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CATHERINE W GICHUKIDOHA

PRIME Minister and Minis-ter of Interior HE Sheikh Ab-dullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani opened the seventh Middle East Forum on Qual-ity and Safety in Healthcare on Saturday.

The three-day event themed “Patient Safety First” highlights the quality and safety aspects of the world-class healthcare services provided to patients across Qatar’s healthcare deliv-ery system.

The Prime Minister later opened the exhibition (Knowl-edge Zone) being held on the sidelines of the forum which showcases projects for improv-ing the quality and safety of health care.

The event, which features more than 3,000 delegates and 120 speakers, is being organised by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Im-provement (IHI).

Speaking during the open-ing ceremony, Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al Kuwari said the growth of Qatar’s healthcare

system has placed it on a par with the world’s best-perform-ing health systems.

“Since we came together at last year’s forum, we have opened Hazm Mebaireek Gener-al Hospital, Sidra Medicine and the new Naufar Centre. Addition-ally, in 2018, we opened four new

PHCC health and wellness cent-ers — all providing high-quality care to our patients much closer to where they live. This increase in capacity and improvement in quality have transformed our healthcare system into a regional leader that is comparable with the world’s best.”

She said Qatar health sec-tor is more proactive in the early detection of treatable disease than ever before. This year, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) crossed the 50,000 mark in screening for bowel and breast cancers. She said a number of HMC services such as cardiac care, the stroke programme and ambulance response times are all consistently exceed-ing international best practice benchmarks.

Washington on edge for Mueller’s findings on Trump

US Attorney General Bill Barr was expected to hand Congress as early as Saturday the key findings of the Russian meddling probe with Washington anxious to learn if President Donald

Trump is implicated in serious wrongdoing.Chronic tweeter Trump, who headed out from his Florida residence early for a round of golf, remained uncommonly silent after spending two years repeatedly labeling Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation an illegal witch hunt -- suggesting the White House has still not seen the report. (AFP) PAGE 10

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar HE Syed Ahsan Raza Shah addresses a gathering of community members at the Pakistan Embassy in Doha on Saturday at an event to mark the country’s National Day. PAGE 3

Pakistan National Day celebrated

3,000 delegates converge in Doha as PM opens ME healthcare forum

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani and Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al Kuwari at the

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

DRAWING more than 40,000 visitors over four days since Tuesday, two concur-rent global exhibitions — one on agriculture and the other on environment — came to an end in Doha on Saturday. Both the events were organ-ised by the Ministry of Mu-nicipality and Environment (MME).

While the seventh Qatar International Agricultural Ex-hibition (AgriTeQ) highlight-ed innovations in agricultural techniques, the country’s first International Environmen-tal Exhibition (EnviroTeQ)

explored solutions to sev-eral pressing environmental problems. It also provided a dedicated platform for the lo-cal and international environ-mental technology providers to showcase their latest prod-ucts and services.

The events saw the sign-ing of several deals between the ministry and participat-ing groups to increase Qatar’s self-sufficiency and food secu-rity. The twin events also saw wide participation of compa-nies and local farms prepar-ing to launch their products in Qatar.

Among the highlights of the AgriTeQ expo, which saw participation by more than

86 farms, was the “planting a million trees” project. It aligns with Qatar’s relentless efforts to support interna-tional action to tackle climate

change and promote environ-mental sustainability.

The project is of great im-portance as it aims at optimis-ing the use of treated water,

enhancing biodiversity, im-proving air quality, increas-ing green cover and reducing emissions.

On the sidelines of the events, a host of agreements were signed, with several in-volving MME and prominent national and international en-tities. The event also saw the launch of Mahaseel “Crops” website and opening of regis-tration for all Qatari farmers to obtain marketing and agri-cultural services.

Mohammed Ali al Khouri, chairman of the organising committee of the exhibition, said this year’s edition was the largest when compared with previous ones.

AgriTeQ, EnviroTeQ attract over 40,000 visitors

The concurrently run AgriTeQ and the EnviroTeQ conferences have been a huge success in Qatar.

CATHERINE W GICHUKIDOHA

THE Hamad Medical Cor-poration (HMC) has made great progress towards eliminating postoperative risks to its patients with several of its facilities achieving “zero harm” from blood clots like deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and sep-sis, which are common after surgeries.

In some of the HMC fa-cilities, none of the patients developed DVT after an op-eration in 2018, said HMC’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Director of Medical Edu-cation Dr Abdullatif Alkhal.

He was addressing the media on the sidelines of the opening day of the seventh Middle East Forum on Qual-ity and Safety in Healthcare in Doha on Saturday.

“It is known that there is a risk of someone develop-ing deep vein thrombosis in the legs post-surgery which can be life threatening be-cause a clot can go to the lungs and kill the patient.

We have measures put in place to make sure that this does not happen.”

The other area in which the HMC has set a record of ‘zero harm’ is sepsis, he

added. “This requires early detection of the infection and prompt treatment to prevent a patient develop-ing sepsis.”

Dr Alkhal further said that there were also no pa-tients who developed post-operation infections. “This is really encouraging, and you only achieve this by ac-knowledging that risks are there and then we see the initiatives, programmes, processes and checks and balances to prevent harms from happening.”

Several HMC facilities achieve zero-harm tag in post-surgery risks

Being organised by HMC, the 3-day event features 120 speakers

SUNDAYMARCH 24, 2019

RAJAB 17, 1440VOL.12 NO. 4583 QR 2

Amir greets Pak PresidentThe Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani on Sat-urday sent a cable of con-gratulations to President of Pakistan Arif Alvi, on the occasion of his country’s National Day.

Sheikha Mayassa graces opening of Malevich expo (PG 20 )

Demonstrators from around Britain marched in London on Saturday to call for a second referendum on the

country’s departure from the EU.

Huge rally in London to press for 2nd Brexit referendum

Syria force announces end of IS‘caliphate’

‘Patient Safety First’Themed “Patient Safety First”, the forum highlights the

quality and safety aspects of the world-class healthcare services that are provided to patients in Qatar

Continued on page 2

Continued on page 2

Commercial Bank mulls raising $2 bn in 2019: CEO

SATYENDRA PATHAKDOHA

COMMERCIAL Bank (CB) is expected to raise funds worth $2 billion through various sources in 2019, the bank’s top executive has said.

“We have approximately $2billion of maturities this year and we will renew and re-place them with fresh issuanc-es or other forms of debts as required by our businesses,” Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham told Qatar Tribune.

“The bank will most prob-ably start the fund raising pro-cess from the second or the third quarter of this year,” he said.

Full story on page 12

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Business 12Apple CEO urges China to continue to open up its economy

Sports 16Carey claims golden double

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In some of the HMC facilities, none of the patients developed DVT after an operation in 2018, said HMC’s Deputy Chief

02 Sunday, March 24, 2019

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Amir sends condolences to Ghana presidentTHE Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al -Thani on Saturday sent a cable to President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana to express his condolences on the victims of the collision of two buses at Puno area north of Accra, wishing the injured a speedy recovery . (QNA)

Deputy Amir congratulates Pakistan’s presidentTHE Deputy Amir His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani on Saturday sent a cable of congratulations to President of Pa-kistan Dr Arif Alvi on the occasion of his country’s National Day. (QNA)

Deputy Amir sends condolences to president of GhanaTHE Deputy Amir His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al Thani on Saturday sent a cable to President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana to express his condolences on the victims of the collision of two buses at Puno area north of Accra, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. (QNA)

PM congratulates Pakistani counterpartPRIME Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani on Saturday sent congratulations to Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on his country’s National Day. (QNA)

Pm sends condolences to President of GhanaPRIME Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani on Saturday sent a cable of condolences to Presi-dent Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana on the victims of the collision of two buses at Puno area north of Accra. (QNA)

PM receives phone call from Sudanese counterpartPRIME Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani received a telephone call from Prime Minister of Sudan Mohammad Taher Ella. During the call, they reviewed bilateral relations and means of boosting them in various fields. (QNA)

QNA KHARTOUM

GOVERNOR of East Darfur State Major-General Anas Omar has laud-ed Qatar’s supportive position for the security and stability of Sudan and its efforts for the peace process in Dar-fur, which has resulted in an unprec-edented pace of development.

Qatar position stands as proof of the depth and strength of rela-tions between the two countries in all fields, the Governor told the Suda-

nese radio.He noted that the State of East

Darfur is currently witnessing a con-tinuous national development pro-jects as a result of the peace process and to consolidate the gains of the Doha Peace Document and in the forefront of the model villages in the towns of Abokarnka and Sheeriya.

He renewed his call to all oppo-nents and armed movements to join the peace process and to adopt the voice of reason and respond to the positive presidential initiatives.

Sudanese official lauds Qatar

Continued from page 1

HE said that in any health care sys-tem accidents or harms can happen while dispensing medication. “At Hamad, for instance, we write thou-sands of prescriptions everyday whether in inpatient or outpatient or emergency. If one of those is written wrongly, the wrong dose or drug, then this will translate into wrong pre-scription.”

He said that checks and balances are in place to try to minimise or pre-vent prescription errors.

Dr Al Khal explained that infec-tions can also occur as a result of a procedure, especially after a surgical procedure. There are processes that are in place to ensure that those pro-cedures are safe as much as possible. We do measure harm from all the fa-cilities, we look at those figures and

go back and see how we can improve them. It’s a continuous process. Even if we reach zero harm in some areas, it doesn’t mean that we can now rest and stop; we need to maintain it and that takes effort.”

Deputy Chief of Quality and Di-rector of Hamad Healthcare Qual-ity Institute (HHQI) Nasser al Naimi

said that all the programmes that they are doing at HMC are about pa-tient safety.

“There is communication with everybody. Each and everyone knows about a particular case. It is more communication, more cost effective. It involves three steps-visual, data and communication,” he said.

‘HMC tries to ensure error-free prescriptions & safe surgeries’

Speaker of the Shura Council HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al Mahmoud conveyed greetings and condolences of the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani to the victims of the terrorist attack in New Zealand. (TNN)

Continued from page 1

PRESIDENT and CEO of IHI Derek Feeley said that quality improvement initiatives now extend across the continuum of care, from hospital to home.

“Health behaviours are as-sociated with a multitude of health and well-being outcomes at the individual and population levels. We are pleased to have collaborated again with HMC to provide a forum for quality im-provers that helps them develop better ways to deliver patient care. This is part of a mission to achieve greater health equity and improve the health of pop-ulations while rewarding value rather than volume.”

Deputy Chief of Quality and Director of HMC’s Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute HHQI and Middle East Fo-rum Co-Chair Nasser al Naimi said, “There are so many inter-dependencies that need to be managed to initiate sustainable quality improvement and with our exhibits, we wanted to give delegates the opportunity to learn, reflect, be inspired, and

share knowledge with other professionals – all in an exciting and fun environment.”

Deputy Chief Medical Of-ficer, Director of Medical Edu-cation at HMC and Middle East Forum Co-Chair Dr Abdullatif AlKhal said, “This is a great opportunity for all healthcare professionals to participate in an international conference of a very high calibre without hav-ing to travel far. Many attendees who have been delegates at one of our previous forums are now presenting their own work on quality and safety.

“Of the 126 speakers this

year, 108 are from Qatar and the region, which is a testimony to the progress we have made in quality improvement under-standing and application since we held our first Middle East Forum seven years ago. The programme this year has many new topics on quality and safety and it provides an opportunity for participants to network with leaders in this field.”

The exhibition area features over 15 exhibitors, including the Ministry of Public Health, HHQI, PHCC, Qatar Armed Forces, Qatar Red Crescent, Sidra Medicine, Qatar Univer-

sity, and the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH).

The forum concludes on March 24.

‘Qatar makes great strides in patient care improvement’

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani and Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Moham-med al Kuwari with other guests at the opening of the seventh Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare on Saturday.

Qatar slams suicide attack in Somalia,Afghanistan bombingQATAR has condemned the suicide at-tack which took place near government offices in the Somali capital, Moga-dishu, causing deaths and injuries. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated Qatar’s rejection of violence and terrorism, regardless of motives and reasons. Qatar expressed condolences to the victims’ families, the governments and the people of Somalia and Afghanistan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. (QNA)

HEALTH MINISTER MEETS KUWAITI COUNTERPART: Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohammed al Kuwari on Saturday met with Minis-ter of Health of Kuwait Sheikh Dr Basel Hamoud al Hamad al Sabah.

AMIR’S CONDOLENCES TO NZ TERROR VICTIMS

Hamad Medical Corporation officials at a press conference on the seventh Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare on Saturday. (HANSON K JOSEPH)

Nation 03Sunday, March 24, 2019

CARTOON CORNER By: Saad al MohannadiMoPH, Ooredoo ink deal for e-network to control communicable diseases


MINISTER of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohammed al Ku-wari and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Ooredoo Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud al Thani signed an agree-ment recently for creating an electronic system which will en-sure registration of vaccination of both children and adults and help control communicable dis-eases in the State of Qatar.

Through the electronic sys-tem, all health facilities in the State will be connected with the Ministry of Public Health, with the system allowing for the reporting of cases of communi-cable diseases and the registra-tion of vaccinations, taking into account the full confidentiality of patients.

Implementation of the sys-tem will be in two phases. The first will link the electronic system with existing certified electronic medical records in all government health facilities, while the second will connect other private and quasi-gov-

ernmental health centres to the system. The aim of such con-nection is both to monitor and control the spread of commu-nicable diseases and to ensure registration of vaccinations.

Dr Kuwari explained the electronic system will help strengthen the capability of the Ministry of Public Health to ef-fectively monitor, manage and respond to health challenges, providing daily and weekly data on high-priority diseases in order to be able to take neces-sary preventative measures in a timely manner to maintain the health of the population. The

system will also allow the iden-tification of vaccination pat-terns, consumption rates and vaccine stocks in the country.

She stressed that the strengthening of health pro-tection in Qatar is a key prior-ity identified in the National Health Strategy, to ensure the provision of healthy living and working conditions for citizens and residents and prevent com-municable diseases and epi-demics. The electronic system will contribute to both aspects of healthcare in Qatar, as well as working towards the national strategic goal of developing and

implementing real-time sys-tems to ensure compliance with international health regulations for monitoring and responding to medical issues. This includes support for the preparation for mass events in Qatar such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Mo-hammed bin Saud al Thani said, “We are delighted to col-laborate with the Ministry of Public Health through this partnership agreement, in which we will provide the De-partment of Health Protection and Communicable Diseases with innovative and sophisti-cated solutions that will enable the collection, analysis and interpretation of data on com-municable diseases. This data will be used in the planning, implementation and evalua-tion of public health policies and practices in Qatar, in par-ticular with regard to the pre-vention and eradication of such diseases. We hope that through this co-operation we will help achieve the national strategic goals for health, as part of Qa-tar National Vision 2030.”

Submissions for Akhlaquna Award open till March 31


THE submission for Cycle 2 of Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Akhlaquna Award will close on Sunday, March 31, with interested applicants still having the opportunity to submit projects via the ini-tiative’s dedicated website.

The objective of the award is to highlight the timeless and universal val-ues exhibited by the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), who serves as a role model of great moral character and guides the values of the award.

The Akhlaquna Award was first announced by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation, in 2017, with the winner – Swar al Dahab Ali – being announced at QF’s Convocation 2018 cer-emony in Education City

The Cycle 2 is open to Qatari nationals and resi-dents between the ages of 15 and 24. Projects need to be Qatar-based, should have been running for at least three months and ide-ally embody moral values that are shared in different religions and cultures – re-

flecting Qatar’s diverse and multicultural environment, while being rooted in Islamic heritage.

The award is also de-signed to help nurture posi-tive behavioural change within the society.

The three finalists for Cycle 2 of the Akhlaquna Award will be announced in April, with voting set to take place from April 21 to May 2. This year’s winner will be awarded at QF’s Convoca-tion 2019 ceremony.

More information on how to apply is available: https://akhlaquna.qa/

Pakistani community members observe National Day with traditional fervour

L N MALLICK DOHA

MEMBERS of Pakistani com-munity in Qatar on Saturday ob-served their country’s National Day with traditional fervour and enthusiasm.

The Pakistan Day is celebrat-ed on March 23 in remembrance of the historic 1940 resolution passed at Lahore, calling for a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent that ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947.

The celebrations kicked off with a flag hoisting ceremony held on the Pakistan embassy premises. Pakistan ambassador HE Syed Ah-san Raza Shah unfurled the white-green Pakistani flag to the tune of Pakistan’s national anthem.

The function started with the recitation of some verses from the Holy Quran by Pakistan embassy’s Community Welfare Attache Hafiz Junaid Amir Sial. A large number of Pakistanis, clad in traditional dresses, attended the function along with their families.

A contingent of Pakistan Armed Forces presented a march past and saluted to the national flag much to the excitement of the community members.

Speaking on the occasion, the ambassador congratulated his compatriots on the auspi-

cious occasion of their country’s National Day.

He paid tributes to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Al-lama Muhammad Iqbal and other leaders of the independence move-ment of Pakistan.

The envoy highlighted that bi-lateral relations between Pakistan and Qatar are based on historical bonds of a shared faith, heritage and culture, expressing the hope that relations would be further strengthened in the years ahead.

He expressed pride in the con-tribution of the Pakistani commu-nity in the progress and prosperity

of Qatar.Earlier, First Secretary Sarwar

Hussain read out special messages sent by President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan in which both the leaders highlighted the importance of the day and paid tributes to leaders of the Pakistan Movement whose concerted efforts led to the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947.

“The Pakistan of today is a New Pakistan. We are endeavouring to make the country a true Islamic welfare state. We are committed to establishing a society which is based on compassion and justice and where every person can con-tribute towards socio-economic development to the best of his abil-ity. We desire friendly and peaceful relations with all our neighbours, based on the principle of equality. We want countries of the region to join hands for eliminating pov-erty and help their people achieve socio-economic prosperity,” said Prime Minister Imran Khan in his message.

President Dr Alvi in his mes-sage said, “Pakistan has surmount-ed unprecedented challenges and demonstrated resilience in the face of extra-ordinary circumstances. It has accomplished exemplary successes in the fight against ter-rorism and extremism. However, there still remains the challenge of socio-economic development.”

All health facilities in Qatar will be connected with the MoPH through the e-system

Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohammed al Kuwari and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Ooredoo Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud al Thani with other officials at the agreement-signing event in Doha recently.

Pakistan’s ambassador HE Syed Ahsan Raza Shah.

A large number of community members, clad in traditional dresses, attended the event.

Pakistan’s ambassador HE Syed Ahsan Raza Shah at the flag hoisting ceremony.

The initiative aims to celebrate moral values and nurture behavioural change

Nation04 Sunday, March 24, 2019

NSA tests recruits to identify career interests

QNA DOHA

THE National Service Academy (NSA), in cooperation with the Qatar Center for Professional Development, a member of the Qatar Foundation, has launched a number of special as-sessments and tests for the current batch of its recruits to identify their professional interests.

The tests are part of the Electron-ic Career Guidance System, a profes-sional guidance and planning system compatible with the social and eco-nomic system in Qatar. It includes psychometric and personality analy-sis tools, as well as many innovative units that cover all areas related to sound professional planning, includ-ing personal skills, career explora-tion, education and work planning.

The assessments aim to help the user identify his or her interests and potential professional choices.

After completion of the evaluations and review of results, the user is shown a list of occupations proposed accord-ing to these results.

The cooperation between the Na-tional Service Academy and the Qatar Center for Professional Development was launched last year, in line with the Academy’s approach in cooperation with various specialised centres in the country, including the development of recruits in all respects.

CCQ organises 1st ELC symposium to bridge gapbetween secondary and higher education in Qatar


THE Community College of Qa-tar (CCQ) has organised the first annual English Language Center (ELC) Symposium under the theme ‘Bridging the Divide be-tween Secondary and Postsecond-ary Education in Teaching English and Academic Skills’.

In its inaugural edition, the symposium featured contribu-tions by educators, researchers, policymakers and stakeholders who combined their expertise to examine the causes of disconnect for students going for higher edu-cation. The discussions aimed at identifying the ways to develop a seamless transition between school and college or university, and ul-timately graduating high school students who are fully equipped to embark on the next chapter of their academic journey.

Dr Khalid al Abdulqader, vice-president of CCQ, underscored the importance of the symposium’s theme, saying, “One of the often-overlooked ways to improve the outcome of education in Qatar is

to inspire educators and stakehold-ers in the secondary and tertiary stages to step out of their silos and work together to enhance students’ learning experience with a deeper understanding of the continua-tive aspect of their journey. The first edition of the English Lan-guage Center Symposium at CCQ is bringing this crucial issue to the surface of our consciousness as educators, and we can only imag-

ine the possibilities we can realise when all stakeholders in this vital sector work together toward this common goal.”

Chair of the English Language Center at CCQ Dr Michael King commented:“It has been refresh-ing to see participants from vari-ous elements of the educational sector in Qatar come together and discuss this theme, which is so relevant for the lives of all our stu-

dents. Views shared by both pre-senters and delegates have aided us all in understanding the pos-sibilities as well as the challenges we all face in realising a smooth transition between school and the higher education sector.”

