine Der Spiegel: The scathing report found that authorities had surveillance only on weekdays, taking off weekends However, he was held for just two days, although the before the end of the year. “It can succeed. The most important thing missed several opportunities to arrest and deport and public holidays, he said. authorities could plausibly have “taken him out of Next week Merkel’s conservatives – who is that trust needs to be built between the driver, Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri, long And they dropped their observation altogether after circulation for three or four months” during which remain the biggest bloc in parliament participants and that takes time. That’s why before the attack that claimed 12 lives last Decem- the first few weeks, judging Amri to be just a small- time he may have been expelled to Tunisia, Jost said. despite losing support to the far-right in a it would be illusory to believe we could ber. time drug dealer. Instead, Amri went on to stage the December 19 September election – are due to start talks conclude negotiations by Christmas.” The 24-year-old, who had previously been jailed in Although Berlin police could have arrested Amri on attack, murdering a Polish truck driver before he on forming a tricky “Jamaica” coalition with Speculation is rife that the FDP will demand Italy, had been in touch with religious extremists and drugs charges, he slipped through the net largely ploughing the vehicle into a crowd, killing 11 more the FDP and the Greens. the post of finance minister as a price for sold drugs in Berlin, had managed to escape detec- because of miscommunications with the prosecu- people and wounding almost 100. The alliance, which derives its name from the joining a “Jamaica” coalition and Kubicki said tion by skipping across German state lines and using tion service, he said. Amri, who had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State three parties’ colours matching the Jamaican it was up to FDP leader Christian Lindner to diff erent identities. And after the attack, the police doctored their (IS) group, was shot dead days later by Italian police flag, is untried at national level and is likely to decide whether Lindner would fill that post “Gross mistakes were made that should never have records in an attempt to try and cover up their short- in Milan. be fraught with disagreements on issues like or be FDP parliamentary floor leader. Gulf Times 16 Sunday, October 15, 2017 INDIA

INVESTIGATION COMPASSION WEATHER POLITICS TOURISM Five beaten up by cow Maruti workers help kin Chill sets in hills of BJP not anti-women, Kumarakom seeks vigilantes in Haryana of jailed ex-colleagues Himachal Pradesh says Sushma Swaraj global recognition

Five Muslim men in Haryana were attacked The Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union (MSWU) yesterday Winter chill has set in Himachal Pradesh with External Aff airs Minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday A village in the backwaters of Kerala is vying for by cow vigilantes who suspected them of handed over a total of Rs7.15mn to the families of Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district registering a low of slammed the opposition for terming the Bharatiya top honours at the London World Travel Mart. transporting beef, police said yesterday. 13 former company workers who were sentence 4.3 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature in the Janata Party as “anti-women” and said there are After almost a decade of practising ‘responsible They said Isaan Mohamed and his brother to life imprisonment for the 2012 violence at the state, a weather off icial said yesterday. Most of the six women cabinet ministers in Prime Minister tourism’ (RT), the picturesque Kumarakom tourist Shahzad along with Shakeel, Sonu and Azaad company’s Manesar plant. On March 10, Additional prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Narendra Modi’s government. They include two destination is aiming to seek global recognition. Mohammad were beaten up by a mob of cow District and Sessions Judge R P Goel held 31 former Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie, located in mid-hills, in the powerful Cabinet Committee on Security The Kumarakom initiative had been selected as vigilantes on Friday when they were carrying workers guilty of murder and attempt to murder at have been witnessing warm days and slightly chilly (CCS), Swaraj said in Ahmedabad. “No woman one of the 12 RT projects from across the globe. meat in an auto-rickshaw. Yesterday, police the Maruti plant on the evening of July 18, 2012. On nights despite dry weather, the weatherman added. was ever a member of the CCS earlier”, Swaraj A detailed two-year study on the Kumarakom registered a case. “A laboratory test has since March 18, the court sentenced 13 of them to life in Shimla saw a low of 14 and high of 23.4 degrees. The said. “Rivals call the BJP an anti-women party initiative has been submitted along with the established that the seized meat was of buffalo jail. The court also sentenced four others to five- picturesque tourist resort of Manali in Kullu district, but it gave four women chief ministers and four application at the WTM, according to K Rupesh and not cow or its progeny. After the report, year imprisonment and said the sentence already about 250km from Shimla, saw a low of 6.6 degrees. women governors as well,” she said. Swaraj said Kumar, co-ordinator at the Kerala State Responsible 15-20 unknown persons were booked under served by the remaining 14 accused was suff icient. Kalpa, known for growing apples, in Kinnaur district the BJP is far ahead in political empowerment Tourism Mission. Kumar along with Jenefer the Indian Penal Code,” a senior police officer Maruti Suzuki Human Resource Department general recorded a night temperature of 5.6 degrees. The of women. “The party is making every eff ort Bobbin and Harold Goodwin of the International said. No arrest has been made yet, the officer manager Ashwin Kumar Dev was burnt alive and highest temperature in the state was recorded in to resolve issues related to women’s safety, Centre for Responsible Tourism, London carried added. over 50 people injured in the violence. Una town, adjoining Punjab, at 34.6 degrees. empowerment and self-reliance,” she said. out the study with extensive field visits.

Protest against fare hike Kaskar, two others sent SIT releases to judicial custody sketches of IANS Thane, Maharashtra

afi a operative Iqbal Ib- rahim Kaskar and two Massociates were sent to suspects in judicial custody for 14 days in an extortion case in which his two brothers - fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim and Anees - are also co-accused, an offi cial said here yesterday. Kaskar, Israr Ali Sayyed and Lankesh case Mumtaz Sheikh were arrested following a complaint lodged by IANS a Mumbai builder that they had Bengaluru extorted Rs30mn from him in a 38-acre land deal in the coastal village of Gorai. olice probing the murder This is the third extortion last month of journalist-ac- case registered by Thane police Ptivist Gauri Lankesh yester- against the three men since their day released three sketches of two arrest from Mumbai on Septem- men suspected to be her killers. ber 18 by a team led by former “Three sketches of two sus- ‘encounter specialist’ and Thane pects have been made on the Anti-Extortion Cell chief Pra- basis of their description by eye- deep Sharma. witness accounts and the CCTV Another close associate, ‘mat- footage obtained. Two sketches ka’ operator Pankaj Gangar, who of one suspect were made by two allegedly fi nanced the extor- sketch-makers as per eyewitness tion rackets, was arrested from accounts,” Inspector General of Borivali in north-west Mumbai Police (IGP) B K Singh told re- Police release the sketches of suspects in the Gauri Lankesh murder in the same case and is currently porters here. case in Bengaluru yesterday. in police custody. Singh heads a special inves- It is also the fi rst case in which tigation team (SIT) probing the He also said that the gation based on the CCTV foot- the police have shown the three murder. 150-member SIT is carrying out age that was obtained from out- Kaskar brothers - Kaskar, Ibra- Lankesh, 55, editor of Kanna- the investigation “without any side Gauri Lankesh’s residence. him and Anees - and their close da weekly tabloid Gauri Lankesh bias and is hunting for the sus- We have gone through at least 75 associate Chhota Shakeel as ac- Patrike was shot dead outside pects based on the sketches”. terabytes (TB) of video footage cused. her home in Bengaluru on the “We are investigating only on so far from various surveillance But the trio of Ibrahim, Anees night of September 5, sparking the basis of evidence, and are not cameras around the locality.” and Chhota Shakeel has been outrage and nationwide protests. looking at any particular insti- Along with sketches of the shown as “absconding wanted- “We have got video clips of a tution behind these suspects,” suspects, the SIT has also re- accused” since they are said motorcycle rider who is suspect- Singh said. leased to the public two video to be in Pakistan, according to ed to be involved in the commis- Asked if the SIT could fi nd any clips captured through CCTVs Kaskar’s statement to the po- sion of the off ence,” Singh said. link between Lankesh’s mur- around the locality of Lankesh’s lice. Giving an account of the in- der to the killings of rationalist residence showing a motor cycle On October 11, in the fi rst of vestigation conducted over the Narendra Dabholkar who was rider wearing a helmet. the three cases, the Thane police last one month, Singh said the shot dead in 2013, and scholar M Those sharing any informa- slapped the stringent Maharash- suspects, aged between 25 and M Kalburgi shot dead in 2015, he tion that could lead to the killers tra Control of Organised Crime 35 years, were residing in the city said: “Till date, we could not fi nd will be rewarded as announced Act (MCOCA) provisions against for at least one week before they any such links.” by the state government, the SIT all the accused, which will make committed the crime. He said “there is a personal head said. it very diffi cult for them to get “It is suspected that these per- angle, a professional angle, and In September, Karnataka bail. The case pertained to extor- sons stayed in the area near the res- an activist angle” that they are Home Minister Ramalinga tion of Rs3mn and four fl ats from idence of Gauri Lankesh,” he said. probing. Reddy announced that the state a Thane builder. They carried out a “recce” “So far, we have ruled out the government would give Rs1mn Besides the above two cases, around Lankesh’s home prior to professional angle, which has to to anyone providing information the Thane AEC has registered committing the crime, he said. do with her journalism (mean- and clues to Lankesh’s killers. another case of threats and ex- The SIT has interrogated more ing that no professional rivalry “It is due to the public help tortion following a complaint by than 250 people as part of the in- led to her murder).” The team is that we have reached this far in a local jeweller against Kaskar, Members of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party stage a demonstration against the hike in vestigation, Singh added. investigating “all the angles with the probe and could release the who was deported from the UAE metro rail fares in New Delhi yesterday. “We request the public to help a free mind”, Singh said. sketches of the suspects,” Singh in 2003. us fi nd their hideouts in the city.” “We have started our investi- said.

Fissures in Congress over Remove doctor from Kerala shutdown call central team: Stalin Agencies the visit,” the DMK leader said. By Ashraf Padanna a bill banning it but failed to it as “double standards.” Chennai “The gross insensitivity asso- Thiruvananthapuram make it into law. He says patients trying ciated with this statement makes “I have been campaigning to reach hospitals often get one question how a member of a against such disruptive and stranded at railway stations. ravida Munnetra Kazhag- central can make a statement iff erences have sur- violent modes of protests that “The Congress is not a party am leader M K Stalin yes- which reeks of arrogance. Who faced in Congress Party, the CPM and BJP were prac- that indulges in violence, and Dterday criticised a doctor gave him the authority to issue Dwhich leads Kerala’s tising all these years and I will so it should have chosen some from the All India Institute of such a statement of negligible opposition United Democratic continue to do so on Monday,” symbolic but powerful mode Medical Sciences for his com- merit?” Stalin said. Front (UDF), over its call for a said Raju P Nair, convener of of protests instead of adding to ments on dengue and sought his He urged the central team to statewide shutdown tomorrow. the party’s IT cell. the woes of citizens,” Nair said. removal from a central team vis- structure their recommenda- Some leaders feel the call for “I understand most of the Hassan and Chennithala, iting the state to study the im- tions in such a way that the state the “hartal” against the “anti- leaders share my view but re- who announced the shutdown, pact of the disease. government’s request for funds people” policies of the federal strain from making public justify the action saying they Professor of Medicine Ashutosh is honoured. Stalin demanded and state governments were statements. I don’t mind the had made the call, unlike oth- Biswas told reporters on Friday Biswas’ removal from the team for against the principles the Con- party taking action against me ers, well in advance so that that eradication of dengue “is not “creating panic among people”. gress has been professing. on this. Such disruptive strikes people adjust their travel plans in the hands of the government” In Delhi meanwhile, at least 680 They feel the party was miss- hit daily wage labourers the accordingly. which, Stalin said, was “shocking fresh cases of dengue have been ing a chance to present itself as most,” Nair said. They urged shops and busi- and downright disgraceful.” reported in the fi rst week of Octo- one that respects the citizens’ Nair heads the ‘Say No to ness establishments to down “It is indeed a statement of ber, taking the number of people freedom of movement and Harthal’ movement in Kerala shutters, and motorists to keep extreme arrogance and igno- aff ected by the mosquito-borne work unlike their opponents whose volunteers risk their off roads “voluntarily” to sup- rance, unbecoming of a doctor, disease this season to 4,545, ac- the Communist Party of India lives to off er transport services port the cause. which brushes aside the role of cording Press Trust of India (PTI). (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Ja- to people arriving at airports The Kerala High Court has a democratically elected govern- Delhi has also seen a spike in nata Party. and those stranded at railway issued a notice to Chennithala ment to be involved in preventive swine fl u cases. Moreover, M M Hassan, stations. and asked the government to actions to stop the onset of den- Swine fl u has claimed 12 lives president of the state unit of The group has already start- publish steps taken to ensure gue infection, Stalin said.” in the capital this year, Health the Congress had staged a hun- ed an online campaign urging non-disruption of public life. A municipal worker fumigates an area to prevent mosquitoes “Biswas’ statement is coun- Minister Satyendar Jain said. ger strike against shutdowns the people to defeat the “100th Calling the hartal illegal, the from breeding in Chennai. Several cases of the mosquito-borne terproductive to the objective A total of 2,818 cases of swine a few years back and Ramesh hartal” this year and Nair him- court ordered the government virus dengue have been reported from Chennai and adjoining with which the central team has fl u have been reported till Oc- Chennithala, its fl oor leader in self in a Facebook post calls his to ensure that it would protect areas, officials said, with 27 deaths related to the disease being been sent to Tamil Nadu and in tober 12, out of which 620 were the state assembly, had moved leaders’ bluff describing people’s life and property. reported in Tamil Nadu. fact dilutes the signifi cance of traced to residents of other states. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 17

