Volume 24 | Number 7918 | 2 RiyalsMonday 10 June 2019 | 7 Shawwal 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

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Rafael Nadal wins 12th French Open title

G20 finance chiefs express concern over

risks from ‘intensified’ trade conflict

FM: Qatar, other countries urge Iran and US to de-escalate tensionQNA/REUTERS LONDON

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani said yesterday that the State of Qatar and other countries are urging Iran and the US to de-escalation, calling on both sides to meet and find a compromise.

“We believe that at one point there should an engagement — it cannot last forever like this,” H E the Foreign Minister told reporters in London.

“Since they are not willing to engage in further escalation, they should come up with ideas that open the doors,” H E the Foreign Minister added.

H E the Foreign Minister said that several countries including the State of Qatar, Oman, Iraq, and Japan had been urging de-escalation with the two sides.

H E the Foreign Minister said: “All these countries are concerned what escalation could lead to,” adding, “there were attempts by Qatar and by other countries in the region to de-escalate the situation: We have been speaking to the US and we have been talking to the Iranians as well.”

“What we are trying to do is really to bridge the gap and create a conversation between the two parties as escalation is not going to benefit anyone in the region,” H E the Foreign Minister said.

In regard to the ongoing Gulf crisis H E Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said: “When you have one of the parties aiming for zero sum game, nothing will change”, adding that “nothing has changed”.

H E Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said that Qatar will accept any Middle East peace plan that is acceptable to the Palestinians. H E added that there was a dis-connect between the Palestinians and the United States over a US blueprint aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. �P2

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has offered condolences to Amir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince H H Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah, conveyed by Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, on the demise of Wadha Ali Abdulrahman Al Munir Al Subaie, mother of the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah. H E the Prime Minister also offered his condolences to members of Kuwait ruling family during a visit to Kuwait last evening.

Amir offers condolences to Kuwaiti Amir Amir sends greetings to King of JordanQNA DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the anniversary of his accession to the throne.

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the same occasion yesterday.

Gold sales surge during Ramadan, Eid SACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

High prices of gold has failed to dent the buying spirit of customers as the sale of yellow metal surged during Eid Al Fitr and the holy month of Ramadan. Sales of gold jewellery in the country surged by up to 25 percent during Eid holidays and Ramadan.

“We witnessed around 20-25 percent increase in the sale of gold jewellery during the holy month of Ramadan. One of the main

factors behind high sale was upcoming vacation period. Expa-triates tend to buy gold before going to their home country during Eid holidays and summer vacation,” Santosh TV, Regional Head, Malabar Gold and Diamond, Qatar told The Peninsula.

“Another supporting factor was an Indian festival ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ which was celebrated in the first week of May. We wit-nessed high sale because Indians buy gold during Akshaya Tritiya,” he added.

Akshaya Tritiya is an Indian

festival during which they con-sider it as auspicious to buy gold jewellery, coins and bars. Gold has become dearer during the last two weeks as prices of the yellow metal have risen due to high demand and other global factors. A gram of 22 carat gold was trading yesterday at QR156 while it was trading at around QR145 per gram two weeks back.

“Eid is always a busy time for jewellers and we were expecting this kind of response because this is an annual phenomenon. �P2

Food outlets at SEC prove a crowd pullerRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Following its successful launch during the Eid Al Fitr holidays, the Summer Entertainment City (SEC) continues to attract visitors at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center not only for its varied games and fun activ-ities but also for its wide array of food and retail shops.

Spread around the venue are 45 food outlets, 21 of which are located in the food court which has a seating capacity of 600. A variety of delectable food options are available on their menus from burgers, fries, pastries and pasta to coffee, ice cream and juices. The City lends strong support to locally-owned busi-nesses with 70 percent of the outlets are local brands.

“The games are amazing and the food is delicious – two of the reasons why I keep coming back here,” said Pete, one of the visitors who is an avid gamer. He expressed delight on the improved Virtual Reality and Gaming zone which has been expanded to cover an area of 6,000sqm and include more games catered to a wider age range.

For those who love shopping,

a total of 114 retail shops can be found at the SEC which offer a wide range of products such as jewellery, garments, ready-to-wear clothes, bags, perfumes, footwear, acces-sories and toys. There are also shops which offer carpets, antiques and home display items as well as spices, sweets, and nuts.

“I like the fact that SEC has

these stalls which has a wide selection of goods making it a one-stop shop for the family,” said Marnie, who came to SEC with her two sons who both enjoyed the games and rides.

The main areas of the SEC 2019 also include amusement rides, skills games with prizes, bespoke trampoline park, a kids

driving school setup, giant blocks park for kids to play and build with large lego-type blocks, a 1,000sqm ocean ball soft play area, Qatar’s first InflataPark spread over 1,200sqm, the world’s largest bounce castle, a 1200sqm skate park, synthetic ice skating, and Spider Climbing tower, among others. �P2

The food court at Summer Entertainment City at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center witnessed huge number of visitors during the holidays. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al Thani elected FIBA Asia President

QNA BENGALURU

The Asian Basketball Feder-ation (FIBA Asia) has elected Qatar Olympic Committee First Vice-President Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al Thani as FIBA Asia President for the period 2019-2023.

Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al Thani won by acclamation to continue the presidency of FIBA Asia for a new term. The election was held during the meeting of the General Assembly of the FIBA Asia yes-terday in Bengaluru, the capital city of the South Indian state of Karnataka.

Our position remains very firm: We are going to support any plan that the Palestinians are willing to accept."

Kazakhstan’s Tokayev gets over 70% of vote: Exit pollsANATOLIA NUR-SULTAN

Kazakhstan’s interim leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been elected with over 70 percent in the presidential election, according to exit polls. Tokayev got 70.13 percent of the votes, Ainur Mazhitova, Chairman of the Public Opinion Research Institute in Nur-Sultan said in a press conference. Voter turnout was 77.4 percent of the 12 million registered voters, according to the country’s Central Election Commission.

After voting, former long-term president Nursultan Nazarbayev said that a new generation will come with new thoughts and they will carry Kazakhstan to new heights.

Several killed in Sudan a week after crackdownAFP KHARTOUM

One week after dozens died in a crackdown on Sudanese protesters demanding civilian rule, four people were killed as security forces moved to quell a civil disobedience campaign launched yesterday.

The deaths marked almost two months since the April 11 ouster of longtime ruler Omar Al Bashir, as talks broke down between protest leaders and military rulers over who should lead a new gov-erning body — a civilian or soldier.

Protesters set about building roadblocks in Khartoum, while markets and shops were closed in other towns and cities.

A doctors’ committee linked to the demonstrators said two people had been killed in clashes in the capital, while two others died in its twin city of Omdurman, just across the Nile. The Health Ministry says 61 people died nationwide in Monday’s crackdown, 49 of them from “live ammunition” in Khartoum.

02 MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019HOME

Amir offers condolences to Kuwaiti Amir

The Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, with the Amir of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, during a visit to Kuwait to convey the condolences offered by the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the demise of Wadha Ali Abdulrahman Al Munir Al Subaie, mother of the Prime Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah. RIGHT: H E the Prime Minister with the Prime Minister of Kuwait (centre).

Special programme for workers during summer

SANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) will organise special entertainment programmes for workers under Summer in Qatar (SiQ) programme.

“We will organise Doha Workers Cricket Cup in Umm Saeed from June 15 to July 30,” Rashed Al Qurese (pictured), Chief Marketing Officer at QNTC, told The Peninsula.

He said that cricket is a very popular game for expatriate workers, especially those belong to Indian subcontinent. “Two more entertainment pro-grammes- Bollywood Music Fes-tival and South Indian Interna-tional Movie Awards (SIIMA 2019), will also be held under SiQ programme,” said Al Qurese.

Bollywood Music Festival will be held in June and SIIMA 2019, a two-day festival, in

August at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall.

“QNTC has prepared the largest summer programme in the world in collaboration with its over 30 partners from public and private sector under SiQ to entertain all segments of the society, including citizens, expa-triates, families, individuals and workers,” said Al Qurese. He said that the months-long SiQ

programme is not about a summer festival which run for a limited time. “The programme, which began on June 4, will end on August 16 throughout the summer season. With the closing of schools by the end of June, the activities will become in full swing,” said Al Qurese. He said that the SiQ programme focuses on many things, including increasing local expenditures

and providing alternative enter-tainments for people residing in Qatar.

“QNTC prepared a complete strategy and then worked with all partners to present the pro-grammes as a complete package to the consumers under one umbrella,” said Al Qurese.

He said that SiQ programme is also designed to attract foreign tourists. “This year, we focused

on international markets around us with big number of popula-tions like Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and India among many more,” said Al Qurese. He added that under the programme, Qatar Airways offers 25 percent discount on flights to Doha from over 160 destinations throughout the summer from May 30 to August 15. “We worked with hotels to offer discounts up to 25 percent,” he added.

He said that the hospitality sector is also important for local customers as many people residing in Qatar prefer to stay in hotels during weekend and holidays to enjoy the services and facilities as Qatar emerged as the best hospitality sector in the Middle East.

“We have basic tourism products focusing on family entertainments during summer giving other options to people like museum, markets and shopping among many more,” said Al Qurese.

An eye-catching performance during the Aladdin live show held as part of the Eid Al Fitr celebrations at Lagoona Mall, a part of the ongoing Summer in Qatar programme. PIC: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

Bollywood Music Festival will be held on June 14 and SIIMA 2019, a two-day festival, on August 15 and 16 at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall.

Food outlets at SEC prove a crowd pullerFROM PAGE 1

There are more than 85 activities at SEC which also include art and craft workshops for children.

Another attraction at SEC are live performances by artistes presented in cooperation with different embassies in Doha such as Georgia,

Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and South Africa. Last week featured breathtaking performances by world renowned Georgian National Ballet “Sukhishvili” who returned to Qatar after their successful Doha debut last month. It was followed by well-applauded performances by Doha-based Kalabhavan Music and Arts

School. Bounce acrobatic shows and the roaming parades are among the other crowd-pullers at the SEC which is open until July 31 from 12.30pm to 10pm (Saturday to Wednesday) and from 1pm to 11pm (Thursday and Friday). Summer Entertainment City is among the major offerings of Summer in Qatar (SiQ) programme

which forms part of Qatar National Tourism Council’s strategy to enrich and diversify the country’s tourism offering, particularly in the area of family and urban entertainment. Family fun, entertainment shows, summer camps, and big offers and discounts are among the other fea-tures of (SiQ).

Gold sales surge during Ramadan, Eid

FROM PAGE 1

“Every year we see the rush of customers during Eid Al Fitr and the holy month of Ramadan for buying gold,” store manager of a jewellery showroom told The Peninsula.

“The demand was more for jewellery compared to gold bars. The demand for gold bars is not seasonal and it fluctuates with prices,” he added.

Gold has become dearer during this year as prices of the yellow metal have risen due to high demand and other global factors.

A gram of 22 carat gold was trading yesterday at QR156 while it was trading at around QR150 per gram at start of January this year.

In the remaining part of 2019, the trend in gold prices will depend on the movement in the value of dollar and interest rates in the US.

A weaker dollar fuels demand for gold by making it cheaper for holders of other currencies, while lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of owning non-yielding bullion. Gold is highly sensitive to the rising interest rates because they push up bond yields and tend to boost the dollar.

FM: Qatar, other countries urge Iran and US to de-escalate tension

FROM PAGE 1

“Our position remains very firm: We are going to support any plan that the Palestinians are willing to accept.”

“It cannot be a solution like, sort of, imposed on the Pales-tinians — no country in the Arab world can accept that,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani .

“If the plan is rejected by one of the parties it means the plan is either unfair or just not realistic,” H E the Deputy Prime Minister added. “The best sce-nario is either that both parties accept it or that both parties reject it.”

Eid Al Fitr festival at Souq Waqif, Wakrah Souq ends with huge turnout THE PENINSULA DOHA

Eid Al Fitr festival held at Souq Waqif and Wakrah Souq for five days has concluded after attracting thousands of citizens, residents and tourists.

A large number of families attended the festival as well as young people and adults; where they met with various games and recreational activities in air-con-ditioned tents.

Mohammed Salem, Director of Souq Waqif Management , said the large air-conditioned tent, that was installed at Al Ahmed Square, encouraged thousands to spend fun times inside. The turnout was big and it encourages to offer more events and festivals on such occasions.

The tent in Souq Waqif included, electromechanical games, and other intelligence for all age groups, as well as recreational activities, fun games, enter-tainment and theatre work for young people, QNA has reported.

The Souq Waqif Arts Center attracted a large number of vis-itors who closely followed the artistes who performed there. Young people enjoyed painting on faces, while other artists painted on bags and cups.

The Eid Al Fitr Festival in Souq Al Wakra attracted thou-sands of visitors from Al Wakrah and other cities in the country.

Khalid Saif Al Suwaidi, Director of Wakrah Souq, said that the opening of Doha Metro contributed significantly to the smooth flow of traffic and the

influx of large numbers of visitors to Al Wakra. He noted that Wakrah Souq attracts large

number of visitors due to its location at the beach. The tent included over 40 different games,

in addition to entertainment activities and games of lightness, as well as water-games.

Artistes perform during the Eid Al Fitr celebrations at Katara.

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 14 AM04. 43 AM

11. 33 AM02. 56 PM

06. 26 PM07. 56 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum33oC 47oC

HIGH TIDE 09:58–22:28 LOW TIDE 5:32 – 16:11

Very hot daytime with slight dust at some

places.

03MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 HOME

Quality improvement at the centre of Qatar’s healthcare systemFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Qatar as a nation under a strong leadership has put in huge efforts and made tremendous advances in the field of healthcare quality improvement in recent years. Numerous national quality improvement programmes initiated in Qatar over time have significantly enhanced the healthcare system, according to an expert.

