QATAR | Page 16 SPORT | Page 1 Families Big victory engage in against fun and Afghans a learning at boost, says DHFC Lego Sanchez festival published in QATAR since 1978

SATURDAY Vol. XXXX No. 11299 September 7, 2019 Muharram 8, 1441 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Hurricane Dorian hits North Carolina Yards for new season to sell produce from 125 local farms The roads remain flooded as Hurricane Dorian hit Rodanthe, North Carolina, yesterday. Dorian passed Charleston on he upcoming 8th season of the to start by the end of October, ac- upcoming 8th season to increase by Thursday as a category 3 storm and now hit the Outer Banks as a category 1 storm. Page 5 yards for selling local agricul- cording to the official. 20-30% due to the higher number of Tture and farm products will fea- “Consumers also stand to benefi t participating farms and the improved ture products from 125 Qatari farms, a from these yards. They will have more quality and diversity of products that senior offi cial at the Ministry of Mu- options in terms of prices and varieties would be featured. nicipality and Environment (MME) has of products, creating a natural balance The sales of the fi rst season (2012- In brief said. of retail prices. 2013) amounted to only 884 tonnes of Qatar supports UNODC for Speaking to local Arabic daily Ar- “Similarly, this would encourage vegetables while that of the 7th season rayah, Abdulrahman Hassan al-Su- farmers and producers to compete (2018-2019) shot up to 7,288 tonnes. QATAR | Offi cial laiti, general supervisor of the yards, among themselves to improve the Al-Sulaiti said that Al Mazrouah yard Amir to meet Angola improving prison conditions explained that fi ve more farms are par- quality of their products and increase achieved the largest quantity of sales ticipating than the previous season. their varieties.” followed by Al Khor and Al Thakhira, president tomorrow The new farms will join the yards Al-Sulaiti pointed out that the par- Al Wakrah, Al Sheehaniya and Al His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim zQatar joins Group of ed by Qatar, benefi ts more than 80 at Al Sheehaniya, Al Shamal and Al ticipating farms have been using at- Shamal, respectively. bin Hamad al-Thani will meet Angola Friends of the Nelson countries, mostly developing and Khor and Al Thakhira. The last season tractive marketing methods by way of In the meantime, the offi cial said President Joao Manuel Lourenco least developed countries. hosted the products of 120 local farms, excellent packaging of select, high- that the MME is currently studying the at the Amiri Diwan tomorrow. Mandela Rules It aims to reduce the scope of distributed as follows: Al Mazrouah quality products. possibility of opening new yards based The Angolan leader will arrive in prison sentences, improve prison (36), Al Khor and Al Thakhira (30), Al Earlier, the MME organised a on the need of diff erent areas in the Doha today for a three-day off icial QNA conditions, strengthen prison ad- Wakrah (25), Al Sheehaniya (17), and Al number of related workshops for farm country. visit. The Amir will discuss with Vienna ministration, and support the social Shamal (12). owners and workers to encourage them The available fi ve yards account for the Angolan president bilateral reintegration of criminals following “The increase in the number of par- to adopt creative marketing methods the sales of around 50% of the locally relations and ways to develop them, their release. ticipating farms refl ects the trust the and maintain the quality of the prod- produced vegetables and farm prod- in addition to a number of issues of he State of Qatar has joined Al-Mansouri noted that, in mem- farm owners have in the yards as one of ucts on display. ucts while the rest of the production common concern. the Group of Friends of the ory of Nelson Mandela, who had the best marketing outlets for the local In addition, the MME gave farmers often goes to the Central Market and TNelson Mandela Rules to re- spent 27 years of his life in prison, the products,” al-Sulaiti observed. good incentives to expand the green- other shopping outlets. QATAR | Offi cial new its commitment to support the Doha Declaration Global Programme It is also an endorsement of the house farming, aiming at providing the Maintenance and development Amir off ers condolences eff orts of the United Nations Offi ce focused specifi cally on prison reha- MME’s efforts to encourage lo- local market with the necessary veg- works on the yards are underway in on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in bilitation and post-release services cal farm producers to increase their etable products throughout the year order to prepare them for the launch on death of Mugabe improving the conditions of prison- to ensure that prisoners are ready production through these marketing round and not during the season alone. of the new season by the end of next His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim ers, more than 11mn inmates around and able to lead a life of law following outlets. The local yards season is set The offi cial expects the sales of the month. bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the world, and to provide safe, secure their release. the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah and humane working conditions to The ambassador said that on the bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the persons in charge of their detention. International Day of Nelson Mande- Qatar congratulates Sudan on forming new government Prime Minister and Minister of Qatar’s ambassador to Austria la, the State of Qatar hopes that the Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Sultan bin Salmeen al-Mansouri af- momentum generated by the revised Qatar has congratulated Sudan and its people on the national interest, which paved the way for the formation of the bin Khalifa al-Thani sent yesterday fi rmed the commitment of the state, rules on prison reform will continue formation of the new government, headed by Dr Abdullah government that would meet the aspiration of the Sudanese cables of condolences to Zimbabwe in co-operation with the UNODC, and that, with the continued support Hamdok, terming the formation of the new government as people for balanced representation of youth and women and President Emmerson Mnangagwa on to the Doha Declaration Global Pro- of the Group of Friends of the Nelson an important step towards achieving the aspirations of the diff erent regions of the country. The statement expressed the death of former president Robert gramme adopted at the conclusion of Mandela Rules, the parties will be brotherly Sudanese people for freedom, peace and justice and Qatar’s hope that the new Sudanese government will achieve Mugabe. Mugabe died yesterday at the 13th United Nations Congress on able to work together to preserve hu- building the state of institutions and law. the desired successes and that peace will prevail throughout the age of 95. He ruled Zimbabwe Crime Prevention and Criminal Jus- man dignity in prisons, making a real In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs the country as soon as possible. It aff irmed Qatar’s full support from 1980-2017, before a military tice held in Qatar in April 2015. diff erence for prisoners, prison staff expressed the State of Qatar’s immense pleasure that the to Sudan at this historical time and stressed its firm stand in coup ended his reign. Page 4 The programme, which is fund- and the whole community. Sudanese parties pursue a spirit of dialogue, consensus and support of the unity, stability and sovereignty of Sudan. QATAR | Reaction Qatar condemns twin blasts in Pakistan Qatar has strongly condemned Qatar is ‘buyer’s market’ for falcons, says entrepreneur the two explosions in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Quetta, which left one dead and several By Peter Alagos expatriates about falconry and its role makes Qatar a buyer’s market for fal- people injured. In a statement Business Reporter in Qatar’s history. cons,” al-Sayed continued. yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign “Falconry is part of Qatari tradition According to Katara, the participa- Affairs reiterated Qatar’s firm and culture. And I believe that among tion of Qatari falcon farms in the third stance on rejecting violence he annual ‘S’hail - Katara Inter- Arab countries, Qatar is densely popu- instalment of S’hail refl ects growth in and terrorism, regardless of the national Hunting and Falcons lated in terms of households owning the number of farms operating in the motives and causes. The statement TExhibition’ has continued to falcons,” al-Sayed told Gulf Times. country. The exhibition, which con- expressed Qatar’s condolences attract thousands of local and foreign He noted that since falconry is a cludes today (September 7), is also a to the families of the victim and visitors, making Qatar “a buyer’s mar- valuable cultural trait among Qataris, venue for these farms to display and the government and people of ket” for falcons, according to a Qatari the country has its own world-class off er their services. Pakistan, wishing the wounded a entrepreneur. and state-of-the-art falcon hospital in ‘S’hail 2019’ has attracted 140 dif- speedy recovery. According to Farhan al-Sayed, the Souq Waqif. ferent exhibitors, who have been ben- president of the Qatar-Indonesia “If humans need an MRI scan, for efi ting from the large footfall of visi- QATAR | Weather Business Council, Qatar is well- example, or for quality healthcare tors by meeting the needs of hunting Strong, dusty wind known worldwide for breeding some services, Qatar also provides the same and falcon enthusiasts, according to of the best pedigree of falcons, and for its falcons. This only goes to show Ali Mohamed al-Kuwari, a member of forecast for today that “every exhibition of S’hail is al- the signifi cance of the falcon in the S’hail’s Organising Committee. Strong wind and dusty conditions ways an opportunity to showcase lives of Qataris,” he pointed out. The exhibition’s specialised sec- are expected at some places this.” “Considering that Qataris breed tion has been very busy since day inshore by afternoon today, the He said the falcon exhibition, which some of the best falcons, this attracts one of the event, particularly during Met off ice has said. The off shore was launched in 2017, not only show- many foreigners to Qatar, and this is the daily auction, which is held from forecast is strong wind with high cases diff erent breeds of falcons but evident during the staging of S’hail at 1pm-5pm. sea by afternoon. The maximum also off ers visitors the opportunity to Katara. Katara also said S’hail has emerged temperature of 42C is expected at experience Qatar’s longtime love for “Many local falcon farms come as “one of the largest of its kind in the Mesaieed, Al Wakrah, Al Khor and in some of nature’s birds of prey. to the exhibition to showcase their world and brings with it a wide range Doha, while the minimum of 28C at Similarly, al-Sayed said the exhibi- breeds. The large number of foreign of companies and manufacturers un- Mesaieed and Al Wakrah. tion is a suitable platform to educate falcon afi cionados coming to S’hail der one roof.” Some of the falcons on display at ‘S’hail 2019’. PICTURE: Jayan Orma Gulf Times 2 Saturday, September 7, 2019 QATAR Qatari shares his passion for education at QNL forum

atar National Library as an engineer. In 2014, he was and bring the subject closer to Samah Abbasi, a mathemat- (QNL) recently hosted a assigned by Teach for Qatar, a their hearts. He regularly shares ics teacher, added: “During the Qtalk by Qatari engineer non-governmental organisation his creative new classroom ap- lecture, we were inspired hear- and teacher Mohamed al-Janahi seeking solutions to the chal- proaches with other teachers ing about his success story and as part of its ongoing ‘Inspiring lenges faced by students in Qa- and the wider community as the experiences in teaching math at Individuals’ series. tar, to be an elementary math- head of outreach at Teach for independent schools. I loved his The audience had the oppor- ematics teacher at Al Ahnaf Qatar and a well-known TEDx enthusiasm in interacting with tunity to hear what motivated Bin Qais Elementary School for speaker. attending students and chil- al-Janahi, as a mechanical Boys. Attending the event, student dren. I even wish I had brought engineer working for Maersk What began as a two-year ex- Hussein Ahmed al-Ajmi said: my son with me to participate in Oil Qatar, to switch to teach- perience led to a complete career “The lecture provided me with the lecture with the rest of the ing mathematics in Qatar’s el- change, and al-Janahi is also several life lessons, and led me to children.” ementary schools, QNL said in continuing his higher education realise that punctuality, dedica- QNL regularly hosts inspi- a statement. as a master’s student in the Col- tion, perseverance and commit- rational community events in Al-Janahi graduated from the lege of Education at QU. ment are necessary to overcome which Qatar’s outstanding indi- College of Engineering at Qa- In his teaching, al-Janahi uses any diffi culties in life or chal- viduals share their motivational tar University (QU) in 2010 and Arabic poetry to deliver math- lenges we may face along our stories of how they have excelled began his professional career ematical concepts to students learning journey.” in their fi elds. Mohamed al-Janahi delivering a lecture. SC security panel team visits Germany 25,236 tonnes of waste removed in Umm Salal

he Ministry of Munici- pality and Environment T(MME), represented by Umm Salal Municipality and the General Cleanliness Depart- ment, removed around 25,236 tonnes of waste, 3,680 discard- ed and damaged tyres and 250 carcasses of dead animals in the second quarter of 2019 in various parts of the municipality. This was informed by the MME through a statement recently. In another statement, the MME said Al Daayen Municipal- ity’s cleanliness section carried A delegation from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s (SC) Security out an intensive clean-up cam- Removal of encroachments in Al Wakrah. Committee visited police headquarters in Germany to learn about security strategies paign within its jurisdiction last adopted in their major sports events, to enhance policing and security for FIFA World month. ity were used in removing and ploying specialised teams that Also, the General Cleanliness Cup Qatar 2022, SC tweeted yesterday. The campaign resulted in the transporting the waste to pro- worked round the clock. Department, in co-operation removal of 2,340 tonnes of waste tect the local environment from In another development, Al with Al Shamal Municipality, as well as 243 damaged tyres. potential harm and safeguard Wakrah Municipality’s munici- removed the carcass of a dol- This was in 50 batches over three the health of inhabitants, the pal control department removed phin that had washed ashore weeks since the launch of the statement noted. encroachments from state- on Al Ghariyah beach and campaign at the start of August, Meanwhile, the MME’s general owned property to the west of Al shifted it to the designated site. the MME said. cleanliness department cleaned Mashaf. The encroachment in- The beach was also cleaned of StudyPlus students celebrate Equipment and vehicles public facilities on the Al Khor cluded an unauthorised wall and garbage that had accumulated from Al Daayen Municipal- and Al Thakhira beaches by de- buildings, the MME added. there. outstanding high school results group of students gath- attract an increasing number improve their grades and fi ll in ered at StudyPlus Edu- of students from diff erent their knowledge gaps. Acation - Al Saad recent- curricula due to its unique in- Aside from the success ly to celebrate their academic structional methodology and party, students attended a success with staff members. practice-based teaching”. workshop titled ‘Acing Col- Regional manager Pradeep Bhargavi Rathore, an Ad- lege Applications’ presented Singhal paid tribute to the stu- vanced Placement (AP) stu- by Praveena Shinde, admis- dents’ months of perseverance, dent, said: “The teachers were sions consultant at ScoreP- saying: “There is nothing more very friendly and helpful. lus, with a wider focus on the fulfi lling for a teacher than to They provided extra resources Universities and Colleges Ad- see that all her students’ hard and practice problems, which missions Service (UCAS) and work pay off in the end. We, helped strengthen my learning. Common App Essays. at StudyPlus, understand that I was able to get a ‘5’ in both my With over a decade of ex- academic grades in high school subject areas, AP Calc AB and perience in delivering tuition are the most crucial part of stu- AP Physics 2.” and revision support classes dents’ college applications and One of the participants, to hundreds of students, Removal of tyres in Al Daayen. Clean-up of beach facilities in Al Khor and Al Thakhira. we must live up to our words to Taaha al-Shamma, said, “If StudyPlus team “is immense- be a ‘gateway to success’.” you want to step up your game, ly proud of its world-class In a statement, StudyPlus this is the place, Right now, tutoring and revision sup- noted that since its establish- right here!.” He believes that port services in Doha”, the ment in 2008, it continues “to StudyPlus enables students to statement adds. QCS’s blood cancer awareness campaign concludes

atar Cancer Society (QCS) co-operation with entities including recently concluded its ‘Your Hamad Medical Corporation, Mall of Qblood...Your Health’ cam- Qatar, and Syrian American Medical paign, which was held throughout Center. August. Hiba Nassar, head of the Health The initiative sought to raise Education Department at QCS, awareness of blood cancer, one of stressed the importance of getting the most prevalent types of cancer in regular tests done for early detection the country, according to the Minis- of the disease, as well as conduct- try of Public Health’s Qatar National ing comprehensive periodic analy- Cancer Registry (2015). sis that would help detect potential The campaign featured a number of diseases at an early stage, especially awareness activities at malls, which cancer. focused on warning signs, symptoms, She explained that each type of risk factors, methods of prevention blood cancer has a diff erent way of and the importance of periodic exam- spreading and responding to treat- ination for early detection, QCS said ment; so, it is important to determine in a statement. which type a person has. This was in addition to the distri- Nassar also shed light on the dif- bution of vouchers for consultation ferent types of blood cancer and their Students at the success party. and free tests for the public, done in prevalence. The campaign was held throughout the month of August. QRCS provides drinking water, sanitation services in Afghanistan atar Red Crescent Society and health problems resulting from high-density schools in 15 loca- locations, at a cost of $16,000. (QRCS) has dug 66 water unclean water and lack of sanita- tions of Kandahar and Helmand, at Under a memorandum of under- Qwells in two provinces of tion facilities, enhancing access to a cost of $15,815 per building. standing signed with Afghan Red Afghanistan AS part of a water and water for drinking and everyday z Construction of one building Crescent Society, QRCS has been sanitation project use, upgrading sewage and toilet that comprises 20 toilets and 40 ab- operating in Afghanistan since that serves up to 40,000 peo- systems, and promoting public hy- lution areas at Dar-ul-Ulum in Ba- 2014 through a representation mis- ple in Kandahar, Helmand, Kabul, giene awareness and healthy prac- grami district, Kabul province. The sion that has implemented diverse Nimruz and Farah. tices, QRCS has said in a statement. facility is planned to serve around health, water, sanitation and emer- At a total cost of $720,000, the The project involves the 3,000 students and teachers, gency response interventions for one-year project is co-implement- following components: at a cost of $48,200. the victims of war and disaster, the ed by QRCS’s representation mis- z Construction of 16 wa- z Construction of 66 drinking statement notes. sion in Afghanistan, the Afghan ter wells with solar pumps at 16 water wells with manual pumps for Special focus is put on the most Education and Aid Organisation, schools across Kandahar, Helmand the benefi t of 990 families in Farah vulnerable groups, particularly Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Kabul, to secure clean wa- and Nimruz, western Afghanistan, in remote, inaccessible and war- and Development and local com- ter for 16,000 people, at a cost of at a cost of $3,330 per well. aff ected regions, it adds. munity leaders in the target areas. $3,190 per well. z Launch of water and sani- It is aimed at improving health z Construction of 15 buildings, tation awareness activities, tar- Right: The project is aimed at conditions and the local popula- each containing six toilets, an ab- geting 16,000 school students improving health conditions and tion’s lifestyle, reducing morbidity lution area and a sewage system at and community members in 16 the local population’s lifestyle. Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 3 REGION/ARAB WORLD Pompeo presses European nations after Iran curbs nuclear promises