INDIA Villagers reclaim common land with maps, petitions

Reuters most of their need of fodder and “Now we can graze our cattle the poor, while also helping re- creasingly denied. When com- Many were classifi ed as Environmentalists - and even Hastinapur fi rewood, and supplement their without worries, the women and charge groundwater and maintain munities regain control, their “wastelands” or government land musicians - are appealing for the incomes. children need not go anywhere the land’s ecological balance. livelihoods improve, and the land and diverted for quarrying, bio- protection of common land to The lush green grounds teem- else for fodder or fi rewood, and As the population grew and regains its original character, with fuel cultivation, mines and other safeguard livelihoods and protect t took residents of Hastinapur ing with native trees and scrub we earn some money from sell- demand for land rose, commons the soil and water conserved,” he commercial purposes, displacing against climate-change impacts. village in Rajasthan three years were once arid, encroached by a ing produce. It took time, but this were taken over for industrial and told the Thomson Reuters Foun- and depriving local communities. But states can deny these Iof poring over maps, demar- neighbouring village. is our land now, no one can take it development projects, including dation. About half the country’s rural rights, or change the classifi cation cating boundaries, and numer- They are testament to the suc- from us,” he said. roads, mines, power plants and The majority of land confl icts households rely on forests and of commons and take them over, ous petitions and visits to local cess the state has had with restor- Commons make up more than a homes. in India are related to common common land for their livelihood particularly in resource-rich areas offi cials to regain control of their ing the commons even as indus- third of India’s total land area. “Access to the commons and land, according to a study by the activities, and the loss of com- it deems critical for development. traditional common land. trial demand for land rises. They include grazing grounds, its resources has long been a cus- Tata Institute of Social Sciences. mons has hurt farmers, weavers “States do not distinguish be- But the wait - and the eff ort - “Before we got back the land, some forest land, ponds, rivers and tomary right of rural communi- Common land in India has dete- and potters, and triggered migra- tween common land and other were worth it, they say. the women had to walk some other areas that all members of a ties,” said Shantanu Sinha Roy, riorated by about half over the last tion to the cities for jobs. lands, and rarely respect cus- The 87 acres of land now reg- distance to graze the cattle, cut rural community can access and a manager at advocacy Founda- fi ve decades because of encroach- The 2006 Forest Rights Act and tomary usage or communities’ istered to the community have fi rewood, and we had to buy addi- use. tion for Ecological Security (FES) ments, insecure tenure rights for an older law to protect land of in- claims over common lands,” said changed the lives of the 50 fami- tional fodder,” Gopal Jat, a village They provide food, water, fod- which helped Hastinapur regain local communities and a lack of digenous people recognised their Shankar Gopalakrishnan at rights lies because they are now able elder, said as he sat in the shade of der, fi rewood and livelihoods to control of its commons. trust in communities in managing and forest dwellers customary group Campaign for Survival and to safely graze their cattle, meet a leafy jamun tree. rural communities, particularly “But that right has been in- them, according to data from FES. rights to forest land and commons. Dignity. Delhi air quality worsens, to stay ‘very poor’ for next two days

IANS ation by 8pm had crossed the New Delhi ‘very poor’ mark at Pitampura, Dhirpur and Delhi University in the north, Mathura Road in the ir quality in Delhi wors- south, and the Indira Gandhi In- ened yesterday and is set ternational Airport. Ato remain ‘very poor’ over The PM2.5, however, is set to the next 48 hours. increase to 127 units today and According to weather analysts, 125 units tomorrow, according to north-westerly winds blowing SAFAR. at speeds of 10 to 12km per hour The international permissible across Delhi were bringing along limit for PM2.5 is 25 micrograms pollutants from Punjab and per cu m while for India it is 60. neighbouring Haryana. SAFAR offi cials cautioned Satellite images show stubble- people, especially those with burning in parts of Delhi, and heart or lung diseases, the elderly areas in Haryana, western Uttar and children, to avoid prolonged Pradesh and Punjab. or heavy exertion. Medical ex- “Winds are supposed to remain perts are already seeing a surge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad share a light moment in Mokama, Bihar, yesterday. north-westerly till October 18, in the number of patients com- after which there are chances of a plaining about chest pain and cyclonic development in the Bay respiratory issues. of Bengal that changes the wind Beside PM2.5, high ozone level direction to easterly,” Mahesh Pal- - another carcinogenic aspect in wat, director of private weather air pollution - also recorded an forecasting agency Skymet, said. increase at some places across He said easterly winds don’t Delhi, including the North Cam- promise respite either, as the com- pus of Delhi University. PM, Nitish vow to take bined post-Diwali eff ect, stubble- “High ozone levels aff ect lungs, burning in western Uttar Pradesh though a major worry in Delhi is and meteorological conditions are PM2.5. It also depends on several set to increase pollution. other factors like wind direction According to data from the Sys- and speed... whenever there is tem of Air Quality and Weather burning (of stubble), there will be Forecasting and Research (SA- harm to human health,” SAFAR Bihar to new heights FAR), average PM2.5 (particles in project director Dr Gufran Beig air with diameter less than 2.5mm) said. IANS Modi referred to Kumar’s vide autonomy and Rs100bn to shoulder to shoulder and doing said there had been people with level in Delhi till 8pm yesterday Air quality in neighbour- Patna/Mokama demands for development of top 10 public and 10 private uni- everything possible to fulfi ll the “demented mindset” who even was recorded at 122 units, consid- ing Noida fell from ‘moderate’ Mokama and said he respected versities to make them world- dreams of Bihar and the results talked against the need of roads ered ‘very poor’, while on Friday it to ‘poor’ over the past 24 hours, the sentiments of the chief min- class. are visible.” as there were no vehicles to run was 119 units, considered ‘poor’. with PM2.5 almost touching the rime Minister Naren- ister. “I assure you that the cen- Kumar, who also spoke at the Referring to the long list of on them. He said roads bring Yesterday, the PM2.5 situ- red mark. dra Modi and Bihar Chief tral government will walk with university function, said peo- road projects mentioned by Sur- prosperity and development. PMinister Nitish Kumar you shoulder to shoulder to fulfi l ple of the state were keen that face Transport Minister Nitin Referring to Ganga (Ganges), yesterday shared a public plat- dreams of people of Bihar and Patna University is made a cen- Gadkari in his speech, Modi said: Modi said: “If there was no Gan- 5 die in Bengaluru rain fury form for the fi rst time after their take this journey of development tral university. Modi, however, “So many projects to change the ga, I do not know what condition parties came together over two to new heights,” he said. responded by saying that he fate of Bihar can be implemented our land would have been in. We Five people, including two women, Suresh said. Among the victims, Vas- months ago. The prime minister laid the was going beyond the demand in such a short time, we have did not make adequate eff orts (to were killed and a dozen others in- udev, 40, a priest in Ganesha temple Modi said he and the chief foundation stone for four sewer- and was keen that the univer- shown this.” clean it). Saving Ganga is saving jured since Friday as heavy monsoon in Basaveshwarnagar slipped into a minister would take Bihar to new age projects under the Namami sity compete successfully in the Kumar’s Janata Dal-United our future generations. We have rains continued to pound Bengaluru, storm water drain and drowned. The heights of development and he Ganga programme and four na- challenge for 10 public universi- joined again with the Bharatiya to make Ganga clean that will wreaking havoc and flooding sev- fire brigade personnel recovered his announced that infrastructure tional highway projects and said ties and becomes a global-level Janata Party in July after falling also help in improving its fl ow. eral area, an off icial said yesterday. body in an open culvert a kilometre projects of Rs530bn were under- the state was getting gifts worth institution. out with it ahead of the 2014 Lok Hence the government is spend- “Heavy downpour with thunder- away. “Meenakshi, 55, and her daugh- way or completed in the state. Rs37bn coinciding with the fes- In his speech at Mokama, Sabha polls over its projection ing crores of rupees in its clean- storm and gusty winds claimed five ter Pushpalatha, 22, were washed Addressing a rally in Mokama, tivals of Diwali and Chhath. Modi said he was grateful to Ku- of Modi as the prime ministerial liness.” lives since Friday night. A temple away when the flood water entered Modi heaped praise on Nitish Modi, who arrived in Patna mar and his team for their strong candidate. The fallout happened He said cleanliness of Ganga priest, a couple and a mother and their house in a low-laying area at Kumar and said the central and on a day-long visit, earlier ad- support to central schemes. “If after the JD-U and BJP had been will also lead to awareness about daughter died in rain-related inci- Laggere in the western suburbs. state governments were working dressed the centenary celebra- there are diffi culties, he strives together in a coalition for almost the need to preserve other rivers. dents,” Bruhat Bengaluru Mahana- Their bodies are yet to be traced,” tirelessly to fulfi l the dreams of tions of Patna University and to remove them. The state and 17 years. Modi also visited Patna Mu- gara Palike (BBMP) spokesman N said Suresh. the people of Bihar. said the government will pro- central government are working Without taking names, Modi seum during his visit to the state. Parsis say metro will Security forces kill LeT commander in Kashmir desecrate fi re temples AFP the deaths spread, with some Srinagar protesters pelting government forces with stones and shouting AFP posted on Wednesday. The Rs231bn ($3.6bn) line slogans. Mumbai “To keep these holy entities safe called Metro 3 will link Colaba ecurity forces in Jammu Security forces responded from physical and spiritual pollu- in the south to Seepz, a special and Kashmir said they had with gunfi re that left one dead. tion, they are segregated from the economic zone situated 33.5km Skilled a top commander “One man died on way to hos- housands of Parsis have outside world by magnetic circuits north. of a militant group after a fi erce pital after he was hit with a bul- called for the route of which are drawn at the time of The line is expected to be com- gunfi ght yesterday that sparked let,” another police offi cer said, TMumbai’s new multi-bil- their enthronement,” it explains. pleted by the end of 2021. violent protests. adding that at least 15 others were lion dollar metro to be changed “Once the tunnel for the Met- It is hoped it will ease the bur- The gunfi ght is the latest in a wounded during the clashes. so trains and commuters don’t ro is dug under the premises, den on Mumbai’s notoriously string of deadly shootouts be- LeT has been blamed for being pass under fi re temples where the the magnetic circuits will be overcrowded trains and help re- tween forces and suspected in- behind bloodshed in India, most Zoroastrians worship. breached and the negative forces duce traffi c on its heavily con- surgents during an upsurge in notably the Mumbai attacks in More than 7,000 people have of physical and spiritual pollu- gested roads. violence in Kashmir. November 2008 when heavily signed an online petition saying tion will attack the holy fi res with But the project has faced con- The suspected rebel com- armed gunmen battled comman- that building tunnels under two full force, thus diminishing their siderable opposition in court, with mander, named as Waseem Shah dos on the streets of the fi nancial temples, which contain “holy fi re”, spiritual powers.” environmental activists opposing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), capital, killing 166 people. would desecrate their sanctity, Parsis are one of India’s the cutting down of hundreds of was killed after soldiers and Hours after yesterday’s gun- forcing nature to exact its revenge. wealthiest communities, boast- trees to make way for the line. special police forces acting on a battle suspected rebels attacked It claims that part of a tun- ing a number of famed industri- They also object to plans for tipoff surrounded the southern a police convoy in the southern nel will pass directly below the alists including the Tata family a car park on a 30-hectare site village of Litter. Kulgam area, leaving one police- “Sanctum Sanctorum where the synonymous with the fi nancial in Aarey Colony, a biodiversity “In the ensuing gunbattle the man dead. holy fi re is enthroned” of the Wa- rise of Mumbai. hotspot which borders the San- LeT commander and his body- “Reportedly three militants dia temple in the south of India’s But their numbers are rapidly jay Gandhi National Park, home guard were killed,” a police of- attacked. We retaliated. Our commercial capital. dwindling. Across India, where to leopards and other animals. fi cer told AFP, speaking on con- driver received a hit and later The Change.org peti- most Parsis live, their numbers A spokesperson for Mumbai dition of anonymity. succumbed to injuries,” Inspec- tion has received upwards of have halved since 1940 to around Metro Rail Corp Limited was not People watch as the body of Waseem Shah is carried during his Hundreds of local people tor General of Police, Munir 7,290 signatures since being 60,000. reachable for comment. funeral at Heff village in Shopian district yesterday. took to the streets as news of Ahmed Khan told AFP. Gulf Times 18 Sunday, October 15, 2017 LATIN AMERICA

