BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Muguruza wins fi rst INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2-8, 24 COMMENT 22, 23 Wimbledon REGION 9 BUSINESS 1–6, 17-20 Qatar retains its global 21,595.00 9,469.93 46.54 ARAB WORLD 9, 10 CLASSIFIED 7-16 title +86.00 +189.55 +0.46 INTERNATIONAL 11–21 SPORTS 1–8 LNG dominance: QNB +0.40% +2.04% +1.00% Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

SUNDAY Vol. XXXVIII No. 10516 July 16, 2017 Shawwal 22, 1438 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Emir meets French FM Lift sanctions on In brief Qatari nationals, QATAR | Offi cial Emir congratulates Iraq PM on Mosul liberation His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held a telephone says France conversation yesterday evening with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider O Qatar, France stress joint action fi nancing as part of the eff orts exerted Le Drian stressed the importance al-Abadi, to congratulate him on the to combat terrorism by the international community. of taking measures that will help all liberation of the Mosul city from the O Siege nations engaging in Sheikh Mohamed said that the com- members of the GCC crisis regain trust hands of terrorist organisations. The political terrorism: Qatar FM mon goal of the international commu- in order to ease the tensions and fi nd a Emir aff irmed Qatar’s stand on the O ‘Blockading countries nity is to combat terrorism and fi ght its resolution to the crisis, which is harm- side of Iraq in the face of terrorism disrupting anti-terrorism eff orts’ fi nancing, pointing out that the actions ing the interests of all GCC member and extremism. He also reiterated O Saudi Arabia favours solution taken by the siege countries against countries. Qatar’s firm stance against within GCC Qatar disrupt these eff orts. He said that he sensed, during his terrorism, rejecting and condemning “The fi ght against terrorism requires talks in Doha, the willingness of Qa- it in all its forms and manifestations, His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday met with Agencies collective action, not the exercise of tar to hold constructive talks with its whatever its causes and motives. the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Aff airs Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Doha/Jeddah political and intellectual terrorism,” he neighbours so long as it doesn’t in- accompanying delegation at his off ice at Al Bahr Palace. The meeting dealt with said in reference to the actions of siege fringe on Qatar’s national sovereignty. QATAR | Trade the latest developments of the GCC crisis and the eff orts to resolve them through countries against Qatar. The minister called on fi nding a reso- dialogue and diplomacy, as part of Kuwait’s mediation eff orts. They also discussed rance has called for a swift lift- The foreign minister said the visit of lution to the crisis as soon as possible, Talks on raising import the strong bilateral relations and the means to develop them. ing of sanctions that target Qa- the French minister refl ects the strength and lifting all the measures that aff ect- of Pakistani products Ftari nationals in an eff ort to ease of bilateral relations between the two ed joint families and civilians. Qatar Chamber (QC) discussed ways a month-long rift between the Gulf friendly countries in various fi elds such He praised the commitment of Qatar to increase the state’s imports of country and several of its neighbours. as security, energy and economy. to enhance co-operation in counter- Pakistani goods, during a meetings Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and He said the two sides reviewed the terrorism fi eld and countering terror- held by its delegations to Pakistani Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar on latest conditions that Qatar is going ism fi nance. capital Islamabad. The meetings June 5, accusing it of fi nancing extrem- through, especially the measures taken Later in the day he fl ew to Jeddah, took place with representatives ist groups and allying with Iran. Doha by the siege countries, which aff ect in- where he repeated his concerns about of the Federation of Pakistan Qatar expands denies the accusations. ternational treaties and the rules of in- the eff ects of the standoff in a televised Chambers of Commerce and “France calls for the lifting, as soon as ternational law. press appearance with Saudi Foreign Industry. A statement released from possible, of the measures that aff ect the The foreign minister affi rmed Qa- Minister Adel al-Jubeir. the QC to the press said that focused populations in particular, bi-national tar welcomes the eff orts of the France Jubeir said any resolution of the on enhancing co-operation ties families that have been separated or in supporting Kuwaiti mediation and worst Gulf crisis in years should come between both parties in economic online tourist students,” French Foreign Minister Jean- fi nding a solution based on the sover- from within the six-nation Gulf Co- and trade sectors including Yves Le Drian told reporters in Doha, eignty of states and international law. operation Council. construction, building materials, after he met his counterpart HE Sheikh The French minister described his “We hope to resolve this crisis within foodstuff , textiles and furniture. Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. country’s ties with Qatar as strong and the Gulf house,” he said. Page 2 Le Drian was speaking alongside advanced, entailing great co-operation “France should be a facilitator in the visa services Sheikh Mohamed, hours after his ar- in many fi elds such as defence, econo- mediation,” led by Kuwait, Le Drian re- QATAR | Air transport rival in Doha. my as well as culture. iterated in Jeddah, where he also met Emiri Air Force takes QNA Hassan al-Ibrahim, Chief Tourism He is the latest Western offi cial to He said his talks in Doha focused on Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. Doha Development Offi cer at QTA com- visit the area since the crisis began. the GCC crisis. He said France was in “We look for everyone’s determined part in British show mented: “Easing our visitors access Le Drian, who will visit the UAE and contact regarding the matter with all commitment against terrorism, its Qatari Emiri Air Force represented to the country is critical for achieving Gulf mediator Kuwait today, follows in parties involved, stressing the impor- support and fi nancing. In this perspec- by the Air Transport pavilion have n a bid to further facilitate visitors growth in the tourism industry, making the steps of other world powers in the tance of reaching a resolution to it. tive, it is important that GCC countries participated in the British Royal Air access to the country, Qatar has a positive impact on our economy and region, including the United States, Le Drian noted that the French should be united, to remain a rampart Fair at Fairford Air Force Base, the Imade its e-visa services available enriching our society. whose Secretary of State Rex Tillerson president held many telephone con- against instability,” he said. largest of its kind in the world, said to tourism-related businesses as well “The rollout of these new services sought to fi nd a solution to the impasse versations with His Highness the Emir Le Drian agreed that “solving this the Directorate of Moral Guidance as individuals arriving to Qatar aboard is intended to further enhance our last week. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani crisis should be done by the Gulf coun- at the Ministry of Defence. The any airline. visitors overall experience and we look Offi cials from Britain and Germany since the beginning of the GCC crisis. tries themselves”, reiterating Paris’s Directorate of Moral Guidance said Hospitality establishments and forward to welcoming more visitors also visited the region with the aim of He hoped the Emir will pay a visit to support for Kuwaiti mediation. that the Qatari participation in tourism offi ces holding a valid licence thanks to the increasingly convenient easing the confl ict. Paris in the near term. “France does not want to substitute the show, which ends today, was with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) online visa service.” At the joint press conference, Qatar He also said France commends the the mediator... It wants to be a facili- showcasing the C130J-30 aircraft of can now fully complete their guests Qatar launched its e-visa platform and France stressed the importance of eff orts of US Secretary of State who tator by joining eff orts of other coun- the 12th Emiri Air Force Squadron. tourist visa applications online. last month allowing travellers to the joint action to combat terrorism and its visited the region last week. tries,” he stressed. Pages 2, 22, 24 During the fair, the iconic Tamim Al The link has special features dedi- country to apply directly for tourist and Majd’s wall painting was launched cated for tourism businesses such as visitor visas. and visitors interacted with it by the “add to cart” option allowing busi- The service, created in partnership writing expressions of sympathy nesses to complete multiple applica- between QTA, Qatar Airways, and the and solidarity with Qatar in the tions at once making it easier to handle Ministry of Interior, is set to ease visi- current Gulf crisis. large groups through bulk payments. tor access to Qatar, as it off ers a more Aqsa remains closed for second day It also eliminates the need for hard effi cient and transparent visa applica- QATAR | Military copy applications to be submitted in tion system, with standardised fees for QNA on Friday and banned the weekly Fri- unprecedented measures imposed by person at the Immigration Offi ces as each visa type. Occupied Jerusalem day prayer following an attack outside the Israeli occupation authorities on Qatar team part icipates was previously required. The average timeframe for a re- the mosque compound that left three the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem in in world championship As part of the service expansion, in- sponse is 48 hours from the time all of Palestinians and two Israeli policemen general. A Qatari military jump team is dividuals who are travelling to Qatar on the applicants documents have been n spite of Palestinian, Arab and dead. The offi cial spokesman of the Pales- participating in the CISM Military any airlines can now apply directly for received. Islamic calls on Israel to reopen Banning prayer in the mosque on a tinian government, Youssef al-Mah- World Championship in Warendorf, tourist visas on the same portal. In November 2016, Qatar intro- IAl-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for Friday, the Muslim holy day, was un- moud, called for an immediate end to Germany. The team has achieved This added convenience is possible duced a new free-of-charge transit Muslim prayers, the third holiest site in precedented since the Israeli occupa- these unjust and arbitrary measures good results in the championship, as the e-visa platform is now linked to visa, which allows passengers with a Islam remained closed yesterday for the tion of Jerusalem and the West Bank in and the opening of Al-Aqsa Mosque which is seeing the participation of all airline booking platforms including minimum transit time of fi ve hours at second day in a row, Palestinian News June 1967, according to reports. and the protection of its sanctity. 43 countries from around the world that of the national airline, Qatar Air- Hamad International Airport, to stay Agency (Wafa) reported. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Na- Israel said yesterday it will reopen and concludes on Friday. ways. in Qatar for up to 96 hours (four days). Israel closed the gates to the mosque tional Accord government warned of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound today. Jubilant Turks mark anniversary of failed coup bid

AFP racy and unity”, billing the foiling of the warned that Turkey was mulling re- Istanbul putsch as a historic victory of Turkish introducing capital punishment. democracy. “First of all we will chop off the heads In an intense programme, Erdogan of those traitors,” Erdogan said, reaf- urkey yesterday marked one year attended a special session of parlia- fi rming he would sign any passed by since the defeat of the failed ment in Ankara, spoke to a mass rally parliament bill on resuming executions. Tcoup bid with mass nationwide in Istanbul and was set to return to the Erdogan also said the suspects being rallies and a stern warning by President capital for more events before dawn. tried over the failed coup should wear Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “chop off the Speaking to a rally of hundreds of uniform clothing like the notorious heads” of traitors. thousands by the bridge across the orange jumpsuits used at US military The authorities have declared July 15 Bosphorus in Istanbul that was the prison at Guantanamo Bay. an annual national holiday of “democ- centre of much of the fi ghting, Erdogan “When they appear in court, let’s make them appear in uniform suits like in Guan- tanamo,” Erdogan said to cheers, before Emir congratulates Turkish president unveiling a memorial to the victims. His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim of the Democracy and National Unity Many supporters carried the Turkish bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness Day. HE the Prime Minister and Interior fl ag while others brandished pictures of the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin the “martyrs” who died defeating the Hamad al-Thani sent yesterday cables Khalifa al-Thani also sent a similar cable coup. A sea of people stretched from of congratulations to Turkish President of congratulations to Turkish Prime the bridge, which has since been re- Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion Minister Binali Yildirim. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan wave after arriving at a ceremony site on “July 15 Martyrs named Bridge of the Martyrs of July 15. Bridge” (Bosphorus Bridge) in Istanbul yesterday. Page 15 Gulf Times 2 Sunday, July 16, 2017 QATAR

PM meets French foreign minister FM discusses Gulf crisis with French counterpart

HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met the French Minister of Foreign Aff airs Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is currently visiting the country. They discussed bilateral relations and the means to enhance them, in addition to discussing issues of joint interest. The Foreign Minister discussed with his French counterpart the latest developments in the GCC crisis and all the illegal measures taken against Qatar. The Foreign Minister stressed that Qatar was prepared to hold constructive dialogue with the siege countries, so long as it doesn’t infringe on its sovereignty and that it is done in accordance with international law. He noted the importance of co-operation in counter-terrorism eff orts, adding that he looked forward to co-operate with France in that field. The French foreign minister stressed on the importance of finding a resolution to the crisis and called for lifting all the measures that aff ect bi-national families and civilians. He also stressed the importance of co-operating in countering terrorist groups, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani particularly those designated by the United Nations and held a meeting yesterday with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and the stressed that everyone must work hard to combat terrorism. accompanying delegation, in Doha yesterday. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral The French minister of foreign aff airs also praised the co-operation and means of enhancing it in various fields, in addition to discussing the latest commitment of the two countries to enhancing co-operation developments in the region, especially the Gulf crisis. The Prime Minister hosted a luncheon in the field of counter-terrorism and steps taken to tackle banquet in honour of the French minister of foreign affairs and the accompanying delegation. terror financing. Qatar Chamber French foreign minister visits National Museum

zHE Sheikha Al Mayassa and Pakistan accompanies French foreign minister during the tour z National Museum is designed by world- renowned French architect Jean Nouvel plan to set up E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Hal-Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, yesterday welcomed French Foreign Min- ister Jean-Yves Le Drian on a tour of the National Museum of joint factories Qatar. Accompanied by a delegation usiness leaders from Qa- establish more ventures. that included Qatar Museums tar and Pakistan are mull- zFactories jointly Al-Athba said Qatar’s del- CEO Mansoor bin Ebrahim El Bing the establishment of established by Qatari and egation invited their Pakistani Mahmoud and French ambas- joint factories in Qatar to pro- Pakistani businessmen in counterparts to visit Qatar to sador Eric Chevalier, they spent vide various commodities to Qatar will provide various explore investment opportuni- time exploring the museum’s the local market and export the commodities ties. The invitation was “highly interior and exterior. surplus, Qatar Chamber (QC) zTrade between Qatar welcomed by Pakistan and there This follows the news last has said. and Pakistan is witnessing is a large business delegation month that the offi cial opening The plan was discussed re- rapid growth expected to visit Qatar soon”, he date of the National Museum cently by offi cials of Qatar zThe trade volume in noted. will be in December 2018. HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Jean-Yves Le Drian and other dignitaries at the Chamber during a series of busi- 2016 reached QR2.8bn Meanwhile, al-Sharqi stressed The National Museum is National Museum of Qatar yesterday. ness meetings with the Fed- from QR1.9bn and QC’s interest in opening new designed by world-renowned eration of Pakistan Chambers of QR887mn in 2014 and channels of trade co-operation French architect Jean Nouvel. Commenting on the tour, jor milestone in Qatar’s devel- ern Art opened in 2010, and the Commerce & Industry in Paki- 2015, respectively with all friendly and sisterly It will combine historic objects HE Sheikha Al Mayassa said: opment as an arts and cultural 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports stan’s capital, Islamabad. zQatar’s exports to countries and to fi nd new sourc- and contemporary infl uences, “It was a pleasure to welcome hub.” Museum will open in the next During the meetings, QC also Pakistan in 2016 touched es of imports. opening up a dialogue around Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian on a This week, another an- year. discussed ways to increase Qa- QR2.5bn, whereas He said there was a large trade the impact of rapid change. It tour of the National Museum nouncement is expected about The National Museum of tar’s imports of Pakistani goods, Pakistan’s imports to exchange between Qatar and Pa- will give voice to Qatar’s herit- of Qatar. He was very compli- a special National Museum-re- Qatar is built around Sheikh Qatar Chamber said in a press Qatar were QR317.7mn kistan, adding that the chamber age while celebrating its future, mentary and positive about lated off er available to members Abdullah bin Jassim al-Thani’s statement. The deliberations, sought throughout the discus- Qatar Museums said in a press the progress being made and of Qatar Museums’ Culture Pass original palace, one of Qatar’s held from July 11 to 14, focused sions with the Islamabad cham- statement. congratulated the team on loyalty programme. Further de- most recognisable landmarks on enhancing co-operation ties Pakistan’s Minister of Com- ber to increase Qatar’s imports The National Museum tells all that is being done to cre- tails will be available on Qatar and a building that served as a between both parties in eco- merce Khurram Dastgir Khan from Pakistan, especially food the story of the people of Qa- ate this incredible space. The Museums’ social media chan- monument to a historic way of nomic and trade sectors, in- also held a meeting with the Qa- items and building materials. tar, celebrating the country’s museum celebrates Qatar’s nels soon. life in Qatar. cluding construction, building tari delegation to discuss ways of “Trade with Pakistan is wit- rich heritage and history and proud identity and connects The National Museum will This palace has a unique materials, foodstuff , textiles and boosting bilateral relations par- nessing rapid growth. The refl ecting Qatar’s long-stand- the country’s history with also open in the year that the historical signifi cance for Qa- furniture. ticularly in the private sector. trade volume last year reached ing commitment to the arts. its diverse and cosmopolitan Museum of Islamic Art cel- tar and has been recently fully The meetings were attended Khan said the visit signifi - QR2.8bn from QR1.9bn and It evokes the life of the Qatari present. ebrates its 10th anniversary, restored. The palace will be a by QC board member Rashid cantly refl ected the strong ties of QR887mn in 2014 and 2015, re- people through the desert and “Not only will it redefi ne the a refl ection of Qatar’s long- fi tting central exhibit within bin Hamad al-Athba and direc- both countries. He also praised spectively. Qatar’s exports to Pa- the sea through architecture role of a cultural institution, standing investment in the arts. the National Museum when it tor-general Saleh bin Hamad the Qatari businessmen’s con- kistan in 2016 touched QR2.5bn, symbolising a desert rose. but it also marks another ma- Mathaf: Arab Museum of Mod- opens, the statement adds. al-Sharqi, who reviewed trade fi dence in Pakistan’s economy, whereas Pakistan’s imports to relations between Qatar and Pa- and hoped the meeting would Qatar were only QR317.7mn,” al- kistan. help expand co-operation and Sharqi said. Blockade fails to impact Qatar’s construction sector

zSaudi Arabia and the UAE around. The siege countries are “are not the only sources for losing a lot of opportunities. building materials” Most of the suppliers from Sau- zConcrete and steel, the di Arabia and the UAE, unfor- main materials needed in tunately, lost a lot of businesses the construction sector, are amounting to more than QR1bn available in Qatar in the fi elds of electricity, power zMany building materials are plant, primary stations or in already being produced in other projects, which we gave to Qatar other international companies. “The prices (off ered to com- By Peter Alagos panies in Qatar) are also cheaper Business Reporter because many international companies were very support- Manateq CEO Fahad Rashid IBA Group CEO Hamad ive of Qatar because they didn’t atar will continue to al-Kaabi. PICTURES: Nasar T K Mohamed Esmael al-Emadi. take advantage of the situation. meet its target dates for Negotiations with these new Qatar Chamber officials with their Pakistani counterparts during a recent meeting in Islamabad. Qmajor infrastructure range of building materials,” limited by Saudi Arabia or the companies led to better prices projects despite the economic said al-Emadi, who recently UAE,” he emphasised. compared to what was off ered blockade, which has failed to signed a QR550mn housing and Manateq CEO Fahad Rashid by (companies in) Saudi and the make a dent on the country’s recreation project with Man- al-Kaabi also said the Gulf crisis UAE,” al-Kaabi said. construction sector, an industry ateq. gave Qatar the opportunity to Responding to a query on the Haj draw winners to ‘cancel pilgrimage plans’ offi cial has said. He noted that IBA’s agree- prove to the international com- impact of the economic block- According to Hamad Mo- ment with Manateq, as well as munity that “it is committed ade on property rents, al-Emadi considerable number of Some of the companies en- cerned in order to ensure that hamed Esmael al-Emadi, CEO the company’s other ongoing to abide by its contracts and to said “rents are stable” and that winners in the electronic gaged in Haj-related activi- Qatar pilgrims do not face any of Ismail Bin Ali (IBA) Group, infrastructure projects with the complete all major infrastruc- “the ongoing crisis has had Adraw for Haj have de- ties told Arrayah that a good inconvenience or trouble during concrete and steel, the main government, “would continue” ture projects, as well as to con- no impact on Qatar’s property cided to cancel their plans for number of people have taken the pilgrimage. Some of them materials needed in the con- and were not aff ected by the tinue its supply of LNG”. market”. the pilgrimage this year, a local back their passports and asked speculated that the relevant struction sector, “are available Gulf crisis. “Qatar has also shown that it “The Gulf crisis will not push Arabic daily has reported. them to cancel their plans due Saudi authorities would delay in Qatar”. Aside from steel and con- does not mix business and poli- up rents. The market is still the Such people have refrained to the fear that things might not the response to make things dif- Speaking to Gulf Times re- crete, al-Emadi said many tics; that’s how the country is same. Also, the government is from continuing with their Haj go down as smoothly as before fi cult for pilgrims from Qatar. cently, al-Emadi said Saudi building materials are already showing the entire world that still completing major projects plans as they consider the situa- Meanwhile, some managers Earlier, the daily had pointed Arabia and the UAE “are not the being produced in Qatar. Qatar is committed to interna- and there are no delays in the tion to be highly uncertain in view of Haj campaigns are still wait- out that politics should not af- only sources for building mate- “There are other countries tional investments,” said al-Kaa- time-frame; they want to fi n- of the blockade imposed on Qa- ing for a response from the Sau- fect the right to carry out the rials”, as he cited China as a ma- that produce the same materi- bi, who noted that the economic ish all infrastructure projects tar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and di authorities to applications pilgrimage and it should be ac- jor supplier of wood and tiles. als. There are other opportuni- blockade did not have any impact in time for the 2022 FIFA World Bahrain, according to the daily. submitted by the entities con- cessible for all believers. “There are also other coun- ties for Qatar’s building mate- on Manateq’s operations. Cup and Qatar National Vision tries where we can get a wide rials sector, which is not being “In fact, it’s the other way 2030,” al-Emadi said. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 3 QATAR WISH calls for HMC sets record by performing 8 transplant surgeries in a week collaborative work Yemeni, Pakistani, Egyptian r Yousuf al-Maslamani, kidney transplants and three transplantation centres, the director of the Qatar liver transplants – is important high standard of quality care and Syrian nationals. We are DCentre for Organ Trans- as it highlights the signifi cance that we have established and of one of the few countries in the plantation and medical director and value of the gifts of life and our safety standards. The out- region off ering integrated organ of Hamad Medical Corporation health. comes achieved by our organ transplantation services on the on dementia plan basis of a single unifi ed nation- (HMC)’s Hamad General Hos- The surgeries involved a col- donation and transplantation pital, last week announced that laboration between various teams are comparable with the al waiting list,” said Dr Fadhil. he World Innova- eight patients successfully un- HMC departments, including best international standards,” Dr al-Maslamani expressed tion Summit for Health derwent liver and kidney trans- medicine, surgery, anaesthesia, said Dr al-Ansari. gratitude and appreciation to T(WISH) has published a plant operations in June and are critical care, laboratory and ra- Dr Riadh Fadhil, director the donors’ families, stating report highlighting the need for now recovering at home. diology, with the Qatar Organ of the Qatar Organ Donation that without their selfl ess gift, relevant agencies to work col- Eight transplant surgeries Donation Centre leading and Centre, added that he is proud the eight patients could not laboratively when building a in a single week is a record for co-ordinating the eff ort. While of both HMC’s focus on public have survived. “On behalf of national policy that supports HMC and Dr al-Maslamani eight transplant surgeries in a education about the impor- the recipients and their fami- people with dementia and their highlighted that all patients are single week is a new record for tance of organ donation and the lies, and on behalf of all those families, and ensures the deliv- recovering well and being mon- HMC, the transplant team sees humane and equitable nature of involved in these life-saving ery of eff ective services. itored by the transplant teams this achievement as a stepping its organ transplantation pro- procedures, I wish the donors’ The report also highlights the as part of their follow-up care, stone that they are excited to gramme. families good health for their benefi t of collaborative eff orts according to a press statement. build upon, the statement notes. “Our model is world-leading future and I wish to acknowl- in the areas of research and in- The gift of life for the or- Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, deputy and our community continues edge their loved ones who gave novation, and elaborates on the gan transplant recipients came chief medical offi cer for Surgi- to provide a good example to the gift of life.” various challenges and mecha- from four donors, one related cal Services, said he is proud of the rest of the world in terms To learn more about organ nisms of success for developing Dr Shekhar Saxena living donor and three de- the team that works each day to of the responsibility to treat donation, including informa- a dementia plan, as well as ways ceased donors. According to Dr realise such successes. all patients equally. Our pro- tion about registering as a do- of strengthening the research WHO’s Global Action Plan on valuable platform to learn about al-Maslamani, celebrating the “We are proud of the teams gramme’s organ recipients in- nor, one can visit http://organ- infrastructure and identifying the Public Health Response to regional initiatives and best success of the surgeries – fi ve from our organ donation and clude Qatari, Filipino, Indian, donation.hamad.qa national priorities. Dementia, due to be implement- practices, and will help in for- The WISH report, ‘Enhanc- ed this year. mulating our national dementia ing the Response to the Burden Dementia is a signifi cant pub- plan.” and Impact of Dementia through lic health concern for the Middle The dementia report high- Policy and Social Innovation in East, as, according to the WHO, lights the progress made in plan- the Eastern Mediterranean Re- the number of people with the ning and service delivery within gion’, is the result of a meeting condition is expected to almost the Eastern Mediterranean 200,000 Somalis benefi t from QC projects held in December 2016 at Ha- double in the region, to 4.4mn Region, in particular provid- mad Medical City in Qatar. The people, by 2030. ing a platform for information gathering brought together 70 Dr Shekhar Saxena, WHO’s exchange on national and re- QNA 2007, the Qatar Charity Offi ce in representatives from 10 of the director of the Department of gional initiatives, and ideas and Doha Somalia has been able to estab- 22 member states of the World Mental Health and Substance strategies, such as best practices lish strong links with interna- Health Organisation’s (WHO) Abuse and chairperson of the regarding the assessment of de- tional organisations through co- Eastern Mediterranean Region, WISH 2016 Dementia Forum, mentia care and monitoring. he number of benefi ciar- operation agreements to achieve which stretches from Morocco said: “The meeting hosted by It also identifi es the necessary ies of charitable projects humanitarian and development in the west to Pakistan in the WISH was very valuable for the steps needed to move the de- Tcarried out in Somalia in goals, including an agreement east, plus experts from 15 other exchange of information and mentia agenda forward within co-operation with international with Unicef in the areas of edu- countries. evidence between countries and the region, as well as globally. humanitarian organisations cation, health and water in mid- Local representation at the experts on dementia. The meet- Egbert Schillings, CEO of reached 200,000 people, at a January 2009, worth $1.6mn, December 2016 meeting includ- ing also contributed to the de- WISH, said: “The 2016 report cost of $6.3mn, between 2009 which were funded equally with ed Qatar’s National Dementia velopment of the Global Action takes the key issues we high- and 2017, according to a report Qatar Charity, benefi ting 35,000 Stakeholder Forum, the Min- Plan on the Public Health Re- lighted in 2015 and puts them by the Qatar Charity (QC). children and women. istry of Public Health, Hamad sponse to Dementia, which was within the context of the Eastern The projects directly covered They aimed at providing basic Medical Corporation (HMC) and recently endorsed by the World Mediterranean Region, high- emergency relief, education, services to people in Puntland, the Primary Health Care Cor- Health Assembly.” lighting successful and progres- healthcare, water, sanitation, Qatar Charity has drilled several surface wells in Somalia. Somalia, including the con- poration. Attendees addressed Dr Hanadi al-Hamad, chair- sive initiatives to tackle demen- food security, displaced reset- struction and rehabilitation of strategies to improve the care person of Geriatrics and Long tia, as well pointing the way to tlement, economic empower- ships that linked Qatar Charity the International Committee 10 schools and the provision of and monitoring of those suff er- Term Care at HMC, and focal the next steps we need to take to ment and sustainable develop- (QC) through its Somalia offi ce of the Red Cross and the Global school requirements, rehabili- ing from dementia. The meeting point for elderly in Qatar, said: collaboratively address this pub- ment, the report said. included Unicef, FAO, UNHCR, One organisation. tating 5 healthcare centres and also included discussions of the “The 2016 forum was an in- lic health issue.” The report said the partner- the International Medical Corps, Since its establishment in drilling of 10 surface wells. Gulf Times 4 Sunday, July 16, 2017 QATAR

Rayyan civic offi cials spot violations of food control norms during Eid Clean-up drive on Al Safliya Island.

l Rayyan Municipal- tours at food establishments, ity’s Health Control where 14 violations were de- ASection conducted tected in accordance with 122 food inspection tours Law No 8 for 1990. Of these, during the recent Eid holi- 13 were resolved through rec- days, resulting in the detec- onciliation on the payment tion of nine violations of Law of the stipulated fi nes, with No 8 for 1990 on the regula- the total fi ne amounted to tion of human food control. QR97,500. The section also issued 20 Meanwhile, 330kg of dif- warnings to different food out- ferent foodstuff were de- lets within the municipality to stroyed for being unfi t for address minor violations and human consumption and destroyed the carcasses of 19 10 affi davits were signed by sheep for being unfit for human various outlets to adequately consumption during the same address the violations. period, according to a statement The director of the mu- by the Ministry of Municipality nicipality also issued admin- and Environment (MME). istrative decisions to close The department also re- three restaurants for diff er- ceived nine related com- ent periods for fl outing food plaints, which were dealt safety norms. with accordingly, the state- The MME, represented ment noted. by the Beaches and Islands In June, Al Wakrah Munici- Section, also commenced a pality’s Health Control Sec- clean-up drive on Al Safl iya tion conducted 211 inspection Island.