The development of National Health Vision 2020 along with Qatar National Health Strategies, Qatar National Patient Safety C o l l a b o r a t i v e , H a m a d Healthcare Quality Institute (HHQI), the Middle East Forum

on Quality and Safety in Healthcare — an annual inter-national conference on patient safety, quality and patient expe-rience improvement — and Min-istry of Public Health’s annual safety week are just a few key initiatives and milestones, said Dr Sharda Udassi, Senior Attending Physician at Sidra

Medicine and Associate Pro-fessor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine.

“The leadership’s com-mitment is there. We all need to join the forces to move forward. For that all individuals who are part of the healthcare systems across the country including education systems along with

patients and families from the community need to get involved and do their part to improve the safety, quality and family expe-rience of healthcare in Qatar,” she told The Peninsula.

One of the major health care related events Qatar hosted recently was this year’s Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare Conference with a focus on ‘Patient Safety First.’ Dr Udassi presented two topics related to patient safety, quality improvement and patient experience. One, on the ‘Innovative use of technology for patient safety and quality improvement’ while the second presentation focused on how patient and family-centric care

can improve patient safety.“My Professional career

passion is to make a significant impact on the quality of healthcare. In this day and age it is no more sufficient to say that we are providing healthcare to our community. As healthcare providers — physicians, nurses, therapists, pharmacists and other related staff, we all need to provide the best healthcare available to all our patients and families. Seeing a child recov-ering quickly from illness with the whole family’s relief and happiness, inspires me to do more and more,” said Dr Udassi.

“This inspiration has taken me to the next step where I want to help improve the healthcare

systems on a larger scale so that all patients and families receive the best possible healthcare for their loved ones. To do that I have been serving as the phy-sician director of quality for chil-dren’s services,” she added.

Dr Udassi has done American Board of Medical Quality (ABMQ) Certification in Medical Quality and over the last four years, she has initiated or been active member of various committees and workgroups that work on improving the quality of healthcare in Sidra Medicine, nationally with Hamad Medical Corporation, Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute and Ministry of Public Health.

Vehicles line up at the roundabout under the immigration flyover in Doha as one side of the Immigration Bridge is temporarily closed. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT / THE PENINSULA

ICC associate bodies plant trees to mark World Environment Day THE PENINSULA DOHA

Karnataka based ICC Associate Organisations — Karnataka Sangha Qatar (KSQ), Tulukoota Qatar, Mangalore Cricket Club (MCC), South Kanara Muslim Welfare Association (SKMWA), Mangalore Cultural Association

(MCA), Bunts Qatar and Qatar Billawas jointly celebrated World Environment Day on June 5 by planting the saplings at Ideal Indian School premises in asso-ciation with ATS Group (Asso-ciated Technical Services and Advanced Technical Services). ICC MC Member Ramachandra Shetty, KSQ President Venkat

Rao, Tulukoota President Asmath Ali, MCC President Sunil D’Silva, SKMWA President Abdul Majeed, MCA President Veena Pais, Bunts Qatar President Deepak Shetty, Qatar Billawas President Raghunath Anchan, ATS Group Managing Director Ravi Shetty, and other members took part in the event.

BPS principal to help prepare schools in India for PISA 2021THE PENINSULA DOHA

Ministry of Human Resources D e v e l o p m e n t ( M H R D ) , Government of India, has requested A P Sharma and the school team to help selected schools in India to do well in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2021.

The Chairperson of Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE has asked A P Sharma to share the strategic planning for preparing students and teachers for PISA, teacher training modules, question framing,

modifications in the class room transaction of curriculum. A total of 200 schools in Punjab region have been identified to partic-ipate in the exercise which includes all types of government and private schools.

Sharma, who is Principal of the Birla Public School, will conduct a workshop for the leadership teams of these schools next month.

This programme is for internat ional s tudents assessment which includes worldwide study by the organ-isation to evaluate educational system by measuring 15-year-old school pupil’s scholastic

performance on math, science and reading. A team of MHRD and CBSE officials will visit the school and government offi-cials in coming weeks.

The school has shared its best practices with the Ministry of Education in Qatar.

We shall feel extremely privileged and honoured to assist other local government and private schools for a common cause to see the nation’s rank elevated signifi-cantly, the principal said

He also shared the key to get best results is creating strong foundation for “reading” right from class I.

Participants plant a sapling at the Ideal Indian School to mark the World Environment Day.

Outdoor fitness equipment at Doha CornicheA man using outdoor fitness equipment installed for fitness enthusiasts at the Doha Corniche promenade, yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

Ashghal advises drivers to use temporary traffic diversion at Al Gharafa interchangeTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Due to emergency maintenance work, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) had to close the immigration bridge in the direction from North to South, as the maintenance work will last for almost one month.

As a result, Ashghal has advised all the drivers coming from north towards south of Doha to use the temporary traffic diversion at Al Gharafa interchange (Immigration inter-change) or to use Sabah Al Ahmed Corridor or Al Jamaa Street as alternate routes.

Ashghal said road users coming from Dukhan Road towards Khalifa Street (Al Markhyia) can use Immigration Tunnel. As for Al Luqta resi-dents that are approaching east, they can use Makkah Al

Mokarama Street and Omar bin Al Khattab tunnel as an alter-native of Al Gharafa interchange (Immigration interchange) to avoid the temporary traffic diversion there. Madinat Khalifa North residents if approaching Gharafa can use the bridge which is connecting Madinat Khalifa North with Al Itihad

Street to avoid the traffic con-gestion which may be witnessed at Al Gharafa interchange.

Public Works Authority has also emphasised the safety of the structure of the bridge and confirmed that the maintenance work was limited to filling works and asphalt sub-base only.

Qatar has taken a number of initiatives to improve the quality of healthcare, including Qatar National Health Strategies, Qatar National Patient Safety Collaborative, Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute, the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, and the annual safety week observed by the Ministry of Public Health.

Schengen visa fees to increase from JanTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Travellers in need of a Schengen visa will need to pay a higher visa fee starting from January 2020. The changes come after the European Union Council gave the final nod to an updated Schengen Visa code, last week. According to a press release of the EU Council, the Schengen visa fees will increase by 33.3 percent from €60 to €80 once the amended regulation comes into force.

Any changes in the Schengen visa assumes significance for residents in Qatar as Europe attracts thousands of travellers from Qatar annually.

On July 6, the Council of the European Union adopted the proposed amendments to the Schengen Visa code. The amend-ments have been approved in a bid to improve conditions for legitimate travellers.

“To ensure member states can better cover the costs of visa processing without constituting a deterrent for visa applicants, the visa fee will be increased to 80 Euros. The regulation also introduces a mechanism for reviewing every three years whether the visa fee should change,” said a press release.

The new rules will provide faster and clearer procedures for

frequent travellers to the Schengen territory.

The new rules also permit applications to be submitted for a maximum of six months, and no later than 15 days, before the trip. So far, the maximum period has been three months. In addition, the EU intends to introduce a harmonised approach to the issuing of mul-tiple entry visas to regular trav-ellers with a positive visa history for a period, which increases gradually from one to five years.

“The new rules will provide faster and clearer procedures for legitimate travellers, in par-ticular by: allowing for applica-tions to be lodged up to six months, and no later than 15 days, before the trip. Providing for the possibility of the appli-cation form to be filled in and signed electronically, intro-ducing a harmonised approach to the issuing of multiple entry visas to regular travellers with a positive visa history for a period which increases gradually from 1 to 5 years,” added the press release.

Another important part of the new code is that it also intends to contribute to the cooperation of third countries on readmission through the introduction of a new mech-anism for using visa processing

as leverage. Through the mech-anism, third countries will be assessed continuously regarding cooperation on readmission. Non-cooperating countries can become subject to restrictive visa measures as visa processing and visa fees. Whereas cooperating countries may benefit from reduced visa fees, or an increase in the period of validity of mul-tiple entry visas.

The amendments had been proposed last year by the European Commission in an attempt to make travelling easier for frequent travellers to the Schengen countries.

The new code also intro-duces a mechanism that assesses whether the visa fees should change or remain the same, for every three years. Another mechanism that will use visa processing as leverage will also be introduced, in a bid to improve cooperation with third countries on readmission.

“Under this mechanism, the Commission will regularly assess third countries’ cooper-ation on readmission. Where a country is not cooperating, the Commission will propose that the Council adopt an imple-menting decision applying spe-cific restrictive visa measures related to visa processing and, eventually, to the visa fee,” it added.

04 MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 GULF / MIDDLE EAST

Europe in no position to criticise Iran: ZarifAGENCIES TEHRAN

European countries are in “no position” to criticise Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday ahead of a visit by his German coun-terpart Heiko Maas.

Germany’s top diplomat is due in Tehran today, against a backdrop of Iranian pressure for Europe to uphold commitments made under a 2015 nuclear deal since abandoned by the United States. “Europeans are certainly in no position to criticise Iran, even about issues that have nothing to do with” the agreement, Zarif said in televised remarks to journalists. Iran signed the landmark accord with China, Russia, Germany, Britain, France and the United States, leading to sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.

But last year, US President Donald Trump walked away from the accord and Washington has since imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran.

European and Western pol-icies “have only caused damage in the region,” Zarif said.

“Now some countries like Germany have stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia for bom-barding the people of Yemen, some other countries haven’t done so,” he added.

“In general, the West has allowed the autocratic regimes in our region to commit crimes.”

In May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran would no longer implement some parts of the nuclear deal and threatened to go further if the remaining parties failed to deliver sanctions relief. Zarif said that Europeans have “a duty” to ensure that Iran’s economic relations return to normal. On Friday Iran rejected an idea mooted by France to re-open nuclear talks, warning that seeking to broaden the existing agreement could lead to its collapse.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will visit Iran this week to explore options for pre-serving the fraying nuclear non-proliferation pact. Iranian Par-liament Speaker Ali Larijani yes-terday criticised French President Emmanuel Macron for saying last week in a meeting with Trump that they shared the same objectives on Iran.

Macron said France wanted to make sure Tehran will not get nuclear weapons: “We had an accord until 2025 and we want

to go further and have full cer-tainty in the long run... (Then) reduce ballistic activity and contain Iran regionally.” Larijani was quoted as saying by state media: “The recent remarks by the French president in a meeting with Trump were shameful and inept...Macron’s comments did not match what he has been telling our pres-ident...in their meetings and on the phone.” Iran insists its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful, and has repeatedly refused to discuss its missile programme.

Tehran unveiled on Sunday a new “domestically-produced” air defence system with the capability to trace six targets - including fighter jets, bombers and drones at the same time and destroy them with missiles.

“Iran will increase its mil-itary capabilities to protect its national security and interests, and it will not ask permission from anyone on this matter,” Defence Minister Amir Hatami said at an unveiling ceremony for the system. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned during a weekend stopover in Iraq en route to Tehran about the dangers of any conflict with Iran for the entire Middle East.

“We Europeans are con-vinced that it is worth trying to keep the Vienna nuclear agreement with Iran,” Maas said, adding he wanted dialogue even when disputes seemed insurmountable.

Germany’s top diplomat is due in Tehran today, against a backdrop of Iranian pressure for Europe to uphold commitments made under a 2015 nuclear deal since abandoned by the United States.

Residents of Istanbul are seen on a ferry at Eminonu ferry terminal in Istanbul, Turkey. Ferrying across

Turkey remembers 1981 martyrdom of diplomatANATOLIA ANKARA

Turkey yesterday commemo-rated assassination of the Turkish Secretary at the Consulate-General of Turkey in Geneva Mehmet Savas Yerguz.

“We remember with respect our martyr Mehmet Savas Yerguz, Secretary at the Con-sulate-General of Turkey in Geneva, assassinated by the Armenian terrorist organisation ASALA on 9.6.1981,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a Twitter

post. On June 9, 1981, Mehmet Savas Yerguz was shot dead in the head and chest at a red light at the corner of Ferdinand Hodler Street and Boulevard Helvetique in Geneva.

The attack was just one of the assassinations of Turkish diplomats and family members around the world by Armenian terror groups ASALA and JCAG.

Founded in 1975 in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War, ASALA blamed JCAG for hundreds of bloody terror acts. In order to compel the

Turkish government “to acknowledge publicly its respon-sibility for the so-called Armenian genocide in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an ‘Armenian homeland’,” ASALA martyred Turkish dip-lomats in numerous bloody attacks.

These Armenian terrorist attacks intensified from 1980 to 1983, when 580 of the 699 attacks — over 80 percent — occurred. The terrorist attacks ended in 1986, according to the Armenian Terror study.

Iraq begins examining Yazidi mass graves remainsAP BAGHDAD

Iraq will use DNA testing to identify the remains of 141 bodies found in mass graves believed to contain the Yazidi victims of Islamic State group massacres, the head of the country’s forensics administration said yesterday.

Zaid Al Yousef said Yazidi survivors helped to locate the 12

graves in the Sinjar region in north Iraq.

Iraq is working to exhume remains from mass graves for forensic evidence of the IS group’s crimes when it ruled over parts of the country’s north from 2014 to 2017. It is supported by a special UN investigations team.

The Sunni Muslim extremists did not tolerate other faiths and tried to exterminate the Yazidis,

a religious minority with beliefs that distinguish them from Muslim and Christian wor-shippers in the region.

IS followers said the Yazidis were “apostates” and killed hun-dreds of men while enslaving thousands of women and children. The UN called it a gen-ocide. Yazidi groups say the process of exhuming graves and identifying victims is moving too slowly. “We feel there is some

neglect of the issue,” said Ali Khedhir, the head of the Yazidi spiritual council office in the village of Lalesh, the spiritual home of the faith. Since the 2003 US invasion, the Yazidis have suffered from discrimination and persecution by extremist move-ments among the Muslim Arab population in the ethnically mixed region. The Yazidis speak Kurdish but identify as their own ethnic community. Now the

Yazidis believe their Arab neigh-bours participated in the mas-sacres against their community, and Iraqi officials are afraid of stirring up tensions with their investigations of the graves, said Khedhir. Tens of thousands of Yazidis are still living in camps outside Sinjar. Widespread destruction of their homes and persistent insecurity have dis-suaded them from returning to their villages.