Trudeau: Treatment of women in Mexico is ‘unacceptable’ Venezuelans leaving

Reuters since the previous administra- Mexico City tion declared war on organised drug traffi cking about a decade ago. anada’s Prime Minis- “Mexico and Canada share ahead of today’s vote ter Justin Trudeau has values, and that certainly in- Curged Mexican lawmak- clude gender equality and en- By Margioni Bermúdez But when those protests sub- ers to improve women’s rights, hancing women’s rights,” Pena and Alex Vasquez, AFP sided in July, and the Constituent delivering a sharp rebuke to a Nieto’s offi ce said in a state- Caracas Assembly usurped the power of key trading partner that has ment after a request for com- the parliament, the 31-year-old struggled to curb years of femi- ment on Trudeau’s remarks. technician decided to pack up cide, drug violence and rights The National Citizen Ob- any Venezuelans have and go to the United States. abuses. servatory of Femicide (OCNF), already voted in today’s “I was looking for some change In a visit to the Mexican which uses government statis- Mkey regional elections with the protests, but I was see- capital amid tense talks in tics, reported that 2,735 women – with their feet, taking a one- ing only impunity. I feel that it the United States to save the were murdered in Mexico last way bus ticket out the country wasn’t worth it any more. Any- North American Free Trade year, up sharply from 2,383 the convinced the vote will change one who is leaving the country Agreement (Nafta), Trudeau year before. nothing. doesn’t want to go,” he said by met representatives of hu- UN Women, a branch of the In a Caracas bus terminal, Je- phone from Plantation, Florida. man rights organisations who United Nations, says on its sus Ravelo and his wife Haydee Josue, meanwhile, prepared to briefed him on the violence and website that Mexico has taken jostled in the throng to say fare- take a well-worn bus route out challenges faced by many of the steps in recent years to improve well to their son Josue, follow- of the country, to Ecuador and country’s women. gender equality, but has strug- ing in the footsteps of his elder on to Peru – a seven-day trek In an address at the Mexican gled to fully implement and en- brother who left a week ago. of around 2,750km (1,750 miles) Senate, Trudeau told lawmak- force its own regulations. A yellow, blue and red Ven- which will include fi ve transfers. ers that the stories he had heard Trudeau and his wife arrived ezuelan fl ag was folded in his To save money he has sand- from the rights groups about in Mexico City on Thursday suitcase along with a banner on wiches, sweets, jam, canned the treatment of women were and attended roundtable dis- which friends have written their tuna, a container of melted “unacceptable”, and pressed cussions with non-govern- farewells. cheese, and several litres of wa- for gender imbalances to be ad- mental organisations to discuss He left his architecture studies ter. dressed in an updated Nafta. violence against women, hu- and will take his chances some- His father Jesus, 57, owned a “I challenge you to use your man rights, free speech as well where else. bakery which he had to sell be- position and power to strongly as the risks faced by journalists Several of his professors have cause of infl ation. push for the rights of women and activists. left already. His wife’s jewels, their two and girls in Mexico,” Trudeau Although Trudeau did not “How do I put all my life in a cars and kitchen appliances fol- said. “We must move the nee- give details on how an updated suitcase?” asked the 22-year-old lowed so they could buy tickets dle forward on gender inequal- Nafta could protect women’s as he joined a long line for a bus to out for all of them. ity.” rights, he said that Canada take him across the border. He and his wife will join their Trudeau’s comments serve supports broader inclusion of Ravelo said he prefers to be on children in Peru by the end of the as a reprimand of Mexican women in the world economy. his way before today’s guber- year. President Enrique Pena Nieto’s “We know that the success natorial elections “in case there The fi rst wave of emigrants failure to tackle years of drug of any society depends on the was a problem and I could not get caused by Venezuela’s economic crime. full participation of women out”. crisis were the wealthy, but now Violence against women in across social, economic and The poll is seen as a key test for the poor are leaving too, said so- Mexico has risen dramatically political life,” he added. both President Nicolas Maduro ciologist Francisco Coello. and the opposition who failed “They are seeing for the fi rst to unseat him after months of time that by fl eeing they give International Monetary Fund calls on protests in which 125 people lost themselves a chance to resolve their lives. their problems. There is a feeling Latin America to battle corruption Many opposition supporters that there will be no resolution to like Josue believe they have lost the crisis,” he said. Latin American and Caribbean governments need to crack down on the momentum and have turned There were tears and hugs at corruption in order to make their economies more durable and the a deaf ear on calls to turn out in the bus station. benefits of growth more widespread, the International Monetary huge numbers on Sunday. Mothers like 42-year-old An- Fund (IMF) said on Friday. A big turnout could give the gelica Castro were watching their High levels of corruption correlate with high inequality and weaker Democratic Unity Roundtable children leave for the fi rst time, development, the Fund said in an assessment of the region’s (MUD) opposition coalition vic- saying: “My husband went to economic health. “Weak governance and entrenched corruption are tory in up to 20 of Venezuela’s Chile in February, now my two weighing on inclusive and sustainable growth in Latin America and 23 states, experts say, marking sons of 18 and 21 are going and the Caribbean.” the fi rst time since 2000 that the in a few months I’m going to go High levels of corruption appear to divide the emerging economies ruling socialist party would be with my youngest daughter.” of the region from advanced economies which benefit from better forced to rule a country with so Maria Godoy is saying goodbye rule of law, the report suggested. many opposition governors. to her eldest daughter, an archi- That is most noteworthy in Brazil, where huge graft scandals have But many are confused by tect, who is heading to Peru. brought down top politicians and added to the recent recession. Maduro’s insistence that the “She left my 11-year-old The so-called Odebrecht scandal also contributed to Peru’s slower vote would mean universal ac- grandson here,” she said. growth last year, the Fund said. ceptance of the Constituent A son left for Aruba recently. And Guatemala stands out in Central America with a rise in Assembly which he formed in The main destinations of Ven- corruption scandals. July, packed with his own allies, A boy looks out through the window of a bus reading ‘We take you to Lima, Peru, with connections to ezuela’s bright young things are The region needs to recognise that this – and its link to violence and to wrest legislative power away Buenos Aires and Santiago’ at a station in Caracas. the US, Spain and Italy, according weak rule of law – discourages investment and increases business from the opposition-dominated to a 2016 emigration study. costs, the Fund said. national assembly. protests against Maduro that after going out to march, I feel it the population. There is no single Many of them, like Jesus Rav- He has also made clear that turned some Caracas streets into wasn’t worth it,” he told AFP. cause, but the biggest reasons are elo, hope to return. “I won’t sell incoming governors will have to a war zone between April and Tomas Paez, a sociologist and insecurity and a lack of food and my apartment. If the situation IMF worried over Venezuela situation take an oath of offi ce and “sub- July, angered by a collapse in the an expert on migration, told AFP medicines,” he said. changes, I’ll come back without ordinate themselves” to the oil-dependent economy that that up to half a million Venezue- Among the statistics is Alejan- thinking twice.” The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed grave concerns Assembly that the opposition caused acute shortages of food lans had left the country over the dro Valiente, who used to be in Others, like Valiente, do not. “I on Friday over Venezuela’s unending political crisis, seeing no end refuses to recognise. and medicine. last couple of years. the frontline of the anti-govern- don’t want to go back, not even if to the economic downturn and suff ering of the population. Josue said he took part in the “I have many friends who died “We are talking about 8% of ment demonstrations. there’s a change of government.” Venezuela “remains in a full-blown economic, humanitarian, and political crisis with no end in sight”, the Fund said in a report on Latin American economies. The country’s economy will have contracted by 35% by the end of this year from 2014, and the Fund says the country is headed toward Former A-G has evidence for ICJ case against Maduro hyperinflation, when prices soar uncontrollably every day for a long period. DPA statements on the projectiles ... exacerbated by Maduro’s attempt and have left more than 120 peo- Berlin all these elements in addition to this summer to consolidate his ple dead. Earthquake rumbles southern Mexico witness statements can support power and strip the opposition- The US imposed new fi nan- an indictment,” Ortega Diaz told controlled National Assembly of cial sanctions on Venezuela at A 5.4 magnitude quake struck southern Mexico on Friday, according uisa Ortega Diaz, the out- German international broadcast- its authority with the creation of the end of August against what to the US Geological Survey (USGS). spoken critic of Venezuelan er Deutsche Welle. a Constituent Assembly to re- it called “the Maduro dictator- It was not immediately clear if the tremor was an aftershock from LPresident Nicolas Maduro The former attorney general write the country’s constitution. ship” and its “illegitimate rule” a powerful series of quakes last month that destroyed buildings in who was ousted from her post as said she presented the docu- Ortega Diaz was dismissed af- with US President Donald Trump Mexico City and killed nearly 500 people. attorney general in August, be- ments in Geneva in order to ter she fi led an emergency mo- urging the European Union to The epicentre of Friday’s tremor was just off the coast of Oaxaca lieves she has suffi cient evidence prove extrajudicial executions tion in a Caracas court to prevent follow suit with its own punitive state, in Mexico’s southwest, and it struck at a depth of 59.5km (37 to bring him to trial at the Inter- and other violations by Maduro’s the Constituent Assembly from measures. miles), according to the USGS. national Court of Justice (ICJ). government, Deutsche Welle re- sitting. “I wish for sanctions, which An 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck Oaxaca on September 7 near “Based on all reports and pro- ported yesterday. Protests against the Maduro have no negative eff ect on the the town of Juchitan, flattening thousands of buildings in the humid tocols on autopsies, investiga- Months of political and eco- government have engulfed the population and the society,” Or- market town. tions of the crime scenes, expert nomic turmoil in Venezuela were country since April of this year tega said. Maduro Fugitive Battisti says extradition from Brazil ‘illegal’

By Pascale Trouillaud, AFP dition and “can no longer be re- murder of a butcher, and hav- cree that Battisti should not be Rome has repeatedly sought Rio de Janeiro voked”, the fugitive said. ing helped plan the slaying of a returned to Italy was upheld the the extradition of Battisti, a Battisti also said that he has a jeweler who died in a shoot-out following year by Brazil’s Su- symbol of Italy’s “Years of Lead” four-year-old Brazilian son. which left his 14-year-old son in preme Court. which saw political bombings, onvicted killer-turned Asked about his fears in the a wheelchair. He was freed, sparking outrage kidnappings and killings by ex- author Cesare Battisti case of extradition, he replied: He admits to having been part in Italy. treme left and right groups in the Cbelieves his extradition to “Torture and assassination.” of an armed revolutionary group Police stopped him two weeks 1970s and early 1980s. Italy from Brazil would be illegal He said there were numerous but denies responsibility for any ago at the Bolivian border, al- Brazil’s President Michel Te- and would endanger his life, he times when “I was threatened by deaths. legedly with cash worth several mer is believed to be favourable told AFP in an interview. police, by military, by politicians Having published several thousand dollars – more than is to extradition, but prefers to wait Battisti has been on the run for including the former minister (of critically-acclaimed novels, he permissible to carry in Brazil. for a fi nal decision by Brazil’s Su- more than three decades but has defence) Ignazio La Russa from described himself in a 2011 inter- A judge who ordered him ini- preme Court, according to sourc- lived freely in Brazil for the last This picture taken on October 5 shows Battisti being escorted by the government of Silvio Berlus- view as a reformed man. tially detained said it appeared es at the presidency. few years. police to the headquarters of the Federal Police in Corumba, Mato coni”. France was on the verge of Battisti wanted to fl ee out of fear Battisti, however, expressed He was arrested on October 4 Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Convicted in 1979 of being a handing Battisti back in 2004 of extradition. confi dence that the court will near Brazil’s border with Bolivia member of an armed gang, Bat- when he skipped bail and fl ed to Battisti accuses authorities of rule in his favour when it consid- and later released, but Italy has active in the 1970s. legal,” Battisti, 62, said in an e- tisti escaped from a prison near Brazil, where he lived clandes- laying a trap for him. ers his case, likely on October 24. made a new push for him to be Reports said Brazilian authori- mail received late on Friday in Rome two years later and fl ed to tinely until his 2007 arrest in Rio He said he was with two friends One of the court’s judges, Luiz sent back to face justice. ties were ready to end the protec- response to questions from AFP. France via Mexico. de Janeiro. and that together their cash fell Fux, has blocked any extradition Battisti is wanted for his role tion accorded him under former Battisti cited a decree signed He was subsequently convict- He then spent four years in within the allowable limit. before then. in four murders attributed to president Luiz Inacio Lula da by Lula on the last day of his ed in absentia of having person- custody while his fate was debat- “There was no crime,” said Battisti estimated the chances Armed Proletarians for Commu- Silva. mandate in 2010. ally killed two members of Italy’s ed by politicians and the courts. Battisti, describing it as a shop- that he will be returned to Italy at nism, a far-left extremist group “My extradition would be il- It rejected the Italian’s extra- police forces, taking part in the Lula’s January 31, 2010 de- ping trip. “less than 50%”. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 19 PAKISTAN