Food inspection during the Eid holidays by Al Rayyan Municipality. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 5 QATAR

Group photo of the participants. Georgetown staff complete higher education training

wenty-nine staff into the challenges facing “For most people in the help to build some leader- members at Georget- the industry and the lead- room, while some might ship capacities in the room, Town University in Qa- ership skills needed in this have been seasoned pro- to then be able to take what tar (GU-Q) recently expand- fast-changing, complex and fessionals and had worked it is that they’re doing in ed their knowledge of the versatile service industry. in other industries before, their work and to push the higher education industry in “I really wanted to equip Georgetown University was boundaries a bit more, to be an intensive fi ve-day course. people with a comprehen- their fi rst experience with innovative, and to really tap The Certifi cate in Higher sive knowledge of higher higher education. It was into what their strengths are Education Management, education in the US, so that a very new experience for to make incredible things off ered by the Georgetown they can then begin to think more than half of the par- happen,” said Jabaji. University School of Con- a bit more about ways in ticipants,” explained Jabaji. The Certifi cate in Higher tinuing Studies, aimed to which their practices and While this is the fourth Education Management is provide participants with work here (in the local con- cohort of GU-Q staff to one of multiple training and a comprehensive under- text) can be adapted,” ex- complete the training in re- development opportunities standing of the industry in a plained lecturer and lead cent years, it was the fi rst off ered to GU-Q staff and global context. instructor Ramsey Jabaji. time that the curriculum faculty members. In addi- The programme covered Jabaji and his colleagues included a focus on personal tion to free or discounted the academic, research, fi - at the School of Continuing strengths. Using assess- formal education such as nancial and administrative Studies worked to design a ment tools and group work degrees or short courses for missions of higher educa- custom curriculum to meet sessions, Jabaji demon- qualifying employees, staff tion institutions within the needs of GU-Q staff . strated how individuals can and faculty members are the US. Through lectures, While many participants in harness their strengths to encouraged to engage in on- readings, applied learning the course have extensive contribute most eff ectively site training opportunities activities, a group presenta- experience in other educa- in a business environment. on a range of topics to learn tion and a capstone project, tional institutions, others “I wanted to do some for- new skills and implement participants gained insight were new to university life. mal leadership training to best practices. Gulf Times 6 Sunday, July 16, 2017 QATAR

Charity gives QR 12.7mn in aid to needy families Minister to head Qatar delegation Jassim and Hamad of debts, payment of aid to support the needy Malabar Gold & Diamonds raffle draw Bin Jassim Foundation tuition fees and marriage families which amounted to key UN meet has announced the assistance, as well as to QR1.3mn, as well as disbursement of QR12.7mn support for cultural, social repaying the debts of Qatar will take part in the High- as social assistance to needy and educational activities. 11 cases (QR1,200,000), level Political Forum, United families and individuals in The Director of the educational aid of Nations (UN) central platform Qatar during the first half of Charity operations at the QR1,250,000, medical for follow-up and review of the this year. The disbursement Foundation, Aisha al- assistance amounting to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable included monthly supplies Sulaiti explained that the QR760,000 and QR900,00 Development and the Sustainable and cash assistance, health QR12.7mn internal project for partnership with various Development Goals, at the UN guarantees, payment included cash and supply institutions in the country. headquarters in New York from tomorrow until July 19. Qatar’s delegation will be headed by HE the Minister of Development Planning and Statistics Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit, who will present the main achievements of the country regarding the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, in addition to the advanced ranking of Qatar on the economic, human development, transparency, social development and other indices. He will also review the partnerships entered into by Qatar with a number of Raff le draw winners of the ‘Win up to 75 gold bars & be a gold bullionaire’ campaign by Malabar Gold & Diamonds, UN agencies and civil society Raveendran and Subash, receiving their prize of 100gm gold bar each from Yahiya Gaff oor, deputy branch organisations to provide head – Malabar Gold & Diamonds, in the presence of other off icials from the leading jeweller. development aid and support for low-income countries.

QU Arabic for Non-Native Speakers Centre graduates 68 students

ome 68 students from renowned Arabic language to teaching Arabic for non- Qatar University’s centres in the region,” native speakers,” he said. S(QU) Arabic for Non- ANNS Centre director Dr “Research is one of the Native Speakers (ANNS) Abdullah Abdulrahman said new pillars of QU’s Ara- Centre have graduated this at the graduation ceremony. bic language programme year, it was announced. The event was attended for non-native speakers. The ninth batch of stu- by CAS Dean Dr Rashid al- In this context, the Centre dents of the Centre, under Kuwari, and representa- supports its members to QU’s College of Arts and tives from the embassies of participate in conferences, Sciences (CAS), comes from Turkey and Spain, as well as to publish their articles in 25 countries, including Ar- CAS department heads and peer-reviewed journals, and gentina, Belgium, Brazil, faculty. to provide advice to local Canada, France, Germany, Abdulrahman noted that and international bodies in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Japan, the Centre attracts stu- the fi eld of teaching Arabic Mali, Senegal, South Korea dents from various cultural as a foreign language,” Ab- and the US. backgrounds. This year, the dulrahman added. “This would not be number of candidates has He said that the Centre achieved without the un- increased to 2,000, and the also signed numerous agree- precedented support from number of educational in- ments with international QU’s presidency and CAS’ stitutions to 30. prestigious universities to deanship which contrib- “The Centre is commit- establish collaboration in uted eff ectively to make ted to providing eff ective the fi eld of teaching Arabic our centre one of the well- solutions to issues related for non-native speakers. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 7 QATAR NBK presents new Mercedes-AMG GT R asser Bin Khaled (NBK) “From the world’s most and the intelligent lightweight The suspension of the new Automobiles, the au- demanding racetrack construction lay the founda- AMG high-performance sports Nthorised general dis- directly onto the road: tions for an especially dy- model is also designed for race- tributor of Mercedes-Benz in never before has the namic driving experience,” the track use, while the new AMG Qatar, has presented the new Mercedes AMG packed statement notes. GT R is even more sensitive to Mercedes-AMG GT R, giving the so much motorsport Aerodynamics engineers and steering inputs thanks to stand- “ultra-sporty car’s enthusiasts” technology into a designers worked together more ard-fi t active rear-wheel steer- the opportunity to enjoy the ve- production vehicle than intensively than ever during the ing, which is being used for the hicle on the roads of Qatar. into the new AMG GT R” development of the new AMG fi rst time on a Mercedes-AMG Khaled Sha’aban, general GT R. Together, they ensured model. manager of NBK Automobiles, “From the world’s most de- that every element of the AMG The ESP OFF mode allows The new AMG GT R. said: “Qatari motorists are well manding racetrack directly GT R has an inherent technical drivers to exert even more infl u- known for their great admiration onto the road: never before has benefi t that enhances driving ence on the handling character- ity at low speeds while main- justable AMG sports bucket in the GT S. The peak torque of speed and unique cars, and we the Mercedes AMG packed so dynamics. Moreover, the AMG istics of the AMG GT R. The new taining driving safety at high seats upholstered in Exclusive of 700Nm is available between are confi dent that the new Mer- much motorsport technology design idiom of ‘Dynamic Pres- AMG Traction Control system speeds. nappa leather and DINAMICA 1,900 and 5,500rpm. With ac- cedes-AMG GT R will be their into a production vehicle than ence’ formed the basis for the allows drivers to pre-select the As is the case with other el- microfi bre come as standard in celeration of zero to 100km/h favourite choice, thanks to its into the new AMG GT R. The vehicle’s expressive appearance slip on the driven rear axle in ements, the AMG GT R’s in- GCC markets. achieved in just 3.6 seconds, new features and design.” front-mid-engine concept with and distinct look. In addition nine levels. terior draws inspiration from The AMG 4.0-litre twin-turbo and a top speed of 318km/h, The new AMG GT R is now transaxle, the twin-turbo V-8 to the powerfully sculpted body The speed-sensitive sports motorsport. The low seat po- engine in the AMG GT R has an the capabilities of the AMG GT available at the NBK Mercedes- engine rated at 430kW/585hp, and motorsport components, steering features a variable sition seamlessly integrates output of 430kW (585hp), which R will undoubtedly translate Benz dealership on Salwa Road, the extensively modifi ed sus- the new AMG Panamericana steering ratio, which enhanc- the driver into the cockpit. is 55kW (7hp) more than the pre- into extremely fast laps on the according to a press statement. pension, the new aerodynamics grille is a real eye-catcher. es vehicle handling and agil- Extremely light, manually ad- vious top-of-the-range engine racetrack. HBKU’s scientists and scholars awarded QNRF research grants

cholars and scientists from the university’s belt, the statement notes. to the scholars from the College of Further, echoing the strong part- research-focused Hamad Bin HBKU president Dr Ahmad Ha- Islamic Studies at HBKU focus on a nerships HBKU has with various insti- SKhalifa University (HBKU) were snah congratulated the researchers multidisciplinary approach to analys- tutions around Qatar, the university’s awarded nine grants by the Qatar Na- who have been awarded grants from ing the knowledge and communica- researchers received six more grants tional Research Fund (QNRF) at the QNRF and wished them all the suc- tion around genomics, Islamic ethics from QNRF for collaborative research Fund’s ninth Annual Forum. cess in their projects. He said, “The and public engagement, and studying projects with fellow peers from Texas HBKU’s colleges and research in- awards granted by QNRF demonstrate entrepreneurship education geared A&M University at Qatar, Carnegie stitutes received backing for a diverse our commitment towards the national towards meeting the Qatar National Mellon University in Qatar, Qatar Uni- range of projects to explore topics research priorities aimed at building Vision 2030, respectively. versity, Sidra Medical and Research within energy, environment, bio- human capital through their cutting- Two of the university’s national re- Center and Weill Cornell Medicine- medical sciences, entrepreneurship, edge breakthroughs and discoveries in search institutes, Qatar Environment Qatar. religion and civics, according to a science and research.” and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) Dr Hasnah added, “Our commit- statement. HBKU’s College of Science and and Qatar Biomedical Research Insti- ment to excellence is the driving force The recent announcement from Engineering received three of the tute (QBRI), were awarded two grants behind the ongoing pursuit for discov- QNRF adds to the list of over 75 ac- QNRF National Priority Research Pro- each. With the grants, QEERI will ery, learning and progress, thus pav- tive research grants managed at gramme grants to further their work conduct research in energy storage ing the way for our knowledge based HBKU, in addition to hundreds of in reservoir simulation for the energy and desalination, and biomedical sci- future.” published papers in reputable jour- industry, phononic devices in the entists at QBRI will study autism and To fi nd out more about the research nals and numerous innovations in biomedical fi eld, and privacy and cy- molecular profi ling, to better diagnose conducted at HBKU, one can visit A researcher working on a project at HBKU. science and technology, under the bersecurity. The two grants awarded and treat prevalent disorders. hbku.edu.qa Gulf Times 8 Sunday, July 16, 2017 QATAR Number of palm trees up Nama Centre offi cials visit Factory of Sheikha Haya ama Centre has conducted an offi cial visit to the Fac- Ntory of Sheikha Haya for Industrial Sewing to observe the progress of work there. The visit included meetings with factory offi cials and workers, who talked about their most important achievements and addressed the challenges and diffi culties facing them, especially in light of the cur- rent crisis. They discussed meas- ures to overcome them and get past their side-eff ects. Nama is one of Qatar Foundation for Social Work’s centres. Since its inception in 1997, the Factory of Sheikha Haya for Indus- trial Sewing – a non-profi t devel- opmental institution with admin- istrative and fi nancial autonomy – has achieved a “qualitative leap through the implementation of its charitable, developmental and hu- manitarian goals”, according to a A view of the factory. Qatar pays special attention to palm trees and the relevant authorities have been statement from Nama. able to boost productivity and increase their numbers, the Ministry of Municipal- The factory provides many train- achieve social integration. “The fac- extent of development and progress pecially in light of the phase that the ity and Environment has said in a statement. The number of such trees rose from ing, recruitment and employment tory adopts a high-quality manage- taking place at the management, country is currently going through, 334,471 in 1991 to more than 1mn in 2016, the statement notes. opportunities for families, indi- ment approach to ensure the highest manpower, equipment and produc- to improve production capacity and viduals, people with special needs, level of customer satisfaction and tion levels, and noted the suitability increase competitive opportunities as well as women with low incomes. suffi cient cash fl ow to support the of the work environment for female in the local market.” At present, the number of workers continuity and independence of the workers who have been working with Hadiyya Abu Zour, a worker, at the factory stands at 72, includ- factory’s activity and development,” great vigour, co-operation, team added: “I am very happy with this ing 67 women. There is also a plan the statement explained. spirit, friendliness and harmony.” visit as it has raised our morale and to increase that number and expand Maryam bint Abdullatif al-Man- Denis Adriano Bellaya, acting boosted our enthusiasm at work.” the factory in the future. nai, acting executive manager at director of the Factory of Sheikha The factory provides offi cial uni- The factory aims at empowering Nama Centre, said: “Our visit to the Haya for Industrial Sewing, said: forms for major economic institu- families in need across Qatar, with factory is an affi rmation of our keen- “We thank Nama Centre for this tions and local companies such as the provision of training and quali- ness to provide all forms of support constructive initiative and are very Qatar Petroleum, Woqod, Woqod fi cation courses, and the creation for national products as well as to pleased with this visit, which af- Vehicle Inspection (Fahes), Seef of job opportunities that provide promote women’s participation in fi rms the centre’s keenness to sup- Limited Company, Qatar Interna- families with a sustainable source development and improve their con- port national products. The offi - tional Beauty Academy (Tajmeel), of income in order to help them im- tribution in all fi elds so as to build a cials stressed the importance of the Dolphin Energy, Qatar Racing & prove their standard of living, cope society of justice and effi ciency. continued support of civil society Equestrian Club and Qatar Inde- with the daily burdens of life, as well “During our regular supervision organisations and government in- pendent Technical School, among as overcome their problems and of the factory, we have witnessed the stitutions for national products, es- others. NU-Q hosts summer programme for regional high school students

orthwestern Uni- in NU-Q’s new building. versity in Qatar This introduction to an N(NU-Q) has hosted education in media allowed a hands-on workshop al- them to discover the proc- lowing high school students ess of story structure and to get a glimpse of a career news creation, as well as to in media production. deconstruct larger concepts “NU-Q annually hosts such as media bias and dif- summer programmes for high ferentiate fact and opinion. school students in the region NU-Q Professor Miriam to help them understand the Berg, who taught the sum- role of media in a global so- mer course, noted that stu- ciety, and how stories are dents enrolled in the pro- framed and pursued with ac- gramme “gain the ability to curacy and professionalism,” access, analyse, evaluate and said Everette E Dennis, dean create media and understand and CEO, NU-Q. how to be critical thinkers”. Students seen at the workshop. During the two-week The students worked in programme, students took teams to write short fea- introductory classes in tures and shoot videos, topics that refl ected NU- which they presented at Q’s expertise in commu- the end of the programme. nication and journalism, “The programme has en- according to a press state- couraged me to be more ment. “I’ve always been curious and to talk to peo- curious about Northwest- ple. The most challenging ern and when I stumbled – and interesting – part upon this workshop, I knew has been fi nding stories it would be a good chance that are newsworthy and to experience something compelling,” said MES In- new and also familiarise dian School senior Ashraf myself with the world of Haque. media,” said Nada Abbass, Two NU-Q alumni, an Omani student from Az- Aamer Hassan and Ruba zan Bin Qais International Shaath, assisted Berg with School in Muscat. the programme, which As part of the programme, Hassan participated in as a students learned the art of high school student. “I fi rst storytelling through lec- came to NU-Q as a stu- tures and group discussions, dent in one of these sum- as well as hands-on activi- mer programmes. It really ties such as reporting on live helped me become clear events, creating news pack- about the career I want- ages and using the state-of- ed, and what I wanted to the-art equipment available pursue in college,” he said. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 9 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Tehran Egypt police probe motives blames Trump for of beach resort attacker instability Reuters AFP An IS bombing of a Russian Dubai Hurghada airliner carrying holidaymakers from a resort in the south of the Sinai in 2015 killed all 224 peo- ran yesterday blamed what it olice yesterday ques- ple on board and decimated the called Donald Trump’s “ar- tioned the suspected tourism sector. Ibitrary and confl icting poli- Pmilitant who stabbed to Russia suspended all fl ights cies” for global security threats, death two German women and to Egypt in response and has rejecting the US president’s de- wounded four others at a Red yet to resume them.IS has been scription of Tehran as a rogue Sea beach resort, adding to the waging a deadly insurgency state. woes of Egypt’s hobbled tour- concentrated in the north of the Tensions between Iran and the ism industry. Sinai that has killed hundreds of United States have heightened Elsewhere the interior min- policemen and soldiers. since the election of Trump, who istry said police killed six mili- It has also killed dozens of has often singled out Tehran as a tants in two shootouts near Coptic Christians in church key backer of militant groups. Cairo and the eastern Ismailiya bombings and shootings since “(Trump) ought to seek the province. December, and pledged fur- reason for subversion and re- Egypt has struggled to quash ther attacks.Yesterday, a man bellion in his own arbitrary and militant attacks led by the Is- stabbed a security guard at a confl icting policies and actions, lamic State group, whose local church in the Mediterranean as well as those of his arrogant, branch is based in the Sinai Pe- city of Alexandria after the aggressive and occupying al- ninsula, after the army ousted guard asked to check his bag. lies in the region,” said foreign president Mohamed Mursi in The attacker was quickly ministry spokesman Bahram 2013. subdued and is being ques- Qassemi, quoted by Iran’s state Judicial sources said the tioned, a police offi cial said. news agency Irna. Hurghada assailant who had The incident came days after President Trump said on swum ashore from a public leaders of the Christian minor- Thursday that new threats were beach to carry out Friday’s at- ity suspended some services emerging from “regimes like tack confessed to sharing the such as conferences and reli- North Korea, Iran and Syria and ideology of the Islamic State gious trips for three weeks over the governments that fi nance group, although there was no IS security concerns. and support them”. claim of responsibility. On Friday, unknown assail- Senior Iranian offi cials have The sources said the sus- ants shot dead fi ve policemen blamed Saudi Arabia, for insta- pect, a 28-year-old from Kafr just south of Cairo, in the latest bility and attacks in the Mid- al-Sheikh province in the Nile of a series of attacks targeting dle East, including last month’s Delta, north of Cairo, has been A picture taken yesterday shows a general view of the Sunny Days Elpalacio beach in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, where Egypt’s security forces. assaults that killed 18 people in transferred to the capital for an Egyptian stabbed to death two German tourists and injured four others the day before. The killings came as police Tehran. questioning. and the army said they were Saudi Arabia has denied in- At the same time, the pros- shouting. We ran outside and killed, Berlin yesterday said they those countries said.It was not 38 holidaymakers, 30 of them closing in on militants and ji- volvement in the attacks which ecution said in a statement that heard that someone had swum were both German nationals, the fi rst attack in Hurghada. Britons, before being shot dead hadists following a spate of were claimed by Islamic State. it had not yet confi rmed the to the next door hotel and was rather than Ukrainians as earlier In January 2016, three tour- by police. deadly attacks in the Nile Valley While Trump has kept up his assailant’s motives and urged attacking foreigners,” said Rafi c reported. ists were wounded in a stabbing Hurghada is one of Egypt’s and the Sinai. criticism of Tehran, a senior US the media “to stop resorting to Rushdi, the owner of a hotel “I am very upset by this cow- assault in the resort by two as- most popular beach resorts, The interior ministry said offi cial said on Thursday that the speculation or getting ahead of shop. ardly crime, my condolences sailants with apparent IS sym- especially with Ukrainians and two of the militants killed yes- president was “very likely” to the investigation”. The streets “After killing two women, he to the families of the victims,” pathies. other European tourists. terday belonged to the Hasam state that Iran is adhering to its of Hurghada were being heav- ran towards our hotel. He was German Foreign Minister Sig- In Tunisia, IS claimed a beach Egyptian authorities say they movement which has targeted nuclear agreement with world ily patrolled and security was shouting that he was not after mar Gabriel said. attack in June 2015 when a stu- have boosted security at tourist police and government offi cials powers although he continues to stepped up outside hotels yes- Egyptians, and some Egyptians Among the four others dent armed with a Kalashnikov sites. in and near Cairo. have reservations about it. terday. intervened to stop him.” wounded were two Armenian assault rifl e and grenades went Tourism provides the Arab The group is believed to be “I was sitting down in my After initial confusion over women and a woman from the on a rampage near the Mediter- world’s most populous country linked to a faction of Muslim shop when we heard people the nationality of the women Czech Republic, authorities in ranean resort of Sousse killing with much-needed revenues. Brotherhood. Police shoot Army takes more Iraqi Kurds’ referendum a dead knife oil fi elds from IS attacker

Reuters have in the last few months been negotiating tactic: offi cial at station Beirut advancing east of Aleppo city and seizing swathes of territory west of the Euphrates River that AFP “We are doing this (holding He said Baghdad had also push for independence that Reuters he Syrian army backed by militants have pulled out of to Tehran the referendum) to resolve our failed to ratify laws on oil could encourage secession in Dubai heavy Russian air strikes defend their de facto capital of problems in Iraq. For now, we revenues and funding for their own Kurdish regions. Tseized a string of oil wells Raqqa, where they are now bat- do not have the intention of the Kurdish security forces, “We are an enclosed geo- in southwest Raqqa province tling US-backed troops inside top Tehran-based offi - separating,” Dabbagh said in known as the peshmerga, de- graphical area surrounded by ehran police shot dead a yesterday, as retreating Islamic the city. cial from Iraq’s Kurdish an interview with AFP at his spite the latter’s crucial role in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. If man who attacked a cler- State militants battle to defend The latest gains tighten the Agovernment has said its offi ce in the Iranian capital. pushing back IS. they want to, these countries Tgyman and other people their remaining territory in the army’s grip on a bulge of ter- planned independence refer- “We don’t feel that Iraq ac- “I believe that a Baathist can strangle us. with a knife at a metro station country. ritory stretching from eastern endum is really a negotiating cepts us. For this reason, we mentality still exists among But those engaged in the yesterday, Iranian state televi- State-owned Ikhbariyah tel- Hama province to eastern Homs tactic to pressure Baghdad into seek to use appropriate oppor- some Iraqi leaders,” said Dab- struggle are not afraid of this,” sion reported. evision quoted a military source and the edge of Raqqa and Deir meeting promises on energy tunities — through diplomacy, bagh, referring to the previous said Dabbagh. Hadi Tamhidi, deputy gover- as saying the army had taken Zor provinces, the Syrian Ob- and power-sharing. parliament and the people — regime under Saddam Hus- Iran, which has around 6mn nor of the Shar-e Rey district in control of Wahab, Al Fahd, servatory for Human Rights war Nazem Dabbagh, who rep- in order to demand our rights. sein. Kurds in its own country, has south Tehran, said the unidenti- Dbaysan, Al-Qseer, Abu Al monitor said. resents the Kurdistan Regional If they (Iraq) don’t want to “They don’t accept others. built close ties with those fi ed man attacked the clergyman Qatat and Abu Qatash oil fi elds The monitor said the Russian Government in Tehran, also solve our problems, our people They always resort to military in Iraq but has opposed the with a knife after a dispute, and and several other villages in the air force intensifi ed its strikes on said he feared that Iraqi forces are ready to sacrifi ce.” force to resolve problems.” brinkmanship of calling a ref- injured another man. desert area that lies in the south- several targets and towns held by would attack Kurdish posi- Dabbagh accused Baghdad Asked if he worried the Iraqi erendum. Police shot and wounded the west of Raqqa province. the militants in the area includ- tions now that the fi ght to re- of failing to meet several key army and other militias would “Iran opposes these mur- assailant, who later died of his The seized oil fi elds lie south ing Uqairbat, a target of Russian take Mosul from the Islamic promises outlined in the Iraqi attack Kurdish regions, Dab- murs about holding a referen- injuries, Tamhidi said, adding of the town of Rasafa and its oil cruise missiles fi red from war- State group (IS) was over. constitution of 2005, includ- bagh said: “One hundred per- dum in order to separate one that the assailant was mentally wells, which the army took last ships in the Mediterranean at the But he was adamant that ing resolving the status of cent.That is my fear.” part of Iraq,” supreme leader “unbalanced”. month from the militants in end of May. The army’s next goal the Iraqi Kurds would prefer Kirkuk, a city on the border Iraq’s fi ve million Kurds are Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said A spokesman for the metro their fi rst major territorial gains is to retake the town of Sukhna, to remain part of Iraq, despite between the Kurds’ semi-au- well aware of their precarious during a visit by Iraqi Prime said traffi c at the Shar-e Rey sta- inside the province. a gateway to the eastern province calling a referendum on inde- tonomous region and the rest position, surrounded by coun- Minister Haider al-Abadi last tion had returned to normal after The army and other militias of Deir Zor that borders Iraq. pendence for September 25. of Iraq. tries that strongly oppose any month. Page 10 the incident.