Agencies which Iran had agreed to rein in its atomic Washington N-watchdog chief to meet program in exchange for relief from eco- top Iranian officials nomic sanctions. The father of a Palestinian who was killed during clashes following a demonstration at the Israeli-Gaza Washington has since renewed and in- border fence, reacts at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, yesterday. S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The acting chief of the UN nuclear watch- tensified its sanctions, slashing Iran’s yesterday pressed European nations dog policing Iran’s nuclear deal with major crude oil sales by more than 80%. Uto stop Iran’s “extortion” after Te- powers, Cornel Feruta, will meet senior At the same time the United States has hran again reduced its commitments under Iranian off icials in Tehran tomorrow, a rebuffed, but not ruled out, a French plan a nuclear deal in response to US sanctions. spokesman for the International Atomic to give Tehran a $15bn credit line. “We are confi dent that the UK, France Energy Agency said yesterday. “The visit is Rouhani, for his part, on Wednesday Troops kill Gaza teens and Germany — indeed, all civilised nations part of ongoing interactions between the gave European powers two more months — will take decisive actions to stop Iran’s IAEA and Iran,” the spokesman said. to try to save the multilateral pact. nuclear extortion,” Pompeo, who visited the The trip comes before a quarterly meeting Trump on Wednesday left open the European Union headquarters in Brussels of the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Gover- possibility of a meeting with Rouhani at during border protests earlier in the week, wrote on Twitter. nors next week and after an IAEA report the upcoming UN General Assembly in Iran has been negotiating with Euro- suggested Iran’s co-operation with the New York. pean powers that hope to salvage the 2015 agency was less than ideal, saying: “Ongo- Asked about the prospect, Trump told Reuters He said that some briefl y Nations officials have been nuclear accord despite the withdrawal last ing interactions between the Agency and White House reporters anything was Gaza City managed to cross the fence be- working to keep the border year by the United States, which reimposed Iran... require full and timely co-operation possible.”Sure, anything’s possible. They fore returning to Gaza, and that calm in recent months. punishing sanctions. by Iran. The Agency continues to pursue would like to be able to solve their prob- Israeli forces responded with Around 210 Palestinians Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on this objective with Iran.” lem,” he said, referring to inflation in sraeli forces shot dead two riot dispersal measures. The have been killed since the pro- Wednesday that Tehran would step up re- Iran.”We could solve it in 24 hours.” Palestinian teenagers in- spokesman did not comment on tests began in March 2018, search and development work and the head A senior US defence official said Esper Icluding a 14-year-old boy the deaths. Gaza medical officials say. of the country’s atomic energy organisation But our outcome from those conversa- and his French counterpart will discuss during protests along the Gaza- Protesters have staged 18 In that period, an Israeli sol- is set to hold a press conference today. tions is also unambiguous,” Pompeo, who today how France’s navy could co-ordi- Israel border yesterday, Pales- months of weekly demonstra- dier was shot dead by a Pales- Iran said it would fully adhere to the was visiting his home state of Kansas, said nate with Washington to ensure freedom tinian health offi cials said. tions dubbed the “Great March tinian sniper along the frontier, deal if it sees economic relief, such as in the radio interview. of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. They named the dead as of Return”, calling for an end to and another was killed during a greater ability to sell its oil — banned In addition to ending the nuclear steps, Iran said yesterday it had taken a step Khaled al-Rabai, 14, and Ali al- a security blockade imposed on an Israeli undercover raid into through unilateral US sanctions — or a Pompeo said the United States wanted to further downgrade its commitments to Ashqar, 17. Seventy protesters Gaza by Israel and Egypt, and for Gaza. credit line mulled by France. Iran to end its “campaigns” through proxy the 2015 deal with the world’s most pow- were wounded, 38 of them by Palestinians to have the right to Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 Iran is hoping to air its frustrations by groups and its development of missiles. erful nations, according to Iranian media, live fi re, medical offi cials said. return to land from which their war and pulled out its settlers taking symbolic small steps to reduce TALKS POSSIBILITY in retaliation for US sanctions reimposed An Israeli military spokes- families fl ed or were forced to and troops in 2005. It says the compliance with the 2015 deal, in which Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Mark on Tehran. man said that troops guarding fl ee during Israel’s founding in security blockade is necessary it sharply curtailed its nuclear work in re- Esper said that it appeared Iran was inch- “We continue to believe that we need to the border were faced with more 1948. to stop weapons reaching Ha- turn for promises of sanctions relief. ing toward a place where talks could be be enforcing our sanctions to the maxi- than 6,000 demonstrators at Israel rejects any such re- mas, which has fought three Pompeo accused Iran, which said the held, days after US President Donald mum extent possible,” the US official said several points along the fence, turn, saying that would elimi- wars with Israel and fired thou- new research and development would Trump left the door open to a possible when asked about Iran’s decision to start some hurling explosive devices nate its majority community. sands of rockets at it in the past focus on centrifuges, of seeking to build meeting with Iranian President Hassan developing centrifuges to speed up its and fi rebombs. Many nations and United decade. “their nuclear weapons systems.” Rouhani at the upcoming UN General As- uranium enrichment. “Those things are unacceptable,” Pom- sembly in New York. Germany, one of the signatories to the peo told Kansas City radio station KCMO. “It seems in some ways that Iran is deal, reacted to Iran’s decision on the cen- Despite his administration’s hawkish inching toward that place where we could trifuges by saying it was not too late for African Union lift s its stance, President Donald Trump has said have talks and hopefully it’ll play out that Iran to change course. suspension of Sudan he is willing to speak with Iran, a prospect way,” Esper said at the Royal United Serv- “We urge Iran not to aggravate the situ- Lebanon president warns proposed by France. ices Institute think-tank in London. ation further,” a German Foreign Ministry The African Union (AU) has “For months now President Trump has Friction between the two countries has spokesman said. decided to lift its suspension of said that he’d be happy to meet with Ira- grown since Trump last year withdrew “It is not too late for Iran to leave the Israel against attacks Sudan after the north-eastern nian leadership with no preconditions. from a 2015 international accord under wrong path it has gone down.” African country announced a new cabinet, the AU Commis- Reuters san Nasrallah said this week sion confirmed yesterday. Beirut that the episode had ended but “Sanctions were lifted today,” had launched a “new phase” said Ebba Kalondo, the spokes- in which his movement would woman for the AU Commission. ebanon’s President target Israeli drones that breach The move comes after Suda- Hundreds protest against Michel Aoun warned Lebanon’s airspace. nese Prime Minister Abdallah Lyesterday that Israel The long-time enemies, who Hamdok on Thursday formed would bear the consequences last fought a month-long war a cabinet, the first since the of any attack, days after a fl are- in 2006, had been on alert after ouster of long-term leader up at the border between Israel two drones crashed in a Beirut Omar al-Bashir in April. regime in Syria’s Idlib and Hezbollah. suburb. The AU Peace and Security The frontier between the two Nasrallah deemed the Aug 25 Council announced on its Twit- countries has remained calm incident an Israeli attack. ter account that it had decided AFP since Israel and Lebanon’s Hez- Aoun, a political ally of Hez- to lift the sanctions at its 875th Near Bab al-Hawa Border Cross- bollah traded fi re on Sunday. bollah, has likened the crash of meeting.The council lifted “the ing Israel’s military said it had re- the drones, including one that suspension of the participa- sponded with fi re into south exploded, to a “declaration of tion” of Sudan in the activities Lebanon after anti-tank missiles war”. “Any attack on Lebanon’s of the AU because Sudan has undreds of Syrians held targeted an army base and vehi- sovereignty... will be met with now established a civilian-led anti-regime protests cles. Hezbollah said its fi ghters legitimate self-defence which government, it said. Hyesterday in rebel-held destroyed an Israeli armoured Israel will bear all the conse- The body also committed itself Idlib province where a fragile vehicle, killing and wounding quences of,” Aoun’s offi ce cited to helping Sudan’s “reconstruc- ceasefi re has paused a deadly those inside, though Israel said him as saying yesterday in a tion” and international “mobili- months-old off ensive. there were no casualties. meeting with UN Special Co- sation efforts.” Some demonstrators gath- Hezbollah leader Sayyed Has- ordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis. ered near the Bab al-Hawa bor- der crossing with Turkey, where Turkish border guards last week fi red warning shots and tear gas to disperse Syrian protesters. They waved the three-star Algerians demonstrate for 29th fl ag of the eight-year-old upris- Men chant slogans and wave flags of the Syrian opposition during a demonstration against the ing and chanted against Presi- government offensive in the northwestern Idlib province, yesterday. dent Bashar al-Assad’s regime, straight week over political impasse while some called on rebel back- northwestern Idlib region last been killed in four months of Buthaina Shaaban told Leba- er Turkey to open its borders. Friday. heavy bombardment, accord- non’s pro-Damascus Al-May- “We only want the Turkish Air strikes have stopped ing to the Britain-based Syrian adeen TV. DPA government to open its borders since the agreement went into Observatory for Human Rights. According to Al-Watan Algiers for our brothers who live un- eff ect last Saturday morning, The United Nations says newspaper in Damascus, the der the olive trees,” protester but sporadic artillery fi re has more than 400,000 people truce sets an eight-day dead- Abu Haytham said, referring to continued. have been displaced. line for militants and rebels to lgerians yesterday took to displaced Syrians living in the Russia-backed regime forces Last week, an Assad ad- withdraw from areas around a the streets in the capital open air. have been pressing an off ensive viser said the Idlib ceasefi re key highway which the regime AAlgiers to demand a polit- The demonstrations came against Idlib since the end of was “temporary”. It “serves wants to control. ical overhaul and the resignation after Damascus’s ally Russia April. the grand strategy of liberating But anti-government forces of the country’s interim leaders, announced a ceasefi re for the More than 960 civilians have every inch of Syrian territory”, have yet to pull out. marking the 29th straight week of anti-government protests. President Abdelaziz Boutef- lika stepped down in early April under pressure from the power- ful military and in response to US, Turkey to start operations in northeast nationwide protests that began on February 22. However, protests have con- AFP tween Ankara and Washington aims to made on setting up the safe zone. tinued against interim President Ankara establish the safe zone between the Turk- Turkey has repeatedly warned against Abdelkader Bensalah, Prime ish border and the Syrian areas east of the any delay in the project. Minister Noureddine Bedoui Euphrates river controlled by the Kurdish No details on the timeframe and size for and other key Boutefl ika-era of- urkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar YPG militia, which is an ally of the US but the zone have been made public, although fi cials. Protesters chant slogans as they march with Algerian national flags said yesterday that joint patrols with seen as a terrorist organisation by Turkey. Erdogan said his US counterpart Donald Protesters yesterday chanted during a demonstration against the ruling class in Algiers, yesterday. Tthe United States would begin to- Akar said Turkish and US soldiers had Trump had promised it would be 32km wide. slogans against the military chief morrow in northeastern Syria in the area fl own three helicopter reconnaissance mis- A joint centre of operations was recently of staff , Gaid Salah, and carried runs counter to democracy and said the electoral commission marked out to become a “safe zone”. sions over the area in recent days. established as part of the agreement. It has banners reading “civilian state is the civilian state,” Amina bin should be summoned on Sep- “We are planning to start joint patrols on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week twice launched cross-border operations OK, but not military.” Nasser, a 33-year-old female tember 15 to set a date for elec- September 8,” he told reporters. repeated his threat to launch an operation into Syria against the YPG and Islamic State “The military wants to be in- protester, said. tions, which under Algerian law An agreement reached on August 7 be- against the YPG in Syria unless progress was group, in 2016 and 2018. volved in political aff airs, which On Monday, the army chief would take place within 90 days. Gulf Times 4 Saturday, September 7, 2019 AFRICA

Cameroon Robert Mugabe dies at 95 opposition

AFP veterans who threatened to in Harare yesterday afternoon leader goes Harare destabilise his rule, the land after cutting short his South reform policy wrecked the cru- Africa visit. cial agricultural sector, caused Many in Zimbabwe remem- on trial imbabwe’s long-time foreign investors to fl ee and bered Mugabe as a tyrant who former president Robert plunged the country into eco- oversaw the decline of one of ZMugabe has died at the nomic misery. Africa’s most prosperous na- AFP age of 95 in Singapore, leaving All along, the Mugabe regime tions. Yaounde behind a divided legacy in the was widely accused of human “Mugabe was educated country he led for nearly four rights violations and of rigging but he used his education for decades. elections. evil. He manipulated every- ameroon’s main oppo- The topic of his succession one around him and fooled the sition leader Maurice President Emmerson Mnan- was virtually taboo until he world. Only Zimbabweans can CKamto, who claims to gagwa said his predecessor had reached his 90s and became testify to this as we lived in have won last year’s presidential been declared a “national hero” visibly frail. As his health weak- hell under his leadership,” said election, went on trial with 88 and that Zimbabwe would ened, the military fi nally inter- Baster Magwizi, an independ- others in a military court yester- mourn him until the burial. vened to quash his second wife ence war veteran in Bulawayo, day on insurrection charges but “The late departed icon will Grace’s presidential ambitions Zimbabwe’s second city. the case was deferred until next be eternally remembered and in favour of their preferred can- “As a leader the only thing he month after one of the accused honoured for the bold and his- didate, Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s did wrong was to stay in power complained of dizziness in court. toric land reform programme vice president at the time. for a long time,” Harare resident Kamto, 65, and dozens of which he undertook,” said Mnangagwa took over in No- Joshua Tsenzete said. political allies and supporters Mnangagwa during a national vember 2017 and was elected in But Harare schoolteacher face charges of insurrection, address broadcast on televi- July last year. Tatenda Musoni was forgiv- hostility to the motherland and sion. In Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, ing. “To be honest I thought I rebellion — crimes which could Mugabe passed away at 0240 residents woke to the news and would celebrate when he died carry the death penalty. GMT in Singapore, where he went about their daily business, but...I’m actually sad because The head of the opposition had been hospitalised in April, a File photo shows Zimbabwe’s then president Robert Mugabe speak at the party’s annual conference with acting president Kembo he was an embodiment of what Movement for the Rebirth of Zimbabwean diplomat in South in Masvingo. Mohadi leading a planned street a true African should be. Cameroon (MRC) party was Africa said, speaking on condi- clean-up campaign. “He had his fl aws but he did arrested in late January after tion of anonymity. deliberated on where he is going remembered for his crushing still resonates strongly across Mnangagwa, who was at- a lot of positive things for us months of peaceful opposi- He had been battling ill to be buried”. of political dissent and policies Africa. tending the World Economic which I doubt we will ever see tion protests over the results of health, and after a humiliat- South African President Cyril that ruined the economy. Aimed largely at angry war Forum in Cape Town, arrived again in this country.” the October 2018 election won ing fall from offi ce, his stamina Ramaphosa remembered Mu- The former political prisoner by Paul Biya, who has been in seeped away rapidly. gabe as a “liberation fi ghter” and turned guerrilla leader swept power for 36 years. Martin Abbugao, Mugabe’s a “champion of Africa’s cause to power in 1980 elections af- Kamto arrived in the court nephew, said the former presi- against colonialism”. Kenyan ter a growing insurgency and amid tight security with around dent died of old age “surround- leader Uhuru Kenyatta hailed economic sanctions forced the 200 police in anti-riot gear ed by family”. Mugabe as an “elder statesman, Rhodesian government to the guarding the intersection in “We are pained by his loss. a freedom fi ghter and a Pan- negotiating table. front of the court. But we also celebrate the life of Africanist who played a major In offi ce, he initially won Others patrolled the area in a legend. He was a living leg- role in shaping the interests of international plaudits for his pick-up trucks while 50 securi- end. He was a pan-Africanist. the African continent”. China declared policy of racial rec- ty troops guarded the entrance He brought the country of Zim- lauded him as an “outstanding onciliation and for extending to the court following a call by babwe from colonialism to the national liberation movement improved education and health his followers to rally there in freedom,” Abbugao told report- leader” while Russian President services to the black majority. protest. ers outside the funeral parlour Vladimir Putin noted Mugabe’s But that faded rapidly as Mu- Cameroon’s former colonial in Singapore. “great personal contribution” gabe cracked down on his oppo- ruler France, the United States He said the president was to Zimbabwe’s independence. nents. During the 1980s, he led and the European Union have likely to announce when the But Britain said there were an infamous campaign known been calling for his release from body would move “sometime “mixed emotions” after his as Gukurahundi during which detention for eight months. next week”, adding that he could death. “Zimbabweans suf- an estimated 20,000 dissidents “There is no justification for give no further details on the fered for too long as a result of were killed. Mr Kamto and his supporters to “state funeral”. In Zvimba, Mu- Mugabe’s autocratic role,” the The violent seizure of White- have been incarcerated for eight gabe’s rural homestead, another foreign ministry said in a state- owned farms turned him into an months in these conditions,” nephew Leo Mugabe told re- ment. international pariah — though Businessman Adam Molai (right), married to former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe’s niece, their French lawyer Antoine porters the family had “not yet The Mugabe years are widely his status as a liberation hero speaks to reporters outside the Singapore casket building in Singapore, yesterday. Vey said.

Families seek memorial at air crash site

Reuters and other remains at the site, about Dozens of families are suing Boeing Nairobi 60km east of Addis Ababa, where the after preliminary reports into the crash Boeing 737-MAX slammed into the in Ethiopia and the Lion Air incident ground with such force that only frag- in Indonesia, which killed 189 people, our months after his younger ments of those who died can be recov- showed an automated system errone- sister Samya died in an Ethiopian ered. ously pointed the planes’ noses down FAirlines crash with 156 others, Another victims’ relative told Reu- repeatedly after take-off . Adnaan Stumo sifted soil through his ters they had found remains in April. Relatives also want the process used fi ngers at the site where the plane came Many of the relatives are now press- to certify the new Boeing model exam- down. ing for the farmland where the plane ined by the US Federal Aviation Au- His hand closed around a human crashed to be turned into a permanent thority. jawbone. memorial. Some families will demonstrate “I just looked at these teeth and I “Out of respect to the dead, the crash outside the US Department of Trans- tried to remember my sister’s teeth,” site should be treated as a graveyard,” portation on Tuesday, the six-month said the 26-year-old American, who said Adrian Toole, a Briton whose anniversary of the Ethiopian crash, to handed over the remains to police for daughter Joanna died in the crash, the demand greater accountability by the identifi cation. second involving a Boeing 737-MAX in US authorities, said Nadia Milleron, Stumo is not alone in fi nding bones the space of fi ve months. Samya’s mother. Pope rails against ‘vengeance’ as he ends Mozambique visit

AFP Maputo

ope Francis yesterday told tens of thousands of faithful at a packed Pstadium not to resort to “venge- ance” as he wound up a visit to Mo- zambique, ravaged by a 16-year civil war and now the target of militant at- tacks. His maiden visit to the poor former Portuguese colony came a month after the government and the former rebel group Renamo, now the main oppo- sition party, signed a historic peace Pope Francis is greeted by Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina during a treaty. welcoming ceremony at Ivato International Airport, in Antananarivo, yesterday. Brutal militant attacks in northern Mozambique have claimed more than said. Mozambique is a mainly Chris- Francis thanked workers at the Aids 300 lives over two years and forced tian country and 28% of the popula- centre for “restoring the dignity” of thousands from their homes. tion is Catholic. women and children suff ering from “We cannot think of the future and Earlier yesterday, the Pope vis- HIV and Aids and for “hearing their build a nation” with violence, the Pope ited an Aids care centre on the out- cries and intervening personally.” said in a homily to a crowd of about skirts of Maputo, hailing the carers Francis is the fi rst Pope to visit Mo- 60,000 at the Zimpeto stadium in the for responding to their “silent cry” zambique since John Paul II in 1988 Mozambican capital Maputo. for help in a country ravaged by the and is on a three-nation tour that in- Speaking in Portuguese, he asked disease. cludes Madagascar and Mauritius. them not to follow the old law of re- According to UNAIDS, 2.2mn Mo- The pontiff left Mozambique in the taliation “an eye for eye, a tooth for a zambicans — 60% of them women — afternoon and arrived in Madagascar, tooth. were HIV positive in 2018 in the south- where welcoming crowds lined the “No family, no group of neighbours ern African nation of 27mn people. road linking the airport to the capital or ethnic group and even less no coun- There were 150,000 new infections Antananarivo. try has a future if the motor that unites last year and 54,000 Aids-related Madagascar has declared yesterday them... is composed of vengeance and deaths. a national holiday in honour of the hatred,” he said. Francis hailed the “compassion” of visit. “It’s a blessing for Madagascar. Denouncing reprisals cloaked under the health workers for responding to I hope it will bring peace and prosper- the guise of legality, the Pope warned “this silent cry, almost inaudible, of ity for me, my family and my country,” that violence was “an endless spiral innumerable women and all the peo- said Genevieve Sahondra, who had without end with a very high cost. ple living in shame, marginalised and travelled from the country’s southeast “You have the right to peace!” he judged by everybody. to welcome the Pope. Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 5 AMERICAS US states launch anti-trust probe of Facebook

AFP crosoft back in the 1990s. stifl ed innovation or reduced a series of anti-trust actions consumers, and support thou- competition law and privacy”. “consumer welfare”, the legal Washington “Even the largest social me- competition. against Big Tech fi rms and high- sands of jobs and small business- Amazon and Apple may also be standard applied under judicial dia platform in the world must It was not immediately clear lights growing “techlash”, based es across the country. in the crosshairs. precedent. follow the law and respect con- if the states would be working in on worries about dominant plat- “We continue to work con- Critics have complained that Wedbush Securities analyst coalition of US states an- sumers,” James said. “We will co-ordination with federal of- forms which control the fl ow of structively with regulators, in- Amazon wields too much power Daniel Ives said in a recent re- nounced yesterday an use every investigative tool at our fi cials. information. cluding attorneys-general, in in online retail, and that Apple search note that “a broad move- Aanti-trust investigation disposal to determine whether Facebook, by far the larg- A separate coalition of states answering questions about our may disadvantage rivals off ering ment to break up companies of Facebook, in the fi rst of what Facebook’s actions may have est social network, in the past was set to launch an anti-trust business and the dynamic tech- services in its app store. solely because they are large will is expected to be a wave of action endangered consumer data, re- has claimed it is not a monopoly action, with Google reportedly a nology sector.” In the European Union, Google fail without a change to existing against dominant technology duced the quality of consumers’ and that consumers have many target. Maurice Stucke, a University has faced a series of anti-trust anti-trust laws”, which he said is fi rms. choices, or increased the price of choices for how to connect with The offi ce of the Texas attor- of Tennessee law professor, said actions and Amazon is now being “exceedingly unlikely”. New York state Attorney- advertising.” people online. ney-general scheduled an event he expects one of the areas being targeted by enforcers. But Stucke said it would be General Letitia James released a Joining the action were at- The new probe “shows how on Monday in Washington with investigated will be online adver- Democratic presidential can- wrong to view anti-trust law as statement announcing the action torneys-general of Colorado, unease with large tech compa- a “broad coalition of states” to tising markets, which are domi- didate Elizabeth Warren has solely focused on consumer pric- on behalf of seven other states Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North nies is spreading beyond Con- unveil a multi-state probe into nated by Google and Facebook. made a break-up of the big tech es, and that it may be applied to and the District of Columbia to Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee, gress and the federal government “whether large tech companies “This is a great area to look fi rms a part of her campaign questions of competition and in- probe “whether Facebook has said James. agencies to the states. have engaged in anti-competi- at because the market has been platform. novation. stifl ed competition and put users Facebook did not immediately With each passing day, there tive behaviour that stifl ed com- criticised as being opaque,” he However, some analysts say The probes could end up with at risk”. respond to an AFP query on the are greater fears about these petition, restricted access, and said. that the case against the tech a variety of outcomes including The move marks the fi rst offi - announcement. companies controlling our on- harmed consumers”. However, Stucke said the in- fi rms faces challenges because fi nes, restrictions on conduct or cial United States anti-trust ac- Earlier this year the US Justice line lives,” said Michael Carrier, Asked about the move, Google vestigations may go further by the companies have in many a break-up, Stucke maintained. tion against one of the so-called Department said it would launch a professor ant-itrust law at Rut- spokesman Jose Castaneda said: looking at how tech platforms cases provided services for free “You’d have to show how the Big Tech companies – although a a “review” of major online plat- gers University. “Google’s services help people control data, potentially exam- and brought prices down, mak- remedy would address the con- landmark case had targeted Mi- forms to determine if they have The case may be the fi rst in every day, create more choice for ining “the intersection between ing it hard to prove they harmed cerns,” he said.