JCSC chief US developing ‘much better’ invited to Washington ties with Pakistan: Trump conference Internews IANS ation on many fronts,” Trump zen Joshua Boyle, his wife Cait- US State Department spokes- plaining the current status of Islamabad Washington tweeted. lan Coleman, a US national, and person Heather Nauert said: “I Washington’s relations with On Friday Trump said that Pa- their three children were recov- want to be clear on saying how Islamabad. kistan took “tremendous advan- ered from the custody of terror- grateful we are to the govern- Responding to a question he United States has in- S President Donald tage” of the US over the years, ists by the Pakistan army. The ment of Pakistan. Without their about Pakistan’s role in the res- vited Gen Zubair Mah- Trump has said that his but is now “starting to have a couple were kidnapped in 2012 assistance, this would not have cue operation, she said: “The Tmood Hayat, Chairman Ucountry “is beginning real” relationship. in Afghanistan while on a back- been made possible. It was criti- Pakistani military, acting on Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to develop a much better rela- “Yesterday, things hap- packing trip. Their three chil- cal, and we will certainly not information that we provided, (JCSC), to attend a conference tionship with Pakistan and its pened with Pakistan...They dren were born while the pair forget that.” were able to secure the release of of military chiefs from various leaders”, after Islamabad helped are starting to respect the was in captivity. “Our overall relationship this family. We are tremendously friendly countries, diplomatic rescue an American-Canadian United States of America Earlier, Trump had slammed with Pakistan …We’ve cer- happy to have these folks return- sources said. couple and their three children again,” he said and thanked the Pakistan for its continued sup- tainly had points where that ing, coming home.” The conference, scheduled from the clutches of the Haqqani leaders of Pakistan for “what port to terrorist groups and relationship has had some ISPR chief Maj Gen Asif Gha- later this month, provides a network. they’ve been doing”. warned Islamabad of conse- challenges. That relationship foor, while talking to reporters in US President Donald Trump: much-needed opportunity for “Starting to develop a much “In this administration, we quences if it continues to do so. isn’t going to just turn around Islamabad, said that “no pris- “Yesterday, things happened consultations between the two better relationship with Paki- will call evil by its name,” Trump Trump said the release of the overnight, but this is a ter- oner exchange or ransom mon- with Pakistan...They are starting militaries at a diffi cult time. stan and its leaders. I want to said. couple was a “positive moment” rifi c step in the right direc- ey” was involved in freeing the to respect the United States of Relations between the US and thank them for their co-oper- On October 12, Canadian citi- for US-Pakistan ties. tion,” said Nauert while ex- hostages, according to Dawn. America again.” Pakistan only recently close al- lies in the war against terrorism are on the brink of a break-up and talks between their civilian leaderships have failed to ease the tensions. Bilateral relations, which have PIA’s losses up to $433mn been tense since 2011, reached a new low after the August 21, when US President Donald IANS period, up 91% from Rs6bn in The national carrier has also the airline had a fl eet size of 36 Trump announced his new strat- Karachi the similar quarter of the earlier lost much business on domestic aircraft with 11 777s, 15 A320s, egy for South Asia. year, Dawn reported. routes to international airlines including four on wet lease, fi ve In that speech, President Revenues for the two compa- under the open skies policy of ATR72s and fi ve ATR42s. Trump accused Pakistan of nur- akistan International rable quarters remained almost the government. “The company is in the proc- turing terrorists and encourag- Airlines Corporation fl at. The loss from operations The government has allowed ess of acquiring more aircraft ing cross-border attacks into P(PIA), the national fl ag in the latest quarter jumped to Gulf airlines, particularly UAE on dry lease for which tenders Afghanistan. He also threatened carrier of Pakistan, posted a net Rs7.71bn from Rs2.65bn a year carriers, to operate to and from have been fl oated,” stated a note punitive actions if Pakistan fails loss of $433mn for 2016, a jump ago due to increase in aircraft multiple airports in Pakistan, attached to the quarterly ac- to change its Afghan policy. of 36% over the loss of $310mn fuel costs that amounted to Rs- which is driving up PIA losses. counts. Pakistanis rejected US allega- incurred in the previous year, a 8bn in January-March. The airline has developed a In the last report, PIA men- tions and said that the new US media report said. But the bottom line was new business plan under new tioned that as the major- strategy gives India the licence to The state-run carrier’s ac- hit mainly by an unexplained chief executive offi cer Mush- ity shareholder in the company, use Afghan territory for stirring cumulated losses continued to item marked as “other costs”. arraf Cyan. The plan, besides the government had commu- troubles in Pakistan. soar mainly due to non-stop It amounted to Rs20bn for the giving a new business strategy, nicated that it would extend In late September, however, fl ights on several loss-making quarter, up from Rs18bn a year would also demand a bailout “maximum” support to main- the United States and Pakistan routes, according to a bourse ago. package next week. tain the company’s “going con- started a process of reconcili- fi ling. According to the Tribune, PIA secretary Muhammad cern” status. ation with a meeting between PIA continued to fl y on sev- PIA has decided in principle Shuaib was not available for It was possibly to explain the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan eral loss-making routes to Eu- to temporarily suspend fl ights comment. auditors’ note on the compa- Abbasi and US Vice President Shahid Abbasi: “The masses have always elected political parties that rope and the US. to and from New York, which The airline did not announce ny’s “going concern concept” Mike Pence in New York. have performed well for them.” According to a stock fi ling on alone was causing a loss of any dividend. The stock lost 36 as its liabilities exceeded assets. The second round of talks was Friday, the company’s revenue Rs2.25bn per year, said adviser paisa to close at Rs4.63 a share The company asserted that held in Washington last week, was down 2% to Rs89bn from to prime minister on aviation on the stock market. “PIA continues and would sus- when Foreign Minister Khawaja Rs91bn a year ago. Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Total assets of the airline at tain in the long term as a viable Asif came to US capital to meet The airline also released fi - recently. the end of 2016 stood at Rs- business entity” on the basis of key US offi cials. nancial fi gures for January- PIA was not booking seats 110bn. The notes appended to numerous fi nancial measures Asked after the meetings what PM: Military March. It posted a net loss of for the New York fl ights for No- the accounts for the quarter taken since 2012 to lift the air- message he was taking back to Rs11bn in the three-month vember onwards, it was learnt. ending on March 31 said that line off the ground. Islamabad, Asif said: “Meeting with Secretary of State (Rex Till- erson) went very well. Meeting with (National Security Adviser dictatorship Awareness drive H R) McMaster, I will be a bit cautious about, but it was good. It wasn’t bad I think we need to pursue it more rigorously.” But Moeed Yusuf, a vice presi- always halted dent at the United States Insti- tute of Peace, who moderated Asif’s talk on Thursday, said the impression he got was that “the US-Pakistan relationship is in serious trouble”. progress He warned that “this relation- ship could come to a standstill IANS Taking an apparent dig at the despite neither side seeing this Islamabad army chief for his remarks of the as the preferred option”. country being in “sky high” debt, On Friday, however, various the prime minister said that the international media outlets re- akistan Prime Minister Pakistan Muslim League (N)-led ported that the US and Pakistan Shahid Abbasi yesterday government, in its four years, has have both decided to continue Psaid that military dictator- made the economy stable. their eff orts to mend the rela- ship always halted progress in According to him, the cur- tionship and Washington has the country. rent government was success- planned a several visits to Islam- The prime minister, who was fully completing power projects, abad for further talks. in Karachi on a day-long visit, initiated by the previous govern- US Secretary of Defence was speaking during the inaugu- ment, along with the ones the James Mattis told a congres- ration ceremony of the Pakistan ruling PML-N started. sional hearing last week that International Bulk Terminal at “The previous government the United States will soon send Port Qasim. faced an energy crisis, our gov- two delegations apparently, The prime minister said that ernment has brought stabil- from the State Department and the people of Pakistan should ity in the country and added the National Security Council decide who they want in the 10,000MW to the national pow- to Islamabad. This will be fol- government and who they don’t. er grid,” Abbasi added. lowed up by two more visits, by “The masses have always The Pakistan International secretaries of state and defence, elected political parties that Bulk Terminal at Port Qasim was he added. have performed well for them,” completed at a cost of $285mn But now it looks that Wash- he said, adding that leaders who early this year, according to a ington may send the delegations do not perform well should be statement, and has so far pro- with the two secretaries instead sent home. vided berths to 12 coal ships. It of sending them separately. Since “But the process should be has been dredged to a depth of A woman looks out from a pink rickshaw at a rally to rise women’s awareness in Lahore yesterday. Pink rickshaw rally was held by a the details are still being fi nal- democratic and the people 13m and is capable of handling group of women in Lahore in order to show women equality and empowerment. ised, this arrangement may also should decide,” stressed Abbasi. ships of up to 65,000 tonnes. change. British-era railway station loses battle against time

Internews 250 bridges, but most of the Ali Jan, a conservationist and notion of any impending threat by Afghanistan and has never Foundry and are also more than Tunnel No 3, which is a 1,340ft Peshawar bridges have now vanished away historian, said that it was William was diluted and the project to been used again,” said Jan. a century-old now. long curved tunnel. due to the fl oods in 2010. Still, it Andrew, chairman of the Scinde, extend the railway further than Though it is still an important The old railway station Urging the government to has a historical value. Punjab and Delhi Railways, who Jamrud was shelved. link between the two countries, building is in a dilapidated take notice of the once beautiful hen the elevated metre- “Such historical railway in- for the fi rst time suggested in 1857 But following the third Afghan after the creation of Pakistan, condition, but still worth see- landmark, Jan said that the land gauge railway line of frastructure would have been to extend railway service to Khy- War in 1919, Colonel Gordon R only a safari train ran the tracks. ing. There are also three other around the railway lines should WJamrud railway station declared world heritage if it had ber Pass to counter Russian Hearn (later Sir), planned the “It was perhaps the only train reversing stations on this sec- be developed into a park or a cy- running along the Khyber Pass existed somewhere outside the infl uence in Afghanistan. extension of the track further. that traversed a runway of Pe- tion named Madanak, Changai cling track for the residents of in northwest Pakistan was built country, but here it is gathering In 1883, after the second Anglo- On November 3, 1925, the shawar airport,” said Jan. “The and Tora Tega, but are closed the town on the same pattern as between 1901 and 1925, it was rust,” says Khalid Mehmood, a po- Afghan war, he added, the British railway line up to Landikotal train had to wait for the go- now. The 34 tunnels are sym- the High Line Park in New York. declared ‘lifeline of connectivity’ litical activist of Khyber Agency. engineers constructed the iron railway station was completed ahead signal from the air traf- bols of excellence of British “This road and the related his- between India and Afghanistan. “It is an archaeological jewel girder bridge in Attock and North and on April 23, 1926, it was ex- fi c control, when it was time to engineering. torical sites deserve to be placed More than 100 years old now, that should be protected,” be- Western Railway was extended tended further till Landikhana cross the runway.” According to the salient fea- on record as a landmark in the the 52km Peshawar to Landiko- lieves Mehmood, who conducted from Rawalpindi to Peshawar. Railway Station at the Afghan The unique steam-hauled tures displayed on the signboard history of roads,” Jan said, add- tal railway track has fallen from the fi rst survey of the archaeo- In 1901, the broad gauge was border. In 1926, tracks were laid train was powered by two vintage at Jamrud railway station, the ing, “There is a need to opera- grace from its glory days. It is logical sites of the agency. extended from Peshawar to Jam- up to the border post, but not steam engines (HGS-2-8-0s) longest among these tunnels is tionalise the vintage engines on now worn out and has been lying Lying along the historical Khy- rud, the entry point to Khyber used. nicknamed the ‘Black Beauties’. Tunnel No15, which is 1,540ft alternative routes of Peshawar abandoned since 2006. ber Pass, it was constructed by Agency. “The section to Landikhana The engines numbered 2216 and long with a seven-degree curve. and Attock Khurd and in the fu- This stretch of steel used to the British government for their Jan said that after the Anglo- station was closed on December 2306 were built in Britain in 1913 While two other tunnels - num- ture to Landikotal, so that trundle through 34 tunnels and strategic interests in the region. Russian Convention in 1907, the 15, 1932, following the request by Kingston and Co and Valcon bers 4 and 5 - stand right over history may be preserved.” Gulf Times 20 Sunday, October 15, 2017 PHILIPPINES Duterte warns of ‘revolutionary govt’

AFP dictatorship,” said former House Manila of Representatives member Neri Colmenares, a member of the leftist Bayan Muna (Nation First) hilippine President Rod- party. rigo Duterte has warned Colmenares said the revolu- Phe is prepared to establish tionary government threat was a “revolutionary government” part of Duterte’s “established to fend off alleged eff orts to oust pattern of intolerance to dis- him, fuelling fears of a looming senting voices and his belief that dictatorship. brute force will solve all prob- He issued the warning on state lems”. television late Friday as he railed One of Duterte’s fi ercest crit- against the press, European law- ics, Senator Leila De Lima, is in makers and other critics of his jail on drug traffi cking charges drug war that has left thousands she and rights groups say were dead and led rights groups to fabricated to silence her. warn of a crime against humanity. Duterte has vowed to “de- Duterte said he would resort stroy” another senator who is to a revolutionary government, critical of him, while his allies in Anti-government protesters display placards during a rally against extra-judicial killings, inside the as opposed to martial law that Congress are seeking to impeach state university campus in Manila yesterday.. would require congressional ap- the Supreme Court chief jus- proval, if communists and other tice after she criticised parts of have been murdered in unex- opponents tried to destabilise the drug war. Duterte this week plained circumstances. his rule. threatened to send home all Eu- Many Filipinos continue to “If your destabilisation is ropean ambassadors because he support Duterte, seeing the taking place and there is chaos believed they were criticising the charismatic politician as a sav- already, I will not hesitate to drug war, although his spokes- iour fi ghting corruption and declare a revolutionary govern- man later said the president in- crime. He still enjoys over- ment until the end of my term correctly based his assumptions whelming support in both hous- and I will arrest all of you and we on media reports. es of Congress. can go to a full-scale war against Some 3,000 people defi ed the But opposition has started the reds,” Duterte said, in refer- Duterte: fears of looming dictatorship? president’s warning by joining to build, with the infl uential ence to communist rebels who a rain-soaked street protest in Catholic Church and leftist have waged a nearly 50-year in- ernment soon after leading a To prevent a recurrence of a Manila yesterday, where they groups taking a prominent role surgency. “People Power” uprising in 1986 dictatorship, the post-Aquino called on Duterte to “stop the in speaking out against his drug Duterte alleged the US Cen- that ended the dictatorship of constitution limited presidents killings” and to disclose what an war. tral Intelligence Agency was part Ferdinand Marcos. to a single term of six years. opposition senator alleged were The Philippine military, which of a plot to destabilise him, and Aquino sacked all elected of- Duterte’s critics fear the his secret bank accounts. backed Marcos until the last warned he would jail all of his fi cials, abolished Congress and 72-year-old, who has repeat- Duterte was elected last year days of his dictatorship, did not opponents as well as the com- tore up the 1973 constitution in edly threatened to impose mar- largely on an incendiary law- respond to AFP’s request for munist leaders. favour of a provisional charter. tial law, is intent on dragging and-order platform in which comment on Duterte’s warn- “I will declare a revolutionary But she then ensured a new the country back into dictator- he promised to eradicate ille- ing, while congressional leaders government, you are all arrested. constitution was written and ship and handing himself more gal drugs in society by killing could not be reached for com- I am not scaring people, just re- stepped aside after elections in freedom in prosecuting his drug 100,000 people. ment. member that,” he said. 1992. war. Since he took offi ce 15 months Asked for comment, Supreme Senator Antonio Trillanes III, speaks before anti-government Duterte cited the precedent She is revered by many Filipi- “Defi nitely, what it all means ago, police have reported killing Court spokesman Theodore Te protesters during a rally against extra-judicial killings, and launching set by Corazon Aquino, who es- nos who see her as a heroine of is that he alone will rule and 3,850 people in anti-drug opera- said yesterday: “We don’t com- of a group urging President Rodrigo Duterte to sign a waiver of his tablished a revolutionary gov- democracy. we’re going back to the Marcos tions while thousands of others ment on political statements.” bank accounts, inside the state university campus in Manila. President says Marawi Court junks watchdog’s Airport plea over historic building closed fi ghting ‘almost over’ after Manila Times The decision was penned structs the gaming facility, Manila by Associate Justice Ramon and sub-leased 6,500 square By Catherine S Valente Duterte earlier said that government planned Ramon Garcia and was con- metres of the property to Pag- accident Manila Times to finish the battle with the Maute group last curred in by Associate Jus- cor. September but that did not materialise. he Court of Appeals tices Leoncia Dimagiba and The CA said the ruling of In a chance interview on Wednesday, Defense (CA) has junked a pe- Jhosep Lopez.The court ruled the Manila city government to DPA he end is near for the confl ict in Marawi Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said security forces Ttition fi led by the Vol- that the VACC should have enter into an agreement with Manila City, President Rodrigo Duterte said, as the are exhausting all means to end the armed con- unteers Against Crime and fi led fi rst the case with the a private corporation is not Tmilitary makes its fi nal push to liberate the flict in Marawi City “within the next few days.” Corruption (VACC) that seeks Regional Trial Court, which considered a judicial, quasi- strife-torn city. to halt the conversion of the has jurisdiction over the case. judicial or ministerial action Philippine plane carrying In an interview aired over state-run PTV4, “We are also suff ering from a severe case historic Army and Navy Club The group had sought to that can be a subject of a peti- more than 180 passengers Duterte claimed the Marawi conflict was “almost of terrorism. We’re coping up. We hope that in Manila into a hotel and a stop Oceanville Hotel and Spa tion for certiorari. Aveered off the runway in over” but added the government forces could not it would be fi nished in about one week. casino gaming outlet, now Corp. from building the Rizal “The City of Manila’s ex- Iloilo City in the central Philip- advance their offensives against the terrorists We have suff ered casualties, the biggest so known as the Rizal Park Hotel, Park Hotel. ecution of the lease contract pines causing the closure of air- because they have to consider the lives of the re- far in my present year. And I am sad that and owned by businessman Respondents in the petition with Oceanville Hotel and Spa port operations yesterday. maining hostages. terrorism has arrived in my land” Simon Paz. were the city government of does not fall within the am- The Civil Aviation Authority He said it could have been easier for the state In a two-page resolution Manila, Philippine Amuse- bit of judicial, quasi-judicial of the Philippines (CAAP) issued forces to “drop a hundred bombs” in places On Monday, Armed Forces of the Philippines dated September 7, 2017 but ment and Gaming Corp. or ministerial function as the a “Notice to Airmen” saying the where the extremists were still holed up, but he spokesman Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr said released just recently, the (Pagcor), National Historical same is within its preroga- airport will be closed until early chose to end the battle “peacefully.” government forces were still engaged in a fire- CA’s former 15th Division, Commission of the Philip- tive, powers and authority in evening yesterday after a Cebu “It (Marawi crisis) is almost over. Almost is be- fight with around 40 to 50 fighters. dismissed VACC’s motion for pines, Oceanville Hotel and the exercise of its executive Pacifi c plane from Manila ended cause of the lives of the hostages,” the president On May 23, Maute fighters stormed Marawi reconsideration and stood pat Spa Corp. and Vanderwood function. On this court alone, up on the grassy fi eld on Friday said. City while the military was conducting a man- on junking the petition for Management Corporation. certiorari and prohibition night. “We tried our very best to end this war peace- hunt operation against Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon certiorari and prohibition on The City of Manila has al- will not lie,” according to the All passengers were safely fully. You just drop about a hundred bombs there Hapilon. issues of technicality for vio- lowed Oceanville to lease the court. evacuated. Several domestic and and it’s done, but you know, you have to be very It was believed that the Maute group and Hapi- lating the principle on hierar- property for 25 years. The Army and Navy Club international fl ights have been careful about sensitivity of people,” he added. lon, the purported chief of IS in Southeast Asia, chy of courts. Under the lease contract, was founded in 1898 and de- cancelled following the accident. On Tuesday, the president said he hopes the were conniving to establish an enclave for fight- “Petitioner has not shown Oceanville may sub-lease any clared to be the fi rst American Stranded passengers were di- crisis in Marawi would be resolved in one week. ers in Southeast Asia. any cogent or compelling part of the property. social club in the Philippines. rected to go to Roxas City, some “We are also suffering from a severe case of ter- Duterte, in a bid to thwart the extremists’ plan, reason to warrant a reversal Oceanville later on sub- By 1911, it was moved to its 110 kilometres away from Iloilo, rorism. We’re coping up. We hope that it would placed Mindanao under martial law. The order or even a modifi cation of the leased a part of the Army and new location in the south- to accommodate them in addi- be finished in about one week. We have suffered stays until December 31. aforesaid resolution. Hence, Navy Club for 20 years, com- eastern portion of a landfi ll tional fl ights. casualties, the biggest so far in my present year. Since the Marawi crisis erupted up to Thurs- the dismissal of the petition mencing on November 3, 2014 that had extended the Luneta CAAP and Cebu Pacifi c said And I am sad that terrorism has arrived in my day, 813 terrorists, 160 security personnel and 47 for certiorari and prohibition up to November 12, 2034, to (now Rizal Park) seaward, op- they are doing everything to re- land,” he said. civilians have been killed. must be sustained,” it ruled. Vanderwood, which con- posite the Manila Hotel. move the plane from the area. Poe seeks additional funds for feeding programme