The event kicked off with a ple-nary session titled ‘Building a Co-herent System for English Language Education’, where Professor of Eng-lish at Carnegie Mellon University

in Qatar (CMU-Q) Dr Dudley Reyn-olds shed a spotlight on significant disjunctions that lead to academic struggle, and how adopting a sys-tem perspective of language edu-cation can help cushion students’ transition to tertiary education.

Ensuing breakout sessions collaboratively addressed several important subthemes, such as pre-paring students for Project-Based Learning (PBL) by Qatar Universi-ty’s (QU) College of Education Pro-fessor Dr Xiangyun Du, and col-lege and career readiness by Early Childhood Program Coordinator at CCQ, Dr Merfat Fayez.

English Lecturer in the Foun-dation Program at QU Dr Okon Effiong also examined the factors that impact successful transition from secondary to tertiary institu-tions in his breakout session.

The ELC Symposium was or-ganised by CCQ’s English Lan-guage Center with the goal of help-ing faculty in providing the best education possible by exploring opportunities to analyse the cur-rent state of education affairs in Qatar through discussions, panels and seminars.

The symposium investigates the causes of disconnect for students going for higher education

Panellists during a symposium under the theme ‘Bridging the Divide between Secondary and Postsecondary Education in Teaching English and Academic Skills’.


COLLEGE of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) is opening its doors on Monday, March 25, for the public to experience the applied education that makes it Qatar’s premier national technical college.

During this 10th Annual CNA-Q Skills Day, there will be an open house and Skill Stations for partici-pants and community members to browse through and participate in. College students will be partici-pating in over 30 Skills Competitions which will test their capabilities in Business Studies, Engineering Technology, Health Sciences, Information Technol-ogy, Academic Studies and the Skilled Trades.

During the “’Test Drive Our Campus’ open day, the public is invited to come along to see the stimu-lating competitions and try their hand at an array of activities themselves.

“We are inviting future students, parents, indus-try representatives and community members to at-tend an open house to showcase our state-of-the-art campus where students are immersed in experien-tial learning,” said Samah Gamar, vice-president, academic.

Over 200 CNA-Q students are registered to participate in competitions with their peers. These competitions are designed to allow stu-dents to demonstrate the skills they have learnt in their studies through practical scenarios they will encounter in the workforce. As in the past years, high school students will join the competitions as a way to expose youth to the diverse vocational and technical learning options at the College. Ad-ditionally, post-secondary students from other in-stitutions in Qatar are joining the Health Sciences competitions.

The CNA-Q Annual Skills Competition is mod-eled from WorldSkills, which is a global competition with a mandate to raise the profile and recognition of skilled trades and professions.

Registration for a guided tour of the college will be available on Monday at the lobby in Building 1.

CNA-Q invites public to explore its campus

05Sunday, March 24, 2019

ACTA course on transparency and ethics for public sector employees


IN cooperation with Qatar Fi-nance and Business Academy (QFBA), the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA) organised a comprehensive course on Integrity, Ethics and Trans-parency for public sector employees to enhance their capabilities and to promote integrity, ethics and transpar-ency in the country’s various sectors.

During the programme, the participants learnt about local and international stand-ards of integrity, transpar-ency, ethics, the ‘core values’ of the law, government policy, culture, and integrity viola-tions and the ways to avoid them. They were also able to enhance awareness of the code of conduct, ethical values and the ways of dealing with am-

biguous situations.Hamad bin Nasser al

Missned, president of the ACTA, said the training pro-gramme came within the framework of the authority’s plan to enhance the capabili-ties of public sector officials and raise their competencies. It was also part of ACTA’s

approach to benefit from na-tional training centres and institutions, such as the Qatar Financial and Business Acad-emy, to familiarise itself with the characteristics of the Qa-tari work environment.

In his speech at the con-clusion of the programme, Dr Khalid al Horr, chief executive

officer of QFBA, noted that the growth of the public sector was essential for the develop-ment of emerging economies. “Training programmes like this provide public sector pro-fessionals with appropriate tools and methodologies to steer their growth trajectory in the right direction. He also stressed the need for coopera-tion between public sector in-stitutions in order to improve transparency and promote in-tegrity and ethics in the public sector in the country. QFBA aims to deliver customised programmes to various organ-isations in order to contribute towards realising the vision of a knowledge-based economy,” he said.

The programme concluded with an innovative workshop where the participants tested a realistic scenario and sought practical solutions to the posed challenges.

During the programme, the participants learnt about local and interna-tional standards of integrity and transparency, the ‘core values’ of the law, and integrity violations and the ways to avoid them.

The programme aims to promote integrity, ethics and transparency in various sectors in Qatar

The meeting between representatives of QRCS and USAID emphasised the importance of concerted efforts for the success of long-term development programmes, regionally and internationally.

QRCS receives USAID delegation


A DELEGATION from the Unit-ed States Agency for Interna-tional Development’s (USAID) Office of Middle East Affairs recently visited Qatar Red Cres-cent Society (QRCS).

The visitors were in Qatar for a couple of days to hold talks with different charities and hu-manitarian providers.

The delegation was headed by Scott Shiller, advisor for North Africa, and was received by Ali bin Hassan al Hammadi, secretary-general of QRCS, Ibrahim Abdullah al Maliki, ex-ecutive-secretary, Dr Mohamed Salah Ibrahim, executive direc-

tor of Relief and International Development, Abdullah Hamid al Mulla, director of Communi-cation and Public Relations, and Dr Fawzi Oussedik, head of In-ternational Relations.

QRCS and USAID repre-sentatives discussed their re-spective operations and fields of work. They agreed on a unified mechanism of communication with QRCS’ headquarters in Doha and foreign offices.

Hammadi welcomed all initiatives for working together on sustainable development and field intervention projects across the Middle East. More opportunities of cooperation are seen in youth empower-ment, economic empowerment,

and sustainable aid, he said.The meeting emphasised

the importance of concerted ef-forts for the success of long-term development programmes, re-gionally and internationally.

According to Hammadi, a new QRCS relief and develop-ment strategy is underway for the coming five-year period.

“The projects implemented under our previous strategy, and those to be initiated under the proposed one, all were in line with the overall policies of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), as well as the guidelines of Qatar’s Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activi-ties (RACA),” he added.

Qatar Charity receives donation from Pakistani business leaders


QATAR Charity (QC) recently received a donation from businesspersons be-longing to the Pakistani community living in Qatar, in the presence of the Pakistan Welfare Forum’s (PWF) members, to support the Pakistani community’s fund dedicated to its low-income families and people, especially in the areas of education and health.

The fund was allocated by QC for the Pakistani community in Qatar dur-ing the Holy Month of Ramadan last year.

The first joint event was carried out by organising a charity dinner during Ramadan, which was attended by more than 300 people from the community. Several officials of the Pakistani embassy, prominent busi-nesspersons and philanthropists from

the Pakistani community participated in the event.

Ali al Gharib, director of Programs and Public Relations Department at QC, received donations from the Paki-stani businesspersons in the presence of Ahmed Hussein, president of the Pakistan Welfare Forum and a num-ber of its members.

Gharib thanked to the forum members, the Pakistani community, the Pakistani businesspersons and all the benefactors who contributed to the provision of the donation, hoping that other communities will follow suit in organising charity events to support low-income families and people in Qatar.

He added that QC has already allo-cated funds to support the members of the communities within the country. “Qatar Charity is always keen to co-operate in this regard with other com-

munities residing in Qatar in order to support the low-income segments of society,” he said.

Gharib also pointed out that QC organises many events and pro-grammes annually to support workers within the country and holds a num-ber of activities for the benefit of vari-ous communities in Qatar, especially the Asian communities.

He also noted that in 2004 QC’s community development centre, the Friends Cultural Center (FCC), was established.

Ahmad Hussain thanked QC for its tremendous support and coopera-tion during the last one year by pro-viding a platform for those individuals who value social responsibility and are keen to pay back to the society for up-lifting the low-income segments of the communities, especially in the sectors education and health.

The money will be used for the benefit of low-income families, especially in the areas of education and health.

Tamuq-QU symposium exploressustainable engineered materials


TEXAS A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) and the Center for Ad-vanced Materials (CAM) at Qatar University (QU) recently celebrated the 10th edition of the Materials Science and Engineering Sympo-sium, supported by the Qatar Petro-chemical Company (QAPCO).

Since its inception, the Materials Science and Engineering Symposi-um has become a valuable platform where researchers, academics and industry professionals can discuss the latest trends and advances in materials science and engineering. The symposium aims to promote di-alogue and exchange of ideas among experts from various disciplines, as well as identify and address pros-pects for future interdisciplinary col-laboration.

The 2019 symposium addressed the theme ‘Sustainable Engineered Materials — The Way Forward’ to support grand research challenges as identified in the Qatar National Vi-sion 2030.

Dr Nasser al Nuaimi, director of CAM, highlighted the importance of the symposium by presenting accom-plishments of the centre. He hoped the conference in the future, year after

year, continued to maintain and sus-tain the research and technology ad-vancement in Qatar in industry and academia. Nuaimi emphasised the need for such symposiums that gather industry and academia experts, which will lead to a robust and quick devel-opment of both sectors in Qatar.

The event featured distinguished keynote speakers from Texas A&M University and Fudan University in Shanghai, China, as well as invited speakers from Tamuq, QU, Qatar Shell Research and Technology Center, the Qatar Environmental and Energy Research Institute and Qatar Petroleum.

A panel discussion with experts from industry and academia focused

on developing new industries based on sustainable engineered materials. Several undergraduate researchers from QU and Tamuq also were given the opportunity to present their works at the symposium with the aim of mo-tivating them to be future leaders in materials science.

Symposium co-chair and Texas A&M professor Dr Eyad Masad said, “The continuation of the materials symposium for 10 years is clear evi-dence of the maturity of the research culture in Qatar and the strong collab-orations among academic institutions and industry. This symposium has generated ideas that have led to sev-eral multiyear research collaborations among various entities in Qatar.”

The panel discussion with experts from industry and academia focused on devel-oping new industries based on sustainable engineered materials.

Nation


BFQ organises children art competition


BANGLADESH Forum Qa-tar (BFQ) organised children art competition on ‘Herit-age of Bangladesh and Qa-tar’ as part of the week-long Bangladesh Festival 2019 at MHM Bangladesh School &

College in cooperation with Gulf Exchange.

Around 80 students of different ages from different countries attended the art com-petition. The competition was held for three age groups.

Two prominent artists Ka-lidas Karmakar and Mustafa Arshad Taru came from the

United States to adjudge the excellence of the artistry.

Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar HE Ashud Ahmed at-tended the event as chief guest to inspire the participating kids.

The envoy was impressed by the quality of work pro-duced by the children and wished them good luck.

M Anwar Khurshid, di-rector of MHM Bangladesh School & College, also at-tended the function. He wel-comed the participants and thanked BFQ for organising such programme.

Raju Ramachandra, op-erations manager of Gulf Exchange, thanked BFQ for

promoting community devel-opment work, and expressed Gulf Exchange’s desire to sup-port all BFQ initiatives.

Monirul Huda, on behalf of BFQ, thanked the participants, their parents, Bangladesh Em-bassy, Bangladesh School and Gulf Exchange for their sup-port to children’s art.

Around 80 students of different ages from different countries attended the art competition on ‘Heritage of Bangladesh and Qatar’.

Global education leaders promote SEL through QFI partnershipTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

TO celebrate the United Na-tions’ International Day of Happiness, Qatar Founda-tion International (QFI), a US-based member of Qa-tar Foundation, has joined partners, including Salzburg Global Seminar, ETS and Microsoft Education, to pro-mote the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL)

for children. In a Salzburg Global Sem-

inar statement released on March 20 on SEL, there is a shared understanding that for adults to thrive in an in-creasingly interconnected world, children require ‘soft skills’ such as communication and collaboration in order to foster dignity, respect and a sense of connectedness that also benefits communities and nations.

The statement was com-piled by over 75 education leaders, academics and prac-titioners, and has been trans-lated into Arabic by QFI.

QFI Executive Director Maggie Mitchell Salem said, “We believe it is essential to advance SEL, given our mis-sion of building cross-cultural understanding across geo-graphic boundaries. If SEL is more explicitly included in all types of learning, individuals

are better able to confidently navigate an increasingly inter-dependent world and commu-nities become more resilient.”

In the statement, Salz-burg Global Seminar – a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting current and future leaders by connecting local innovators with global resources – says its main fo-cus is to make a case for the systemic application of SEL in curriculum and to promote

best practices for transforma-tive education reform around the world.

Dominic Regester, pro-gramme director at Salzburg Global Seminar, said: “The skills and competencies that SEL programmes can help all learners develop are valuable for the economies of tomor-row; for fairer, kinder, more inclusive societies; for psy-chological well-being; and for helping to achieve bet-

ter learning outcomes for all students, especially the most vulnerable.”

Dr Carine Allaf, sen-ior programme advisor at QFI, said: “We translated the statement into Arabic in recognition of the needs of millions of refugees and mi-grants, especially those who are Arabic-speakers, who have suffered severe trauma, including the loss of family and friends. SEL can be used

by humanitarian workers and volunteers in home and host communities to help dis-placed children and adults.”

This is the third year that QFI has supported Salzburg Global Seminar’s ‘Education for Tomorrow’ programme. Additional programme part-ners include the British Council, the Calouste Gul-benkian Foundation, Porti-cus and the Inter-American Development Bank.

QNL offers a world of online resourcesTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

LIBRARIES have always served as gateways to knowl-edge for local communities, offering essential lifelong learning opportunities to users within their physical premises.

As the recent digital trans-formation is changing how in-stitutions share information with the public, libraries have evolved into hubs for global knowledge, while remaining firmly at the heart of the popu-lations they serve.

Qatar National Library is at the forefront of this trend, mak-ing hundreds of English and Ar-abic resources available online to members at no cost. These databases cover a range of sub-ject areas for all age groups and include downloadable e-books, academic papers, audio books, newspaper articles, comic books, magazines and stream-ing music and videos.

Library users in Qatar have responded positively to the Li-brary’s innovative delivery of digital information services. There have been approximately one million downloads from the Library’s e-book platforms, and a noticeable increase in the us-age of audio books.

The library also gives mem-bers free access to the latest is-sues of globally significant mag-azines, such as The New Yorker, Newsweek, the Economist, and Wired. Those conducting re-search have access to more than 60,000 scholarly journals and 300,000 e-books through the Library’s website.

“It is much easier to do re-search with the library giving us free access to a lot of resources. I can now comfortably choose from a variety of research topics for my courses at the university, because quality content on most subjects is available through the library. I encourage everyone to sign up as members and start

using this wonderful resource,” said Osama Ali Dari, a regular visitor to the library.

Member parents looking for imaginative content for their children can use the RB digital Comics to flip through a variety of comic books ranging from the Hulk and Spiderman to Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles and more. Signing up to Over Drive lets users access hundreds of audio books, including popular fiction and non-fiction.

“We are striving to trans-form how libraries provide electronic resources by mak-ing it easier for everyone to get the best information in the least amount of time. The library’s online resources have something for everyone in the community. Whether you are a researcher, a student, a par-ent or a child, you only need to register with the library to get access to a world of knowl-edge,” said Milan Vasiljevic, manager of Electronic Re-sources Management and Li-censing at the library.

The library is working with the local community to ensure its online resources are truly available to all. For example, people with print disabilities in Qatar now have access to more than 600,000 books in acces-sible digital formats through Bookshare, an online platform, which is the outcome of an agreement the library signed with MADA, Qatar’s Assistive Technology Center.

For those wishing to learn a new language, the library’s newest language-literacy ap-plication, Mango, can help us-ers learn up to 70 languages, including three dialects of Ara-bic. Besides, users can get ac-cess to a variety of video content and educational programmes through the library’s databases.

To access the library’s on-line resources, individuals can visit: https://www.qnl.qa/en/explore/online-resources

Qatar National Library is making hundreds of English and Arabic resources available online to members at no cost.

UCQ students share nursing knowledge, skills in Indonesia


TWENTY students from the University of Calgary in Qa-tar (UCQ) recently returned from Indonesia where they participated in a unique learn-ing exchange programme or-ganised by Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and Education Above All (EAA).

UCQ students spent a week with 120 students from the SMK Kesehatan Rahani Husad vocational nursing high school in Klaten, Indonesia.

The UCQ students were divided into four groups that each led instructional sessions in areas, including gender care, personal development, basic life support and lifestyle management of cardiac and kidney disease.

In return, the UCQ stu-dents received instruction on traditional Indonesian therapy methods.

Student exchange trips are a unique aspect of nursing edu-cation at the University of Cal-gary in Qatar and this trip was an excellent opportunity for students’ professional growth,

development and confidence. The trip also offered an

important opportunity for UCQ students to gain an in-ternational perspective on healthcare education and global citizenship.

“To partner with Reach Out to Asia, Education Above All and the local community in Indonesia was an opportunity

to facilitate our students to be global citizens and leaders,” said Barbara Rose-Lovett, UCQ faculty member and trip or-ganiser. “Global health work is based on empowering commu-nities and thoughtful inclusive collaborative engagement.”

“The University of Calgary in Qatar gave me an oppor-tunity to better understand

nursing education through this great volunteer trip,” said third-year student, Aisha Shareef. “The trip exceeded my expectations and it was a great experience for me as a student to see and learn more about another culture, espe-cially considering Qatar aims to enhance education around the world.”

Fourth-year student, Asma Hassan, described her experi-ence in Indonesia as particu-larly valuable as she nears the completion of her studies.

She said, “I personally think that having a commu-nity service trip at this stage and time of our academic ca-reer was very important, espe-cially as a fourth year nursing student doing my final practi-cum. The reason for this is that we will directly serve the population in Qatar after we graduate in few months, and having such experiences made me eager to do more for oth-ers and spread the essence of the nursing career.”

UCQ faculty member Marie-Claude Toriida said, “Our students gained great experience into the teaching and learning process from this trip. Through the ROTA-led preparation workshops, students developed a teach-ing plan and fine-tuned their presentation through feed-back given by both ROTA and UCQ instructors. This trip is a great opportunity to build teaching capacity in nursing education in Qatar.”

The trip offered an important opportunity for UCQ students to gain an international perspective on healthcare education and global citizenship.

Student exchange trips are a unique aspect of nursing education at the university

La Parisienne Doha opens at InterContinental Doha The CityTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

LA Parisienne Doha is now open at InterContinental Doha The City in West Bay.

La Parisienne Doha is a tra-ditional Parisian Salon de Thé, Pâtisserie and Boulangerie of-fering guests the quintessential French experience in Doha.

Bringing the vintage spir-it of La Belle Époque from Paris, La Parisienne gives guests the chance to indulge in freshly baked breads, sig-nature savouries and pastries developed by award-winning Executive Pastry Masterchef David Girard.

The boulangerie at La Par-isienne Doha brings the tradi-tional art of baking bread from France to Doha with freshly

baked baguettes, breads and pastries being served warm and crusty throughout the day.

All creations are home-

made from the best qual-ity ingredients imported from France.

“Whether you’re search-

ing for freshly baked baguettes and croissants to take home or looking for a quaint space to re-lax and satisfy your cravings for

authentic French pastries and savouries, La Parisienne Doha is the perfect place to immerse yourself in that much sought

after Parisian atmosphere,” said Gilles Longuet, general manager of InterContinental Doha The City.

At La Parisienne Doha, you will find traditional French sa-vouries, including Pain Bagna, various quiches, sandwiches and friands. Homemade pas-tries by Chef David include the famous Macarons and Paris-Brest and the unique Coffee-Date Éclair.

Popular French desserts can be found alongside sweet treats that are usually hard to find outside of France, in-cluding ‘La Tropezienne’ and ‘Succés Noisette’.

Guests can also look for-ward to homemade ice creams and sorbets which will be launched soon.

La Parisienne Doha is now open daily from 6am to 10pm on the ground floor of Inter-Continental Doha The City, West Bay.

La Parisienne Doha is a traditional Parisian Salon de Thé, Pâtisserie and Boulangerie offering guests the quintessential French experience in Doha.

Executive Pastry Masterchef David Girard.

Nation

THE Philippine School Doha (PSD) Career Simulation

Seminar Workshop (CSSW) held for four consecutive weeks on the school campus has conclud-ed on a successful note.

The annual event, which started last year, aims to assist Grade 12 students in deciding what courses they are going to take in college as well as to impart basic knowledge on some courses with the help of Filipino professional groups in Qatar. This year, the seminar workshop featured courses on dentistry, nursing, radio technol-ogy, engineering (electronics, electrical, mechanical and civil) and accountancy.

The accountancy class com-posed of 22 grade 12 students was led by representatives from the Philippine Institute of Certi-fied Public Accountants (PICPA

Doha). The sessions covered key and basic concepts of account-ing processes, nature and impor-tance of accounting nowadays and the accounting cycle.