Benghazi airport reopens after war closure

Reuters Benghazi

enghazi’s international airport offi cially reopened for commer- Bcial fl ights amid a heavy security presence yesterday after a three-year closure due to fi ghting in the city. The fi rst outward bound fl ights from Benina Airport were to the capital, Tripoli, to Amman, Jordan, and to the south-eastern Libyan city of Kufra. Flights are also scheduled to and from Tunis, Istanbul, Alexandria, and the western Libyan city of Zintan. The fl ights are operated by two state-owned companies, Libyan Air- lines and Afriqiyah Airways. Benina is just east of Benghazi, Libya’s second city, where fi ghting es- A staff member checks passenger’s luggage at Benina airport east of Benghazi. calated in the summer of 2014 when forces loyal to eastern-based com- pressed relief at no longer having to Benina, which continued operating mander Khalifa Haftar launched a mil- travel to Labraq airport, a four-hour throughout the confl ict as Haftar’s itary campaign against hardliners and drive east of Benghazi, which had re- forces targeted their rivals with air other opponents. placed Benina as the main airport for strikes. Earlier this month, Haftar declared the eastern part of the country. Tripoli’s international airport was victory in the campaign as his forces In recent months, some offi cial and badly damaged by fi ghting in 2014, and battled rivals in their last downtown cargo fl ights had already been fl ying fl ights have since operated out of the holdouts. from Benina. smaller Mitiga airport near the centre Travellers and airport staff ex- There is also a military airport at of the capital. Gulf Times 10 Sunday, July 16, 2017 ARAB WORLD Return to Mosul a distant dream for many displaced

AFP and half of the neighbourhood has fensive on Mosul began in October, us their homes have been razed to the “We just sit here all day and pour Hasan Sham been destroyed,” Najem said at a camp more than a million civilians have fl ed ground,” she said. Sitting cross-legged water on our heads” to try to cool for the displaced. the violence and more than 825,000 under a tarpaulin at the entrance to down, she said. “If I return home, it will be to live on have yet to return, according to the In- her tent, Safaa Saadallah was sceptical “Other camps have installed air assin Najem knows he has to the street,” said the 50-year-old who ternational Organisation for Migration to hear her 26-year-old son, a former conditioners in tents, but here we have start again from scratch. has been with his three children in the (IOM). But as some semblance of calm professional handball player, talk of re- not had anything.” Y His home in Mosul has been camp east of Mosul for nine months. accompanies the end of major combat turning home to Mosul. There were also delays in distribut- bombed, and for him and thousands Half asleep as he sheltered under in western districts of the city, some “To go where?” asked the 69-year- ing food aid to the camp’s residents, more displaced Iraqis, returning re- canvas, the widowed former electrical people are trying to go home. old, a black scarf placed loosely over she added. mains a distant dream. repairman tried to fi ght the overpow- UN refugee agency UNHCR has her hair. Arnaud Quemin, interim director of On Monday, the Iraqi authorities an- ering heat. warned that many of the displaced will “We have no house, no business and the US NGO Mercy Corps for Iraq, said nounced victory over the militants of The tented alleyways of Camp Hasan remain so for months, however. Displaced Iraqis gather to receive ice at not enough money to pay rent. How “a classical pattern of back and forth” the Islamic State group. Sham were deserted apart from a few Melany Markham, a spokeswoman a camp set up to shelter civilians fleeing can we go home?” awaits those displaced by the battle for But the unprecedented destruction children in dusty pyjamas who ven- in Iraq for the Norwegian Refugee violence in the northern city of Mosul, It is now eight months since she fl ed Mosul. in the country’s second city and the tured outside as their parents dozed Council, said that while people who yesterday, in Debaga, east of Makhmur. the city with her two sons, daughter “Some people will go back to see if unstable security situation will delay under canvas or plastic sheeting. fl ed Mosul may not want to stay in the and two grandchildren. their houses are in good shape or not, if the return home of hundreds of thou- Men who did go outside wrapped camps any longer, “they have nothing no power supply, there is no food, there The home in which she had lived for they need to be rebuilt, and once things sands of people who fl ed. their heads in wet towelling. to go back to”. are no schools, there are no hospitals, 30 years was requisitioned by IS and are set up they will bring their family “My house has been reduced to dust, Since the Iraqi security forces’ of- “There is no water supply, there is and from the images and what they tell later destroyed in an air strike. with them,” he said. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 11 AFRICA

Elephantine translocation Three soldiers killed in I Coast barrack shooting

AFP the country’s armed forces. Abidjan The former French colony suffered a decade-long civil war, splitting the country in hree soldiers died after two. shooting erupted over- Thousands of rebels were Tnight at a base in Ivory incorporated into the army Coast, which has been gripped after President Laurent by tensions within the mili- Gbagbo was ousted in 2011 by tary, security sources said yes- Alassane Ouattara. terday. But a string of revolts Gunfi re was heard coming erupted from January to May from the barracks at Korho- this year after they mutinied go, a city in the north of the to press demands for a prom- the West African country, at ised bonus. around 1:00am (0100 GMT), They eventually received a Adama Coulibaly, a local car- payoff of 12,000 CFA francs penter reached by phone said. (18,000 euros) per head from “There are three dead sol- the state. diers,” an offi cer said sepa- There are also 6,000 “de- rately, without giving further mobilised” rebels who have details. not been integrated into the A source at the local morgue military, and are also de- said three bodies in military manding a bonus. fatigues and with gunshot Four of them were shot wounds had been taken to the dead in May when security facility. forces intervened to disperse In a separate incident, a protest. shooting was heard from a And on Tuesday, two former UN base near Abidjan, former rebel leaders who ob- lasting from about 1.30am to structed a road in the central after 3:00am, a local resident city of Bouake were jailed. in the nearby district of Abobo The government last year said. unveiled plans to modernise “We were all very scared. the 22,000-strong military, We don’t know what’s going part of which would involve on,” another resident said. the departure of several Calm returned yesterday thousand men, particularly African Parks officials load elephants into a truck, to be translocated from Majete Game Reserve, southern Malawi to Nkhotakota in the central region. About 500 morning. ex-rebels. elephants are being translocated from Majete Game Reserve and Liwonde to Nkhotakota Game Reserve to increase the animal population in the reserve which The incident took place But falling cocoa prices officials say will boost tourist attraction in the country’s central region. against a backdrop of have severely crimped the months-long tensions within government’s coffers.

Mugabe returns from Singapore medical care

Zimbabwean President Zimbabwe’s independence Robert Mugabe returned from British colonial rule in home yesterday after medical 1980, is his party’s presidential 11 park wardens, US journo treatment in Singapore, the candidate for next year’s elec- state broadcaster said, putting tions despite concerns over to rest speculation over the his age and fitness to rule. 93-year-old’s whereabouts. Early in 2015, he tripped and The Zimbabwe Broadcasting fell as he left a podium after Corp said Mugabe, who left addressing supporters who feared kidnapped in Congo for Singapore last Saturday, had gathered at Harare airport “had eye surgery in the Asian to welcome him back from a AFP Ituri, said. Separately, a senior “The US Department of State The east of the country is es- incursion by Rwandan or Ugan- country a few years ago” and foreign trip. Bunia, DR Congo offi cial with the Congolese In- has no higher priority than the pecially troubled. dan combatants, and have never had returned for a “routine The same year he also read stitute for the Conservation of protection of US citizens over- It has been gripped by more been disarmed. medical check-up”. This week’s a speech to parliament ap- Nature (ICCN), speaking on seas. Due to privacy considera- than 20 years of armed confl ict The RFO, a World Heritage trip there is Mugabe’s third parently unaware that he had leven park wardens and condition of anonymity, said, tions, we have no further com- among domestic and foreign site, covers nearly 14,000 square there this year. Public hospitals delivered the same speech be- a US journalist in north- “Eleven RFO park wardens and ment,” the offi cial added. groups, fuelled by struggle for kilometres, protecting much of in Zimbabwe often suff er from fore. Mugabe’s party is sharply Eeastern Democratic Re- an American journalist are miss- The vice governor of Ituri, control of lucrative resources as the Ituri forest near the borders chronic shortages of drugs divided over his succession. public of Congo are missing ing, while two Britons and fi ve Pacifi que Keta, said the armed well as ethnic and property dis- with Sudan and Uganda. and staff as the economy has Vice-president Emmerson amid signs they were kidnapped other wardens escaped, when forces and “every service” had putes. The Mai-Mai Simba is a The park is notably home to struggled to rebound following Mnangagwa and Mugabe’s by a local militia, sources said they were attacked by the Mai- been informed of the incident. self-described “self-defence” the okapi, an endangered zebra- years of mismanagement. wife Grace are seen as likely yesterday. Mai Simba.” The names of the missing militia drawn from the Nande, like species that is a cousin of the Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party was contenders to take over in the “Eleven guards and an Ameri- In Washington, a US offi cial wardens and female journalist Hunde and Kobo communities giraff e. forced to postpone a rally on event of his death or retire- can journalist working for the said the State Department was were not given. as well as rivals from the Nyatu- It is also home to the Mbutu Friday at which he was due to ment. Opposition parties have Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) “aware of reports” that a US A former Belgian colony, ru, who represent ethnic Hutus. and Efe pygmies, hunter-gath- address supporters, triggering formed a coalition to fight were abducted on Friday by the citizen had been kidnapped — the DR Congo is a vast country Many of these groups were erers who are “among the last speculation about his wherea- Mugabe’s party in next Mai-Mai Simba,” Alfred Bong- a formulation that is normally rich in minerals and timber but armed during the DR Congo’s true ‘forest people’ on Earth,” bouts. Mugabe, in power since year’s vote. walanga, administrator of Mam- used in these circumstances and wracked by decades of war and second war — a confl ict that according to the Okapi Conser- basa district in the province of seen as a confi rmation. poverty. ran from 1998-2003 — to fi ght vation Project website. Politics not pasture drives violence in Kenya’s heart

AFP since multiparty politics was in- a ridge above Kamwenje since 1983. chest and then she and her children Kamwenje troduced a quarter of a century ago. Currently, he sleeps alone at had their throats slit. Since voting in Kenya tends to fol- night, his family, like others, has be- “They slaughtered the women low ethnic lines, evicting diff erent come what he calls “day scholars”: and children like goats,” said Ben- ootsteps came fi rst, then un- tribes so that another can dominate working the farm by day but staying jamin Lecher, the 45-year-old chief familiar voices, the smell of a constituency is a pragmatic politi- with neighbours at night where they of the Mukutani Ilchamus. Fcow dung and the kicking in of cal strategy. “They want to drive us feel safer, a few miles further from “We left Mukutani because of the front door. away so that they can take over our the county boundary. the attacks by the Pokot commu- Suddenly awake, John Mbogo land,” says John, who has farmed a Residents say that barely a night nity,” he said, sipping tea outside wrapped his 11-year-old daughter vivid green fi eld of maize in Kam- goes by without gunfi re, an ambush his rough tent as the morning’s heat Tabitha in his arms and rolled under wenje since 1997. or a home invasion. cranked up. “We have been evicted the bed. His family’s clothes, food and On worn sheets of folded notepa- and they have occupied our land.” His wife, Anne, crawled next to possessions were stolen during the per Njoroge keeps a running tally of Tit-for-tat cattle raids are common them, eyes wide. attack, but others have suff ered murders, rapes and thefts. between the Ilchamus and Pokot. Torchlight fell on the now emp- worse: neighbours have been raped So far, Njoroge said, more than 40 Young men known as “morans” ty beds and they saw naked legs and shot. Some have already fl ed. families have chosen to leave and he are regularly killed in skirmishes, smeared in manure, a “shuka” The raiders come from the Pokot wonders how much longer the rest but the deliberate murder of women blanket rolled at the waist and the tribe, pastoralists for whom cows of them will hold out. and children, Lecher said, was dif- muzzle of a gun.“There was noth- are at the heart of social life. The future Njoroge fears can be ferent. “It has become a tribal thing, ing I could do but hide,” said John, Cattle raids serve as a test of man- found 28 kilometres due west and it’s not banditry. This is not cattle recounting the June invasion by hood as well as a way to get rich and 1,000 metres below Kamwenje, rustling,” Lecher said. “Politics is armed herders, dressed for battle, gain enough cows to pay for a wife. deep in the belly of the Rift Valley, fuelling this issue, these people are at their small family compound in The easy availability of illegal in Eldume, a forlorn settlement of expanding their territory by evict- Kamwenje, a mostly ethnic Kikuyu weapons means that cattle raiding hundreds of stretched tarp tents. ing others.” settlement in Laikipia, high on the has grown more violent, while poor The more than 700 people living In an act of violent gerrymander- eastern rim of Kenya’s Rift Valley. rains and large herds prompt pasto- here are the surviving ethnic Ilcha- ing, the displacement means Lecher Such raids have become com- ralists to roam further in search of mus population of the nearby vil- and his people may be unable to vote mon in recent months in the coun- adequate pasture. lage of Mukutani. in August. ties of Laikipia and neighbouring But the spike in attacks ahead of They fl ed after an attack by the Yet the Pokot and their politicians Baringo, with pastoralists invading elections and their brutality has lo- Pokot in mid-March in which nine — some of whom hold senior posts private land, raiding homes, burn- cals convinced that grazing is not of their people died — a revenge raid in Baringo county, dominated by the ing property and driving livestock the main motive. of extraordinary cruelty that ter- ruling party — are not exempt from into farms. “This is not about pasture. This rorised the whole community into violence, though widely blamed for But where the government is politics,” says Paul Njoroge, a abandoning their homes. it. A belated government security blames bandits, victims see politi- 53-year-old father of four, farmer, Queen Siambui, 22, lost her operation has, they say, dispropor- cal intrigue. paralegal and Kikuyu community younger sister, Janet, who was tionately targeted the Pokot, while Kenyans vote in a general election leader. murdered as she sheltered with her at least three prominent Pokot on August 8. “The motive is to evict the farm- daughters, fi ve-year-old Nasinya politicians have been killed in re- The unrest echoes the politi- ers and own everything. Politics is and three-year-old Vicki. cent months.Their murders, like the cally motivated ethnic violence that the fuel of this chaos.” Siambui wept as she recounted crimes in Kamwenje and Mukutani, has prefaced almost every election Njoroge has lived and farmed on the attack: Janet was shot in the are unsolved. Gulf Times 12 Sunday, July 16, 2017 AMERICAS

Trudeau warns against any ‘shortcuts’ in Nafta talks

Reuters Ottawa

anadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday warned US governors against C“politically tempting shortcuts” as the two countries and Mexico prepare to renegoti- ate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). US President Donald Trump has described the 1994 pact as “the worst trade deal ever” and vowed to change it to the advantage of the United States in talks due to begin later this summer. Trump’s stance on the accord has led Tru- deau’s government to reach out aggressively to US leaders, including one-on-one meetings on Friday with Vice President Mike Pence and the governors of Kentucky, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Iowa. The meetings are intended to emphasise the importance of the two countries’ trading rela- tionship. “Sometimes getting it right means refusing to take the politically tempting shortcuts,” Tru- deau told a meeting of the US National Gover- nors Association in Providence, Rhode Island. “More trade barriers, more local-content US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. provisions, more preferential access for home- grown players in government procurement, for example, does not help working families over the long term, or even the mid-term. Such pol- icies kill growth.” He warned that protectionist postures run the risk of becoming “a cycle of tit-for-tat, a race to the bottom, where all sides lose.” Pence, who also spoke to the Governors As- Trump appeals weakened sociation, alluded only briefl y to the Nafta talks in his remarks, which focused on this week’s healthcare reform bill proposed by Senate Re- publicans. “We will modernize Nafta for the 21st cen- tury so it is a win-win-win for all our trade partners in North America,” Pence, the former travel ban court ruling governor of Indiana, told the group. “We are looking forward to bringing Nafta AFP lia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 But federal Judge Derrick Watson And it was unclear how quickly the portion of the high court’s decision into the future in a way that will equally benefi t Washington days, and refugees for 120 days. in Hawaii ruled that the adminis- Supreme Court — now in summer “eff ectively meaningless.” both our countries.” The administration insists it is tration’s criteria unfairly excluded recess but able to act on emergency The original ban, announced In a nod to the concerns about competition necessary to keep violent extremists grandparents and grandchildren, motions — might respond, and when days after Trump became president with foreign labour that infl uenced Trump’s he US Justice Department has out of the country. expanding the list of “bona fi de” or if the expanded terms set by the on January 20, was successfully populist trade stance, Trudeau said that state asked the Supreme Court to After a series of judicial roadblocks relatives to include them, along with Hawaii judge might take eff ect. challenged in lower courts on the and national governments needed to do more Tblock a federal judge’s ruling in the lower courts, the administra- brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, If they do, thousands of potential grounds that it overstepped Trump’s to ensure that the benefi ts of trade were felt by that exempted grandparents of peo- tion scored a partial victory in June, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and travellers could be aff ected. presidential authority and discrimi- a wider slice of the population. ple living in the United States from when the Supreme Court ruled that cousins of people in the United States. In his ruling, Watson said the gov- nated against Muslims in violation of “We think right upfront about how to make President Donald Trump’s travel it could proceed with the ban, though Watson’s “interpretation empties ernment’s distinction of what con- the US constitution. sure that benefi ts that will come from trade in- ban. people with a “bona fi de relationship” the (Supreme) Court’s decision of stitutes “close” family was “the an- A revised version also did not pass evitably accrue to more of the population,” he In a fi ling on Friday, the Trump to a US person or entity were exempt. meaning, as it encompasses not just tithesis of common sense.” legal muster. said. administration asked the nine Su- The ruling, which capped months ‘close’ family members, but virtually The judge also ruled that the gov- Judges in lower courts had cited Trudeau also told reporters on Friday that preme Court justices to overturn of legal wrangling, left unclear the all family members,” Acting Solicitor ernment could not exclude refugees Trump’s repeated statements during Trump told him that he did not expect to sub- Thursday’s decision by a federal question of just who had such a General Jeff rey Wall said in the ad- who have assurances of a placement the presidential campaign that he in- ject Canadian steel and aluminium to face tar- judge in Hawaii that placed limits “credible claim.” ministration’s fi ling. by a resettlement agency in the Unit- tended to ban Muslims from entering iff s on national security grounds. on the measure temporarily barring The Trump administration pro- However, arguing — before a pan- ed States. the United States. “I am optimistic that this important trade, refugees and other travellers from six vided a list defi ning the category as el of justices aged 49 to 84 — that But the Justice Department said Oral arguments are due to take which leads to millions of good jobs on both predominantly Muslim countries. including parents, spouses, children, grandparents and grandchildren are in its fi ling with the Supreme Court place after the court returns for a sides of the border, will continue,” Trudeau Trump’s March 6 executive order sons- and daughters-in-law, sib- not “close” relatives may be an uphill that Watson’s decision as concerns new session in October over whether said. bars visitors from Iran, Libya, Soma- lings and step- or half-siblings. battle. refugees would render the related the ban violates the US Constitution.

Any Republican defection would doom Senate healthcare bill

AFP Republican senators already have adequate subsidies that will result islation that ultimately was passed raised the possibility of seeking bi- Washington declared opposition. in millions of Americans losing by the House of Representatives. partisan legislation to fi x parts of “After all of these years of suf- health insurance coverage,” AMA Republican House Speaker Paul Obamacare but leaving intact the fering thru Obamacare, Republican president Dr David Barbe said, re- Ryan called off a vote in March in structure of the Aff ordable Care resident Donald Trump Senators must come through as ferring to the government insur- the face of a rebellion involving the Act, Democratic former president turned up the heat on Friday they have promised,” Trump, who ance programme for the poor and disparate factions of the party but Barack Obama’s signature legis- Pon fellow Republicans in the made gutting Obamacare one of disabled. managed to coax enough lawmak- lative achievement, commonly US Senate to pass a bill dismantling his central campaign promises last A major test for McConnell’s ers to back it and engineered nar- known as Obamacare. the Obamacare law, but with their year, wrote on Twitter from Paris, legislation expected early next row approval on May 4. “There are changes that need to retooled healthcare plan drawing where he attended Bastille Day cel- week is an analysis by the nonpar- Vice President Mike Pence be made to the law,” Dick Durbin, fi re within the party even one more ebrations. tisan Congressional Budget Offi ce, sought to shore up support among the No 2 Senate Democrat, told defection would doom it. The top US doctors’ group, the which last month forecast that the the nation’s governors at a meeting MSNBC, citing “a bipartisan ap- Majority Leader Mitch McCo- American Medical Association, on prior version of the bill would have in Rhode Island, but a key Repub- petite to tackle this issue.” nnell has planned for a vote next Friday called the new bill inade- resulted in 22mn Americans losing lican governor, Ohio’s John Kasich, Moderate Susan Collins and week on revised legislation, un- quate and said more bipartisan col- insurance over the next decade. came out strongly against the re- conservative Rand Paul already op- veiled on Thursday, and he has his laboration is needed in the months A day after that CBO analysis vised bill, saying its Medicaid cuts pose the revised Senate bill. work cut out for him in the com- ahead to improve the delivery and was issued, McConnell postponed were too deep and it does too little Other Republican senators have ing days to get the 50 “yes” votes fi nancing of healthcare. a planned vote on the legislation to stabilise the insurance market. either expressed concern or re- needed for passage. Hospital and medical advocacy because of a revolt within his own Kasich’s opposition could put mained noncommittal, including Republicans control the Sen- groups also have criticised the bill. party, including moderates and pressure on Rob Portman, a Repub- Portman, Mike Lee, Shelley Moore ate by a 52-48 margin and cannot “The revised bill does not ad- hard-line conservatives. lican senator from Ohio, who has Capito, John McCain, Dean Heller, aff ord to lose more than two from dress the key concerns of phy- While the bill’s prospects may not yet taken a position on the bill. John Hoeven, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff within their ranks because of unit- sicians and patients regarding look precarious, the same could If the current Senate legislation Flake, Ben Sasse, Cory Gardner, ed Democratic opposition, but two proposed Medicaid cuts and in- have been said of healthcare leg- collapses, some lawmakers have Todd Young and Thom Tillis. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 13 ASIA/AUSTRALIA