Palestinian leaders deride US envoy’s annexation commentsAFP RAMALLAH

Palestinian leaders say a US envoy’s comments on Israel having the right to annex at least parts of the occupied West Bank show “extremists” are involved in White House policy on the issue.

In a statement late on Sat-urday in response to US ambas-sador to Israel David Friedman’s comments in a New York Times interview, a Palestinian gov-ernment spokesman said some leading US policy on the issue were “extremists” lacking in “political maturity.”

The Palestinian foreign min-istry said it was looking into filing a complaint with the

International Criminal Court on the issue.

Palestine Liberation Organ-isation Secretary-General Saeb Erekat on Twitter called Friedman an “extreme ambas-sador of the settlers.” “Their vision is about annexation of occupied territory, a war crime under international law,” he said.

Erekat also renewed a Pal-estinian call for countries to boycott a June 25-26 conference in Bahrain to discuss economic aspects of a peace deal the White House has been working on.

In the interview published on Saturday, Friedman said some degree of annexation of the West Bank would be legitimate.

“Under certain circumstances,

I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank,” he said. Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and its construction of set-tlements there is viewed as a major stumbling block to peace as they are built on land the Pal-estinians see as part of their future state.

Friedman has in the past been a supporter of Israeli set-tlements as has the family of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser leading efforts to put together the peace deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu pledged ahead of April elections to begin annexing West Bank settlements.

Citizens of Palestine gather to perform Eid Al Fitr prayer at the place where “Great March of Return” continues at Israel-Gaza border, in east of Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, Gaza City, Gaza.

Oman to impose new excise tax this month to boost revenuesREUTERS DUBAI

Oman will impose a new tax on sugary drinks and tobacco products starting on June 15, as the small Gulf oil producer seeks to boost state revenues strained by years of low oil prices.

A 100% excise tax will be introduced for tobacco products, energy drinks and beverages, while a 50% tax will be applied on carbonated drinks, according to a statement from an official at the Secretariat General for Taxation published by Oman’s state news agency.

“The excise tax is a con-sumption tax and is considered to be indirect taxes. Thus, the final charge is on the consumers, but it is collected in advance at a stage of the supply chain, notably through the business

sectors,” said Sulaiman bin Salim Al A’adi, Director General of survey and tax agreements.

Oman has been slow in implementing fiscal reforms aimed at limiting the widening of its budget deficit, while it has increasingly relied on external funding — through bonds and loans — to refill its coffers.

The sultanate had originally planned to introduce a 5% value-added tax in 2018, which is now expected to start in 2020.

“Further delays in imple-mentation, along with a scenario of lower oil prices, pose downside risks to our assumption of narrower fiscal deficits relative to 2015-2017,” S&P Global Ratings said in April, adding that it expected fiscal gains in 2019 coming from the implementation of excise taxes on tobacco and energy drinks.

Yemen rebels claim attack on Saudi airportANATOLIA RIYADH

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said yesterday that they carried out drone attacks on a military airport in Saudi Arabia.

The attacks targeted bunkers housing Saudi drones in the Jizan airport in southern Saudi Arabia, the pro-Houthi Al-Masirah tel-evision said. The television said a Saudi soldier and four “mer-cenaries” were killed in the

attacks. The Saudi SPA news agency, meanwhile, said a soldier was killed in Jizan near border with Yemen, but without providing details about the cir-cumstances of his death.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies have launched a massive air campaign against Houthis in Yemen since the Shiah rebel group overran much of the country, including capital Sana’a, a year earlier. The ongoing violence has devastated

Yemen’s basic infrastructure, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.

In the meantime, reports came out that at least 10 Houthi rebels were killed in an attack by government forces in the northern Saada province yet-sreday, a military commander said. There was no comment from the Shia Houthi group on the claim.

New US envoy meets with Iraqi FM in BaghdadAFP BAGHDAD

The new US ambassador in Baghdad submitted his creden-tials to Iraq’s top diplomat, the foreign ministry announced yesterday, joining the embassy just weeks after Washington brought “non-essential” diplo-matic staff home.

Matthew Tueller has served as US ambassador to both Yemen and Kuwait, and had been previously posted in Baghdad as a political adviser at the American embassy.

Yesterday, Tueller sub-mitted his diplomatic creden-tials to Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Al Hakim, who said Baghdad would “guarantee all necessary conditions for the success of his mission”.

The US Senate confirmed Tueller’s appointment in Iraq in mid-May, a day after the State Department announced it was withdrawing all “non-essential” members from its embassy in Baghdad and con-sulate in Arbil.

The move came amid esca-lating tensions between the United States and Iran that have repeatedly seen Iraq caught in the middle. The US withdrew from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran last year, then reinstated tough sanctions on the Islamic republic. In April, it designated Iran’s Islamic Rev-olutionary Guard Corps as a “terrorist organisation.

05MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Civil disobedience campaign empties Khartoum

REUTERS KHARTOUM

A campaign of civil disobedience to demand civilian rule left the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum largely deserted as the working week began yesterday, while police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Khartoum North, witnesses said.

Opposition and protest groups had called for workers to stay at home after security forces stormed a protest camp on Monday, killing dozens and dealing a blow to hopes of a peaceful transition after ex-Pres-ident Omar Al Bashir’s removal in April.

The raid came after weeks of wrangling between the military council that took over from Bashir and the Declaration of

Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF), an opposition alliance, over who should steer a tran-sition leading to elections.

Yesterday morning few pedestrians or vehicles could be seen in the capital’s streets. Public transport was barely func-tioning and most commercial banks, private companies and markets were shut.

Some state banks and public utility offices were working normally.

“We will not go back to work until the (Sudanese Profes-sionals) Association announces the end of the strike,” said Ahmad Al Noor, a 46-year-old employee at a private foodstuffs company. The SPA, which

spearheaded the anti-Bashir pro-tests, is part of the DFCF.

“Sudan must be governed by a civilian government,” Noor said. At Khartoum airport, where very few flights were operating, travellers crowded the departure hall. Most travel agencies were closed because of an Internet outage, and ticket prices soared.

State news agency SUNA said Khartoum airport was “operating normally” and reported “com-plete attendance of employees in different airport units”.

In Khartoum North, across the Blue Nile from the centre of the capital, police fired tear gas to scatter protesters. There were no reports of casualties.

Demonstrators have been

trying to barricade roads in the capital over recent days as a way of sustaining the protest movement.

Also yesterday, a well-known Sudanese banking expert rejected his appointment by the TMC as deputy governor of the central bank, he said. Mohamed

Ahmed Bushra turned down the job “because the current condi-tions the country is going through and the failure to form a transi-tional civilian government make it difficult for the central bank to arrange policies to address the economic crisis,” he said.

Sudanese state TV

meanwhile reported that a senior commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Abdallah, had been replaced. Witnesses said the RSF, whose leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is deputy head of the Transitional Military Council, led last Monday’s raid.

A Sudanese woman walks past closed shops in a commercial street in Khartoum’s twin city Omdurman on the first day of a civil disobedience campaign across Sudan yesterday.

US army vehicle damaged in mine explosion in NigerAFP NIAMEY

A US army vehicle was damaged in a mine explosion in western Niger, but there were no fatal-ities, and the US military was investigating whether the incident was hostile, embassy and local security forces said yesterday.

The incident occurred in Ouallam in the Tillaberi region,

not far from the border with Mali, where four US soldiers and five Niger soldiers were killed in an ambush in 2017, according to the sources. “A US mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle was damaged in Niger” on Saturday, the US embassy in Niamey said in a statement.

Ouallam is located about 100km from Niamey and is home to a major training camp of the Nigerien army where soldiers are

trained to participate in the UN Mission in Mali, known as Minusma.

“The incident occurred outside a weapons range, so it is possible that non-hostile factors were the cause of the damage,” it said. “We’re still looking to confirm that element.” The US mission in Niger has been heavily scrutinised in the wake of the 2017 attack. In that October 4 ambush, US special forces

soldiers and Nigerien troops were attacked by fighters affil-iated with the Islamic State group and equipped with small arms, grenades and trucks mounted with guns. The US Pentagon has remained tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the ambush and the nature of the mission in Niger.

The US operates an aerial drone base in Agadez that pro-vides surveillance of Boko

Haram fighters and others allied with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that operate along borders with Libya, Mali and Nigeria. Niamey has also given the US permission to base armed drones on its soil. On May 14, 2019, 28 Niger soldiers were killed near the village of Tongo Tongo when they were ambushed “by heavily armed terrorists,” according to the Niger government.

Libya: Haftar forces launch airstrike near TripoliANATOLIA TRIPOLI

Warplanes affiliated with East Libya-based forces launched an airstrike in the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, yestreday, according to a local military source.

The attack targeted a black-smith workshop east of the city, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media. No casualties were reported.

Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar launched a mil-itary campaign in April to capture Tripoli from the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

After several weeks of fighting on Tripoli’s outskirts, however, Haftar’s campaign has thus far failed to achieve its primary objective.Nevertheless, Haftar’s forces remain deployed in several areas around the capital. Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a bloody Nato-backed uprising after four decades in power.

The oil-rich country has since seen the emergence of two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya.

W African farm ‘bootcamp’ gets green entrepreneurs into shapeAFP TORI-BOSSITO, BÉNIN

Machetes in hand and wearing a straw hat against the sun, the participants of an “agro-bootcamp” in the farmlands of the West African nation of Benin harvest maize, cowpeas and rice.

“Cut at the base,” says Olu-wafemi Kochoni, an organic farming teacher, who runs the agricultural workshop to prepare young people for a future sus-tainably working the land.

“Then leave the plants in place, we will bury them — they will decompose and fertilise the soil.” It’s beginner’s advice but the programme in Tori-Bossito, just outside Benin’s economic capital Cotonou, aims to teach basic, traditional ways of agri-culture to those who have for-gotten or never known a life on the land.

In Benin, a poor country next to oil giant Nigeria, some 80

percent of its 11 million people depend on agriculture, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Most are subsistence farmers eking out a living growing crops on small plots where a lack of infrastructure and flooding that can wipe out harvests and seed stocks are key challenges, the FAO warns.

But the “agro-bootcamps” — the name is borrowed from the intensive training of the US army — take place close to the suburbs of the city and are aimed at a dif-ferent market.

They are part of a wider movement to encourage self-sufficiency on the continent, which has some two-thirds of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land — but spends $64.5bn a year importing food, according to the African Devel-opment Bank.

For 27,000 CFA francs ($45) a week, agro-bootcampers learn

agricultural techniques, follow marketing courses and can network with successful agro-entrepreneurs. Like in traditional farming, the agro-bootcamp way of life is communal on the three-hectare (seven-acre) plot of land put at its disposal for the week

by a family in exchange for baskets of vegetables. On the edge of the fields, a border hedge of moringa plants and grasses are grown to help stabilise the soil.

There is also a fish farm in a pond, and another area to grow mushrooms. Behind the scheme

is the Gardens of Hope, an organ-isation promoting sustainable ways of farming.

“The advice usually received by farmers is based on the use of chemicals,” said participant Rachidi Idrissou, an agronomy student in Benin. “We think of

quick yields -- and not sus-tainable production to preserve our land.” Benin is a youthful country; nearly two-thirds of the population is aged under 25.

Camp organisers want to show young people struggling in the crowded cities looking for a job that working the land can offer an alternative and suc-cessful livelihood.

Originating from Africa and Europe, the 25 participants in this third agro-bootcamp are mostly men and of eight different nationalities but share a vision of an ecological and sustainable way of farming.

They sleep in tents and are kept busy from dawn until long after dusk.

“Our belief is that to solve the employment problem in our countries, young people must create their businesses with awareness of ecology of the climate,” said coordinator Tanguy Gnikobou.

Participants to an “agro-bootcamp” follow an entrepreneurship training in Tori-Bossito, just outside Benin’s economic capital Cotonou.

Iran leader pardons 691 on Eid, but Lebanese excludedAFP TEHRAN

Iran’s supreme leader pardoned hundreds of prisoners on the occasion of the end of Ramadan, but a Lebanese national who Beirut expected to be released was not among them, author-ities said yesterday.

In total, the sentences of 691 prisoners were either commuted or deferred as decided by Ayat-ollah Ali Khamenei, as a gesture for the Eid Al Fitr holidays, said the jucidiary’s Mizan Online news website.

Last week, Lebanon said one of its nationals condemned in 2016 to 10 years’ jail in Iran after being found guilty of spying for the United States would be on

the pardon list. The Lebanese foreign ministry, quoted by the country’s official NNA news agency, said Nizar Zakka would be pardoned at the request of Beirut as a gesture for Eid. But Zakka’s name was not on the list, said Iran’s judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili. “The individual was sentenced and the president of Lebanon had — in letters to judicial officials — requested a conditional pardon,” he said, quoted by Mizan.

“This request has been in the judicial process and, in case any decision is taken by the judicial apparatus, information will be provided.” A resident of the United States in his 50s, Zakka was arrested in September 2015 during a visit to Iran, where he

was convicted the following July.At the time of his arrest, state

television in Iran charged Zakka had “deep ties to military and intelligence services of the United States”, Iran’s arch-foe.

It broadcast photographs of a man in military uniform it said was of Zakka at an American base. At the end of 2017, Iranian courts confirmed his 10-year sentence on appeal, as well as that of an American and two Ira-nian-Americans accused of “col-laboration” with the United States.

Iran and the United States broke diplomatic ties in 1980, and their relations have deteri-orated significantly since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2017.