Kabayan Corner For events and press releases email [email protected] or call (974) 4000 2222

Reports by Ailyn Agonia

The two-day event featured five keynote lectures, seven technical lectures, and two sponsor presentations

5th technical summit of Filipino structural engineers a huge success

THE Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines Region-al Coordinating Com-

mittee (ASEP RCCQ) held its 5th Technical Summit 2019 at the Oryx Rotana Hotel, recently.

Themed “Structural Engi-neering: Designing for Resil-iency and Sustainability”, the two-day event featured five keynote lectures, seven techni-cal lectures, and two sponsor presentations.

The opening day of the sum-mit was graced by ASEP Presi-dent Engr Gilbert Magbutay and ASEP past president and current Regional Coordinating Committe Overall Chairman Engr Freder-ick Francis Sison.

The programme included technical sessions on “Value En-gineering of Deep Foundations: A Primer on Optimised Design” by Engr. Jeffrey Cimagala and Optimising Construction Pro-jects Through Digital Monitor-ing of Concrete Maturity by Engr Mark Robertson of Doka Qatar. A technical presentation by Arab Center for Engineering Studies (ACES) also featured as well as

keynote lecture by Engr. Freder-ick Francis Sison on Resiliency of Non-Structural Elements.

The afternoon session saw oath-taking of new and upgrad-ed ASEP members initiated by the ASEP president. A total of six members were recommend-ed by ASEP RCCQ for mem-bership and upgrading after passing the rigorous evaluation initiated by the ASEP Member-ship Screening Board. They are Wayne A. Jumawan (regular member), Jerrico P. Calonge (associate member), Luisito S. Carlos (associate member), Ter-ence G. Dizon (associate mem-ber), Michael B. Manicad (as-sociate member) and Joseph T. Tuzon (associate member).

The second day of the semi-nar was highlighted with the presence of two keynote speakers and ASEP RCC Singapore offic-ers, namely Engr. Sonny Anda-lis and Engr. Emil Embile. The programme featured technical sessions on “Strength Evaluation of Reinforced Concrete Jack-eted Columns” by Engr. Alden Cayaga, “Repair and Strengthen-ing Solution for a Fire-Damaged

Post-Tensioned Slab” by Engr. Russel Flores and “Design and Construction of Lightweight Au-toclaved Aerated Concrete Struc-tures” by Engr. Joseph Tuzon. It also featured a technical presen-tation by Fischer.

PICE Qatar Chapter Presi-dent and a member of ASEP Engr Helario Amoguis delivered an inspirational talk wherein he underscored the need for quali-fied structural civil engineers to take the opportunity being of-fered by the regional committee to become a member. He empha-sised that such membership will be necessary when they practise their profession back home. He also stressed the importance of technical seminars and work-shop of the members in profes-sional advancement.

ASEP RCCQ Chairman and Regional Coordinator Engr Al-den Cayaga thanked the par-ticipants and officers, generous sponsors, organising commit-tee, as well as members for their continued support in every pro-gramme of ASEP RCCQ and their contribution to the success of the 5th Technical Summit.

PHILIPPINES’ flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has added yet another

feather to its cap by winning the 2019 Most Improved Air-line award, according to the Australia-based airline review firm AirlineRatings.com.

This is the fourth major global accolade to be received by PAL since 2018.

In February of 2018, the Filipino airline was certified as a Four Star global airline by the international rating firm Skytrax after excelling in rigorous independent audits of PAL’s inflight and ground services and products.

London-based Skytrax also gave PAL the 2nd Most Improved Airline for 2018 Award last July, based on worldwide passenger surveys.

Most recently, on Sep-tember 25 2018, PAL received the Four Star Major Regional Airline 2019 award from New-York based Airline Pas-senger Experience Associa-tion (APEX), again based on a comprehensive verified pas-senger voting system.

In addition, PAL also earned a 7-Star Safety rating (the highest pos-sible) from AirlineRatings.com in September 30. The Filipino flag carrier likewise vaulted to the world’s Top 50 Best Airlines rankings as well as Top 30 Best Cabin Cleanli-ness rankings of Skytrax, both in July of 2018.

For the “Most Improved Airline Award 2019”, Airlin-eRatings.Com praised Philip-pine Airlines for its initiatives “to expand its global footprint using new generation fuel-ef-ficient aircraft equipped with the latest cabins.”

AirlineRatings.Com edi-tors emphasised that “Philip-pine Airlines’ bold expansion plans and its commitment to a next-generation, easy prod-uct made it a stand-out for the most improved airline.”

“The world is taking notice of the continuing transforma-tion of Philippine Airlines”, said President and COO Jaime J. Bautista. “We are once again elated and truly humbled by this latest seal of approval, this time from Air-lineRatings.Com. I share this honour with my PAL family - a team of hardworking pro-fessionals dedicated to main-tain and sustain a high-quality brand of service that is fuelled by the ‘Heart of the Filipino service’ philosophy.”

Said President Bautista: “This recognition will inspire the PAL team to further en-hance and level up our prod-ucts and services so that our beloved passengers can enjoy a convenient and comfortable travel experience. I hope it will also inspire Filipinos eve-

rywhere to dare to be achiev-ers and strive for excellence in a world of big challenges.”

The rating body pointed out that, Philippine Airlines (PAL) has expanded its global footprint by more than 60 percent in recent years with innovative services. AirlineR-atings.Com likewise lauded the barrier-breaking “historic milestone” set by PAL’s 16-hour non-stop flights to New York City that “crosses the north polar regions to land at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on the evening of the same day”.

The airline review website cited PAL’s fleet modernisa-tion initiatives that will see the airline receive up to 21 brand-new and state-of-the-art aircraft by the year-end. The brand new fleet enables international and domes-tic route network expansion plans. According to the airline, the other destinations being eyed as more A350 aircraft join the fleet include Seattle, Chicago and a point in West-ern Europe.

AirlineRatings.Com edi-tors also cit-ed PAL’s ex-tensive Asia n e t w o r k ,

and flights to London Heath-row, the Middle East and sev-eral North American destina-tions including Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. (PAL also flies to San Francisco, Vancouver and Honolulu, all with non-stop flights from its Manila hub.)

The AirlineRatings.Com is a leading global authority on airline safety and product rat-ings with an estimated 25 mil-lion visitors from 232 coun-tries, and widely recognised for its annual Airline Excel-lence Awards.

The award-winning air-line continues to focus on the next major goal to enhance its position as the Philippines’s only full-service airline with a global network. Said PAL President Bautista: “In this very challenging and competi-tive airline environment, we renew our determination to keep on improving, so that we can eventually earn the high-est Five-Star Certification in the name of our country and our people.”

PAL commenced services in 1941. It now serves 57 inter-national destinations and has 70 aircraft.

It has a low-cost subsidi-ary PAL Express which serves 38 domestic destinations with 30 aircraft.

PAL flies between Doha and Manila 5 times a week starting March 31, 2019 (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) currently flying 4 times a week.

call (974) 4000 2222

Most Improved Airline award adds yet another

feather to PAL cap

Students benefit from PSD ‘career simulation seminar workshop’ PICE Qatar holds beach clean-up drive

THE Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers Qatar Chapter

(PICE Qatar) organised a beach clean-up drive at Al Wakrah Fam-ily Beach recently.

The annual event was aimed at raising awareness on need to protect and preserve environ-ment and at the same time to foster camaraderie and bond-ing among its members. It was

headed by PICE Qatar President Helario S. Amoguis.

According to the organ-iser, the activity also intends to inspire other people and send a message to the host country that the Filipino civil engineers care for the environ-ment and inculcate a sense of social responsibility in the general public.

E V E N T S


ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2006

HAMAD BIN SUHAIM AL THANI CHAIRMANADEL ALI BIN ALI MANAGING DIRECTORDR HASSAN MOHAMMED AL ANSARI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The World Needs More Funny (And Disruptive) Women

THE February 2019 volume of the Journal of Applied Psychology included a major article titled ‘Gender and the Evaluation

of Humour at Work’, which ended with a surprisingly gender-specific caveat.

Under its ‘Practical Implications and Conclusion’ section, the distinguished re-searchers — four men and one woman — warned that, “Even when women suc-cessfully express humour, they experience a reduction in status perceptions, perfor-mance evaluations and assessments of leadership capability.”

In other words, women who use hu-mour appropriately and well in the work-place will be disparaged, maligned and fi-nancially punished for it.

Neither men nor other women, accord-ing to the findings of this article, regarded humour initiated by women as evidence of intelligence, creativity, insight or leader-ship despite the fact that those are precisely the positive attributes associated with hu-mour when used by men.

I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked. My re-action is exactly like Casablanca’s Captain

Louis Renault’s when he finds out there is gambling going on in Casablanca. Let’s just say I’m not exactly surprised.

Loud, smart and funny women have always been told we’d be better off if we just calmed down, didn’t show off and acted more like the good girls we were brought up to be. Good girls could dem-onstrate they had a sense of humour by laughing at jokes made by guys. Only bad girls took attention away from the men, sought attention themselves and made the crowd laugh with them.

Good girls, like children, should be seen and not heard, the thinking goes — which makes it hard for women who want to run a business, lead an industry or create an em-pire (tech, showbiz, or even an actual em-pire). Usually the person running the show takes the centre stage, but if good girls are meant to remain behind the scenes and out of the way, then there’s no place for them in the spotlight.

Can you say “no-win situation” in gen-der-specific language? Yes, you can: “Relax, hon. Don’t try to compete with the guys. Everybody knows women just don’t have a sense of humour, but hey, you can give birth, care for the ill and match fabrics.”

Since the minute we were swaddled in pink blankets, intelligent, ambitious and witty girls have heard that we’re too much. That’s incorrect. The world as it is just isn’t enough. The world’s narrow conventions need changing, not us.

The recent study explained that women who used humour were criticised for being “disruptive.” Disruption is what the old sys-tems need. Confining structures and sys-tems must be dismantled to accommodate not only smart, funny women, but other unconventional voices as well.

People should not be forced to dimin-ish their talents and strengths in order to squeeze into a miniaturised or abridged version of who we really are — not if the fu-ture is going to be better than the past.

I don’t want to be misleading: the re-searchers don’t argue that it’s fair for women to be passed over for promotion, regarded as ineffective leaders or dismissed by their colleagues when they display wit. The American Psychological Association does not, finally, suggest that funny women should be treated as if they are radioactive. That’s the good news.

The rest of the good news is that funny women persist. Even if studies show we might be docked pay every time we open our mouths, we’ll keep doing it.

Ask a woman who makes deliberate use of her humour in public life — or her pri-vate life — whether she’s usually rewarded for it, and watch her laugh. Even if she’s

one of the lucky ones — as I am — and has made humour part of her repertoire, arse-nal and inventory, she’s had to learn how to do that despite (and not because of) how funny women are treated, characterised and defined.

Look, there will always be people who think the word “boisterous” actually has the word “boy” in it. These folks will never want to sit next to a woman who’d make them think, let alone make them laugh. Life being short, they can be left in bliss to watch infinite streaming reruns of the Three Stooges, Jackass and Duck Dynas-ty, as long as they don’t get in the way of the rest of us.

There are a lot of inventive, dynamic and trouble-making women out there who — alongside intelligent and substantial male colleagues, friends and admirers — are eager to make sure that the best lines get the last laugh.

(Gina Barreca is a board of trus-tees distinguished professor of Eng-lish literature at the University of Connecticut and the author of 10 books. She can be reached at www.ginabarreca.com.)

Loud, smart and funny women have always been told they would be better off if they calmed down and didn’t show off

Opinion

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THE OPINION AND ANALYSIS PAGES ARE THE AUTHORS’ OWN. QATAR TRIBUNE BEARS NO RESPONSIBILITY.

A BIPARTISAN consensus on climate change is taking root among Senate lawmakers—just not one that’s going to result in policy change.

Leaders on both sides of the political aisle are already claiming victory ahead of a high-profile vote on the controversial Green New Deal resolution.

GOP senators say the resolution’s renewable-energy mandate and social reform will inflict severe damage on the American economy. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has set up a vote after the Senate recess next week.

Democrats counter that the ramped-up political debate serves them, often pointing to recent polls that suggest climate change is rapidly rising among voter priorities. They say Senate Republicans miscalculated when they decided to launch a campaign against the Green New Deal by providing a forum to discuss climate change.

“I think their little strategy blew up in their face. And I can’t wait for this to con-tinue,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a leading climate hawk in the chamber. White-house hasn’t signed onto the resolution, but he takes to the floor weekly to exhort climate action. Democrats, along with their staunch-est climate supporters off Capitol Hill, are downplaying the vote as an underhanded power play by McConnell.

“We’re not making a huge national push,” said Stephen O’Hanlon, a spokes-man for the youth-oriented Sunrise Move-ment, which played a critical role in publi-cising the resolution. “This is nothing more than a show vote and a sham. McConnell has no intention of taking serious action on climate change.”

Many Democrats are already signalling they’ll vote “present” on the resolution, a manoeuvre they deployed last Congress on a Medicare-for-all vote. That’s OK with back-ers of action on climate change.

“I don’t think the Democrats in the Senate are the problem,” said Sarah Say-lor, senior legislative representative at Earthjustice. “We’re not using any one particular resolution or one particular idea as a litmus test. I don’t want to divide folks that in general agree that we need to take action on climate change.”

Meanwhile, Republicans are feverishly highlighting the specific proposals in the resolution. Speaking on the Senate floor last week, McConnell called the Green New Deal “garden-variety 20th-century socialism.”

Senator Joni Ernst, the GOP conference vice chair, is now organising weekly blocks of floor time to give Republican colleagues

opportunities to criticise the proposal. And Republicans readily repeat those points of attack in hallway interviews.

“The element of the Green New Deal that is not getting enough attention from my per-spective is a command-economy approach to the US economy that is essentially social-ism dressed up as environmentalism,” said Senator Dan Sullivan, who represents fossil-fuel-rich Alaska. “It’s time for people who believe in the power and the reality that the democratic capitalist system is what made our country great to debate it.”

The resolution says the federal govern-ment has a “duty” to create net-zero green-house-gas emissions in 10 years through a clean-energy overhaul, a nod to renewable energy and rebuke to nuclear. And the pro-posal, which has 11 Democratic sponsors in the Senate, including many presidential can-didates, and 90 sponsors in the House, calls for job guarantees and “high-quality health care” for all Americans.

Republicans argue the resolution is part of a patchwork of Democratic proposals that showcase a severe shift to the left.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are collaborating to push legislation to boost public-private sector partnerships on car-bon capture and utilisation and advanced nuclear innovation. But the vast majority of Republicans are opposed to additional emis-sion-reduction policies, often pointing to de-creased US greenhouse-gas emissions over recent decades.

“We should maybe take this bill and have them pass it in China or India,” Ernst said. “I would recommend to Senator [Brian] Schatz, and some of these others, to be advo-cating in some of these other countries. They are the ones that are really detrimental over-

all to global climate change.”Schatz is another aggressive proponent

of climate change but also, along with White-house, not a sponsor of the Green New Deal.

US power-sector emissions rose by near-ly 2 percent in 2018, and overall emissions, including those linked to transportation fuel, spiked 3.4 percent, according to a Rhodium Group report. Still, US emissions have de-clined roughly 13 percent since 2005, due in large part to coal retirements, according to most analysis. Gross Chinese and Indian emissions more than double US emissions. According to analysis by the Global Carbon Project, Chinese emissions have slowed in recent years while Indian emissions contin-ue to climb steadily.

The partisan discord over the Green New Deal isn’t restricted to the Senate. The House Democratic victory at the polls in Novem-ber has elevated the climate-change debate politically to levels unseen since Democrats passed cap-and-trade legislation a decade ago. So far this Congress, the lower cham-ber has held more than a dozen hearings on climate change. But the outlook for biparti-san compromise on emissions reductions is equally bleak. Rep Kathy Castor of Florida, the chair of the House select committee on climate, plans to kick-start activity on the panel next week with a hearing. And she’s now warning Republicans, namely ranking member Garret Graves of Louisiana, that the panel won’t settle for adaptation policies like coastal barriers.

“Don’t be left behind. Come with us and be a helpful partner,” she said after a meeting earlier this month with Graves. “It’s so nice to be in the majority because we can set the agenda, and we intend to.”

That overture, however, isn’t going over well. “Y’all can try and sit here and push some of the Green New Deal stuff, which I am more than happy to talk about all day long. Or we can actually sit around and talk about some of the things where we actually have some policy agreement,” Graves said. “If they want to make this a partisan shit-show … that’s an option.”

Senate Spins As Green New Deal Vote Looms

BRIAN DABBS TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Leaders on both sides of the political aisle are already claiming victory ahead of a high-profile vote on controversial Green New Deal resolution

(Tribune News Service)

FOR nearly two years, the nation has been bitterly divided by special counsel Robert S Mueller III’s ongoing investi-

gation into the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath. To President Donald Trump, the Mueller investigation has been the “single greatest witch hunt in American political history” — a “disgrace” and “scan-dal” that is nothing short of “corrupt,” “il-legal” and “rigged.” To Trump’s opponents, on the other hand, it has been merely jus-tice at work, a necessary effort to deter-mine whether an unfit and undeserving candidate (or those who reported to him) colluded with another country to seize con-trol of the most powerful job in the world.

Now, finally, the work is done, the report is filed, and the US Attorney General has in his hands the most comprehensive study yet of the connection between Russia, the elec-tion and the Trump campaign. But this must not be the end of the story.

It is vital that Congress and the public see the full report. The nation deserves to learn what Mueller has concluded not only about possible cooperation by the Trump campaign with Russia but also about possible obstruc-tion of justice by the president. That’s cru-cial whether or not Mueller has decided that Trump violated the law or committed actions that require further action by Congress. The report must not be buried.

Of course, we already know much of what Mueller’s team believes happened and, as-suming it is true, it tells a shocking story about the fragility of the American election system and the willingness of malign outside forces to subvert our democracy. Mueller’s team has already asserted in court documents that there was an intricate, sophisticated Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 election through deception and disinformation — in-cluding the dissemination of fake news and the hacking of emails — to help Trump win the election. Though “collusion” has not been proved in any of the documents that have as yet become public, the indictments filed so far point to dozens of contacts between the Trump campaign and various Russians and their associates, many of whom had connec-tions to the government.

For example, campaign adviser George Papadopoulos sought repeatedly to arrange a Trump-Putin meeting. Trump lawyer Mi-chael Cohen struggled to broker a Trump Tower deal in Moscow while the campaign was underway. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort had repeated contacts during the campaign with a Russian associate with ties to that country’s intelligence services. Don-ald Trump Jr held a meeting at which he was promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton from Russian lawyer Natalia Ves-elnitskaya. And the list goes on.

But what does it add up to? What does it mean? Is it collusion or isn’t it? Was justice obstructed after the fact? Was Trump in the

loop or out of it? This is what Mueller still has to tell us. And even if he has concluded that no further crimes were committed than the ones he’s already charged, the details need to be revealed so Congress and the country can figure out what needs to happen next.

For example, suppose that Mueller has concluded that Trump didn’t violate laws against obstruction of justice by dismissing former FBI Director James B Comey or by ex-pressing the hope that Comey could go easy on former national security adviser Michael Flynn (an accusation by Comey that the White House has denied). Considering the same evi-dence that Mueller adduced, Congress might come to a different conclusion, or decide to use Mueller’s report as a resource in its own investigations. Or voters might conclude, on the basis of that evidence, that they cannot vote for President Trump again in 2020.

This week, Trump insisted that he would like the report to be released. But the final decision rests with US Attorney General William Barr, who was less than completely reassuring during his Senate confirmation hearings when he was asked whether he do so. Barr noted that the regulations govern-ing Mueller’s appointment provided for the special counsel to send the attorney general a confidential report.

But Barr also acknowledged that, under the same regulations, the attorney general makes a follow-up report to Congress that could be made public. Barr promised sena-tors to “provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law.”

He repeated that promise in the letter he sent to congressional leaders on Friday reporting that Mueller had concluded his investigation. Barr said he would consult with Mueller and Deputy Atty Gen Rod Rosenstein about what other information from the report can be released to Congress and the public.

Why US Needs To See The Mueller Report, Right Now

The nation deserves to know what Muller has concluded about possible cooperation by Trump campaign with

Russia and obstruction of justice by the president

Republican senators say the resolu-tion’s renewable-energy mandate and social reform will inflict severe dam-age on the American economy

GINA BARRECA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE


DPAMANILA

PHILIPPINE customs and anti-drug operatives have in-tercepted a shipment from China containing nearly 300 kilos of narcotics worth ap-proximately 1.8 billion pesos (35.2 million dollars), officials said Saturday.

The methampetamine hydrochloride, locally called “shabu,” was wrapped in clear cellophane, sealed in foil pack-aging and stashed in 12 sacks that were placed inside a 40-foot container, the Bureau of Customs said in a statement.

The shipment was de-clared to be carrying plastic resin and arrived in Manila on March 17. The container was seized on Friday even-

ing, it added. “Upon testing the sample of the subject sub-stance, authorities were able to confirm that the items were shabu,” the bureau said in a statement.