Massive fi re Rohingyas destroys boats in speak about Indonesia AFP Jakarta

hree people were injured after 18 wooden fi shing boats caught abuses after Tfi re in Indonesia yesterday, a disaster offi cial said. Fire services were struggling to put out the billowing blaze at a riverside port in Pati on the northern coast of Java island. “We are still trying to put out crackdown the fi re so that it doesn’t burn more boats,” spokesman for the National Reuters rity forces, allegations of abuses by troops Disaster Management Agency, Su- Kyar Guang Taung, Myanmar emerged almost immediately. topo Purwo Nugroho, said. Kyar Gaung Taung resident Sarbeda, 30, Three people were seriously in- had been able to visit her son, Nawsee Mul- jured in the incident, Nugroho added. ohingya Muslim women lined up yes- lah, 14, at a police camp where he is being It is not clear what caused the fi re. terday to tell reporters of missing hus- held separately from adult detainees. Boat accidents are common in In- Rbands, mothers and sons as interna- She was not sure if he had a lawyer, she donesia, a vast network of islands tional media were escorted for the fi rst time said. that relies heavily on water transport. to a village in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine Reuters reported in March that 13 boys un- At least fi ve people were killed state aff ected by violence since October. der the age of 18 were detained during secu- when a boat carrying nearly 200 peo- “My son is not a terrorist. rity operations. Smoke rises yesterday from the blaze of traditional fishing boats in Pati, Central Java province. ple caught fi re in east Java in May. He was arrested while doing farm work,” They were included in a list of 423 people said one young mother, Sarbeda. charged under the colonial-era Unlawful As- She had bustled her way — an infant in her sociations Act, which outlaws joining or aid- arms — through several other women telling ing rebel groups. reporters their husbands had been arrested At least 32 people from Kyar Gaung Taung on false grounds. village had been arrested and 10 killed, said Trump stumps Korean traders Singapore protesters In November, Myanmar’s army swept a village schoolteacher, who asked not to be through villages where stateless Rohingya named for fear of reprisals. Muslims live in the area of Maungdaw. He estimated that half the village’s 6,000 more than any missile tests demand probe into Some 75,000 people fl ed across the nearby residents had fl ed during the clearance op- border to Bangladesh, according to the Unit- eration. ed Nations. Another villager, Lalmuti, 23, pointed to a Reuters with such regularity that markets learned to Lee family feud UN investigators who interviewed refu- small pile of ashes where she said she found Seoul shrug them off . gees said allegations of gang rape, torture, her father’s remains. This year, the options market shows the arson and killings by security forces in the She described how he was bound and cost of insuring investments against North AFP operation were likely crimes against human- thrown into a house and burned to death. or years, investors in South Korea have Korean-related risks has surged, with Singapore ity. Her mother was later arrested when au- been accustomed to belligerence and 3-month protection against a drop in the Myanmar’s government, led by Nobel thorities deemed her complaint about the Fregular missile tests from the country’s won, for example, reaching a high of 231 ba- laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has denied most killings to be fabricated. hostile northern neighbour, but now there’s a sis points in mid-April, double the levels six undreds of Singaporeans yesterday staged of the claims, and is blocking entry to a UN She is serving a six-month jail sentence, new factor in their regional risk assessments months earlier. a rare protest calling for an independent fact-fi nding mission tasked with looking Lalmuti and two other villagers said. — US President Donald Trump. This spike came as the US diverted a war- Hinquiry into a bitter family feud between into the allegations. Reporters were not given a chance to put Jolts to fi nancial markets from North Ko- ship towards the Korean Peninsula and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings. The government has also kept independ- these allegations to authorities, and Reuters rea’s military provocations are frequent but showed off its strike capability in Syria, which The rally at a designated free-speech corner in ent journalists and human rights monitors was unable to reach offi cials to confi rm the were until recently contained by an implicit it conducted just as Trump met with his Chi- the strictly controlled city-state was the fi rst pub- out of the area for the past nine months. details of the cases by phone. expectation that global diplomatic eff orts nese counterpart, Xi Jinping. lic protest since the feud burst into the open on This week, the Ministry of Information In a press briefi ng on Friday, Brigadier could limit Pyongyang’s aggression. The cost of owning the option to sell the June 14. escorted more than a dozen foreign and local General Thura San Lwin, commander of My- Now, however, there is as much market won in April was the highest it had been since The prime minister’s younger siblings, Hsien journalists representing international media, anmar’s Border Guard Police, said some vil- anxiety about Trump’s unrestrained Tweets August 2015, when the two Koreas were in a Yang, 60, and Wei Ling, 62, have accused him of including Reuters, to the area under a guard of lagers had made what he said were erroneous and a hawkish White House response as there tense military standoff . nepotism and abuse of power in a row that has offi cers from the paramilitary Border Guard claims and were subsequently charged and is about North Korean agitations. “It’s the Trump-on-stage reaction,” a cur- prompted outrage on social media. Police The reporters spent nearly two days in jailed for lying to the authorities. Since Trump’s election in November, price rency trader in Seoul said.”Trump’s hard line The spat is centred on a dispute about plans for Buthidaung, a township in Maungdaw dis- “The media said we torched houses and reactions to North Korean long-range mis- approach, and his past crazy comments on their late father’s home, a century-old bungalow. trict of Rakhine state, where they were taken that there were rape cases — they give wrong sile tests in credit and currency derivatives, everything from the Mexico-wall to Syria Lee Kuan Yew, who is widely credited with to sites of alleged militant activity. information,” Thura San Lwin told reporters. typically used by traders to hedge geopolitical policies have created a whole new range of transforming Singapore from a British colony to They were taken to Kyar Gaung Taung, one He also disputed the UN’s estimates for risk, have been distinctly sharper. uncertainties for traders investing here.” one of Asia’s wealthiest countries, stated in his of three settlements requested by the jour- the number of people who fl ed, claiming lo- “Trump has moved markets and China “During the Obama administration, the will that he wants the house torn down to avoid the nalists. cal records showed that only 22,000 people more within months than (Barack) Obama in markets didn’t care much about the North. building of a personality cult around him. Offi cials cited time constraints for the lim- were missing in the confl ict. eight years,” said Cliff Tan, East Asian head Everyone knew the Kim Jong-un regime But the prime minister’s siblings say their ited access. Reuters had previously gathered Myanmar offi cials say a domestic investi- of global markets research at Bank of Tokyo- wouldn’t do anything stupid for real as it brother is attempting to block the house’s demo- accounts from residents by phone and from gation, led by Vice President Myint Swe — a Mitsubishi UFJ. could really be the beginning of the end,” said lition to capitalise on their father’s legacy for his former residents who have fl ed to Bangla- former lieutenant general in the army — and The reclusive North Korea has conducted fi ve Jeon Seung-ji, a Seoul-based currency ana- own political agenda, including grooming his own desh, of brutal counterinsurgency tactics a commission headed for former UN chief nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in lyst at Samsung Futures. son as a future leader. unleashed in Kyar Gaung Taung and several Kofi Annan — which is not mandated to in- defi ance of UN resolutions for decades as it is “North Korean risks are no longer a ‘half- Lee, 65, has denied the allegations but said he nearby villages in mid-November. vestigate human rights abuses — are the ap- still at war with South Korea after the 1950-53 day-slip’, mainly because markets are not would not sue his siblings. When a group of journalists insisted propriate ways to address problems in Ra- confl ict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. sure how Washington would handle them,” Organisers estimated the number of protesters on speaking to villagers away from secu- khine State. Before Trump’s election, missile tests came Jeon said. at 600, but an AFP reporter counted around 300. Protest leader Gilbert Goh said he and his fel- low supporters were calling for a more transpar- ent government and for an independent inquiry to be set up to look into the allegations against the prime minister. A banner hanging on a stage read: “Singapore belongs to Singaporeans and not to the Familee”, China dissident’s ashes buried at sea referring to the Lee family, which has provided two out of three of Singapore’s premiers in the fi ve AFP She has been under house arrest decades since independence. Shenyang, China since 2010, but she was allowed to see her husband after he was trans- ferred from prison to a hospital in Indonesia renames part of he ashes of China’s late Nobel Shenyang after being diagnosed laureate Liu Xiaobo were bur- with late-stage liver cancer in late South China Sea ‘for clarity’ Tied at sea yesterday, depriving May. his supporters of a place to pay trib- Liu Xiaoguang said Liu Xia was in ndonesia has renamed a portion of its exclu- ute to the pro-democracy dissident. “weak condition” and experiencing sive economic zone in the South China Sea in Offi cials showed a video in which such “great sorrow” and that she Ian apparent move to assert sovereignty over his wife, Liu Xia, and relatives low- may need hospital treatment. the area, local media reported yesterday. Indone- ered a white round urn into the wa- “As far as I know, Liu Xia is in a sia’s Natuna Islands and surrounding waters are ter off northeast coast city of Dal- free condition,” municipal offi cial the closest to the Nine-Dash Line, a demarcation ian, two days after the democracy Zhang said. used by China as the basis of its unilateral claim to advocate died of liver cancer aged 61 But Genser said she was still being a majority of the resource-rich South China Sea. while in custody. held “incommunicado” and he has The northern part of Natuna waters that fall His supporters said the authorities “seen no sign that the government is under Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone is now wanted to avoid giving him a pilgrim- going to let her go”. called the North Natuna Sea, Deputy Minister for age site where they could remember At Liu Xiaobo’s funeral, Liu Xia Maritime Aff airs Arief Havas Oegroseno said, ac- a writer whose calls for political re- “fi xed her eyes on him a long time, cording to news portal Detik.com. “It’s for the sake form angered the Communist regime mumbling to say farewell,” Zhang of clarity,” Oegroseno said. He said that oil explo- and led to his arrest in 2008. said, adding that she was “in very ration blocks in the area had been named based on Offi cials “fear that if someone low spirits”. cardinal directions since the 1970s. who is as emblematic a symbol as “It’s best for her not to receive Liu Xiaobo had a burial ground, it too much outside interference dur- would become a place where his ing this period after Liu Xiaobo has Skydivers killed in Australia supporters would gather on his me- died,” he said. morial day, the day he received the Liu was jailed in 2008 after co- Nobel or any other such occasions writing a petition calling for demo- wo men died yesterday during a tandem to express their desire to chase after cratic reforms. skydiving lesson that went wrong to the freedom,” activist and family friend Pro-democracy activists chant slogans in front of a makeshift memorial for the late Chinese Nobel laureate Liu The veteran of the 1989 Tianan- Tsouth-west of Sydney. Ye Du told AFP. Xiaobo outside the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong yesterday. men Square pro-democracy pro- “The skydivers, believed to be a man aged in his Liu Xiaobo’s older brother, Liu tests was sentenced to 11 years in 60s and a man in his 20s, were found deceased at Xiaoguang, said at a news confer- possible to verify if it was really his Authorities also released photos the row of non-family members in prison for “subversion” a year later. the scene,” police said in a statement. ence organised by the authorities wish to be buried at sea as the au- of a private ceremony attended by the offi cial photo and people close The foreign ministry lashed out Local media said the pair took off from the that the government had followed thorities have severely restricted ac- his family, including his wife, whose to the Liu couple identifi ed at least at the international criticism on Fri- Sydney Skydivers centre, which was also their the family’s wishes. cess to his family. fate worries supporters hoping the one “state security police offi cer” day, saying it lodged offi cial protests intended landing zone, but were found on a drive- He thanked the Communist Par- They also said Liu Xiaoguang did government will cede to interna- among them. with the United States, Germany, way about a kilometre away in Wilton, 8km from ty for its “humanistic care” of his not agree with Liu Xiaobo’s political tional pressure to release her and let Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei- France and the United Nations hu- Sydney. brother during his hospitalisation leanings. her leave China. wei, who lives in Berlin, tweeted a man rights offi ce. The cause of the incident is still unknown, with and death. He did not take any ques- “It is deplorable how the Chinese Liu Xia, a poet, stood with her photo of the funeral and called the “The most preposterous thing is police looking at equipment or human failure. tions before being escorted out by government has forced the family brother, and two of Liu Xiaobo’s display “disgusting” and a “viola- that even during his cremation and Phil Onis, the owner of Sydney Skydivers, told two women. to cremate Liu Xiaobo, bury him at brothers in front of the body, which tion” of the deceased. funeral he still was not free,” Hu Jia, local media that the dead instructor had been sky- Zhang Qingyang, an offi cial from sea, and then coerced Liu’s brother to was covered with white petals. China’s government faced a global a Beijing-based activist and family diving for more than 20 years. the Shenyang city municipal of- make robotic statements to the me- Zhang said “friends” also attend- backlash for denying Liu Xiaobo’s friend, told AFP. “He was an experienced skydiver,” he said. fi ce, said the cremation was “in ac- dia about the great care of the gov- ed the ceremony. wish to be treated abroad, and the “And now it’s been passed on to “We are keen to get in there and fi nd out what cordance with the will of his family ernment and superiority of its health But Amnesty International’s United States and European Union his wife, who will continue to lead happened. This has never happened before.” members and local customs”. care system,” Jared Genser, a US law- China researcher Patrick Poon told have called on the government to on that same freedom-less exist- In 2012, a skydiver was killed at the same drop Liu’s supporters said it was im- yer who represented Liu, told AFP. AFP that he did not recognise any in free Liu Xia. ence.” zone after a mid-air collision with another jumper. Gulf Times 14 Sunday, July 16, 2017 BRITAIN

Sexist remark Class of 2017 returns to haunt Philip Hammond

By Heather Stewart Guardian News and Media

hilip Hammond appears to have irked the prime minister by making a sexist remark in cabinet, Pexposing the tensions at the highest level of gov- ernment. Reports suggest that in a discussion about transport, the chancellor quipped that driving trains had now been made so easy that “even a woman” could do it. A report in the Sun newspaper, which was not dis- puted by senior Conservative sources, said Hammond had made the remark, only to be rebuked by Theresa May. Hammond has been increasingly assertive in the Brexit debate since the general election wiped out the government’s majority, urging a close continuing rela- tionship with the European Union. He is one of the fi gures regarded by restive Tory MPs as a potential leader to steer the party through the rough waters of Brexit. May herself joked on the BBC’s One Show during the campaign that there are “boy jobs and girl jobs” in No 10 — with her husband, also called Philip, taking out the bins. But she is determined to reassert her authority and appears not to have been amused by the remark. As Hammond continued speaking, she report- edly said: “Chancellor I am going to take your shovel away from you” — a reference to Denis Healey’s adage: Graduates gather outside the Sheldonian Theatre after their graduation ceremony yesterday at Oxford University. “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.” One other minister present said the claim the pair had fallen out over the joke was “heavily exaggerated”, but the emergence of the embarrassing anecdote un- derlines the touchy relations in Downing Street. Tensions in the cabinet have repeatedly surfaced since the party’s disastrous election campaign, with foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis both regarded as potential candidates should May decide to step aside. Labour MP Mary Creagh, who clashed with Ham- Blair: EU is willing to talk mond in the House of Commons over what she claimed was sexist language, tweeted: “Chancellor called me hysterical a couple of months ago. Now it’s the turn of train drivers.” May’s government has frequently struggled to present a united front since the election, with minis- ters sending contradictory messages about priorities in on freedom of movement the Brexit negotiations. Davis, regarded by many backbenchers as her most Reuters published by his Institute for Glo- evidence that it’s doing us damage immediately in Britain, despite a it be right deliberately to take off likely successor, will resume talks in Brussels with the London bal Change. economically,” Blair said, in a pre- years-long transition period al- the table the option of compromise EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, tomorrow. “The opposition to free move- view of Sky News’ Sophy Ridge’s lowed under EU rules. between Britain and Europe so that The prime minister’s hiring of a new communica- ment of people, once you break it programme to be broadcast today. When former prime minister Britain stays within a reformed Eu- tions director, former BBC executive Robbie Gibb, uropean Union leaders are down, is much more nuanced. The pro-Brexit Leave Means David Cameron made cutting EU rope?” he said. earlier this week, is aimed at combating the “weak and willing to change the bloc’s The French and Germans share Leave campaign said Blair’s com- immigration the focus of a deal he Blair praised the current leader of wobbly” image that began to dog her during the cam- Erules for the freedom of some of the British worries, nota- ments showed how out of touch he demanded before holding the ref- the Labour Party, left-winger Jer- paign. movement of workers, opening an bly around immigration, and would is with voters. erendum last year, other European emy Corbyn, for mobilising young In the immediate aftermath of the election result, opportunity for Britain to avoid compromise on freedom of move- Many Western EU leaders are in- governments argued London could voters in last month’s general elec- it sometimes appeared likely that May’s premiership a damaging “hard Brexit”, former ment.” deed concerned to limit free move- do more within existing EU rules to tion in which May lost her majority would not survive — but after striking a confi dence- prime minister Tony Blair said yes- Blair’s comments are at odds ment only to workers — as specifi ed limit arrivals. in parliament. and-supply deal that means the 10 MPs of Northern terday. with the EU’s negotiating stance, in the EU treaty. They nonetheless agreed to a But Britain under a Corbyn-led Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party will back the Con- The election of French Presi- which stresses there can be no Germany has won a series of EU special deal for Cameron to give government could “hit the canvas, servatives in key votes, she now looks safe for the time dent Emmanuel Macron had put “cherry picking” from the ben- court cases denying benefi ts and Britain special rights to curb EU fl at on our back” if it adopted hard- being. reform of the EU on the table, efits of membership of the EU’s residence rights to immigrants who immigration, but that deal was ren- left economics, Blair said. However, the publication of the EU (withdrawal) meaning Britain and the EU could single market without accept- were not working. dered moot by the Brexit vote. In response, Corbyn told BBC bill — the key piece of legislation enacting Brexit — meet “halfway” to strike a deal ing freedom of movement for EU There is little appetite in the bloc In his article yesterday, Blair la- News that the economy would do sparked a barrage of criticism this week, and the gov- that would keep Britain inside the workers. for reopening a negotiation with mented that both Prime Minister well under a Labour-led govern- ernment is likely to face a tough challenge in getting it world’s largest trading area, Blair In a separate interview, Blair said Britain that it already had before Theresa May’s Conservative Party ment that focused on raising in- through parliament in the autumn. said. he thought it was possible that the Brexit referendum — partly be- and the opposition Labour Party vestment. Hammond is known as having a dry sense of humour “The European leaders, certainly Britain could stay in the EU because cause many in the EU see Britain’s had set their minds on leaving the Blair was prime minister for 10 in private; but what he may have regarded as a light- from my discussions, are willing to public opinion was moving against problems with EU immigration as single market, without exploring years until 2007. hearted remark appears not to have amused the prime consider changes to accommodate Brexit. partly of its own making. the alternatives. He wanted to take Britain into minister. Britain, including around freedom “I think it’s absolutely necessary Under Blair’s government, citi- “Given what is at stake, and the euro zone and believed Britain Treasury spokespeople were unavailable for com- of movement,” the former Labour that it doesn’t happen because I zens of Poland and other ex-com- what, daily, we are discovering should lead the way in the EU rather ment on Friday night. prime minister said in an article think every day is bringing us fresh munist states were allowed to settle about the costs of Brexit, how can than withdraw from it.

Hat trick! People can demand harsher punishment for terrorists

London Evening Standard support for Islamic State. London The new measure, which was fi rst announced last year, will be formally introduced tomorrow he public will soon be able in a statutory instrument, before to challenge punishments taking eff ect on August 8. Tfor terrorists if they be- Justice Minister Dominic Raab lieve the sentences are not harsh said: “We want the most robust enough. sentences for any terrorist crimes New changes are set to give vic- and for victims to have every op- tims of crime and ordinary mem- portunity to see justice delivered. bers of the public more power Our action will reinforce our fo- to appeal against the sentences cus on deterring people who help handed to terror criminals in the radicalise terrorists, and punish- UK. ing those who wilfully turn a blind Currently people in England eye to terrorist activity.” and Wales can contest punish- In 2015, the Attorney General’s ments for the most serious terror offi ce referred 136 cases to the off ences under a process called Court of Appeal, with the Court the Unduly Lenient Sentence increasing the sentences of 102 scheme. off enders. But new changes will see mem- The Ministry of Justice said bers of the public now able to that, while it is right that the pub- challenge sentences for 19 other lic and victims have the right to terror-related crimes. request a review, this represents The Unduly Lenient Scheme a small proportion of the 80,000 came into force in 1988 and covers Crown Court cases heard each 19 crimes including murder, rape, year and shows that the judiciary robbery and drug off ences. get the vast majority of decisions If a person makes an appeal right. under the scheme, the attorney Attorney General Jeremy general may refer the case to the Wright QC said: “The ULS Court of Appeal where it will be scheme allows victims of crime, reviewed. their families and the public to The new changes will see the request a sentence review if they scheme now include crimes such feel it’s too low. as encouraging terrorism, sup- “Widening the scheme to in- porting certain organisations, clude terrorism off ences will al- sharing terrorist propaganda or low us to challenge more sen- not disclosing information about tences and is a welcome fi rst step a terrorist attack. to extending it even further. Calls for the ULS scheme to be “Crimes of this nature will not Participants take part in ‘The Oddjob Challenge,’ which requires competitors to hurl a reinforced bowler hat at a mannequin, during the Chap Olympiad in Bedford extended emerged last year after be tolerated in our society and Square, London. The annual Chap Olympiad event is hosted by The Chap magazine, which claims to be the ultimate guide for old-fashioned gentlemen who are against the cleric Anjem Choudary was those convicted of terrorism will the vulgarity of modern culture. jailed for fi ve-and-a-half years receive the sentence they de- after he was convicted of inviting serve.” Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 15 EUROPE

CELEBRATION RESOLUTION DECREE EVENT CRACKDOWN B-day event spills into day Italy minister says row with Putin bars dopers from Downsizing to open 200kg of drugs seized in two for Swedish princess Telecom Italia boss is over Kremlin grants Venice Film Festival Milan airport police raid

Thousands of people turned out yesterday to A spat between Rome and Telecom Italia’s (TIM) Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Oscar-winning US director Alexander Payne’s Some 205kg of illegal substances were seized cheer Swedish Crown Princess Victoria on the chief executive over the rollout of ultrafast yesterday barring athletes and coaches found latest movie Downsizing is to open this year’s and 11 people arrested following an anti-drugs second day of celebrations marking her 40th broadband has been resolved, Italian Industry guilty of doping from receiving Kremlin grants. The Venice Film Festival, while his compatriot raid at Milan’s Malpensa international airport, birthday. The event took place outside Solliden Minister Carlo Calenda said in an interview degree comes as Russia steps up its fight against Annette Bening will head the Mostra jury, Italy’s Guardia di Finanza police said yesterday. Palace on the island of Oland off Sweden’s east published yesterday. The row had threatened doping in a bid to have the suspensions against its organisers said yesterday. The sci-fi film starring Confiscated goods included more than coast, where the royals usually spend part of their to poison relations between the former state national anti-doping agency RUSADA, its athletics Matt Damon, will get its world premiere on 100kg of khat - a stimulant from East Africa summer holidays. Victoria turned 40 on Friday monopoly and the government, prompting TIM’s federation and its Paralympic Committee lifted. August 30 at the 74th Venice festival. Co-starring and the Arabian peninsula that is banned in and was feted in the capital of Stockholm before top shareholder Vivendi to ask chief executive The payment of Kremlin grants will cease the Kristen Wiig as his wife Audrey, dreaming of a Europe - more than 40kg of marijuana, and heading to Oland for other events traditionally Flavio Cattaneo to soften his tone, sources close month after anti-doping authorities find an athlete, better life, the movie is due for general release 3kg of cocaine, a statement said. Beyond the conducted on her birthday. At Solliden Palace, to the matter said. In an interview with Il Sole coach or sports specialist guilty of involvement at the end of the year. Payne, who won the 11 arrests, police also reported 21 people to Victoria was accompanied by her husband, Prince 24 Ore newspaper, Calenda said he considered in the use of performance- enhancing drugs, Academy Award for best adapted screenplay prosecutors’ off ices, seized more than 9,000 Daniel, their two children, Princess Estelle and Cattaneo, who has cut costs in just over a year Putin’s decree said. They will remain ineligible for in 2004 and 2012, directed Mr Schmidt starring unlicensed imported medicines and 27,000 Prince Oscar, as well as Victoria’s parents, King at the helm of the indebted firm, “an excellent grants “two years following the year in which the Jack Nicholson in 2002, 2004’s Sideways and euros ($31,000) in cash profits from drug Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. manager”. sanctions against them expire.” 2013’s Nebraska. traff icking. Turkey marks coup defeat anniversary with mass rallies AFP Istanbul

urkey yesterday marked one year since the de- Tfeat of the coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with mass rallies seek- ing to showcase national unity and his grip on power. The authorities have declared July 15 an annual national holi- day of “democracy and unity”, billing the foiling of the putsch as a historic victory of Turkish democracy. “It’s one year since the darkest night was turned into an epic,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a special session of parlia- ment that kicked off a day of cel- ebrations set to last until dawn. He said the night of July 15 was a “second War of Independence” after the war that led to the crea- tion of the modern Turkish state in the ruins of the Ottoman Em- pire in 1923. Two hundred and fortynine people, not including the plot- ters, were killed when a dis- gruntled faction of the army Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan arrive sent tanks into the streets and for a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempted coup war planes into the sky in a People stand under a collection of Turkish national flags as they gather on the “July 15 Martyrs Bridge” (Bosphorus Bridge) in Istanbul yesterday. at the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul yesterday. bid to overthrow Erdogan af- ter one-and-a-half decades in his offi cial plane accompanied by coup plotters, with some even bid, authorities embarked on the ropean Union with Nato member billboards in Istanbul showing minarets of some of Istanbul’s power. an F-16 fi ghter jet. brandishing nooses. biggest purge in Turkey’s his- Turkey, which accused its allies gaudy paintings that portray the greatest Ottoman mosques. But they were thwarted Some carried the Turkish fl ag “We are here for the victims, tory, arresting 50,000 people of failing to show solidarity. key events of the coup night with Erdogan will later return to within hours as the authorities while others brandished pictures for democracy, for our country and sacking almost three times Gulen has always denied the slogan “the epic of July 15”. Ankara and at 2300 GMT give a regrouped and people poured of the “martyrs” who died de- for our people and our fl ag,” said as many. Erdogan also shored up involvement. Public transport is free in speech in parliament to mark the into the streets in support of Er- feating the coup bid as a sea of Hakan, a resident of Istanbul. his position by winning a refer- The scale of yesterday’s na- Istanbul and Ankara over the time it was bombed. dogan, who blamed followers of people stretched from the bridge, At midnight local time (2100 endum on enhancing his powers tionwide commemorations is weekend while mobile opera- A giant monument to those Fethullah Gulen. which has since been renamed GMT) people across Turkey earlier this year. aimed at etching July 15, 2016 tor Turkcell has sent text mes- killed - showing people holding Hundreds of thousands were Bridge of the Martyrs of July 15. will take part in “democracy Erdogan, who was present at into the minds of Turks as a key sages to clients promising them up the Turkish star and cres- gathering on the Asian side of People chanted “we are sol- watches”, rallies commemorating the session, gazed down stonily date in the history of the modern a free extra gigabyte of data from cent insignia - will then be un- the Bosphorus in Istanbul to diers of Tayyip (Erdogan)” and how people poured out into the from the VIP balcony. state. July 15. veiled outside his palace in the hear a speech by Erdogan, who called for the reinstatement streets. The coup bid also frayed ties be- Giant posters designed by the Illuminated anti-coup slo- capital as the dawn call to prayer earlier arrived from Ankara on of the death penalty for the In the wake of the failed coup tween the United States and Eu- presidency have sprung up across gans have been hung between the rings out.