11 dead amid campaign ANATOLIA / KHARTOUM

At least 11 people have been killed in Sudan’s capital Khartoum in the past two days, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

Suleman Abdul Jabbar, undersecretary of the Health Ministry, confirmed the death toll, adding that the assailants used knives and other light weapons. “We urge citizens to not listen to rumours and maintain confidence in the authorities who are doing their best for stability and security of the capital Khartoum,” he added.

Earlier this week, military forces cracked down on a main protest camp in Khartoum, in which at least 118 protesters were killed and hundreds injured, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors.

Yesterday morning few pedestrians or vehicles could be seen in the capital’s streets. Public transport was barely functioning and most commercial banks, private companies and markets were shut.

Congo’s state miner paid $263m in tax advancesBLOOMBERG KINSHASA

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s state-owned mining company rejected allegations that there are discrepancies in its financial statements, saying it paid $263m in tax advances over a five-year period.

Congo is the world’s biggest miner of cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, and Africa’s main copper producer. State miner Gecamines has often faced criticism for its man-agement of revenues generated from Congo’s natural resources.

Gecamines told the Extractive Industries Trans-parency Initiative that it paid $109m between 2009-2014 to the Treasury, while a report last

year mentioned an amount of $372m, according to a coalition of non-governmental organi-sations, Cogep, on Friday.

The company dismissed the group’s criticism in a 15-page report on its Twitter account on Saturday, saying it didn’t need to declare $263m in advance taxes it had paid to the state over the period to the EITI, and its books were in order. The EITI promotes good governance in the mining industry.

In addition, Gecamines is undergoing an “organisational overhaul” by simplifying its pro-cedures, attracting younger employees and completing a new investment program that’s resulted in a production capacity of 40,000 tons of copper since March, it said in its report.

06 MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019ASIA

India stands in solidarity with people of Sri Lanka: ModiAFP COLOMBO

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unexpected visit yesterday to a Colombo church bombed during the Easter suicide attacks on his first trip to neighbouring Sri Lanka since his election triumph.

Modi’s cavalcade made a detour to St Anthony’s shrine on the way to President Maithripala Sirisena’s sea-front office in the capital, where a red carpet mil-itary parade awaited.

“I am confident Sri Lanka will rise again,” Modi said on Twitter where he posted photos of himself at the church.

“Cowardly acts of terror cannot defeat the spirit of Sri Lanka. India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka.” Prime Minister Ranil Wick-remesinghe, who received Modi at Colombo’s airport, said the two discussed ways to combat militant attacks like the assault on the three hotels and three churches which left 258 dead and 500 injured.

“The two leaders discussed the collective steps to stamp out international terrorism,” Wick-remesinghe’s office said in a

statement. It added that the two leaders held most of their talks in Modi’s limousine while driving the 33 kilometres between the capital and the airport.

Modi stopped in Colombo on his return from an official visit to the Maldives, where he inau-gurated a radar system and mil-itary training centre. The two projects, costing $26m million, were funded by India.

His brief but politically sig-nificant visit to the two neigh-bours came less than 10 days after Modi secured a second landslide election win and as New Delhi seeks to fend off Chinese influence in the region.

The Maldives, an archipelago of more than 1,000 tiny coral islands, and Sri Lanka straddle the world’s busiest east-west maritime route.

India, the traditional ally of both Sri Lanka and the Maldives,

had watched with unease as former governments of strongman leader Abdulla Yameen in the Maldives and Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapakse leaned towards Beijing for political and financial support.

Yameen’s election loss last September, however, has seen new leader President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih swing back towards India.

Sri Lanka too has moved back toward New Delhi since the defeat of Rajapakse in January 2015. Last month, authorities announced a partnership with India and Japan to develop a deep-sea container terminal in Colombo next to a controversial $500-million Chinese-run facility.

The three plan to develop what is known as the East Ter-minal of Colombo port.

China owns 85 percent of the adjoining Colombo International Container Terminal, which was commissioned in 2013. State-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority owns the remaining 15 percent.

More than two thirds of tran-shipment containers handled in Colombo originate from or head to India.

Sri Lanka, unable to repay a

huge Chinese loan, handed over another deep-sea port in the south of the island to a Beijing

company in December 2017, in a deal that raised concerns at home and abroad.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, yesterday.

8 feared killed in Trinamool-BJP clash in West BengalIANS KOLKATA

At least eight persons were allegedly killed and several others injured and missing following a clash between West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP workers in North 24 Parganas, sources in both parties claimed yesterday.

While the state BJP sources claimed that five of their activists have been shot dead by the Tri-namool-backed men and 18 others have gone missing, a senior Trinamool Congress leader alleged three of their party workers have been killed in a bloodied clash that took place in Hatgachi area under Sand-eshkhali Assembly constituency on Saturday.

Graphic images of those slain in the Sandeshkhali clash were posted on social media. “Mamata Banerjee is directly responsible

for unleashing violence against BJP workers. We will be reaching Union Home Minister Amit Shah to apprise him of the Sand-eshkhali killings,” BJP leader Mukul Roy tweeted late

on Saturday. Police has so far confirmed deaths of three political workers comprising two from BJP and one from Tri-namool Congress in the incident.

According to locals, the clash

between the two groups started over the forceful removal of BJP’s flags on Saturday afternoon. It soon took a violent turn and bullets were flying.

Mukul Roy called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sat-urday night and apprised him of the situation.

State BJP General Secretary Sayantan Basu had on Saturday claimed three party workers — Pradip Mondal, Tapan Mondal and Sukanta Mondal — were killed and five other function-aries injured in the clash.

BJP state General Secretary (organisation) Subrata Chatto-padhyay said a fourth BJP worker Debabrata Mondal also died of bullet injury.

Later, another injured BJP worker Shankar Mondal’s body was found, who died early yes-terday, BJP sources said.

The Trinamool, meanwhile, said its worker Qayum Mollah

was stabbed to death and two others were thrown into the water.

“During a booth-level meeting of our workers in Hat-gachhi, some miscreants backed by the BJP, attacked them. Mollah, a 26-year-old Trinamool worker, was dragged out of the party office and stabbed to death,” state Minister and Trina-mool’s district President Jyoti-priya Mallick claimed.

“Two other workers were thrown into the river. Eighteen Trinamool workers, including six women, are injured,” he said. “I would like to ask the BJP whether we have the right to hold a meeting or not.” Union Minister and BJP leader Babul Supriyo tweeted he was “deeply dis-turbed” by the murders of BJP functionaries.

“The people of West Bengal will very soon put an end to TMC’s atrocities,” said Supriyo.

Supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shout slogans as they block a road during a protest against the political violence in Siliguri, West Bengal, yesterday.

Children play in a puddle of water as it rains at a sea front in Kochi, India, yesterday. Monsoon hit the Kerala coast on Saturday, after a delay of one week.

5,000 trawlers banned off Kerala coast for 52 days IANS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Starting yesterday midnight, a 52-day monsoon-trawling ban will be imposed in Kerala’s coastal waters for the 31st year in succession. It will prohibit around 5,000 trawl-boats from venturing any closer than 12 nautical miles to stop damage to the breeding process of fish during the season.

“Any boat which breaks these rules will be fined Rs2.5 lakh,” said an official, requesting anonymity. Until the ban is lifted on the midnight of July 31, the trawlers would have to keep away at least 12 nautical miles from Kerala’s coastal waters.

However, the ban, that has been imposed annually since

1988, will not apply to the tra-ditional fishermen.

The trawlers are banned from fishing in the coastal waters because this is the time when fishes breed and any dis-turbance to that process will deplete the marine wealth, a state government fisheries official said. As a result of the ban, fish — a staple food in the coastal state of Kerala — will become costlier. Kerala has over 200 marine fishing villages and over seven lakh fishermen. Meanwhile, the India Meteoro-logical Department yesterday said the southwest monsoon had further advanced in the south Arabian Sea, most parts of Lak-shadweep and some parts of Kerala and south Tamil Nadu among other regions.

IAF offers Rs500,000 reward for info on missing planeIANS ITANAGAR/NEW DELHI

Five days after an Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft went missing, the Arunachal Pradesh government on Saturday engaged local village headmen in search operations on the ground even as the IAF announced a Rs five lakh reward for any information about the ill-fated plane.

Air Marshal R D Mathur, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

Eastern Air Command, has announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh for persons or groups who provide credible infor-mation about the lost aircraft, an Indian Air Force statement said, giving out telephone numbers for the finders to contact.

The administration of Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh has also announced a Rs50,000 reward to motivate people and local villagers to search for the aircraft which has been missing since Monday in an area close to

the India-China border. Along with the aerial operation using sophisticated technologies and satellites of the Indian Space Research Organisation, several teams involving the civil admin-istration, police and local people have been assisting the search operation on the ground in and around the jungles of Mechuka to search for the missing aircraft. “The ongoing search operation is being carried out by a team con-sisting of police, civilians, hunters and locals who have been

continuously scouting the area. Additionally, all ‘Gaon Burhas’ (GBs or village headmen) have been engaged to aid the search operation,” said a senior district administration official. Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa on Saturday also visited Air Force Station Jorhat to take stock of the search operation. He was given a detailed briefing about the operation and was apprised with inputs received so far. He also met the families of the officers and airmen who were on board the aircraft.

Election over, focus now on serving 1.3bn Indians: ModiIANS TIRUPATI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said that some people were yet to get over the impact of the Lok Sabha poll results.

Addressing a meeting of BJP workers at Renigunta Airport near this temple town, he said the election chapter was over for the BJP and it had now started focussing on serving 130 crore Indians.

“Some people have not yet come out of the impact of election results. It’s their problem but for us the poll chapter is over,” he said.

Modi, who began his speech with a few Telugu words, said he had visited Tirupati many times and he had come here now again after winning the elections for the second term.

The Prime Minister said his government would work to fulfil the dreams and aspira-tions of the people.

“Some people who had a different viewpoint in the elec-tions are saying the expecta-tions of people have increased and are wondering if Modi will be able to live up to these expectations,’ he said.

Modi said the new aspira-tions were a guarantee of India’s bright future.

He exuded confidence that India will scale new heights in the next five years and march ahead on the path of progress.

He thanked the people of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for playing a key role in strengthening democracy.

As the BJP had no success in the two states, Modi remarked that victory or defeat in elections was immaterial for the party as it always strived to serve the people.

Court orders closure of steel mines owned by BJP leaderIANS/JABALPUR

The Supreme Court has ordered the closure of two mines belonging to steel baron Sanjay Pathak who was a minister in the previous BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

The two mines in Sihora area were closed on directions of district official Bharat Yadav on Saturday. The mines are spread across an area of 52 hectares.

The district administration has formed a six-member com-mittee to probe the matter and submit a report to the apex court. Sources said the apex court is considering a petition contending that the mining is being carried out not on com-mercial land but on forest land.

JD-U to contest Assembly polls outside Bihar on its ownIANS PATNA

The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) yesterday decided not be a part of the BJP-led National Demo-cratic Alliance outside Bihar.

At its national executive meeting held at the official res-idence of JD-U chief Nitish Kumar here, the party also decided to go it alone in the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Haryana and Delhi.

The decision is being seen as Bihar Chief Minister’s reply to the BJP after JD-U opted out of the new government at the Centre last month, reportedly as it was offered just one seat in the Cabinet appointments.

The JD-U as NDA ally won 16 of the 17 seats it contested in the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.

Yesterday’s JD-U meeting was chaired by Nitish Kumar and attended by party Vice-President Prashant Kishor, state presidents and other top leaders. Sources said Nitish Kumar appealed to JD-U workers and leaders to strengthen the party outside Bihar and focus on its month-long drive to recruit new members. The last membership drive was held three years ago in 2016. The JD-U plans to strengthen the party by inducting new members.

Modi stopped in Colombo on his return from an official visit to the Maldives, where he inaugurated a radar system and military training centre.

07MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 ASIA

KP govt asks ECP for 20-day delay in tribal district polls INTERNEWS PESHAWAR

In a surprise move, the government in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province yesterday wrote a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking a delay in elections for the provincial assembly seats in the merged tribal districts for 20 days.

Polling is currently scheduled to be held on 16 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in seven tribal districts on July 2, 2019. These will be the first ever elections in tribal areas for the provincial legislature.

In the letter written by the provincial government to the election commission secretary, it said, “Election is the breathing life for the democratic nations and the people of newly merged districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are availing this opportunity for the first time in the constitu-tional history of Pakistan.”

It added: “The current unwarranted situation and threats of serious nature from across the border [in Afghan-istan] and some developments within newly merged districts may sabotage the whole process of holding of forthcoming

elections.” The letter suggested that the

elections may be postponed due to the several reasons for 20 days saying that this is within the constitutional limit of July 25, 2019 for holding the elections.

It listed the following reasons for the delay: “Threats of terrorist activities from across the border/neighbouring Afghanistan with newly merged districts in the wake of elections; threats to political leadership; post-merger issue of ex-tribal region into the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; fresh developments in North Waziristan district; change of command of paramilitaries from deputy commissioners to dis-trict police officers; and because the paramilitary officials have not yet been trained to perform security duties in the absence of territorial and tr ibal responsibility.”

Nepalese and Indian motorcyclists during the flag off ceremony of a motorbike rally “Red Panda Challenge” near the Nepal-India border in Kakarvitta, southeastern Nepal on June 8, 2019. Some 20 motorcyclists are participating in the rally from Siliguri to Sandakphu (India) as part of an environmental campaign with the mission to help conserve the red panda and elephants habitat.

Opposition leader Shahbaz returns to PakistanINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, yesterday returned to Pakistan after a seven week stay in London.

The return of the President of Pakistan Muslim League-N and former chief minister of Punjab ended rumours and

allegations that he will not return to evade summons by courts in two accountability cases against him. In a brief statement, he said he had returned after being cleared to travel by his doctors. He also announced he will take legal action against those spreading rumours about him.