Aaron Aquino, director

general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, said his office received a tip from counterparts in Vietnam that a container aboard a ship from Ho Chi Minh City was arriving in Manila with “huge amounts

of illegal drugs.” The informa-tion prompted the agency to alert the Bureau of Customs, which immediately search for the container, he added.

Shabu is the most popu-lar illegal drug in the Philip-pines, where the government has been waging an aggressive campaign against the illicit trade.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in police op-erations under the govern-ment’s crackdown against il-legal drugs since 2016.

New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch said the real death toll in the drug crackdown, including victims of hired or vigilante killers, could be higher than 12,000, based on estimates by local rights and church groups.

Philippines seizes drugs worth $35mn smuggled from China

TRIBUNE.COM.PK ISLAMABAD

THE nation is celebrating Pa-kistan Day on Saturday with a commitment to ensure pro-gress, prosperity and a strong defense of the country.

The day dawned with thirty-one-gun salute in the federal capital and twenty-one-gun salute in provincial capitals, Radio Pakistan re-ported. Special prayers were offered in mosques after Fajr prayers for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan.

The military parade was under way at Parade Ground near Islamabad’s Shakar-parian hills. Special guest of honour Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Moham-mad was also present at the parade, along with President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Im-ran Khan, Chairman Joint

Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mehmood Hayat and the three services chiefs. President Alvi Minis-ter of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, Commander National Guard of Bahrain Sheikh Mohamed Bin Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa, and gov-

ernment officials from Oman are also in attendance. Con-tingents of the three armed forces conducted a march-past, while a formation of Pa-kistan Air Force jets led by Air Chief Marshal Mujahid An-war Khan presented a fly-past as a salute to the president.

A special hallmark of the

parade was the participation of paratroopers from Azerbai-jan, Brunei, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. The Special Services Group’s Sky Divers undertook free-fall jumps from a height of 10,000 feet.

Contingents of Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia were part of

the marching columns, while Turkey and China participat-ed in the aerobatics display. Pakistan’s weaponry includ-ing Al-Zarrar and Al-Khalid tanks, a variety of armoured personnel carriers, and sur-veillance equipment such as the Giraffe radar was present-ed before the audience.

Malays ian PM Mahath ir Mohama d attend s Pakist an National Day parade as specia l guest

Military might on display at Pakistan Day parade

IANSCHANCHAL

ACCUSING Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “lying all day in his speeches”, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday termed the coming Lok Sabha elections a battle be-tween the Congress’ idea of uni-ty and the BJP-RSS’ ideology of “divisiveness and hatred”.

“We have the general elec-tions in the country before us within a few days. It is a battle of

two ideologies. At one end is the Congress and on the other side is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Rashtriya Swayam-sevak Sangh (RSS) and Naren-dra Modi.

“We work to unite the na-tion and try to bring people to-gether by talking about love and brotherhood, while the BJP-RSS spread hatred wherever it goes. It makes people of differ-ent religions and language fight against each other,” Gandhi said while addressing a large

gathering at the Kolom Bagan ground here in Malda district.

Training his guns on Modi, Gandhi claimed that the Prime Minister was a “chowkidar” (watchman) for the rich and corrupt in the country, who didn’t care about the woes of the common people.

“Modi ji keeps lying all day during his speeches. He will lie about something or the other wherever he goes. He is the ‘chowkidar’ of the rich and cor-rupt such as Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi,” he alleged.

Elections a battle between unity & divisiveness: Rahul

GURUGRAM: Following the attack on a family belonging to a particular community in Gurugram’s Bhup Singh Nagar under the Bhondsi Police Station on the day of Holi, the area continued to be tense on Saturday. Aa many as 35-40 goons assaulted the family members following a row over the latter playing cricket on the day of Holi on March 21. A video of assault has gone viral on the social media. A large number of people assembled outside the house of Mohamad Shamshad, the victim, on Saturday. As per reports, the family members were also told to go to Pakistan. (IANS)

Communal tension in Gurugram after attack on family

KOROR: Visiting Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has pledged a tourism boost and gifted a coast guard vessel to the remote Pacific micro-state of Palau, as she works to check a push for regional influence by rival China. Tsai arrived in Palau on Thursday to kick off her second official visit to the Pacific, amid grow-ing concerns over Beijing’s attempt to lure away Taipei’s few remaining diplomatic al-lies. Her overtures this week included a pledge to increase flights to the tiny island state, which is struggling to boost tourism after cutting back on charter flights from mainland China. (AFP)

Taiwan president shores up dwindling allies on Pacific tour

NEW Delhi: A retired Indian Supreme Court judge on Saturday took the oath as the country’s first lokpal or national anti-corruption ombudsman, almost five years after parliament passed a law to set up the post. The Lokpal and Lok-ayuktas Act envisages the setting up of ombudsmen at the federal and state level to probe complaints of corruption against government officials and ministers. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Chief Justice of India Ran-jan Gogoi and Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi were present on Saturday at the oath-taking ceremony for Pinaki Ghose. (DPA)

India’s first national anti-graft ombudsman takes oath of office

KOLKATA: West Bengal’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress has dropped the ‘Congress’ from its new logo earlier this month and added dollops of blue, white and green colour to it besides giving it a catchy slogan in a bid to make the party one with the people of the east-ern state. Observers said it could also be CM Mamata Banerjee’s way of distancing her party completely from the Indian National Congress. “The name Trinamool is enough. It resonates in the hearts of all our workers and supporters,” said a Trina-mool LS member. (IANS)

Trinamool removes ‘Congress’ from its new logo

KANDAHAR: At least three people were killed and 30 wounded in twin explosions inside a stadium hosting an agricultural show in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said. The blasts hap-pened in Lashkar Gah, the capital of volatile Helmand province, as people marked Farmers’ Day as part of Per-sian New Year celebrations, provincial governor spokes-man Omar Zhwak said. Peo-ple had put their agricultural products on display in the city’s main stadium when the explosions happened. (AFP)

Twin blasts at Afghan ceremony kill at least three, wound 30

NEWS IN BRIEF

DPAISLAMABAD

PAKISTANI Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed a mes-sage from Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Pakistan’s national day, weeks after a sui-cide bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir triggered an escalation in tensions between the two neighbours.

“I welcome PM Modi’s mes-sage to our people. As we cel-ebrate Pakistan Day, I believe it is time to begin a compre-hensive dialogue with India to address & resolve all issues, esp the central issue of Kashmir, & forge a new relationship based on peace & prosperity for all our people,” Khan said on Twit-ter late Friday. Khan said the message from Modi extended “greetings” and “best wishes” to the people of Pakistan.

The Indian premier sent the message days after the two countries revived diplomatic contact and discussed the open-ing of a corridor and a new bor-der crossing to allow Sikhs to visit one of their holiest shrines in Pakistan. Addressing a mili-tary parade on Saturday, Presi-dent Arif Alvi said that “Paki-stan respects sovereignty of all countries and wishes peace.” Malaysian Prime Minister Ma-hathir Mohamed is the guest of honour at the parade.

PM Imran Khan welcomes Narendra Modi’s greetings

PAKISTAN CELEBRATES NATIONAL DAY

Asia 09Sunday, March 24, 2019

Pakistan troops during the Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad, on Saturday. (AFP)

Pakistani PM Imran Khan, his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad, Pakistan President Ariff AlvI, Defence Minister of Azerbaijan Colonel General Hasanov Zakir Asgar Oglu and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Khattak watch the Pakistan Day parade in Islamabad, on Saturday. (AFP) A march past by contingents of Pakistani armed forces at the military parade in Islamabad, on Saturday. (AFP)

Pakistan’s push for peace should not be mistaken as weakness: President AlviISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Saturday stressed that Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be misconstrued as weakness. Address-ing the Pakistan Day Parade, he reiterated that Pakistan believed in peaceful co-existence. “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state but it wants peace, not war. Pakistan respects integrity and sovereignty of other states,” Alvi said. The president said that India’s irresponsible attitude jeopardised peace in the region. “India will have to accept Pa-kistan as a reality, and it must come to the conclusion that dialogue is the only way to resolve issues.” Pakistan Day: Military might displayed at Islamabad parade The president said that the demonstration of Pakistan’s defence capability highlighted that Pakistan was a peaceful nation, but not oblivious to its defence. (TRIBUNE.COM.PK)

President, PM stress need to reform Pakistan into Islamic welfare stateISLAMABAD: The president and PM, in commemoration of the Paki-stan Day, stressed on achieving the goal of reforming Pakistan into an Islamic welfare state as envisaged by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. President Arif Alvi, in his message, said that the nation had overcome challenges pertaining to extremism and terrorism. However, the country is yet to make efforts for excelling on social and economic fronts. PM Imran Khan, expressed resolve to establishing an Islamic welfare state, whereby every person can contribute towards socio-economic development to the best of their ability. The premier further mentioned that the Kashmiri people should not be forgotten on this day. “They have long been victims of Indian-sponsored terrorism and forced into a life of misery,” he maintained. (TRIBUNE.COM.PK)

4 Iranian soldiers rescued in Pakistan return home

TRIBUNE.COM.PKTEHRAN

THE four Iranian border guards rescued by the Pakistan mili-tary from militants returned on Friday to Tehran to a hero’s welcome, state television re-ported. Live footage showed the soldiers dressed in suits step-ping off an Antonov 74 trans-port aircraft and welcomed by their commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour who heads the Revolutionary Guards ground forces.

The Inter-Services Pub-lic Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Thursday that the security forces conducted an intelligence operation (IBO) at Amori in the Chaghai district of Balochistan, about three to four kilometres from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Brigadier-General Mohammad Pakpour (C), commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ground forces, poses with four freed Iranian border guards.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

SP leader Akhilesh hits back at Modi,accuses

BJP of atrocity on Dalits and backwards

LUCKNOW: Launching a blistering attack on the BJP here on Saturday, Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said the ruling party has suppressed Dalits and backward communities, and the people are ready to pay back through the ballots in the forthcoming elections.

Yadav’s comments came soon after Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi on Saturday accused political parties that claim to be followers of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, of betraying his (Lohia’s) principles. “They (BJP) should remember that the Dalits and the backward community are aware of their mindset. And people are now ready to give their reply in the Lok Sabha polls. “When the BJP came to power it said it will hug the back-ward community. But they have suppressed the Dalits and the backward community,” he said. (IANS)

(File photo) The PDEA reels in almost 12 kilograms of shabu.

13 of a family killed in Afghan army operation

DPAKABUL

AT least 13 members of the same family were killed during an operation conducted by Af-ghan and international forces in northern Kunduz province, officials said on Saturday.

The operation on the out-skirts of Kunduz city also left two people injured, pro-vincial councillor Amruddin Wali said.

Another provincial council member, Safiullah Amiri, said 14 people were killed.

Supported from the air, a large-scale operation is under way in the outskirts of Kunduz

city to counter the Taliban’s growing presence in the area, officials said.

The conflict in afghanistan killed more civilians last year than at any time since records have been kept, the United Nations Assistance

Mission (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office said in a report released in Febru-ary. In southern Kandahar province, a parliamentarian representing Uruzgan resi-dents, Obaidullah Barakzai, was gunned down and killed, a spokesman for the local gov-ernor said.

The Taliban denied in-volvement in the attack.

AFPWASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump is again breaking diplomatic norms in backing Israel’s cap-ture of the Golan Heights, with experts warning that he risks justifying expansionism by oth-er countries.

Israel conquered the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed it in 1981, but until now, the international community has not accepted the move, hoping the territory could serve as a bargaining chip in a future peace deal between the countries.

But Trump on Thursday turned to Twitter for the abrupt diplomatic turnaround, saying that after 52 years, “it is time for the United States to fully rec-ognize” Israeli sovereignty. The

move –which came as Trump’s ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, faces elections–has caused dismay even among US allies, with Britain and France both saying they still considered the Golan Heights to be “occu-pied” by Israel.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Rela-tions, feared the consequences of walking away from UN Se-curity Council Resolution 242, which stressed the “inadmissi-bility of the acquisition of terri-tory by war.” The measure was passed after the Six-Day War.

“This is the most funda-mental principle of interna-tional order and was the basis of US opposition to Saddam’s conquest of Kuwait and Putin’s of Crimea,” Haas said, referring to the 1991 Gulf War in which a US-led coalition freed Kuwait

and Russia’s 2014 seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula. It is not the first time that the real-estate mogul turned president has brazenly dismissed internation-al conventions. In December 2017, Trump recognized pas-

sionately contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, fulfilling a major goal for the Jewish state.

In a television interview Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected the suggestion that the United States was using a dou-

ble standard by recognizing Is-raeli sovereignty in the Golan while imposing sanctions on Russia for annexing Crimea.

“What the president did with the Golan Heights is rec-ognize the reality on the ground and the security situation nec-essary for the protection of the Israeli state. It’s that simple,” he told Sky News. Pompeo char-acterized the US as a “force for good” in the region, with “no-ble” intentions.

“We want good outcomes... for all nations in the Middle East, and the decision the presi-dent made will increase the op-portunity for there to be stabil-ity throughout the region,” he said. Sweden’s former foreign minister Carl Bildt said that Trump was returning to the law of the “jungle.”

“This is a catastrophic de-

parture from the very basis of international law. Kremlin will applaud and apply the same principle to Crimea. Beijing will applaud and apply to South China Sea,” Bildt tweeted.

Syria and its ally Iran reli-ably denounced Trump’s move. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fearful of a breakup of Syria under which Kurds could seek independence–said that Trump has created a “new cri-sis” and called for intervention by the Organization of the Is-lamic Conference.

But allies also wor-ried about the implications. France’s foreign ministry said in a statement that recogniz-ing Israeli sovereignty “would be contrary to international law, in particular the obliga-tion for states not to recognize an illegal situation.”

Trump take on Golan annexation risks justifying expansionism, warn experts

AFPBAGHOUZ

KURDISH-LED forces pro-nounced the death of the Islam-ic State group’s nearly five-year-old “caliphate” Saturday after flushing out diehard militants from their very last bastion in eastern Syria.

Fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces raised their yellow flag in Bag-houz, the remote riverside vil-lage where diehard militants of a variety of nationalities made a desperate, dramatic last stand. The SDF’s victory capped a deadly six-month operation against the final remnants of the caliphate which once stretched

across a vast swathe of Iraq and Syria, and held seven million people in its sway.

World leaders hailed the victory as a major landmark in the fight against IS and its ideol-ogy, but warned the group that spurred a spate of global terror attacks was far from defeated. “Syrian Democratic Forces

declare total elimination of so-called caliphate and 100 per-cent territorial defeat of ISIS,” spokesman Mustefa Bali said in a statement, using another acronym for IS.

In Al-Omar, an oil field used as the main SDF staging base for the final phase of the assault, fighters in their best fa-

tigues laid down their weapons and broke into song and dance. They joined top Kurdish and Arab tribal officials, as well as a leading US envoy, for a cer-emony unveiling a monument to their fallen comrades and cel-ebrating the landmark victory.

The state proclaimed in mid-2014 by fugitive IS su-

premo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi started collapsing in 2017 when parallel offensives in Iraq and Syria wrested back its main hubs Mosul and Raqa. The nearly five years of fighting against the most brutal mili-tant group in modern history left thousand-year-old cities in ruins and populations home-less. Early US estimates put the numbers of IS fighters at around 40,000, many of them foreigners. The territory ad-ministered by the remnants of IS continued to shrink month after month and in September 2018 the SDF launched a final offensive on the last dregs of the “caliphate” in its Euphrates Valley strongholds.

Fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Force raise their yellow flag in Baghouz, where diehard militants made a desperate, dramatic last stand

Syria force takes IS holdout, announces end of ‘caliphate’

The last bastion of Islamic State in the eastern Syrian village of Baghuz after defeat of the radical group. (AFP)

AFPALGIERS

AROUND a thousand Algerian lawyers demonstrated Satur-day in the capital calling for regime change in the North African country, where veter-an President Abdelaziz Boutef-lika’s bid to stay in power has sparked weeks of protests.

The demonstration, coin-ciding with National Lawyer’s Day in Algeria, came a day after hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Algiers and across the country, for the fifth consecutive Friday, to keep the pressure on Bouteflika to quit.

Chanting “we’re fed up” with this government and call-ing on the political system to

“go away”, the lawyers, wear-ing their black robes, waved Algerian flags and held up placards saying “no to a viola-tion of the constitution”.

Bouteflika said on Febru-ary 22 he would run for a fifth term in April 18 elections, de-spite concerns about his ability to rule. The 82-year-old uses a

wheelchair and has rarely ap-peared in public since suffer-ing a stroke in 2013.

On March 11, after re-turning home from medical checkups in Switzerland, he made the surprise announce-ment that he was pulling out of the race–and also post-poned the polls.

Protesters initially greeted the move with elation, but since then they have staged further mass demonstrations after realising he intends to re-main in office.

On Saturday, lawyers from across the country rallied in a square outside the main post office in Algiers which has be-come the emblematic gather-ing for demonstrations.

Algerian lawyers demonstrate for ‘change’ in capital

AFPMOGADISHU

AN attack involving gunmen and bomb blasts on a complex housing government ministries in Somalia’s capital killed at least 11 people on Saturday, in-cluding the deputy labour min-ister, officials said.

Claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, the assault was a sign of the insurgency’s con-tinued ability to strike at the heart of Somalia’s government, despite years of foreign military support for Mogadishu.

The fighting began with two blasts at the gates of the com-plex housing the labour and works ministries.

Police say at least four gun-men then stormed the build-ings, leading to a shootout as officers rushed to confront the attackers.

“The death toll reached elev-en, three of them women, and the number of wounded is 15,” said Abdukadir Abdirahman Adan, director of Mogadishu’s Aamin ambulance service.

Senator Ilyas Ali Hassan confirmed that Saqar Ibrahim Abdalla, the deputy minister for labour and social affairs, was also killed.

“I cannot elaborate on how he died but I can confirm that he was killed inside the ministry building,” Hassan said.

Police official Ibrahim Mo-hamed said all the gunmen were killed.

“There were some other casualties including members of the police,” he said, with-out elaborating.

Deputy minister among 11 killed in Somalia raid

BEIRA: The death toll in Mozambique on Satur-day climbed to 417 after Cyclone Idai pummelled swathes of the southern African country, flooding thousands of square kilo-metres, as the UN stepped up calls for more help for survivors. The new numbers take the combined death toll of the two neighbouring countries to 676. The UN, warning of more suffering, stepped up calls for help in Mozambique as aid agen-cies struggle to assist tens of thousands of people battered by one of south-ern Africa’s most powerful cyclones. (AFP)

Cyclone death toll surges as UN steps up Mozambique aid call

NEWS IN BRIEF

AFPPARIS

GOVERNMENTS greeted the fall of Islamic State’s last bas-tion, marking the end of its self-declared “caliphate”, as a “mile-stone” Saturday, but warned of remaining dangers, as Syr-ian Kurds announced a “new phase” in the conflict.

●France -President Emma-nuel Macron said a source of potential terror attacks had had been “eliminated”, but warned that “the threat remains and the fight against terrorist groups must continue”.

●Britain -Prime Minister Theresa May called the bas-tion’s fall “a historic mile-stone” in the fight against IS, and said the British govern-ment remained “committed to eradicating their poisonous ideology”.

●Germany -Foreign Minis-ter Heiko Maas described the end of the caliphate as “an im-portant step”, but he warned “it is nonetheless clear that IS con-tinues to represent a consider-able threat” adding “we shall not underestimate that threat”.

●US -William Roebuck, an envoy to the US-led coalition fighting IS, called the fall of the group’s last bastion a “critical milestone” that had delivered “a crushing blow” to IS.

●Syria Kurds -”A new phase in the fight against terrorists” is beginning, said Mazloum Kob-ane, the overall commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, adding that the target was now to eliminate IS “sleeper cells”.

The top military command-er in syria’s autonomous Kurd-ish region urged Damascus on Saturday to choose the path of dialogue after his forces sealed a key victory over the Islamic State group.

“We call on the central government in Damascus to prefer the process of dia-logue,” Mazloum Kobane, the overall commander of the syr-ian Democratic Forces, said in a statement.

He read part of the state-ment at a ceremony to pay hom-age to fallen comrades and cel-ebrate the capture of Baghouz, the very last pocket of territory held by IS, which SDF forces took after weeks of fighting.

Govts welcome ‘milestone’ fall of IS bastion

‘DEMISE OF ISLAMIC STATE’

Gulf / Middle East / World10 Sunday, March 24, 2019

Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces Mazloum Abdi (centre) speaks during a ceremony to announce victory over the Islamic State forces at the Syria forces’ military base in Omar oil field, eastern Syria, on Saturday. (EPA-EFE)

BEIRUT: More than 630 civilians were killed in the six-month operation against the Islamic State group that culminated in its defeat by US-backed Syrian forces on Saturday, a monitor said. The civilian dead -- among them relatives of IS fighters -- included 209 children and 157 women, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The Britain-based Observatory said the operation had cost the lives of more than 750 SDF fighters while 1,600 militants were also killed. The SDF does not usually divulge its losses for months. The Observatory says its figures are drawn from a network of sources inside Syria. (AFP)

Violence and intimidation marr re-run polls in Nigeria

AFPKANO

VIOLENCE and voter intim-idation once again marred polls in Nigeria Saturday, as voters tried to take part in re-run governorship and state elections already postponed once because of unrest.