Merkel: Brexit, French Italians debate rights as migrant pressures grow poll changed my view AFP Rome

Reuters Zingst ith a fl ood of migrants arriving on Italy’s Wshores, a bitter de- erman Chancellor An- bate has erupted over whether gela Merkel told voters children born on Italian soil to Gyesterday that Britain’s foreign parents should have cit- decision to leave the European izenship rights at birth. Union and France’s election of According to a poll published President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday in the Messaggero had changed her view on the daily, the idea of “ius soli” is bloc, adding it was worth fi ght- losing support among Italians, ing for a stronger Europe. even though such a path to citi- Merkel’s comments, made in zenship exists in many other EU a speech in the Baltic Sea resort German Chancellor Angela Merkel countries. town of Zingst two months before The Latin term “ius soli” re- a federal election, underline her economic regulation, that Europe fers to rights linked to the land personal determination to deepen and living together in the European (where you are born) as opposed European integration if she is re- Union have something to do with to “ius sanguinis”, where rights elected for a fourth term. war and peace, that the decades of are based on blood ties. Calling European Union peace after World War Two would Children currently must have membership one of Germany’s have been completely unthink- at least one Italian parent to biggest strengths, Merkel said able without the European Union,” enjoy citizenship rights. Those last year’s Brexit decision and Merkel said to applause. who do not can apply when they elections in France and the Many people in the past had turn 18 but rules on time spent Netherlands, in which pro-Eu- taken the EU and its advantages for out of the country mean some The Italian rescue ship Vos Prudence run by NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) arrives in the port of Salerno carrying 935 migrants, including 16 ropean parties defeated popu- granted - such as freedom of speech, are rejected. children and 7 pregnant women rescued from the Mediterranean sea. list candidates, had changed her freedom of religion and freedom to Back in October 41% of peo- perspective. travel, said Merkel who grew up in ple polled said they were in fa- The draft law also provides for Over 86,000 migrants have predecessor Matteo Renzi. absolute poverty. “For many people, includ- communist East Germany. vour of “ius soli”, but now that nationality via “ius culturae” for arrived so far this year, up over Gentiloni has brushed aside According to Il Messaggero, ing myself, something changed “You don’t have all this in number has dropped to 32.3%. children not born in Italy who 10% compared with the same attempts by critics to link the those polled in Thursday’s sur- when we saw the Britons want many parts of the world. And Italy’s high-profi le battle with have spent at least fi ve years in period in 2016. issue of citizen rights to that vey said it would be better to to leave, when we were worried that’s why it is worth fi ghting for Europe over who should deal the country’s education system. The adoption of “ius soli” of national security, saying postpone the debate on citizen- about the outcome of the elec- this Europe,” Merkel said. with the hundreds of thousands Italy’s anti-immigrant North- would bestow Italian national- “the way to reduce risk is not ship rights until after the gen- tions in France and the Nether- “That’s why one of our elec- of migrants rescued in the Medi- ern League has slammed the ity on around 800,000 chil- through exclusion but dialogue eral election in spring next year. lands,” Merkel told voters, some tion placards is saying: If Europe terranean and brought ashore proposal as a “cultural mistake”. dren immediately, and another and inclusion”. Italy in 2016 bestowed the of whom wore straw hats with is stronger, then Germany will be since 2014 has sparked a back- Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, 60,000 newborns a year, ac- But with unemployment highest number of citizenships black-red-and-gold hatbands, stronger. This is directly related.” lash over a proposed bill and even founder of the centre-right For- cording to the Italian Institute towering at 11% - well above the in Europe at 205,000, up from the colours of the German fl ag. Merkel has said she is open to fi sticuff s in parliament. za Italia, said it would send the of Statistics (Istat). average in the eurozone - and just 63,000 in 2012. The centre-right chancel- proposals of strengthening the After 15 years of debate, the draft wrong signal to those already at- “The children born in Italy soaring to 37% among young Adopting “ius soli” would lor admitted that the EU was far single currency through the crea- law establishing “ius soli” was tracted to Italy’s shores. are Italians and it is the duty people, the age-old narrative of bring Italy into line with the from perfect and that Brussels tion of a euro zone fi nance min- adopted by Italy’s lower house in “Making it known that it’s of a civilized country to wel- foreigners stealing locals’ jobs majority of its European neigh- sometimes was too bureaucratic. ister who would oversee a pooled 2015. Two years later, after a series easier to become Italian will come them,” Prime Minister has reared its head. bours - from Belgium and Brit- “But we have realised in the budget for investments and of amendments, it is now being de- create false hopes in Africa and Paolo Gentiloni said earlier this That fear has not been eased ain to France and Portugal - past few months that Europe is transfers intended to help mem- bated in the upper house with the increase migratory pressures,” week. The proposed bill is also by new fi gures this week show- where the law already applies in more than just bureaucracy and ber states cushion downturns. support of the centre-left. he warned. passionately supported by his ing 4.5mn Italians are living in various forms. Gulf Times 16 Sunday, July 16, 2017 INDIA Tejashwi skips GST protest Bihar event with Nitish

IANS the presidential election early next Patna week. A day after RJD chief Lalu Prasad said Tejashwi Yadav would not resign, tter confusion is prevailing JD-U spokesperson Sanjay Singh said in the political circles of Bi- he should read the writing on the wall. Uhar. While the leaders from “Probity in public life is a must,” he both the JD-U and RJD claim that the said. state’s ruling Grand Alliance is intact, A senior RJD legislator Shrinaray- the legislators and spokespersons of an Yadav said the JD-U leaders were the two parties continue to attack speaking the language of the BJP, and each other publicly. went on to add: “If JD-U wants to go The apparent discord between the with BJP, it is free to do so.” Janata Dal-United (JU-U) and the Meanwhile, ahead of the presiden- Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), notwith- tial poll tomorrow, all the 71 JD-U standing the occasional bonhomie legislators are scheduled to attend a exhibited by both sides, points to the Nitish Kumar-chaired meeting today fact that the Grand Alliance is in the at his offi cial residence. midst of a serious crisis. This meeting has assumed extra The crisis became more pro- signifi cance in the backdrop of the nounced yesterday when Lalu Pras- ongoing crisis in the Grand Alliance. People connected with the textile industry protest against the recently introduced goods and service tax in Ahmedabad yesterday. ad’s younger son and Bihar Deputy Bihar has been in the grip of a po- Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav chose litical crisis over the demand for the to skip an offi cial function with Chief resignation of Tejashwi Yadav after Minister Nitish Kumar. the CBI registered a case against him The name plaque of the deputy in a benami property case and also chief minister had to be fi rst covered raided his premises last week. with a piece of cloth and then re- JD-U general secretary Shayam moved altogether from the dais. Razak, considered close to the chief According to offi cials, Tejashwi Ya- minister, said yesterday his party’s dav’s name plaque was earlier kept on stand was very clear that it would not the table along with that of Nitish Ku- compromise on corruption. Dileep back in jail as mar at the offi cial programme to mark “JD-U will not go back on its own “Vishwa Yuva Kaushal Divas” at the stand against corruption. Lalu Prasad local Gyan Bhawan. But it was fi nally has become old,” he said in a clear removed before the programme began. reference to the RJD chief declaring Tejashwi Yadav’s name was also that his younger son Tejashwi Yadav mentioned in the invitation for the would not resign and that the ‘Ma- function. However, those keenly hagathbandhan is intact’. court rejects bail plea watching the goings-on expect the The Congress party is the third culmination of this crisis only after constituent of the ruling alliance. By Ashraf Padanna When the court considered his bail The police had raided the home of traying him as “an embodiment of Thiruvananthapuram application, the defence counsel, A Dileep for these phones on Friday but evil.” Suresan produced the case diary of the returned empty handed. “The crime has not been established police in a sealed cover and said they It was not known if his present wife in a court of law, but everyone is eager erala superstar Dileep, accused had clinching evidence against him. and co-star in many hit fi lms, Kavya to portray him as an underworld don,” of plotting abduction and mo- He argued that there was already a Madhavan, was at home. The Hindu quoted him as saying. Kashmir militant shot dead Klestation of former co-star, will high-pitch campaign on the social me- After the police had taken him away “The Dileep I’ve known for a year cool his heels for 10 more days in jail as dia in his favour, and if he were set free, from the court, the magistrate called will not commit such a heinous crime. a court rejected his bail plea. the superstar wielding tremendous in- him back to unlock the phones amid He came across as a loving, good per- IANS They probably belonged to the Jaish- His counsel K Ramkumar, who al- fl uence would fuel it and destroy evi- surging onlookers. son. He was successful because he was Srinagar e-Mohamed (JeM) outfi t,” a police of- leged that the police were keeping him dence. “The court was convinced that there enterprising. Was that wrong? Why fi cial said here. in detention to fabricate evidence, said The defence counsel argued that was a campaign on the social media to should we feel jealous of him? Eve- Two JeM militants were killed earli- he would now move the High Court he was arrested on weak grounds and form public opinion in his favour, and ryone is out to portray him in darker gunfi ght going on in a forested er yesterday by security forces during challenging it. the police were trying to manufacture if he’s out, even the victim’s safety is tones just because they want to feel area in Jammu and Kashmir’s an anti-terror operation in Pulwama The police arrested him on Mon- evidence and looking for approvers as under threat,” Suresan told reporters. good about themselves and want to be APulwama district ended yes- district while the third had entered day and produced him before the First they had none. “We will seek permission for ques- seen as goodness personifi ed.” terday evening, with the killing of the the cave. Army sources had earlier Class Judicial Magistrate in Angamaly, He also produced two smartphones tioning him in judicial custody and if He said the reports of the star buy- third militant who had taken shelter said that three militants were killed in where the co-star was kidnapped from, Dileep used saying he feared cops to needed move for police custody. ing properties and investing heavily in in a cave, police said. the ongoing operation in Satoora for- who remanded him for 14 days in judi- tamper them with and wanted the The police already have clear and business ventures the media was high- “The third militant holed up inside ests of Tral area. cial custody. court to keep them. clinching evidence against him.” lighting was misplaced. a cave in the densely-forested Satoo- Director General of Police S P Vaid After spending a night in an Aluva He demanded they should be sent Police chief Loknath Behera said the “What’s wrong in buying land if you ra area of Tral tehsil (of Pulwama) told reporters that the bodies of two Sub-Jail cell with four criminals, hard- for forensic examination under judicial investigation was on the right track have the money? That’s what people has been killed and the gunfi ght has slain militants were visible and they ly a kilometre from his home, the court supervision to check if he had allegedly and had entered the crucial phase. do, don’t they? Building a house and now ended. We have recovered three looked like foreigners, probably “be- left him in police custody on Wednes- used them to hatch the conspiracy to Meanwhile, ace fi lmmaker Adoor buying property when they have made weapons from the possession of the longing to the JeM outfi t”. day for two days and later extended it seek vengeance against the star whom Gopalakrishnan whose last fi lm Pin- some money,” said the winner of 17 na- slain militants. The exact identity of Para Commandos and helicopters for one more day for interrogation and she believed spoiled his marriage with neyum had Dileep and Kavya in the tional awards and Padma Vibhushan, the militants is being established. were also part of the operation. collecting evidence. Manju Warrier, also a past co-star. lead, came out against the media por- India’s second highest civilian honour. Assam fl oods aff ect close to 1.2mn

IANS Compensation to farmers in flood-hit Arunachal Guwahati Federal Minister of State for caused by the flood and landslide Home Kiren Rijiju yesterday with the district administration lose to 1.2mn people in 24 promised compensation to farm- off icials. districts of Assam contin- ers whose standing crops have “Whatever, we have seen the Cued to reel under fl oods as been damaged by floodwaters in extent of damage is very high. the death toll yesterday reached Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang Roads, power, crop and huge 59 in the state. district. properties ravaged. Restoration The fl ood situation slightly Rijiju, who is leading a high- works are on,” he said. improved in the state, but offi - level central team, conducted “I have asked the district cials said over half of Kaziranga an aerial survey to assess the authorities to prepare a detailed National Park was submerged flood-hit district where all major report of the damage so that fur- and over 70 animals have died. roads and highways have been ther assistance could be provided Assam State Disaster Manage- damaged by landslides due to soon,” the minister said. ment Authority (ASDMA) said heavy rains. Rijiju said the Union Home yesterday that 1,193,458 people After giving a patient hearing Ministry has released Rs 514mn have been suff ering in 1,795 vil- to the farmer’s woes, Rijiju who is for the state under the State lages in the 24 districts. an MP from Arunachal West, said Disaster Response Fund to The aff ected districts include the central and state govern- Arunachal Pradesh following the Dhemaji, Biswanath, Lakhim- ments would compensate the devastation caused by floods pur, Sonitpur, Darrang, Nalbari, damaged standing crops. and landslides. Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Chirang, The minister, who is accompa- “The flood situation across Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Soputh Sal- nied by NITI Aayog joint secretary the state is being personally mara, Golapara, Morigaon, Na- Vikram Singh Gaur, Inspec- monitored and instructions have gaon, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, tor General, National Disaster been issued to all Deputy Com- Jorhat Majuli, Sivsagar, Charaid- Response Force Ravi Joseph and missioners to take stock of the eo, Dibrugarh, Karimganj, Ca- Home Ministry’s Disaster Manage- flood situation in their respective Locals watch an oil tanker burn near the entrance of Indian Oil Corporation depot in New Jalpaiguri on the outskirts of Siliguri. char. ment Director Gopi Chandra districts,” Chief Minister Pema Over 66,516 hectares of ag- Chawania, reviewed the damages Khandu said. ricultural land continue to be aff ected by fl oods, the ASDMA report said. authorities have deployed addi- provide security to the animals. 8 tankers charred in massive Siliguri blaze Offi cials said that close to tional forces, including outside Meanwhile, though the dis- 25,000 fl ood-aff ected people are the park, to monitor and track the trict administration has been taking shelter in 129 relief camps animals which have strayed out- claiming to have distributed suf- IANS were first noticed at 8pm, kerosene, diesel and petrol — However, IOC personnel set up by the government in dif- side the park due to the fl oods. fi cient relief material, there were Siliguri were doused after a two-hour caught fi re, as senior police and sprayed foam and brought the ferent districts. According to park authorities, reports from diff erent fl ood hit fight, police and IOC sources fi re brigade offi cials rushed to situation under control. Besides, 52% of the Kaziranga among the over 70 animals that areas regarding non receipt of said. the spot. Five fi re engines were rushed National Park remained under have drowned in the fl oods this adequate relief materials. ight tankers in the vicinity The fi re broke out in the park- The fi re even spread to a near- to the area to control the blaze. water on Saturday, which has year are three rhino calves, one Some of the Ministers and of the Indian Oil Corp ter- ing lot for the tankers close to by slum, from where the dwell- Police and IOC offi cials were also aff ected 93 anti-poaching leopard cat, one water buff alo, MLAs, who have been undertak- Eminal here were charred in the New Jalpaiguri railway sta- ers rushed out. ascertaining the cause of the in- camps in Agaratoli, Kohora, Ba- and many hog deer. ing visits to their areas due to the a fi re yesterday night, triggering tion, and spread fast engulfi ng There was tension, as peo- cident, amid suspicion that the gori, Burhapahar and Biswanath- There is, however, no incident fl oods, have also been facing the panic. There were no casualties one tanker after another, ple feared the consequences of tankers could have caught fi re ghat range of the park. of any poaching during the cur- ire of the marooned people due or injuries. In all eight tankers — some the possibility of the terminal while miscreants were pilfering The forest department as well rent fl oods and the park authori- to lack of proper distribution of The leaping flames, that carrying combustible fuels like catching fi re. oil. as the Kaziranga National Park ties have been working hard to relief materials. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 17 INDIA

UN honour Mehbooba says China meddling in Kashmir IANS volved in this fi ght, there is Asked if there was any dis- New Delhi infi ltration, militants are com- cussion on Article 370, she ing. Their attempt is to spoil said: “When the GST (Goods the atmosphere in Jammu and and Services Tax) was passed, ammu and Kashmir Chief Kashmir,” Mehbooba said, the president reaffi rmed that Minister Mehbooba Muf- adding “Now unfortunately Article 370 will be taken in ac- Jti yesterday met federal China has also started inter- count...Article 370 is linked Indian-origin Canadian YouTube star Lilly Singh being appointed as Unicef’s new Global Goodwill Ambassador during a programme in Home Minister Rajnath Singh fering.” to the sentiments of people of New Delhi yesterday as Unicef’s India representative Yasmin Ali Haque looks on. to discuss the security situa- “The way communal har- Kashmir.” tion in the valley in the wake mony was maintained in the Seven pilgrims were killed of the Amarnath terror attack whole country...The enemy and 14 others, including po- and said that “unfortunately wanted to cause communal licemen, injured when a bus of China has also started inter- riots in the whole country by Amarnath Yatris was attacked fering” in matters pertaining this attack. in Anantang district. to the state. “I am thankful to the people The bus was carrying pil- Operation Muskan seeks to rescue missing kids After the 30-minute meet- of my country and the home grims back from Baltal after ing at his residence here, she minister that in this diffi cult the yatra. told the media that Monday situation they supported us, China on Wednesday said it IANS eration Muskan launched by the at Khandagiri Square. They were said Special DG (Crime Branch) B night’s attack on the Amar- and in this situation, which was ready to play a “construc- Bhubaneswar Crime Branch in association with later sent to an open shelter home K Sharma. nath Yatra pilgrims in which involves external forces...I am tive role” in improving India- the Women and Child Develop- at Jatni. As per direction of the Supreme seven devotees were killed was happy that all our political Pakistan ties over Kashmir, ment Department. The fi rst phase of the Operation Court for the protection of miss- aimed at “disturbing commu- parties are together,” she said. where the “situation has at- peration Muskan, a On the fi rst day, as many as six Muskan will be held within Odi- ing children, the Odisha Police has nal harmony”. “We are not fi ghting for law tracted the attention of the in- month-long drive to children were rescued from the sha to rescue the missing children. launched a month-long drive each She blamed the unrest on and order situation in Kash- ternational community”. Orescue and rehabilitate capital city. The second phase will focus on year in two phases since 2015. “external forces” and thanked mir...Until the whole nation However, India rebuff ed Bei- Odisha’s missing children, was A joint team of the Crime rescuing and tracing missing chil- At least 981 kids were rescued Singh for “supporting us in and all political parties are jing’s off er, saying “We are ready launched yesterday by the state Branch and Commissionerate Po- dren from Odisha in other parts of during the drive in 2015 while the tough times”. united, we cannot win this to talk Kashmir with Pakistan, police. lice rescued the six children, who the country. police rescued 2,610 children in “External forces are in- fi ght,” she said. but no third party mediation.” This is the third edition of Op- were working as child labourers It will be launched on July 31, 2016.

Filmmaker says denied entry into Kolkata mall for 4 killed while State pays spot compensation for acquired land wearing traditional dhoti Sparking outrage in the social media, filmmaker Ashish Avikunthak yes- cleaning water IANS Maharashtra State Road De- the expressway and walking away where lands are required for the terday claimed that he was initially Thane velopment Corp (MSRDC) offi - with the money credited directly expressway project. denied entry into a well-known shop- cials said that this would solve the to their bank accounts, with the “The government has already ping mall here for wearing a dhoti — a harvesting tank problems of pending payments SMS received immediately. secured consent of another 323 traditional dress in the Indian sub- or the fi rst time in India, to “project aff ected persons” — Raju Sahu became the fi rst un- farmers and the process of regis- continent, particularly in Bengal. spot payment was made for farmers in this case. der the scheme to sell 1.25 hectares tration, sale and transferring the However, a spokesman of the Quest IANS Facquired land with the Ma- It also signals the start a new era for Rs5.9mn, and three others — compensation is underway,” said Mall rubbished the allegation, saying: New Delhi harashtra government transferring of cooperation between the public Gopal Misal, Kalpana Misal and MSRDC’s Joint MD Kiran Kurud- “Are we mad that we won’t allow money electronically to the farm- and government for mega-infra Chanda Gaikwad — sold a total of kar. somebody in for wearing a dhoti in a ers whose lands were taken for the projects like the upcoming Mum- 5.59 hectares for Rs 26mn com- Government ally Shiv Sena and place like Kolkata?” our persons died in the national capital af- Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway. bai-Nagpur Expressway, known pensation in Nagpur. the opposition Congress-Nation- Avikunathak, however, posted in ter inhaling poisonous gases as they entered In the past two days, the state as Maharashtra Samruddhi Ma- Three farmers from Thane dis- alist Congress Party have bitterly Facebook that he was told that entry Fa water harvesting tank to clean it, police government acquired land from hamarg, the offi cials said. trict — Ganpat Dhamne, Daulat opposed the project on grounds of people wearing “dhotis and lungis” said yesterday. farmers in Nagpur and Thane dis- The MSRDC is implementing Dhanke and Ganesh Raut — gave that the farmers were being given was prohibited in the Mall. While police said it was a water harvesting tricts for which the agreements the ambitious 706km long show- up a total 1.98 hectares owned a raw deal as their lands were ac- “Today I was denied entry into the tank, family members of the deceased said the were signed and registered and piece project — dear to Chief Min- by them, collectively valued at quired cheaply. Quest Mall because I was wearing a owner of the building had waste material pipes payments made through Real Time ister Devendra Fadnavis — to link Rs184mn, for the project. However, yesterday, the Sena dhoti...On resisting and questioning I linked to the tank, but did not tell them about it, Gross Settlement direct into the the state capital with the second “This a better system of acquir- did a somersault and party Presi- was told that we have orders because which led to their death. farmers’ bank accounts. capital in the eastern part of the ing our lands. We are happy the dent Uddhav Thackeray held a of security reasons to prohibit entry Deputy Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh “Yes. This is the fi rst time in the state. money has come directly in our special press conference to an- of people in lungi and dhoti. I was said police got a call around 10.45am that fi ve country that such a move has been The East-West link, traversing bank accounts minutes after sign- nounce support for the project, eventually allowed in because I could persons had fallen into a water harvesting tank in initiated for such a mega-project. 10 districts and estimated to cost ing and handing over the docu- but warned that no injustice to argue in English and assert myself,” a building in Ghitorni area of south Delhi. For the purpose of RTGS pay- Rs460bn, will facilitate connec- ments,” said a delighted Raut. farmers in terms of compensation he posted. The police offi cer said that they were taken to ments, we have set aside a sum of tivity for 24 of the state’s total 36 Shinde said with these two would be tolerated. Calling the episode as “unambigu- diff erent city hospitals where four of them were around Rs100bn,” PWD (MSRDC) districts. events, the process to acquire “If the farmers’ issues are not ously a new low” for the city, he said: pronounced dead, while the fi fth person survived. Minister Eknath Shinde told media In the past couple of days, a few lands through the direct purchase taken care of along with award of “Private clubs have always created hi- Family members of the deceased said that the persons after the ceremony yester- farmers became trendsetters by scheme has commenced and will proper compensation, we shall not erarchies and distinctions because of underground tank was about 10-feet-deep and day evening. handing over the infertile lands for be implemented in all the areas allow the project,” he asserted. clothing. Now public spaces are also 12-feet-wide and had a three-feet-wide opening. threatened and a culture of segrega- Swarn Singh’s son Satpal Singh said the owner tion based on class is been practised of the building told them that they had to clean unhindered. I write this with a sense of the harvesting tank but did not tell them that it deep disgust.” was connected with the waste carrying pipes. Loan plea But the spokesman of the RP-Sanjiv “They had connected waste pipes from kitchen Congress workers Goenka Group, which owns the Mall, and toilet to the tank, and the people who went to stage a demonstration, told IANS that Avikunthak was “never clean it had no idea about it,” he told IANS. for waiving off farmers’ denied entry” but only “delayed for 20 Satpal’s twin brother Jaspal Singh, who had loans from nationalised seconds”. gone into the tank to save his father, was the only banks, in front of BJP “When he came to the mall, there survivor. “The tank had all sorts of waste and that MP and former were lot of people entering. The secu- killed my son. We’ve lodged a police complaint,” Karnataka chief rity personnel had some doubts and Billu’s father, Satnam Singh, 60, said. minister BS so he asked him to wait and called his Police said they had registered an FIR in the Yeddyurappa’s boss. And within 20 seconds, he was case but were yet to ascertain whether pipes car- residence in Bengaluru. allowed in. rying waste materials were connected with the “Is it even believable that in Kolkata water harvesting tank. a mall will not allow somebody in for “It has come to our knowledge that waste ma- wearing a dhoti? We have no such terial pipes were connected with the tank, but it policy. In fact, our late chairman (of has not been confi rmed. the RPG Group) Ramaprasad Goenka Also, we are yet to make any arrests in the even used to go to places like England case,” a senior police offi cer privy to the investi- and US wearing a dhoti.” gation said.

Human mobility powers wireless communication for disaster relief eff orts

IANS under project DiSARM: Post- sor Somprakash Bandyopadhyay, ternet connectivity if you have “They in turn are relaying the electronically. So it depends on this up and have formed a com- Kolkata Disaster Situation Analysis and who is involved in the project, a smartphone, you can connect data about victims and the situ- human mobility,” he said. pany and moving ahead so they Resource Management in situa- told IANS. with Wi-Fi (through an app) ation as they move and connect The other aspect of the project can actually deploy this real- tions where terrestrial telecom- The project is funded by In- which is there on your phone. So with Wi-Fi with others within is tapping in data from social time. The entrepreneurial part is esearchers from six Indian munication networks are dam- formation Technology Research when a volunteer is connecting their range,” he added. media to integrate with disaster about selling this as a complete institutes, including IIT- aged or severely impaired. Academy (ITRA) under the Min- the data from a victim through He said: “This movement pat- management. product/service. Either you pay RKharagpur and IIM-Cal- “In these emergency situa- istry of Electronics and Informa- the phone, then he is physically tern helps to communicate. Wi- Partner institutes include NIT for the service or you pre-deploy cutta, have developed a low-cost tions, alternative and fl exible tion Technology. moving and relaying that data Fi part of it helps you to make a Durgapur, Indian Institute of En- it in disaster prone areas and then and fast deployable wireless com- networking arrangements be- Explaining the mechanism of to others (connected with Wi-Fi peer-to-peer network.” gineering Science and Technology, go for the service,” he added. munication infrastructure that is come critically important to en- deploying DiSARM, Bandyopad- within that range) who are also In scenarios where smart- Shibpur (formerly Bengal Engi- Bandyopadhyay was speaking driven by human mobility to aid sure ongoing and eff ective coor- hyay likened it to a ferryboat sys- moving,” said Bandyopadhyay, a phones are not available, special neering and Science University), on the sidelines of the just-con- disaster management services. dination of emergency response tem in which from one side of the professor in Management Infor- routers placed at vantage loca- Heritage Institute of Technology cluded ‘Exploring Mobile Com- They are working together and relief eff orts. Our model river the ferryman is connecting mation Systems Group and Re- tions become the connector of (HIT) Kolkata and Kalyani Govern- puting, Networking & Applica- since the last three years to en- works on peer-to-peer network- the information to the other bank search Director of Social Infor- data. ment Engineering College (KGEC). tions for Development in India’ able the delivery of decentralised ing where humans are the data as he rows the boat. matics Research Group (SIRG) in “Whoever is going to the rout- “We have entrepreneurs who workshop organised by SIRG and mobile communication services carriers,” IIM-Calcutta profes- “When you don’t have any in- IIM-Calcutta. ers, gives the data to the device are our students who are taking ITRA. Gulf Times 18 Sunday, July 16, 2017 LATIN AMERICA