Trial opens of cop who shot her neighbour dead A policewoman went on trial in Dallas yesterday for shooting and killing a man in his own apartment, having mistaken it Hurricane Dorian briefl y for hers. Exactly one year after Amber Guyger, 31, killed Botham Shem Jean, 26, jury selection in the racially-charged murder case began in the Texas city. Guyger’s attorneys have sought to move the case to another ‘grazes’ North Carolina jurisdiction, on grounds that potential jurors in Dallas may Reuters already have strong views on Elizabeth City, North Carolina the case, given the heavy media coverage it has fuelled. The judge put off ruling on the urricane Dorian briefl y request. made landfall on the Guyger, who is white, told HOuter Banks of North investigators that she mistakenly Carolina yesterday, hitting the entered the apartment of beach resort with powerful Jean, a native of St Lucia in the winds and battering waves days Caribbean, one floor above her after reducing parts of the Ba- own, when she returned home hamas to rubble. from work on the evening of The storm made landfall at September 6, 2018. Cape Hatteras about 9am (1300 Believing she was at her GMT) with maximum sustained own apartment and seeing a winds of 90mph (150kph), ac- silhouette of a figure who did not cording to the National Hurri- respond to verbal commands, cane Centre (NHC). she fired two shots, killing him. That was far weaker than its “I thought it was my apartment,” slow, deadly tour through the she said in a 911 emergency call. Bahamas earlier in the week that caused at least 30 deaths. Before the morning was over, US opens probe of Dorian was headed back out to An off icer inspects a shopping centre in Nags open sea. Head, North Carolina, for damage after automakers over The winds swept fl oodwaters Hurricane Dorian hit the area. emissions pact into coastal areas, hitting the Outer Banks’ Ocracoke Island Right: A man walks among debris at the Mudd The US Department of Justice particularly hard with a 7’ (2m) neighbourhood, devastated after Hurricane (DOJ) has opened an anti-trust storm surge, though there were Dorian hit the Abaco Islands in Marsh Harbour, probe of California’s agreement no serious injuries reported, Bahamas. with four automakers on said Donnie Shumate, a spokes- fuel eff iciency standards that man for Hyde County. most nerve-racking, it’s so fl u- The howling west fl ank of circumvented the Trump One island resident uploaded id,” Ellen Hildebrand said. “It Dorian has soaked the Carolinas administration’s plans, a video on social media show- keeps changing; we didn’t know since early on Thursday, fl ood- automakers said yesterday. ing people driving a speedboat when to leave.” ing coastal towns, whipping up Survivors await relief amid The agreement announced in down a fl ooded street. Dorian lashed the Outer more than a dozen tornadoes July increases the fuel economy The Outer Banks are a pic- Banks with hurricane-force and cutting power to hundreds standards on autos sold in turesque series of narrow bar- winds as far as 45 miles (72km) of thousands of people. California. rier islands known for their from the eye of the storm and Dorian was expected to grim search for bodies These conflicted with a White beaches, lighthouses and natu- sent tropical storm winds far- pick up speed from its 14mph House plan to freeze mileage ral beauty. ther than 200 miles (320km) (22kph) crawl yesterday, and standards and ratcheted Ellen and Jon Hildebrand, from its centre, the NHC said. life-threatening storm surges AFP another resident of Marsh Har- cials, more than 70,000 people up a major fight between both 59, left their beach-adja- Dorian is expected to bring and winds remain a threat for Marsh Harbour bour. “Absolutely everything is – virtually the entire population California and Washington over cent house to ride out the storm tropical storm winds to Nan- much of the area, the NHC said. gone.” of Grand Bahama and Abaco – environmental rules. at an inland hotel in Elizabeth tucket Island and Martha’s The damage appeared to be “I don’t think people are going are in need of assistance after the BMW and Honda have confirmed City with their daughter, a col- Vineyard, Massachusetts today. far less severe than in the Ba- ortuary workers car- to invest anymore because of the storm reduced homes to match- receiving inquiries from the lege student. However, it will likely spare hamas, where at least 70,000 ried out the grim task devastation,” Hepburn said. “It’s sticks and destroyed their liveli- Department of Justice. They bought the house in much of the East Coast the people are in need of immediate Mof searching for bod- a chance I don’t think people are hoods. Ford did not immediately the Outer Banks two years ago, worst of its rain and wind be- humanitarian relief after Do- ies in heaps of rubble yesterday willing to take.” As survivors began the fi rst respond to an AFP query. making Dorian their fi rst hur- fore making landfall in Cana- rian became the most damag- as dazed survivors of Hurricane Haida Guillaume, another steps in rebuilding their shat- A Volkswagen spokesman ricane since then. da’s Nova Scotia that night, the ing storm ever to hit the island Dorian waited for relief from the Marsh Harbour resident, was tered lives, arrangements were declined comment. “That’s the thing that’s the hurricane centre said. nation. Category 5 storm that ravaged slightly more optimistic. being made to take care of the The California policy requires the northern Bahamas. “Nothing is impossible but dead from the storm. new vehicles to meet a standard President Trump just can’t At least 30 deaths have been it will take a long long time to Bahamian Health Minister of 50 miles per gallon (mpg; 4.7 reported from the monster storm recover,” Guillaume said. “It’s Duane Sands said extra morti- litres per 100km), up from the let go on ‘Sharpie-gate’ but hundreds – perhaps thou- 100% devastated all over.” cians and refrigerated coolers to 37mpg current level, by the year sands – of people are missing and A multi-national relief eff ort store bodies were being sent to 2026. Six days and President Donald Trump (pictured) Bahamian offi cials said the fi nal was stepping up yesterday but it the aff ected islands. is still trying to persuade the world he was right toll could be “staggering”. was hampered by damage to air- Mortuary workers in white about Hurricane Dorian hitting Alabama. Thousands were left home- port runways and downed com- hazmat suits, blue gloves and Second lawsuit He has insisted via Twitter to his more than 60mn less on the hardest-hit islands munications. masks could be seen in Marsh followers. of Grand Bahama and Abaco and Some Abaco residents ex- Harbour carrying corpses en- over Canada’s new He has brandished a mysteriously-altered weather the scale of the devastation has pressed frustration with the wait cased in green bodybags and drug price rules map in the Oval Off ice. left many wondering if Abaco, in for food and shelter and evacua- loading them onto fl atbed trucks. He has deployed a rear admiral. particular, can ever be rebuilt. tion to other islands. Of the eventual death toll, Canada’s main pharmaceutical And yesterday – on a day when survivors in the Over and over this week he kept talking about “Abaco Island is like a ghost “We’re stuck for now,” said Sands declared: “Let me say that industry lobby group, along with Bahamas and other places where the hurricane Alabama, even when no other off icials did, and he town,” said Mark Duvinie, a resi- David Bienami of Marsh Har- I believe the number will be stag- 16 of its member companies, actually did hit were trying to rebuild their lives raged at the media for pointing out that Alabama dent of Marsh Harbour, the larg- bour. “We’ve got plans to move gering.” filed a lawsuit yesterday to block – the US president once more took to Twitter to still hadn’t been hit and, in fact, never had been in est town on Abaco, which had but we don’t know when.” “Literally hundreds, up to new regulations meant to lower argue about Alabama. real danger. been home to more than 15,000 “No water, no food,” said thousands, of people are still patented drug prices, the second The media “went Crazy, hoping against hope that On Wednesday, the back-and-forth took a still people. “No electricity, no water, James Whell, also of Marsh Har- missing,” Joy Jibrilu, the direc- legal challenge to a new regime I made a mistake (which I didn’t),” he wrote. “Still more curious turn. no nothing.” bour. “My plan is to leave, fi nd tor-general of the Bahamian that could eventually reduce without an apology.” In the Oval Off ice, Trump showed off a weather “I honestly believe Abaco is some other place to live.” tourism and aviation ministry, prices in the United States as well. The spat might seem insignificant as one of the map showing an earlier – now completely out of fi nished,” said Thaah Hepburn, According to UN relief offi - told CNN. Canada published the final most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record date – forecast of Dorian’s track that predicted the regulations in August, despite wheels up the edge of the US east coast after storm passing right across Florida, rather than heavy lobbying from drug pulverising the Bahamas. turning up the coast. companies, which stand to lose But in terms of attention given by Trump, what’s Added to the end of the path? A large bulge, revenue as prices drop. become known as “Sharpie-gate” is no sideshow. apparently drawn in black Sharpie pen, that UN agency to provide tarpaulins The federal government The bizarre tale began when Trump tweeted extended the storm deep into Alabama. estimates the new rules will save on Sunday that Alabama was among the states Facing even more derision from TV comedians, Canadian patients, employers facing damage from the still approaching Dorian satirists and Democratic opponents, Trump once DPA search and rescue operation,” Wegdam added that tarpau- and insurers, including and would “most likely be hit (much) harder than more doubled down. New York Jan-Willem Wegdam, emergency lins, strong pieces of waterproof governments, C$13.2bn ($10bn) anticipated”. Late on Thursday, the White House sent out the response team head for the UN’s plastic sheeting, are part of that over a decade. However, forecasters had already put Alabama in copy of a sombre letter by Rear Admiral Peter International Organisation for task. Yesterday’s lawsuit was filed the clear. Brown – Trump’s counter-terrorism adviser – he UN migration agency Migration (IOM), said in a state- Citing offi cial sources, the in federal court and led by Minutes after Trump’s alarming tweet, the National saying that back on Sunday he’d been the one to said it is sending 1,000 ment. IOM said at least 449 people are Innovative Medicines Canada Weather Service counter-tweeted: “Alabama will brief the president on Alabama being a possible Ttarpaulins to replace roofs “After everyone has been res- in nine emergency shelters in (IMC), which represents major NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no target. stripped from homes on the cued from under the debris and Abaco and 346 survivors are in 17 drugmakers in Canada. impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across In his latest salvo yesterday, Trump accused the northern islands of Abaco and the wounded safely evacuated, shelters in Grand Bahama. It is separate from a lawsuit filed Alabama. The system will remain too far east.” media of being “fixated” on the issue. Grand Bahama by Hurricane Do- the IOM’s focus will be on pro- Thousands more cannot reach last month and focuses on federal Opponents of Trump pounced on the mistake. “This nonsense has never happened to another rian. viding temporary shelter for safe accommodation due to patent law. Trump, as he usually does, doubled down. president,” he said. “Right now, the priority is the those who lost their homes.” fl ooding and blocked roads. Gulf Times 6 Saturday, September 7, 2019 ASIA

Lankan Indonesia urged to take quick family given further action as forest fi res spread court Reuters A mild El Nino weather pat- Indonesia offi cials had season, hence the height of the matra and Kalimantan, but “I implore the whole com- Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur tern this year has aggravated detected 6,312 hot spots, number of hot spots,” Agus Wi- governments in the region munity not to burn land,” the impact of fi res, with the which oft en signal a fi re, bowo, a spokesman for Indone- have failed to stamp out the local government head Su- reprieve number of hot spots rising to dotting the western and sia’s disaster mitigation agency, problem. pian Hadi said, according to alaysia’s science the highest since devastating central areas of its part said by text message. Transboundary haze was de- state news agency Antara. ministry will urge fi res in 2015. of Borneo island The number had risen from tected on Thursday spreading “The impact has been very DPA MIndonesia to take im- In a statement, Malaysia’s Thursday as many had previ- from the Indonesian province disturbing to the wider com- Sydney mediate action to fi ght haze, it ministry of science, tech- burn clearance of land, espe- ously been obscured by smoke, of West Kalimantan on Borneo munity, on health, education said yesterday, as Jakarta de- nology and innovation said cially as fi res have also burned he added. to the island’s Malaysian side, and economic activity.” tected a spike in the number it would “send a diplomatic swathes of the Amazon and Indonesia has deployed more Indonesia’s climate agency said. An aerial photograph from Sri Lankan Tamil family of hot spots indicating wors- note to Indonesia, so immedi- parts of Africa. than 9,000 military, police and Haze reduced visibility to the news agency showed fi res with two young children ening forest fi res across the ate action will be taken to put By yesterday morning, dis- disaster agency personnel to a distance of 10 to 20m (32 to had reignited in the national Aborn in Australia was archipelago. out the fi res and prevent re- aster offi cials in Indonesia douse the fi res, having declared 66ft) in the town of Sampit in parks of Berbak and Sembilang granted a further 12-day reprieve During the dry season, Indo- peated burning”. had detected 6,312 hot spots, an emergency in six provinces Indonesia’s province of Central in Jambi on Sumatra, despite from deportation to Sri Lanka by nesian farmers use fi re to clear A spokesman for Indonesia’s which often signal a fi re, dot- on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan on Borneo, media having been put out several days a Melbourne court yesterday. land, often for palm and pulp foreign ministry, Teuku Faiza- ting the western and central Borneo. said. earlier. The court ordered the govern- plantations, but the fl ames can syah, declined immediate com- areas of its part of Borneo is- Southeast Asia has suf- The town’s air quality index Drought has hit large parts of ment to provide more evidence rage out of control to produce ment, but said he would check land. That was up from 2,694 fered for years from annual hit 356 by midday yesterday, a Indonesia as El Nino disrupts to support its argument that the a choking haze that spreads to if Jakarta had received the note. a day ago and less than 1,000 bouts of smog caused by hazardous level, according to the dry season, which is ex- youngest child, an Australian- neighbours like Singapore and Indonesia faces global pres- earlier this month. slash-and-burn practices in the non-profi t World Air Qual- pected to last until October, the born two-year-old, has no claim Malaysia. sure to put an end to slash-and- “This is the height of the dry Indonesia’s islands of Su- ity Index. climate agency says. for protection before the family could be deported. Unlike the rest of the fam- ily, the two-year-old had not yet been assessed for a protection Combat ships in maritime exercise visa. It is not clear what will hap- 6 people dead pen to the rest of the family if the court rules in the toddler’s favour. Federal Court Justice Mor- decai Bromberg will hear a “full after tropical and fi nal” hearing for the case on September 18, the national broadcaster ABC reported from the court. Priya, Nadesalingam and their depression two children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2, are being held on remote Christmas Island after a last-minute court injunction prevented the government from hits Vietnam deporting them last week. Migration offi cials had bun- DPA in Stung Treng province on the dled the family onto a late-night Hanoi/Phnom Penh Laos border had risen to 11.9m, plane bound for Sri Lanka, but more than a metre above the a judge’s midnight injunction “danger level,” provincial forced them to be offl oaded in ix people have died and government spokesman Men Darwin pending court hearings. more than 15,000 houses Kong told the Khmer Times. The family’s case has prompt- Shave been fl ooded in the “Most of the province has ed emotional calls across the wake of a tropical depression been aff ected by floods, except country, including from both that struck central Vietnam, for Sesan and Siem Pang dis- sides of politics, for them to be authorities said yesterday. tricts,” Kong said, adding that allowed to stay in Australia. Tropical Depression Kaijiki people in those districts had The couple arrived separately formed over the South China not yet been evacuated. by boat from Sri Lanka in 2012 Sea before bringing heavy With a few more months of and 2013. rain and 50km-per-hour the rainy season, the coun- They had applied for asylum winds to Vietnam, trigger- try is expecting more heavy in Australia, but a succession of ing widespread fl ooding and rains, rising rivers and possible courts found they did not qualify landslides. fl ooding in the next few days. as refugees. According to Vietnam’s Kong said more than 500 US Navy’s littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (front) sails in formation with navy ships from the Association of Southeast Asian The government argues that Central Steering Commit- offi cials were standing by Nations (Asean) during the US-Asean maritime exercise at the Gulf of Thailand. The US and ten Southeast Asian countries kicked off if they were allowed to stay it tee on Natural Disaster Pre- to assist anyone aff ected by maritime drills on September 2, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea with eight warships, four would lead to a fl ood of asylum vention, six people have lost fl ooding, with authorities de- aircraft and more than a thousand personnel. seekers trying to reach Australia their lives and over 3,700 have ploying trucks, tractors and by boat. been evacuated, while 15,411 boats to transport people to houses were fl ooded across the safety if needed, the Times country’s central regions from reported. Thanh Hoa province to Thua The intergovernmental Thien Hue province. Mekong River Commission, In August, Tropical Storm which tracks the river’s water Laos activist feared missing in Thailand: groups Wipha, the fi rst major storm levels, said in a statement on of the summer to hit Vietnam, Thursday that fl ooding had left at least 10 people dead. reached Thailand and Laos Reuters arrest and return one another’s migrant workers and activists reached for comment. Gener- ists who sought refuge in Laos Last weekend, Tropical and would hit Cambodia next. Bangkok exiled dissidents. in Bangkok. ally, it does not comment on have gone missing over the re- Storm Podul tore through Stung Treng’s water lev- “Od may be the latest casu- He had been awaiting reset- individual cases. cent years and two turned up north-central Vietnam, caus- els on Thursday were at the alty of increased co-operation tlement to a third country since “The international communi- dead in the Mekong River. ing widespread fl ooding, “alarm level,” which means political activist from between the government of 2017, when the UN High Com- ty should strongly condemn this When asked about sending thunderstorms and at least six fl ooding is predicted within Laos who fl ed to Thai- Thailand and its regional coun- missioner for Refugees (UNH- seemingly co-ordinated form of back activists, Krisana said he casualties. three days. Aland has gone missing terparts to crack down on their CR) registered him as a person of repression that leads to further had no information about that. Last year, 181 people were However, with a rise of more after seeking refugee status with respective dissidents in exile,” concern, according to the FIDH. shrinking space for civil society In January, Vietnamese blog- killed by storms in Vietnam. than a metre from Wednesday the United Nations, the latest Vanida Thephsouvanh, presi- “The police are ready to inves- in the region,” Vanida said. ger Duy Nhat, who had applied In Cambodia, nearly 800 to Thursday, parts of the river in a series of disappearances of dent of the Lao Movement for tigate the disappearance of Od Since last year, there have for UN refugee status in Bang- families have been evacu- in the province have been fore- refugees and asylum-seekers in Human Rights, said yesterday. Sayavong,” Krisana Pattanacha- been at least nine cases of kok, went missing and was sus- ated to higher ground due to cast to hit fl ood levels of 12m the region, rights groups said The International Federation roen, a deputy spokesman for Southeast Asian governments pected to have been abducted fl ooding following heavy rains today, the commission said. yesterday. for Human Rights (FIDH) called Thai police, said. being accused of either offi cially and arbitrarily detained. which caused the Mekong A spokesman for the Na- The disappearance of Od on Thailand to investigate the “At this time, we have not arresting, or co-operating in Thai immigration authori- river to overfl ow, local media tional Committee for Disas- Sayavong is suspected to be part activist’s disappearance. He was been informed by relatives or the abduction of, political refu- ties said at the time there was no reported yesterday. ter Management could not of a pattern in Southeast Asia, last seen on August 26. related persons about his disap- gees from other countries in the record of Nhat entering Thailand With more rain in the fore- be immediately reached for where governments have been Od is a member of the “Free pearance,” Krisana added. region. but they were investigating the cast, the Mekong’s water level comment. accused of working together to Lao”, an informal group of Lao The UNHCR could not be Several Thai democracy activ- matter.

Vietnam macaque island draws tourists – and fl ak Nepal on dengue alert

AFP said, smiling, after a gang of – they’ve simply learned to fear after minister infected, Nha Trang macaques rifl ed through her what will happen if they don’t,” rucksack. said Jason Baker, animal rights It is one of countless ani- group PETA’s vice president of man dies in capital city enacing macaques mal tourism sites across Vi- international campaigns. snatch bags of crisps, etnam where for just a few “Travel companies and tour- Mwater bottles, cook- dollars visitors can ride el- ists must stop buying tickets DPA ease and is receiving treat- ies and crackers from uneasy ephants or ostriches, or see to cruel exhibits like Monkey Kathmandu ment at a private hospital in tourists on Vietnam’s Monkey costumed bears and tigers Island,” he added. Kathmandu, his press offi cer Island, a popular attraction de- perform at circuses. There are about 1,200 confi rmed. cried as cruel by activists calling Over on Monkey Island, macaques on the small island, ealth authorities in Ne- Shah said the government for an end to animal tourism in macaques ride motorbikes, where vaccine experiments pal were on high alert af- has issued circulars to all dis- Southeast Asia. lift weights and shoot bas- were once carried out by Soviet Hter an outbreak of dengue trict administration offi ces to Tourists are encouraged to ketballs in their own packed scientists before it was trans- claimed the life of a person in the remain alert. show the monkeys their empty circus performance that formed into a tourist attraction capital and the country’s agri- “The Ministry of Home Af- hands if they don’t want to ends with a monkey in a frilly in the 1990s. culture minister was infected. fairs has ordered the cleaning of be accosted by the aggressive skirt collecting tips from the Monkey Island manager There were 2,559 cases of public places around the country macaques, who routinely steal audience. Truong Nguyen Phuoc An says dengue across the country as of to control the breeding of mos- snacks, hats, and even mobile Elsewhere on the island, the animals are never beaten, Tuesday. quitoes that carry the disease,” phones from visitors, who nerv- visitors eagerly place bets on and are well looked after thanks Four people are reported to he added. ously laugh and snap pictures. a monkey swimming race to to tourist dollars. have died, including a man Shah said he expected the out- “They grabbed my biscuits close out a morning of animal “We can have money to Monkeys seen clinging to tourists for food at Monkey Island in Nha in the capital Kathmandu on break to last through the end of and climbed on my body,” Dinh entertainment. maintain the island and buy Trang, central Vietnam. Thursday, said Prakash Shah, the rainy season next month. Thi Hoa said on the small island It’s cruel work, according more food for the monkeys,” he a doctor with Nepal’s Epide- In mild cases, the virus causes in Nha Phu bay in south-central to some. said, as tourists boarded boats sians who jet across the bay the animals should be left alone. miology and Disease Control fever, aching bones and rashes. Vietnam. “Monkeys don’t choose to under a searing midday sun. from the beach resort hotspot “I think they are well-fed and Division. In severe cases, however, it “I didn’t even have time to walk on their hind legs, ride Throngs of visitors stream Nha Trang. happy, it’s perfect,” said Ki- Agriculture Minister Chakra- can lead to internal bleeding, open my bag, the monkey took bikes, or perform other mean- though every week, mostly Vi- Many are happy to see the rill, a 19-year-old visitor from pani Khanal has been diagnosed including in the brain, and can it from me and opened it!” she ingless and humiliating tricks etnamese, Chinese and Rus- monkeys, brushing aside claims Russia. with the mosquito-borne dis- be fatal. Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 7 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA HK bookseller held in China raises $100,000 to open Taiwan store

AFP in April after Hong Kong an- the abduction of a billionaire in less than a day. “Many thanks He was allowed back to Hong Kong’s extradition bill was an- sistance to Hong Kongers facing Taipei nounced plans to allow extradi- from a fi ve-star hotel by sus- for everyone’s support... thank Kong in June 2016 on condition nounced, saying he feared be- prosecution for involvement in tions to China, a move which pected Chinese agents – caused you for giving me more confi - that he pick up a hard drive list- ing sent to the mainland if the anti-government protests who sparked months of massive street widespread alarm in Hong Kong. dence to accomplish this,” Lam ing the bookstore’s customers law passed. Taiwan’s history of seek sanctuary on the island, Hong Kong bookseller protests in the fi nancial hub. Lam launched an online said in a message on a Facebook and return to the mainland. In- providing sanctuary to Chinese sparking a rebuke from Beijing who disappeared into The 64-year-old was one of crowd-funding campaign late page for his bookstore project. stead he skipped bail and went dissidents has been mixed. The to “stop meddling” in the terri- AChinese custody for half fi ve publishers selling gossip- Thursday to open a bookstore in He added that he aims to pick public with explosive testimony island still does not recognise the tory’s aff airs. a year raised nearly $100,000 in fi lled tomes on China’s leaders Taiwan. a location in six months and open detailing how he was blindfolded legal concept of asylum but has, Ties with Beijing have soured less than a day yesterday as he who vanished at the end of 2015, By yesterday evening over his shop by mid-2020. Lam was by mainland police after crossing on occasion, allowed dissidents since Tsai came to power in 2016 tries to open a new store in Tai- resurfacing in mainland custody 1,600 people had pledged more the man who blew the whistle on the border at Shenzhen and spent to stay on long-term visas. because her party refuses to rec- wan. and making televised confes- than Tw$3.11mn ($99,800), ex- what happened to the missing months being interrogated. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing- ognise the idea that Taiwan is Lam Wing-kee fl ed to Taiwan sions. Their disappearance – and ceeding his target of Tw$2.80mn booksellers. Lam fl ed to Taiwan after Hong wen has pledged to provide as- part of “one China”. New protests break out in Hong Kong