An opposition spokes-man said some of their agents had been killed in the violence and called on elec-tion officials to cancel the vote again.

Armed men armed with machetes, knives and cudg-els took over polling sta-

tions, assaulting observers and journalists in Kano, northwest Nigeria.

In Gama ward in Kano, men wielding machetes, daggers and cudgels invaded several polling stations, an AFP reporter saw, forcing voters to flee.

In the nearby towns of Bichi and Gaya armed youths dispersed voters and thumb-printed ballot papers in favour of the ruling APC, voters and party agents said.

Similar reports emerged in other states such as the north eastern Bauchi, where elections are being held.

Residents of the Golan Heights wave Syrian and Druze flags as they protest against the backing of Israel’s capture of Golan Heights by US president, in the village of Majdal Shams, on Saturday. (AFP)

Algerian lawyers hold placards and national flags during a demonstration against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the centre of the capital Algiers, on Saturday. (AFP)

Emotional Muslims return to Christchurch mosque as NZ works to move on

AFPCHRISTCHURCH

MUSLIMS held emotional prayers inside Christchurch’s main mosque on Saturday for the first time since a white supremacist massacred wor-shippers there, as New Zea-land sought to return to nor-mality after the tragedy.

The Al Noor mosque had been taken over by police for investigations and security reasons. Al Noor was hand-ed back to the local Muslim community on Saturday and began allowing small groups onto its grounds around midday.

“We are allowing 15 peo-ple at a time, just to get some normality,” said Saiyad Has-sen, a volunteer at Al Noor, adding that there were no plans yet to fully reopen.

Among the first to enter was massacre survivor Vohra Mohammad Huzef, who said two of his roommates were killed and that he managed to live only by hiding under bodies. “I could feel the bul-lets hitting the people and I could feel the blood coming down on me from the people who were shot,” said Huzef, a Christchurch civil engineer originally from India.

More than 630 civilians killed in Syria anti-IS fight: Monitor

Norway begins airlifting 1,300 passengers off SOS cruise ship

AFPOSLO

EMERGENCY services said on Saturday they had begun air-lifting 1,300 passengers from a cruise ship in trouble off the Norwegian coast.

The Viking Sky cruise ship sent an SOS message due to “engine problems in bad weather”, southern Norway’s rescue centre said on Twitter, while police reported the pas-sengers would be evacuated by helicopter.

“The boat only has one working engine and the winds are rather strong. Therefore we would prefer to have the pas-sengers on land rather than on board the ship,” police chief

Tor Andre Franck said.By 4.30 pm (1430 GMT)

100 people had been evacu-ated, with four helicopters in-volved in the airlift.

“It will take time to evacu-ate everyone,” Franck said.

The incident occurred mid-afternoon two kilometres (1.2 miles) off the More og Romsdal area of western Norway. The cruise ship had been en route from Tromso to Stavanger.

“It is dangerous to encoun-ter engine problems in these waters which hide numerous reefs,” Franck added.

Coastguard and sea rescue boats had also been sent to the area and a reception centre set up on shore to accommodate the evacuees.

AFPWASHINGTON

US Attorney General Bill Barr is expected to hand Congress as early as Saturday the key findings of the Russian med-dling probe as Washington waits tensely to see if it impli-cates President Donald Trump in serious wrongdoing.

Chronic tweeter Trump, who was at his Florida resi-dence for the weekend, re-mained uncommonly silent after spending two years repeatedly labeling Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s in-vestigation an illegal witch

hunt -- suggesting the White House has still not seen the report.

Meanwhile Democrats in Congress, many of who are hoping for evidence to support a presidential impeachment, were pressing hard to ensure its full contents are made public, and not just a sum-mary prepared by the Trump-appointed Justice Department chief.

The secret report, the re-sult of a 22-month investiga-tion by Mueller into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and obstruction of justice, was

handed to Barr Friday with the announcement that no new in-dictments were forthcoming.

That produced sighs of relief from the White House, where members of Trump’s family -- Don Jr and son-in-law Jared Kushner in particu-lar -- had been feared possible targets of the probe.

With Mueller prevented by longstanding Justice Depart-ment policy from indicting the president himself, there were no hints on whether the re-port damns or clears Trump of criminal behavior.

In a brief letter to Con-gress late Friday, Barr an-

nounced that the long-awaited report had been submitted to him and that he would send

its “principal conclusions” for Congress as early as this week-end. Mueller, a 74-year-old veteran criminal prosecutor and former FBI chief, was re-quired to produce a confiden-tial report that explained why he decided to indict or not in-dict subjects of the probe.

Barr though has discretion on how much of the report he releases to Congress and to the public, though he said in his letter Friday that he is “com-mitted to as much transpar-ency as possible.”

The special counsel regula-tions “give Barr lots of discre-tion about what to disclose to

Congress and the public,” said Andrew Coan, a University of Arizona law professor.

“The selective release of exculpatory material is a pos-sibility worth watching for.”

Mueller investigated whether members of Trump’s 2016 election campaign col-luded with Russians to skew the election.

In addition, he studied whether actions by Trump, including the May 2017 firing of FBI director James Comey, amounted to criminal obstruc-tion of justice.

But what he has concluded remained a mystery Saturday.

Washington on edge for Mueller’s findings on Trump

DPALONDON

DEMONSTRATORS from around Britain marched in Lon-don on Saturday to call for a sec-ond referendum on the country’s departure from the EU, with or-ganisers putting the number of participants atmore than 1 mil-lion.

Meanwhile, a petition calling for the whole Brexit process to be scrapped shot past the 4-mil-lion mark.

Prime Minister Theresa May is strongly against both options, but currently faces a deadlock both with parliament - which refuses to endorse her plan for Brexit - and with Brussels - which refuses to alter the deal it negotiated with May over the last two years.

A similar rally calling for a second referendum in October attracted an estimated 700,000 people. The organisers of Satur-day’s march described it as one

of the biggest protest marches in British history, and said it had far exceeded expectations. The police gave no figures on the number of participants.

Campaigners marched from Park Lane to Parliament Square from midday, followed by a rally in front of Parliament.

Many carried blue and yel-low EU flags or were dressed in these colours, while others car-ried Union Jack flags.

London mayor Sadiq Khan from the opposition Labour par-ty was at the head of the march, and tweeted: “We are the people - and when it comes to Brexit we want a say over our future.”

Scottish National Party lead-er Nicola Sturgeon said she was “proud to speak” at the march. May has repeatedly dismissed calls for a second referendum despite parliament so far failing to agree on a deal for Britain to exit the European Union.

Parliament was set to be given a third chance at voting

on her deal with Brussels in the coming week, but in a letter to lawmakers May said this might not happen after all because of a lack of support.

In the letter, May tried to in-crease the pressure on members of parliament, saying that unless her deal is passed, Britain may be facing a longer Brexit delay

and may have to participate in the EU elections in May.

EU leaders and the British premier this week agreed to a delay, averting the prospect of Britain crashing out of the Euro-pean Union on March 29.

Brussels offered London “an extension until 22 May 2019, provided the withdrawal agree-ment is approved by the House of Commons next week.”

If it is not approved, EU lead-ers agreed to “an extension until 12 April 2019, calling on London to “indicate a way forward before this date” for them to consider.

Meanwhile, a petition calling for Britain to stay in the Europe-an Union had garnered over 4.25 million signatures by Saturday. The fast sign-up rate crashed the website on Thursday.

Downing Street suggested that May is likely to ignore the petition, saying she “will not countenance revoking Article 50,” which governs Brtain’s de-parture from the EU.

Petition calling for whole Brexit process to be scrapped crosses 4-mn mark

Crowds gather to listen to speakers at a rally organised by the pro-European People’s Vote campaign in London on Saturday. (AFP)

Tens of thousands rally in London to press for2nd Brexit referendum

AFPPARIS

THOUSANDS of police fanned out across Paris and other French cities Saturday for the 19th consecutive week of “yel-low vest” protests, as the gov-ernment faced intense pressure to avoid a repeat of the rioting and looting that marred last week’s rally in the capital.

Hundreds of demonstra-tors began marching shortly after midday from a square in the south of Paris across the city towards Montmartre in the north, with banners calling

for President Emmanuel Ma-cron to “Get Lost!”

Authorities banned dem-onstrations in a large area in the west of the city, including the Champs-Elysees, the scene of last Saturday’s rampage by hundreds of black-clad agita-tors. Dozens of police vehicles, including armoured trucks and water cannons, encircled the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the iconic avenue, with officers searching people’s bags and patrolling in front of boarded-up storefronts.

“It would have been asking for trouble to go to the Champs,

after the repression they’ve an-nounced,” said Jean-Paul Ton-son, a 57-year-old civil servant.

“But we’re going to keep showing up, we’re not going to back down,” he said.

French police out in force to prevent ‘yellow vest’ violence

Italy, China sign new ‘Silk Road’ protocol

AFPROME

ITALY on Saturday signed a “non-binding” protocol with China to take part in Beijing’s new “Silk Road” of transport and trade links stretching from Asia to Europe.

In doing so, Italy became the first G7 country to sign up for the massive project which has sparked unease in the US and the European Union as China aspires to a greater world role. Visiting Chinese President XI Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte both attended a ceremony for the signing of 29 memoranda of understanding which Italian media said were worth 5 to 7 billion euros ($5.6 to 8.0 bil-lion).

Also signing the accords were the chairman of China’s chairman of the National De-velopment Commission He Lifeng and Italian deputy prime minister and Minister of Eco-nomic Development Luigi Di Maio.

Italian financial daily Il Sole

24 Ore said the value of the Chi-nese investments could rise to 20 billion euros but would for now be limited to the strategic ports of Genoa and Trieste.

Italy has rolled out the red carpet for Xi, who Friday sought to allay Western unease over his transformational infra-structure initiative by empha-sising the $1 trillion project’s mutual benefits.

Italian firms to benefit in-clude the Ansaldo group, which wins a contract for making tur-bines, and the Danieli group, which lands a 1.1 billion euro deal to build an iron and steel plant in Azerbaijan.

The accords also foresee the opening up of the Chinese mar-ket for Italian oranges as well as a partnership for Chinese tour-ism giant Ctrip, notably with Rome’s airports.

Cultural tie-ups including town twinnings are also on the agenda while Beijing is pushing to have several Serie A football matches played in China -- al-though that would currently contravene regulations of the game’s governing body Fifa.

Europe / Americas 11Sunday, March 24, 2019

‘Save the Internet’ rallies in Germany protest copyright reforms by the EU

DPABERLIN

TENS of thousands of people hit the streets across Germany on Saturday to protest planned reforms of EU copyright law,WHICH critics say will hinder free speech on the internet.

One of the biggest protests was in Munich, where police said 40,000 people took part. Some 10,000 rallied in Co-logne, according to organizers. Police put the number at 6,000 in Hamburg and 3,200 in Han-

over. Demonstrations were also held under the motto “Save the Internet” in Berlin, Stuttgart, Magdeburg, Rostock, Leipzig and many other cities.

At the march in Berlin, where several thousand people turned out, a protester held a sign that read: “This protest can’t be displayed for copyright reasons.”

Among the placards raised by the crowd in the south-west-ern city of Stuttgart were “Up-load Calypse Now,” “I’m Not A Robot” and “Error 404 Democ-

racy Not Found.”Under the legislation, set

to be passed by the European Parliament on Tuesday, big companies like YouTube and Facebook, along with small start-ups, must install upload filters to ensure that shared content is not subject to copy-right. Opponents of the reform - and especially of the contro-versial Article 13 that deals with how content is shared online - say the automatic filtering of content could limit freedom of expression.

Right-wing Latino presidents launch new regional bloc

AFPSANTIAGO

COLOMBIA’S President Ivan Duque said on Friday he had discussed with several Latin American counterparts the possibility of offering asylum to Venezuelan servicemen who desert President Nicolas Maduro’s regime.

Duque said the initiative -- which he said could spark a “domino effect” to draw power away from Maduro’s regime -- was discussed with Chile’s Sebastian Pinera and other Latin American leaders on the sidelines of a meet-ing to launch a new regional bloc.

Seven right wing South American presidents -- in-cluding Brazil’s Jair Bol-sonaro and Colombia’s Ivan Duque -- gathered in Santia-go to launch the new regional Forum for the Progress of South America (PROSUR).

Pinera and Duque were behind the idea of creating a new bloc to replace UN-ASUR, a largely defunct or-ganization created in 2008 by late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and his leftist Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The move came at a time when many Latin American coun-tries were led by leftist gov-ernments, a trend reversed in recent years.

“It’s a good day for collab-oration, dialogue, mutual un-derstanding and integration in South America, because for more than five years the presidents of South America have not had the opportunity to meet,” said Pinera.

Pope accepts resignation of Chile cardinal

AFPVATICAN CITY

POPE Francis has accepted the resignation of Chilean Cardinal Riccardo Ezzati, who had agreed to step down along with his country’s bishops over sexual abuse cases and their cover-up, the Vatican said Saturday.

Ezzati, archbishop of San-tiago, is the seventh senior Chilean church official to re-sign over a scandal which the pope insists must be remedied.

To date, Ezzati, the Catho-lic Church’s highest official in Chile, has maintained his right to silence although he has promised to cooperate with the investigation into his activities -- if the authorities first clear him, insisting he is innocent.

The latest move in the Vat-ican’s attempts to deal with abuse within the higher ech-elons of the Roman Catholic Church comes just days after disgraced Australian Cardi-nal George Pell received a jail term for sexually abusing two choirboys.

Pope Francis.

Italian premier Giuseppe Conte (right) with Chinese President Xi Jin-ping during their meeting in Rome on Saturday. (EPA-EFE)

Yellow Vest protesters gather in Paris on Saturday. (EPA-EFE)

Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

London mayor leads marchLondon mayor Sadiq Khan from the opposition Labour party was at the head of the march, and tweeted: ‘We are the people - and when it comes to Brexit we want a say over our future’

SATYENDRA PATHAK DOHA

COMMERCIAL Bank (CB) is expected to raise funds worth $2 billion through various sources in 2019, the bank’s top executive has said.

“We have approximately $2 billion of maturities this year and we will renew and replace them with fresh issu-ances or other forms of debts as required by our business-es,” Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham told Qatar Tribune.

“The bank will most prob-ably start the fund raising process from the second or the third quarter of this year,” he said.

Commercial Bank (CB) has got approval from share-holders to increase the limit of an existing Global Com-mercial Paper and Certificates of Deposit programme from $800 million to $5 billion.

The bank also got nod to issue a new Global Medium Term Notes (GMTN) pro-gramme for up to $2 billion and debt notes for up to $2 billion under an existing $5 billion Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTN) programme.

“We have all the necessary approvals from our share-holders to raise up to $5 bil-

lion fund, but our maturity this year is $2 billion. So we are unlikely to raise more than $2 billion this year,” he said.

“We will use them de-pending on the market and re-quirement of the business. We are looking at various alterna-

tive fund raising opportunities based on their economic ben-efit to the bank,” he said.

“You have to diversify your sources of funding. And that is part of our whole plan. We need to interact with our investors on regular basis.

We are also exploring the Australian market to launch kangaroo bond next year,” he said.

Abraham said the bank will continue to consolidate its position in its interna-tional ventures in Turkey and

Oman. Despite the current weakness in Turkish cur-rency Lira, he said, Commer-cial Bank is bullish about the country’s economy.

“We have entered into the Turkish market with a long-term vision. Fluctuations in

currencies are temporary is-sues. Lira will adjust accord-ing to the economic policies of the country. We are there to stay in the Turkish market for long,” he said.

About the bank’s current stand on selling its stake in United Arab Bank (UAB), he said, “The current share price of the UAB doesn’t reflect its actual value. We recently appointed a new CEO and higher management officials at the bank to achieve the real potential of the bank.”

Earlier Commercial Bank was in talks with the UAE-based Tabarak Investment to sale its 40 percent stake in UAB.

Commercial Bank later said it ceased discussions with Tabarak on the stake sale without giving details.

While the bank’s stake in UAB continues to be an as-set held for sale, he said, the bank’s strategy for UAB is to focus on transforming its per-formance to ensure its share price more closely reflects the true value of UAB.

About plans for the local market, he said, “We might move some of our branches to shopping malls and open branches at the upcoming Doha Metro. Our aim is to have more transaction ori-ented branches.”

The bank will continue to consolidate its position in international ventures in Turkey and Oman: Joseph Abraham

Commercial Bank mulls raising $2 billion in 2019, says GCEO


QATAR Chamber (QC) and “Austrian Business Agency (ABA) –Invest in Austria” recently held a meeting to enhance cooperation be-tween the two sides and encourage businessmen to explore investment oppor-tunities in both countries.

The meeting was attend-ed by QC First Vice-Chair-man Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Twar al Kuwari and ABA representative Alejan-dra Navarro de Chalupa, in Doha, QC said in a state-ment on Saturday.

Hailing the outcome of the Qatari-Austrian Business Forum held earlier this month in Vienna, Twar said that it af-firmed both sides’ interest to strengthen their investment and trade cooperation.

The Vienna forum also witnessed the signing of memorandum of under-standings between QC and Austrian Chamber Federa-

tion and between a number of companies from both sides, he added.

Twar noted that there are a multitude of Austrian companies operating in Qa-tar and a number of Qatar-Austrian companies operate in many sectors, including IT, advertising, contracting and tourism.

He expressed the cham-ber’s readiness to cooper-ate with ABA to enhance

cooperation relations be-tween business sectors of both sides and identifying investment opportunities available in both countries.

Alejandra said the objec-tive of ABA’s visit to Qatar

was to build cooperation re-lations between the cham-ber and the agency, and also to urge Qatari businessmen to invest in Austria.

She underscored the importance of holding a

joint workshop that brings together businessmen from both sides to review en-hancing cooperation and learning business oppor-tunities available in both countries.

Qatar, Austria to enhance trade ties

ICC Qatar to organise annual banking workshopTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

THE International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Qatar, in col-laboration with the London In-stitute of Banking and Finance will organise the fourth bank-ing workshop titled ‘Trade Fi-nance Training 2019’, in Doha on March 27, Qatar Chamber (QC) announced in a statement on Saturday.

The workshop will be lead

by Kim Sindberg, Technical Advisor to the Banking Com-mission of the International Chamber of Commerce and founder of Sindberg Consult (www.kimsindberg.com).

Sindberg is also a member of several national and interna-tional trade finance forums and

has served in several ICC work-ing and drafting groups.

The workshop will benefit professionals working in trade finance departments with vari-ous products and instruments such as best practices of let-ters of credit, letters of guar-antees, highlights from Inco-terms 2020, and status on the demand guarantee standard banking practices, QC said.

The training will also be beneficial to business execu-

tives active in trade finance. QC said the comprehensive

banking workshop will enable at-tendees to obtain 6.5 PDUs. The banking event is sponsored by Qatar National Bank (QNB) and supported by Qatar Chamber.

In a press statement, ICC Qatar stressed its keenness on holding the workshop for a fourth year in a row that seemed enormously benefi-cial to the attendees within the banking industry.

Qatar Chamber First Vice-Chairman Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Twar al Kuwari and Austrian Business Agency representative Alejandra Navarro de Chalupa, in Doha recently

Boosting investment The meeting touched on ways of enhancing cooperation relations between both sides and encouraging businessmen to explore business and investment opportunities available in both countries

QC Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al Thani

The training will be beneficial to business execs active in trade finance

Apple CEO urges China to continue to open up its economy

AFP BEIJING

APPLE chief executive Tim Cook on Saturday urged China to keep opening up its econo-my as local rivals bit into the profits of the US tech giant caught in the crosshairs of a trade spat between Beijing and Washington.

“We have seen China con-tinue to change and evolve... We encourage China to con-tinue to open up,” he said during a speech at the annual China Development Forum in Beijing on Saturday.

“We see that as essential not only for China to reach its full potential, but also for the global economy to thrive.”

Apple in January revealed that it took a hit in the “Great-er China” region, where reve-nue plunged almost 27 percent in the most recent quarter.

The dip had been expected following the company’s rev-enue warning in December, where Apple admitted that iPhone sales and overall earn-

ings would be below most forecasts, citing economic weakness in China and trade frictions between Washington and Beijing.

Lower priced local rivals such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have also been nibbling at the California tech giant’s market share in China.

Cook has been a critic of the US-China trade war that has spooked global markets. Last year, he used the China Development Forum as a venue to urge leaders of China and the US to let “calm heads prevail” and to avoid an esca-lation of tariffs.

Most of Apple’s flagship products are assembled in China, leaving the California tech giant acutely vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs.

During his speech on Sat-urday, Cook called for partner-ships based on “openness and trust” where world players can work together to solve some of the biggest problems facing the planet including poverty, inequality and climate change.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in Beijing on Saturday. (AFP)

Jet grounds 7 more planes amid fears of shutdown

AFP NEW DELHI

INDIA’S debt-laden Jet Air-ways has grounded seven more planes after failing to pay for its aircraft leases, heaping pressure on its founder as a ballooning cri-sis threatens its survival.