Snowy street Brazil proposes shrinking national forest after protests

Reuters the Amazon biome. Sao Paulo “The bill is seen as an am- nesty for illegal occupation of the conservancy unit,” said razil’s government has Observatorio do Clima on its sent Congress a bill to website, adding the govern- Bshrink the boundaries of ment “yielded to pressure” a national forest in the Ama- from the rural lobby. zonian state of Para, according The bill followed block- a statement from the Envi- ades this month of the BR-163 ronment Ministry on Friday, a highway, which runs next to move environmentalists said the 1.3mn-hectare national would speed deforestation of forest. the area. The highway links grain pro- The government proposed ducing regions in Mato Grosso the bill as a comprise measure state to waterways connected after local residents, who see to key Northern ports. the Jamanxim national for- Protesters suspended the est as a source of livelihood, blockades, which began on blocked a key grains exporting July 3, after Temer sent the highway in response to Presi- bill to Congress, according to dent Michel Temer’s veto of a statement from the Socie- similar legislation to reduce its dade Civil Organizada group protected area. on Friday.Earlier in the day, A boy walks on a snowy street after an unusual snowfall at Santiago, Chile, yesterday. The government’s bill, if Brazil’s federal highway po- approved, would create a new lice said the BR-163 highway protection area (APA) near the was cleared in the South- town of Novo Progresso, which west of Para after almost two is on the edge of the forest weeks of protests. around 1,270kms northwest of Carlos Xavier, president the capital Brasilia. of a group in Para lobby- The measure would con- ing to reduce the size of the vert 349,086 hectares, or 27% Jamanxim forest, said the of the national forest into an APA would bring economic APA, the ministry said. progress to the region. Trump stance a ‘setback’ The government said the The BR-163 protests were APA would discipline land oc- preventing trucks from un- cupation, promoting the sus- loading grains at the riverside tainable use of the rainforest hub of Miritituba, the depar- and conservation of its water ture point for barges carrying resources. crops to the Northern ports Environmentalists de- before hitting export mar- in US-Cuba ties: Castro nounced the measure as an kets. offi cial stimulus to land- Brazilian private ports as- AFP lessons from the United States or grabbing, which in turn leads sociation ATP said this week Havana anyone else,” he said during the to illegal logging, clear-cut- it expected $47mn in losses session, to which international ting and mining in one of the this month as a result of the press does not have access. hotspots of deforestation of protests. uba’s president said Don- “Any strategy that seeks to ald Trump’s hardline destroy the revolution, whether Cstance towards the coun- through coercion or pressure or try was a “setback” in relations through subtle methods, will with the United States after ties fail.” Castro — who is 86 and due were gradually restored in 2015. to leave the Cuban presidency in Raul Castro criticised Trump’s February — reiterated his will- partial rollback of his predeces- ingness to continue “respectful sor Barack Obama’s rapproche- dialogue” and negotiate bilateral ment with the communist island issues “on the basis of equality” in comments ahead of the sec- and recognition of “the sover- ond anniversary of Havana em- eignty and independence of our bassy’s reopening in Washington country.” on July 20. The original Cuban govern- “The announcements made ment response to Trump’s dec- by the current president...mean laration was restrained, express- a setback in bilateral relations,” ing rejection of the tightened Castro said Friday in remarks policy but emphasising open- broadcast on state television at ness to continuing “respectful” the closing of the fi rst session of Cuban President Raul Castro participates in the Permanent Working Committees of the National negotiation. Cuba’s parliament. Assembly of the People’s Power in Havana, on Friday. Trump’s critics have warned The remarks came after his clampdown on dealings with Trump last month stood before tourism fi rm and reaffi rmed the on concessions related to hu- rhetoric that characterised the Cuban military-run tour fi rms a crowd of anti-Castro activists existing US trade embargo. man rights. Castro called the Cold War”.He also denounced and on private US travel to the in Miami’s Little Havana and He framed his measures as a new measures a toughening of the manipulation of Cuba over communist-run island would announced tightened rules for move against a “cruel and bru- the US embargo against the is- human rights issues. only impoverish ordinary Cu- File photo shows a police off icer inspecting a tree illegally felled Americans travelling to Cuba, tal” regime, saying progress on land, imposed since 1962, saying “Cuba has much to be proud bans and threaten diplomatic in the Amazon rainforest in Jamanxim National Park near the city banned ties with a military-run bilateral relations would hinge they evoked “an old and hostile of, and it does not have to receive rapprochement. of Novo Progresso, Para State, Brazil. Venezuela opposition holds vote to rattle Maduro

AFP ter Maduro’s scheme. to buy food or medicine, with Caracas “Maduro wants to make Ven- my insuffi cient salary,” said a ezuela into Cuba, and we can’t 29-year-old nurse, her face hid- let that happen. That’s why on den by a scarf during a protest. olitical tensions in Ven- Sunday we all have to come out But Maduro still enjoys loyalty ezuela are set to rise today and vote,” parliamentary leader from electoral and judicial insti- Pwith the opposition hold- Julio Borges said. tutions, and — most importantly ing a public vote to undermine The opposition coalition, the — from his military chiefs. President Nicolas Maduro and MUD, is organising today’s vote The changes he is looking for his controversial bid to rewrite because the National Electoral would allow him to override the the constitution. Council — which has systemati- parliament and do away with his The symbolic “plebiscite” cally sided with Maduro — has rebellious attorney general. was taking place after nearly refused to authorise it. He also wants more control four months of violent protests But the Organisation of Amer- over social programmes, food against Maduro, during which ican States has given its backing, distribution and price controls nearly 100 people have died. and fi ve former Latin American to rein in infl ation — which the It laid a direct challenge to a presidents have been invited in International Monetary Fund controversial plan by the presi- as observers. estimates will be 720% this year. dent to have a citizens’ body The same day the government While around 80% of Ven- elected on July 30 to revise the is to steal some of the opposi- ezuelans disapprove of Maduro’s constitution. tion’s thunder by holding a dry- performance, according to Luis Detractors say that move is run of the July 30 election, which Vicente Leon of the Datanalisis aimed at giving Maduro dictato- the electoral council has okayed. fi rm, the opposition’s challenge rial powers to hold on to offi ce, The head of the electoral is to use its vote “as a motivator notably by bypassing the oppo- council, Tibisay Lucena, has for peaceful protests able to top- sition-controlled parliament. dismissed the opposition vote as ple the government.” Maduro, though, says the new just one more protest. Yet Maduro faces his own body, called the “National Con- Given the possibility of the challenge with the July 30 vote. stituent Assembly,” is the only rival campaigns getting out of Around 70% of voters reject way to lift Venezuela out of its hand, there are rising calls for his Constituent Assembly. economic and political crisis. the opposition and government An absence of legitimacy “We are moving towards a to open dialogue. there, coupled with the fractur- Constituent Assembly to save UN Secretary General An- Former president of Colombia Andres Pastrana speaks to journalists next to former president of Mexico Vicente Fox after they arrived at Caracas ing of the socialist “revolution” the nation from attacks by fas- tonio Guterres said talks were airport ahead of an unoff icial referendum called by the opposition against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government in Venezuela yesterday. he inherited from late president cists, imperialists and violence,” “urgently” needed to stem the Hugo Chavez and international he said. violence. not only by the opposition but that no referendum was held be- the government. from power through massive isolation mean his authority In each of the votes, however, “Only a political solution can also Venezuelan Attorney Gen- fore Maduro decided to go ahead The MUD coalition has called protests or a general strike. would become more and more the other side is refusing to take restore hope to Venezuela,” he eral Luisa Ortega — who has dra- with the new body, and that its for public disobedience against Its campaign has found echo limited, Leon said. part. said in a statement. matically broken ranks with Ma- election was being done through the “dictatorship” and portrayed in the scarcities suff ered by Abstention would be a key The opposition has presented Maduro’s bid for a Constitu- duro — and the Catholic Church. choices made by sectors and ter- its vote today as a trigger that many Venezuelans. metric in that vote, said another its vote as the only way to coun- ent Assembly has been slammed Criticisms include the fact ritories that can be infl uenced by could end up forcing Maduro “I’m sick of not managing analyst, Benigno Alarcon. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 19 PAKISTAN

SECURITY CONSTRUCTION AVIATION OFFENSIVE WILDLIFE ‘RAW operating from Body formed to survey PIA pilot violates Airstrike destroys school Snow leopard population Afghanistan’: Army off icer dilapidated buildings air safety rules in northern Afghanistan on the rise in Pakistan

Pakistan is aware of the threats emanating The Punjab government has formed a 15-member A senior Pakistan International Airline (PIA) pilot An airstrike destroyed a school in Afghanistan’s Action is being taken in Pakistan for from hostile intelligence agencies, especially committee to conduct a survey of old and allegedly compromised air safety by not taking embattled northern Kunduz province yesterday, conservation of snow leopard and thus, India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), dilapidated buildings across 36 districts. The the 24-hour mandatory rest before operating a Afghan off icials said. Three people, including increasing its population. This was stated by against the country and China-Pakistan provincial government issued a notification for flight. Sadiq Rehman, a former Pakis tan Air Lines the school’s gatekeeper, were injured in the Federal Minister for Climate Change Zahid Economic Corridor (CPEC), a senior Pakistani the committee on July 4 to conduct a survey of Pilots Associa tion (Palpa) Vice-President, did not strike on Khoja Mashhad, a school in the city of Hamid at Ministry of Climate Change during a Army officer has said. According to Dawn the districts to identify dangerous buildings and rest in Lahore before operating the transatlantic Kunduz, at around 4am, Mahfozullah Akbari, a meeting with ambassador of Kyrgyz Republic News, Chairman Joint Chiefs of the Staff suggest enforcement mechanisms, remedial flight from there on July 4, exposing hundreds of spokesman for the northern police zone, told Erik Beishembiev yesterday. The minister said Committee, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, measures and legal action to avoid untoward lives to danger, Dawn quoted PIA spokesperson DPA. According to a provincial council member, Pakistan would participate in the International said yesterday RAW was operating from situations during monsoon. The committee was Mashhood Tajwar as saying. The PIA had Sayed Assadullah Sadat, four to five people in snow Leopard Conservation Summit going in Afghanistan and other locations to create formed after the start of monsoon but the survey scheduled Reh man to arrive in Lahore on July 2 neighbouring houses were injured by flying August in Kyrgyz Republic. Inspector General unrest in Pakistan, especially in Baluchistan. is likely to be completed till September. The evening, rest on July 3 and then go ahead (after glass shards. However, there were no students Forest Nasir Mehmood told the ambassador “Their designs (and) oblique actions to sabotage provincial government has not included local civic resting for over 36 hours) to operate the flight to present that early in the morning. It was not clear that Trophy Hunting was playing a great role for CPEC are also well known,” he said. bodies from Rawalpindi city in this committee. Canada but the pilot did not follow the schedule. who was responsible for the attack. conserving Markhor population in Pakistan.

Off to Beijing IMF calls for urgent reforms in power sector zAccumulation of power risks associated with new power nority sale and for attracting sector arrears resumed in the generation projects will be key. private sector participation in first half of fiscal year 2016-17 The authorities agreed with PSM move ahead with the IPO staff ’s assessment, re-iterated for GEPCO and set a timeline Internews their commitment to contain for other DISCOs’ IPOs, fi nalise Islamabad the accumulation of new arrears, KAPCO’s divestment, advance and noted that the recent arrears with the Pakistan Railways re- build-up was due to a one-off structuring plan, and fi nalise nternational Monetary Fund delay in passing through higher ongoing capital market transac- (IMF) has called for swiftly generation tariff s. tions. Iaddressing the resumption Ensuring the power sector’s Over the medium term, a new in the accumulation of arrears operational and fi nancial sound- comprehensive strategy to elim- to ensure a fi nancially viable and ness and supporting investor con- inate PSEs’ losses and ensure growth-supporting power sec- fi dence require maintenance of a private sector participation will tor. strong regulatory framework. be needed. The IMF staff level report on Staff underscored that pre- The authorities indicated their the article IV consultation with serving NEPRA’s independence continued intention to pursue Pakistani students perform during a See-off Function for Pakistani students and teachers to Beijing Summer Camp at Chinese Pakistan released yesterday stat- and maintaining an appropriate restructuring and attract private embassy in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, recently. A group of 20 people, including 17 students and three teachers, will participate in ed that accumulation of power tariff -setting process will be im- sector participation to contain International Students Summer Camp Beijing 2017. sector arrears resumed in the portant in the context of planned PSEs’ fi nancial losses. fi rst half of fi scal year 2016-17 amendments of the NEPRA Act. Pakistan has embarked on a (Rs53bn), with the stock increas- massive investment programme ing to Rs374bn (about 1.2% of The IMF’s Staff level in energy and infrastructure sec- New polio case GDP). report stressed the need tors to mitigate chronic energy detected in This refl ected a widening of to strengthen distribution shortages, diversify the coun- the system’s operational defi cit companies’ performance in try’s fuel mix and improve trade Afghanistan Afghan girls robotics team due to delays in passing through Pakistan connectivity. to end-consumers higher gen- Part of this investment is im- A new polio case has been de- eration tariff s and weaker bill In parallel, swiftly resolving plemented in the context of the tected in a toddler in southern collection by distribution com- the ongoing litigation with the China Pakistan Economic Cor- Afghanistan where the Taliban lands in US after visa U-turn panies (DISCOs), only in part regulator on DISCOs’ bench- ridor (CPEC)-a large package of has banned vaccination compensated by the positive im- mark distribution losses and re- investment projects, potentially campaigns, off icials confirmed pact of a reduction in DISCOS’ coveries is necessary to resume totalling about $55bn (19% of on Friday. AFP FIRST Global Challenge – a outcry over the Afghan girls’ distribution losses and still low regular tariff setting. fi scal year 2015-16 GDP) over the “The virus has been detected Washington three-day international robot- inability to attend the event. oil prices. In addition, moving for- next decade. in an 18-month-old baby girl ics competition that aims to The reversal was announced on Staff stressed the need to ward with establishing a mul- CPEC projects in the energy in Shah Walikot district of promote science and technol- Wednesday. strengthen DISCOs’ perform- ti-year tariff framework is key sector involve foreign direct in- Kandahar province,” said Dr team of Afghan girls ogy among youths worldwide The competition’s organis- ance and adjust end-consumer to strengthen the regulatory vestment and commercial bor- Hedayatullah Stanekzai from who were earlier denied that begins tomorrow. ers noted that 163 teams from tariff s to refl ect higher input framework, attract private sec- rowing from Chinese fi nancial the national anti-polio initia- Avisas to attend a Wash- “Our acting special rep to around the world had gained costs, also in view of upcoming tor investors, and support the institutions, either by majority tive in the Health Ministry in ington robotics competition #Afghanistan/#Pakistan wel- visa approval, including other increases in generation capacity. planned IPOs of DISCOs. foreign-owned joint ventures or Kabul. landed in the United States comes #AfghanRoboticsTeam Muslim-majority nations like While most DISCOs met their Staff stressed that restructur- Chinese investors. He told DPA that this was early yesterday following an to USA! Go girls!,” tweeted Yemen, Libya, Morocco, as well end-December 2016 targets in ing PSEs and attracting private Financing of non-CPEC en- the second polio case in intervention by US President State Department spokeswom- as Gambia, which was also pre- terms of collection, about half sector participation are needed to ergy projects ranges from private Kandahar this year, and that it Donald Trump. an Heather Nauert. viously barred. met their targets in terms of dis- improve effi ciency, reduce fi nan- domestic fi nancing to private was detected in an area under The six-member team were US authorities had originally The six girls from Herat, tribution losses. cial losses and contain fi scal costs. commercial as well as govern- Taliban control. greeted at Dulles International refused access to schoolchil- Afghanistan, were reportedly Furthermore, moving ahead Despite some improvements, ment concessional borrowing Shah Walikot is one of four Airport by a throng of support- dren from a number of Mus- blocked from attending the ro- with the planned IPOs of DIS- PSEs’ annual fi nancial losses re- from international fi nancial in- districts in which the Taliban ers, including Afghan ambas- lim-majority nations to par- botics competition even after COs is key to strengthen cor- main high at about 0.3% of GDP, stitutions. have banned vaccinations sador Hamdullah Mohib and ticipate in the science contest, two rounds of interviews for a porate governance and mobilise with accumulated losses at 3.8% If implemented on schedule, campaigns, he said. acting special representative decisions that followed imple- one-week visa. proceeds to start reducing the of GDP. these investments could help “Besides Shah Walikot, Taliban for Afghanistan and Pakistan mentation of stricter visa poli- The rejections appeared to stock of outstanding arrears. In the near-term, it would close Pakistan’s power defi cit, have banned vaccination runs Alice G Wells, and were pre- cies under Trump. contradict the administration’s Staff stressed that ensur- important to fi nalise the trans- signifi cantly improve its fuel in Khakrez, Miansheen and sented with bouquets. But the US president urged claim it wants to empower ing transparency and managing action structure for PIA’s mi- mix, and boost GDP. Spin Boldak districts.” They are due to take part a reversal following public women globally. Govt removes 5,576MW power defi cit amid turmoil

Internews electricity. from Gharo (coastal area) and a day could not be withdrawn by Islamabad But the said target may not 500kv another transmission DISCOs. be materialised as the govern- line from Rahim Yar Khan to DISCO (Electric Power Dis- ment may not be able to pay the Moro. tribution Companies) are em- he sitting government of required heed to the projects be- Chaudhry also failed to lay phasised to deliver a reliable Pakistan has undoubtedly cause it has stepped up its focus down the transmission line of electric power to end consumers Tbeen focused on improv- on how to get itself out of the 132kv from Patrind power house while maintaining performance ing the electricity generation legal and political fi ght for its of 160MW. standards as set by Nepra. supply during the last four years survival and no one knows for When asked for how long the Three main components are despite many serious political how long the country continues said projects will delay more on monitored by the regulator for expeditions launched by opposi- to face the political mess that account of removal of Dr Fayyaz gauging the performance of tion parties PTI and PAT and so has virtually overshadowed the Ch, the offi cial said it depends DISCOs as constraints in these far managed to erase the power gains which are in sight in the on the government which is now components would limit DIS- defi cit of 5,576MW during peak result of the projects initiated by fully at legal and political war for COs ability to draw power from hours, a senior offi cial said. the incumbent regime. its survival. the extra high voltage system of “Hats off to the Nawaz gov- According to the offi cial docu- However, the spokesman NTDC which will result in power ernment for this tremendous ments, in 2013 the electricity of said the government is on supply cuts for the end consum- performance,” he added. 473MW is added, in 2014, elec- toes to complete the projects ers. The government didn’t show tricity of 1,422MW is injected within the deadline as its next Highlighting the system any kind of laxity in improving and 717MW electricity is added election campaign will hinge constraints, it mentions the the electricity generation out- in 2015. Likewise, the electric- on the fulfillments of the overloading position of 11kv look even during the long 126 ity of 920MW is added in the promise made in 2013 election feeders in DISCOs.“Except days ‘dharna’ and is on track to system in 2016 and in seven that if voted to power it would for IESCO where overload- end the menace of darkness by months of 2017, the electricity of make the country loadshed- ing of 11kv feeders is noted to March 2018. 2,035MW is injected. ding-free by 2018. be around 12%, other DISCOs However, the recently unfold- This means that so far The politics of Pakistan may slow down the government’s eff orts to upgrade the power transmission and Interestingly, the State of In- have more than 20 per cent ed JIT (Joint Investigation Team) 5,576MW of electricity is in- distribution system. dustry Report 2016 prepared overloaded feeders. report that created ripples in the jected and keeping in view the by Nepra mentions the alarm- PESCO and MEPCO have politics of Pakistan may slow hard fact that the sitting regime ing of the system constraints and constraints in the transmission dation of transmission and dis- ing fact that the overloading in more than 40% feeders over- down the government’s eff orts continued to face the political trying our best to complete the and distribution networks de- tribution system is concerned, DISCOs’ system coupled with loaded, whereas in Lesco about to upgrade the transmission and mayhem in the shape of 126 days projects means for up-gradating spite the fact that the govern- it may take more time than the other constraints on NTDC (Na- 58% feeders are loaded above distribution system, a senior of- ‘dharna’. the transmission and distribu- ment will be able to erase the deadline of December this year”. tional Transmission Distribu- 80% and on country wide basis fi cial said. In addition, there are new tion system,” spokesman of the electricity defi cit by adding gen- He said in the current month tion Company) system has been 32% of 11kv feeders have been The government had earlier more plants to come and will add ministry of water and power eration of almost 9,000MW in of July, NTDC chairman Dr resulting in power supply con- noted to be loaded above the ac- fixed the target to complete by more electricity of 3,386MW said. the system by the-said year, the Fayyaz Chaudhry has been re- straints. ceptable level.” December this year the projects in the system by December this When asked about the re- offi cial said no doubt the gov- moved from his post for not The regulator in the report has The problems of the system with regard to strengthening year. cently released Nepra’s State ernment will be able to add the laying down the 500 kv trans- observed that during the high constraints have increased be- the transmission and distribu- “This would be a feather in the of Industry Report 2016 which new electricity supply up to far mission line for the evacua- demand months, due to con- cause of the fact that DISCOs tion system enough to carry cap of Nawaz government and mentions that the country may more than 9,000MW by March tion of 1,320MW of coal-based straints in DISCOs and NTDC remained unable to make invest- the required load as per the more importantly we are also on continue to experience load- 2018. Port Qasim power plant, 220kv network, the electricity to the ments to upgrade the distribu- massive increase in demand of track to overcome the shortcom- shedding even in 2018 due to “However, as far as up-gra- transmission line for 400MW tune of more than 3,000MW on tion systems. Gulf Times 20 Sunday, July 16, 2017 PHILIPPINES Duterte vows to reduce drug trade in fi ve years

By Catherine S Valente Manila Times

resident Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to press on with Pthe administration’s war on drugs as he assured the public that the drug trade would dwin- dle to its lowest point by the end of his term. In a speech at the 11th Am- bassadors’ Tour Philippine re- ception in Davao City on Friday night, Duterte said he would do everything to end the scourge of illegal drugs in the country with- in his term. “I have to stop drugs, really stop. And it will stop. I assure you, by fi ve years from now, drugs will be at its lowest,” the president said. “I, Rodrigo Duterte, will de- fend and protect the Filipino nation… Nobody can really stop me,” he added. The president reiterated that This recent undated handout photo released by the Provincial Disaster, Risk Reduction and Management Office in Lanao del Sur shows there are 4mn drug addicts in rescuers unloading body bags containing the remains of civilians believed to be executed by militants, while police forensic experts look the country. on in Marawi. “You saw it when they started Duterte: war against drug trade to surrender by the hundreds of thousands everyday. And you threaten a criminal from de- Santos due to the issue. On Fri- think that I have still to… due stroying your country. Is there a day, Palace spokesman Ernesto process. There really is due proc- law, which says you cannot do it? Abella said the situation at the ess,” he said. Is there a law which says that you NBP is being addressed. Marawi crisis ‘unlikely to end’ The president said the public cannot blurt such statements as: “Certain actions may have should not listen to critics at- do not bring our children to per- been overtaken by events, es- tributing the extra-judicial kill- dition because you’ll not only pecially by what has happened ings of drug suspects to the gov- lose your funds, you’ll lose your down south. But that is not the ahead of presidential address ernment. life?” he added. excuse,” Abella said, referring “Those of you listening now, Duterte issued the statement to the ongoing armed confl ict in you claim that there are extra- anew following the resurgence Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. By Catherine S Valente “At the very beginning of dation on whether or not to temporary resettlement area,” judicial killings. There are none,” of the illegal drug trade in the “If you’re asking if the presi- Manila Times the conflict, we estimated extend martial law over Mind- Padilla said. Duterte said. New Bilibid Prison (NBP) despite dent is dismayed, defi nitely this about 1,500 to 2,000 total anao, which will expire on July Budget Secretary Benjamin “So, fi nd me a law—wherever the presence of troopers, Special presents quite a challenge. How- structures, infrastructure that 22.Padilla said the military Diokno announced on Friday you come from—point out to me Action Force troopers and the ever, we’re up to it and we will he Armed Forces of the needed to be cleared. Right hoped to give the recommen- that the government had al- a law in your country and in my resignation of Bureau of Cor- make sure that is properly ad- Philippines (AFP) does now, we’re down to the last dation to the president “way located an initial P5bn for the country, which says you cannot rections chief Benjamin de los dressed,” Abella said. Tnot see the Marawi crisis 600-plus. So we’re moving before the deadline.” recovery and rehabilitation of ending before President Rodri- progressively. Three days ago As of Friday, the death toll Marawi City in 2017. go Duterte’s second State of the we cleared 54, the other day in Marawi included 392 ter- During the Palace news Nation Address (SONA) on July 53, now we’re clearing 48. And rorists, 93 government secu- briefing, Diokno said the 24, as about 600 buildings have we hope to clear more build- rity forces, and 45 civilians. money would be obtained Seven cities exposed to rising sea levels: ADB yet to be cleared of terrorists ings as we go on,” he added. Padilla said that even from the contingent fund and Seven cities in the Philippines are at risk over rising Taguig, Caloocan, Davao, Butuan, Malabon, and and booby traps, its spokesman Duterte, speaking to the though fighting was ongoing, other funds being held by dif- sea levels due to climate change, a study co-pro- Iloilo. Under a business-as-usual scenario, a six-de- said on Friday. business community at the the government had begun the ferent government agencies, duced by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said. gree Celsius temperature increase is projected over Speaking to reporters, AFP Philippine Stock Exchange, early recovery stage, which as well as the National Disas- According to ADB and Potsdam Institute for the Asian landmass by the end of the century, the spokesman Brig. Gen. Resti- said the Marawi crisis would would involve setting up tent- ter Risk Reduction and Man- Climate Impact Research report titled, “A Region at report said. These increases in temperature would tuto Padilla Jr said the military be resolved in “10 to 15 days,” style temporary resettlement agement Fund. Risk: The Human Dimensions of Climate Change lead to drastic changes in the region’s weather would need 10 to 15 more days a self-imposed deadline that areas for 3,000 evacuees. “For the rest of the year, in Asia and the Pacific” released on Friday, an system, agriculture and fisheries sectors, land and to regain control of buildings goes beyond the 60-day limit “The Armed Forces is lean- from August to December, unabated climate change would bring devastating marine biodiversity, domestic and regional security, occupied by the Islamic State- of his declaration of martial ing forward on its linkage with that’s five months, I have al- consequences to countries in Asia and the Pacific, trade, urban development, migration and health. linked Maute terrorists in the law in Mindanao. the Inter-Agency Task Force ready identified some P5bn for which could severely aff ect their future growth, Such a scenario may even pose an existential war-torn city. The president has said that ‘Bangon Marawi’ and two of the Marawi restoration. It’s reverse current development gains, and degrade threat to some countries in the region and crush “The 10 to 15 days is be- any decision to extend mili- our engineering brigades are standby money there,” Diokno quality of life, Manila Times reported. any hope of achieving sustainable and inclusive yond the SONA by the way so tary rule in Mindanao will de- already on the ground, work- said. The report said 19 of the 25 cities most exposed development, it said.The report said more intense don’t expect it to be before the pend on the military’s assess- ing closely with the other Diokno also said there were to a one-metre sea-level rise are located in the typhoons and tropical cyclones were expected SONA,” Padilla said during the ment. agencies that are in charge of some offers of grants from the Asia and Pacifc region, seven of which are in the to hit Asia and the Pacific with rising global mean “Mindanao Hour” news brief- Padilla said the military was the early recovery phase, pri- World Bank and Asian Devel- Philippines. The Philippine cities cited were Manila, temperatures. ing in Malacanang. still finalising its recommen- marily the preparation of the opment Bank. Drills in cities aim to raise disaster preparedness