Reuters Hong Kong

ong Kong police fi red rubber bullets, teargas Hand pepper spray yester- day to clear protesters outside a subway station on the densely populated Kowloon peninsula, the latest clash in 14 weeks of sometimes violent anti-govern- ment demonstrations. A riot police points beanbag shotgun at anti-extradition bill protesters as they surround Mongkok police Hundreds of protesters, many station during a protest at Mong Kok in Hong Kong. of them masked and dressed in black, took cover behind umbrel- running street battles between Global credit rating agency perity and stability”, Li added. las and barricades made from protesters and police who have Fitch Ratings yesterday down- Hong Kong returned to China in street fencing. Some had broken responded with tear gas, pepper graded Hong Kong’s long-term 1997 under the “one country, two through a metal grill to enter the spray and water cannons. foreign currency issuer default systems” formula which guaran- station where they pulled down Violent arrests of protesters, rating to “AA” from “AA+”. Fitch tees freedoms not enjoyed on the signs, broke turnstiles and daub- many in metro stations, have said it expects that public discon- mainland. Many Hong Kong resi- ed graffi ti on the walls. drawn international attention. tent is likely to persist despite the dents fear Beijing is eroding that “We’re angry at the police and The crowds were expected to concessions to certain protester autonomy. angry at the government,” said swell into the night, as the city demands. China denies the accusation Justin, 23, dressed in black and braces for weekend demonstra- German Chancellor Angela of meddling and says Hong Kong wearing a hoodie. “Police was tions aiming to disrupt transport Merkel raised the issue of Hong is its internal aff air. It has de- very brutal with us at this station. Riot police use fire extinguishers during a demonstration in Mong Kok district in Hong Kong. links to the airport. The airport Kong with Chinese Premier Li Ke- nounced the protests, warning of We cannot let them get away with announced that only passengers qiang in Beijing, saying a peaceful the damage to the economy and it.” “The police will use appropri- The law would have allowed actions are aimed at putting one with tickets would be allowed solution was needed. “I stressed the possible use of force to quell Protesters had gathered out- ate force to conduct a dispersal extraditions to mainland China, step forward in helping Hong to use the Airport Express train that the rights and freedoms for the unrest. side Prince Edward station in operation and warn all protesters despite the city having an inde- Kong to get out of the dilemma,” service today, boarding in down- (Hong Kong) citizens have to be In addition to calling for a Mong Kok, one of the world’s to stop all illegal acts and leave pendent judiciary dating back Lam told reporters during a trip town Hong Kong. The train would granted,” Merkel said. withdrawal of the extradition bill most densely populated regions, immediately,” police said in a to British colonial rule. But the to China’s southern region of not stop en route, on the Kowloon Li told a news conference with and the release of those arrested where police had fi red beanbag statement. There was no imme- demonstrations, which began Guangxi. peninsula. Bus services could also Merkel “the Chinese govern- for violence, protesters also want guns and used pepper spray to diate offi cial word of arrests or in- in June, had long since morphed “We can’t stop the violence be hit, it said. ment unswervingly safeguards an independent inquiry into per- clear demonstrators this week. juries. Both Mong Kok and Prince into a broader calls for more de- immediately.” Apart from with- The measures are aimed at ‘one country, two systems’ and ceived police brutality, retraction They withdrew when po- Edward stations were closed. mocracy and many protesters drawing the bill, she announced avoiding the chaos of last week- ‘Hong Kong people govern Hong of the word “riot” to describe ral- lice fi red rubber bullets, but Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam have pledged to fi ght on, calling three other measures to help ease end, when protesters blocked air- Kong people’”. Beijing supported lies and the right for Hong Kong regrouped in smaller pockets announced measures this week Lam’s concessions too little, too the crisis, including a dialogue port approach roads, threw debris the territory’s government “to people to choose their own lead- to light fi res in the street from to try to restore order in the Chi- late. with the people. on the train track and trashed the end the violence and chaos in ac- ers. The protests have presented wooden pallets, cardboard boxes nese-ruled city, including the “No China” was daubed over Demonstrations have at times MTR subway station in the near- cordance with the law, to return Chinese President Xi Jinping with and other debris. Firemen were formal withdrawal of a bill that walls along the key north-south paralysed parts of the city, a ma- by new town of Tung Chung in to order, which is to safeguard his greatest popular challenge dousing the fl ames. triggered the demonstrations. artery of Nathan Road. “The four jor Asian fi nancial hub, amid running clashes with police. Hong Kong’s long-term pros- since he came to power in 2012. Taiwan warns Solomon Islands of ‘debt trap’ Japanese royals in Bhutan

Reuters debt,” spokeswoman Joanne tions in Latin America, the than a third of its total alli- reiterated previous comments Taipei Ou told Reuters. “The fl ashy Caribbean and the Pacifi c. ances. on the issue, saying that Chi- infrastructure that China It would also deal a fresh The Solomons have recog- na is willing to have relations promised has caused serious blow to Taiwan President nised Taiwan since 1983 and with all countries based on the aiwan yesterday damage to the local ecosystem Tsai Ing-wen who is seeking is the largest of the Taiwan- “one China” principle, which warned the Solomon and infringed their sovereign- re-election in January amid aligned Pacifi c countries, refers to China’s stance that TIslands could fall into a ty,” she added. criticism over her handling with access to the airfi elds Taiwan and it both belong to debt trap if the Pacifi c nation A government-appointed of Beijing, as tensions rise and deepwater ports dating one China. switched diplomatic ties to task force studying the pros across the strait. Tsai has lost back to World War II. Taiwan Ministry spokesman Geng China and accepted its devel- and cons of a change is domi- fi ve diplomatic allies to Bei- said it believed ties with the Shuang, speaking at a daily opment aid. nated by lawmakers who jing since she came to offi ce Solomons were stable. “Rep- news conference in Beijing, A senior Solomons law- support a switch to Beijing, in 2016. resentatives from the civil did not elaborate or refer di- maker said this week the according to two political China and Taiwan have society mostly support main- rectly to the Solomon Islands government intends to sever sources with direct knowl- fought a tug-of-war for diplo- taining the offi cial relations issue. diplomatic ties with Taipei edge of the issue. A switch matic recognition in the South with Taiwan and are doubt- Taiwan’s offi cial Central and align with Beijing, which would be a prize for China in Pacifi c for decades, with some ful towards the so-called News Agency reported ear- is off ering $8.5mn in develop- its campaign to secure allies island nations switching al- ‘switching of ties,’” Ou said. lier this week that Solomon ment funds to replace support from self-ruled and demo- legiances for fi nancial gain “We believe the Solomons Islands foreign minister Jer- from Taiwan. cratic Taiwan, which Beijing and in return give support in government and people are emiah Manele was planning to Taiwan’s foreign minis- considers a wayward Chi- international forums like the alerted by China’s usual de- visit Taipei over the weekend try said such a move had left nese province with no right to United Nations. The South ceptive tricks, overbearing in a move it called an indica- some Pacifi c nations saddled state-to-state ties. Pacifi c has been a diplomatic behaviours and untrustwor- tor of “stable relations” be- with debt. “China’s expansion Only 17 countries now rec- stronghold for Taiwan, where thiness in the international tween the two sides. Taiwan’s in the Pacifi c has made many ognise Taiwan, almost all formal ties with six of the 16 society.” foreign ministry declined to countries fall into the trap of small and impoverished na- island nations make up more China’s Foreign Ministry comment on the report.

NZ customs makes largest drug seizure N Korea pursues nuclear weapons New Zealand customs has seized almost half a tonne of methamphetamine hidden programme, evades sanctions: UN inside a shipment of electric motors, the department’s largest Japanese Prince Hisahito (centre) with his father Crown Prince Akishino and seizure at the border ever, it AFP port by a panel of experts, been gridlocked for months reactor had been operated, his mother Crown Princess Kiko strolling around the paddy fields in Punakha, said yesterday. “The 469kg of Seoul published on Thursday, said since a second summit be- it added, but “the construc- Bhutan. Prince Hisahito turned 13 yesterday. methamphetamine seized by that despite these moves, tween the pair collapsed tion of the light-water reac- customs equates to what would Pyongyang’s development without an agreement in Ha- tor continues” while “occa- have been at least NZ$235mn orth Korea is press- of nuclear warheads had not noi in February. sional activity was observed (US$149.89mn) in revenue to or- ing ahead with its stopped. One of the sticking points at the radiochemical labora- Japan to switch order of names ganised crime groups,” Customs Nnuclear weapons “The nuclear programme in the Vietnamese capital tory”, possibly for mainte- Investigations Manager Bruce programme while evading of the Democratic People’s was the future of North Ko- nance. Japan aims to change the way Japa- in the Roman alphabet,” Shibayama said, Berry. sanctions, a United Nations Republic of Korea continues rea’s decades-old Yongbyon Trump often points to the nese names are written in English by according to the Kyodo news agency. “This also equates to between 22 report said, following a series to operate, notwithstanding nuclear complex, which has absence of the North’s nu- putting the family name first, the same “It has become increasingly important and 26 weeks’ supply of national of recent test-launches that the absence of nuclear test- long been at the heart of its clear testing and long-range way they are written in Japanese, in for us to recognise the diversity of consumption, according to have been downplayed by US ing and the closure of the atomic programme but re- missile fi ring since late 2017 a triumph for conservatives keen to languages and cultures that humans wastewater analysis figures,” he President Donald Trump. test site at Punggye-ri,” it mains shrouded in secrecy. as one of his diplomatic preserve traditional ways in a fast- possess as society becomes more glo- added. Two Canadians and a The reclusive regime has said. Trump has embarked One UN member state achievements. But North changing world. Education Minister balised,” he said. New Zealand national appeared declared a moratorium on on months of personal di- “assessed that the Yong- Korea has launched multiple Masahiko Shibayama proposed the Traditionally, family names come first in in an Auckland court yesterday nuclear blasts and long- plomacy with North Korean byon uranium enrichment rounds of short-range mis- change to cabinet ministers yesterday Japanese, as they do in China and Korea. where they faced charges for range missile launches, and leader Kim Jong-un in a so- facility continues to operate” sile tests in recent weeks — and the government will now study But beginning in the late 19th century, the importation and possession last year said its Punggye-ri far unsuccessful eff ort to between early February and actions the US president has how to implement it, the top govern- Japanese began adopting the Western of a class A controlled drug, atomic bomb test site would persuade him to give up his early August, the report said. described as “standard”, say- ment spokesman said. custom of putting the given name first which carry a maximum penalty be dismantled as it was no atomic arsenal. Talks be- In that period there was ing he has “no problem” with “It is better to follow the Japanese tradi- and family name second, at least when of life imprisonment. longer needed. But the re- tween the two nations have no sign Yongbyon’s main them. tion when Japanese names are written writing their names in English. Gulf Times 8 Saturday, September 7, 2019 BRITAIN Criticism grows over Johnson’s use of police for political speech

Guardian News and Media streets. But it will be remembered wasted, either by diverting them would stray beyond police re- organisation’s national chair. ate and they shouldn’t have been training facilities in the country London for his sometimes rambling re- from their duties or depriving cruitment, and how many serving “I am sure that on refl ection all put in that position. and I am pleased that we were marks about Brexit and the pros- them of much-needed rest, but offi cers had rest days cancelled or concerned will agree that this West Yorkshire police said: chosen as the focal point of the pects of an election, and the mo- through no fault of their own they duties changed as a result of the was the wrong decision and it “This was a pre-arranged visit by national recruitment campaign. oris Johnson is facing ment when an offi cer behind him were put in an intolerable position event. is disappointing that the focus the prime minister and home sec- With the recruitment of these mounting criticism that had to sit down after feeling faint. by the nakedly party-political di- The Labour MP Barry Sheer- has been taken away from the retary to announce the launch of offi cers over the next few years, Bhe abused the impartial- The shadow policing minister, rection the event took.” man drew a parallel with the way recruitment of 20,000 offi cers. the recruitment campaign for an we are in a better position to now ity of police offi cers after he used Louise Haigh, has written to the She added: “Police regulations Donald Trump uses police offi c- This is what we should be talk- extra 20,000 new police offi cers. deliver the service that the public them as a backdrop for a political Cabinet Offi ce asking why the po- are clear that they are strictly ers as a backdrop for his political ing about – this is what is im- The launch in West Yorkshire was deserve and expect.” The prime speech. lice were used for a highly political non-party political and cannot speeches. portant.” in conjunction with a Home Offi ce minister, who will try again on The prime minister’s speech speech. give the perception of such.” The Police Federation of Eng- The West Yorkshire police and request and Martin Hewitt, chair Monday to seek a general election on Thursday at a police training She pointed out that, by his She demanded specifi c answers land and Wales also criticised crime commissioner, Mark Burns- of the National Police Chiefs’ through a vote in parliament, said college in Wakefi eld, West York- own admission, Johnson’s speech on whether senior advisers or civil the event. “I am surprised that Williamson, called on Johnson to Council was also present.” there was “a clear choice for the shire, was meant to highlight the was party political. servants set up the event, whether police offi cers were used as a apologise. “To use police offi cers The force’s chief constable, country” between his vow to leave government’s commitment to Haigh wrote: “Not only was West Yorkshire’s chief constable backdrop for a political speech as the backdrop to what became a John Robins, said: “West York- the EU by October 31 and Labour’s returning 20,000 offi cers to the the precious time of these offi cers was told the content of the speech in this way,” said John Apter, the political speech was inappropri- shire police has some of the best plans.

Fallon warns PM Opposition over stand on rebels vows to block

Guardian News and Media London

he former defence sec- retary Michael Fallon PM’s new bid T has warned the prime minister that he risks driving Remain supporters into the hands of the opposition, as he confirmed he would not be standing as a candidate at the next election. for early polls Fallon, a Remain supporter who backed Boris Johnson in the Reuters support in a vote on Wednes- He says he wants a deal with Tory leadership race, also called London day for an election. Brussels but would be willing for the 21 rebel MPs who had the Labour leader Jeremy Cor- to leave without one, and has Conservative whip removed, to byn held a call with other op- cast the bill aiming to stop a be allowed to appeal against the pposition parties yes- position leaders yesterday to no-deal Brexit as a surrender decision. terday said they would discuss their plans. to the EU. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s To- Oblock Prime Minister “We will have that election “I’ll go to Brussels, I’ll get day programme Fallon insisted Boris Johnson’s second bid to when the time is right but I will a deal and we’ll make sure we his decision not to fi ght his Sev- call an early general election make you this promise, we are come out on October 31, that’s enoaks seat at the election had in mid-October, setting up a not going to have a long wait,” what we’ve got to do,” Johnson “nothing to do with Brexit” and showdown with the govern- the leader in the parliament of said during a visit to a farm in off ered muted support for John- ment over delaying Brexit. the opposition Scottish Na- Scotland. When asked if he son. Brexit remains up in the air tional Party, Ian Blackford, told would resign if he could not But underlining backbench more than three years after BBC television, adding that his deliver that, he said: “That is disquiet at the removal of the Britons voted to leave the EU in party would oppose it on Mon- not a hypothesis I’m willing to whip from rebels, including a 2016 referendum. day. contemplate.” many former cabinet ministers, Options range from a turbu- The opposition bill, which The expulsion of 21 Con- Fallon said: “I would hope there lent no-deal exit to abandon- would force Johnson to seek a servative lawmakers, many of would be some kind of appeal ing the whole endeavour. three-month Brexit delay, was them highly respected veterans mechanism, so they can get the Johnson says he wants to approved by parliament’s ap- including some who had been chance to state their case.” He take Britain out of the EU on pointed upper chamber, the ministers only weeks before, said the treatment of the rebels October 31 with or without a House of Lords, yesterday. has created a schism in the rul- who voted for a joint party bill deal with the bloc. Queen Elizabeth is expected ing party. to prevent a no-deal Brexit But he lost his parlia- to sign it into law on Monday. A number of others have an- risked alienating Remain vot- mentary majority this week Opposition lawmakers say nounced they will quit parlia- ers. and expelled 21 lawmakers they are wary of approving an ment at the next election, most Fallon said: “I worry that it sends the wrong message to from his ruling Conservative election, which would mean damagingly Johnson’s younger Remainers, particularly in my Party’s group in parliament parliament would be dissolved. brother Jo, an opponent of his party. Some 5mn Conservatives after they supported an op- They want to ensure parlia- hardline Brexit policy who re- must have voted Remain, I think position plan to try to block ment can still sit in October to signed as a junior minister on we’ve got to be very careful not a no-deal exit. ensure Johnson complies with Thursday, citing a confl ict be- to drive them into the hands of Johnson says the only solu- the law requiring he delays tween family loyalty and the Remainer parties, like the Lib- tion is a new election, which he Brexit. national interest. eral Democrats in England, or wants to take place on October The leader of Welsh party Among the moves Johnson the Scottish nationalists in Scot- 15, allowing him to win a new Plaid Cymru’s British par- has made in recent weeks that land.” mandate with two weeks left to liamentary group, Liz Saville his opponents say have tested Fallon who resigned as defence leave the bloc on time. Roberts, told Sky News this Britain’s democratic norms, secretary in 2017 after admit- He needs two-thirds of par- meant an election would have he will suspend parliament for ting that his behaviour towards liament’s lawmakers to back an to be after October 31. more than a month beginning women in the past had “fallen early election. Johnson, a leader of the next week. short”, said on his own future: “I But opposition parties, in- Leave campaign during the England’s high court re- was intending to stand down at cluding the Labour Party, said Brexit referendum who took jected a legal challenge against the end of this parliament which they would either vote against offi ce in July after Theresa May that decision yesterday and a I expected in a couple of years. It or abstain on calls for an elec- quit having failed three times Scottish court rejected a simi- looks now as if there’s going to tion until the law to force John- to get a Brexit deal through lar challenge earlier this week. be an election and I don’t want to son to seek a Brexit delay is im- parliament, has said he would But the issue could be taken commit again for what could be Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to walk a bull during a visit to Darnford Farm in Banchory near plemented. rather “die in a ditch” than de- to the Supreme Court for a fi nal another fi ve years.” Aberdeen in Scotland yesterday. Johnson failed to win enough lay Brexit. appeal. ‘Arrogant’ businessman Book launch Couple found dead beside sleeping son

Daily Mail recent weeks while Kiril had been jailed over car crash given medication by his doctor. He London added: “Kiril had complained to Daily Mail and banned from driving until he lost control and crashed. me that he was tired at work and London May 2022. Skinner, who lives She was fl own to King’s Col- couple were found dead in a had been to the doctor because he in exclusive Belgravia, central lege Hospital in London and suspected murder-suicide wasn’t feeling well. I think it was London, lost control of the Por- spent a week in a coma. Thirteen Ajust feet from where their maybe depression – he told me wealthy businessman on sche on the A281 near Rudgwick, months later, she is still recover- two-year-old son was sleeping. that Lana didn’t understand him. trial over a car crash was West Sussex. ing from her injuries. The toddler was discovered un- They had been a happy couple but A blasted as ‘arrogant’ by a In the incident, on August 24 Skinner tested positive for co- harmed in bed by a close friend of there had been a tension between judge for arriving at court two last year, his 30-year-old female caine at the scene. But after be- his tragic parents – optometrist them in recent weeks. Lana was hours late in his McLaren super- passenger received ‘life-chang- ing taken to Guildford Hospital Lana Nemceva, 23, and Kiril Nem- upset because she said Kiril al- car. ing’ injuries. Skinner was show- he refused to give a legally ad- cev, 32, a Pizza Express chef. ways thought he was in the right Martin Skinner, who was high ing off to the woman before the missible sample to measure the The 47-year-old friend, who and she was always in the wrong. on cocaine when he smashed smash, Worthing magistrates’ drug in his blood. shared the home with the Latvian But I don’t know what could have his Porsche into a tree and left court in West Sussex heard. Initially, he pleaded not guilty, couple, told the Mail how he made triggered something like this to his passenger with serious brain Police found that on the blaming the road surface for the the shocking discovery after re- happen. injuries, said he failed to turn up morning of the crash, he tried to crash – even though there had turning from work. “I had a coff ee with her before I because his alarm clock didn’t set up a supercar trip to France, only been two crashes on that The warehouse worker said: “I went to work and she seemed fi ne.” go off . but his friends turned down stretch in 10 years – and claiming saw some drops of blood in the The friend said the couple in- But this did not wash with the the idea. Instead, he decided to he was not in a fi t state to give a house but I was more concerned vited him to move in with them to judge, who accused him of ar- ‘go rallying’ to a business con- sample to police while in hospital. with making sure the boy was safe. share the cost of the rent in Burton rogance and refused to give him tact’s home in Rudgwick. That However, following legal advice I can’t forget Lana and Kiril’s faces upon Trent, Staff ordshire. any credit for pleading guilty. evening, he persuaded his pas- he changed his plea to guilty. – they were not a natural colour. Nikita Ascuks, 33, who runs a Skinner, a property devel- senger to come for a drive in his Tony Crisp, the investigating Thankfully the child was asleep in freight business, said: “Kiril was oper in Mayfair, crashed at such 190mph Porsche. offi cer for Sussex Police, said: his bed. Once I knew he was safe my best friend and we are just in speed that the engine fl ew out of She told the court that he “Skinner had clearly set out to I called 999 and the police woke complete shock at what has hap- the £140,000 Porsche 911 GT3. drove so quickly everything was drive around the countryside him up when they arrived to check pened. We were very close and The 40-year-old was con- a blur, so she asked him to slow in a high-powered car at high he wasn’t injured.’ It is understood there is nothing I can say to explain victed of careless driving and down because of the winding speed and under the infl uence of Former member of The Beatles, Paul McCartney, poses detectives are working on the the- this. failing to provide a specimen to road. cocaine, resulting in a crash that with his book Hey Grandude! at a launch event in ory it was a murder-suicide. They got on so well, they police. But he ignored her and sped caused the victim in this case to London, Britain, yesterday. The friend, a fellow Latvian, seemed very much in love and He was jailed for 22 months round a bend at such speed that sustain a life-changing injury.” said the couple had been arguing in were both stable people.” Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 9 EUROPE Russian election chief attacked Putin rebukes space Reuters Moscow