Shehbaz said he will be con-sulting with his party leaders later in the day about the

political situation and will consult with other opposition parties during a session of the National Assembly today.

Party leader Senator Pervaiz Rasheed said that politics should not be done on Shehbaz Sharif’s health and that he can again go abroad to get medical treatment required and that his return has proved he was not running away from accountability.

Govt focusing on less-developed areas: PM ImranINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said development of the newly-merged tribal areas is the top priority of the government which is focusing on provision of health, education and other facilities, besides maintaining law and order in these areas.

“The government is striving to cut maximum expenditures in the upcoming budget by adopting austerity measures,” said the Prime Minister during a meeting with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Shah Farman and Chief Min-ister Mahmood Khan.

Minister for Communica-tions Murad Saeed, Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan and Special Assistant on Political Affairs Naeemul Haq were present, PM Office said in a statement.

The meeting took stock of the progress and future strategy for the development and progress of the merged tribal areas. “The government is making all-out efforts to provide employment opportu-nities to the youth in these areas so that they can fully utilise their potentials,” said PM Imran.

Lauding the immense sac-rifices of the residents of erst-while tribal areas for the soli-darity of the country, PM Imran said the government was spe-cially focusing on the social and economic uplift of these areas so as to improve the living standard of their residents and bring it on a par with the rest of the country. However, he said, full focus was made on the development of backward areas and to provide assistance to the weaker segments of society. He mentioned that in the upcoming budget, special attention was paid on the progress and development of the less-developed areas of Balochistan and the erstwhile tribal areas.

The chief minister apprised Imran of the progress in the ongoing development projects in these areas.

Pakistan lawyers protest govt references against judgesINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

All bar councils of Pakistan have sought resignation of federal Law Minister Barrister Farogh Nasim and Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan for filing of refer-ences against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court and Justice Karim Khan Agha of the Sindh High Court.

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the apex regulatory body of lawyers, issued a call for a countrywide strike on June 14, the day when the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will take up the

references. Subsequent to a meeting of all six bar councils of the country and deliberations upon suspension of membership of Barrister Nasim and AG Khan, the PBC convened a meeting on June 12 to initiate the process of suspending their membership.

Barrister Nasim, a PBC member, has already been facing criticism for not relinquishing his PBC membership after assuming office of the law minister. Likewise, the attorney general being the principal law officer of the country is the ex-officio chairman of the PBC.

However, PBC executive

committee chairman Advocate Mohammad Idrees Sheikh said the PBC in its general body meeting could suspend and cancel the membership of both lawyers of the federal gov-ernment. The bar councils also demanded that President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan resign as the references were filed in such a dubious manner that one could doubt the move was a ‘fixed match’.

The bar councils including the PBC, Punjab Bar Council (PbBC), Sindh Bar Council, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, Balo-chistan Bar Council and

Islamabad Bar Council unani-mously demanded the with-drawal of the references since they were based on mala fide intentions and were filed without adhering to the mandatory pro-visions of relevant laws. Though a representative of the Punjab Bar Council Zeeshan Mirza, chairman of the rules committee attended the PBC’s meeting, the PbBC appears to be in two minds on the issue. In significant remarks, PbBC Vice-Chairman Chaudhry Shahnawaz Ismail said that any decision on the situation arising out of the reference filed against Justice Isa would be taken in a

general house meeting.Ismail said he wanted to take

all the members on board to come up with a policy statement of the bar. He said the meeting of the general house would be held next week. PBC vice chairman Syed Amjad Shah said the legal fra-ternity had demanded immediate withdrawal of the reference against Justice Isa, as it did not fall within the ambit of Article 209 of the Constitution.

“We have issued a [call for] complete strike across the country. No lawyer will appear in any court of law on June 14,” said Shah.

Bangladesh fishermen oppose catch banAFP CHITTAGONG

Several thousand fishermen blocked Bangladesh’s busiest highway yesterday, as protests escalated over a two-month fishing ban in the Bay of Bengal.

The fishermen say the 65-day blockade — intended to replenish fish stocks — is driving them out of business.

Their one-hour protest at the coastal town of Sitakunda caused several kilometres of tail-backs on the main road linking the capital, Dhaka, to the second city of Chittagong.

Local police chief Suman Banik said the demonstration by 3,000 fishermen and their

families was peaceful “but it caused a huge traffic jam on this busy highway”.

The demonstrators only cleared the road after a gov-ernment administrator and a local member of parliament promised to help.

The fishing ban runs from May 20 to July 23 and navy and coast guard vessels are patrolling the zone to prevent breaches.

Bangladesh frequently bans deep sea fishing and catches in coastal rivers to help stocks, but this is the longest imposed for seas near the coast and fishing communities are furious.

About 15 million people in the region directly or indirectly depend on Bangladesh’s multi-

billion dollar fishing industry.Shyamol Palit, an organiser

of the demonstration, said the ban has hit poor fishermen hard, especially the Hindu Joldas com-munity. The government has announced it will provide free rice for nearly half a million fam-ilies of badly-affected fishermen.

But Palit said the scheme is not wide enough and “you cannot run a family only with a sack of rice.”

The ban has also hit the nearly one million Rohingya ref-ugees, who are not officially allowed to work outside the camps, but thousands are secretly employed on trawlers owned by Bangladeshis.

Bangladeshi fishermen block a highway as they protest against a two-month fishing ban, in Chittagong, yesterday.

Sri Lanka MPs warn President against scuttling parliamentary probe into attacksAFP COLOMBO

Sri Lanka’s parliament has warned President Maithripala Sirisena not to scuttle a controversial investigation into security lapses before the Easter suicide bombings, the Speaker’s office said yesterday.

The warning came after Sirisena said he would not cooperate with the parlia-mentary probe and would not allow defence or police offi-cials to testify before the select committee (PSC).

The President called an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday night to oppose the legislature’s investigation into the April 21 attacks that killed

258 people, including 45 for-eigners, and wounded nearly 500. “Any public servant summoned by the PSC is obliged to give evidence,” Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said in a hard-hitting two-page response to Sirisena.

“Officials are fully aware of the serious consequences if they fail to respond.” Offi-cials at the Speaker’s office said Jayasuriya made it clear to Sirisena that he will not call off the PSC and it will con-tinue its public hearings.

Evidence before the par-liamentary select committee, which began its publicly tel-evised sittings since late last month, has placed the Pres-ident in a poor light, sug-gesting that he failed to act on

advance warning of the attacks. On Saturday, Sirisena’s office said he sacked his national intelli-gence chief Sisira Mendis who testified that the devastating attacks against three churches and three luxury hotels could have been avoided.

Mendis also said the Pres-ident had failed to hold regular security meetings to assess the threat from the radicals who carried out the bombings.

Sirisena’s office did not give a reason for abruptly sacking Mendis. Halfway through his testimony, the live telecast of the proceedings was stopped on the Presi-dent’s orders, official sources said.

Nepal yet to identify 4 who died on EverestAFP KATHMANDU

The bodies of four climbers who failed their Everest challenge and left little clue as to their identity have thrown up a new challenge for Nepalese author-ities who control the world’s tallest peak.

Worn by the wind and cold to near skeletons, the remains have been in a Kathmandu morgue since they were brought back from the slopes two weeks ago with nearly 11 tonnes of trash. Police and gov-ernment officials admit they face a huge challenge putting names to the dead climbers and sending them back to their home countries. They cannot even be sure how long the corpses had been among scores waiting to be found on the slopes. A government-organised clean-up team retrieved the bodies between the Everest base camp and the South Col at 7,906 metres this climbing season. “The bodies are not in a recognisable state, almost down to their bones. There is no face to identify them,” senior police official Phanindra Prasai said.

“We have directed the hos-pital to collect DNA samples so they can be matched with any families who come forward.”

Nepalese police are going through administrative proc-esses so they can make an appeal for help and inform foreign diplomatic missions about the bodies.

Provincial government cites security, post-merger issues in area as reasons behind request for 20-day delay in the election scheduled for July 2.

Bike rally to save red panda

The Saudis, as well as the Emiratis, are heavily invested in Sudan and will have their own leverage with any government that comes next. These countries have an interest in preventing a democratic transition in Sudan

JULIAN LEE BLOOMBERG

08 MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019VIEWS

Don’t let the Saudis ruin Sudan’s democratic moment

If ever there was a moment for some tough love between allies, it is now. America, and most of Europe for that matter, is calling

for the generals currently in control of Sudan to cede power to civilians and prepare for elections. Three US allies - Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - back the generals.

On Monday, the stalemate became a massacre when a paramilitary group aligned with the transitional military council attacked peaceful protestors at a sit-in in Khartoum. The death toll is now more than 100, according to the Central Committee for Sudan Doctors. Forty dead bodies were found in the Nile.

This is the context of a statement issued Wednesday by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia noting that it “has fol-

lowed with great concern the develop-ments in the brotherly Republic of Sudan.” It offered “deep con-dolences to the families of the victims” and expressed hope that “all parties in Sudan will choose wisdom and constructive dialogue.” It reaffirmed its “unwa-

vering position in support of Sudan and its people.”

In other words: We are very sorry that many people died but we are not withdrawing our support for the mil-itary junta that ordered the massacre and is seeking to crush a democratic movement. As Judd Devermont, the director of the Africa program at the

Center for Strategic and International Studies, put it, the statement is an attempt to “walk back the escalating crisis.”

In recent days, the US has begun to make public its unhappiness with the Saudi position on Sudan, where dic-tator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in April. On Wednesday, the State Department released a summary of a phone call between Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale and Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid Bin Salman. It said Hale noted “the importance of a transition from the Transitional Military Council to a civilian-led government in accordance with the will of the Sudanese people.”

President Donald Trump’s admin-istration has mostly kept its criticisms of Saudi Arabia private, rarely offering a public rebuke of its ally. The Saudis, as well as the Emiratis, are heavily invested in Sudan and will have their own leverage with any government that comes next.

Saudi Arabia is “switching up its public messaging in part to rein in its Sudanese allies who are badly mis-handling the transition,” Devermont said. He noted that the kingdom has deep ties to Sudan’s current military leadership, which supports the war in Yemen, and “wants to retain its influence across the Red Sea.”

So a phone call from an undersec-retary at the State Department, while a nuisance, is not going to be enough to get the Saudis to stop their counter-revolutionary meddling in Sudan. The

Saudis, Emiratis and Egyptians have an interest in preventing a democratic transition in Sudan - lest their own people learn that an Arab democracy is possible.

If the US wants its allies to change their behavior, it has to take a firmer hand. As I have suggested, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could visit Khartoum to confer some legitimacy on the civilians leading the democratic protests. There should also be conse-quences for Saudi Arabia in particular if it continues to support the junta at this crucial juncture. Pompeo just used an emergency provision to override congressional objections to a slate of arms sales to Riyadh. He could just as easily declare that the emergency has passed.

None of this is to argue for ending the US-Saudi alliance, as many con-gressional Democrats have suggested in the aftermath of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. Saudi Arabia remains an important ally against both radical Sunni jihadists and Iran.

At the same time, Sudan has a real chance to end decades of tyranny. What happens there in the coming weeks could shape its future for decades to come. Strongly worded statements and sharp tweets from US and European officials are not enough. It’s time for the president and his Cabinet to use America’s vast leverage with its allies to isolate the junta that is strangling Sudanese democracy in its crib.

ELI LAKE BLOOMBERG

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We are still in agreement that

reaching a two-state solution through

negotiations is the only solution to

Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Heiko Maas German Foreign Minister

OPEC, the future is probably worse than you thought

Saudi Arabia and Russia are on a collision course.

On Friday the International Energy Agency will publish its

first forecast of oil market balances in 2020. The headline figures will probably show stockpiles rising next year if the OPEC+ producer group doesn’t extend output cuts into a fourth year.

But their pain may not end there. Growing signs that demand growth is turning out to be much weaker than expected may require producers to make even deeper cuts. If so, that could spell the end of the partnership between Saudi Arabia and Russia on oil policy.

The production restraint agreed in November and December 2016 by OPEC and a group of supporting coun-tries - Russia was the only one that offered a substantial voluntary reduction - was meant to drain excessive inventories and bring global supply and demand into balance during the first six months of 2017.

By mid-2019 that still hasn’t hap-pened, despite a prolonged period of relatively robust demand growth that has seen the world’s oil consumption increase at an average rate of 1.4% per year over the period from 2017 through 2019, according to the most recent IEA figures. That’s equivalent to around 1.33 million barrels a day of additional demand each year.

But the IEA has made a big cut to its assessment of oil demand in the first quarter. While the annual average figure hasn’t come down much, the move is worrying because it covers the only period for which we have any real

data on consumption. The assessment may be cut further as more numbers come in and reductions to forecasts will almost certainly follow for subse-quent periods.

Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum Friday, Russian oil minister Alexander Novak suggested that the trade wars could help push global demand growth this year below 1 million barrels a day. That would be the lowest level since 2011.

A Morgan Stanley report published last week argued that “there is growing evidence of a sharper-than-expected slowdown” in oil demand growth. Year-on-year increases are “grinding to a halt” across March and April for eight early-reporting coun-tries, including China, India and the U.S. That is worrying because the IEA expects those three countries alone to account for 70% of the world’s oil demand growth this year.

So where does that leave the pro-ducers? Whenever they next meet, it is almost certain they will decide to extend the current policy of restraint until the end of the year.

Sure, there may be some tweaks to the actual target levels for some coun-tries - Kazakhstan wants to be able to produce more, as output rises from its giant Kashagan field. Russian oil com-panies also want restrictions eased, but any decision will ultimately rest with President Vladimir Putin, not the coun-try’s energy industry.