By Catherine S Valente tions on the third and fourth sonnel to respond to disaster Manila Times day. victims. Radio and television sta- Organised by the Metro Ma- tions will broadcast an earth- nila Development Authority, he Metro Manila shake quake alarm at 4pm, which the drill aims to enhance pub- drill kicked off at 4pm will signal the start of the drill. lic awareness in disasters like Ton Friday and will be According to MMDA the the “Big One” a 7.2-magni- held until tomorrow. drill could cause traffic jams tude quake that may hit areas MMDA consultant Ramon and the public should be pre- of Metro Manila. Santiago said each day in- pared for telecom and power Malacanang employees took volves a different scenario that disruptions. time on Friday to participate in partner Local Government In Quezon City, participants the Metro Manila-wide earth- Units will play out. from government offices, the quake drill. The National Capital Region private sector, schools, house- At 4pm, an alarm in Mala- was divided into quadrants holds, and other establish- canang was sounded off, sig- with their own additional ments joined the third Metro nalling that an earthquake had simulations. Manila Shake Drill on Friday. started. The east quadrant will At 4pm, Quezon City Mayor Participants then vacated simulate building and bridge Herbert Bautista pressed the their respective offices and damage; west, fire and bridge bell to signal the start of the went to a designated evacua- damage; and both north and drill. tion area. south, bridge damage. Different disaster scenarios After a few seconds, an in- The MMDA set up command like damaged structures, mass spection of the building was centres at Veterans Hospital in casualties, and fire incidents conducted. Quezon City, north quadrant; were portrayed. Malacanang employees Villamor Airbase in Pasay Employees of the Que- were advised then to return City, south quadrant; Mariki- zon City Hall did the famous to their respective offices and na Boys Town, Red Cross com- “duck, cover and hold” rou- workplaces. pound, LRT Santolan depot tine and proceeded to the In a text message, Presiden- in Santolan, Pasig, east quad- nearest safe zone, the Quezon tial Communications Secre- rant; Intramuros Golf Course City Circle, where temporary tary Martin Andanar urged the in Manila, west quadrant. shelters were setup. public to co-operate with gov- All government agencies Four firetrucks were also ernment in its effort “to make simulated a power outage on deployed at the City Hall everyone prepared when the A member of the local Explosives and Ordnance Division wearing a specialised suit tries to install a water diff user to an improvised explosive device Friday, and will hold evalua- which allowed emergency per- ‘Big One’ happens.” during a bomb drill in a high school courtyard in Tondo, Metro Manila. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 21 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

Sirisena concludes Hasina says she rejected Dhaka visit

IANS US demand for gas in 2001 Dhaka By Mizan Rahman ers of vote. They will get them in ri Lankan President Dhaka power whom they want. So my Maithripala Sirisena left aim is whatever time I get, I can SDhaka for Colombo yes- utilise it for the development of terday ending his three-day visit he Bangladesh prime the people,” she said. to Bangladesh and pledging to minister yesterday said Referring to formation of strengthen bilateral relations. Tthat the government is government after the 2001 The two countries signed 14 committed to the people for elections, she said that there agreements for greater trade and ensuring their socio-economic was a notion that Bangladesh investment co-operation. development. was fl oating on the abundant In a joint statement, Sirise- “We’re pledge-bound to the natural gas. na and Prime Minister Sheikh people and we’re doing politics “Various US companies at Hasina expressed their “deep for changing their luck and giv- that time made investment for satisfaction” after the signing on ing them a better life,” she said. exploration of gas in Bangla- Friday of 14 agreements of co- Sheikh Hasina was speaking desh and they wanted to sell the operation in trade and invest- at the founding anniversary of gas to India which also wanted ment, agriculture, information the Special Security Force (SSF) to buy,” she said. and communication technology, in Dhaka yesterday. “But I didn’t give opinion for higher education, fi nance and The premier said her govern- selling the gas and I wanted to people-to-people connectivity, ment wants to build the country sell gas after keeping reserve of bdnews24.com reported. in such a way so that people can gas for 50 years. I can’t sell this The leaders also directed the move in the world stage keeping gas as the people have a right to authorities for early fi nalisa- their head high. “We’re working use it,” she said. tion of the agreements on cus- to achieve this goal and we’ve In this connection, the prime toms co-operation, avoidance of fi rm that we could reach the minister said the then US presi- double taxation and promotion target,” she said. dent Bill Clinton himself re- and protection of investment Blasting the BNP for its quested her in this regard. “But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cutting a cake on the occasion of the 31st founding anniversary of the Special Security Force (SSF) in Dhaka yesterday. between the countries. mindless rampage and atroci- I gave the same reply to him as Sirisena and Hasina also wel- ties towards the people in 2013, the demand of the people will try to others for greed of power,” charging responsibilities. asked them to maintain good was fl oated in 1986 when it comed the signing of the mem- 2014 and 2015, Hasina said the have to be fulfi lled fi rst,” she she said. She said the SSF will have to relations, close contact and co- was called Presidential Secu- orandum of understanding on BNP workers burnt over 500 said. The premier also directed the realise the importance of attain- ordination among all associate rity Force (PSF) and it was re- economic partnership between people to death through arson Sheikh Hasina said when she SSF agents to develop it as an ing higher discipline, honesty, agencies for ensuring foolproof named subsequently as SSF the countries which they be- attacks. went to the US, the same pro- ideal force in context of disci- responsibility and human quali- security. with the task of providing secu- lieved “should pave way for con- “We don’t want such inci- posal was off ered to her and she pline, loyalty and profession- ties alongside their professional The SSF, which draws per- rity to the head of the state and clusion of the free trade agree- dents happen again in Bangla- gave the same reply. “I can’t alism and hoped that the force skills. sonnel from army, navy, air government and VVIP foreign ment (FTA) by end-2017”. desh ... the people are the own- hand over the asset of the coun- will be more effi cient in dis- In this connection, she also force, police and Ansar forces, dignitaries. If done, that would be the fi rst FTA of Bangladesh with any coun- try. The leaders also underlined the The incident took place need for a peaceful, stable, inclu- around 11pm on Friday night and sive and sustainable South Asian according to local media reports region, the report said. Indian Singh allegedly stabbed Sheikh In this regard, they agreed to to death during an altercation Cattle smuggling is harming deepen co-operation in vari- before trying to hang himself. ous sub-regional and regional student Singh was, however, rescued co-operation mechanisms, and by other fl at mates and both of to work towards focused and them were taken to Chittagong result-oriented regional eco- stabbed to Medical College Hospital in wee economy: Bangladesh offi cial nomic co-operation in the Bay hours yesterday, Bdnews24.com of Bengal Initiative for Multi- reported. Sectoral Technical and Economic death by Sheikh was declared brought IANS can grow up and take care of “Cattle smuggling offi cials also held discus- Co-operation (Bimstec) and Saarc. dead and had 15 injury marks Shillong, India ourselves,” said Hasan, who was also one of the sion with Meghalaya police Recognising the threats aris- on his body. “It appears that was here to take part in the main agenda points chief Swaraj Bir Singh on ing out of terrorism, violent ex- fl at mate Ateef and one of his room- bi-annual BSF-BGB Border apart from Indian members of Meghalaya- tremism and radicalisation on mates, Winson, were drunk he Border Guards Coordination Conference insurgents hiding in based groups hiding in any religious or societal pretext, when they brawled... During Bangladesh (BGB) at the head of a 23-member Bangladesh and other Bangladesh. Hasina and Sirisena pledged IANS the fi sticuff s, Ateef’s throat Tyesterday asked its delegation. trans-border crime “Action plan has been drawn to work together to counter- Dhaka was hit with something sharp Indian counterpart, the “We have requested the BSF during our dialogue to fi nd out details about pres- act all such challenges in both that caused severe bleeding,” Border Security Force (BSF) not allow Indian nationals to with the BGB” ence of insurgents along the countries and beyond. said Md Jashimuddin, sub- to stop cattle smuggling as indulge in this racket. Other international border. We are Prior to his departure, Sirise- n Indian student has been inspector at Akbar Shah police it is “harming” their dairy related issues can be resolved On the presence of Indian getting cooperation from the na as the chief guest attended a found dead while another station. industry. by that.” militant groups in Bangladesh, BGB in this regard. Our intel- high-level business/economic Awas found injured in a fl at Another student Neeraj Guru, “It is a fact that cattle are “Cattle smuggling was also the BSF offi cial denied any ex- ligence agencies are trying to dialogue in Dhaka with the par- in Bangladesh’s Chittagong’s who shared the same fl at with being smuggled from In- one of the main agenda points isting “well-established” or get the information about the ticipation of Sri Lanka as well city. Sheikh and Singh, said that both dia to Bangladesh. We have apart from Indian insurgents “regulated” camps in Bangla- presence of militants and such as Bangladesh investors and The deceased was identifi ed men were drinking alcohol in agreed and identifi ed that hiding in Bangladesh and oth- desh but said that most of the information will be forwarded entrepreneurs. as Ateef Sheikh, 25, a fi nal year their rooms and soon he heard cattle by itself cannot walk. er trans-border crime during Indian militants are changing accordingly to the BGB,” he Sri Lankan Foreign Minister MBBS student of the Univer- noises from their room and tried It is understandable that our dialogue with the BGB,” their identities by marrying said. Ravi Karunanayake and Bang- sity of Science and Technology to open the door which was both countries’ nationals are said BSF’s Inspector General Bangladeshi nationals resid- Describing India’s con- ladesh Foreign Minister Ab- Chittagong (USTC), the Daily locked from inside. involved in this smuggling,” in-charge Meghalaya frontier ing along the border to evade cern on presence of Indian dul Hassan Mahmood Ali also Star quoted Alamgir Hossain, After he managed to open the BGB’s Additional Director P K Dubey. arrest. militants in Bangladesh as addressed the meeting. in-charge of the Akbar Shah po- door, Guru found Sheikh in a General M Zahid Hasan told “We have worked some In fact, Indian intelligence “perceptions”, Hasan said: Ali said that the Sri Lankan lice station, as saying. pool of blood and Singh hanging reporters. concrete plans at the ground have confi rmed United Lib- “Frankly speaking, there are president’s Bangladesh visit Another Indian student, from a fan. “Actually it (cattle smug- level and will carry out joint eration Front of Asom leader no militants from India taking would usher in a new era in bi- identifi ed as Winson Singh, 23, Then their neighbours helped gling) is harming our econo- patrolling during night and Drishti Rajkhowa is married shelter in Bangladesh. Bangla- lateral relations particularly with was also found hanging from a Guru bring the two men to the my. These cattle are coming day to tackle cattle smug- to a Bangladeshi woman from desh has the toughest stand on the signing of the FTA. ceiling fan at the same fl at in Ak- hospital, said a police offi cial. from deep inside India and gling besides other trans- the Garo community from this and zero tolerance for any Sirisena also extended an bar Shah locality, the police said. No one has been arrested in from west of India. If these border crime along the In- Badagazni area under Sherpur militant activities. We are very invitation to the Bangladesh Both men hailed from India’s the case yet and an investigation cattle don’t come from In- dia-Bangladesh border,” he district. sure that there are no militants prime minister to visit Colombo northeastern Manipur state. was on, the police said. dia, then our dairy farmers said. Dubey said that the BGB operating in Bangladesh.” in 2018. Nepal envoy for more Park ends elephant-back tours

By Phoebe Smith, Guardian At Tiger Tops Elephant camp, Kathmandu they are developing new, more focus on cross-border humane alternative. “After the 2015 earthquake, with visi- ulab Kali moved through tor numbers down anyway, we the jungle with the com- decided the time was right for Gmanding demeanour only change,” says Tiger Tops’ Marie road connectivity seen in a more mature lady. With Jensen. each step her hips swayed, caus- With the help of Carol Buck- ing clouds of dust to rise from ley, founder of US-based char- IANS Underscoring the geographi- principal border points while under her large feet, like her own ity Elephant Aid International, Kolkata, India cal proximity between India three more such projects are in personal smoke machine. She they stopped using chains to and Nepal, Upadhyay said this the pipeline. The news of link- was the most enigmatic walk- restrain the animals and in- advantage could have been uti- ing Kathmandu with Indian ing guide. And – as a 3½ tonne stead let them wander freely in ndia and Nepal have failed lised long ago to boost up trade, railways was welcomed in our Asian elephant – she was also large paddocks. The mahouts to adequately cash in on tourism and other economic country. Our roads are turning the largest. are forbidden from using bull Itheir geographic similar- engagements between the two out to be better on both sides,” Nepal’s Chitwan national hooks and sticks to control ity for years to build up bet- countries. he mentioned. park, 160km east of Kathmandu, them and, rather than ride atop ter connectivity while cross- “There are at least a dozen The envoy also urged both is known for its successful anti- them, travellers now get the border infrastructure also did points in the proximity of Ne- the governments to speed up poaching patrols, which have led chance to live as an honorary not receive the requisite focus pal-India international border the work for road connectiv- to an increase in the population member of the herd, feeding and commitment in the past, where Indian railway heads ity between Nepal and India of the greater one-horned rhino and walking alongside them Nepal’s envoy to India has said. reached decades ago. We could to avoid certain bottlenecks (bucking the declining trend of through the jungle and camp- “Cross border infrastructure have extended the railways by that unnecessarily delay the other rhino species around the ing next to them overnight. and state-of-the-art connec- some kilometres to reach Nepal transportation. world). “When people go on an ele- tivity means are the funda- to speed up trade, transit, fl ow “The cross-border roads For years, by far the most phant-back safari, the animals mental prerequisite of strong of tourists and movements still pass through the bottle- popular safari in this park was on just become transport,” says economic engagement and this of common people in those necks of crowded marketplace elephant back – with up to eight Marie. “But when you walk with A walk in the park … a sunset stroll with elephants in Nepal’s Chitwan is the area that did not receive points,” he said. and the trucks have to wait people on a single elephant. Giv- them, you get to watch how National Park. adequate focus and commit- Hailing the ongoing cross for ridiculously long hours to en the pain and suff ering caused they move, how they feed and ment from us in the past,” Am- border rail and road projects ply on these stretches of few to the animals who are “broken” how they interact in as natural both them and their animals – it has been working with elephants bassador Deep Kumar Upad- as a positive step to build up kilometres,” Upadhyay said. into submission, it’s not an ideal a way as is possible for a captive seems they are fi nally convinced. since 1988. Tiger Tops is inviting hyay said in a speech read in his better connectivity, Upadhyay “What’s required is some choice. Indeed, since 2014 more elephant.” “The elephants are happy: owners of rival lodges to come absentia at the release of a re- said his country was hopeful more speed in the implemen- than 100 high-profi le operators Given the country’s long leg- they don’t get sores on their and see what they’ve achieved, port at the Observer Research about the “early concretisa- tation of projects like ICPs have stopped selling excursions acy of elephant-back safaris, backs from carrying the heavy hoping they’ll become a model Foundation. tion” of the projects. and the roads linking national featuring elephant rides and many mahouts were sceptical loads. It is a great start and one I for others and, eventually, make The speech was read in his ab- “We are implementing cross highways on both sides,” he TripAdvisor stopped promoting about the change. But after a hope we’ll see others doing,” says Nepal a country that bans the sence at the programme on Friday. border railway projects at two added. them in 2016. lengthy relearning process – for head mahout Kale Kumal, who practice entirely. Gulf Times 22 Sunday, July 16, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief: Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Thanks to State Dept cables, Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko

P.O.Box 2888 a torture victim won a rare Doha, Qatar [email protected] Telephone 44350478 (news), 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) $10mn settlement from UAE Fax 44350474

By Ryan Grim, Alex Emmons state of the defendants before bringing Attorneys from the Department of The Intercept suit in the US, but Hassen argued State’s Offi ce of Legal Adviser recently that the courts in the UAE have no met with Hamilton Loeb, one of Sheikh independence, and are controlled by Mohamed’s attorneys, and discussed n American citizen won the very people he is suing. with him your request that the United GULF TIMES a rare $10mn torture Most importantly, he argued, the States fi le a suggestion of immunity settlement against three top release of the cables made it possible on behalf of Sheikh Mohamed. The Amembers of the ruling family for him to prove his case. Department will continue to monitor in the United Arab Emirates, after The judge let it go forward. this case closely and continue our State Department cables proved the Otaiba and the country’s foreign communications with Loeb concerning Calls for law change man had indeed been detained as he minister worked hard behind the developments in the litigation. had claimed. scenes to shield the ruling family Kerry, those who worked with him The confi dential and previously from liability, with limited success. say, always enjoyed his time in the Gulf unreported settlement was paid out US law creates a process to remove region meeting with leaders there but after Indians left in in May 2013, according to documents a sitting head of state from a lawsuit the hospitality wasn’t enough to buy extracted from the Hotmail account of for diplomatic purposes, and Otaiba MBZ’s way off the Hassen case, and UAE ambassador to the US Yousef al- Yousef al-Otaiba, UAE ambassador to successfully lobbied the State Kerry’s diplomatic brush off seems Otaiba. The documents were provided the US. Department to request the emir be to have sent UAE leaders scrambling dark over data leaks to The Intercept either by a hacker or struck from the case. But Clinton toward a settlement. someone who had access to his account. case was going to be dismissed for declined to do the same favour for By May 2, 2013, just a few weeks Settlements for torture victims lack of action, as the defendants, who MBZ or al-Darmaki. after Kerry’s rejection, the deal had Fears Indian telecom upstart Reliance Jio suff ered a are extraordinarily rare, making the were in the UAE, had not been served. On January 9, 2011, Minister of been signed and counter-signed, major data breach, compromising the personal data of payout to Los Angeles resident Khaled So Hassen’s attorneys served Otaiba Foreign Aff airs Abdullah bin Zayed and wiring instructions for a $10mn over 100mn customers, have prompted calls for India to Hassen that much more surprising. instead, and the judge accepted it. al-Nahyan thanked Clinton and the payout were circulated by Otaiba. The Hassen’s case was brought in LA’s To overcome the denials of the UAE Department of Justice for granting the condition: silence in the press. adopt more robust laws to protect consumers. federal court against three of the most government, Hassen’s lawyers cited emir immunity, but pressed the case “The embassy is not commenting Jio has repeatedly denied any breach took place powerful fi gures in the Gulf - the State Department cables that were of MBZ. As a sign of how seriously on the e-mails,” said the Harbour and said that names, telephone numbers and e-mail crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh released in 2006, showing US embassy the Emirates were taking the case, Group’s Richard Mintz, an Otaiba addresses of Jio users on a website called “Magicapk” Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, offi cials trying to locate Hassan and bin Zayed relayed to Clinton that he representative. The Intercept reached appeared to be “unauthentic.” The website was later known in Washington as MBZ, a man secure his release. “Special state wanted to add it to the agenda of her out to the law fi rm who represented particularly close to Otaiba; the emir security arm which claims even it has upcoming trip to the Gulf. Hassen and a woman there said the shut down. of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed no jurisdiction over Al-Hassan [sic] Otaiba prepared talking points fi rm couldn’t comment on the case The company, part of conglomerate Reliance al-Nahyan; and General Saeed Hilal admits latter does remain detained in with a US legal team, according to the and immediately hung up. Industries Ltd, said last that its subscriber data was safe Abdullah al-Darmaki. Abu Dhabi under personal supervision emails, relying on a precedent set by In April 2013, the same years and protected by the highest levels of security. The case had more than geopolitical of ‘highest levels’ of government…” Israel, a country that the UAE does not as Hassen’s settlement, the hurdles to overcome: it was seeking one cable from July 1984 reads. offi cially recognise, but with which UAE government imprisoned However, Jio fi led a complaint the same day alleging justice from an abduction all the way One of the UAE’s US-based lawyers, they work in concert on regional issues Shez Cassim, a US citizen from unlawful access to its systems, police said. back in January of 1984, when Hassen Hamilton Loeb, noted in one e-mail in Washington. “We held off asserting Minnesota, for producing a satirical In contrast to companies in the European Union, was working for a member of the to Otaiba on July 2, 2010, that Hassen ‘offi cial acts’ in the initial round, in the video about Dubai youth culture, the which has stringent data protection standards, royal family consulting on weapons had produced nine State Department belief that the judge would dismiss all beginning of a horrifying odyssey companies in India do not have to disclose data breaches contracting. Competition for contracts cables from 1984-1985 “that are claims on other grounds and thereby through the country’s prison system. in the arms-trade industry can often somewhat ugly.” In them US embassy not require the UAE involve itself Soon, Otaiba would be fielding calls to clients, information security professionals said. turn violent, as it did in Hassen’s case. reports that after initial denials, UAE further in eliminating the lawsuit. The and e-mails from the Minnesota “It raises questions of security and accountability,” At the time, the three defendants were authorities confi rmed Hassen was judge to whom the case was assigned, congressional delegation on the said Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for also in the arms trading business, and being held by a “special state security however, is brand-new on the bench detention of Cassim, who became a Internet and Society (CIS), a research organisation. were rivals of Hassen’s boss as they all arm…under personal supervision of and favourably disposed to claimants cause celeb for comedians in the US, fought to rise through the ranks of the ‘highest levels’ of government.” like Hassen. Accordingly, the UAE now including Will Ferrell and others at People complained on Twitter about personal UAE power structure. Loeb, who didn’t respond to a needs to obtain State intervention to Funny Or Die. information of Jio users being available on the Magicapk MBZ personally witnessed some of request for comment, told Otaiba that assert offi cial acts immunity. If State “I continue to be shocked that he site. Hassen’s torture, Hassen claimed. the cables made it impossible for the does so, it is virtually automatic that is still in jail,” Sen. Amy Klubuchar Several local news outlets said their checks had led Hassen, in his suit, claims he UAE to deny his imprisonment, and the judge will dismiss the claims,” the (D-Minn.) wrote in one e-mail to them to believe a leak had occurred. was held in a windowless 7 by 10ft gave the case a credibility that they talking points read. Otaiba on Christmas Day 2013. “I cell until November 1985, beaten, needed to take seriously, especially “This is the same immunity that, for believe your country has reached “A rule to report breaches exists, but it is blindfolded for days at a time, with given the geopolitical implications. example, the Israelis used successfully a place on the world stage where unenforceable,” says Prakash. “It says you’re not liable the air conditioner cut off in the Most cases that old don’t get very to obtain State’s intervention in the these things matter even if they were if you’re following reasonable security practices. What summers, causing the temperature far - the statute of limitations on the Gaza apartment shelling case against acceptable in the past. That is the case ‘reasonable’ means is not defi ned.” to rise to excruciating levels. His feet US’s Torture Victim Protections Act Avi Dichter.” I hope you can make.” Advocates of stronger laws in India say a data breach and legs, he said, were bound together is 10 years - but Hassen argued that The reasoning didn’t work, and MBZ Otaiba told Klobuchar he would and he was hung upside down for the power the men wielded made it remained on the case. When she was continue to lobby MBZ - fresh off in countries with more stringent cyber laws, such as long periods of time; he was fed foul reasonable for him to wait. He fi nally replaced by John Kerry as secretary of the $10mn settlement for allegedly Britain or the United States, would prompt an inquiry by tasting liquids that brought on “severe decided to go forward, he reasoned, state, Otaiba pushed him as well. overseeing the torture of Hassen - to regulators. pain and hallucinations.” Meanwhile, because the UAE had decided it On March 25, 2013, Kerry sent release Cassim. “I assure you that’s After reports of a data leak at Verizon earlier this week, the State Department was working wanted to be on good terms with bin- Zayed a letter that began: “Your precisely the case I am making and it feverishly to locate and visit with him, the US - a relationship that might Highness: It was a pleasure seeing you does have merit,” he assured her. He for example, the US the cables indicate. be soured if an American citizen in Abu Dhabi on March 4, and I thank was released the next month. telecoms fi rm quickly responded with an explanation The suit was fi led in February were murdered on American soil in you for your letter regarding the case In May 2014, Otaiba authorised of what had occurred, 2009, just weeks after the Obama retribution for a lawsuit. of Hassen v. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed the release of that year’s payment to how it had happened administration took offi ce. In Plaintiff s are typically required to al -Nayhan et al.” Hassen after a search of the media ‘India is at a and the extent of the November, the judge warned that the exhaust all legal options in the home It read in full: turned up no articles on Hassen’s case. nascent stage. problem. “India is at a nascent For good norms stage. For good norms in Asia, look to How Saudi has slowly realised it in Asia, look to Singapore. It’s been Singapore’ praised for not having cyber security issues by the UN,” Srinivas Kodali, an independent security can’t play the Trump card on Qatar researcher, said. “We don’t have full-menu data protection laws,” said Apar Gupta, a Supreme Court lawyer working on data zThe Saudis thought they had the Trump administration, especially the Republicans, on their side privacy issues. “We don’t even have an institutional framework or expert body to implement the limited data By Anthony Harwood supplies, accusing it if cosying up to been very reasonable,” he said. to protect Israel, US companies can protection regulations that do exist. It’s so limited it’s International Business Times Iran and supporting terrorism. Corker’s remark that highlights Saudi be punished if they accept a foreign It’s not the fi rst time that the terrorism support echoed a report country’s demand to comply with more accurate to say no law exists.” impulsive behaviour of the new Saudi earlier this month which called for an a blockade that is not supported by In May alone, there were two data security incidents he casual remark by a senior ruler has been identifi ed as a potential inquiry into “Saudi Arabia’s funding of America. in India. US politician will have left source of trouble. Islamist extremism in the UK”. So not to trade with North Korea The records of 17mn customers of Zomato, a popular the Saudi crown prince As David Ignatius in the Washington The Henry Jackson Society said: is allowed, but you cannot just stop food-delivery app, were put on sale online. Tenraged but the point was Post put it: “A half-dozen prominent “While entities from across the Gulf trading with a country like Qatar well made. Saudi watchers who have met MBS and Iran have been guilty of advancing which Washington does not have any Zomato initially advised customers that their Talking about how the isolation told me they think he has the potential extremism, those in Saudi Arabia are issue with. passwords were secure, but later advised users to change of Qatar has been dominated by to rebuild Saudi Arabia into a more undoubtedly at the top of the list.” All in all, this leaves the ‘rookie’ them. accusations from a Saudi-led alliance dynamic country that’s much more This week’s decision by the British crown prince with little room for Separately, a CIS report said the Aadhaar numbers of that the Gulf state was world’s biggest able to protect its security and that of government not to publish its own manoeuvre if Qatar does not back down, supporter of terrorism, the Republican its neighbours. investigation into terrorist funding in which it shows no signs of doing given as many as 135mn Indians had leaked from government senator Bob Corker pointed to the huge “But many worry that he’s also the UK also led to accusations that the its huge reserves of wealth. databases and could be found online. funding of terrorism by Saudi Arabia. capable of driving his country off a ministers wanted to avoid criticising The more troops Turkey pours into The number, similar to a US social security number, is Now, Corker isn’t just anybody cliff with his headstrong, sometimes Saudi Arabia. the Gulf state and the more Qatar and unique to each Indian citizen and the Aadhaar database on Capitol Hill. He is the Chairman reckless behaviour.” Prime Minister Theresa May, the US co-operate on anti-terrorism of the US Senate Foreign Relations But as the attacks from Saudi Arabia who visited the kingdom in April, funding the less likely the risk of a also stores a user’s biometric data. Committee, so is as qualifi ed as have increased so has the popularity has been accused of “kowtowing” violent resolution to the crisis. The government is pushing for Aadhaar numbers to be anyone to speak about the current of Qatar’s Emir His Highness Sheikh by suppressing the report because As the chief architect of the used in everything from opening bank accounts to fi ling Middle East crisis. Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani whose she needs to secure post-Brexit blockade, all eyes are on the Saudi tax returns. But it’s what he said next which is people have rallied round their leader investment from the UK’s biggest crown prince to bring about a solution. For India, data privacy is not a priority, said Amry more telling, when he addressed the in the face of hostility. trading partner in the Arab world. But, as Andreas Krieg, a political decision by Mohamed bin Salman, So incensed was Corker by the But with Qatar just announcing it risk analyst at King’s College London, Junaideen, a risk adviser at audit fi rm Deloitte. or MBS, to launch a diplomatic and aggression displayed towards Qatar at is to invest £5bn in the UK May won’t pointed out this could involve transport blockade of Qatar last month. the outset of the crisis last month that want to alienate Doha either. substantial loss of face which the new “I think this is quite possibly a rookie he announced he would stop all arms In its bullishness towards its much young leader may not be prepared to To Advertise mistake by a crown prince who I think sales to the countries caught up in the smaller Arab rival the Saudi-led countenance. could be the future for Saudi Arabia.” dispute while it continued. alliance has threatened to escalate “Saudi Arabia actually thought [email protected] So there is implicit praise for the The country that stood to lose most the situation by stopping all trade they had the Trump administration, Display new young leader who represents ‘the from this action was Saudi Arabia with countries which continue to do especially the Republicans, on their Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 future of Saudi Arabia’, a reformer which had just signed a deal to buy business with Qatar. side,” he said. who could set his country on a more £100bn of weapons from the US. “One possibility would be to impose “That’s why they escalated so Classified modern and stable path. Corker is a close ally of US Secretary conditions on our own trading partners quickly and now they realise they Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 But it’s the patronising putdown of State Rex Tillerson, who returned and say you want to work with us then actually don’t and the Trump that you remember, this ‘rookie’ home from a week’s shuttle diplomacy you have got to make a commercial administration has actually rolled Subscription crown prince who it’s suggested has in the region trying to broker a deal. choice,” said Omar Ghobash, the UAE’s back from earlier comments, and that [email protected] blundered into potentially the biggest There was no real expectation of a ambassador in Moscow. is quite something to swallow for the Middle East crisis in years. breakthrough but it was clear where But it has since emerged that any UAE and Saudi Arabia.” On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Tillerson’s sympathies lie. American businesses that do this might 2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut “I think Qatar has been quite clear fall foul of US anti-boycott laws. zAnthony Harwood is a former foreign off all ties to Qatar, including food in its positions and I think those have Under rules drawn up decades ago editor at the Daily Mail. Gulf Times Sunday, July 16, 2017 23 COMMENT Is the shine off Emmanuel Macron?