masked man broke into the home of the head of ARussia’s Central Elec- offi cials over delays tion Commission yesterday and repeatedly tried to taser AFP panied by deputy prime minis- her, the interior ministry said, Moscow ter Yury Borisov, who last week two days before an election Pamfilova: has been a focus sharply criticised the project and that has triggered street pro- for protesters’ anger after suggested bringing in the army to tests. barring opposition candidates resident Vladimir Putin fi nish the job. Russian investigators said from tomorrow’s election for has given space offi cials Often outspoken space agen- they would look into whether Moscow’s parliament. Pa dressing down during a cy chief Rogozin responded on the attack was connected to visit to Russia’s long-delayed Twitter: “That’s always the way: her work. was groundwork for electoral and corruption-tainted cosmo- some are building, others are The commission head, Ella fraud in Moscow and other drome in the Far East. criticising.” Pamfi lova, said she suspected places where elections to local The Vostochny cosmodrome Yesterday Rogozin told news robbery was the motive. legislatures will be held. was originally supposed to be agencies: “We have no reason to Pamfi lova and her col- Pamfi lova, 65, has been a fo- running manned launches from change the contractor. We are leagues, citing a technicality, cus for protesters’ anger after last year but the grand project working to schedule.” refused to register several op- barring opposition candidates has been consistently behind The budget for Vostochny’s position candidates for the from tomorrow’s election for schedule. construction was estimated at Moscow city election, leading Moscow’s parliament. At a meeting with the head of 300-400bn roubles ($4.5bn to to the biggest sustained pro- She said they had not col- the country’s space agency Ro- $6bn at the current exchange test movement in Russia since lected enough genuine signa- scosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, and rate). 2011-2013. tures to take part, which the others, Putin asked for details The space port was set to open “The masked intruder broke excluded candidates said was on how close the spaceport is to in December 2015, with the fi rst in through a window and got a fabrication designed to stop completion. manned launch in 2018. onto the house’s terrace and them winning seats. “I expect a more responsible Last year, Russia jailed four repeatedly tasered the home The Moscow vote is seen as attitude from you and a dynamic who were working as contractors owner (Pamfi lova) and then a dry run for a national parlia- pace when organising work,” Pu- on the construction for embez- fl ed,” the interior ministry said mentary election in 2021, with tin said in televised comments. zling state funding worth some in a statement. allies of Navalny seeing it as “All the infrastructure being built $23mn. The house is situated outside a chance to make political in- on the ground here must meet the There were also scandals over Moscow. roads in the capital. latest demands and standards to unpaid wages to workers. Putin listens as space agency An unnamed law enforce- Navalny has called on his ensure launches of our advanced The cosmodrome has a com- chief Rogozin briefs him Russian robot ‘Fedor’ leaves space station ment source told the Interfax supporters to vote tactically rocket systems.” pleted launch pad for Soyuz during their visit to the news agency that the taser to try to reduce the chances of The cosmodrome in the Amur rockets, meaning that it can be Vostochny cosmodrome, near A lifesize Russian robot known as “Fedor” successfully departed the device appeared not to have the ruling United Russia party region is one of Russia’s most im- used for manned fl ights in the the town of Tsiolkovsky in Amur International Space Station (ISS) yesterday, two weeks after an aborted worked and the intruder had – which supports President portant space projects, designed future. region, Russia. docking attempt delayed its arrival. struck Pamfi lova several times. Vladimir Putin – winning. to reduce the country’s reliance Putin viewed the project’s un- A live translation from Russian space agency Roscosmos showed a Soyuz Pamfi lova, who took part in a The elections present a chal- on the Baikonur launch site it fi nished second phase, on which Putin publicly scolded offi cials MS-14 spacecraft leaving the ISS. conference in Moscow yester- lenge for the authorities with rents from Kazakhstan to ferry work only began in April. when the fi rst unmanned launch Roscosmos said the ship would land in Kazakhstan overnight. day, appeared on state televi- the popularity of United Rus- astronauts. This will be a launchpad for the took place in 2016. Fedor – short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research – sion looking shaken up. sia at its lowest in more than State television hailed it as new Angara rocket, set to replace The second unmanned launch was Russia’s first humanoid robot to be sent into space, though similar She said she had hurt her a decade, according to offi cial “the country’s main construc- Proton workhorse rockets. in 2017 ended in the loss of con- technology has been sent by Japan and the US National Aeronautics and fi nger and scratched her side pollsters. tion site”. Visiting late in the evening, tact with a string of satellites. Space Administration (Nasa). while grappling with her as- In Moscow, all of its candi- Russia hopes the facility will the Russian president viewed the Since 2012, thousands of Russian media reported that astronauts on the station had tested Fedor’s sailant and then resisting him dates are running as independ- restore its Soviet-era supremacy. fl oodlit site from a helicopter as workers have been building roads ability to mirror the movements of humans while they are wearing with a chair. ents, a tactic widely seen as While fi ve unmanned launches well as on the ground, as workers and railway lines in the sparsely exoskeleton suits. She said the intruder was aiming to prevent them from have already taken place from used blowtorches on reinforced populated region as well as a new Such robots will eventually carry out dangerous operations such as space lanky and appeared to be young being damaged by the party’s the cosmodrome, “Vostochny’s concrete. town for 25,000 people and cre- walks, according to the Russian space agency. and that she believed the most waning support. capacities can – and I want to The prospect of Putin’s latest ate a new centre for the space in- The robot was due to arrive on August 24 but docking had to be delayed likely motive for the intrusion The party has served as a stress, should – be used more se- visit prompted a fl urry of work, dustry. for three days after the Soyuz spacecraft failed to lock on to its target on was an attempted robbery. lightning rod for public anger riously”, Putin warned. said independent space expert The national space programme a first attempt. Prominent opposition fi gure over a government move last Ahead of the visit, Putin said Vitaly Yegorov. has suff ered a series of set- It was a fresh hitch for Russia’s space programme, which has been hit by a Alexei Navalny said on social year to hike the retirement age, he was going because “there are “You could say Putin’s visit backs in recent years including a series of recent setbacks including a manned launch failure last year. media that he thought the au- a deeply unpopular reform that a lot of questions there needing stimulated the start of building manned launch failure – the fi rst Fedor’s return came shortly after President Vladimir Putin gave Roscos- thorities had invented the at- compounded growing dismay a solution and needing my inter- on the second phase of the space of its kind in the history of Rus- mos off icials a dressing down over delayed work on a cosmodrome in tack on Pamfi lova to distract over fi ve years of falling real in- vention in this process”. port. They fi nally started laying sian space travel, although the Russia’s Far East. attention from what he said comes. Yesterday Putin was accom- the concrete,” he told AFP. astronauts ejected safely.

Russians go to polls after summer of protests South African ‘toxic

AFP masculinity’ fi lm Moscow hailed in Venice ussians are set to vote in local elections tomorrow black people have perceptions Rfollowing a hugely contro- AFP of white people,” said the direc- versial campaign in Moscow that Venice tor, who comes from the Cape Mongolian actress Gana degenerated into the biggest po- Coloured community, which Bayarsaikhan attends a lice crackdown on protesters in was also persecuted under photocall for the film Waiting nearly a decade. s thousands take to the apartheid. for the Barbarians, presented Municipal and regional polls streets in South Africa “White men are dangerous, in competition during the 76th will be held across the vast coun- Ato protest against a mur- white men are aggressive. Why Venice Film Festival. try, but most attention will be fo- der “epidemic” against women, is there that terror you some- cused on the Moscow parliament part of the country’s problem times feel around a group of AFP. “Living that at a critical vote following the arrests and with male violence is being laid white men? This fi lm is ques- time in your life, aged 17 or 18, jailings of independent would-be bare in an acclaimed new movie tioning all that,” he added. it forms the person that you are, candidates and their supporters. at the Venice fi lm festival. Thousands of white men and it is just damage.” Analysts say the results of Moffi e shows how young carry the shame of having The experience helped Brum- the vote will be keenly watched men from the white minority fought for “a bad country, a bad mer relate to his father, who was ahead of parliamentary elections were indoctrinated and brutal- government ... in a pointless pressed into the so-called Bor- in 2021 and will help shape Rus- ised during their compulsory war”, the fi lmmaker insisted, der War in what is now Namibia sia’s political future as President military service by the former while after apartheid they were and Angola but who had never Vladimir Putin enters his third apartheid regime. “urged to move on and forget talked about it. decade in power. In a country often at odds the past”. As he researched his role, Over the past weeks tens of “about whose hurt is worse”, “There wasn’t an opportuni- his father “started opening up thousands have taken part in and where the black major- ty to let it out,” Hermanus said. about it and it has really bet- Moscow protests demanding a ity’s suff ering was so obviously “There are many 45-year- tered our relationship”, he said. fair vote after allies of opposi- Members of a local election commission are seen during preparations at a polling station in Moscow. greater, director Oliver Her- old and up white men walking It also opened his eyes to the tion leader Alexei Navalny were manus said there was also a the streets potentially with the “pain” older white men were barred from the election. dren of police in response to the month after her exclusion from “This summer some of my need to unpack this other “un- memory of killing someone but faced with. Rap stars and prominent blog- crackdown. the ballot. friends have decided to leave spoken trauma”. who have never spoken about “I come from a mixed race gers backed the demonstrations. Some 7.2mn people are eligi- “It’s a protest vote against Russia,” she told AFP. The movie draws its title it,” he said. family. I have a black adopted Authorities responded with ble to elect 45 lawmakers in the good-for-nothing candidates Popova said she wanted to vote from a vicious Afrikaans insult “Silence and repression of brother,” the actor said. a police crackdown – the big- Moscow parliament, which is of the ruling party, thieves and for Sobol but would now back the used by all races to denigrate trauma permeates our society. So for his father “coming gest since a wave of protests in dominated by the ruling United scoundrels who do not act in liberal Yabloko party’s candidate gay men, but which Hermanus We are having a huge conversa- from being in the army fi ghting 2011-12 against Putin’s return to Russia party and never opposes people’s interests,” she said on Sergei Mitrokhin, even though said is equally deployed as a tion now about gender-based the ‘terrorists’ to having a black the Kremlin after a stint as prime the policies of staunchly pro- Twitter. she did not really like him. “weapon to shame any man for violence ... about how men treat son, the shift has been so im- minister. Kremlin Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. The 31-year-old has emerged Elections will take place in being weak, eff eminate or not women.” mense”. Tatyana Stanovaya, head of the Authorities are hoping to as the brightest star in a new each of the country’s 85 regions. good enough”. He said his fi lms asks what “People are trying to do bet- R.Politik analysis fi rm, said the maintain their grip on the legis- generation of political challeng- Russians will elect governors It is almost the defi nition of “is it in our society where we ter and move away from the campaign exposed a growing rift lature but not a single candidate ers, with videos of her resisting in 16 regions and elections to leg- “toxic masculinity”, he told AFP are holding so much in that it past, but until it and everyone’s between authorities bent on pre- is formally running on the United authorities going viral. islative assemblies will take place in Venice, where Variety hailed comes out in violence?” pain is addressed we can’t hope serving the status quo and Rus- Russia ticket as the party’s popu- Navalny’s initiative has split in 13 regions, including Crimea his fi lm as a “piercing, perfectly Hermanus put his young cast to move forward.” sians wanting political change. larity hits rock bottom. the opposition however, with which was annexed by Moscow formed ... scaringly-brilliant through more than a month of The movie also brings up the “The Moscow parliament Navalny has put forward a self-exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail from Ukraine in 2014. anatomy of white South Afri- old-style army training, weird- notorious Ward 22 in a military elections have become a litmus “Smart Voting” plan urging Khodorkovsky urging Musco- The race for the governor’s seat can” maleness. ing many out with a baptism of hospital near the capital Pre- test of the authorities’ ability to Muscovites to support those who vites to only vote for those who in Saint Petersburg has become The tense drama premiered fi re in a racist mindset the post- toria, where gay recruits were accept this new reality,” Stano- have the highest chances of beat- condemn political repression. the most controversial campaign as women staged a second day apartheid generation had not subjected to electric shock vaya told AFP. “They sought to ing pro-Kremlin candidates. The chief of the central elec- outside Moscow, with the Krem- of protests in Cape Town after a been exposed to. therapy, hormone treatment act and think just like in the old Most of them are Communists. tion commission, Ella Pamfi lova, lin backing deeply unpopular wave of rapes and murders. Kai Luke Brummer, who plays and chemical castration in times. Putin believes everything The 43-year-old lawyer de- said that a dozen opposition can- acting city chief Alexander Be- It tells how a group of teenage the lead, a young conscript who 1970s and 1980s by psycholo- is fi ne.” scribes the vote as a referendum didates were disqualifi ed because glov. conscripts are broken down by falls for another soldier in the gist Colonel Aubrey Levin. Authorities briefl y jailed nearly on whether Russians trust au- they did not provide the right pa- Observers say discontent may brutal military training before fi lm’s repressed gay love story, Even as a gay man, Hermanus all opposition politicians seeking thorities and the ruling party. pers or faked some of their sup- not necessarily translate into being sent to fi ght in Angola in said it was “freaky and slightly was unaware of what had gone to get on the ballot in Moscow. “The only way to say ‘NO’ porters’ signatures. wide-scale protest voting in the 1981, where South Africa helped traumatic”, not least only hang- on there until he began re- Several people were also im- is co-ordinated voting for the She insisted that the elections regions. sustain a decades-long civil war ing around with other white searching the fi lm. prisoned for alleged violence strongest competitors of the would be fair, adding: “It’s un- But they expect more protest fuelled by the Cold War. people. Moffi e is one of two South against police even though oppo- United Russia candidates,” he acceptable when they try to dis- rallies in the coming months. In the army, white men were Under apartheid, only white African fi lms at the Venice sition supporters said their rallies wrote. credit our work.” “Across various cities and so- taught to kill and defend the people were allowed to serve in fi lm festival, with Waiting for were peaceful. “’Smart voting’ is a protest,” Victoria Popova, a 30-year- cial strata, the situation in Rus- racist segregationist system, the South Africa military. the Barbarians, based on J M One man was sentenced to said Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer for old illustrator, called the Moscow sian society is becoming infl am- Hermanus said. “The abuse you got in the Coetzee’s novel, and starring fi ve years over a tweet in which Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund campaign and ensuing crack- mable,” Stanovaya said. “You just “Just as white people have training felt like it seeped into Johnny Depp, which premiered he called for attacks on the chil- who refused food for more than a down a “monstrous aff air”. have to light a match.” perceptions of black people, your bones,” Brummer told yesterday. Gulf Times 10 Saturday, September 7, 2019 INDIA

LEGAL LAW AND ORDER CRIME APPEAL OFFBEAT Yasin Malik to be tried in Kashmir activist Swimming coach accused Kerala opposition asks CM Andhra woman gives killing, kidnap cases booked for sedition of rape arrested in Delhi to resolve Muthoot strike birth to twins at 73

The decks have been cleared for the trial of jailed Kashmiri activist Shehla Rashid was yesterday Goa Police yesterday arrested the state’s former Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has A woman who claims she is 73-years-old has separatist leader Yasin Malik in a special TADA booked for sedition over her comments about chief swimming coach Surajit Ganguly who has asked Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan given birth to twin girls, doctors said yesterday. If court in Jammu from next week in the nearly two alleged human rights violations in Jammu been accused of molesting and raping a 15-year- to resolve the ongoing strike called by a small the claim is true, she would be the oldest mother 30-year-old cases involving the killing of four IAF and Kashmir, police said. The Delhi Police’s old swimming champion. According to the police, section of employees of Muthoot Finance. The in the world. Erramatti Mangayamma was able personnel and kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the special cell said charge-sheet was registered Ganguly was arrested near the Kashmere Gate strike, however, has not aff ected the company’s to conceive after undergoing in-vitro fertilisation daughter of then home minister Mufti Mohamed on September 3 and Rashid, who is also a inter-state bus terminus in the national capital operations outside Kerala. Since August 20, a (IVF) and delivered the twins via caesarean Sayeed, sources said. Sources said the Jammu Jawaharlal Nehru University Ph.D scholar, was yesterday, by a Goa police team along with section of the Muthoot staff has been on strike section in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday. TADA court recently issued non-bailable warrants booked for sedition on a criminal complaint by counterparts from Delhi. “It was found that the with support from the Communist Party of India- Umashankar Sanakkayala, who headed the team against Malik and asked the police to produce him Supreme Court lawyer Alok Srivastav who had accused was travelling to diff erent cities in order Marxist-backed Centre for Indian Trade Union. On of 10 doctors, said Mangayamma was married before the court on September 11. The Jammu sought her arrest. In a series of tweets, Rashid had to evade arrest,” a Goa Police spokesperson told Thursday, the Kerala High Court directed the state to 80-year-old Sitharama Rajarao for 57 years Kashmir Liberation Front chief is currently lodged claimed that the army was indiscriminately picking reporters. Charges were filed against Ganguly at government to give protection to employees, who but had been unable to become pregnant. in Delhi’s Tihar Jail after being arrested by the up men, raiding houses and torturing people in the Mapusa police station in north Goa, after a report for work. The orders, has failed to evoke “We checked her school certificate, which is National Investigation Agency in a case related to the valley. The army has off icially rejected Rashid’s video showing him allegedly molesting a minor any response and protesters continued to disrupt authentic and mentions her date of birth as July financing of terror and separatist organisations. claims and called them “baseless” and “unverified”. girl, went viral on social media. the functioning of its Kozhikode off ice. 1, 1946,” Sanakkayala said. Raze Maradu fl ats by Sept 20, Supreme Court orders Kerala

IANS turned down the stay on the New Delhi demolition, and then you went to other bench...have ethics gone to the docks. Three to four he Supreme Court on Fri- senior counsels are involved in day ordered the demoli- this fraud. Is money everything Ttion of illegal fl ats in Ko- for you?,” asked justice Mishra, chi’s Maradu panchayat in Kerala who apparently appeared to be by September 20 for violation of furious. Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) The court dismissed the mat- rules. The court has also asked ter and warned the petitioners the chief secretary to be present not to bring up the issue further. before the bench headed by jus- In May, the Supreme Court, in tice Arun Mishra on September the aftermath of last year’s mas- 23. sive Kerala fl oods, ordered the The matter involves demo- demolition of all illegal struc- lition of 400 fl ats in fi ve posh tures built on the notifi ed Coast- coastal apartment complexes in al Regulatory Zone (CRZ) at Ma- Maradu area of Kochi. radu. It had said that the state A miff ed Supreme Court ex- cannot approve illegal construc- pressed its displeasure at the tions in the light of the danger of delaying tactics being adopted fl oods and heavy rains. Congress workers stage a demonstration against the arrest of senior party leader P Chidambaram, in Chennai yesterday. to stop the demolition. It had The counsel for the petition- ordered the demolition on May ers had then contended that the 8, which was to be implemented ministry of environment, forest within a month, but the instruc- and climate change had given tions were not followed. approval of the Coastal Zone Cautioning the state from Management Plans (CZMPs) re- taking any steps against the apex garding the 10 coastal districts court’s order, the court said: of Kerala. However, the approval Congress team fails to meet “Your state has violated the Su- was pending before the court. preme Court orders...don’t get The permission to construct into misadventure. And don’t the buildings was granted in do anything in between.” On July 2006 when Maradu was a pan- 5, the apex court had observed chayat. that senior counsels engaged by Meanwhile, the beleaguered the petitioners had played fraud owners of fl ats at Maradu, soon Chidambaram in Tihar jail and obtained a stay order on the after hearing the Supreme Court demolition from another bench order yesterday said they would IANS Chidambaram is in Jail No 7 of Since Chidambaram enjoys Z recommendation of the jail’s have the breakfast provided in during the vacation of the apex fi le a curative petition against New Delhi Tihar since Thursday evening. category security, the court authorised doctors. the jail, and then underwent court. the order. Jail No 7 is meant for economic also allowed him to be kept in a Speaking on condition of another medical check-up. Fol- It was on June 10 that the va- Speaking to the media here, off enders. separate cell with adequate ar- anonymity, a source said that lowing this, the medical staff cation bench of justices Indira E Antony, an advocate and resi- day after a Delhi court According to them, the del- rangements for security. when Chidamabaram was directed the jail authorities to Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi had dent of one of the fl ats, said he sent former fi nance min- egation was not allowed to meet Chidambaram’s son Karti brought to jail on Thursday, he provide him a wooden board to stayed demolition for six weeks would explore other legal reme- Aister and senior Congress the former home minister as Chidambaram was also lodged underwent a medical check- sleep on. after considering the writ peti- dies. “We will soon fi le a curative leader P Chidambaram to judi- the allotted time for meeting in the same jail earlier. up but at that time, there was No jail employee was ready to tion fi led by a group of residents, petition as we (fl at owners) have cial custody till September 19, a prisoners was over. The del- Meanwhile, the fi rst home no move to give him a wooden answer why Chidambaram was who claimed that their argu- not been heard. Only the build- delegation of the party leaders egation then inquired about minister of India to end up in board. The former minister had not given the wooden board on ments were not heard by the top ers have been heard. There still went to meet him at Tihar jail Chidambaram and returned. Tihar Jail, Chidambaram, spent to spend the fi rst night sleeping Thursday itself. court while pronouncing the exists legal remedy and will be but were not allowed to meet A senior party leader, not his fi rst night in his cell on the on the fl oor. When asked if it was right demolition order of May 8. doing that,” said Antony. him as the allotted time was wishing to be named, said they fl oor – with only three to four According to sources, in the to lodge someone allocated Z- “That bench should not have Meanwhile, Minister of State over. had gone to meet Chidambaram blankets to his comfort. morning Chidambaram ex- category security in Jail No 7, entertained the matter at all”, for Local Self Government in According to Congress lead- in the Tihar jail on the direc- However, yesterday he was pressed his desire to go out Tihar director general Sandeep said justice Arun Mishra in a fu- Kerala, A C Moideen, said the ers, party general secretary tions of party interim president given a wooden board, that too, in the open, and the wardens Goyal said: “Every jail inmate rious tone targeting the senior state government would seek le- Mukul Wasnik, Rajasthan Con- Sonia Gandhi to show solidarity on medical advice. posted for security gave him receives adequate security. The advocates who appeared in the gal advice. “Am yet to get a copy gress in-charge Avinash Pande, with him. According to jail sources, in- permission to take a stroll out- jail administration only goes matter. of the apex court order and we Delhi in-charge P C Chacko and The court has allowed the mates above 60 years of age are side. by what the courts and the jail “Should we draw contempt will seek legal advice on what has Manikkam Tagore had gone to former Union minister to take given a wooden board to serve Another source said that manual say. Every prisoner is against you? I had specifi cally happened today,” said Moideen. the Tihar jail. his medicines along with him. as a bed, but only on the written Chidambaram also decided to protected.” Fury over Maharashtra Train catches fire IAS offi cer resigns forts’ privatisation plan for ‘ethical’ reasons IANS racy are being compromised Mangaluru in an unprecedented manner. IANS gress leaders such as Vijay Wa- and his reign, others falling under I also feel the coming days will Mumbai dettivar, Ashok Chavan, Sachin the Archaeological Survey of In- present challenges to the ba- Sawant and Nationalist Con- dia and the fi nal category coming Sasikanth Senthil, deputy sic fabric of our nation and I gress Party’s Supriya Sule, Ajit under the state’s revenue, forest commissioner of Karna- would be better off outside the purported move by the Pawar, Dhananjay Munde, Amol or tourism departments. Staka’s Dakishna Kannada IAS to continue with my work Maharashtra government Kolhe and others were not con- “Our policy pertains only to district, yesterday resigned from at making life better for all,” Ato privatise over two dozen vinced and launched a blistering the third category which could the Indian Administrative Serv- Senthil said in the letter. hill-forts and even open them for attack on the ruling Bharatiya be developed through private ice (IAS) citing personal reasons. Noting that it simply can’t private functions such as wed- Janata Party-Shiv Sena com- participation. We are still work- “I have tendered my resig- be business as usual, the young dings stirred up a major political bine. ing on the policy as it exists in nation from the IAS yesterday. offi cer expressed gratitude to row with the potential to snowball While Chavan termed it as a some other states. Some people It is important to clarify that all who worked with him in all into an election issue yesterday. “sell-out” of the state’s glori- are spreading baseless rumours the decision is personal. It is in capacities. Senthil had been The move, labelled by the op- ous history to hoteliers, Sule said and creating confusion,” Rawal no way connected to anyone or transferred to head the coastal position parties as “preposterous “hiring out these forts to hotels said. any event in my current profi le district on October 19, 2017, and sell-out of the state’s her- or as wedding venues would tar He pointed out how states like as the deputy commissioner of from Bengaluru where he was itage”, attracted criticism from the glory and valour of our great Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, the district,” Senthil said in a the director of the mines and none other than Chhatrapati leaders like Chhatrapati Shivaji Rajasthan, Goa and Puducherry letter to his friends on the so- geology department. Sambhajiraje – the descendent Maharaj.” have an ‘Adopt A Fort’ policy cial media platform Whatsapp. District’s zilla parishad chief of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – According to some reports, which has been implemented A 2009 IAS batch offi cer of executive offi cer R Selvamani who demanded that Chief Min- the state government is current- successfully for the upkeep of the Karnataka cadre, 41-year- will offi ciate as the deputy ister Devendra Fadnavis immedi- ly fi nalising a new tourism policy old monuments. old Senthil said he owed an commissioner, if the state gov- ately rescind the move. in which forts that are not on the Though Maharashtra has the apology to the people and pub- ernment accepts Senthil’s res- Stung by the unexpected list of ‘protected monuments’ maximum number of forts, it lic representatives of the west ignation and relieves him from backlash – on the eve of Prime would be thrown open for devel- does not have such a policy and coast district in the state for service. Minister Narendra Modi’s visit opment, tourism purposes and therefore many forts are in a bad discontinuing the job midway. In a related development to the state today – the state ostensibly even for private func- condition with not even a secu- Mangaluru is about 360km in Bengaluru, Chief Minister government hastily issued an tions or weddings. rity guard for safety, and hence away from Bengaluru. B S Yediyurappa asked chief offi cial denial through the tour- Attempting to mollify the op- the state government is consid- “I have taken this decision secretary T M Vijaya Bhaskar ism secretary Vinita Singhal and position, Rawal explained that ering a tourism-centric initia- Railway off icials and emergency personnel inspect the train as I feel it is unethical to con- to ascertain the reasons for even Tourism Minister Jaykumar there are three kinds of forts in tive with participation of locals after a generator carriage caught fire at New Delhi Railway tinue as a civil servant when Senthil’s resignation and if he Rawal debunked any such moves. Maharashtra – one associated to conserve these monuments, Station in New Delhi yesterday. the fundamental building could be persuaded to contin- However, opposition Con- with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj the minister said. blocks of our diverse democ- ue in the service. Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 11