But just extending the current deal may not be enough. The OPEC+ group has adopted stockpiles as its measure of success, with the focus shifting from the relatively opaque global figure to the highly visible U.S. inventory numbers, published each week.

The latest figures from the

Department of Energy made grim reading for the producer group. Total inventories of crude and refined products soared by 22.44 million barrels in the last week of May - the biggest week-on-week increase in data going back almost 30 years.

And that wasn’t the only worrying number.

Monthly data for the first quarter and initial weekly assessments for April and May show U.S. oil demand falling year on year in three out of five months so far in 2019.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development esti-mates that trade tensions have already cost the world close to 1 percentage point of growth. The OECD last month cut its global forecast for 2019 economic expansion to 3.2% from 3.9%. With demand growth tied closely to economic growth, these cuts bodes ill for oil consumption.

Although both the Saudi Arabian and Russian oil ministers talked up the benefits of the OPEC+ deal at the St Petersburg forum, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had earlier asserted that the two countries “have certain differ-ences in opinion regarding the fair price” for crude. The Russian leader says $60-65 a barrel - which is around the current level - “suits us just fine.”

While the OPEC+ ministers may be able to get away with extending their deal for another six months, a crunch is going to come when Russia decides it has had enough of restraint. For now, export restrictions resulting from the lingering contamination problems with its export pipeline to Europe are helping keep the nation’s output below its target, but once that is resolved, the industry will once again press to boost production.

Hamad Port witnessed commencement of new services in 2018, which further strengthened the port’s connectivity to Asian and European destinations with representation from all major global lines.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Qatar’s robust maritime sector

Qatar’s maritime continue to prove its resilience by delivering impressive performance. According to Mwani Qatar, ports in Qatar have posted strong

performance in May and in the first quarter of this year.A total of 373 vessels called at Hamad Port, Ruwais

Port and Doha Port last month, compared to 279 vessels in April this year, reflecting a significant, month-on-month increase of around 34 percent. These ports handled 46,691 tonnes of general cargo in May against 39,635 tonnes of general cargo in April, showing an increase of 18 percent.

The ports handled 110,938 tonnes of building mate-rials during the first quarter of this year, showing a growth of 37 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

The number of cruise passengers also surged as Doha Port witnessed the arrival of 89,188 passengers during the quarter, showing a massive growth of 99 percent compared to the first quarter of last year..

Hamad Port, which is one of the largest ports in the region entailing investment of QR27.5bn, has played a key role in breaking the blockade by ensuring normal

supply goods in the country.Hamad Port witnessed

commencement of new services in 2018, which further strengthened the port’s connectivity to Asian and European destinations with representation from all major global lines. It was the first year that a port in Qatar handled 1 million TEU landmark and came in the ranks of the select container terminals around the world handling this volume.

In March 2018, Hamad Port celebrated handling of its first one million TEUs con-tainers. The Port achieved this feat in less 14 months, which is well ahead of its expected schedule.

Later in November last year, Ministry of Transport and Communications cele-brated the handling of over two million TEU and five

million tonnes of cargo at Hamad Port until the end of October 2018.

Spread over 28.5 square kilometres, Hamad Port’s basin is 4km long, 700 metres wide and 17 metres deep — specifications that enable it to receive the world’s biggest ships.

The capacity of Hamad Port is to reach 7.5 million TEU annually on completion of all construction phases. It has a general cargo terminal with a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes annually, a terminal for cereals with a capacity of one million tones annually, a terminal to receive vehicles with an annual capacity of 500,000, a terminal for livestock, a terminal for coastguard vessels and a terminal for marine support and backup. Rising cargo traffic confirm that Qatar’s ports are ready to meet any challenges.

People protest against Monday’s deadly military raid on a nonviolent sit-in in Khartoum, Sudan, outside of the White House in Washington, DC.

If Haftar takes the capital, he would effectively have control over Libya’s three most important strategic assets: the political centre of the country, its key institutions, and most of its oil. These would help him solidify his grip on power and impose a Gaddafi-style regime backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

09MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 OPINION

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Modi’s second term: Need to replace FEAR with HOPE

Is a military solution the only option left in Libya?

FRANK ISLAM IANS

GUMA EL-GAMATY AL JAZEERA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election by such large margins in a sweeping victory is testimony to his

popularity across India. Many media articles during the seven-week long election process, however, expressed fear that a Modi victory would disen-franchise tens of millions and

threaten Indian democracy itself. This perspective is attributable to what I call the FEAR (False Events Appearing Real) syndrome. This syn-drome is caused by thinking that the past is a prologue and believing that only bad things will happen in the future. Modi’s challenge in his second term will be to replace that FEAR with HOPE (Healing, Opportunity and Progress for Everyone).

Modi’s comments in his first speech after winning the election indicate that he is aware of this need and committed to addressing the challenge. In that speech, he stated, “We are for the 130-crore (1.3 billion) people of the country, we cannot dif-ferentiate between anyone. We cannot differentiate on the basis of caste or religion or race or region. We have shown how to achieve Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (devel-opment for all) and now we have to win Sabka Vishwas (everyone’s trust). Modi went on to declare, “We are for the people who trusted us and those whose trust we need to win. Nobody should be ‘other’ for us. It takes a lot of strength to try and win the hearts of people.”

What will Modi need to do to show that strength and win those hearts? What will be required to replace fear with hope? It will be necessary to confront and combat three primary factors that created the sense of fear among many based upon Modi’s first term in office. Those factors were: the killing and mistreatment of Muslims and other minorities; an emphasis on Hindu nationalism in the governing process; and, an economic development and reform process that was only par-tially completed.

There have been numerous inci-dents of killings and mistreatment of minorities during Modi’s five years. Early in his tenure, there were several lynchings of poor Muslims in the Hindi Belt due to cow slaughter. Modi did not condone those lynchings or other vigilante violence on religious minorities and Dalits during his tenure. On the other hand, he did not speak out courageously and authoritatively against those heinous actions either.

In his second term, the Prime Minister should do so. He should call for and take steps through his admin-istration to rein-in the fringe ele-ments of his supporters who endanger the lives and livelihoods of others. This will start to drive a stake through the heart of fear and begin to renew hope. A second action that the Prime Minister can take to contribute to the renewal of hope is to re-emphasize and elevate the impor-tance of all religions for the future of India as a secular nation. It is no secret that during his first five years, the Prime Minister pushed Hinduism into the forefront of the Indian mindset and governmental practices.

In these next five years, he should proudly celebrate his religion and those of others by convening inter-faith dialogues in Delhi and across the country. Another step that he could take that would have signif-icant symbolic value would be to

modify the plans to build the wide path from the Hindu Kashi Vish-wanath Temple to the Ganges River in Varanasi.

As a Muslim, I grew up in Var-anasi and even though it is Hindu-ism’s holiest city it was a place where youth and people of all religions worked and played together ami-cably because they were bound together in the service of others. This interdenominational history could be recognized by placing stations along this path for all the religions in this wonderful and ancient city.

The final area which should be addressed to reinvigorate hope is the promise of development for all that Modi made that brought him into office on an almost universal wave of optimism and unbridled enthusiasm in 2014. Since then, he has made initial reforms to the economy, edu-cation, health care and climate change management.

But, in 2019, India’s GDP growth is relatively low; unemployment is high; the need for job creation is enormous; education of all forms - basic, vocational, technical and higher - is lagging that of advanced nations; quality health care remains a problem for all except the wealthy; the infrastructure is that of a third world country; and, the impact of climate change in India is projected to be among the worst in the world.

There is much that remains to be done. That is why Modi in his second term should advance, intensify and accelerate the critical reforms begun in first term. These reforms should be encompassing and inclusive for all - most importantly minorities, Dalits and women.

If Prime Minister Modi imple-ments a comprehensive agenda as outlined herein, five years from now HOPE will reign for India and the only thing to fear will be fear itself. With that accomplished, India will stand as a global leader and a role model for democracy.

War has been raging on in Libya for more than two months. What was sup-posed to be a quick

operation for renegade general Khalifa Haftar’s forces to take over the Libyan capital Tripoli has now turned into a battle of attrition.

Over 600 people have been killed, more than 3,000 injured and some 90,000 displaced from their homes. Thousands of residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed due to the indiscriminate shelling. Nearly three million people remain besieged in the capital, forced to spend the holy month of Ramadan in fear and shortages of basic goods.

So far there has been no clear winner. Factions aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) have managed to stop the advance of Haftar’s forces and killed his hopes for a quick victory in Tripoli.

The United Nations has issued a number of statements calling on the two sides to halt hostilities, but they have all fallen on deaf ears. Neither the GNA, nor Haftar are willing to back down or agree to a ceasefire. The

UN Security Council has also been unable to reach consensus on any res-olution that would end the fighting and restart the negations process.

This is because the international community remains divided on Libya, with regional and world powers backing each of the two sides and further fuelling the conflict.

Is a political solution still possible?

Over the past four years, the UN has put a lot of effort in trying to bring the ongoing civil war in Libya to a peaceful resolution. Even as Haftar moved his forces towards Tripoli, UN representatives still insisted that a political solution must be pursued.

Haftar’s forces launched their offensive just days before the National Conference was scheduled to be held the Libyan city of Ghadames.

As a result of the attack, the con-ference, which had been in the making for months, was cancelled and the UN mediation efforts severely undermined. Now two months later, it seems quite clear that the peace process the UN had worked so hard to kick-start is dead.

Meanwhile, positions on both sides of the war have hardened signif-icantly. Fayez Serraj, head of the GNA, has gone as far as saying that he had been “stabbed in the back” and that it was a mistake to have trusted Haftar’s intentions in all the meetings he had with him previously. He now insists that the renegade general can no longer be a partner in any peace talks.

Haftar, on the other hand, is also adamant in his stance and says that he is not ready to commit to any ceasefire or political process, whether backed by the UN or any other political actor. He seems bound on continuing his assault on Tripoli. “Of course, the political solution is still the goal. But to get back to politics, we must first finish with militias,” he told a French newspaper late last month.

By now, it appears that a political solution to the conflict is very much unlikely. The only way the fighting can come to an end is if one of the sides achieves a conclusive military victory.

What does a military solution mean?

It is not only the two sides to the conflict which seem to be betting on a military solution. Various regional and international players are intervening in Libya with the hope of securing a victory for the side they favour.

Fresh deliveries of advanced weapons and ammunition have been made to both camps, which in effect is only prolonging the war. Despite the fact that the supply of arms is in clear violation of the UN arms embargo, there has been little public condem-nation of these actions.

There are two possible outcomes of the ongoing war: Either Haftar would eventually succeed in taking over Tripoli and removing the GNA from power or the GNA would be able to push his forces out of the capital and launch a counteroffensive.

In the first case, Libya would be doomed to a one-man military rule. If Haftar takes the capital, he would effectively have control over Libya’s three most important strategic assets: the political centre of the country, its key institutions, and most of its oil. These would help him solidify his grip on power and impose a Gaddafi-style regime backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In the second case, the country would still have a chance to pursue a political solution. If the forces loyal to

It will be necessary to confront and combat three primary factors that created the sense of fear among many based upon Modi’s first term in office. Those factors were: the killing and mistreatment of Muslims and other minorities.

the GNA manage to overrun Haftar’s positions in the west and south, this would significantly weaken him, both politically and militarily. A defeat would most likely mean his exclusion from any future political dialogue. Given that he has been one of the biggest obstacles to achieving permanent peace and stability in Libya, his elimination as a political factor would bode well for the future of the country.

The problem with “waiting” for a military solution to the conflict in Libya is that it will cost the country and its civilian population dearly. As UN special envoy Ghassan Salame pointed out recently, the fighting around Tripoli is “just the start of a long and bloody war”.

The death and suffering of Libyan civilians is very much pre-ventable, if only the international community would find the political will to act.

A file picture of Libyan Parliament speaker Sadiq Al Kahili inspecting damage after forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar carried out airstrikes on the parliament building in capital Tripoli, where Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) is based in Libya.

10 MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019ASIA / EUROPE

Philippine road mishap leaves 13 people deadAFP MANILA

Thirteen people including a bride-to-be and two children were killed when the truck they were riding on after attending a traditional pre-wedding ceremony rolled over on a mountain road, police said yesterday.

The dump truck was car-rying 53 passengers in eastern Camarines Sur province on Sat-urday and was going down the highway when it lost control, injuring dozens of other people, said San Fernando town police investigator Victor Quinao.

The group had come from participating in a Filipino tra-dition where a man and his family visit the home of a woman to formally ask for her hand in marriage, Quinao said, adding the bride was among those killed.

“The truck lost control and rolled over, throwing off some of the passengers while others were crushed,” Quinao said.

“It was a dump truck used to transport soil and sand and was owned by the local gov-ernment. It appears it was bor-rowed for the event. The pas-sengers put improvised benches while others were standing.”

The fatalities included children aged four and five, Quinao added.

Police said they were inves-tigating the possible liability of the driver.

Duterte seeks arrests & health insurer revamp over dialysis scamBLOOMBERG MANILA

President Rodrigo Duterte (pictured) has ordered the arrest of those involved in a dialysis treatment scam that defrauded Philippine Health Insurance Corp, and plans a revamp of the state-run insurer for losing more than $2.89bn from fictitious claims and abuse.

“I will really go after this” and “I am ordering the National Bureau of Investigation” to take over, invite people and start making arrests,” Duterte said during a television interview, adding that, “the losses from the dialysis scam and other fraud-ulent claims are “totally unac-ceptable” and those involved must be prosecuted.”

Duterte wants the bureau to probe the owners and employees of WellMed Dialysis & Laboratory Center Corp along with hospitals where it worked that allowed the clinic to con-tinue to ask PhilHealth for dialysis payments when patients had already died. He said that while there is no evidence yet, investigators should also look at government employees who may be part of the scam.