The beleaguered airline, gasping under debts of more than $1 billion, had ground-ed six planes earlier this week, and is also facing the threat of strike action over salary payments.

In a statement late on Friday announcing the latest groundings, the airline said it was “making all efforts to minimise disruption to its network ... and is proactively informing and re-accommo-dating its affected guests”.

The Mumbai-based air-line has now been left with just a quarter of its fleet of 119 aircraft in operation.

Jet, which employs more than 20,000 people, has also been facing pres-sure from pilots who have not been paid on time, with unions threatening they will walk off the job if salaries do not arrive soon. The airline, India’s number two carrier by market share, says it has been badly hit by fluctuating global crude prices, a weak rupee and fierce competition from budget rivals.

We have all the necessary approvals from our shareholders to raise up to $5 billion fund, but our maturity this year is $2 billion. So we are unlikely to raise more

than $2 billion this yearCommercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham

The Commercial Bank headquarters in Doha.

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

QE holds first financial competition for university students PAGE 14

Progress not perfection in US-China trade talks: QNB report PAGE 14

DOW QE GOLD

SILVERWTIBRENT

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PRICE PERCENTAGE66.43 -2.11%

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NBK launches Mercedes-Benz all-new Actros and Arocs, Sprinter


NASSER Bin Khaled (NBK) Automobiles, the author-ised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, hosted the official launch

of the all-new Actros, Arocs and Sprinter in Qatar, in a special ceremony held at Losail Interna-tional Circuit recently.

The event was attended by

HE Sheikh Nasser Bin Nawaf al Thani, Deputy CEO of Nasser Bin Khaled Group, HE Sheikh Faleh Bin Nawaf al Thani, Operations Director – Auto, at Nasser bin Khaled Group, Mr Ihab El Feky, Chief Operations Officer – Auto, at Nasser Bin Khaled Group, as well as ambassadors and repre-sentatives of various companies in Qatar, guests and members of the media.

During the event, guests were

entertained by video presenta-tions and fascinating live driving demonstrations that highlighted the distinguished features of the trucks and the Sprinter. It was concluded with a buffet dinner in the venue.

HE Sheikh Faleh bin Nawaf al Thani, Operations Director – Auto, at Nasser Bin Khaled Group said: “Today, Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles set another benchmark in its history. It

is a clear indication of our commitment to continue on our successful journey in Qatar. As Qatar continues to make headway with a number of huge projects within the infrastructure and service sectors, we continue to be the main suppliers of the best vehicles that help these projects to come alive. This falls in line with our mission to help accomplish the goals of the 2030 Qatar National Vision”.

Speaking at the event Mr Ihab El Feky, Chief Operations Officer – Auto, at Nasser Bin Khaled Group said: “We are proud today to build upon our successful record in Qa-tar by launching two new heavy-duty trucks, Actros and Arocs, as well as the multi-purpose com-mercial vehicle, Sprinter. These vehicles are the cornerstone of operations for most companies, who rely on their efficiency, du-rability, reliability, safety, func-

tionality and modern technology. NBK Automobiles will continue to contribute effectively to the lo-cal economy and supply the best products from Mercedes-Benz to meet the requirements of our customers as they strive to deliver world class projects in Qatar.”

During the ceremony, the heavy-duty trucks Actros and Arocs, along with the multi-pur-pose commercial vehicle Sprinter were revealed.

Video presentations and fascinating live driving demonstrations at Losail International Circuit showcase the vehicles' wide range of capabilities

Heavy-duty trucks Multi-purpose commercial vehicle

Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles has built its success by establishing solid, longstanding relationships with its customers, and by offering a wide range of quality products.

These vehicles -- heavy-duty trucks, Actros and Arocs, as well as the multi-purpose commercial vehicle, Sprinter -- are the

cornerstone of operations for most companies, who rely on their efficiency, durability, reliability, safety, functionality and modern technology. NBK Automobiles will continue to contribute effectively to the local economy and supply the best products from Mercedes-Benz to meet the requirements of our customers as they strive to deliver world class projects in Qatar

Ihab El Feky, Chief Operations Officer – Auto Nasser Bin Khaled Group

Mercedes-Benz is opening a new chapter in the heavy-duty truck segment with these two new models. The all-new Actros and Arocs offer a further enhanced level of reliability, efficiency and robustness to the Mercedes-Benz Truck offering. Assembled at the world’s largest truck plant in the town of Wörth, Germany, the trucks come in specifically developed variants for the Middle East designed and built to withstand the harshest operating

conditions. Tested extensively around the world, on both surfaced roads and in the most challenging terrain, these vehicles are a perfect platform for heavy-duty ap-

plications. Distinctive new cabs boast high material quality and perfect ergonomics, while operation is easy and comfortable. Both Actros and Arocs impress with their highly sophisticated and reliable single source drivetrain.

The all-new Actros is made for long-distance haulage as well as heavy-duty distribution haulage. It is available with up to 22 different cab variants and comes in steel or air-suspended versions. The Actros is equipped with a 12.8l engine in Euro III emission norm and the 12-speed Mercedes PowerShift 3 automated gearbox in standard. For tough operations, the Actros is available with a heavy-duty 15.6l engine and the 16-speed Mercedes PowerShift3 auto-mated gearbox.

The impressive new Arocs is there for when exceptional robustness is required – be it on construction sites or away from surfaced roads. The extremely resilient Arocs can work under the toughest off-road conditions, far from any highway. The Arocs is available as Chassis-, Mixer-, Tipper- and all-wheel-drive variants – from 4x2 to 8x8 configurations with Gross Combination Weights (GCW) of up to 250 tons.

THE ACTROS & AROCS SPRINTER

THE new Sprinter elevates the benchmark for the large van segment, offering an innovative and diverse range of product features that serves specific market needs more effectively than ever before. Through its

technology and intelligence, the new Sprinter offers every customer a model tailored precisely to his or her needs. The 2019 Sprinter transitions from a commercial vehicle with pure utility value to an impressive business card for commercial fleets and businesses. It pioneers the new design idiom of Mercedes-Benz Vans and embodies the inherent emotional appeal and intel-ligence. The Sprinter has different priorities dependent on the customers’ needs and requirements. Ranging from the basic specification variant for customers who value proven Sprinter attributes such as standard-fit elec-tronic stability program (ESP) and standard safety equipment like Crosswind Assist, through to the highest specification model where high-resolution touchscreens and high-quality materials determine the visual impression and ambience.

Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles has built its success by establishing solid, longstanding relationships with its customers, and by offering a wide range of quality products. As a brand name, Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles is deeply associated with a history of premium quality service and market leadership. Established in 1957, Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles is Qatar’s exclusive distributor of three of the world’s most respected, iconic brands: Mercedes-Maybach, Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG.

Economy & Business 13Sunday, March 24, 2019

Economy & Business14 Sunday, March 24, 2019

Image sharing website Pinterest files for IPO

REUTERSSAN FRANCISCO

PINTEREST Inc, the owner of the image search website known for the food and fashion photos that its users post, filed for an initial public offering with US regulators on Friday, looking to tap into a red-hot market for new stock offerings.

The filing comes a day after jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co’s blockbuster debut, and ride-hailing service providers Lyft Inc and Uber are set to pursue much-anticipated listings. Investors are anticipating 2019 may be one of the most active years ever for tech IPOs.

Pinterest, which plans to list under the symbol “PINS” on the New York Stock Exchange, set a placeholder amount of $100 million to

indicate the size of the IPO. The final size will change.

Reuters reported in January Pinterest could raise around $1.5 billion and that the IPO was likely to come in the first six months of 2019.

The company was valued at $12 billion in its last fundraising round in 2017.

The San Francisco-based company has grown rapidly since its founding in 2008, boasting in the regulatory filing that it reaches more than 250 million monthly active users, two thirds of whom are female.

Pinterest said its annual revenue in 2018 was $755.9 million, up 60 percent compared to 2017. Nevertheless, it remains unprofitable with a net loss of $62.97 million, narrowing from a net loss of $130 million a year earlier.


QATAR Stock Exchange (QSE) held the first financial competi-tion for university students in, Doha recently.

The event was aimed at promoting investment aware-ness among university stu-dents, QSE said in a statement on Saturday.

The participating students were required to carry out a basic analysis on stock market liquidity, identifying and dis-

cussing factors affecting liquid-ity with recommendations for improvements. The students presented their results before a panel of independent judges.

The participating teams were from Qatar University, College of Islamic Finance – HBKU, Carnegie Mellon Uni-versity – Qatar, Stenden Qatar University, Georgetown Uni-versity – Qatar, AFG College with the University of Aber-deen.

Rashid bin Ali al Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange,

expressed his satisfaction with the fruitful cooperation be-tween QSE and local universi-ties and added that the QSE

is actively participating in na-tion-building activities as part of its social responsibility in supporting all segments of the

local community, in line with QNV 2030.

“Based on this responsibil-ity, QSE frequently participates in student activities combining practical and theoretical learn-ing.

By engaging in real world events and challenging stu-dents to grapple with the same opportunities and risks that are present in a real trading environment, they learn about their world through a hands-on approach, while also serving as leaders in their communities,” al Mansoori added.

“In line with the human, economic and social pillars of

sustainability, QSE plays a vital role in empowering our youth and students through various customised initiatives and pro-grammes targeting youth,” al Mansoori concluded.

Hussein Muhammad al Abdulla, QSE Marketing and Communications Director, thanked Qatar Securities Com-pany, Anytime Fitness, and Aamal Company for sponsor-ing the completion.

“We are committed to in-vesting in our youth and we are constantly seeking to help them by providing them with professional training and awareness cultures,” al Abdalla concluded.

Qatar Exchange holds first financial competition for university students

Qatar Stock Exchange CEO Rashid bin Ali al Mansoori (right) during the ‘1st Financial Competition for Universities’ Students’ programme in Doha recently.

The programme aims to promote investment awareness among university students

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA

PROGRESS in negotiations between the US and China has reduced the risk of further escalation of the trade war between the two countries. However, the complexity of Chinese industrial policy and disagreements over its future direction mean that a comprehensive deal remains unlikely.

During the course of last year, the Trump administration has already imposed tariffs on USD 250 billion of imports from China. The tariff rate on USD 200 billion of these goods is currently set at 10 percent, with the threatened increase to 25 percent having

now been delayed twice to make room for continued bilateral negotiations. A 90 day ceasefire was announced in early December, extended indefinitely on the 24th February, and we now expect a deal of some kind to be done in April.

The US has a strong negotiating position because it imports significantly more from China than China imports from the US. Indeed, the US has already threatened to impose tariffs on a further USD 267 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The tariffs already imposed, and the threat of further escalation, are one of the main headwinds and risks facing the global economy. This is because tariffs force

consumers to pay higher costs for imported goods, at least in the short term. Governments choose to impose tariffs because they want to protect local producers of goods from foreign competitors producing similar goods.

The delay in raising tariffs on imports from China suggests that the US believes a deal is now both possible and desirable. Trump’s statement pointed to substantial progress on “important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, services, currency and many other issues”.

Detailed negotiations are being conducted by China’s Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. They have reportedly put together memorandums of understanding on: agriculture,

currency, forced technology transfer and cybertheft, intellectual-property rights and non-tariff barriers to trade.

Agreement in some areas (agriculture and currency) is relatively easy and a common understanding has been reached. To help reduce the bilateral trade imbalance China

has agreed to buy substantial amounts of agricultural products and energy from the US, notably LNG and soy beans. US concerns about a potential further weakening of the Chinese currency should not be a major obstacle as FX stability is in China’s own interest.

However, agreement in other areas is much harder to achieve. This is especially the case regarding China’s industrial policy, which the US argues involves: forced technology transfer and cybertheft, abuse of intellectual-property rights, and non-tariff barriers to trade. In addition, the US believes that China’s subsidies and financing for state-owned enterprises continues to create an uneven playing field for foreign investors and the private sector.

China views industrial

policy as a core part of its development strategy and is unlikely to cede ground easily. Made in China (MIC) 2025 is China’s strategic plan to move up the value chain. MIC 2025 focuses on high-tech fields including the pharmaceutical industry, automotive industry, aerospace industry, semiconductors, IT and robotics, with the intent to gain know-how via extensive state support.

Specifically, MIC 2025 sought to raise the domestic content of core components and materials to 40 percent by 2020 and 70 percent b y 2025. China’s end goal is to be self-sufficient and to enable Chinese companies to better compete in global markets.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has insisted that the agreement must include enforcement provisions that would allow

the US to impose tariffs or other sanctions if China doesn’t follow through on its promises. This means that a durable resolution and de-escalation of the trade conflict will remain dependent on political judgments of the US administration.

China has recently passed legislation to help prevent forced technology transfer and has promised to make further progress in this area, but that requires complex structural and institutional reforms.

Trump clearly wants a deal rather than escalation, saying on the 14th March that: “We’ll have news on China. Probably one way or the other, we’re going to know over the next three to four weeks”. China is also keen to do a deal, which would most likely be finalised and signed in a face to face meeting between the two presidents in April.

Progress not perfection in US-China trade talks: QNB report

INDIAN Business & Profes-sionals Council (IBPC), an apex body working under the aegis of Indian Embassy - Qatar, is a forum for Indian businessmen, women & pro-fessionals in Qatar.

The newly elected man-aging committee recently called on the Ambassador of India and IBPC Patron HE P Kumaran and First Secretary & IBPC CO Surinder Bhagat to state its objectives for the next two years and discuss the plans that the embassy has for the operation of the IBPC.

The IBPC Managing Committee for the term 2019-2020 is as follows: Azim Abbas - President, Su-mit Malhotra - Vice Presi-dent, Yasir Nainar - General Secretary,

Manoj Megchiani - Joint General Secretary, Gopal Balasubramaniam - Head of Finance, Farooq Bhat - Head of Events & Sponsorships,

Usha Andrews - Head Coor-dinator of Women’s Wing,

Sheji Valiyakath - Head of Membership, Nishad Azeem

- Head of Corporate Affairs, and Syed Arif Mahdi - Head

of Associate Organisations Affairs. (TNN)

Indian Business & Professionals Council appoints new managing committee

Samsung, TBQ launch new washing machine with groundbreaking QuickDrive™ technologyTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

SAMSUNG Gulf Electronics with TBQ launched their new washing machine with revolutionary QuickDrive™ technology in Qatar amidst the presence of media and partners at an event held at Crowne Plaza recently.

KV Gopal, General Manager at TBQ, said: “TBQ is proud to partner with Samsung, an undisputed name in the field of home appliances and technology. The QuickDrive™ washing machines redefine customer experience in functionality and design and can be integrated seamlessly into modern households.”

QuickDrive™ technology reduces washing time by 50 percent* and energy use by upto 20 percent* without compromising on power and cleaning performance.

“QuickDrive™ is more than a revolutionary tech-nology – it is a tool that will improve our consumers’ day-to-day lives by cutting the amount of time users spend doing laundry in half, so they can spend more time doing the things they enjoy,” Vinod Nair, Sales Director of Con-sumer Electronics Business at Samsung Gulf Electron-

ics. “Not only is our Quick-Drive™ technology fast, but it is also powerful, smart, and versatile – making laundry with this washing machine easier all around.”

Samsung’s unparalleled QuickDrive™ technology was independently tested by In-tertek, who confirmed that QuickDrive™ technology pro-vides the same level of clean-ing performance and fabric care as existing products, while reducing washing times.

Unlike conventional washing machines, the unique Q-Drum™ is composed of a large main drum with a plate in the back that rotates independently, so clothes move from top to bottom in the drum, as well as back and forth. This creates a revolutionary dynamic action powered by double forces that remove dirt quickly, gently and thoroughly with an intense and complete wash cycle.

QuickDrive™ technology speeds up laundry chores without com-promising performance

The students were required to carry out a basic analysis on stock market liquidity, identifying and discussing factors affecting liquidity with recommendations for improvements

The delay in raising tariffs on imports from China suggests that the US believes a deal is now both possible and desirable

A deal is most likely to be finalised and signed in a meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi in April

www.guide.com.qaSunday, March 24, 2019

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VINAY NAYUDUDOHA

A maiden gold by 16-year-old Li Qi of China on the balance beam, an electrifying show on the floor by American Jade Carey for a golden double, and three-time world champion Dutchman Epke Zonderland’s unfortunate fall in the high bar made for a fascinating finale of the 12th FIG Artistic Gymnas-tics World Cup which came to a close at the Aspire Dome on Saturday.

Watched by a large and ap-preciate audience once again, the final day of the four-day event was pulsating with all the five individual apparatus competitions (three for men and two for women) produced absorbing contests and enthral-ling performances from some of the world’s very best.

While there was big delight for some, there was also huge disappointment for a few who were expected to emerge on top given their status and form.

Ensuring her second gold medal at the meet, 18-year-old Carey lit up the arena with a sizzling floor exercise being the last to hit the stage and up against strong shows of Italians Lara Mori and Vanessa Ferrari.

The nimble-footed and short-statured gymnast, how-ever, stood tall with an impos-ing routine which had clean backflip landings. Backed by a technically sharp finish, Carey flew up the scoreboard with a tally 14.466, much ahead of the second-placed Mori (13.433) and Ferrari (13.300).

“It feels pretty good. I think this week went pretty well,” said the American, who had also claimed gold in Vault on Friday.

“There definitely was some pressure (in the floor final) since we all competed together last week so I knew it was going to be a good competition here in Doha as well. I was just focused on not getting nervous,” she added.

Earlier, in the women’s Balance Beam, Belgium’s Nina Derwael, who swept the Un-even Bars competition, couldn’t complete the dream of a golden double.

Derwael, who has often ac-

cepted to her being weak com-paratively on this apparatus, was edged by quite a confident Qi Li.

The Chinese logged 14.333 points to Derwael’s 13.633 for her first World Cup gold. Frenchwoman Marine Boyer finished third.

Elated and flashing the vic-tory sign while receiving the medal, Li Qi couldn’t hide her emotion.

“I was very nervous before the final, competing against the best gymnasts,” she said.

“It’s my first gold in World Cup and I am very happy to achieve that. We have a tough competition in China and this win will give me a lot of confi-dence,” she added.

Derwael was gracious say-ing, “Li Qi was better and I am not surprised with her victory. Overall, I am happy. Coming to Doha always gives excites me as I have achieved a lot here.”

Among the men’s, the high-ly anticipated Horizontal Bar saw favourite Zonderland suf-fer a fall early into his routine

stunning the crowd into silence.“My first release was itself

a mistake because I was too close to the bar and then the second was that you have to throw yourself over the bar and

again I was too close thereby I couldn’t hold on to the bar properly and I fell down. I made a technical mistake and it’s highly disappointing,” ex-plained the Dutch later.

“I expected to do better because the whole week I was tired but today I felt strong and I thought let’s go for it but sadly this happened. I really wanted to excel, it was a fes-

tive atmosphere. At this level you can’t win with your rou-tine exercise, you have to be at your best,” he added.

Eventually, it was Croatia’s Tin Srbic who managed to beat his nerves by competing last, after waiting patiently for the other seven gymnasts to finish.

The 2017 Horizonal Bar world champion raised the highest score (14.400) to de-feat by small margin, Japan’s Hidetaka Miyachi (14.300).

“It was a tough final in Doha, because it was like it was like a World Championships final with all these great com-petitors. It is always hard for me to go last. The scores were lower than I expected. I needed over 14.3 to get the gold. I did the best. For now I am satisfied with what I did”, he said.

Miyachi was challeng-ing but came just short. Cu-ba’s Randy Leru was third (14.000).

On the Vault, the 2012 Olympics gold medalist Hak-seon Yang earned his second-World Cup win of the season.

The Korean was awarded with 15.266 points, includ-ing a 15.466 score for his first vault. The winner of the first World Cup in Melbourne, Igor Radilov (Ukraine) with 14.916 points was second again to Yang after the 1-2 at the previ-ous World Cup in Baku.

“It is a long season, I am happy with my results so far. Next year everything will be clearer, regarding the Olympic qualification”, said Radilov.

Armenian Artur Davtyan was third with 14.695, hav-ing suffered a fall in his sec-ond effort.

China’s Jingyan Zou put up an impressive performance on the Parallel Bars and

took victory with a great margin (15.700). Finishing second was Russia’s

Vladislav Polyasov (15.066) while Australian Mitchell Mor-gans was third (14.566).

A total of 128 male and 60 female gymnasts from 57 countries took part in the World Cup, hosted for the 12th consecutive year by Qatar.

Jade Carey in action during the floor exercise on the final day of the 12th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup at the Aspire Dome on Saturday.

Carey claims golden doubleZonderland suffers a fall; Maiden World Cup win for China’s Li Qi as Doha meet concludes

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

MUMBAI INDIANS VS DELHI CAPITALS

VINAY NAYUDUDOHA

GYMNASTICS has now be-come a part of Arab sporting culture with many athletes from the Middle East per-forming consistently well at the world level and the sport being followed widely, feels Mohamad Behbehani, the Secretary-General of Arab Gymnastics Federation.