By Bernadette E Tamayo millions of students under Poe said various research of this programme?” Poe asked. erase the backlog in school Manila Times the feeding programme,” Poe done by local groups and in- There are many schools with- canteen and kitchen equip- said. ternational monitors sug- out or lack space for a canteen, ment “would hit two birds “We must invest in the future gested hunger, malnutrition she said. Many more have no with one stone: you will have enator Grace Poe wants an of our youth through proper and stunting—or children who kitchen.“Without these where the equipment for feeding and additional outlay of P2bn nutrition,” the senator added. are short of their age—are still will they cook food for the chil- for teaching.” Sto support next year’s Poe said the additional fund- prevalent in the Philippines. dren?” Poe asked. She said that if the DepEd implementation of the school- ing will be used for the procure- She said the government “The answer lies in confer- is having a hard time spend- based feeding programme, ment of equipment necessary should start treating kitchen ring upon kitchen equipment ing allocations for buildings, which will include the purchase for the establishment of new equipment as a basic education the same status and importance “then perhaps it should divert of kitchen equipment. school kitchens with adequate facility that can be used to feed as books, computers, wash fa- some of the funds in buying She pressed for the addi- storage, and upgrading of exist- kids in school and to teach them cilities,” she said. easy-to-acquire stoves, refs, tional budget to ensure that ing ones. home economics courses. Poe added kitchen equipment ovens.” the 2.5mn “wasted and severe- The Department of Edu- Poe said massive funding does not only prepare healthy Due to procurement prob- ly wasted” school children or cation (DepEd) has allocated for school-based feeding un- food but are teaching tools as lems, the DepEd has been re- those with chronic malnutri- P5.3bn in the proposed 2018 derscores the need for well- well.“They cannot just watch verting to the Treasury unused tion would be properly sup- General Appropriations Act for equipped school canteens and cooking shows on YouTube.” funds and is projected to return ported in 2018. the feeding programme. kitchens.This year, the DepEd “They are essential ingredi- again P21bn in expired and unu- There is a huge backlog in In this year’s national budget, has a budget of P3.93bn to feed ents in cooking classes. tilised appropriations by the food preparation and storage the DepEd allotted P3.9bn to Grades 1 to 6 students one meal Remember that one of the end of this year. equipment in public schools feed 1.8mn students. a day for 120 days. tracks in the K-12 senior high This prompted Poe to seek for “which in turn hamper the lat- The feeding programme tar- This will go up to P5.3bn next school curriculum is voc-tech an increase in the Maintenance ter’s mission to provide educa- gets wasted and severely wasted year. (technical-vocational), of and Other Operating Expenses tion and nutrition,” she said. Kinder to Grade 6 pupils na- “But the question is, are there which culinary arts is one of the fund of a school so it can have a “We need enough facilities tionwide for a total of 120 feed- enough school resources that off erings,” she said. budget to operate school kitch- Poe: seeking aid to combat malnutrition to prepare nutritious food for ing days. will aid in the implementation Poe said a programme to ens and canteens. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 21 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Bangladesh top judge Nepal tops South Asia accused of corruption in reducing Chief Justice Surendra refused to sit with him at the top In a written statement issued Kumar Sinha leave for bench after he was accused of before his departure, Sinha said Australia with concerns over serious crimes such as graft. he was a “bit worried about the the judiciary’s independence The statement said Bangla- independence of the judiciary”, hunger amid a tug of war over the desh President Abdul Hamid expressing dismay over criti- constitutional amendment had called four top judges of the cism he has faced from the gov- verdict scrapping Supreme Court to his palace on ernment over the August ruling IANS The report shows that parliament’s power to sack September 30 and handed over on judicial dismissals. Kathmandu Nepal’s GHI score of 42.5 top judges the documents on “11 specifi c Sinha, who insisted he would in 1992 has dropped to allegations” against Sinha. return to Bangladesh once his 22 in 2017 - implying AFP “They include money laun- leave ends on November 10, re- epal is several notch- that hunger levels in Dhaka dering, fi nancial irregularities, jected claims by the country’s es ahead of its other Nepal have diminished corruption, moral degrada- justice minister that his absence NSouth Asian neigh- signifi cantly tion and other specifi c serious was due to illness. bours in the campaign to re- angladesh’s chief justice allegations,” it said. “I’m not sick. I’m not fl ee- duce hunger, according to the equality contributes to it. has been accused of seri- It said the judges held a meet- ing. I’ll come back,” Sinha said, Global Hunger Index. “To ensure that those who Bous crimes including cor- ing with Sinha over the charges adding that his leave was “in the According to the 2017 Glo- are aff ected by inequality can ruption by the country’s gov- at his residence in Dhaka and at interests of the judiciary”. bal Hunger Index (GHI) re- demand change from national ernment, it emerged yesterday, one stage he even said clearly “I’m fully well, but the way a leased by the International governments and interna- as he departed for Australia that he would step down if they political quarter, lawyers, and Food Policy Research Institute tional organizations and hold expressing his fears for judicial stopped sitting with him in especially some honourable (IFPRI) on Thursday, Nepal them to account, we must un- independence in the nation. court. ministers of the government and saw rapid improvement in re- derstand and redress power The accusations against Later, on October 2, he sought a the honourable prime minister ducing hunger and is nearing imbalances. Surendra Kumar Sinha follow one-month leave from the pres- are criticising me recently over the ‘moderate’ level from the “This is crucial if we are to widespread speculation that ident, who granted the holiday a verdict made me embarrassed.” ‘serious’ category, largely due reach the Sustainable Devel- he had come under pressure to from the next day, it said. Bangladesh’s top bar asso- Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha to a decline in undernourish- opment Goals by 2030 and take leave over a landmark ver- The saga over his leave came ciation has repeatedly said Sinha ment, child stunting and child end hunger forever,” the report dict delivered by his court that just months after he led the was being forced to take leave. “The government has done na brought in a constitutional mortality, the Kathmandu said. went against the government in Supreme Court in scrapping “The Supreme Court Bar As- these activities after putting change allowing the parliament - Post reported. The report combines four August. parliament’s power to sack top sociation thinks he has done enormous pressure on him,” controlled by her Awami League The report shows that Ne- hunger-related indicators The graft allegations emerged judges - a move hailed by law- none of these things willingly,” Abedin said, accusing the party - to remove top judges pal’s GHI score of 42.5 in 1992 – the proportion of under- in a rare statement from Sinha’s yers as a crucial safeguard for a said Zainul Abedin, a pro-op- government of hounding the in 2014. has dropped to 22 in 2017 nourished in the population, own Supreme Court yesterday, secular judiciary in the Muslim- position lawyer who heads the judiciary. But that was overturned by the - implying that hunger lev- the prevalence of wasting which said other top judges have majority nation. association. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi- Supreme Court ruling in August. els in Nepal have diminished in children under fi ve years, signifi cantly. prevalence of stunting in chil- The GHI calculation does dren under fi ve years and the not include higher-income mortality rate of children. countries and countries In Nepal’s context, the re- with small populations. Ne- port shows 8.1% of the popu- Wild elephants pal’s GHI score was in the lation to be undernourished. ‘alarming’ category in 2000. However, Nepal’s child Nepal has been ranked wasting rate has remained un- 72nd out of 119 countries on changed. The share of under- kill four refugees the GHI. Among South Asian fi ve children who are ‘wasted’ countries, Nepal is ahead of is 11.3% while the share of Sri Lanka (84th), Bangladesh children who are ‘stunted’ AFP ing a shack on in a part of the (90th), India (97th), Paki- under fi ve years is 37.4%. The Cox’s Bazar forest where wild elephants stan (107th) and Afghanistan under-fi ve mortality rate is frequently search for food and (111th). 3.6% in Nepal, according to shelter. The GHI considers a score the report. ild elephants killed This is the second time Ro- above 50 as being extremely The data for under-nour- four Rohingya refu- hingya refugees have been at- alarming, 35-49.9 alarm- ishment is from 2014-16, the Wgees including three tacked by wild elephants in ing, 20-34.9 serious, 10-19.9 data for prevalence of wast- children as they were building the area. Earlier two Rohingya moderate and below 9.9 low. ing and prevalence of stunting a shack on forest land in south- - an elderly person and a child The report said that Nepal’s in children under fi ve years is ern Bangladesh yesterday, police - were killed by elephants remarkable achievement in from 2012-16 and the under- said. as they were sleeping in a reducing child stunting be- fi ve mortality rate is from 2015. The incident occurred at Bal- makeshift shelter. tween 2001 and 2011 is associ- The portion of undernour- ukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar dis- An estimated 536,000 Ro- ated with, and likely attribut- ished population has dropped trict, where hundreds of thou- hingya have arrived in Bang- Motorists ride past a sign that reads “Warning - Route for Wild Elephants” near Balukhali camp for Rohingya able to, increased household from 12.6% over a span of sands of Rohingya have set up ladesh since a fresh outbreak refugees in Cox’s Bazar district yesterday. assets, increased maternal ed- seven years. makeshift shelters since fl eeing of violence erupted on August ucation levels, improved sani- Likewise, prevalence of violence across the border in 25 in Myanmar’s westernmost along roadsides, where they rush est offi cial said that clashes be- tend the existing camps around tation levels, and implemen- wasting in children less than Myanmar. Rakhine state. aid trucks for food and other tween animals and refugees were Kutupalong and Balukhali into tation and utilization of health fi ve years has dropped from “They were trampled to death Space at established refugee desperately needed supplies. “inevitable” as the camp areas a refugee city for 800,000 Ro- and nutrition programmes, 12.7% and prevalence of by seven or eight wild elephants. camps in Bangladesh has been The Bangladesh govern- have been a roaming ground for hingya, but the United Na- including antenatal and stunting in children under fi ve They include a woman and three all but exhausted, with new ar- ment has allocated 3,000 acres elephants for centuries. tions has warned such a set- neonatal care. years has come down from children,” Afrozul Haq Tutul, rivals hacking away trees and (1,214 hectares) of forest land “The is a reserve forest land, tlement would be dangerously Despite Nepal’s progress, 49.3% over a span of six years. deputy police chief of Cox’s other vegetation anywhere they to build proper shelters for the frequented by wild Asian el- overcrowded. there are still deep inequalities Similarly, the under-fi ve Bazar, said. can to erect shelters from the refugees but many have already ephants all the time,” he said, The latest violence erupted af- within the country, the report mortality rate, which was Two people were also injured, monsoon rain. set up shacks before the actual speaking on condition of ter Rohingya militant raids on 30 said. “As we fi ght the scourge 5.1% in 2008, has dropped to he said, adding all the victims Many newly arrived refu- construction begins. anonymity. police posts in Rakhine triggered of hunger across the globe, 3.6% in 2015, according to the were Rohingya who were build- gees are camping in the open or A Cox’s Bazar district for- The authorities want to ex- a military crackdown. we must understand how in- report. Lanka’s Central Election panel Bank to help issues 27-point war-hit families directive to govt