LATIN AMERICA Venezuela children growing up without parents AFP days and other family occasions where they work in a restaurant. since his mother left a year ago, ents to avoid traumatising their Caracas often end in tears. The dollar acts as a shield against says his grandmother, Carmen children by promising them a hy- “It’s always very bad,” says crippling hyperinfl ation. Lugo. pothetical return that may never Frankeiber, now 18. “Sometimes, Remittances from Venezuelans “Mama I miss you,” he writes in materialise. hristmas may still be a long I get depressed, but I keep hoping living abroad were worth around letters that he never sends. Andreina, 15, has come to ac- way off , but Frankeiber that they come back.” $3bn over the past year, according Lugo has taken care of Xavier — cept that she is not about to see CHernandez can barely wait One in four Venezuelan mi- to analysts Econanalitica. along with his two brothers and a her father come back from Costa for his parents to return from Peru grants leave at least one child be- Estelita, 58, says she is thank- cousin — since her two daughters Rica anytime soon. She lives hop- in December. hind, amid acute shortages of basic ful to her daughter for the money, left for Madrid. Lugo cooks and ing to join her mother on the Dutch They are among 3.6mn migrants foods and medicines, according to “but I’d rather have her here be- cleans for her grandchildren, and Caribbean island of Curacao, just who have fl ed Venezuela’s eco- NGO Cecodap. cause she keeps telling me ‘I’m takes them to school every morn- north of Venezuela. nomic meltdown since 2016, ac- “About 846,000 children could losing my son’s love.’” ing. At night, they sleep in the “I would really like her to leave, cording to the UN. be in this situation,” Cecodap di- Over time, Fraiber’s conversa- same bed because there’s no other not because she’s a burden, but And he is one of thousands of rector Abel Saraiba said. tions with his mother have dimin- space. for her own well-being,” says her kids left behind — growing up back Grandmother Estelita is raising ished, and he’s spending more and The brutal force of Venezuela’s grandmother Minu, her guardian home without parents. the teenager and his brother Fraib- more time with his video games. meltdown is creating “transna- for the past three years. Frankeiber was 16 when his er, eight, with her husband in the Children growing up without tional families” whose only links But it’s not clear whether An- mother left for Peru to earn money rundown western Caracas suburb parents in the home experience are WhatsApp conversations dreina would be able to leave. for the family. His father joined her of Catia. irritability, depression and anger, and remittances, says sociologist Venezuelan law prohibits mi- the following year. They survive on the dollars that Venezuelan Paola Osorio, 7, whose parents emigrated, uses a cell says Saraiba. There’s Xavier, an Claudia Vargas. nors from travelling without at Since they’ve been gone, birth- the couple send back from Peru, phone at her house of the San Agustin neighbourhood in Caracas. 11-year-old who cries every night Child psychologists warn par- least one parent.

Duque hits out at Mexico expects Maduro

Reuters relief on US tariff Bogota

enezuelan President Nicolas Maduro should Vspend his country’s mon- threat after drop ey on food, not on missiles, Co- lombian President Ivan Duque said, amid renewed verbal spar- ring between the neighbouring countries. Maduro late on Tuesday or- in migrant fl ow dered the armed forces to be on alert for a potential attack Reuters Mexico would not accept becom- verse measures that the govern- by Colombia and announced Mexico City ing a so-called safe third country, ment has taken, in compliance military exercises on the border, which would oblige migrants to with the Mexican migration law,” drawing the ire of Colombia’s seek asylum in Mexico rather he said. foreign minister, who said the exico does not expect than the US. Ebrard said that there had been exercises were a threat to region- the US to threaten to put Trump has lauded the Mexican only seven offi cial complaints al stability. Mtariff s on its goods when government for curbing fl ows about human rights violations by “They shouldn’t come out brag- it holds talks next week with US since the June deal. Mexican forces. ging about missiles in the border offi cials about its eff orts to curb By July, apprehensions at the Acting Homeland Security area,” Duque told local radio in the migration from Central America, US southern border had dropped Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Caribbean city of Barranquilla. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard by about a third, according to offi cial data on crossings at the “Instead of spending that money said yesterday. American data. US southern border would be re- on missiles, protect the Venezuelan Speaking at a regular govern- leased next week. people, give them food.” ment news conference alongside “We’re looking at a reduction The two countries, which President Andres Manuel Lopez of over 50% from May to today,” share a 2,219km border, have Obrador, Ebrard said Mexico he said. been frequently at odds over the had reduced the fl ow of undocu- The head of the asylum divi- past decade and do not maintain mented migrants crossing the sion at US Citizenship and Immi- diplomatic relations. country toward the US border by gration Services, John Laff erty, in Tensions were stoked afresh 56% between May and August. July expressed concerns about last week when former com- At the end of May, US Presi- a new rule aiming to bar many manders from the now-demo- dent Donald Trump threatened migrants from seeking asylum at bilised Revolutionary Armed to put tariff s on all Mexican ex- “I want to thank Mexico, the US-Mexican border, saying Forces of Colombia (Farc) gueril- ports to the US if Mexico did not the Mexican government, in a staff e-mail that his depart- las announced they would rearm signifi cantly curb a recent surge their great president of ment had been given little time to in a video Colombian authorities in illegal immigration from Cen- Mexico, for helping us. train and prepare. say was fi lmed in Venezuela. tral America into the US. They’re helping us in a A department offi cial said in a Venezuela’s foreign ministry In June, the two sides agreed very big way” statement that Laff erty has been has blamed the dissident rear- to a 90-day window for Mexico reassigned. mament on Duque’s failure to to reduce the migrant fl ows after Trump said this week that In Mexico, migrant advocates follow through on a 2016 peace it agreed to deploy thousands of trend has continued. blame their government for accord. Maduro previously said security forces to its borders and “I want to thank Mexico, the launching a migration crack- former rebels are welcome in began taking more asylum-seek- Mexican government, their great down without doing enough to Venezuela. ers from the US while their cases president of Mexico, for helping protect people fl eeing poverty The Venezuelan information were being processed. us,” he told reporters on Wednes- and violence in Central America. ministry did not immediately re- That period ended this week, day. “They’re helping us in a very Julio Lopez, director of the spond to a request for comment. and Ebrard is due to hold talks big way. Far bigger than anybody Nazareth Migrant House in Colombia would not allow it- with US offi cials on Tuesday to thought even possible.” Nuevo Laredo, just over the bor- self to be provoked by the exer- discuss Mexico’s eff orts. Ebrard said the Mexican gov- der from Texas, said offi cials have cises, Duque said. Mexico’s position would be ernment would keep investing in done “nothing” for the thou- “We don’t fall for provocation, that the strategy has been a suc- social programmes in the south sands of asylum seekers who are we don’t provoke or allow our- cess, Ebrard told the news con- of Mexico as well as in Guate- forced to wait out their cases in selves to be provoked,” he said. ference. mala, Honduras and El Salva- Mexico’s dangerous northern “But we do demand respect for “I don’t expect there to be a dor, the three Central American border towns. our territory and we demand it tariff threat on Tuesday,” Ebrard countries where most migrants The government should rec- by using every opportunity to said, pointing to the reduction in depart from. ognise “the error of having used denounce this conspiracy with Demonstrators attend a protest against the opening of a new shelter for Central American asylum migrant fl ows. “This reduction of 56% in the migrants as bargaining chips,” he terrorist groups.” seekers in Mexicali, Mexico. The minister reiterated that fl ow of migrants is a result of di- said.

Amazon summit Chile sets up water crisis Delivery app Rappi faces investigation

Reuters terms and conditions, say- team to tackle drought ing some provisions — includ- Bogota ing asking clients to reject some Reuters regions, a decline in river fl ows, The situation puts pressure on rights and conditions that could Santiago less water in our reservoirs and key sectors of the local economy olombian regulators have prevent them from getting exact less snow on our mountain rang- such as mining and agriculture. ordered popular delivery change for purchases — may vio- es,” Pinera told reporters at the Miners are investing in desali- Capp Rappi to comply with late Colombian laws. hile’s President Sebas- presidential palace in Santiago. nation plants. electronic commerce laws, say- The decision is not subject to tian Pinera announced He said the government was While on a recent trip to Chi- ing the company is off ering serv- appeal, the regulators added. Cthe creation of a working already supplying water to na, the agriculture minister vis- ices that go beyond basic contact Rappi, founded in 2015 in Co- group of government agencies, 380,000 residents of the worst- ited a Chinese meteorological between clients and suppliers. lombia, said in a statement it will academics and industry players hit areas, and that the number of station that specialises in cloud The superintendency of in- comply with the regulator’s or- to tackle the worst drought in 60 water-scarce communities could seeding to increase precipitation. dustry and commerce also said ders and implement the request- years which has spiked this year increase further in the coming This year, Chile will host the it was opening an investigation ed measures. amid record low rainfall. months. UN annual climate summit, of the app — which specialises The regulators also opened The government has declared “The supply of drinking water COP25. in on-demand deliveries for res- an investigation for alleged in- water shortages in more than 50 in our cities is guaranteed during Although the southern An- taurants and supermarkets — af- fractions related to misleading communities across three re- this spring-summer season, but dean nation contributes rela- ter receiving hundreds of cus- advertising and electronic com- gions of its normally lush central we will have to make important tively little to global emis- tomer complaints. merce. belt so far this year, and an as- changes to ensure that this sup- sions, it is among the 10 nations Rappi allows clients to have That investigation will look sociated agricultural emergency ply is maintained over time,” he most likely affected by climate everything from tobacco prod- into hundreds of complaints by across more than 100. added. change according to UN defini- ucts to concert tickets delivered customers about charges that It has pledged to spend $58mn Chile’s meteorological offi ce tions. to their homes or offi ces, paying diff ered from those advertised, in tapping more water sources said this month that the capi- “Chile has been living as if via the app or in cash. failure to fulfi ll special off ers, and trucking water to people go- tal Santiago has received just a it were a country that had an Regulators said the app has charges for cancelled orders and ing without in rural areas. quarter of the average rainfall abundance of water,” said Pin- moved beyond facilitating con- other problems. “The water shortages and levels of the past 30 years. era. “Climate change and global tact between clients and suppli- “In the case that charges are drought... has become more ex- Agriculture Minister Antonio warming have changed that situ- ers, becoming a “commercialisa- proved, fi nes of 2,000 minimum tensive and more intense, and Walker said earlier this month ation perhaps forever. We have to tion chain” subject to diff erent legal salaries could be imposed,” that is refl ected in many ways: that 2019 was one of the driest get used to using resources such Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno arrives for the Presidential regulations. the regulator said. A fi ne of that a decrease in precipitation and years Chile had faced in six dec- as water and energy more eff ec- Summit for the Amazon, in Leticia, Colombia, yesterday. The regulators ordered the amount would be equivalent to rainfall in virtually all of Chile’s ades. tively.” company to adjust the apps’ nearly $500,000. Gulf Times 12 Saturday, September 7, 2019 PAKISTAN Special desks at govt offi ces for overseas Pakistanis

Internews sion (OPC) vice-chairman Wa- Pakistanis, the commission has Chaudhry further pointed out overseas Pakistanis for quick res- cial cabinet soon, this act will be and historic case data since 2014, Lahore seem Chaudhry said that the decided to speed up the com- that since the OPC’s establish- olution of their cases. presented in the Punjab Assem- the commission has proposed commission has forwarded this plaint resolution mechanism. ment in 2014, the commission “I believe we will touch 50% bly for formal approval. amendments in the law. proposal to Prime Minister Im- “Hopefully, these special desks hardly resolved around 5,000 case resolution rate in the next It will help in speeding up the It has already started receiving o facilitate overseas Pa- ran Khan, on which the premier will be functional by early Oc- cases, but in the last six months, six months,” Chaudhry said. case resolution mechanism, he complaints through offl ine and kistanis, the government has formally given approval for tober. It will help in solving the it resolved over 2,000 cases. The commission has resolved maintained. online channels. Thas decided to establish establishing special desks at Pa- problems of overseas Pakistanis The case resolution rate has property cases worth over Rs5bn Responding to a question, he Punjab Chief Minister Sard- special desks at government of- kistani embassies in diff erent related to property, police, issu- improved from 36% to 46%, and during this period, he added. said that although overseas Pa- ar Usman Buzdar had recently fi ces, especially in embassies and countries and police stations ance of character certifi cates and the commission aims to improve He said that a new act of the kistanis fi le all types of cases, approved the appointment of police stations, it was learnt yes- across the country. other petty issues. Earlier, they this rate further. commission has been cleared mostly these complaints are re- chairmen in 29 district overseas terday. He said that keeping in view either had to travel back or wait The Chief Justice of Pakistan from the ministry of law, and fol- lated to property. Pakistanis committees to facili- Overseas Pakistan Commis- the problems faced by overseas for weeks or months,” he said. has already separated courts for lowing approval from the provin- After evaluation of complaints tate overseas Pakistanis.

Doctors seek Pakistan pledges ‘fullest’ access to Kashmir

Internews response over Kashmir Islamabad Reuters/Internews Prime Minister Khan said that Islamabad/Rawalpindi the armed forces, the nation, the epresentatives of the Pa- political leadership, the parlia- kistani medical fi eld have ment, the mainstream and social Rrequested the Indian High akistan will make the full- media are in unison in speaking Commission to give them access est possible response to against India’s move on Kashmir. to Indian-administered Kashmir PIndia’s actions in disputed “The Defence Day of Pakistan with medicines on humanitarian Kashmir and the global commu- stands out in the history of Paki- grounds. nity would be responsible for any stan as a symbol of enduring dis- “I met the Indian High Com- “catastrophic” aftermath, Prime play of unity, indomitable cour- mission’s First Secretary (Eco- Minister Imran Khan said yester- age and unmatched sacrifi ces by nomics and Commerce) Ash- day. our gallant soldiers,” he said. “I ish Sharma and handed him an The rhetoric on the annual De- am proud that in addition to be- application to issue visas to 21 fence Day remembrance of Paki- ing fully modernised, our armed doctors who want to go to In- stan’s fi ghters in a 1965 war with forces are imbued with the spirit dian-administered Kashmir so India underscores rising tension of patriotism and sacrifi ce and that medical treatment would between the nuclear-armed foes are capable of defeating any in- be provided to Muslims, Hindus, after New Delhi last month re- ternal and external adventurism.” Sikhs, etc, who have been de- voked the autonomy of its part of “We will continue raising their prived of medical facilities due disputed Kashmir. just struggle for freedom at all to over a month-long curfew in “I have informed the world levels and platforms,” Khan said. the occupied valley,” University that Pakistan does not want “I salute the gallant sons of soil of Health Sciences (UHS) vice- war, but at the same time, Paki- who laid down their lives while chancellor Prof Dr Javed Akram stan cannot remain oblivious to defending Pakistan and pay re- said. the challenges posed to its se- spect to their families for unpar- On August 30, the UHS and curity and integrity,” Khan said alleled sacrifi ces they rendered Pakistan Society of Internal in a statement on the website of for our tomorrow,” he added. Medicine (PSIM) had signed a state-run Radio Pakistan. Pakistan will never abandon declaration that a multidisci- “We are prepared to give the Kashmir, army chief General plinary team of doctors would enemy the fullest possible re- Qamar Javed Bajwa told a defence be sent to the occupied valley sponse. Failing, the world com- function in Rawalpindi. to provide medical treatment to munity will be responsible for “We are ready to give sacrifi ce Kashmiris. the catastrophic aftermath,” he for our Kashmiri brothers, will It was also decided that the added. fulfi l our duty till last bullet, last team would take the medicines This week Khan had said war soldiers and last breath,” he said along. between the South Asian neigh- in a televised speech. “And we are Speaking about his meeting bours was a risk, but Pakistan prepared to go till any extent.” with Sharma, Akram said that would not act fi rst. Bajwa said: “Kashmir is Pa- Air force cadets march outside he discussed a number of issues He has led a vigorous inter- kistan’s jugular vein and we will the mausoleum of Pakistan’s related to mutual co-operation national diplomatic campaign never abandon our Kashmiri founder Mohamed Ali Jinnah in the health sector. seeking the support of the United brethren.” in Karachi to celebrate Defence “I also took up the issue of the States, former colonial power Calling on the international Day, which marks the miseries of people of Indian- Britain and others to press India community to play its part, Gen- anniversary of the country’s administered Kashmir and re- over the Himalayan region, but eral Bajwa said Pakistan gives the second war with India between quested Sharma to play his role his Hindu-majority neighbour message of peace and today there August and September 1965 with in getting visa for a team of 21 has ruled out outside involve- is an atmosphere of peace in the both sides claiming victory after doctors led by me. I also told him ment. country. it ended in a stalemate. that we are ready to go without cell phone, watches … and even “Pakistan has fulfi lled its re- barefoot,” he said. sponsibilities in the war on ter- “Initially, Sharma said that rorism and now the responsibil- there was no humanitarian ity rests with the rest of the world crisis in Indian-administered to play its part,” he added. Kashmir, and that the situation “A peaceful and strong Paki- was under control. However, stan is our destination and we I replied that, in that case, we are steadfastly moving towards should be allowed to go there, that end,” Bajwa said, adding the and after returning we will hold country’s armed forces ensured a press conference to inform the the security of the motherland by public that the situation in oc- rendering sacrifi ces both in the cupied Kashmir was normal,” conventional war and the fi ght Akram said. against terrorism. “The diplomat then said that In his special message on De- it was not possible to provide a fence Day, President Dr Arif Alvi safe corridor. I told him that we stated: “Let me reiterate Paki- are willing to go there at our own stan’s solidarity with the Kash- Soldiers pay tribute at a war monument near the Wagah border to mark Defence Day. risk and will give in writing that miris and renewed the resolve we will be responsible in case of that Islamabad will continue to ments and cut off communica- lost its right to frame its own laws into line with the rest of the na- any incident or casualty of our support their right to self-deter- tion as Prime Minister Narendra and non-residents were allowed tion. team members. mination.” Modi withdrew special rights for to buy property there in changes The neighbours have fought “Sharma was initially hesitant India fl ooded the Kashmir val- Kashmir on August 5. the government said would drive two of their three wars over to receive the letter, but fi nally People visit an exhibition in Peshawar yesterday on Defence Day. ley with troops, restricted move- Indian-administered Kashmir development and pull the region Kashmir. he accepted it.”