In Doha to witness the 12th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup which concluded at the Aspire Dome on Sat-

urday, Behbehani of Kuwait said he was delighted to see the performance of Arab gymnasts and the large turn-out of spectators.

“The level of performance of athletes from the Arab re-gion in artistic gymnastics has gone up. It’s not like earlier when it was about just par-ticipating. Now the gymnasts from this region are quite on

par and aim to take one of the three places on the podium.

“Considering that this was the World Cup series and also at the world championships, the effort is highly appreci-able of these athletes and hopefully we shall find them on the podium more often than not,” said Behbehani.

Highlighting the good show of some of Middle East

gymmasts, he said, “If you see at this World Cup, gymnasts from the Middle East and Ali Zahran of Egypt were impres-sive in the finals against some of the best of the world. Ibra-him Colak of Turkey on Still Rings, and Saeedreza Keikha of Iran on Pommel Horse, I thought, were exceptional.

“I also hope that we will be seeing more gymnasts from the Middle East at the world championships next March and at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.”

Behbehani stressed that

the success of the sport in the region has been due to the con-sistent successful hosting of world events in the last decade.

“There has also been a great acceptance of the sport of gymnastics and the crowds during the World Cup at the Aspire Dome have been a tes-timony of that. It’s a great sign. It also shows that people in the Middle East like and follow gymnastics. It has also become a part of people’s culture in this region with many young kids wanting to take up gym-nastics,” he said.

‘Gymnastics now very much a part of sporting culture in the region’

Arab Gymnastics Federation Secretary-General Mohamed Behbehani.

ResultsMenVault: 1. Hakseon Yang (KOR) 15.266; 2. Igor Radivilov (UKR) 14.916; 3. Artur Davityan (ARM) 14.695.Parellel Bars: 1. Jingyuan Zou (CHN) 15.700; 2. Vladislav Poliashov (RUS) 15.066; 3. Mitchell Morgans (AUS) 14.566. Horizontal Bar: 1. Tin Srbic (CRO) 14.400; 2. Hidetaka Miyachi (JPN) 14.300; 3. Randy Leru (CUB) 14.000.WomenBalance Beam: 1. Li Qi (CHN) 14.333; 2. Nina Derwael (BEL) 13.633; 3. Marine Boyer (FRA) 13.333.Floor Exercise: 1. Jade Carey (USA) 14.466; Lara Mori (ITA) 13.433; 3. Vanessa Ferrari (ITA) 13.300.

American Jade Carey poses on the podium with Lara Mori and Vanessa Ferrari both of Italy.

Croatia’s Tin Srbic, Russia’s Vladislav Poliashov and Mitchell Morgans of Australia on the podium after the Horizontal Bar final.

China’s Li Qi (centre) Nina Derwael (left) of Belgium and Marine Boyer of France.

Qatar coach calls for calm ahead AFC U23 qualifier against Nepal PAGE 19

Mourinho aims for summer return to coaching with UCL a target PAGE 18

Kuwaiti official Behbehani says more Arab athletes will hit world stage soon

Sports

AFPLOS ANGELES

LEGENDARY superstar LeB-ron James will miss the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2005 as the Los Angeles Lak-ers were officially eliminated with a 111-106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

The four-time league MVP also had his eight-year run to the NBA finals snapped on Friday night as the loss takes the lowly Lakers out of the playoff picture for a franchise-record sixth straight season.

“It is a tough season for all of us,” James said. “It is not what we signed up for. Throughout the year things happen, suspensions, injuries.

“You don’t even try to wrap your head around it. Just keep pushing see how you can get better. The playoffs is never a promise. You got to come out and do the work.

“For me personally, you do the work and see what you can do to help.”

James had 25 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to get the vic-tory in a tight contest that fea-tured 23 lead changes.

The last time the NBA’s best player wasn’t in the post-season was in 2004-05, his second season with the Cleve-land Cavaliers. James shot eight-of-25 from the floor in 35 minutes of action as the Lakers are now 2-11 in their last 13 games.

“I took a pretty nasty fall when I slipped. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow,” said James, who missed a three pointer and committed a turnover in the final seconds.

Asked how much more he wants to play this season, James said, “With us being of-ficially eliminated, I will prob-ably have a conversation with

the coaching staff. Hopefully I can be in as many games as possible down the stretch.”

Joe Harris scored 26 points and former Laker D’Angelo Russell tallied 21 points and 13 assists for the Nets, who boosted their play-off hopes with their second-straight win during a seven game road trip.

JaVale McGee had career highs of 33 points and 20 re-bounds along with six blocked shots to lead the Lakers.

When James signed with the storied franchise, few expected him to extend his streak of finals appearances to nine straight, but not many thought it would be due to a failure to get into the playoffs.

It has been a season of blown opportunities, broken promises and with the Lak-ers now officially out of con-tention late in the season, it leaves the coaching staff and

the front office under fire. “I played a lot basketball

over the last 16 years. So for me to go into an offseason as healthy as possible will give me time to recalibrate my body and recalibrate my mind and get ready for next sea-son,” James said.

With the struggling Lakers limiting James’ minutes down the stretch, the forward had sat out two of the past three games heading into the Nets’ game.

Three-time champion James was doing his part by averaging 27.5 points, 8.5 re-bounds, and eight assists this season, but he hasn’t gotten consistent help from an inex-perienced supporting cast.

“One thing you can’t con-trol is injuries. Throughout the whole season we just had bodies, bodies, bodies be down. It is hard to get chemis-try on the floor,” he said.

Lakers’ James eliminated from NBA postseason picture

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers makes a pass during an NBA game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston, recently. James fails to make NBA playoffs for first time since 2005. (AFP)

Serena survives scare to advance in Miami

AFPMIAMI

SERENA Williams survived an “irresponsible” second set lapse on Friday to see off Swe-den’s Rebecca Peterson 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in her second-round opener of the WTA and ATP Miami Open.

“I wasn’t really happy with my performance,” admit-ted the 23-time Grand Slam champion, who is playing in just her third tournament of 2019 having lost in the Aus-tralian Open quarter-finals before retiring in the second set of her third-round match against Garbine Muguruza with a viral illness at Indian Wells last week.

“Had to take a lot of time off the last week,” she said. “It’s definitely not easy at all. But I’m through it. That’s that. I’ve just got to get my game back to where I know it can be.

“I told myself at the end of the second set that I could not lose this match.

“I knew that I could play a lot, lot, lot better. I just had to be better. At this point it was irresponsible to be playing the way I was playing in the sec-ond set.”

Williams, an eight time winner in Miami, was just relieved to make it through to the third round where she

will meet China’s Wang Qiang who thrashed Britain’s Jo Konta, the 2017 Miami Open champion, 6-4 6-0.

The former world number one was certainly rusty in her first ever match against the

63rd-ranked Swede, despite starting strongly and easing into a first set lead.

Peterson, however, who lost in the first round in In-dian Wells, produced some excellent tennis in the second

and managed to break down Williams’s serve to take the match into a deciding set.

As the South Florida sun began to lower, Williams ap-peared to struggle with her ball toss.

“It was interesting, be-cause first of all it was dark out there, which was really odd,” Williams said. “I wasn’t sure if there should be lights. The shadow was so intense it was actually dark.

“Then there was light, but only on my side. That was weird because I literally couldn’t see.

“But I need to just move on and really focus on playing better or not being in the tour-nament much longer.”

Williams, 37, is still seek-ing a first title since the birth of daughter Alexis Olympia.

She admitted it was some-times hard to stay patient, al-though she believes returning to the top 10 after her extend-ed maternity leave qualifies as “extremely successful”.

“It’s just a step at a time,” she said. “Just because my level of success is so much higher than what’s natural, I have to take these moments and say, ‘You’re doing great,’ encourage myself in a positive way so I can get that success that I want to have since com-ing back from the baby.”

Serena Williams returns a shot to Rebecca Peterson during Day 5 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Friday. (AFP)

Alaphilippe claims first ‘Monument’ victory in

Milan-San RemoAFP

SAN REMO, ITALY

FRANCE’S Julian Alaphilippe won a sprint finish to the Mi-lan-San Remo on Saturday, claiming his first victory in one of cycling’s ‘Monument’ classic races.

The Deceuninck Quick-Step rider finished ahead of a small group of riders, who had broken away near the end of the 291km race under the sun-shine through north-western Italy, for his seventh win of the season.

The 26-year-old Alaphilippe went for the line with 600m remaining, before raising his arms in triumph after a narrow victory on the Via Roma in the Italian Rivi-era resort, with Belgian Oliver Naesen (AG2R) second and Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) in third.

Three-time world cham-pion Peter Sagan of Slovakia finished fourth with last year’s winner Vincenzo Nibali of Italy crossing in eighth place, after over seven hours in the saddle.

Alaphilippe has been the in-form rider at the start of the season, winning the Strade Bianche in Tuscany, and two

stages of the Tirreno-Adriatico in recent weeks.

The rider from the moun-tainous Auvergne region in central France had missed out in the 2017 race in San Remo behind Kwiatkowski and Sagan.

But since he has pow-ered to two stage wins in last year’s Tour de France, where

he claimed the top climber’s jersey, and won the Fleche Wallonne and Clasica San Se-bastian.

All that was missing was a win in one of cycling’s five ‘Monument’ one-day classics, and he lived up to his status as pre-race favourite in a race which his Deceuninck team perfectly controlled.

“I was protected, the team

had total confidence in me,” said the French rider. “In the sprint all I was thinking about was not to make a mistake.”

In the sprint, Alaphilippe emerged from behind Slove-nian Matej Mohoric, before the last 200 metres.

“I will need some time to realise what I have achieved to-day,” he continued.

“We made the race hard and I stayed focused. I followed Mohoric at 600 metres. I made no mistake. It’s unbelievable.”

A breakaway group of ten riders, representing second-di-vision teams invited by the or-ganisers, had opened the road right out of Milan.

They held firm until after the area of the “Capi” -- small hills going into the final hour of racing.

Italian Fausto Masnada had led for almost 260km, before being caught on the Cipressa, the penultimate ob-stacle heading down towards the coast.

“In the group, there were very strong riders, Trentin was to watch but finally eve-rything is back in order,” said Alaphilippe, after his 25th vic-tory, and the most important of his career.

France’s Julian Alaphilippe (centre) celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win, ahead of Belgium’s Oliver Naesen (2nd left) and Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (left), the one-day classic cycling race Milan - San Remo on Saturday. (AFP)

I was protected, the team had total confidence in me. In the sprint all I was thinking about was not to make a mistake. I will need some time to realise what I have achieved today.Julian Alaphilippe

Pacquiao polls Twitter on next opponentAFP

MANILA

PHILIPPINE boxing legend Manny Pacquiao took to so-cial media to poll millions of fans on who they think should be his next opponent, having brushed off calls to hang up his gloves after turning 40.

“Who should I fight next?” the world’s only eight-division champion asked in a Twitter survey that drew 27,380 votes after five hours and listed Floyd Mayweath-er, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter as

the choices.The poll, also linked to

Pacquiao’s Facebook wall, has 18 more hours to run. It did not indicate how the voting had gone so far.

Pacquiao, who has 2.51 million followers on Twitter and 11.76 million on Face-book, is known to have been angling for a rematch with Mayweather, who beat the Fil-ipino on points in the world’s richest prize fight in 2015.

Pacquiao’s decisive victory over American fighter Adrien Broner in January was sup-posed to have opened the door

to that route. But the unbeaten Mayweather, officially retired, has been non-committal.

Many Facebook users urged Pacquiao, who has 61 wins including 39 knockouts against seven losses and two draws in a 24-year career, to fight Mayweather.

“Floyd of course then re-tire,” Carlos De Luna Lagun-sad added.

But another fan urged the 40-year-old to face Inter-national Boxing Federation welterweight champion Er-rol Spence, who easily beat challenger Garcia in a match

between two previously unde-feated boxers on Saturday.

“Show this young guys why u r a living legend,” Meg Osh Tin Oniuqa said.

Manny Pacquiao

Elvira takes two-shot lead into final round in MalaysiaAFP

KUALA LUMPUR

NACHO Elvira edged closer to a maiden European Tour trophy after he posted a six-under-par 66 to gain a two-shot advantage over Da-vid Lipsky at the Maybank Championship penultimate round on Saturday.

The title, however, re-mains up for grabs with Aus-tralian Scott Hend, Germa-ny’s Maximilian Kieffer and Thai stalwart Jazz Janewat-tananond only three shots off Elvira.

Elvira had been in con-tention after he joint-led with Marcus Fraser on Thursday.

Coming into the third round, Elvira of Spain trailed Thomas Pieters by a single shot in stiflingly hot conditions, but gained the advantage courtesy of his seven birdies.

“I’m very happy with a 66. It was tough with the heat and humidity today. I stayed patient and it paid off in the end,” he said. “It would be great to start here (winning on the European Tour but I really don’t think

about it too much. I like the way things are right now with my swing.”

Two-time European Tour winner Lipsky will be hoping to add a third after he fin-ished the day with a 67 de-spite two bogey flaws.

“It’s a tricky course so you are going to make bo-geys out there, you have just got to make your share of birdies. If I can keep mak-ing birdies like I am, I think I’ll be alright,” the American, who shot seven birdies, said.

Crowd favourite Ernie Els will also be confident of end-

ing a six-year title drought af-ter another consistent showing for a 69. The South African sits only four strokes away from Elvira at nine-under-par 207.

The local crowd will also pay at-tention to Nich-olas Fung on the final day on Sun-day after the Ma-laysian ended the day tied-13th, seven shots off the pace.

KHARTOUM: Qatar’s boxing team won a silver medal and a bronze medal in the second Arab boxing championship, which took place in Khartoum, Sudan.

Coach of the national team Juan Carlos praised the achievement, and said it was a great result given the lack of experience of the boxers. He noted that some of the athletes were participating for the first time in an Arab championship. He expressed his hope that the team can carry out more training camps in the future ahead of future competitions.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Abdullah al Banai who won the bronze medal said he was pleased with his result, espe-cially given that his weight category has some of the best boxers in the Arab world and even internationally.

Silver and bronze medals for Qatar at Arab Boxing Championship

Quick read


Nacho Elvira of Spain plays a shot during the

third round of the 2019 Maybank Malaysia

Golf Championship on Saturday. (AFP)

AFPPARIS

RAHEEM Sterling showed that he is coming of age on the inter-national stage as his hat-trick saw England start their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign by hammering the Czech Republic 5-0, while Antoine Griezmann inspired France to a battering of Moldova.

Manchester City attacker Sterling had scored just two goals in his first 45 caps, but he now has five in his last three international appearances fol-lowing Friday’s treble, which helped England storm to the top of Group A ahead of Mon-day’s trip to Montenegro, who drew 1-1 at Bulgaria.

Sterling opened the scor-ing in the 24th minute when he tapped home Jadon Sancho’s cross, and struck twice more in the second half to put the result beyond doubt after Harry Kane fired home his 21st England goal from the penalty spot.

“It was a beautiful team performance and I was happy to help the team get the win,” Sterling said.

Sterling has 24 goals for club and country this term and his impressive form is a fry cry from the dark days when he was vilified as England crashed out of Euro 2016.

“I’m just being confident in myself, I’m trying to get in ar-eas and take shots, not to worry about anything,” he added.

England carried the mo-mentum from a run to the World Cup semi-finals and qualification for the last four of the Nations League into the Euro qualifiers and blooded young hopeful Sancho, who impressed on his full England debut.

The 18-year-old who has shone in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund, gave Eng-land fans further cause for ex-citement, with his potential adding to that of Sterling and Kane coming into their prime.

“I thought Raheem was electric. He has looked like that all week in training. I’m pleased for him, it is a special night for him,” coach Gareth Southgate said.

“I think he’s really matured as a person and a footballer. He’s hungry for goals and hit-ting things instinctively without thinking too much.”

France also got off to a per-fect start after an older head in Antoine Griezmann spurred the world champions on to a com-fortable 4-1 victory at Moldova.

Griezmann opened the scor-ing with his 27th France goal in the 24th minute of their Group H encounter before crossing for Raphael Varane to double the scores three minutes later.

Olivier Giroud equalled Da-vid Trezeguet as Les Bleus’ third highest scorer of all time with his 34th international goal nine minutes before the break and Kylian Mbappe completed the rout with three minutes left, be-fore Vladimir Ambros claimed

a late consolation for Moldova.Griezmann would have had

two more assists had Giroud and Paul Pogba been more clin-ical in front of goal, but France’s display was easily enough for the three points and top spot in the group ahead of Iceland and

Turkey, 2-0 winners against Al-bania and Andorra respectively.

“We played a very consum-mate first half in terms of con-trol and attacking organisation. The second half was less fulfill-ing due to substitutions,” said coach Didier Deschamps.

“We’ve opened our cam-paign well and the second game comes around quickly. In three days we have do it again.”

Cristiano Ronaldo drew a blank on his return to interna-tional football after nine months away, as Ukraine battled to a goalless draw in Lisbon.

The draw was the first time Santos’ side have failed to score at home in 19 matches and leaves them second in the group behind Luxembourg, who beat Lithuania 2-1.

William Carvalho had a fine header ruled out for offside in the 16th minute and Ronaldo, Pepe and Andre Silva all went close to opening the scoring, but Ukraine stopper Andriy Pyatov was on fine form to deny them.

In the end the away side could have snatched the three points through Junior Moraes, only for the debutant to fluff a golden chance to grab a shock win.

“We didn’t play as we want-ed to. We started slowly, not pressing the way we wanted,” said Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva.

“The second half we tried to create chances to go after the game but unfortunately we didn’t score.”

England’s Raheem Sterling (right) celebrates his third goal against Czech Republic during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier match at Wembley Stadium in London on Friday. (EPA)

Sterling downs Czechs as France win at Moldova

AFPBERLIN

MARCO Reus has called on Germany to win back the trust of their fans when they launch their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign against old rivals the Netherlands on Sunday.

Germany were booed by fans in Wolfsburg during their 1-1 friendly draw against Serbia last Wednesday, and Reus has said that it is up to the players to change the mood.

“We need patience from the fans, but it is our job to make sure the atmosphere improves,” he said on Friday.

Germany have not won a competitive game since they beat Sweden at the World Cup last summer. But they still crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage, and were rel-egated from the top tier of the UEFA Nations League in the autumn.

Coach Joachim Loew de-clared the beginning of a “new era” last week, having brought in several young players and made the controversial call to drop three experienced stars in Thomas Mueller, Mats Hum-mels and Jerome Boateng.

Yet Reus warned that the new-look Germany would take time to reach their full potential.

“We are all ambitious enough to want to win every game, but it won’t just start working from one day to the next,” he said.

The change of personnel means that Reus, 29, is among the most senior players in the team. “I am at an age where I have to take on leadership roles, both here and at my club,” said the Borussia Dortmund star.

“Everything will take time, we have a lot of young players who need to find their feet.”

Reus is expected to return to the starting lineup, along with Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos on Sunday in Amster-

dam.“Toni is indispensable for

us,” said coach Joachim Loew on Saturday, and confirmed that both Leroy Sane and Serge Gna-bry would also be fit to face the Netherlands.

Loew said his team were not thinking about defeat, despite the fact that the Dutch are in good form, and have not lost to Germany since 2012.

“They are playing very well, they are highly motivated and the atmosphere here is extreme-ly good,” said Loew.

The Dutch cruised to a 4-0 win over Belarus in their open-ing qualifier on Thursday.

Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk was on the scoresheet with a header, and both Loew and defender Niklas Suele identi-fied the Liverpool defender as a threat. “He is a fantastic in the air, not just because he is big, but because he gets so much power behind his headers,” said Loew of van Dijk. “We can’t al-low him space to run onto head-ers,” said Suele, who watched van Dijk do just that when Liv-erpool knocked Bayern out of the Champions League earlier this month.

Van Dijk has made a habit of scoring against German sides. He hit a late equaliser for the Netherlands against Germa-ny when the two sides met in Gelsenkirchen last November.

He also scored in a 3-0 win over Germany a month earlier.

Those results have rekin-dled the old rivalry between the Dutch and the Germans. On Sunday, Germany will be hoping to get the fans back on side with a win over their neighbours.

“It is always a special game, partly because of how close we are geographically,” said Ger-many and Bayern Munich mid-fielder Leon Goretzka on Friday.

“As a boy, I used to go on holiday with my family in Hol-land, and I grew up with the ri-valry.”

Fans booed the national team during their 1-1 friendly draw against Serbia

Germany under pressure ahead of Dutch derby

German national team players at a training session in Wolfsburg before their Serbia friendly. (EPA)

Mourinho aims for summer return to coaching

AFPBASEL, SWITZERLAND

JOSE Mourinho is gunning for a return to top level manage-ment and a third Champions League title, the former Real Madrid and Manchester United manager revealed on Friday in an interview with AFP.

Mourinho has been out of work since being sacked by United in December and said he would like to be appointed as a boss at a club where he can add to his European triumphs with Porto in 2003 and Inter Milan seven years later, and draw level with Zinedine Zi-dane, Carlo Ancelotti and Bob Paisley.