By Charles Wyplosz administration are disquieting. control. If this reading is correct, the Geneva While the promised labour-market French government will remain top- reform is well underway, and could heavy, and the tax burden will remain be adopted as early as September, suff ocating. mmanuel Macron is on a the administration’s macroeconomic But there is a third possibility: winning streak. Within programme, articulated by Prime Macron believes that, to advance his a year, he has gone from Minister Edouard Philippe, is a serious vision for the European Union, he Einexperienced political disappointment. must act impeccably on the European underdog, with no establishment Philippe has announced that he stage, meeting the most stringent backing, to President of the French plans to cut public spending by a mere German standards. That approach Republic and leader of a newly created three percentage points of GDP over would be reasonable if Macron really political party with an impressive fi ve years. He has postponed several had a new vision for the EU. During parliamentary majority. Can he keep clever pro-growth tax cuts, some the electoral campaign, he mostly just it up? until the end of Macron’s current rehashed the traditional French view: Macron owes his recent success term of offi ce in 2022. A couple of a common European government and not just to good luck, but also to his days later, Macron changed tack a eurozone fi nance minister, with ability to build on any break that and brought some of these cuts a bit a separate budget to fi nance public came his way. For voters who were forward. Yet he intends to carry out investment. feeling mistrustful of the political in 2018 a general tax increase that was Most other EU countries have establishment, he managed to provide presented as a partial off set to the already rejected that vision, and an appealing option that did not cuts. many believe that not even France require a move to the fringes, whether In defence of this approach, itself would agree to the transfers of right or left. He came to be seen as Philippe cites the offi cial national- sovereignty that such reforms would a smart disruptor of the disruptive accounts watchdog, the Cour des imply. In any case, the EU is not at the populists. Comptes, which has reported serious point where it can discuss such radical Macron’s economic programme was budget overruns for 2017 – a result steps, as its top priority still must be particularly clever, as it responded of disingenuous electoral promises to fi x what is broken: a half-baked impeccably to more than a decade by the departing president, Francois banking union, a non-functioning of analyses of the ills affl icting the Hollande. The newcomers must Stability and Growth Pact, excessive French economy. He committed to therefore bring the defi cit back down regulation, and an empty immigration freeing up the famously ossifi ed labour to 3% of GDP, as promised last year policy. market and alleviating an excessive to France’s European partners. It is, Macron’s rapid ascent reflected and entrepreneurship-stifl ing tax Philippe insists, a matter of credibility. his ability to say the right thing in burden. He also pledged to shrink But pleasing the bean counters the right circumstances. But it also France’s unwieldy state, which now in Brussels or Berlin threatens meant that he moved into the Élysée spends 57% of GDP per year, by to undermine France’s incipient Early signals from the Macron administration on its macroeconomic programme are disquieting. Palace without having shown who he reducing cumbersome regulations economic recovery – and, in turn, really is. One hopes that he turns out and rationalising the outdated welfare support for the country’s new macroeconomic risk? And, perhaps precipitously after their embrace of own administration. Top French to be the man reflected in that well- system. president – at a moment when more important, is this indicative of austerity. Does Macron think that civil servants of the kind that he thought-out economic programme After his election, Macron upheld important and, at times, unpopular what the rest of his presidency will his luck will continue, bringing, say, has assembled traditionally share on which he campaigned, not the his reputation as a breath of fresh air, reforms must be pushed through. (As look like? a stronger economic recovery than two characteristics: they are overly one reflected in his macroeconomic building a government composed it stands, per capita GDP is now only The most positive interpretation currently foreseen? Or does he simply cautious and they have a poor policies since taking power. - Project of young people from all walks of slightly above its pre-crisis level, and assumes that Macron has decided to believe that he is in a stronger position understanding of macroeconomic Syndicate life – inexperienced, maybe, but unemployment began a slow decline focus on deep and courageous reforms, to survive disappointing growth strategy. enthusiastic and smart. Those who just last year.) European leaders while approaching macroeconomic and unemployment outcomes than Given this, it seems likely that zCharles Wyplosz is Professor of had long lamented France’s economic would probably prefer a little defi cit issues with caution, much like his his predecessors? In other words, many in Macron’s administration Economics at the Graduate Institute of decline could not believe the miracle slippage to the loss of popular support predecessors, Nicolas Sarkozy and is Macron being driven by faith or take the European agreements very International Studies, Director of the taking shape before their eyes. for France’s pro-Europe president, Hollande. Both initially rejected hubris? seriously, even too seriously, and International Center for Money and But great expectations can provided public spending is reduced. austerity only to end up adopting it. The most disquieting interpretation are repelled by the idea of vigorous Banking Studies, and Policy Director herald great disappointment. And Macron must understand all of But Sarkozy and Hollande saw of Macron’s decision-making is spending cuts, because their power of the Centre for Economic Policy early signals from the Macron this. So why he is taking such a their public opinion ratings drop that he is already captured by his is related to the size of the purse they Research. Weather report Talk of impeachment is premature Three-day forecast TODAY High: 39 C By Ramesh Ponnuru from offi ce require a very high degree of impeachment are acting as though which is to say hostility to the other of public support. The process they have to bring Trump supporters party. Republicans are less inclined Low : 34 C Bloomberg View Inshore:Hazy to misty at places at would have to enjoy the support of a around? Or that they prefer to vilify today than they were then to trust the first becomes hot daytime with majority of the House and two-thirds and demean them? media, meaning that even if Trump is some clouds and humid by night. ush Limbaugh says we are of the Senate. It is unlikely that Mike It’s not impossible. Some of the truly guilty of misconduct, reports of witnessing “a silent coup.” Pence would become president this president’s foes say that partisanship it will be initially discounted. And it’s MONDAY The radio host has sometimes way unless a very large majority of is too strong and Trump’s supporters human nature to resist believing the High: 41 C Rbeen accused of rhetorical Americans wanted it. too committed to their man to turn on worst about someone you voted for Low: 34 C excess, but his claim is based on a In the last 30 years, the highest him. They agree, that is, with Trump’s just a few months ago. M Sunny demonstrable truth. percentage of the vote any joke during the campaign that he Of course, most Trump supporters Many of US President Donald presidential candidate has gotten could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue might stick with him, or even see their Trump’s critics would indeed like “to was George HW Bush’s 53.4% in and not lose voters. numbers increase, in which cases the TUESDAY get rid of him,” as Limbaugh says. A 1988. That level of consensus – the But there were many reluctant preconditions for impeachment will High: 42 C large majority of Democratic voters most we have attained in decades Trump voters. And even today, not materialise. The course of the Low: 34 C wants impeachment – wanted it, in – would not be enough to secure people change their minds. Columbia economy will help determine which P Cloudy fact, well before the revelation that Trump’s removal. Support for County, Wisconsin, voted for Bill scenario takes place. senior Trump campaign personnel his ouster would have to be much Clinton, George W Bush, Barack So will the course of special counsel decided to take a meeting after being broader than that. Without very Obama and Donald Trump. It also Robert Mueller’s investigation. If he Fishermen’s forecast voted for Republican Scott Walker uncovers serious wrongdoing, or has promised Russian support in taking broad support, any attempt to OFFSHORE DOHA down Hillary Clinton. dethrone Trump would fail – just as for governor in 2010, and Democrat already uncovered it, the eventual Wind: SE-NE 03-12 KT Limbaugh even understates the the attempt to remove Bill Clinton Tammy Baldwin for senator in 2012. release of that information could Waves: 1-3/4 Feet case. He says that “nobody is actually for perjury did. It backed Ron Johnson over Russ slowly change the mind of soft Trump INSHORE DOHA Wind: NE-NW 05-15/18 KT expressing this desire verbally.” He It follows that if Congress removes Feingold in the 2010 Senate race, supporters, and soften hard ones. But Waves: 1-2/3 Feet should read the liberals in my Twitter Trump from power, it will be and then Feingold over Johnson in that is an “if,” not a “when.” feed. Or listen to the two Democratic impossible to make a plausible case 2016. It would hardly be shocking if That may be a truth unpalatable Around the region congressmen who this week fi led an that a minority or even a bare majority a chunk of Trump’s voters there, and to people who have made up their Weather Weather article of impeachment. Rep. Maxine of the country had abused its power. elsewhere, defected. minds on both sides of our burgeoning today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Waters of California has also called for It requires persuasion. It further Trump’s support would not have impeachment debate: Its outcome is Abu Dhabi Sunny 43/35 P Cloudy 42/34 impeachment. follows that this consensus for to disappear altogether. Half of going to depend on facts we don’t have Baghdad Sunny 48/32 Sunny 48/34 Dubai That’s a far-off prospect. But removing the president would have Republicans stuck with Richard Nixon yet. – Tribune News Service Sunny 43/35 P Cloudy 44/35 Kuwait City Sunny 46/34 Sunny 47/34 even if the debate is only beginning, to include many people who voted for all the way to the helicopter. But right Manama M Sunny 41/31 Sunny 41/33 we can already see its main points him and who are supporting him still. now roughly 85% of Republicans are zRamesh Ponnuru is a Bloomberg Muscat P Cloudy 37/33 P Cloudy 36/31 of contention. We can also see that For Trump to be removed from offi ce, with Trump, and that number would View columnist. He is a senior editor of Riyadh P Cloudy 46/32 P Cloudy 46/31 each side is skirting two truths about a signifi cant number of his supporters have to fall. National Review and the author of The Tehran Sunny 36/26 Sunny 36/25 impeachment it fi nds unpalatable. would have to become convinced that It would take time for minds to Party of Death: The Democrats, the It wouldn’t be “a coup.” The he has done something that shows him change. Compared with Nixon’s Media, the Courts, and the Disregard Constitution’s provisions for to be unfi t for the presidency. day, we have stronger partisanship for Human Life. Readers may e-mail impeaching and removing a president Does it seem to you that advocates – especially negative partisanship, him at [email protected] Live issues Dark hair dye linked to breast cancer

By Ronnie Cohen breast cancer risk among black women ago. shades, only 30% of blacks did. Reuters Health who used dark shades of hair dye and “A lot of people have asked me if The most striking results showed white women who used chemical I’m telling women not to dye their hair increased risk in the minority of black relaxers. or not to use relaxers,” she said in a women who used dark hair dye and frican-American and white Black women who reported using phone interview. “I’m not saying that. white women who used chemical women who regularly dark hair dye had a 51% increased risk What I think is really important is we relaxers. Around the world chemically straightened their of breast cancer compared to black need to be more aware of the types of Black women who used chemical Weather Weather hair or dyed it dark brown women who did not, while white exposures in the products we use.” straighteners and white women who today Max/min tomorrow Max/min A Athens M Sunny S T Storms 27/20 or black had an elevated risk of breast women who reported using chemical The study included adult women used dark hair dyes were also at higher 33/21 cancer, recent research suggests. relaxers had a 74% increased risk of from New York and New Jersey, risk for breast cancer, but that might Beirut Sunny 30/26 Sunny 30/26 T Storms 30/26 “I would be concerned about darker breast cancer, the study found. surveyed from 2002 through 2008, have been due to chance. James-Todd Bangkok 30/26 T Storms Berlin S Showers 21/15 M Cloudy 21/12 hair dye and hair straighteners,” The risk of breast cancer was who had been diagnosed with breast said that because so many of the black Cairo Sunny 41/26 Sunny 40/27 epidemiologist Tamarra James- even higher for white women who cancer, plus women of similar age and women used chemical relaxers and so Cape Town P Cloudy 11/07 P Cloudy 13/09 Todd said after reviewing the report regularly dyed their hair dark shades race but without a history of cancer. many of the white women used dark Colombo T Storms 29/26 T Storms 29/26 in Carcinogenesis. “We should and also used chemical relaxers, and Women were asked if they had ever hair dye, links would have been hard Dhaka P Cloudy 33/27 S T Storms 34/27 Hong Kong T Storms 30/27 T Storms 29/27 really think about using things in it more than doubled for white dual used permanent hair dye at least twice to detect. Istanbul Cloudy 27/23 Cloudy 27/21 moderation and really try to think users compared to white women who a year for at least a year. They were There’s no reason to believe that Jakarta P Cloudy 32/23 P Cloudy 32/25 about being more natural. used neither dark dye nor chemical also asked if they had ever chemically chemical relaxers and hair dyes would Karachi Cloudy 31/27 S T Storms 31/27 “Just because something is on the straighteners. relaxed or straightened their hair for at increase the risk for women of one London Cloudy 24/14 P Cloudy 25/15 Manila T Storms T Storms 32/26 market does not necessarily mean The association between relaxers least a year. race and not of another, she said. 31/26 Moscow P Cloudy 24/13 M Cloudy 20/12 it’s safe for us,” she said in a phone and breast cancer in white women While the vast majority - 88% - of She believes the association stems New Delhi T Storms 33/27 T Storms 33/28 interview. James-Todd, a professor at surprised lead author Adana Llanos, blacks had used chemicals to relax not from genetics but from cultural New York Sunny 31/23 P Cloudy 28/22 the Harvard TH Chan School of Public an epidemiologist at the Rutgers their hair, only 5% of whites reported norms. Paris P Cloudy 29/16 P Cloudy 29/18 Health in Boston, was not involved School of Public Health in Piscataway, using relaxers. It could also boil down to products, Sao Paulo Sunny 26/13 M Sunny 26/12 Seoul S T Storms 28/24 S T Storms 30/24 with the new research. New Jersey, although she worried For dark hair dye, the numbers and women from diff erent cultures Singapore P Cloudy 30/26 P Cloudy 30/26 The study of 4,285 African- enough about the safety of hair fl ipped, though the diff erences were might use diff erent straighteners and Sydney Sunny 16/08 M Sunny 18/09 American and white women was the relaxers in African-American women not as dramatic. While 58% of whites dyes. But the study did not ask women Tokyo Clear 35/26 Clear 33/24 fi rst to fi nd a signifi cant increase in like herself to stop using them years said they regularly dyed their hair dark to specify the products they used. Gulf Times 24 Sunday, July 16, 2017 QATAR Trump ‘forced’ Saudis to buy arms worth billions of dollars z US president rules out will not have a problem with the $110bn - something he alluded On Thursday, the White House Al Udeid operations not aff ected: Mattis moving airbase from Qatar military base”. to in the interview. said Trump spoke to the Saudi z ‘We will maintain good “We are going to have a good “Saudi Arabia put up hun- King Salman by phone and dis- The ongoing Gulf crisis has not To a question what would be relations with Qatar’ relationship with Qatar and not dreds of billions of dollars of cussed eff orts to resolve the aff ected the operations at the impact of a prolonged crisis on going to have a problem with the money going into buying our dispute. US airbase at Al Udeid in Qatar, the US airbase, he said: “There’s Al Jazeera military base,” Trump said in an planes and our military equip- The anti-Doha quartet is- US Defence Secretary James just been no impact yet. That’s Doha interview with CBN News aired ment and investing in our coun- sued a list of 13 demands that Mattis has said. not to say we don’t want to on Wednesday. try. And I said, ‘You have to do included shutting down Qatar’s In an interview, the transcript see this resolved, and resolved “If we ever had to leave, we’d that otherwise I am not going.’ So Al Jazeera Media Network, sever of which has been posted as soon as possible with he US will maintain have 10 countries willing to build they spent hundreds of billions all alleged ties with the Mus- on the off icial website of the everybody. Everybody working good relations with Qa- us another one. And they’ll pay of dollars right in front of us,” lim Brotherhood and with other US Department of Defence, against terrorist financing, not Ttar, President Donald for it. The days of us paying for Trump said. groups, limiting Qatar’s ties with he said: “Right now we’ve just Qatar, but everybody.” Trump has told an American things are largely over.” “I mean they were signing big Iran and expelling Turkish troops had no impact on our Asked if the US military was news channel, adding that the Following the Arab countries’ people from the biggest coun- stationed in the country. military operations. Al Udeid looking at alternatives, in terms US airbase will not be moved decision to impose the blockade tries and companies, General Qatar denies the charges of ex- continue(s) to operate around of air bases, he replied: “No, out of the Middle Eastern on Qatar last month, Trump, in a Electric and all of the big com- tremism and called the demands the clock, and the supplies are there’s been no impact. There’s country despite the diplo- series of tweets, seemed to back panies, many of them were there “unrealistic”. there.” no need to look at alternatives.” matic and economic block- the move. getting contracts, all good work In an interview published ade imposed on Doha by the He visited Saudi Arabia in May for our workers - that was one of by The Times newspaper on Saudi-led group. on the fi rst leg of his fi rst foreign the things.” Wednesday, Noura al-Kaabi, the fund a TV channel but not one son and British Foreign Secretary Saudi Arabia, the United Arab US President Donald Trump. trip since taking offi ce and held Qatar is also among the coun- UAE minister for the federal na- which provides a platform for Boris Johnson, visited the region Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt im- a series of meetings with the tries which purchases military tional council, said the Emirates extremists and where the Eng- and called for direct talks to solve posed a land, sea and air mand and hosts around 10,000 king and other Arab and Muslim equipment from the US. sought “fundamental change lish channel is a protective shield the crisis. blockade on Qatar on June 5. American troops. leaders. Last month, the US and Qatar and restructuring” of Al Jazeera for the much more radical Arabic During Tillerson’s visit to Qatar is home to the Al Udeid But while saying there are During the two-day visit, signed a deal for the purchase of rather than to shut it. one,” Kaabi told The Times. Doha, Qatar and the US also airbase that holds the forward “10 countries willing to build us Trump also signed an arms deal F-15 fi ghter jets with an initial “The staff at the channel can Foreign diplomats, including signed an agreement to help headquarters of Central Com- another base”, Trump said “we with Saudi Arabia worth almost cost of $12bn. keep their jobs and Qatar can still US Secretary of State Rex Tiller- combat “terrorism fi nancing”. NHRC urges Ministry unveils ‘Tamim Al Majd’ billboards UN to act fast

QNA International Conference on Hu- New York man Rights Approach to Confl ict Situations in the Arab Region, which took place in February. ational Human Rights He stressed that the committee Committee (NHRC) would continue with its partner- Nchairman Dr Ali bin ship with the offi ce in future. Smaikh al-Marri met with As- Dr al-Marri also praised the sistant UN Secretary-General eff orts of the offi ce of the high for Human Rights Andrew Gil- commissioner’s Middle East mour yesterday, reiterating the Regional Offi ce, and said the need to move swiftly to stop the NHRC would remain commit- The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), has inaugurated three ‘Tamim Al deterioration of human rights ted to the UN Centre for South- Majd’ billboards. These are located at the MoPH, PHCC headquarters and HMC’s Bayt Al Dhiyafah. The initiative enables the leaders and employees of the health sector to express violations that citizens of Qa- West Asia and the Arab Region, their loyalty to His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the MoPH has said in a statement. HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari unveiled tar and its residents from GCC which is headquartered in Doha. a billboard in the presence of a number of leaders and employees of Qatar’s public health sector organisations. The billboards have attracted a large number of employees from countries and other nationalities He added that there were the three health organisations, who were keen to show their solidarity by writing messages of support for His Highness the Emir and Qatar, the statement adds. were being subjected to. many joint activities between He stressed the importance the committee and the offi ce of diff erentiating between hu- through a memorandum of un- manitarian issues and politics derstanding (MoU) they signed. and noted that while the latter Meanwhile, Dr al-Marri held could eventually be resolved separate meetings at the UN through diplomacy and media- headquarters with the heads Washington Post highlights success of Qatar’s strong stance tion, violation of human rights of the diplomatic missions of could not wait for political Switzerland, Argentina, Costa negotiations. Rica, Ghana, Sweden and Liech- QNA limits to “Saudi-UAE” leader- Co-operation Council and the have overestimated Qatari fears mand to shut down Al Jazeera The NHRC chairman ex- tenstein and reviewed the devel- Washington ship in the region, according to Arab Middle East has instead of isolation from the GCC and “attracted widespread global pressed thanks to the Offi ce opments pertaining to Qatar’s a report in The Washington Post demonstrated the continuing their own ability to infl ict harm condemnation as an assault on of the High Commissioner for siege and its implications on yesterday. divisions of the regional order.” on their neighbour.” media freedom”. Human Rights for its eff orts to- humanitarian conditions. he Washington Post has “After hosting dozens of Arab The analysis written by Marc The article noted that the eco- Lynch said it was “remark- wards ending the injustice vic- The NHRC chairman also highlighted the suc- and Muslim leaders for Presi- Lynch, a professor of political nomic boycott could only “mar- able” that the Saudis could not tims of the human rights viola- briefed the offi cials on the com- Tcess of the strong Qatari dent Trump’s summit, Saudi science and international aff airs ginally” hurt one of the riches expand its anti-Qatar coalition tions are subjected to. He said mittee’s course of action dur- stance in facing the blockading Arabia and the UAE evidently at George Washington Univer- nations in the world. “Military to beyond Egypt, the UAE and the NHRC enjoys a strong part- ing the crisis and its interaction countries, pointing out that the expected a rapid victory over sity, said: “Saudi Arabia and threats had little eff ect once the Bahrain. nership with the offi ce, which is with the UN agencies and inter- four nations have failed to harm Qatar and widespread regional the UAE radically overstated US military made it clear that it The Saudi move has also evident in the co-organisation national human rights groups to Qatar. support. It has not worked out their prospects for success and had no interest in UAE sugges- backfi red because it allowed Iran of fi ve international conferences help condemn the violations of The strong stance taken by that way,” the article said. “The failed to have a plausible plan B tions that it move the US air base to improve its relations not only recently. the siege and its implications on Qatar against Saudi bullying has eff ort to demonstrate Saudi- in case things did not go to plan. from Qatar.” with Qatar but also with Oman The most recent one was the many of those aff ected. shown the world that there are UAE hegemony over the Gulf The anti-Qatar quartet seems to The piece also said the de- and Kuwait, the professor said. QIC Group expresses solidarity CCQ ‘ready to take in pupils aff ected by siege’

QNA CCQ has announced the institutions. Some of the goals of Doha launch of a new programme on the programme will be providing logistics and supply chain op- students with the ability to ana- erations, which will begin in fall lyse diff erent situations to make ommunity College of Qa- 2017. Offi cials said the launch the appropriate decision, and tar (CCQ) president Ib- is topical in light of the State’s using technology to facilitate the Crahim bin Saleh al-Naimi expansion of export-import ac- processing of supplying. has said they are ready to receive tivities with a growing number The programme will equip Qatari students studying abroad of countries around the world. the college’s students with who have been forced to leave as This development means new skills that will help them a result of the siege. that government institutions get access to job opportunities Speaking to journalists after and private businesses will re- in the fi eld of logistics at air- launching a new diploma pro- quire an effi cient management ports, ports, factories, logistics gramme at the college, he said of these operations, some- companies, hospitals as well as they were ready to receive any thing provided by the new pro- sporting institutions and many student wishing to resume their gramme. Mastering the logistics other sectors. diploma or bachelor’s degree. and supply chain operations will Al-Naimi said this particular This would be done by equating help honour local and interna- specialisation is in high demand the number of hours and sub- tional contracts, supplying and in the job market across several jects studied at universities of storing products sustainably and sectors. the blockading countries. properly, which would enhance He also announced that the col- The goal of the initiative is to the profi tability of companies. lege will inaugurate a new building help such students and alleviate There is also an increased de- in Al Khor. Fall of 2017 will mark some of their suff ering by pro- mand for logistics manage- the Al Khor building’s fi rst semes- viding them with an opportunity ment in the sport, aviation and ter, but it will be fully functional to obtain a degree. maritime transport fi elds. in January 2018. It will serve the He said the acceptance of stu- The new programme will em- entire northern area and have a Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) has unveiled a ‘Tamim Al Majd’ mural at its headquarters in West Bay to demonstrate its solidarity with dents will be done in compli- power students by providing capacity of 1,500 students. Qatar. The mural was unveiled in the presence of QIC chairman Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Ali al-Thani and QIC Group president and ance with the college’s policies, them with the knowledge and The college has also launched CEO Khalifa Abdullah Turki al-Subaey during a signing ceremony. Besides QIC staff , nationals and residents signed and wrote messages which include the students ob- skills necessary to manage the a hotline, 16070, aimed to help on the mural to express their loyalty to the wise leadership, as well as solidarity and firm stance, in order to demonstrate their support taining suffi cient grades and the infl ow of information and prod- students who wish to join a par- for Qatar amid the prevailing crisis. availability of the academic pro- ucts as part of the supply chain ticular programme by answering gramme they wish to join. of companies and government any queries they might have.