8 die in road Veteran actor Abid Ali dead accident Internews in the iconic serial Waris (1978) Humera Chaudhry with whom Karachi that established him as a formi- he had three daughters, one of dable actor. whom is actress Iman Ali; and Internews The rest, as they say, was his- then with TV artiste Rabia No- Narowal eteran actor Abid Ali has tory. reen. passed away in Karachi. Ali went on to work in a Noreen said: “He wasn’t VHe was 67. number of noteworthy plays just a husband to me. He was a t least eight people were He was admitted to a lo- such as Khwahish and Suraj Ke friend and my shoulder to cry on killed including seven cal hospital last Friday, where Sath Sath. (ghamgusaar). Achildren when a truck he was being treated for “liver He also ventured into produc- “Above all, he was a gem of a loaded with gravel overturned complications”. tion and direction with the play person. and fell on the rickshaw that Ali was born in Quetta on Dasht, which gained tremen- “I have never seen in my life they were in, in Narowal district March 29, 1952, where he ac- dous popularity. such a dervish who kept meet- of Punjab province. quired early education. The TV plays that he pro- ing with a smile those who had Mourners carry the coff in of veteran actor, director and producer Abid Ali during his funeral in Karachi. The children, all students, Inclined towards perform- duced or directed (Pinjra, Doosra hurt him. were on their way to school. ing arts and having an imposing Asman, etc) were content-driv- “He was a book reader, and I the loss of Abid Ali sir ... He al- and the industry the strength to Ali Sahib.May his soul rest in Five children and the rickshaw voice, he joined Radio Pakistan en, often identifying the various had often seen him read Paulo ways brought so much light to bear this tremendous loss.” peace.” driver died on the spot, while the Quetta for a brief period. social ills that Pakistani society Coelho’s books.” everyone around him. Such a It was not just members of Umar Gul’s message was: “He others were shifted to a nearby From the Baluchistan capital is grappling with. The moment the news of Ali’s legend.” the showbiz community who was one of my all-time favourite hospital in critical condition, he shifted to Lahore to try his Ali also acted in fi lms. death broke, messages started to Humayun Saeed wrote: relayed their messages for the actors. Praying for his maghfi - rescue sources said. luck in television. Two of the fi lms were Insaniat pour in on social media. “Deeply saddened to hear about late actor; his death also sent a rat.” Rescue sources later said that In Lahore, he got an oppor- Ke Dushman (1987) and Khaak Actress Saba Qamar posted a Abid Ali Sahib’s death. A leg- shockwave in the sporting com- Ali’s funeral was held after four boys and three girls were tunity to work in the popular Aur Khoon (1979), with the latter message on her Twitter account, endary actor and a man with a munity. Friday prayers at Masjid-e-Aye- among those killed. drama Jhok Siyal (1973), which based on a Nasim Hijazi novel. saying: “Today our industry lost heart of gold. Fast bowler Wahab Riaz said: sha at Bahria Town, and he will Police have registered a case earned him recognition. Ali married twice. a gem. “May Allah bless him with “Deeply saddened to hear about be laid to rest in the Bahria Town against the truck driver. But it was his performance First he tied the knot with “Words can surely not express jannat and give his family, fans the death of veteran actor Abid graveyard. Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 13 PHILIPPINES Senator claims ‘good conduct time allowance’ to free prisoners on sale

By Bernadette E Tamayo 1999 to seven life terms, or a Thirteen freed convicts have on’s) revelation earlier, I think Manila Times minimum of 30 years impris- surrendered to the police. that is worse than heinous onment for each count, for the PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. crime,” Faeldon said in a chance rape-slay of University of the Bernard Banac told Manila Times interview. “You know why? enator Panfi lo Lacson yes- Philippines Los Banos student that the surrenderers came from They are the lowest members terday said under the al- Eileen Sarmenta and the murder Central Visayas, National Capi- of our society. Whether small Sleged “GCTA (Good Con- of her boyfriend Allan Gomez in tal Region (Metro Manila) and or big amount, the ones they duct Time Allowance) for sale” 1993. Cagayan Region. demanded money from are scheme at the Bureau of Correc- Gordon said the Philippine “All of them have voluntarily prisoners. They are the lowest tions (BuCor), an inmate could National Police (PNP), National surrendered. Some are friends members of our society. And yet buy his or her freedom through Bureau of Investigation and with our police offi cers so they you oppress them? These peo- the GCTA Law by paying as other law enforcement agen- proceeded to the nearest police ple must be hanged by the neck much as P1.5mn each. cies “must be provided with the station,” PNP chief Oscar Albay- repeatedly,” he added. The senator pointed this out list of all prisoners erroneously alde said in a radio interview. When asked whether he had as he set to validate information released, particularly those sen- He added the police might prior knowledge of the alleged that unscrupulous BuCor per- tenced to life imprisonment and seek the help of the Internation- GCTA for sale at the BuCor, sonnel “sell” GCTA to prisoners, with multiple penalties.” al Police to locate convicts who Faeldon said, “This was the fi rst who wanted to cut short their jail An alleged victim of the might go abroad. time that I heard about that.” term. GCTA for sale racket surfaced on The Cebu Provincial Police On the other hand, Sen. Ana “Regarding GCTA for sale: Thursday night during the Sen- Offi ce said Jesus Negro Jr, a mur- Theresia “Risa” Hontiveos said So far, we have discovered and ate inquiry into the GCTA scan- der convict who was freed for a the DoJ should focus on more will pursue to validate (gather dal. year under the GCTA Law and pressing matters such as the ac- evidence as well) a price range of Yolanda Camelon, the com- who surrendered to authorities cusations of corruption at the P50,000 to P1.5mn per prisoner,” mon-law wife of one of the in- in Cebu on Wednesday, would be BuCor. Lacson said on Twitter. mates at the minimum-security sent back to the BuCor. She made the remark after fi l- “At least eight prisoners compound of the New Bilibid Yolanda Camelon: victim of racket Negro was released on Aug 9, ing her counter-affi davit to in- are known to have paid up to Prison, sought the help of Sen- 2018 after serving 30 years at the citing to sedition complaint of P100,000 each. It is also well- ate President Vicente Sotto 3rd paying P150,000. Camelon said Camilon said Bansil had con- fi red Faeldon for disobeying his BuCor. the PNP-Criminal Investigation organised. Let’s see where it to narrate her experience. Bansil, a correctional offi cer, fronted her husband about the order concerning the release of Duterte ordered the freed con- and Detection Group against her leads us,” he tweeted. Camelon said she shelled out said her husband’s jail sentence former’s attempt to get her inmates under the GCTA Law. victs of heinous crime under the before the DoJ. Meanwhile, President Rodrigo P50,000 to speed up the release could be reduced, but that it money back. Palace spokesman Salvador GCTA Law to surrender and even The complaint stemmed from Duterte has given instructions of her partner under RA 10592, would be “too costly.” Meanwhile, Roque admit- Panelo said the investigation of off ered P1mn bounty per convict accusations of Peter Joemel to the Presidential Anti-Cor- adding that a certain Maj. Mar- Bansil told Camelon to give ted that he received the money the allegedly questionable im- who will not surrender. Advincula, alias “Bikoy,” who ruption Commission (PACC) “to ibel Bansil, alias “Mabel,” had the money personally to Staff from Camelon, but he already plementation of the law must Albayalde, however, clarifi ed claimed that Hontiveros and give top priority its recommen- urged her to produce P50,000 to Sgt. Ramoncito Roque, BuCor returned it to her, but Camelon also cover previous BuCor heads, that the shoot-to-kill order of several others had conspired to dation on the fi asco at the BuCor facilitate the release of her hus- documentation chief. denied it. including dela Rosa. Duterte was only for the freed oust President Duterte. to his offi ce.” band. In a news conference yes- Camelon, however, com- Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa The Justice department has convicts who would resist arrest. Accountability was also The Senate blue ribbon com- terday in an undisclosed place in plained that the concerned Bu- said he was willing to be investi- asked ex-convicts who benefi ted Based on BuCor data, out of sought by Rodolfo Diamante, ex- mittee headed by Sen. Richard Pasay City, she said some BuCor Cor offi cials reneged on their gated by the Ombudsman on his from the questioned GCTA Law 22,049 prisoners released from ecutive secretary of the Catholic Gordon is conducting an inquiry personnel off ered help to at least promise to release her husband alleged involvement in the re- to surrender immediately. 2014 to 2019, 1,914 committed Bishops’ Conference of the Phil- into the alleged misapplica- 10 to 20 people to reduce their in February. lease of inmates under the GCTA According to Justice Under- heinous crimes. ippines for prison ministry, who tion of the GCTA Law to release spouses’ jail sentence through From March, she was told that Law. secretary Markk Perete, the ex- Faeldon denied knowledge of said those responsible for the inmates, including those con- the GCTA Law. her husband’s release had been “I have nothing to hide. I am convicts or persoms deprived of the alleged GCTA for sale at the early release of heinous crime victed of heinous crimes such as Not all inmates who paid moved to April. open to any investigation,” said liberty could go directly to the agency during his term. convicts should pay. rapist-killer Antonio Sanchez. grease money, however, were Finally, Camelon was also told Dela Rosa, who served as BuCor BuCor or any of its prison farms He made the remark close to “Resignation and fi ring the Senators said Sanchez does able to secure their early release, that her husband’s release was chief from April to October 2018 or colonies. Thursday midnight after at- person/s is a quick fi x ‘solu- not qualify to benefi t from Re- according to Camelon. set in October. after he retired as PNP chief. They can also surrender to the tending the Senate Blue Rib- tion’ to the problem,” Diamante public Act (RA) 10592, or the She said she learned about She complained that Bansil Former Bureau of Customs nearest PNP station or nearest bon Committee’s inquiry into added. GCTA Law, having been con- the GCTA for sale scheme from and Roque gave her the runa- chief Nicanor Faeldon succeed- units of the Armed Forces of the the alleged botched release of The secretary suggested that victed of a heinous crime. a relative of a prisoner who was round when she demanded to ed dela Rosa. Philippines, where they could Sanchez. an independent body investigate Sanchez was sentenced in released early supposedly after return the P50,000 to her. President Duterte, however, register. “If there’s truth to (Camel- the issue. American charged with trying Magsaysay award winners meet media to smuggle baby out of airport

Reuters Manila

n American woman is facing human traffi cking Aand kidnapping charges in the Philippines, authorities said, after she was caught try- ing to smuggle a newborn baby out of Manila’s main airport on a fl ight bound for the United States. Jennifer Talbot, from Ohio, Ramon Magsaysay awardee Ko Swe Win of Myanmar speaks during a press conference with managed to take the six-day-old the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in Manila, yesterday. boy through passport control by The Ramon Magsaysay Award was created in 1957 to celebrate the memory and leadership concealing him in a baby sling of the late president whom the award is named after, and is given annually to individuals or across her chest, according to organisations in Asia who carry out selfless service. the National Bureau of Investi- gation (NBI), the Philippines top law-enforcement agency. Surveillance camera footage from Wednesday showed her removing the sling and reveal- ing the infant before she passed Law change sought to cover teachers through security checks into the departures area. Airport offi cials were alerted By Javier J Ismael In fi ling Senate Bill 1001, ble and eff ective methods of when Talbot, 43, failed to pro- Manila Times or an “Act institutionalising instilling discipline, guidance duce a boarding pass or identify support mechanisms for pub- counsellors to serve as support documents for the baby while lic school teachers in matters personnel, and legal assistance at the gate trying to board her enator Maria Lourdes of student discipline,’ Binay and representation.” fl ight. Nancy Binay has fi led a stressed that teacher protec- The bill seeks to establish in- The NBI said the baby’s Sbill that seeks to amend tion is just as indispensable as stitutionalised support mech- 19-year-old biological mother US citizen Jennifer Talbot is escorted after a press conference at the National Bureau of Investigation Republic Act (RA) 7610, or the child protection. anisms for teachers and school had wanted the boy adopted (NBI) headquarters in Manila. “Child Abuse Law,” to cover dis- She explained that teachers personnel, which include and was aware Talbot intended ciplinary actions of teachers so were also tasked in maintain- training and legal assistance to take the baby to the United napping laws because she had to immigration authorities, the conference on Thursday, dressed long as it is in accordance to the ing discipline in the classroom; and representation to protect States. no written consent from the NBI said. in orange prison garb. disciplinary rules and proce- however, problem is that they teachers and school personnel Talbot could be charged un- mother, whom she met online, Talbot made no comment She faces up to 20 years in dures prescribed by the Depart- lack “institutional support in accused of committing child der human traffi cking and kid- and failed to declare the child when she appeared at a news prison if found guilty. ment of Education (DepEd). standards and the permissi- abuse. Call to amend rice tariff law to support farmers

By Bernadette E Tamayo balance of P4bn of the P10bn which is now pegged at only P7 the 2.11mn Filipino rice farmers, Manila Times allotted for the Rice Competi- per kilo in Central Luzon, almost adding it was not enough. tiveness Enhancement Fund half of the production cost of P12 Agriculture Secretary William and the P9.19bn collected as per kilo. It has caused several Dar on Wednesday announced enator Francis Pangilinan tariff revenues from rice im- farmers to stop cultivating for that the implementing rules and wants to amend the Rice portation from March 5 to 31 fear of losing money. regulations of the Sagip Saka Act STariffication Law to allow August 31 this year. “One way for us to help our of 2019 would be released within a P13bn immediate monetary “Our rice farmers and the rice farmers is to support them and the week. aid to rice farmers while urg- industry face an emergency sit- buy their rice. Buy local, espe- The Sagip Saka Act allows ing the public to buy local rice uation. And we have the money cially during this harvest time,” government to buy agricultural to help farmers cope with the that can be given to our suff ering he said. Pangilinan said the produce directly from farm en- plummeting palay (unmilled farmers,” he said. Department of Agriculture’s terprises, exempted from the rice) prices. Pangilinan also urged the pub- move to grant no-interest loans procurement law and provide The senator said the direct lic to buy local rice to help the to farmers was only for those tax incentives to corporations cash transfers to rice farmers farmers suff ering from extreme- farming one hectare and below, that will buy directly from ac- could be sourced from the fund ly low buying prices of palay, covering only about 100,000 of credited farm enterprises. The senator has urged the public to buy local rice to help farmers suff ering from extremely low prices. Gulf Times 14 Saturday, September 7, 2019 COMMENT

CHAIRMAN Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Biomedical advances Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko Production Editor ‘pose new threats’ Amjad Khan

By Martin Rees P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar Cambridge [email protected] 44350478 (News), iomedical advances in recent decades have been hugely 44466404 (Sport), benefi cial – most of all for the 44466636 (Home delivery) Bworld’s poor, whose life expect- ancy has increased dramatically. But the 44350474 future looks more dangerous. Although facebook.com/gulftimes continued innovation will further improve people’s lives, it will also give twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar rise to new threats, and sharpen some ethical dilemmas concerning human life itself. For starters, some scientists are looking into ever more extreme ways GULF TIMES of enabling people to live longer. But although we would almost certainly welcome an extended, healthy lifespan, many of us would not want to prolong matters once our quality of life or California boat fi re prognosis dipped below a certain threshold. We dread clinging on in the grip of, say, dementia, and being a drain on resources and the sympathy of may put spotlight on others. Medical progress is also blurring the transition between life and death. Titanic’s legal defence Today, death is normally taken to mean “brain death,” when all measurable signs of brain activity cease. But now The company that owns a scuba dive boat that caught fi re there are proposals to restart the heart and sank off California killing 34 people, may seek to limit artifi cially after “brain death,” in order PICTURE: Courtesy Born2Invest its liability by invoking a 19th Century law that has shielded to keep transplantable organs “fresh” vessel owners from costly disasters such as the sinking of the for longer. the overuse of existing antibiotics – In fact, biohacking is an increasingly viruses. The ultimate nightmare would Titanic. Such a step would add to the moral including in American cattle – and popular hobby and competitive game. be a highly lethal bioweapon that has ambiguity of transplant surgery. incentivising the development of new Because our world has become so the transmissibility of the common Federal investigators have interviewed the only survivors Already, for example, unscrupulous treatments is thus an urgent short- and interconnected, the magnitude of the cold. from the fi re aboard the Conception, the captain and four crew “agents” are persuading people in less long-term priority. worst potential bio-catastrophes is Yet perhaps the greatest dilemma members, as well as Glen Fritzler, whose Truth Aquatics Inc developed countries to sell organs that And yet, there are also risks greater than ever. Yet far too many concerns human beings themselves. owns and operates the vessel. will then be resold at a much higher associated with the race to develop people are in denial about this. At some point in the future, genetic While no one has sued yet, wrongful death lawsuits by price for the benefi t of wealthy potential improved vaccines. In 2011, researchers Today, a natural pandemic would have modifi cation and cyborg technologies families of the victims were a near certainty, legal experts said. recipients. in the Netherlands and the United a far greater social impact than in times could make humans mentally and Accidents that occur on land with a similar death toll could These ambiguities, and the shortage States demonstrated that it was past. Mid-14th-century Europeans, for physically malleable. Moreover, such evolution – a kind of secular “intelligent lead to more than $100mn in damages, lawyers said. of organ donors, will only increase. surprisingly simple to make the H5N1 example, were understandably a fatalistic One priority, therefore, must be to infl uenza virus both more virulent lot, and villages continued to function design” – would take only centuries. But on the water, maritime law applies, and any lawsuits make xenotransplantation – harvesting and more transmissible. Some argued even when the Black Death killed half That really would be a game changer. will run up against a statute that allows the owner of a vessel organs from animals for human use – that staying a step ahead of natural their inhabitants. But these days, the Today, when we admire the literature and its insurer to escape or severely limit its liability in certain routine and safe. An even better option, mutations would make it easier to feeling of entitlement in many developed and artefacts that have survived from cases. although further off , could be 3D produce vaccines in short order. But countries is so strong that social order antiquity, we feel an affi nity across Experts in maritime law said Truth Aquatics will almost printing of replacement organs, using critics of the experiments pointed to would collapse as soon as a pandemic thousands of years with those ancient certainly fi le a petition under the Shipowner’s Limitation of similar techniques to those currently the increased risk of dangerous viruses overwhelmed the health-care system. artists and their civilisations. “Human Liability Act of 1851. being developed to make artifi cial meat. being released unintentionally, or of Nor is it scaremongering to highlight nature” has not changed for millennia. Advances in microbiology may also bioterrorists gaining access to new the human risks of bio error or bio But there is no reason to assume The law allows the owner of a vessel to petition a federal prove to be a double-edged sword. techniques. terror. After all, the spread of an that the dominant intelligences a few court to exonerate it from damages, or limit damages to the True, better diagnostics, vaccines, Rapid innovation in biotech demands artifi cially released pathogen can be centuries from now will have any post-accident value of the ship, which would be zero in the and antibiotics should help to sustain that we explore regulations to keep neither predicted nor controlled. That emotional resonance with us, even case of the sunken Conception. health, control disease, and contain experiments safe, control the spread of fact inhibits the use of bioweapons though they may have an algorithmic “It really is antithetical pandemics. But this very progress potentially dangerous knowledge, and by governments, or even by terrorist understanding of how we behaved. Will to most fair-minded people has sparked a dangerous evolutionary police the ethics of how new techniques groups with specifi c aims. But an they even be recognisably human? Or, Titanic’s and jurists to allow this old counter-attack by the pathogens are being applied. But eff ective unbalanced loner with biotech will electronic entities have taken over defence to potentially let themselves, with bacteria becoming worldwide enforcement of such rules expertise would not necessarily feel so the world by then? It is anyone’s guess. sinking is immune to the antibiotics used to would be virtually impossible. If constrained if he or she believed that – Project Syndicate someone off scot free,” said suppress them. something can be done, then someone, there were too many humans on the a classic Daniel Rose, an attorney with This growing resistance has already somewhere, will do it. That is a planet. O Martin Rees, a cosmologist and the Kreindler & Kreindler fi rm led to a resurgence in tuberculosis. potentially terrifying prospect. Both bio error and bio terror are astrophysicist, has been Britain’s example of which represents victims in Without new antibiotics, the risks Whereas producing a nuclear possible within the next 10-15 years. Astrono mer Royal since 1995. He is maritime accidents. posed by untreatable postoperative weapon requires elaborate special- And the risk will become even greater a former Master of Trinity College, the law being The 1912 sinking of the infections will rise back to where purpose technology, biotech involves in the longer term once it becomes Cambridge, and former president of the Titanic, in which more than they were a century ago. Preventing small-scale, dual-use equipment. possible to design and synthesise Royal Society. successfully 1,500 people were killed, is a classic example of the law employed being successfully employed. The ship’s owner, White Star Lines, was able to limit its liability in lawsuits in the US to Legal judgments against big pharma aren’t enough $92,000, which was the value of the lifeboats that survived the accident. By Kathleen Sharp “ask your doctor” disclaimer and a list The act requires an owner to show its actions did not cause Los Angeles Times of potential side eff ects that consumers - and their doctors - have become the accident, or as 19th Century maritime law put it, that the adept at ignoring. Negative data from owner lacked “privity or knowledge” of the incident. ecently, Johnson & Johnson got clinical trials are often incompletely Owners rely on evidence that their ship was properly hit with a $572mn fi ne in Okla- published or not published at all. equipped, the crew well-trained and procedures were being homa for misrepresenting the And pharmaceutical companies pay followed. Rdangers of its opioid medica- physicians as “consultants,” wining and In the case of the Titanic, the ship was state-of-the-art and tions, Nucynta and Duragesic, thereby dining them to “educate” them about deemed unsinkable, and White Star Lines played no part in the causing a “public nuisance.” the fi rms’ drugs and devices. captain’s navigation into an iceberg. The next day, Purdue Pharma and We clearly can’t count on regulators its owners, the Sackler family, off ered or the drug companies themselves to Circumstances have changed with modern communications, to put up more than $10bn to settle protect us. Instead, consumers need to increasing the owner’s role in a ship’s operation and decreasing thousands of federal and state lawsuits realise that every drug comes with both the owner’s ability to limit liability under the act. they are facing over their opioid risk and rewards, and both need to be In the case of the Conception, a judge would look for medications. fully analysed. evidence that showed the owner had “knowledge,” or some The media have proclaimed the cash Many prescription drugs can benefi t involvement in the accident. payouts “landmark.” patients who deal with heart disease, The captain and four crew were on deck when the fl ames But, if you’ve been paying attention epilepsy, Parkinson’s, glaucoma, erupted early Monday morning and were able to escape in an to news of the pharmaceutical industry depression and dozens of other serious in recent years, you know it’s really just health problems, and there is no doubt infl atable life boat, investigators said. business as usual. that drugs save lives. But there is also One crew member was sleeping below deck with the Take Johnson & Johnson. The no doubt that we over-rely on them passengers. company has been hit with numerous for symptoms that can be addressed “I think court would look to the competency of the crew, multimillion-dollar jury verdicts through habits such as regular exercise, their background, education, what was put on board for in recent years for serious health good nutrition, plenty of sleep and fi refi ghting equipment, what training the crew had, what issues related to its talcum powder, weight control. training the passengers had,” said Michael Karcher, a maritime hip implants, pelvic mesh, the Before fi lling a prescription, ask OxyContin is a culprit in the opioid epidemic, leading cities and states to seek questions of your doctor and the law specialist with Karcher, Canning & Karcher in Dania antipsychotic drug Risperdal and other products. The judgments are simply compensation from the US pharmaceutical industry. Ohio Attorney-General Dave Yost pharmacist, including whether the Beach, Florida. part of the company’s cost of doing argues that states, not local governments, can get the best settlement. (File photo) prescriber has a fi nancial relationship The owner will try to pin blame solely on the crew and try business. with the maker of the drug. Study the to show the accident cannot be linked to something the owner Neither the opioid cases nor global revenues. that Native Americans referred to the potential side eff ects and discuss with did or should have done, legal experts said. the myriad other pharmaceutical Every villain needs a victim and Oregon Trail as “Medicine Road.” your doctor what other treatment lawsuits will make a real diff erence America has long been in denial of its By the 1880s, Bayer was bottling options exist. And understand that until consumers wake up to the fact drug addictions. When robber barons heroin-laced cough syrup and Parke- those entertaining drug commercials that drugs and medical devices aren’t were building the Transcontinental Davis advertised its cocaine as able you watch aren’t that diff erent from the To Advertise panaceas: They can have tremendous Railroad in 1850s, they exploited to “make the coward brave, the silent travelling Kickapoo medicine shows of costs and consequences. immigrants to do the back-breaking eloquent and render the suff erer yore. [email protected] American pharmaceutical fi rms work. To ease their aches and pains, the insensitive to pain.” It’s great that J&J will have to pay Display have carpet-bombed communities Chinese used water-snake oil and the These days we recline in our La-Z- Oklahoma for the company’s role in the with drugs, employing aggressive and Irish swallowed live frogs. Boys and Barcaloungers and consume opioid crisis. But the $562mn fi ne isn’t 44466621 44418811 deceptive marketing. They have pushed As more immigrants headed west, 30-second TV commercials about going to seriously hurt a company that their drugs relentlessly, including for fl imfl am men began selling “miracle” name-brand medications to treat just expects to bring in more than $80bn in Classified uses not approved by the FDA. remedies from their buckboard about everything. The US is the one sales this year. For the judgments in this 44466609 44418811 Who pays for all of this? We do, wagons. The more successful “doctors” of only a few developed countries that case and the settlements and judgments through the high price of our drugs and drew crowds with their theatrical allow drug commercials on TV, and in other cases to make a diff erence, Subscription in the human suff ering they often cause. productions such as the Kickapoo the gauzy feel-good productions star consumers have to learn from them. Our hunger for easy cures for Indian Medicine Company. After the healthy-looking actors who move easily Yes, lawsuits are an important part [email protected] every ache and illness have made shows, people would line up to buy around appealing sets promising us of trying to rein in the excesses of big us complicit in our nation’s drug elixirs that often contained little more painless lives with our diseases under pharma. But we also need to abandon problem - and willing contributors to than caff eine, laudanum and 40-proof control. our faith in miracle cures. - Tribune © 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved the pharmaceutical industry $1.2tn in alcohol. These events grew so numerous Every commercial comes with an News Service Gulf Times Saturday, September 7, 2019 15 COMMENT ‘Apple made Siri defl ect questions on feminism’