Agencies ture, transportation facilities, cohol and alcoholic contents. Kathmandu publicity of election-related Furthermore, the prime in debt trap information from the govern- minister is supposed to take ment media, and the required preapproval from the EC if the he Election Commis- human and fi nancial resource. PM was to use the government Agencies have to look at all the options,” sion (EC) of Nepal has The EC has also directed the helicopter for government Colombo he said. Tissued a 27-point direc- government to stop all aca- works and private ones during Currently, borrowers pay Sri Lanka Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy speaks tive to the government to make demic activities in the schools the political mission. an eff ective interest rate up to during a G24 press conference during the World Bank Group / necessary arrangement in where election is taking place The ministers can use the ri Lanka’s Central Bank “as high as 70%”. International Monetary Fund annual meetings at IMF headquarters connection with the house of for the election day and re- government vehicles in gov- will evolve a programme After Sri Lanka’s civil war in Washington, DC. representatives and provincial building and renovate the ernment works and private Sto help the country’s war- ended in May 2009, among the assembly elections scheduled school buildings where neces- vehicles in political activities aff ected communities tackle the many concerns pertaining to do not create the enabling en- for consumption, and fi nancial for coming November 26 and sary, said Dhakal. after taking a nod from the mounting pressure of house- accountability and reconcilia- vironment for them to service institutions’ aggressive recollec- December 7. As per the decision, the EC EC, adding that the lawmak- hold debt, according to a media tion in the Tamil majority north that credit through fl ows of in- tion strategy, has made matters A meeting chaired by chief has asked the government for ers would be barred from using report. and east was a growing trend of come, clearly you end up in the worse, he said. election commissioner Ayodhi making arrangements to ensure the government vehicles dur- Following a recent visit to the families borrowing loans at high situation we have today.” “The constant refrain we Prasad Yadav took the decision wireless, telephone, fax and ing the election publicity cam- Northern Province to study the rates of interest. In the absence In May this year, the Central heard is ‘please do something to communicate to the govern- other communication tools and paign of any political party and extent of the problem and ex- of livelihood options for a com- Bank said it would study the to stop these people from com- ment through the chief sec- services in operational condi- candidate. plore solutions, Central Bank munity struggling to rebuild it- debt levels in the former war ing to our homes, our villages’. retary for implementation of tions if the materials of police, The EC would also direct the Governor Indrajit Coomaras- self, people resorted to multiple zone. Following up on its fi nd- Women are especially vulner- the directives, according to EC armed police force, telecom- government for the provision wamy said the country’s apex loans for survival after futile at- ings, a high-level team led by able and exposed in terms of spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal. munication service provid- not to conduct the elections bank was considering a three- tempts at self-employment in an Coomaraswamy met civil society how they operate. There have The EC has directed the gov- ers and development agencies in universities, school man- pronged strategy to tackle the economy that was yet to recover members, government offi cials been many clear cases of abuse,” ernment to ensure complete were to be repaired. agement committee and other issue with its regulatory reach. following decades of strife. and representatives from bank- Coomaraswamy said. enforcement of the election Likewise, the EC has di- professional organizations, ex- “We need to identify those Speaking on the underlying ing and fi nancial institutions In addition to roping in law code of conduct by all its sub- rected the government for re- cept the prescheduled ones. very debt-distressed people causes, the Central Bank chief last week to explore possible enforcement agencies and set- ordinate bodies and take action liable security provision in all Likewise, the EC would di- and try to alleviate their current said the country’s post-war re- solutions to the problem. ting up a help desk, the Central against those violating it. It has offi ces of EC for the security of rect the government to give debt burden through a mixture construction policy had failed Former president Chandrika Bank would publicise a “custom- also been asked to send within elections materials and while continuity to the regular of responses - a moratorium, to link credit programmes to Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who ers’ charter” to build awareness a week from receiving the di- transporting the election ma- recruitment process initi- increasing the maturity of the income generation, leaving a currently chairs the Offi ce for Na- in the community. Intermediary rectives all updated and factual terials and all other activities. ated themselves by the public loans, and exploring how inter- large section of the community tional Unity and Reconciliation, institutions such as banks, ru- details of the offi ce-bearers and The EC would ask the gov- service commission, teachers est rates can be reduced,” he told trapped in heavy debt. is keen that we address the is- ral co-operative societies, thrift teachers in government agen- ernment to keep the persons of service commission, police a daily. “It [the reconstruction poli- sue and attended the discussions societies and women’s associa- cies and schools to the respec- criminal characters under vigi- and armed police force service “There are diff erent options; cy] was very well-meaning and in the north, he said. tions would work on customis- tive district election offi ce. lance of the police and com- commission, army recruit- it could be an interest rate cap, well-intended in my view. But A lack of fi nancial literacy, ing credit programmes to local It has also sought all kinds of pletely impose a ban on illegal ment selection and judicial it could be something else — we if you give people credit, and coupled with a pent-up demand requirements. support including staff , furni- sale and distribution of the al- service commission. Gulf Times 22 Sunday, October 15, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief: Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka The US cannot go Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar [email protected] it alone on Iran Telephone 44350478 (news), If the US were to impose new some or all of the suspended sanctions will thus prove either empty or self- policy of containment of Iran across the 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) sanctions on Iran for any but is unlikely to do so. It might, defeating if carried out. region – including support for the Kurds Fax 44350474 however, introduce new sanctions None of this is meant to argue in northern Iraq and Syria, as well as purpose at any time, it would tied to Iran’s behaviour in Syria or that the JCPOA is a good agreement. of other groups and countries that are likely fi nd itself alone. The elsewhere in the region. Consistent Still, Trump’s decision not to certify pushing back against Iran. with this, Trump announced his was unwarranted and ill-advised. In the longer run, the challenge Europeans, China, and Russia intention to place extra sanctions on The agreement was the result is to deal with the JCPOA’s fl aws, are highly unlikely to join Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard of a collective eff ort. American above all with its sunset provisions. Corps. unilateralism now could make forging The agreement “parked” the nuclear GULF TIMES If the US were to impose new a common front against Iran much problem, rather than resolving it. By Richard N Haass sanctions for any purpose at any more diffi cult in the future. Important provisions of the accord New York time, it would likely find itself Trump’s move is also bad for will expire in either eight or 13 years. alone. The Europeans, China, and US foreign policy. There must be a At that time, inspections will not Russia are highly unlikely to join, presumption of continuity if a great prevent Iran from putting in place Nafta future unclear S President Donald Trump not only because of financial self- power is to be great. Unpredictability many of the prerequisites of a nuclear has announced what was interest, but also because Iran is in can provide a tactical advantage, but it weapons programme that could be long anticipated: that he compliance with the JCPOA. This is also a strategic liability. made operational with little warning. Uwill not certify that Iran is is a point made by international Here there is an obvious link with It cannot be assumed, as some do, despite US, Canada complying with the July 2015 “Joint inspectors operating under United North Korea. At some point, the US may that Iran’s intentions and behaviour Comprehensive Plan of Action” Nations auspices, as well as by senior determine that diplomacy has a role in will moderate over the next decade (JCPOA) signed by the United States, US officials, including Secretary of managing the North Korean nuclear and or 15 years. On the contrary, Iran is China, Russia, France, Germany, Defense Jim Mattis. missile challenges. But America’s ability more likely to remain a hybrid regime bid to strike a deal the United Kingdom, and Iran. Nor To argue, as some in America do, that to off er a credible diplomatic path will in which a government coexists with will he certify that the suspension of Iran is not complying with the spirit be seriously undermined if others judge a permanent religious authority sanctions undertaken by the US as of the JCPOA is meaningless: “spirit” that it cannot be trusted to stand by and with powerful military forces The future of the North American Free Trade part of the agreement is justifi ed and is a phrase without legal standing. agreements. and intelligence units that exercise Agreement remains unclear although the leaders of the in the vital national interest of the US. And while it is fair to argue that much There is also a more immediate considerable political infl uence United States and Canada are trying to strike a new deal To be clear, such certifi cations are of what Iran is doing in the region is a problem: if the US sets in motion a and largely operate outside the not required by the JCPOA. Rather, legitimate cause for concern, it is not dynamic that causes the JCPOA to government’s control. on Nafta, which seeks to eliminate trade barriers among they are required every 90 days by grounds for reintroducing sanctions unravel, and Iran resumes nuclear Dealing with an ambitious and the US, Canada and Mexico and generate trade growth. a law enacted by the US Congress under the accord. activities currently precluded by the powerful Iran thus entails a broad The United States has threatened to withdraw from soon after the accord was signed. It Renegotiating the JCPOA to accord, a crisis will erupt at a time range of other open-ended challenges the agreement that has been in eff ect since 1994 is also essential to underscore that extend the duration of several of its when the US already has its hands full that defi ne the ever-turbulent Middle Trump did not withdraw from the constraints, make inspections more with North Korea. East. Without the JCPOA, however, with President Donald Trump terming it “bad” and JCPOA itself. What he chose was a intrusive, and expand its coverage to Despite these considerations, it those challenges would become even “lopsided” from the US point of view. compromise: to make clear his disdain missiles is attractive in the abstract. would also be a mistake to focus just on more daunting. - Project Syndicate Under Nafta, the three countries pay nothing on most for the agreement without leaving it But it is totally unworkable in practice, the US announcement and not also on goods that cross their borders. or reintroducing sanctions that were as Iran and most (or all) of the other Iranian behaviour. In the short run, the z Richard N Haass is president of If the United States exits the pact, the tariff s (or taxes) removed as part of it (a step that would signatories of the JCPOA would world needs to contend with an Iran the Council on Foreign Relations be tantamount to US withdrawal). reject these demands. The threat to that is an imperial power, one that seeks and author of A World in Disarray: that Canada and Mexico put on its goods might rise. What happens next is unclear. terminate US participation in the to remake large swaths of the Middle American Foreign Policy and the Crisis For some goods, tariff s could go as high as 150%, it is Congress has 60 days to reintroduce JCPOA if such changes are not made East in its image. What is needed is a of the Old Order. pointed out. That in turn would cause prices to spike and eat into company profi ts. All the three countries are members of the World Trade Organisation, so tariff s could revert to the WTO- approved levels, economists say. Currently, they are 0% for most goods under Nafta. But despite Trump threatening to withdraw from the deal, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remains optimistic that the US, Canada and Mexico can still hammer out a “win-win-win” solution. In order for the tri- Trump could lateral trade agreement to remain past its easily dissolve 23rd year, Trump has requested an increase in Naft a with the US auto production, more stroke of a pen American companies securing government contracts in the Nafta bloc, and for the agreement to be abolished altogether unless countries agree every few years to extend it. In addition, the US administration is seeking elimination of dispute resolution processes. If negotiations fail to reach a solution, Trump even Geoengineering has been popularised as a means of counteracting the negative eff ects of climate change. alluded to the possibility of having separate deals with Canada and Mexico. In Mexico, where he met Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the weekend, Trudeau said improving Nafta was the best way to improve the lives of North Americans. The geoengineering fallacy Since the pact came into eff ect in 1994, United States trade with Mexico and Canada has more than tripled, By Barbara Unmüßig SRM could spawn powerful weapons, increase in greenhouse gas emissions, But today, with powerful advocates growing more rapidly than American trade with the rest Berlin giving states, corporations, or at least in the short term. generating so much pressure to bring of the world. individuals the ability to manipulate Then there is the issue of scale. In geoengineering technologies out of climate for strategic gain (an idea order for BECCS to achieve emissions the lab, informal bans are no longer Mexico and Canada are now the second and third largest s the world struggles to rein that not even Hollywood can resist). limits set by the Paris agreement, suffi cient. The world urgently needs exporters to the United States, after China. And the two in emissions of climate- But perhaps the most important between 430mn and 580mn hectares an honest debate on the research, countries are the leading importers of American products. changing gases and limit criticism is a political one: in a world (1.1bn to 1.4bn acres) of land would deployment, and governance of these Pulling out of the pact, economists say, could have Aplanetary warming, a new of challenged multilateralism, how be needed to grow the required technologies; the CBD and the London technological silver bullet is gaining would global ecological interventions vegetation. That is a staggering one Protocol are essential starting points unintended economic consequences for North America supporters. Geoengineering – the be governed? third of the world’s arable land. for these governance discussions. and the whole world. Over the past quarter century, large-scale manipulation of the Similar questions surround Simply put, there are safer – and Among the technologies that Nafta has reshaped the United States’ economy, and its Earth’s natural systems – has been the other major group of climate proven – ways to withdraw CO2 require the most scrutiny are CDR demise could raise costs for American companies and popularised as a means of counter- engineering technologies under from the atmosphere. Rather than projects that threaten indigenous consumers, they argue. acting the negative eff ects of climate debate – so-called carbon dioxide creating artifi cial CO2-binding lands, food security, and water change. removal (CDR). Proponents of these “farms,” governments should focus availability. Such large-scale The Nafta agreement allows any of the countries Proponents of this science feed technologies propose removing CO2 on protecting already-existing natural technological schemes must be involved to withdraw six months after notifying the the illusion that there is a way to from the atmosphere and storing ecosystems and allowing degraded regulated diligently, to ensure other parties. engineer an exit from the climate it underground or in the oceans. ones to recover. Rainforests, oceans, that climate-change solutions do The US Congress could oppose a White House crisis, meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Some CDR approaches are already and peatlands (such as bogs) have not adversely aff ect sustainable climate agreement, and maintain a prohibited, owing to concerns about immense CO2 storage capacities and development or human rights. decision to withdraw, arguing that the country’s consumption-heavy lifestyle. possible environmental consequences. do not require untested technological In addition, the outdoor testing Constitution gives Congress power to “regulate But this solution is not as simple For example, fertilisation of oceans manipulation. and deployment of SRM technologies, commerce” with foreign nations. as proponents would have us believe. with carbon-sequestering plankton By pushing unproven technologies because of their potential to weaken But experts say there is no language in Nafta’s Betting on climate engineering – was banned by the London Protocol as a cure for all climate-changing ills, human rights, democracy, and either as a planetary insurance policy on marine pollution in 2008. Parties proponents are suggesting that the international peace, should be authorising law passed by Congress that requires or as a last-ditch measure to combat to that decision worried about the world faces an unavoidable choice: banned outright. This ban should be Congressional assent before leaving the pact. rising temperatures – is not only risky; potential damage to marine life. geoengineering or disaster. But this is overseen by a robust and accountable For this reason, Trump could easily dissolve Nafta it also directs attention away from But other CDR approaches are disingenuous. Political preferences, multilateral global governance with the stroke of a pen. the only solution we know will work: gaining support. One of the most not scientifi c or ecological necessity, mechanism. Obviously, concerns are mounting in Ottawa and reducing carbon emissions. discussed ideas aims to integrate explain the appeal of geoengineering. No silver bullet for climate change Each of the engineered technologies biomass with carbon capture and Unfortunately, current debates has yet been found. And while Mexico City that Nafta could die before it is even being discussed carries dangers storage (CCS) techniques. Called about climate engineering are geoengineering technologies remain renegotiated. and uncertainties. For example, the “bioenergy with CCS,” or BECCS, undemocratic and dominated by mostly aspirational, there are proven only way to test the eff ectiveness this method seeks to pair the CO2- technocratic worldviews, natural mitigation options that can and should of solar radiation management absorption capabilities of fast- science and engineering perspectives, be implemented vigorously. These (SRM) on a global scale would be growing plants with underground and vested interests in the fossil-fuel include scaling up renewable energy, to carry out experiments in the CO2 storage methods. Proponents industries. Developing countries, phasing out fossil fuels (including To Advertise environment – either by spraying argue that BECCS would actually yield indigenous peoples, and local an early retirement of existing fossil particles into the stratosphere, or “negative” emissions. communities must be given a infrastructure), wider diff usion of [email protected] by artifi cially modifying clouds. Yet, as with other engineered prominent voice, so that all risks sustainable agroecological agriculture, Display While such tests would be designed solutions, the promises are simply can be fully considered before any and increased energy and resource Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 to determine whether SRM could too good to be true. For example, geoengineering technology is tested or input into our economy. refl ect enough sunlight to cool the huge amounts of energy, water, and implemented. We cannot aff ord to gamble with the Classified planet, experimentation itself could fertiliser would be required to operate So what conversation should we be future of our planet. If we engage in a Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 cause irreversible damage. Current BECCS systems successfully. The having about geoengineering? serious discussion about ecologically models predict that SRM deployment eff ects on land use would likely lead to For starters, we need to rethink sustainable and socially just measures Subscription would alter global precipitation terrestrial species losses, and increase the existing governance landscape. to protect the Earth’s climate, there [email protected] patterns, damage the ozone layer, and land competition and displacement In 2010, parties to the United will be no need to roll the dice on undermine the livelihoods of millions of local populations. Some forecasts Nations’ Convention on Biological geoengineering. – Project Syndicate of people. even suggest that the land clearing Diversity (CBD) agreed to a de 2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Beyond the ecological risks, critics and construction activities associated facto international moratorium on z Barbara Unmüßig is President of the warn that, once deployed globally, with these projects could lead to a net climate-related geoengineering. Heinrich Böll Foundation. Gulf Times Sunday, October 15, 2017 23 COMMENT Doha hosts GDA conference today