WellMed, a dialysis clinic based in Quezon City, exploited a loophole in PhilHealth’s claims and payments system that allowed the clinic from 2016 to receive payment for fictitious

dialysis treatment of dead patients, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, citing a former employee of the clinic.

“WellMed’s lawyers denied the allegation and countered that the fraud was perpetrated by the accuser in connivance with another employee,”the report added.

Duterte said he is consid-ering revamping PhilHealth and introducing new accounting and management systems that will provide it with checks and bal-ances to detect and prevent fraudulent medical claims.

Duterte also ordered the closure of Kapa Community Ministry International for allegedly collecting illegal investments through the use of religion. He said the ministry’s operation was a clear pyramid scheme, adding that its dubious return on investment of 30,000 pesos a month for a 100,000 peso investment was too “good to be true.”

Albania President, PM clash over June electionsAFP TIRANA

Albanian President Ilir Meta cancelled the local elections scheduled for June 30, a decision promptly rejected by Prime Minister Edi Rama who said the polls would go ahead.

The announcement put Meta and Rama on a collision course, the latest development in a political crisis that has spilled onto the streets with weekly pro-tests demanding Rama’s resig-nation shrouding Tirana in tear gas.

“Current conditions do not allow for fair and democratic elections to take place and undermine any possibility of opening accession negotiations with the EU,” Meta said in a letter released by his press office yesterday.

Prime Minister Rama hit back while on a visit to the south

of the country, pledging to plough on with the ballot.

“The elections will be held on June 30 and the socialist majority is determined to carry through the reform of justice crucial for Albania’s European future,” he said.

In February, opposition pol-iticians from the right to the

centre-left walked out of par-liament in a protest demanding the resignation of socialist Rama, who has led the country since 2013.

They want a transitional government and early elections, and refuse to negotiate with Rama whom they accuse of crime and corruption links.

Leader of the opposition Democratic Party Lulzim Basha told thousands of supporters in Tirana on Saturday that the pres-ident’s decision was the “first result of our battle against Edi Rama and will continue”.

Rama’s departure was “non-negotiable” he said, despite calls from the international com-munity for Albania’s political parties to engage in constructive dialogue and refrain from violence.

The protesters then headed for parliament where police used tear gas and water canon to dis-perse them.

The rally took place days after a German paper published leaked tapes showing how an accused drug trafficker in Durres told Socialist officials how he planned to coerce opposition backers to vote for them and help a friend become a lawmaker.

Mass arrests as Kazakhstan elects new leaderAP MOSCOW

Police detained about 500 people amid unauthorised protests in Kazakhstan of the presidential election that oppo-nents alleged was a fake exercise in democracy.

Officers, some in riot gear with shields and helmets, broke up the demonstrations in Nur-Sultan, the capital, and Almaty, the country’s main commercial city.

Deputy Interior Minister Marat Kozhayev said three police were injured in the clashes and some 500 demon-strators were taken to

police stations. There were no immediate reports on whether charges were being filed.

The protesters were calling for a voter boycott of the snap election, which they alleged was staged to put in office a politician loyal to the former longtime p r e s i d e n t , N u r s u l t a n Nazarbayev, who resigned in March.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the upper house speaker who became acting president when Nazarbayev stepped down, is expected to win the contest easily.

Seven candidates were on the ballot, including a genuine opposition figure for the first

time since independence. The national elections commission reported the election’s turnout was about 77 percent of the electorate.

The resignation of the 78-year-old Nazarbayev, who had led Kazakhstan since it sep-arated from the Soviet Union to become an independent country in 1991, came as a surprise to many who expected him to run for re-election next year.

The opposition candidate, Amirzhan Kossanov, said yes-terday he had no complaints about violations during the campaign.

Preliminary results were expected early today.

Opposition supporters using light from their cellphones during an anti-government protest, in Tirana, on Saturday.

AP BERLIN

A man who was detained in an investigation of the fatal shooting of a regional official from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has been released after questioning, German authorities said yesterday.

Walter Luebcke, who ran the Kassel area regional adminis-tration in central Germany, was found dead outside his home last Sunday by a relative. An autopsy confirmed that a pistol shot to the head, fired at close range, and a homicide investigation was opened.

On Saturday, a man was taken into provisional custody in the case.

Police said in a statement yesterday that he was questioned but let go in the early morning after “the questioning produced no indi-cations that support a participation in the crime.”

They said they would give no further information for now so as to protect the person and the ongoing investigation.

Luebcke, a long-time member of Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, in 2015 received threats after speaking out in support of helping asylum seekers.

The head of Hesse state’s criminal police said last week that the threats from several years ago appeared to have no connection to the killing.

A funeral service for Luebcke is set to be held in Kassel on Thursday, the local government told news agency dpa.

Man detained in probe of German politician’s death released

Members of a local election committee start counting votes during the presidential election in Almaty, Kazakhstan, yesterday.

Violence mars end of massive HK protestAFP HONG KONG

A huge peaceful protest in Hong Kong against controversial plans to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland descended into violence this morning as police clashed with small pockets of demonstrators outside the city’s parliament.

Organisers said more than a million people took part in the march yesterday — the largest protest since the city’s 1997 handover to China — confronting the city’s pro-Beijing leadership with a major political crisis.

The city government is pushing a bill through the legis-lature that would allow extradi-tions to any jurisdiction with which it does not already have a treaty — including mainland China. The proposals have sparked an outcry and birthed an opposition that unites a wide cross-section of the city.

Yesterday saw huge crowds march in blazing summer heat through the cramped streets of

the financial hub’s main island in a noisy, colourful demon-stration calling on the gov-ernment to scrap its planned extradition law. The march passed without incident.

But shortly after midnight violence flared as police moved to clear protesters who had vowed to stay overnight outside parliament.

Demonstrators hurled bottles and used metal barricades as police moved in moments after the protest permit expired.

Officers used pepper spray hoses to push the crowds back, who shouted “We have a right to protest!”

The demonstrators grabbed

what they could to create barri-cades and block roads near the legislature.

At least one police officer could be seen with blood streaming down his face.

The scenes were reminiscent of 2014 when police used tear gas to disperse pro-democracy dem-onstrators outside the same building, sparking public anger and setting off two months of demonstrations that took over key intersections of the interna-tional finance hub.

Just hours earlier protesters had been celebrating the huge turnout, hoping it would prompt the government into rethinking the law.

For more than six hours yes-terday dense crowds snaked their way through the city chanting “Scrap the law!” and “Oppose China extradition!”

Police, who historically give much lower figures than organ-isers, put the peak crowd size at 240,000 — still their second highest estimate for attendance at a protest since handover.

The city’s population is around 7.3 million and the organiser figure for yesterday’s protest outstripped 2003, when an estimated half a million demonstrators forced the gov-ernment to shelve a deeply unpopular national security law.

But it is unclear if the financial hub’s current lead-ership will be moved. The city’s

appointed leader Carrie Lam has staked her political reputation on the bill passing.

Ignoring the protests could fuel public anger or prompt more widespread clashes.

Organisers said yesterday they would “upgrade their actions” if the government did not drop the bill.

In a statement late yesterday the government described the

protest as “an example of Hong Kong people exercising their freedom of expression”. But showed no sign of compromise, urging legislators to proceed with the bill’s second reading.

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council plans to vote on the amended Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance on Wednesday.

Protesters gesture as they chant “no extradition” during a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council plans to vote on the amended Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance on Wednesday.

11MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 EUROPE

Moldova court relieves President amid crisisREUTERS CHISINAU

A Moldovan court relieved Pres-ident Igor Dodon of his duties yesterday, deepening a standoff between rival political parties over the formation of a new government after months of deadlock.

His successor, former prime minister Pavel Filip, immediately announced a snap election for September, while thousands of supporters of Filip’s party gathered to rally in the capital, Chisinau.

The crisis threatens more instability in one of Europe’s smallest and poorest nations of 3.5 million people, where entrenched corruption and low living standards have pushed many citizens to emigrate to Russia or wealthier European countries.

Dodon’s Russian-backed Socialist party had on Saturday announced it was forming a coa-lition government with the pro-European Union ACUM bloc, an unlikely alliance designed to keep a party run by tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc out of power.

Plahotniuc’s Democratic Party of Moldova said the new administration had tried to usurp power at Russia’s behest, criti-cising Dodon’s refusal to dissolve

parliament after parties missed a court-mandated a June 7 deadline to form a government.

Dodon said the court was not politically independent and accused the Democrats of trying to cling to power. He called on the international community to step in.

“Moldovan citizens with dif-ferent views on domestic and foreign policy can unite for the sake of a common goal: liber-ation of the Republic of Moldova from the criminal, dictatorial regime,” Dodon said in a statement.

“In this situation, we have no choice but to appeal to the inter-national community to mediate in the process of a peaceful transfer of power and/or to call on the people of Moldova for an unprecedented mobilisation and

peaceful protests.”A court appointed Filip, a

member of Plahotniuc’s party, as interim president. Filip said Dodon had not fulfilled his duties by failing to dissolve parliament, and called it an attempt to stage a “coup”.

Amid signs of trouble brewing on Saturday, the EU’s spokeswoman called for “calm and restraint”, and for Moldova to respect the rule of law and democracy. Russia urged parties to avoid destabilisation.

ACUM leader Maia Sandu, a former education minister and World Bank adviser, had been appointed prime minister on Sat-urday. But a court struck down her appointment and that of a Socialist party-nominated par-liament speaker.

Plahotniuc’s party supporters pitched tents in front of many ministries and state institutions on Saturday night.

“The tents pitched yesterday are proof that the Democratic Party wants to use law enforcement bodies to throw the country into chaos to protect a single person — Plahotniuc,” Sandu said in parliament yesterday.

“They do not want to ensure the peaceful transition of power. The orders given now by Pla-hotniuc are illegal,” she added.

Moldova has been dogged by political instability and cor-ruption, especially since a

scandal known as the “theft of the century” emerged in 2014-2015 in which $1bn, around an eighth of its economic output, was pilfered from three banks.

The tiny ex-Soviet republic is squeezed between Ukraine and EU member Romania. Politically divided, some of its voters favour closer ties with the EU or even reunification with Romania, while others prefer closer ties to Russia.

The EU forged a deal on closer trade and political ties with Moldova in 2014 and showered it with aid but has become increasingly critical of Chisinau’s track record on reforms.

An election in February pro-duced a hung parliament and set the stage for months of coalition negotiations.

On Saturday the deputy chief of the Democratic Party, Andrian Candu, said that Dodon, the former Socialist party head, had approached the Democrats with a coalition offer on terms set by Moscow.

The coalition terms included implementing a longstanding plan to turn Moldova into a federal state that would give special recognition to the sepa-ratist region of Transdniestria, which wants to merge with Russia.

Supporters of the Democratic Party of Moldova holding banners during a an rally against Moldova President Igor Dodon, in Chisinau, yesterday.

EU willing to renegotiate Brexit deal: British FMAFP LONDON

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a contender to replace Theresa May as prime minister, said yesterday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had indicated the EU was willing to renegotiate the Brexit divorce deal.

Hunt, one of nearly a dozen Conservatives vying to succeed May after she resigned as party leader on Friday, said he spoke with Merkel at this week’s D-Day commemorations and was con-vinced changing May’s agreement was possible.

“She said that of course with a new British prime minister we

would want to look at any solu-tions you have,” he said. “I’m absolutely clear that if we take the right approach to this, the Europeans would be willing to negotiate on the package.”

Hunt did not specify if he was referring to the legally-binding withdrawal agreement which the EU has repeatedly insisted cannot be re-opened, or to the accompanying political decla-ration on future relations.

Brussels has said the decla-ration could be revisited if Britain makes a substantive change in its positions, for example on a customs union or access to the single market.

May agreed the package with the EU last year but saw it

rejected three times by British lawmakers, forcing her to delay Brexit twice — the latest extension being to October 31.

A controversial provision in the agreement for the Irish border, known as the backstop, has proved the key stumbling block.

It would prevent the return of border checks between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland if the sides fail to agree a free trade pact after an initial transition period.

Hunt claimed Merkel had signalled EU leaders may now be open to a technological solution to the thorny issue —something Brussels has previ-

ously ruled out as unrealistic. “She said to me Germany

doesn’t have that border with the Republic of Ireland, you do... so you need to come up with the solution,” he said of their conversation.

“So it’s going to be a solution that’s based around some tech-nologies — what the Germans call intelligent border(s). I think that’s doable.”

May stepped down as Con-servative Party leader on Friday and formally triggered the race for a successor — currently being contested by 11 Tory MPs — but will remain prime minister until a new leader is chosen.

The leader of the party, which won the most seats at the

last general election in 2017, will almost certainly become prime minister.

The Brexit-dominated battle is expected to conclude by the end of next month, with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson considered the clear frontrunner.

Johnson said in an interview published yesterday that he would refuse to pay Britain’s £39bn divorce bill until the EU agrees better withdrawal terms.

The former London mayor also signalled he would scrap the much-despised backstop and try to settle the border issue once London and Brussels were nego-t i a t i n g t h e i r f u t u r e relationship.

Igor Dodon’s successor, former prime minister Pavel Filip, immediately announced a snap election for September, while thousands of supporters of Filip’s party gathered to rally in Chisinau.

Russian journalist put under house arrest

Igor Dodon

REUTERS MOSCOW

Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was placed under two months’ house arrest in Moscow while he is investigated for drug peddling, as a court rejected a request from investi-gators to hold him in custody.

Golunov, 36, was on his way to a meeting with a source on Thursday when he was detained in central Moscow and illegal drugs were found in his rucksack, according to police

and his employer, the online news portal Meduza, based in Latvia.

A lawyer for Golunov, who is known for investigating alleged corruption among Moscow city officials, said he believed police had planted the drugs on his client to frame him, and that Golunov had been physically beaten.