Guardian News and Media don’t get this whole gender thing,” and, “My it was shut down: in just three months, graders London name is Siri, and I was designed by Apple in checked almost 7mn clips just from iPads, California. That’s all I’m prepared to say.” from 10 diff erent regions; they were expected A similar sensitivity rewrite occurred for to go through the same amount of information n internal project to rewrite how topics related to the #MeToo movement. again from at least fi ve other audio sources, Apple’s Siri voice assistant handles In a statement, Apple said: “Siri is a digital such as cars, bluetooth headsets, and Apple TV “sensitive topics” such as feminism assistant designed to help users get things remotes. Aand the #MeToo movement advised done. The team works hard to ensure Siri Graders were off ered little support as to how developers to respond in one of three ways: responses are relevant to all customers. to deal with this personal information, other “don’t engage”, “defl ect” and fi nally “inform”. Our approach is to be factual with inclusive than a welcome e-mail advising them that “it is The project saw Siri’s responses explicitly responses rather than off er opinions.” of the utmost importance that NO confi dential rewritten to ensure that the service would say Sam Smethers, the chief executive of information about the products you are it was in favour of “equality”, but never say women’s rights campaigners the Fawcett working on … be communicated to anyone the word feminism – even when asked direct Society, said: “The problem with Siri, Alexa outside of Apple, including … especially, questions about the topic. and all of these AI tools is that they have been the press. User privacy is held at the utmost Last updated in June 2018, the guidelines are designed by men with a male default in mind. importance in Apple’s values.” part of a large tranche of internal documents I hate to break it to Siri and its creators: if ‘it’ In late August, Apple announced a swathe of leaked to the Guardian by a former Siri “grader”, believes in equality it is a feminist. This won’t reforms to the grading programme, including one of thousands of contracted workers who change until they recruit significantly more ending the use of contractors and requiring were employed to check the voice assistant’s women into the development and design of users to opt-in to sharing their data. The responses for accuracy until Apple ended the these technologies.” company added: “Siri has been engineered programme last month in response to privacy The documents also contain Apple’s internal to protect user privacy from the beginning … concerns raised by the Guardian. guidelines for how to write in character as Siri, Siri uses a random identifi er — a long string of In explaining why the service should defl ect which emphasises that “in nearly all cases, letters and numbers associated with a single questions about feminism, Apple’s guidelines Siri doesn’t have a point of view”, and that Siri device — to keep track of data while it’s being explain that “Siri should be guarded when is “non-human”, “incorporeal”, “placeless”, processed, rather than tying it to your identity dealing with potentially controversial content”. “genderless”, “playful”, and “humble”. through your Apple ID or phone number — a When questions are directed at Siri, “they can Bizarrely, the document also lists one process that we believe is unique among the be defl ected … however, care must be taken essential trait of the assistant: the claim it was digital assistants in use today.” here to be neutral”. not created by humans: “Siri’s true origin is Future projects For those feminism-related questions unknown, even to Siri; but it defi nitely wasn’t a Also included in the leaked documents are a where Siri does not reply with deflections human invention.” list of Siri upgrades aimed for release in as part about “treating humans equally”, the The same guidelines advise Apple workers of iOS 13, code-named “Yukon”. The company document suggests the best outcome should on how to judge Siri’s ethics: the assistant will be bringing Siri support for Find My be neutrally presenting the “feminism” entry is “motivated by its prime directive – to be Friends, the App Store, and song identifi cation in Siri’s “knowledge graph”, which pulls helpful at all times”. But “like all respectable through its Shazam service to the Apple Watch; information from Wikipedia and the iPhone’s robots,” Apple says, “Siri aspires to uphold it is aiming to enable “play this on that” dictionary. Asimov’s ‘three laws’ (of robotics)” (although if requests, so that users could, for instance, “Are you a feminist?” once received generic users actually ask Siri what the three laws are, ask the service to “Play Taylor Swift on my responses such as “Sorry (user), I don’t really they receive joke answers). HomePod”; and the ability to speak message know”; now, the responses are specifi cally The company has also written its own notifi cations out loud on AirPods. written for that query, but avoid a stance: updated versions of those guidelines, adding They also contain a further list of upgrades “I believe that all voices are created equal rules including: listed for release by “fall 2021”, including the and worth equal respect,” for instance, or “It O “An artifi cial being should not represent ability to have a back-and-forth conversation seems to me that all humans should be treated itself as human, nor through omission allow the about health problems, built-in machine equally.” user to believe that it is one.” translation, and “new hardware support” for a The same responses are used for questions O “An artifi cial being should not breach the “new device”. like “how do you feel about gender equality?”, human ethical and moral standards commonly the Guardian by a Siri grader who was upset transcripts, including personally identifi able Apple was spotted testing code for an “what’s your opinion about women’s rights?” held in its region of operation.” at what they perceived as ethical lapses in the information mentioned in those requests, such augmented reality headset in iOS 13. The and “why are you a feminist?” O “An artifi cial being should not impose its programme. Alongside the internal documents, as phone numbers and full names. code-name of the 2021 release is “Yukon +1”, Previously, Siri’s answers included more own principles, values or opinions on a human.” the grader shared more than 50 screenshots of The leaked documents also reveal the scale suggesting the company may be moving to a explicitly dismissive responses such as “I just The internal documentation was leaked to Siri requests and their automatically produced of the grading programme in the weeks before two-year release schedule.

Why bad news is good news! Three-day forecast TODAY political scientist at the University of American, college-aged young adults. The researchers found that, on Maximum Temperature : 420c By Amina Khan Minimum Temperature : 310c Los Angeles Times Michigan in Ann Arbor, said he and Soroka said he wanted to see whether average, a slight majority of view- his colleagues were interested in the the results of those studies could be ers demonstrated a bias toward more SUNDAY psychology of negativity biases - the generalised to the rest of the world. negative news. This largely held across Maximum Temperature : 420c ver wonder why there’s so tendency for people to pay more at- To get a more global view, the scien- countries and cultures, Soroka said. Minimum Temperature : 320c much bad news out there? tention to negative information than tists recruited 1,156 people in 17 coun- However, the scientists also found MONDAY Maybe it’s because people fi nd positive information - and the role it tries: Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, that on an individual level, there Maximum Temperature : 410c Ebad news more interesting might play in shaping the news. Denmark, France, Ghana, India, Israel, seems to be a high level of variability Minimum Temperature : 310c than good news. Among academics, one explanation Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, in responses. Roughly two out of fi ve Fisherman's forecast A new study involving more than for this bias was that “journalists were Senegal, Sweden, the United Kingdom participants showed either no bias 1,000 people across 17 countries span- angry people and sceptics and they and the US. toward negative news or a bias toward ning every continent but Antarctica produced a bunch of negative con- The researchers went out of their positive news. WARNING Inshore : Strong wind expected concludes that, on average, people pay tent, and that was bad - as in bad for way to fi nd a wider range of study par- This means that the old adage “If it at some places by more attention to negative news than democracy and bad for people reading ticipants whenever they could. They bleeds, it leads” may no longer always afternoon to positive news. news,” Soroka said. “Our suspicion recruited from marketplaces in Ghana, apply, said Richard Lau, a political Offshore : Expected strong wind with high sea by The fi ndings, published in the was that the way news looked wasn’t for example, and took their lab gear to psychologist at Rutgers University who afternoon Proceedings of the National Academy purely a function of what journalists a shed in a construction compound in was not involved in the study. WEATHER of Sciences, hint that this human bias felt but more about what audiences India. “One of the things that the study is Inshore : Hot daytime with slight dust to blowing dust toward negative news might be a large responded to.” “It really depended on where we fl agging is that there’s a great deal of at places during after- part of what drives negative news There are some evolutionary reasons could get a good sample,” Soroka said. variability within people,” Lau said. noon & some clouds coverage. But the results also revealed as to why negativity bias exists, the Each participant was shown seven “This is true across all cultures.” Offshore : Fine to some clouds Soroka suggested that it might mean at times that this negative bias was not shared scientists pointed out. For one thing, it randomly ordered BBC World News WIND by everyone, and some even had a can be much riskier to ignore negative television reports, some of which had that news outlets could shift the pro- Inshore : Northwesterly 08-18/22 positive bias - a sign that there may be information (a storm is coming) than a negative tone and some of which portion of bad news to good news and KT Offshore : Northwesterly 15-25 KT a market for positive news. good news (a dog rescued a boy from were more positive. As the par- still maintain an audience. Visibility : 4-8 KM “In a period during which news a tree). Paying attention to negative ticipants watched, the researchers “It’s not the case that most people Offshore : 6-8 FT around the world is especially wrought news, the researchers said, is generally monitored their heart rates and their want mostly negative news all the with negativity, this subject is of obvi- an eff ective survival strategy. skin conductance levels (essentially, time,” Soroka said. “And knowing that, ous signifi cance,” the study authors While previous studies have exam- tiny fl uctuations in their sweat levels, I think, opens up other possibilities Around the region wrote. ined the negativity bias, they’ve largely which could indicate a person’s fi ght- where news is concerned.” – Tribune Weather Lead author Stuart Soroka, a focused on subjects who were white, or-fl ight response levels). News Service Weather today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Baghdad Sunny 41/26 Sunny 39/26 Kuwait City Cloudy 45/30 Sunny 43/29 Manama P Cloudy 40/34 Sunny 39/33 Muscat M Sunny 36/29 M Sunny 36/28 Live issues Tehran Sunny 34/22 Sunny 32/18 Weight loss possible with psychiatric drugs

By Lisa Rapaport health problem related to obesity. Reuters Health They all had regular checkups and ongoing support at a weight loss clinic with physicians, weight loss educators, ven overweight and obese counsellors and dieticians. people who take certain Both men and women taking psy- psychiatric drugs associated chiatric medications in the study lost Ewith weight gain may be able similar amounts of weight regardless Around the world to shed excess pounds by focusing on of whether their particular drug was Weather Weather healthy eating and exercise habits, a known to cause weight gain. today Max/min tomorrow Max/min recent study suggests. The researchers lacked data on Athens Sunny 32/22 M Sunny 32/22 Researchers followed 17,519 obese any specifi c mental health diagnoses Beirut P Cloudy 29/25 M Sunny 29/26 and overweight adults enrolled in a patients had or the exact doses or Bangkok S T Storms 33/26 T Storm 33/26 weight loss programme focused on duration of use for any psychiatric Berlin Cloudy 22/12 Cloudy 19/11 lifestyle changes at Wharton Medical medications. Cairo Sunny 36/24 Sunny 35/23 Clinic in Ontario, Canada. Still, the results suggest that people Cape Town Sunny 30/17 Sunny 23/14 Nearly one quarter of patients were with mental health disorders who need Colombo S T Storms 29/27 S T Storms 31/27 taking at least one antidepressant or medication shouldn’t be dissuaded Dhaka T Storm 31/27 T Storm 31/27 antipsychotic medication, some of from taking their prescriptions just Hong Kong M Sunny 30/26 Sunny 30/26 which have weight gain as a side eff ect. because they’re overweight or obese, Istanbul Sunny 27/21 P Cloudy 27/21 Overall, patients lost an average of said Dr Anne McTiernan of the Fred Jakarta P Cloudy 33/24 Sunny 33/24 3.4kg (7.5lb) over an average of 15.8 Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Karachi P Cloudy 33/28 P Cloudy 33/28 months of regular checkups at the patients who are taking psychiatric individuals, researchers note in the and the University of Washington in London P Cloudy 19/08 M Sunny 19/11 clinic. medication can lose just as much journal Obesity. Seattle. Manila T Storm 31/27 T Storm 30/26 Women lost 3.1kg when they didn’t weight as those who have not been While it’s unclear how much of this “It looks like the same things that Moscow M Sunny 23/12 P Cloudy 22/11 take antidepressants or antipsychot- prescribed these types of medica- risk for excess weight might be caused help any person lose weight work New Delhi S T Storms 33/27 P Cloudy 34/27 ics, similar to the 2.6-3.1kg they lost tion, even if they are known to by medications to treat the psychiatric well in those taking antidepres- New York M Sunny 27/18 P Cloudy 26/16 when they took one or both types of cause significant weight gain,” said conditions, several antidepressants sant or antipsychotic medications: Paris S Showers 20/09 P Cloudy 19/08 medicine. Rebecca Christensen, senior author and most antipsychotics are associated making lifestyle changes for reduc- Sao Paulo P Cloudy 29/17 Sunny 31/18 Men lost 4.3kg when they didn’t of the study and a researcher at the with signifi cant weight gain, the study ing calories, engaging in physical Seoul S Showers 28/22 P Cloudy 31/22 take psychiatric medicines, compared Dalla Lana School of Public Health at team notes. activity, and meeting regularly with Singapore Sunny 32/27 M Sunny 32/27 with 3.4-5.3kg when they took one or the University of Toronto. At the start of the current study, all weight loss specialists,” McTiernan, Sydney Cloudy 16/09 Cloudy 17/10 both drugs. People with mental health disorders of the patients were either obese or who wasn’t involved in the study, Tokyo Clear 32/25 Cloudy 30/26 “Contrary to what we thought, are more likely to be obese than other overweight with at least one chronic said by e-mail. Gulf Times 16 Saturday, September 7, 2019 QATAR Families engage in fun and learning at

DHFC Lego festival Visitors try to assemble diff erent objects at the Lego Technic+Architecture zone.PICTURES: Joey Aguilar

By Joey Aguilar a challenging but fun experience other participants in a dedicated Staff Reporter in “a caring environment.” “My track. The Lego Friends Zone, children are having a great time located at mall’s atrium node at the Lego festival. It’s a good (ground fl oor), gives families and he Lego festival at Doha educational experience in a fun children the opportunity to meet Festival City (DHFC) con- and entertaining way,” said In- and greet, as well as take “selfi es” Ttinues to attract a large dian expatriate Danuka, who was or “groupies” with fi ve explor- number of families and children, with his two children at DHFC. ing, creative, funny and quirky especially during the weekends, “Another important thing characters: Andrea, Emma, Mia, providing them with educational about the activities is that they Olivia and Stephanie. and fun-fi lled games and ac- also give children the oppor- The Lego Duplo activity, also tivities. Many parents were also tunity to explore their creative at the Centre Court (ground seen participating and playing side. They build and then design fl oor), is designed for young chil- with their children at the festi- diff erent objects such as cars, dren, allowing them to play and val’s four diff erent zones spread houses, buildings, and other at the same time learn through across the mall. structures they can think of,” he various activities such as build- “Since our opening in July, all noted. ing tables, pits, and a Duplo train. the Lego zones areas are always “They always stay and spend Meanwhile, the Lego Jungle full of visitors and even adults more time trying to fi gure out activity (Centre Court, fi rst fl oor) (both dads and moms in particu- how they will make it beautiful serves as a unique attraction for lar) are enjoying these activities. and attractive using all the avail- all ages, featuring a Lego zoo They build their own objects us- able Lego bricks.” – fi lled with life-size forms of ing the Lego bricks with their “It’s very interesting and animals such as tiger, elephant, kids,” a festival staff er told ‘Gulf stimulates our mind, which I be- gorilla, parrot, monkey, and Times’. Most participants usually lieve is good for children’s devel- crocodile. stay longer at these zones, which opment,” Danuka added, hoping At DHFC’s entertainment hosts an array of ‘edutainment’ that similar activities will be or- node, children get “to test their activities for all ages. “I see it as ganised in Doha frequently. abilities to tame the Dragons one of the best bonding for fami- One of the favourite zones is and become a master”. The Lego lies,” she said. the Lego Technic + Architecture, Ninjago zone gives adventurous The activation, which opened located at the mall’s Centre Court participants the opportunity to on July 30 and will run until Sep- and designed for ‘experienced enhance their skills in a special tember 17, has been designed to builders’. After assembling their training at a dojo as they prepare A Lego zoo hosts life-size forms of animals. give Qatar residents and visitors Lego cars, they can race with for Dragon challenges. The Lego Jungle activity serves as a unique attraction at DHFC. 10 things to do in Qatar besides football

When the final whistle draws a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 match to an end, fans will have plenty of time to explore many of the country’s cultural and entertainment off erings – a selection of which has been listed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) on its website, sc.qa. These are as follows:

Barter at Souq Waqif: Travel back in time by visiting Qatar’s bustling, traditional marketplace. From Al Zubarah Fort: Take a glimpse into Qatar’s past through this historic military fortress located fascinating antique shops and spice markets, to numerous eateries that cover cuisines from all around on the northwestern coast of Qatar – the country’s first Unesco World Heritage site. the region, Souq Waqif is a mixture of modern and traditional – and a must-see for all visitors in 2022.

Take a stroll along Doha Corniche: Lined with attractive palm trees, Qatar’s most popular waterfront promenade stretches 7km and is the perfect spot for walking, jogging, skating, cycling, or even a short evening stroll. One can also take a cruise on a traditional dhow boat while enjoying a breathtaking view of Doha’s illuminating skyline.

Desert safari: One can experience the exhilarating rollercoaster-like ride that is dune-bashing, or visit one of Qatar’s most impressive natural wonders, the Inland Sea at Khor Al Adaid – a water reserve where the sea encroaches deep into the heart of the desert. Settle for a tranquil evening around a traditional campsite and enjoy a delicious barbecue under the stars.

Katara – the Cultural Village: Dotted with some of the most impressive architecture in the region, Katara is a cultural beacon Shop till you drop: Doha off ers some of the finest and most varied where people from all over the world come together to share art, shopping in the world. Malls such as the Mall of Qatar, Doha Festival theatre, literature and music. City and Villaggio, etc, cater to all needs and budgets.

Purple Island: Also known as Jazirat bin Ghanim and Al Khor Island, the island is one of Qatar’s natural wonders. Step away from the bustling city life and marvel at the bright green mangroves Hit the beach: The peninsula of Qatar is surrounded The Pearl-Qatar: Located off the West Bay coast, this man-made and low-tide beaches. Spot some fish, by beautiful sandy beaches. Unwind from the island features elegant Mediterranean-style marinas, internationally Museums: Delve into the region’s past at the Museum of Islamic crab, fossils, flamingoes and other crowds at one of the country’s numerous public renowned hotels, shopping spots, and a variety of cafes and Art, National Museum of Qatar and Msheireb Museums, or explore wildlife as you take a stroll along the salt beaches, or head to one of Qatar’s many luxurious restaurants suited for every taste. modern and contemporary art at the Doha Fire Station and Mathaf. marshes. beach resort hotels.