Some 25 delegations The initiative is of great importance which is a major obstacle to the representing countries from as the world population grows development of agriculture, livestock exponentially, with it expected to production, food security, socio- the Middle East, North Africa, reach 9bn by 2050 and as the global economic development, and diversity Sahel, Central Africa, Central temperatures continue to rise and of livelihoods. the ongoing threat of climate change Food production is expected to and East Asia, and South making it more diffi cult to meet the decline by 12% over the next 25 years, America and a number of required food needs. food prices will rise by 30% globally, International reports indicate that and soil degradation threatens to international organisations global food production must increase provide food to the world’s population, will participate in the Global by 70% in 2050 with dryland nations which is increasing year by year. Dryland Alliance (GDA) being vulnerable to food crises and By 2030, food demand is expected to will face harsh cycles of drought, rise by 50% compared to current rates. Founding Conference desertifi cation, poverty and hunger. Meeting these needs requires GDA aims to fi nd sustainable increasing the area of arable land from QNA solutions for food insecurities and 175 to 220mn hectares. Doha exchange help at tough times in order There are 950mn hectares of saline to achieve international peace and land in arid and semi-arid regions, security. which accounts for 33% of the world’s ust a day before World Food The alliance also aims to establish arable land. Day and while the challenges wide co-operation with local, regional The fi gures clearly show the risks of providing food to the and international partners to fi nd facing the planet as drylands have 50% Jgrowing numbers of the world’s solutions, spread them and implement of the world’s livestock, account for population are heightening, Doha will them to face obstacles found in 44% of arable land, and have 46% of host today the Global Dryland Alliance agriculture, water and energy in the world’s carbon reserves. (GDA) Founding Conference, with dryland nations. The challenges facing drylands the participation of 25 delegations The alliance also aims to facilitate are part of the agenda of a number representing countries from the partnerships between the private of initiatives on food security, Middle East, North Africa, Sahel, and public sectors to fi nance and Drylands make up 40% of the Earth and house nearly 3bn people, two thirds of whom rely on agriculture to secure their lives. sustainability, hunger and poverty. Central Africa, Central and East Asia, implement programmes and projects Several institutions across the and South America and a number of for member states in all fi elds related to and crises, and will face food price markets, poor governance and lack of for food supplies. world are carrying out valuable international organisations. food security. fl uctuations in global markets. agricultural investment. Improving food security and research and development The conference will witness the GDA is expected to follow Food security is a growing obstacle Drylands produce less than their nutrition in dryland countries will programmes in drylands. signing of the foundation treaty of the complementary new approach based to most of the dryland nations and has dependents’ needs to secure their food. undoubtedly contribute to reducing These eff orts are supported by new organisation, established to face on integrated treatment to all aspects deep impact on them, and if the eff orts Due to decline in agricultural poverty and promoting sustainable dryland countries and, thus, the food insecurities in areas with dryland of food securities facing dryland are not unifi ed to face these obstacles, production, dependence on food agricultural development. Global Dryland Alliance will not be a and will be headquartered in Doha. nations, and will depend on strong sustainable development will become imports and the rise in food prices The relationship between poverty repetition of past eff orts, but instead GDA is an initiative put forward by private and public partnerships. unachievable and, most importantly, are increasing, which puts the poor and food insecurity is evident as most it will work with partners locally, His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim It is also expected to fi nd crafty regional and international political in dryland countries at risk of food of the poor are either undernourished regionally and internationally to bin Hamad al-Thani at a speech he fi nancing methods that lessen the stability will be nonexistent. insecurity. or suff er food insecurity. fi nd, spread and implement solutions addressed at the 68th UN General burden on member states’ budgets Drylands make up 40% of the Earth Hence, these lands urgently need Low-income households spend a to address the challenges facing Assembly in 2013. with regards to programmes and and house nearly 3bn people, two integrated and sustainable strategies large share of their income on food agriculture, water and energy in The GDA foundation treaty was projects of food security. thirds of whom rely on agriculture to for agriculture, water use, imports and purchases and are aff ected by food dryland countries. proposed to the countries that The alliance will also facilitate the secure their lives. food reserves. price fl uctuations as well as scarcity Global Dryland Alliance will help supported the initiative during a development of state-of-the-art Food security in drylands remains These strategies must be based on of food in times of confl ict, political countries facing the challenges of ministerial conference in Marrakesh on food security policies among member the main concern for inhabitants innovative technological and scientifi c turmoil and natural disasters. drylands co-operate to identify May 29-30, 2015. states and use latest technologies in of poor rural areas who face fragile research and development-aimed Lack of nutrition is an obstacle eff ective food security policies. The GDA initiative complements the agriculture, irrigation, seeds, fertilisers, environment systems due to water investments. to economic growth and hinders The ultimate goal of these eff orts will be global eff orts to guarantee food security early warning of natural disasters and scarcity, soil deterioration, extreme Some 70% of the poor or those living access to modern energy resources to contribute to making dryland countries for a population of 3bn in more than 50 climate change as well as eff ective temperatures, droughts, fl oods, under food insecurity live in rural in drylands as less than 20% of the have food security, leading to more countries around the world. partnership during emergencies poverty, migration, undeveloped areas, mostly depending on agriculture population have access to electricity, stability and peace all over the world. Weather report Three-day forecast ‘Made-in-Japan’ fault-lines exposed TODAY High: 37 C Low : 28 C cut costs to be more effi cient, while wrongdoing by the now bankrupt air Just this week, Japan’s nuclear Inshore: Hot daytime with slight dust By Sam Nussey and some clouds Tokyo fulfi lling a production quota which bag maker Takata, Toyo Tire & Rubber regulator said Japan Nuclear Fuel had is often diffi cult to achieve,” said Co and Asahi Kasei Corp violated safety rules at its Rokkasho Motokazu Endo, a lawyer at Tokyo “While focusing on targets was site by fabricating records to say safety MONDAY nder the once-vaunted Kasumigaseki law offi ce. right in the beginning it has gone too checks had been carried out. High: 38 C “keiretsu” system of close, The “keiretsu” system was the far, with companies that can’t hit The plant’s start data has been Low: 27 C trust-based ties between bedrock of Japan’s automotive their targets resorting to deception,” delayed 23 times. Sunny Umanufacturers and sup- industry. says Hiroshi Osada, a production Even when moves are taken to pliers, “Made-in-Japan” became a As the market has become more quality expert and Bunkyo University strengthen external monitoring byword for industrial quality and competition based, those automakers professor. of companies, “it’s not possible to TUESDAY reliability. now invest less money in their Over the last 15 years compliance conduct checks day in, day out,” High: 38 C That reputation has eroded over suppliers and spend less time checking rules have become stricter but said Osada at Bunkyo University, Low: 28 C recent years. what those suppliers’ factories are many Japanese companies have who sat on an external panel that Sunny Kobe Steel is just the latest in a producing, says Hitoshi Kaise, an auto carried on with practices common audited Toyota during its 2010 string of corporate scandals involving industry consultant and partner at in the past, says Nobuo Gohara, a recall crisis. data tampering and other methods Roland Berger. lawyer specialising in compliance, Companies must do more to develop Fishermen’s forecast of cheating to tarnish the Japan Inc Beyond that, Japan’s economy has who took part in an audit of a culture in which workers are able to OFFSHORE DOHA quality stamp. suff ered decades of anaemic growth, Olympus Corp after its accounting raise concerns and say ‘no’ to their Wind: NW 12-22/28 KT It may be a sign that the bogged down in defl ation with its scandal in 2011. bosses, and in which teamwork is Waves: 4-7/9 Feet government’s push to improve population shrinking and with growing “There are many of these problems used to catch wrongdoing by other INSHORE DOHA Wind: NW 5-15/18 KT corporate governance is seeing greater competition from its Asian neighbours. lying dormant on the factory fl oor,” he employees, Osada added. Waves: 1-3/4 Feet disclosure of wrongdoing. Those pressures have potentially said. More attention should be focused But the root cause is more likely whittled away at Japanese fi rms’ ability Japan runs the risk it will “lose out on Japan’s board members, who are Around the region that Japanese manufacturers are to compete, says Hideaki Miyajima, as other Asian economies, including not active enough in engaging with Weather Weather failing modern compliance standards a Waseda University professor and China, progressively raise their scandals when they occur, says Shin today Max/min tomorrow Max/min as they grapple with a shrinking corporate governance expert. standards of quality and reliability,” Ushijima, lawyer and president of Abu Dhabi Sunny 36/28 Sunny 35/28 domestic market and increased global The list of manufacturer miscreants said Professor Thomas Clarke, a the Japan Corporate Governance Baghdad Sunny 34/18 Sunny 33/17 competition. is long, and growing. corporate governance expert at the Network, noting a tendency for Dubai Sunny 36/26 Sunny 34/26 Kuwait City Sunny As the focus has shifted to Nissan Motor Co has had to recall University of Technology in Sydney. companies to be over-reliant on Sunny 36/23 36/24 Manama Cloudy 36/28 Sunny 36/28 market mechanisms instead of cosy every new car it sold in Japan in the And it’s not just dodgy data. appointing outside panels that are Muscat Sunny 37/28 Sunny 36/27 relationship-based arrangements, last three years after it falsifi ed safety Conglomerate Toshiba Corp is still not truly independent. Riyadh Sunny 38/22 Sunny 38/22 Japanese manufacturers have had to checks. battling an accounting scandal, and Corporate governance reforms are Tehran Sunny 25/13 Sunny 24/12 compete on price and expand their Both Suzuki Motor Corp and there is a litany of wrongdoing at having some impact, says Ushijima. client base. Mitsubishi Motors Corp have faced Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the At Toshiba, he said, “the board, “Growing global competition has scandals over fuel economy tests operator of the stricken Fukushima while not perfect, was improved after forced Japanese manufacturers to on their vehicles, and there was Daiichi nuclear complex. it was reshuffl ed.” - Reuters

Live issues Is your new phone really your friend?