Golunov denies the charges. Dressed in blue jeans and a black t-shirt, he told people present in court during a recess that he had received threats in connection

with an investigation into the funeral service industry.

“I did not commit a crime, I am ready to cooperate with the investigation, I have nothing to do with the drugs,” Golunov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

Golunov is accused of large-scale drug dealing and investi-gators had asked the court to remand him in custody for two months.

Outside the court, several hundred supporters chanted “Freedom! Freedom!”

Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, charged with attempted drug-dealing, sits inside a defendants’ cage during a court hearing, in Moscow.

No injuries reported at residential block fire in London

REUTERS LONDON

No injuries have so far been reported at a fire in east London, a London Ambulance spokesman said yesterday, adding that ambulance units were still at the scene.

The fire brigade earlier said around 100 firefighters were dealing with the blaze, which had set alight six floors of a res-idential block.

Footage on social media showed intense flames lapping up front of a low-rise residential building. Later pictures showed a less dramatic scene with flames largely extinguished.

Almost two years ago, Grenfell Tower, a high-rise social housing block in west London, was engulfed by flames in the middle of the night, killing 71 people in the country’s deadliest domestic fire since World War II.

Toll in Dunabe boat accident rises to 20AFP BUDAPEST

Another victim of the sunken sightseeing boat in Budapest has been found, Hungarian police said yesterday, bringing the death toll to 20 with eight people still missing.

The woman’s body was “pulled from the Danube near Szazhalombatta” on Saturday, around 21km south of Budapest, police said in a statement.

She was identified as one of the South Koreans missing after the accident.

The Mermaid tourist boat was carrying mostly South Korean tourists when it sank seconds after colliding with the bigger Viking Sigyn vessel on a busy stretch of the Danube river on May 29.

“The authorities continue the search for seven missing South Korean passengers and the Hungarian captain of the boat on the whole southern section of the Danube,” police said. Only seven people are known to have survived the accident.

SPD eyes leftist alliance as an alternative to Merkel’s grand coalition REUTERS BERLIN

Leading members of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) spoke out for a three-way left wing alliance as an alternative to their fragile ‘grand coalition’ with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives at the weekend.

Turmoil within the SPD has cast doubt over the future of the government in Europe’s biggest economy after the party chief quit due to dismal regional and European election results.

Calls are mounting from members to ditch the coalition later this year and shift left, a move that would hasten Mer-kel’s exit and could lead to a snap election, a minority gov-ernment or an unwieldy three-way alliance.

Some of the SPD’s most senior figures homed in on a tie-up with the resurgent Greens, who have even over-taken the conservatives in some opinion polls, and the radical Left, a successor party to East Germany’s Communists.

Deputy SPD leader Ralf Stegner told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that “of course” a leftist alliance was “the strategic alternative to one with the conservatives.”

Malu Dreyer, one of three

caretaker leaders of the SPD, also raised the possibility.

“We need other constella-tions to boost our credibility. One option is of course a coa-lition of the SPD, Greens and Left,” she told Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Their comments add weight to a chorus from the party’s left for such a three-way alliance which has never been tested at the national level but is working in two federal states.

One of Europe’s biggest centre-left parties, the SPD alternated power with the con-servatives for generations but taking on the role of junior partner under Merkel for two straight terms has led to a slump in polls.

In a European election on May 26, the SPD was pushed into third with just 15.8% of the vote, down some 11 points and behind the Greens for the first time ever in a national election. Since then, it has slumped to 12% in opinion polls.

The three parties are also trying to forge a leftist coalition in the state of Bremen although the conservative Christian Dem-ocrats (CDU) won most votes in a May vote there. This has sent a signal to the CDU that they cannot bank on keeping power by coming first in elections.

12 MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019AMERICAS

Democrats slam Trump’s use of ‘trade threats’AFP WASHINGTON

Democrats yesterday slammed Donald Trump’s tactics of threat-ening punitive tariffs to extract concessions on immigration from Mexico, saying the US pres-ident was recklessly endangering ties to a major ally and trade partner.

“What the world is tired of, and what I am tired of, is a pres-ident who consistently goes to war, verbal war, with our allies,” Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We need a decent rela-tionship with Mexico,” added Sanders, a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2020. “We should not be con-fronting them every other day.”

His comments came two days after the US and Mexico, fol-lowing urgent talks in

Washington, reached a deal to avert the five-percent tariffs Trump had threatened on all imports from Mexico, a move economists said would have had devastating impact in both countries.

The Mexican side, for its part, agreed to bolster security on its southern border and expand its policy of taking back Central American migrants as the US processes their asylum claims.

Trump and his Republican supporters hailed the deal as a major breakthrough, but the

Democrats sharply criticised his frequent resort to tariff threats and said many of the Mexican conces-sions were made months ago.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a sharply worded statement saying Trump had “undermined America’s preem-inent leadership role in the world” by threatening tariffs against Mexico.

“Threats and temper tan-trums are no way to negotiate foreign policy,” she said.

But Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, insisted that results

were what mattered.“People can disagree with

the tactics (but) Mexico came to the table with real proposals,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We have an agreement that, if they implement, will be effective.”

Beto O’Rourke, a former con-gressman from the border city of El Paso, Texas who is also pur-suing the Democratic nomi-nation, was among the critics challenging how much Trump had actually accomplished.

“I think the president has completely overblown what he reports to have achieved,” he said. “These are agreements that Mexico had already made, in some cases months ago.

“They might have accel-erated the timetable, but by and large the president achieved nothing except to jeopardise the most important trading rela-tionship that the United States of America has.”

Many lawmakers from border states like Texas — even many Republicans — had expressed grave reservations about the tariff threat, but Republicans, at least, welcomed the outcome.

“In general, Republicans understand that tariffs are attacks on American consumers and we don’t want to see them in place long-term, nor do I believe Pres-ident Trump does,” Republican Senator Ron Johnson said.

That said, the Wisconsin law-maker added, “I think he used them as leverage in this situation brilliantly.”

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaking Saturday in the border city of Tijuana, also credited the agreement, saying it meant “there will not be an economic or financial crisis in Mexico.”

One of the concessions touted by administration officials

was Mexico’s agreement to deploy its National Guard to slow the migrant flow northward.

But Mexico had pledged to do that in secret talks in March, according to officials from both countries quoted by the New York Times.

And the agreement to expand a programme allowing asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are being proc-essed was reached in December, the officials said.

Trump lashed out at what he often calls the “failing New York Times” over that report, tweeting yesterday that “if President Obama made the deals that I have made, both at the Border and for the Economy, the Corrupt Media would be hailing them as Incredible, & a National Holiday would be immediately declared.

“With me, despite our record setting Economy and all that I have done, no credit!”

Trump tweeted yesterday that “if President Obama made the deals that I have made, both at the Border and for the Economy, the Corrupt Media would be hailing them as Incredible, & a National Holiday would be immediately declared. “With me, despite our record setting Economy and all that I have done, no credit!”

Hillary Clinton says Mueller report shows obstruction occurredAP WELLESLEY

Hillary Clinton said there are two inescapable conclusions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The first is that Russia con-ducted a sweeping and systemic interference into the 2016 election and the second is that obstruction of justice occurred.

“You cannot read the report, chapter and verse, fact after fact, without reaching those conclu-sions.” Clinton said. She made the comments during an appearance with Madeleine Albright at their alma mater, Wellesley College.

“People just want to quit hearing about it and get back to their normal lives. There is nothing normal about under-mining the rule of law. There is nothing normal about attacking the press. There is nothing normal about trying to undermine another branch of government,” she said.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the Mueller report shows no collusion between his campaign and the Russians.

Clinton said she was also worried that the speed of online communications could make the country vulnerable to the tactics of demagogues including what she called the clever use of symbols combined with verbal and physical intimidation.

“This is a classic pattern. There is nothing new about it,” she said. “I think given the

rapidity with which information can be conveyed today because of the Internet, it is an even more d a n g e r o u s s e t o f circumstances.”

The two former Democratic secretaries of state spoke on a range of topics, from their years at Wellesley to the state of women’s rights in the world.

Albright is a member of the class of 1959. Clinton is a member of the class of 1969.

Albright was the nation’s first female secretary of state and served under President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state under Pres-ident Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, the House Dem-ocrats have scheduled a series of hearings this coming week on the special counsel’s report as they intensify their focus on the Russia probe and pick up the pace on an investigative “path” — in the words of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — that some of them hope leads to impeachment of the president.

In doing so, they are trying to draw the public’s attention on the allegations that Trump sought to obstruct a federal investigation and they want highlight his campaign’s con-tacts with Russia in the 2016 election.

And they will lay the groundwork for an appearance from Mueller himself, despite his stated desire to avoid the spot-light . The hearings will focus on the two main topics of Mueller’s report, obstruction of justice and Russian election interference.

Key poll in early voting state has 5 Democrats emergingAFP WASHINGTON

As the two dozen Democrats aspiring to the US presidency struggle for attention, a new survey in the first state to vote in 2020 shows five of them, led by former vice-president Joe Biden, emerging with early leads.

The CNN/Des Moines Register/Medi-acom poll of Iowa voters comes a full eight months before they convene in caucuses to pick a favourite, but it carries weight since Iowa’s early voting status helps shape voter impressions nationwide.

The survey shows 24 percent of Iowa voters favouring Biden, giving him a sub-stantial lead over Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, at 16 percent.

Virtually tied with Sanders are Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (15 per-cent) and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (14 percent).

The only other Democrat polling above 5 percent is California Senator Kamala Har-ris (7 percent).

After Harris, support drops sharply, with former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar polling at 2 percent. All other candidates registered 1 percent or less. The survey had a sampling error of 4.0 percent.

Both Sanders and O’Rourke emphasised

in television appearances yesterday how early it is in the nominating process.

Sanders noted that when he ran against Hillary Clinton for the nomination in 2016, both received about half the Iowa vote. Now, given the size of the field, “I don’t think any-body will.”

But he insisted he had a “very strong chance” of being picked to run against “the worst president in the modern history of this country, Donald Trump.”

The first televised Democratic debates are set for June 26 and 27 in Miami.

To qualify to take part, Democrats must register 1 percent or higher in major national polls or surveys from early voting states like Iowa. Alternatively, they must have received donations from 65,000 donors.

Most of the Democrats, but not Biden, will appear today in Iowa at a major party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids.

A Trump rally in Iowa is set for tomorrow.

Venezuela govt closing consulates in CanadaAFP CARACAS

Venezuela has announced it will close its consulates in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, leaving only its embassy in Ottawa to handle its affairs in Canada.

The Venezuelan foreign ministry, which announced the decision yesterday, said it was in response to Canada’s tempo-rary closing of its embassy in Caracas.

Canada is one of more than 50 countries, led by the United States, that recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as Vene-zuela’s acting president in the country’s political standoff.

In a statement, it said the Canadian decision, “far from being an administrative mat-ter, is a political decision that reflects the continued hostil-ity of that government toward Venezuela.”

Canada announced the

temporary closing of its embassy in Caracas a week ago, blam-ing President Nicolas Maduro for refusing to accredit diplo-mats critical to its functioning.

“The regime has taken steps to limit the ability of for-eign embassies to function in Venezuela, particularly those advocating for the restoration of democracy,” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said.

Citing the principle of reci-procity, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said “it will temporar-ily stop providing services at its general consulates in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.”

“All the functions of Venezue-lan diplomacy in Canada will be concentrated at the headquar-ters of its embassy in Ottawa”.

The opposition-control-led National Assembly, which Guaido heads, declared Maduro a “usurper” after he assumed a second term in office in Janu-ary following elections that were widely denounced as fraudulent.

737 MAX flights cancelled through September 3AFP/WASHINGTON

American Airlines has cancelled all scheduled flights with Boeing 737 MAX jets through September 3, extending the grounding of its fleet after two crashes involving the same aircraft model killed 346 people.

The airline had previously cancelled all 737 MAX flights through August 19.

In a statement, it said it “remains confident that impending software updates to the Boeing 737 MAX, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing in coordi-nation with our union partners, will lead to recertification of the aircraft soon.” The extension means that American Airlines will have cancelled 115 flights since grounding its 14 737 MAX aircraft.

Game onGamers play a new version of the ‘Anthem’ video game at the EA PLAY event in Hollywood, California, yesterday.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders with volunteers following a campaign stop at the Capital City Pride Fest, in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday.

California proactively cuts power due to weatherAP SAN FRANCISCO

Pacific Gas & Electric imple-mented a controversial practice of cutting power to selected portions of Northern California yesterday to guard against wild-fires as the weather turned very windy, dry and hot.

Electricity was turned off around 6am Saturday to 1,600 customers in parts Napa, Solano and Yolo counties. Just as that shutdown was called off, the utility warned 27,000 customers in Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties that

their power would be cut from 9pm through Sunday morning.

The end of the earlier shutdown was announced around 4pm and the utility said power would be restored in those areas as soon as crews fin-ished checking lines for any weather-related damage.

Conditions ripe for fire —winds, low humidity, dry vege-tation and heat. The National Weather Service office reported a 114kph gust on one peak in the region.

A fire that erupted late in the day in Yolo County was esti-mated at 100 acres; firefighters

halted the spread of another after 25 acres burned northeast of Calistoga in Napa County. The causes were not immediately known.

PG&E is under pressure to prevent fire starts after downed power lines and other company equipment have been blamed for conflagrations that began during so-called fire weather.

But there has been oppo-sition from customers who rely on electrically powered life-support equipment as well as businesses that have had to shut down for lack of power.

“We know how much our

customers rely on electric service, and our decision tonight to turn off power is to protect our communities experiencing extreme fire danger,” Michael Lewis, PG&E’s senior vice pres-ident of electric operations, said in a statement Friday.

California experienced a very wet winter and spring, and even vast areas that were scorched earth after last year’s wildfires now have new head-high brush that is rapidly browning as summer approaches.

Several fires have broken out.