By Oliver Burkeman half the time, it isn’t really about we’ve already got than to strive to plugging in your phone, having to Around the world New York eliminating annoying or eff ortful obtain what we don’t yet have. Add to talk to a human to order a takeaway, Weather Weather chores. It’s about introducing features that our hardwired tendency toward inserting your card instead of using today Max/min tomorrow Max/min you “didn’t know you needed” – a laziness – our instinct to conserve contactless payment – add up to a Athens Sunny 24/14 Sunny 28/16 he new iPhone 8, as you fancy way of saying you didn’t need every morsel of energy, and to avoid signifi cant obstacle to a happier or Beirut S T Storms 25/21 Sunny 27/21 probably couldn’t help them – safe in the knowledge that once every expenditure of effort – and you more meaningful life. But the time Bangkok S T Storms 31/26 Showers 31/26 Berlin Sunny 21/11 Sunny 22/12 learning a few weeks back, lots of other people have them, you’ll can see why, once you can persuade savings are tiny. A much bigger Cairo Sunny 28/18 Sunny 29/18 boasts “wireless charging want them; and once you’ve got them, people to adopt certain pseudo- obstacle is making good use of what Cape Town Rain 16/11 Rain 16/11 T Colombo T Storms Showers 29/27 that’s truly eff ortless”, meaning that you won’t want to lose them. “I guess conveniences, they’ll be unlikely to time you already have. Because even 29/26 instead of having to plug it into the it’s one of those things you don’t really want to give them up. Before you if wireless charging saved you an hour Dhaka T Storms 32/26 M Sunny 33/25 Rain Rain 29/26 wall, you simply place it on a special care about until you use it,” wrote one have wireless charging, the effort a day, rather than three seconds, the Hong Kong 28/27 Istanbul P Cloudy 20/13 P Cloudy 22/12 pad. Which you then plug into the wall. owner of another device with wireless of plugging a cable into your phone same preference for laziness means Jakarta P Cloudy 33/26 S T Storms 33/25 If you’re struggling to imagine the kind charging, trying to explain the appeal. seems negligible; once you have it, you’d be more likely to spend that hour Karachi P Cloudy 34/24 P Cloudy 33/23 of person who fi nds the act of plugging Which is also true of heroin, but never it’s too convenient to relinquish. on Facebook or Instagram –instead London Sunny 21/16 P Cloudy 24/13 a cable into their phone unacceptably mind that for now. And so even if, like me, you’re the of writing your book, volunteering Manila T Storms 29/25 T Storms 31/25 Moscow Rain 05/03 Cloudy 07/05 inconvenient – especially since you’ll One culprit here is presumably kind of person who fantasises about in your community or whatever. And New Delhi Sunny 37/22 Sunny 36/21 still have to leave your phone in one the phenomenon of “loss aversion”, downgrading from a smartphone to a how would you check Facebook? Why, New York P Cloudy 26/14 M Sunny 17/07 place while it charges – well, that which describes how people are dumbphone, you find yourself buying on the same smartphone that was Paris Sunny 24/13 Sunny 25/12 makes two of us. much more upset about losing, say, the new iPhone instead. supposed to be freeing up all that time. Sao Paulo Cloudy 19/15 Cloudy 22/14 Seoul M Sunny P Cloudy 21/09 The other strange implication I’ll admit this is all very convenient. 21/11 But I’m sure wireless charging £10 than they are thrilled by the Singapore S T Storms 31/26 P Cloudy 31/27 will catch on anyway, because Apple prospect of gaining £10. Perhaps for in Silicon Valley’s obsession with But convenient for Apple and the rest Sydney M Cloudy 21/14 M Sunny 21/16 understands something profound evolutionary reasons, we’re much “eff ortless” convenience is the idea of them – not for you. - Guardian Tokyo Cloudy 17/15 Cloudy 14/11 about the psychology of convenience: more motivated to cling to what that all these tiny daily hassles – News and Media Gulf Times 24 Sunday, October 15, 2017 QATAR Qatar reiterates Envoy visits Qatar pavilion at book fair commitment to fi ghting drugs,

Qatar’s ambassador to Germany Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has visited the Qatar pavilion at graft and crime the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. He also visited the French pavilion and congratulated them on Audrey Azoulay’s victory in the election for the post of Unesco director-general. Meanwhile, the second day of the QNA ganised crime and its consequences on Qatar has also played an active role in book fair witnessed the launch of the German edition of the Qatari story collection, ‘Qetaf’. The Ministry of New York societies and values and on achieving the the region to raise awareness about the Culture and Sports is participating in the 69th edition of the book fair. goals of sustainable development in 2030, fi ght against corruption as part of its Qatar has worked tirelessly to implement commitment to the rule of law and the he State of Qatar stressed the im- its legal and ethical obligations towards fi ght against corruption. portance of strengthening co-or- the implementation of the Convention The State has taken many steps to ful- Tdinated regional and international against Transnational Organised Crime fi l its obligations to the UN Convention co-operation and increasing investment and its protocols, and applied them as a against Corruption, and the Rule Of Law in capacity-building in order to address mechanism for international cooperation and Anti-Corruption Center. all concerns related to combating crime, in the strengthening of criminal justice Thanks to these measures and eff orts, Real estate, construction drugs and corruption. systems and the rule of law. Qatar occupied an advanced position in the Addressing the Third Committee of The State of Qatar has taken many fi ght against corruption in the overall clas- the UN General Assembly on Item (107) measures at the legislative and executive sifi cation of Transparency International. on ‘Crime Prevention and Criminal Jus- levels to deal with crime and combating At the international level, the State of tice’, and Item (108) on ‘International drugs. Qatar launched the Sheikh Tamim Bin shrug off illegal siege Drug Control’, Qatar delegation member It has also been keen on co-operating Hamad Al-Thani International Anti- participating in the 72nd Session of the with international and regional organi- Corruption Excellence Award, which is UN General Assembly Abdul Hadi Said sations to combat organised crime and awarded annually on the World Anti- he real estate and construc- trade, the daily reported Accord- Engineer Mohamed Ibrahim al- al-Mansouri said that eff orts to combat drugs, address their causes and work on Corruption Day to honour individu- tion market has remained ingly, the experts point out that Mohannadi said real estate prices crime, the scourge of drugs and corrup- plans to address them, al-Mansouri said, als and institutions who have dedicated Tstable over the past four compared to last year, there has have stabilised and are quite rea- tion face major challenges that overshad- referring to the Doha Declaration issued themselves to combating corruption in months and not been adversely af- been an increase of around 50% in sonable, refl ecting positively on ow the implementation of the goals of the by the 13th United Nations Congress on four areas: excellence, research and aca- fected by the unjust blockade im- the number of plots assigned for sale and purchase transaction. 2030 Sustainable Development Plan at Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, demic teaching materials, youth creativ- posed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the various projects. Besides, the availability of build- the national, regional and international which actively contributes to eff orts to ity and interaction, and innovation. UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. This has mainly been driven by a ing materials has made it possible to levels. integrate crime prevention and crimi- Al-Mansouri underlined that the award Experts in the fi eld have stressed strong liquidity position, high pur- speed up the building process and, He highlighted the important role of nal justice into the wider United Nations serves as an incentive to raise awareness that the market has also seen en- chasing power and signing of scores thereby, rent out or sell such prop- the United Nations Offi ce on Drugs and agenda in order to address social and eco- and strengthen international eff orts to hancements and improvements of contracts to build new residential erties expeditiously. This is a major Crime through its numerous activities nomic challenges and to promote the rule combat corruption, and a tool to identify during this period, according to lo- and commercial complexes. incentive for investors to put money aimed at promoting justice and security, of law at the national and international those who have shown vision, leadership, cal Arabic daily Arrayah. In addition, the government has in this sector. and supporting States in combating tran- levels. creativity, enthusiasm, commitment and The main reasons behind this is off ered the necessary support to Qatari businessman Ahmed al- snational organised crime, corruption, Qatar welcomed the eff orts made by dedication to address corruption, as well the strength and solidity of the Qa- enhance the growth of the sector, Khalaf said immediately after the terrorism, traffi cking in human beings member-states to implement their com- as the ability to inspire others to make tari economy, cash fl ow, provision as hopes are high that further im- blockade was imposed, the country and strengthening criminal justice sys- mitments to the Doha Declaration, and similar eff orts, recognize their role, hon- of timely and alternative sources provements will be seen next year. was able to provide alternative sup- tems. reiterated its commitment to continue to our and reward them. of building materials beyond the Mohamed Shaheen al-Dosari, plies from Turkey, India, Pakistan, He noted that Qatar has studied with work with the United Nations Offi ce on In the context of Qatar’s relentless ef- siege nations, local manufacturing former member of the Central Mu- Iran and other nations at competi- interest the reports prepared by the Sec- Drugs and Crime to ensure appropriate forts to combat traffi cking in persons at of some construction raw materi- nicipal Council, said the real estate tive rates. retary-General under this item and com- follow-up to the implementation of the all levels, it has undertaken, in coopera- als, increased supply of plots ready and construction sector has main- The supplies were swiftly made mends the eff orts made in the preparation Doha Declaration and to support projects tion with Greece and Belgium, a leading for building and investment, hon- tained its stability and continues to available in the local market and of these reports, which contained many for youth crime prevention through role in facilitating negotiations on the ouring contracts and its making the be attractive for investors due to the nobody felt there was any shortage, important conclusions and recommen- sport, rehabilitation and reintegration of organisation of the UN General Assembly country an attractive environment increasing demand for all types of he added. dations. prisoners, education for justice, integrity High-level Meeting on the appraisal of for investments, and the inaugura- real estate properties, whether resi- Besides, the population remained Based on Qatar’s belief in the impor- of the judiciary and prevention of corrup- the Global Plan of Action to Combat Traf- tion and operation of Hamad Port, dential, or commercial or service- stable, which indicated that all tance of addressing the dangers of or- tion. fi cking in Persons. which eased the fl ow of goods and oriented. businesses are continuing as usual.

GREEN FINGERS Met off ice forecasts Twitter rolling out new rules on The demand for various strong winds today kinds of plants, saplings hate speech, sexual harassment and seeds has witnessed trong winds and high seas a big jump, according are expected in off shore areas to nursery operators. Stoday, the Qatar Met depart- By John Bowden tweets that glorifies violence,” Dorsey Nurseries selling plants ment has said. The Hill promised. and seeds are witnessing Northwesterly winds will blow “These changes will start rolling out a high customer turnout at 12-22 knots, reaching a high of in the next few weeks. More to share with greater demand for 28 knots in some of these areas at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced next week.” vegetable saplings and times, according to the weather late Friday that the social media plat- Dorsey also retweeted part of seeds. Some vendors feel report. form will unveil a stronger set of rules Twitter’s statement concerning the that the increased interest The detailed forecast for off - against sexual harassment and threats company’s decision to ban McGowan’s in farming can be due shore areas also says slightly dusty of violence after women led by actress account on Wednesday, which sparked to the current political conditions are likely occasionally, Rose McGowan and others boycotted the boycott. McGowan was banned situation. while the sea level may rise to 9ft the platform. after her account tweeted a private PICTURE: Jayaram in some places. In a series of tweets, the Twitter CEO phone number, a violation of Twitter’s While there is no warning for in- pledged to do more to ensure that terms of service. shore areas today, the Met depart- women’s voices are not silenced on “Twitter is proud to empower and ment has said it will be hot during the platform. support the voices on our platform, the day, with slight dust and some “We see voices being silenced on especially those that speak truth clouds also expected. Twitter every day. We’ve been working to power. We stand with the brave The wind speed (northwest- to counteract this for the past 2 years,” women and men who use Twitter to erly) may go up to 18 knots in some Dorsey wrote. share their stories, and will work hard places by noon. “We decided to take a more aggres- every day to improve our processes to Minimum 5-yr warranty for AC compressors A maximum temperature of 38C sive stance in our rules and how we protect those voices,” the statement is expected today in Al Khor, fol- enforce them.” read. From Page 1 tion and unauthorised repairs or modi- in the purchase invoice. This has to be lowed by 37C in Doha, Mesaieed Dorsey added that the new policies, Actresses and others in the media fi cations made through the addition or provided mainly in Arabic, and, if pos- and Wakrah. aimed at “tweets that glorify violence,” responded, with model Chrissy Customers have the right to get fair removal of spare parts. sible, in any other language. The minimum, on the other “hate symbols” and sexual harassment Teigen first calling for the boycott on compensation for any harm caused to Meanwhile, the supplier is required Any potential increase in the price hand, will be 23C in Mesaieed and would be subject to stricter enforce- Thursday. them or their property by the purchase to provide the necessary spare parts for of air conditioners and related serv- Wakrah, and 28C in Doha. ment in the coming weeks. “Ladies. Let’s do this. #WomenBoy- or use of an air conditioner. However, the an AC, for at least fi ve years’ duration. ices should be governed by Law No 2 Yesterday, the maximum in “New rules around: unwanted cottTwitter. Not because of hate but warranty could be cancelled if the ma- According to the circular, detailed for 1972 on mandatory pricing and fi x- Doha was 37C while the minimum sexual advances, non-consensual nu- because I love this platform and know chine is used in an improper way that does information about an AC should be at- ing profi ts as well HE the Minister of was 30C. dity, hate symbols, violent groups, and it can be better,” Teigen wrote. not comply with the operation manual. tached to it when displayed for sale and Economy and Commerce’s Decision Turayna had the lowest temper- Other factors include improper installa- such information has to be included No 8 for 2013 . ature at 23C.

Rota project sets sights on improving sporting facilities for Palestinian refugee youth

each Out To Asia (Rota), lack or limited support for vol- Miftah, Rota’s goodwill ambas- a programme of Educa- untary sports clubs. sador, has led a fundraising cam- Rtion Above All (EAA), has As part of the initiative, Rota paign in Qatar to secure QR1mn launched a sports facilities refur- will carry out refurbishment to fi nance the project and bolster bishment and training project for works of sporting fi elds in the informal education for Palestin- the benefi t of Palestinian refugee camps, increase the capacity of ian refugee children in Lebanon. youth in Lebanon. 40 sports clubs, train 45 sports Thanks to al-Miftah’s eff orts, The initiative, launched in coaches and engage Palestinian the needed funds were collected collaboration with the Ameri- youth in sporting tournaments to contribute to Rota’s mission to can Near East Refugee Agency and learning courses. utilising sport as a tool to provide (ANERA), will provide more than Rota executive director Essa al- youth with access to advanced 4,000 Palestinian refugee youth Mannai said: “We are delighted informal education so that they with upgraded sporting facili- to partner with ANERA to ensure could realise their full potential. ties, equipment and activities, that Palestinian refugee youth In 2015, Rota launched the ‘1- which will support their personal in Lebanon have safe access to in-11’ campaign to address the development, social integration, sporting grounds. Sport activi- staggering number of school-aged and healthy living. ties provide a solid foundation children out of school worldwide. Young people living in the for holistic learning, promote Funded by FC Barcelona Foun- Palestinian refugee camps of Al- self-development, create a sense dation and Unicef, the ‘1-in-11’ Buss, Myeh w Myeh, and Nahr el of belonging and help youth feel initiative harnesses the power of Bared in Lebanon have access to connected to their community.” sport to enhance and sustain the few safe sporting grounds and After a visit to the Palestinian access of marginalised children recreational activities, because refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in to quality education in targeted The Rota project that will support sporting facilities for Palestinian refugee youth. of the poor infrastructure and Lebanon, Ghanem Mohamed al- communities across Asia.