“If I can win a third Cham-pions League, great,” the 56-year-old told AFP.

“I would like to play in the best level, which is the Cham-pions League.

“I want to be (in the race to win the Champions League next year). Sometimes, you are not in the race, but you have to win other races.”

Mourinho, who has coached in his native Portugal as well as in England, Italy and Spain left the door open to re-turning to those leagues or tak-ing over at a club elsewhere.

“I can go back to a country I’ve been before and to be hon-est, I have enjoyed working in every country I did,” he said.

“(Or) I can try something very important, which is to work in a fifth country and try to win everything in the fifth country like I did in the previ-ous ones.”

Mourinho’s time with Unit-ed was his third with a Premier League club after two spells with Chelsea, where he won the title three times, and he isn’t surprised that England has

four teams in the quarter-finals of Europe’s top competition.

United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool have all made it to the last eight.

“English teams are power-ful, they have a very competi-tive league. Sometimes, it goes against them because many times, you have very difficult

situations in the calendar,” he said.

“The teams are good and strong, and you look at Man City, the level of investment. Top players, experienced play-ers, top manager, experienced manager.”

Asked about France attack-er Kylian Mbappe, Mourinho

praised the World Cup-winning teenager, who he says has the ability take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when they eventually hang up their boots.

“He is there, he is ready for

next step. When the big mon-sters decide to stop, he will be there, just waiting,” Mourinho said.

“Sometimes, you can be part of the team that reaches something, and you are just lucky to be at the right moment at the right time. That’s not the case. He was very important for France being champion.”

The Portuguese coach relishes a third Champions League title

Former Manchester United’s Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho at the Baselworld watch and jewellery fair in Basel on Friday. (AFP)

Messi to miss Morocco tie after injury in int’l return

AFPMADRID

LIONEL Messi will miss Argen-tina’s friendly against Morocco next week after picking up a groin injury in the shock 3-1 de-feat to Venezuela on Friday as he made his first international appearance since the 2018 World Cup.

Barcelona star Messi start-ed the fixture following a self-imposed eight-month exile in which he missed six friendlies since the tournament in Russia, which they exited in the last 16 at the hands of eventual cham-pions France.

The Argentine Football Federation tweeted the injury update following the loss at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Met-ropolitano stadium.

Gonzalo Martinez has also been ruled out of the fixture in Tangier with a thigh problem.

Salomon Rondon and Jhon Murillo gave Venezuela a two-goal advantage at the break.

Argentina forward Lau-taro Martinez halved the deficit before Josef Martinez scored from the spot to claim the spoils in the friendly.

Messi’s 129th cap started poorly as Newcastle forward Rondon controlled a long ball before hammering home a half-volley past Argentine goalkeep-er Franco Armani.

The pick of the goals came as 23-year-old Murillo scored for only a third time in 17 inter-nationals.

He received the ball on the corner of the box, was given plenty of space by the Albice-leste defence and the winger fired home powerfully past Armani with a minute left of the first half Argentina’s Martinez gave his side some hope on the hour mark as Messi found Gio-vanni Lo Celso who played in the Inter forward to finish.

Rafael Dudamel’s side, ranked 32nd in the world, claimed a third after Martinez was tripped in the box.

EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS

Champions League is key

“I want to be (in the race to win the Champions League next year). Sometimes, you are not in the race, but you have to win other races.”

France’s midfielder Paul Pogba (left) and Olivier Giroud vie with Moldova’s defender Ion Jardan (right) dur-ing their Euro 2020 qualifying match at Zimbru Stadium in Chisinau on Friday. (AFP)

Sports18 Sunday, March 24, 2019


HAMAD dished out a stellar all-round showing and steered Shah Eleven into the Division B final of the Qatar Airways Cricket Tournament with a dominant nine-wicket tri-umph against Hadico.

Qatar Airways is proud to be the official sponsor of the annu-al Qatar Cricket Tournament. As the country’s national car-rier, Qatar Airways continues to play a vital role in enhancing the already flourishing sports activities in Qatar and is a keen supporter for developing the next generation of cricket play-ers in Qatar.

At the West Bay Ground on Friday, Hamad removed half

the Hadico in just 11 balls and followed it up with an unbeaten 21 during the Shah XI’s chase to set up the title clash with Redco, who also crushed Khan Youngsters by 10 wickets, rid-ing Rasmi’s superb individual performance.

Batting first after winning the toss, Hadico were shot out for just 58 in 13.5 overs by man-of-the-match Hamad and Alam, who bagged three scalps. Then, Shah XI needed only eight overs to race to the target. Apart from Hamad, Javed hit 31 not out.

Khan Youngsters made a modest 120 for nine as Rasmi

(three for 8) and Faheem (two for 16) caused them a serious damage, despite Abrar’s fine 45 with a six and three fours. Redco powered to the victory as man-of-the-match Rasmi slammed six sixes and five boundaries to collect 77 not out in 36 balls. Marso chipped in 31 not out.

In high-scoring Division C matches, Zerone Technologies and Challengers Club posted thrilling victories.

Chasing a stiff 176-run tar-get against Lankan Knights, Farhan smashed three sixes and three boundaries to essay 50, while Raj Mohammed hit a six and three fours in his 44 to lift Zerone Technologies to a one-wicket triumph with three balls

left. For the losers, Sahan had a match-high 70 with two sixes and nine boundaries in 47 balls.

Faizal’s 54 with two sixes and four boundaries and 32 by Denzil, who cracked half a dozen fours, took QF to a fight-ing 166 for nine. Rafaqat (36 not out), Rahman (33) and Faizan (31) played main roles in their team’s five-wicket win with just one before the finish.

Hamad steers Shah XI into Div B finalThey will take on Redco for T20 crown

IKOLI VICTOR DOHA

QATAR coach Albert Fernan-dez has urged his players to be calm and play without pres-sure ahead of their second group match against Nepal in their AFC U23 Qualifier at the Aspire Pitch 5 on Sunday.

Qatar had defeated Af-ghanistan 2-0 in a nervous first-half performance, while Nepal, against the odds, held their own to restrict Oman to just a goal in their loss.

The match is important for both the teams as victory for Qatar depending on the score-line may put them in the driv-er’s seat for automatic qualifi-cation. While Nepal still stand a chance of qualifying, if they get an unexpected win against hosts Qatar.

Fernandez said after the match on Friday that his play-ers achieved the most im-portant result which is a win, knowing how difficult open-ing matches are. The Span-ish coach promised that, “We would have an improved per-formance in the next game. Our ambition is to play better against Nepal and overcome the pressure barrier and be in a good state of mind.

“After each game we study the negatives and the positives

and we are keen to correct the mistakes. There were some er-rors that haven’t happened to us before and we are not used to it because of pressure.”

Fernandez said having watched the first half of the

match between Oman and Ne-pal, “I would analyse and look on their strengths and weak-nesses so we can capitalise on to collect full points.”

He added that the slim 1-0 defeat of Nepal by Oman is ev-

ident of the equality between the teams and that they are no pushovers.

Fernandez is hopeful his striker Abdullah Alahrak who suffered a knock in the game is fit and ready for the match

depends if he’s cleared by the medical staff.

Qatar will rely on the de-fensive duo of Tarek Salman and Bassam al Rawi, while expecting the attacking trio of Abdelrahman Moustafa, Has-san Ahmad Alahrak to find the back of the net.

Oman will look to continue their winning form in Sunday’s encounter with Afghanistan, while the latter have no room for error in their clash against attacking-minded Oman.

The Omanis will hope strikers Muhsen Saleh and Ar-shad Said find their rhythm af-ter their profligacy in front of goal against Nepal.

Meanwhile, coach Mo-hammad Mujtaba of Afghani-stan is confident his players will get the required result against Oman and possibly finish second in the group with the hope of finishing among the best four teams to join the eleven group winners.

“Hopefully in the next two games we will do better and prepare ourselves well to qual-ify for the next round as the second team.”

“Oman are tough but I be-lieve my players can match them and get the desired result. We still have a chance of quali-fying and we’ll play with that confidence,” Mujtaba added.

Qatar’s Abdelrahman Moustafa is challenged by Amanullah Sardari of Afghanistan during their AFC U23 qualifiers at Aspire in Doha on Friday.

Afghanistan have no room for error against Oman AFC U23 qualifiers today

Qatar coach urges calm ahead of Nepal clashMUMBAI: Rohit Sharma’s

Mumbai Indians will play their first match of the 12th season of the Indian Premier League against the Delhi Capitals at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai are known to be slow-starters as they fare much better in the second stage of the IPL than the first stage.

However, the Mukesh Ambani-owned team will love to improve their record in the initial matches of the league when they play their first match of IPL 2019 against the S Iyer-led Delhi Capitals.

Both the teams failed to qualify for the playoffs last year but look strong on paper this year. Here are the reasons why Mumbai Indians will achieve their first victory of the season against Delhi.

Rohit Sharma, Mumbai’s homeboy and India’s top limited-overs opener, will finally open the innings for his IPL franchise in the 12th season of IPL. Sharma has three T20I centuries to his name playing as an opening batsman for India and it has been a long time since he smashed a hundred in the IPL. The ‘Hitman’ will love to exploit the batsman-friendly conditions in Mumbai.

Mumbai Indians have Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, and Kieron Pollard in their side. This year, they also opted for the services of Yuvraj Singh, the Indian legend, which has only bolstered their strength. The Mumbai Indians also have Ben Cutting in the mix and thus, they have a variety of options to choose from.

Apart from Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, and the Pandya brothers, the Mumbai franchise have a lot of talented Indian players in Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar and Barinder Sran.

All of them have the potential to win the match for their team on any day. The Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, will have to find a way to tackle the Indian players of the Mumbai team to stand a chance of winning the match.

Looking at the recent form of the players of both the teams, the Mumbai Indians definitely have an upper hand heading into this match. (IANS)

Rohit Sharma to lead MI’s charge against DC today

KOLKATA: Eyeing a third elusive title, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have their task cut out when they take on formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

Two-time champions KKR last won the IPL in 2014 under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. Since then, they have made it to the playoffs thrice in four years showing great consistency, but the team will want to finish off equally well this time round.

Last season, under the new leadership of seasoned cam-paigner Dinesh Karthik, KKR incidentally lost to Sunrisers Hy-derabad by 14 runs in Qualifier-2. Stumper-batsman Karthik led from the front, amassing 498 runs and finishing as the team’s highest scorer.

KKR have traditionally boasted of having a superb spin line-up and it won’t be different this year. With India’s leading tweaker Kuldeep Yadav leading the department, veteran Sunil Narine and experienced Piyush Chawla will look to make an impact along with young KC Cariappa who was brought in as replacement to the injured Shivam Mavi.

Last year, KKR’s weak link was their pace attack. But accord-ing to head coach Jacques Kallis, the purple brigade have more options this time in the fast bowling department.

KKR will miss the services of Mavi and fellow U-19 World Cup winner Kamlesh Nagarkoti who is also ruled out due to injury. But acquisitions such as New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, left-arm Englishman Harry Gurney and West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite will add to their arsenal.

Coming to the visitors, SRH emerged runners-up in the previ-ous edition after losing to Chennai Super Kings in the final by eight wickets.

The Kane Williamson-led side has been in cracking form for the past few seasons since winning the trophy in 2016 under the leadership of David Warner.

All eyes will be on Warner this Sunday, as the southpaw con-tinues his return to cricket after being banned for a year after the ball tampering incident.

Besides the explosive Warner and dependable Williamson, SRH have the likes of Martin Guptill, Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan who are likely to be their batting mainstays but the team will miss Shikhar Dhawan who went to Delhi Capitals. Dhawan hit 497 runs and was the team’s second highest run-scorer last year.

KKR have task cut out against Sunrisers Hyderbad today

News in brief

Sports 19Sunday, March 24, 2019

(Left) Farhan of Zerone and Faizan of Challengers Club

(Left) Hamad of Shah XI and Rasmi of Redco

Division B semi-finals -

Shah XI beat Hadico by nine wickets

Hadico: 57 all out in 13.5 overs (Atique 16, Bilal 9; Hamad 5 wkts, Alam 3 wkts)Shah XI: 58 for one in 8 overs (Javed 31 not out, Hamad 21 not out; Saqlain 1 wkt)Man of the match: Hamad (Shah XI)

Redco beat Khan Youngsters by 10 wickets

Khan Youngsters: 120 for nine in 20 overs (Abrar 45 in 37 balls, Israr 2 in 16 balls; Rasmi 3/8, Faheem 2/16)Redco: 123 for no loss in 10.2 overs (Rasmi 77 not out in 36 balls, Marso 31 not out in 26 balls)Man of the match: Rasmi (Redco)

Division C - Zerone Technologies beat Lankan

Knights by one wicket

Lankan Knights: 175 for six in 20 overs (Sahan 70 in 47 balls, Nilantha 27 in 26 balls; Anil Thakuri 1/16, Sanjay 1/28)Zerone Technologies: 176 for nine in 19.3 overs (Farhan 50 in 27 balls, Raj Mohammed 44 in 28 balls; Jeewaka 2/15, Dimuthu 2/11)Man of the match: Farhan (Zerone Technologies)

Challengers Club beat Qatar Foundation by five

wickets

Qatar Foundation: 166 for nine in 20 overs (Faizal 54 in 41 balls, Denzil 32 in 17 balls; Faizan 3/20, Sami 2/19)Challengers Club: 167 for five in 19.5 overs (Rafaqat 36 not out in 28 balls, Rahman 33 in 26 balls, Faizan 31 in 27 balls; Raju 2/35)Man of the match: Faizan (Challengers Club)

BRIEF SCORES

Malinga to retire after T20 World Cup

AFPCENTURION (SOUTH AFRICA)

SRI Lankan limited overs cap-tain Lasith Malinga will retire from international cricket after next year’s Twenty20 World Cup, he revealed on Friday.

Malinga said that he would quit one-day internationals af-ter the World Cup in England and Wales this summer before calling time on his career fol-lowing the Twenty20 tourna-ment, being played in Aus-tralia over October-November 2020.

“After the World Cup, my cricketing career is ending,” the 35-year-old said after his his side were beaten by 16 runs by South Africa in the second Twenty20 international at Su-perSport Park.

“I want to play in the T20 World Cup and then end my

career.”Malinga dismissed South

African top-scorer Reeza Hen-dricks for 65 on Friday, his 97th T20 international wicket. He is one short of the world record of 98 held by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi.

Harbhajan leads RCB collapse in IPL opener

AFPCHENNAI (INDIA)

INDIA’S Harbhajan Singh led an in-spired spin attack to help Chennai Super Kings open the 2019 Indian Pre-mier League season with a comprehen-sive seven-wicket win over Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore on Saturday.

Singh and South African leg-spin-ner Imran Tahir claimed three wickets each to dismiss Royal Challengers for a paltry 70, a total the defending cham-pions achieved with 14 balls to spare in Chennai.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led the Super Kings to their third IPL title after returning from an illegal gambling ban last year, elected to field first in the 12th edition of the world’s most popular Twenty20 league.

The 38-year-old Singh got Super Kings their first breakthrough after sending back opposition skipper Virat Kohli for six in the fourth over of the innings.

Singh ran through the Royal Chal-lengers top-order with his wily off-spin, getting the big wickets of Eng-

land’s Moeen Ali for nine and South African AB de Villiers, also for nine.

West Indies batsman Shimron Het-myer was run out for nought and soon the Royal Challengers batting crum-bled with spinners Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja, who took two wickets, combin-ing to pack them off in 17.1 overs.

“It was a very good bowling effort by him (Harbhajan) to give us a kind of start that was very well capitalised by the other spinners,” Dhoni said after

the win.“The wicket definitely needs to

be much better, even with dew it was spinning big... other teams have good spinners as well and this isn’t the pitch we are looking forward to,” Dhoni said of the pitch at Chennai’s MA Chidam-baram Stadium.

Raina’s milestoneOpener Parthiv Patel top-scored

with 29 and remained the only bats-

man to cross double figures in what was the IPL’s sixth lowest total.

Chasing 71 for victory, Super Kings lost opener Shane Watson for nought after Yuzvendra Chahal got the Aus-tralian bowled with his leg-spin.

Ambati Rayudu, who made 28, and Suresh Raina, who scored 19, then put on 32 runs for the second wicket to get the chase on track.

The left-handed Raina became the first batsman in IPL history to cross the 5000-run barrier during his 21-ball stay. Raina (5004) is ahead of Kohli (4954) in the IPL batting chart.

Ali dismissed Raina and Rayudu was cleaned up by paceman Moham-med Siraj. Kedar Jadhav, on 13, and Ravindra Jadeja, on six, took the Super Kings home.

“No one wants to start like this, but it’s good to get a game like this out of the way -- this early in the tourna-ment,” said Kohli, who is yet win an IPL title.

“I thought CSK played really well, they deserved to win, but I loved to see our team fighting all the way.”

The T20 extravaganza, tentatively scheduled to end on May 12, runs close to the start of the 50-over World Cup in England and Wales on May 30.

BRIEF SCORES:

Chennai Super Kings 71 for 3 (Rayudu 28, Chahal 1-6) beat

Royal Challengers Bangalore 70 (Parthiv 29, Tahir 3-9, Harbhajan 3-20) by 7 wickets

Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma during a press conference.

Lasith Malinga

Chennai Super Kings’ Harbhajan Singh celebrates the wicket of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Moeen Ali during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match at the MA Chidhambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday. (AFP)

Hamad removed half the Hadico in just 11 balls and followed it up with an unbeaten 21 during the Shah XI’s chase to set up the title clash with Redco

Raina first to get 5,000 runs in IPL

The Last Word20 Sunday, March 24, 2019

Sheikha Mayassa graces opening of Malevich exhibition


HER Excellency Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums (QM), attended the opening of the ‘Kazimir Malevich: Genius of the Russian Avant-garde’ ex-hibition, organised in collabo-ration with the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg and held at the Fire Station Garage Gallery.

The opening ceremony also welcomed Director of the State Russian Museum Dr Vladimir Gusev, Deputy Director of the State Russian Museum and curator of the exhibition Dr Evgenia Petrova and publisher of the catalog and co-curator Joseph Kiblitsky, along with other VIPs and dignitaries. The exhibition will be on show from March 23 to May 31.

The exhibition offers a poignant view of the works of an influential innovator of the last century whose movement Su-prematism continues to inspire

artists and architects world-wide. Although a seminal figure in art history, this comprehen-sive display featuring more than 100 pieces from the collection of the State Russian Museum is a first for the Arab world.

Sheikha Reem al Thani, director of exhibitions at QM, said: “First envisioned as part of the Qatar Russia 2018 Year of Culture, the Kazimir Malevich

showcase is a complementary event to the ‘Russian Avant-garde: Pioneers and Direct De-scendants’ exhibition held at the Fire Station last year. Visi-tors who were inspired by these remarkable works can now take a more nuanced look into an originator of the movement. We have worked very closely with colleagues from the State Russian Museum, whom we

thank for the chance to bring masterpieces by Malevich to the region for the first time.”

The Russian State Mu-seum holds the largest and most complete collection of Malevich’s works, and so the exhibition is able to track the evolution of his art – from the earliest period of a realistic and symbolist nature through to his later work created one year be-

fore his passing. Several of his most famous paintings, includ-ing ‘Red Square’ and costumes from his opera ‘Victory Over the Sun,’ are on view at the Fire Station.

Dr Petrova said: “Working with Qatar Museums has al-lowed us to create an in-depth view into Malevich’s body of work, a fascinating representa-tion of his break away from tra-

ditional artistic expression of that time, to a completely new artform. One of Kazimir Ma-levich’s greatest hopes for his art and artistic endeavours was to organise exhibitions abroad and I am so pleased we are able to continue doing so, bringing his mastery to new audiences in the region.”

Malevich’s exploration of forms evolved against the

background of radical chang-es in art and society both in Russia and the international scene. Exploring this trajec-tory, the exhibition brings together for the first-time examples of work from his entire career, including early decorative sketches and poster designs, Cubist and Futurist paintings, ceramic works and architectural sculptures.

The exhibition offers a poignant view of the works of the influential innovator of the last century, Kazimir Malevich, whose movement Suprematism continues to inspire artists and architects worldwide.

Fire Station collaborates with State Russian Museum to host first exhibition in the region narrating the unique history of Russian avant-garde

Women can play vital role in peace building efforts, says Spanish envoy

AILYN AGONIADOHA

“WE need more women peace-makers in the world and at the United Nations participating in the resolution of conflicts and in mediation efforts”, said Spanish Ambassador to Qatar HE Belen Alfaro.

Speaking to Qatar Tribune on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the envoy stressed that women can add an important value and different perspectives in any situation. She said women’s attitudes and attributes are very valuable for negotiation and for reaching deals, especially in the areas of conflict prevention, con-flict resolution, mediation and peacemaking.

“The international commu-nity has recognised that women’s participation is vital to achieving and sustaining peace. In 2000, the United Nations Security Coun-cil passed the historic resolu-tion 1325 on women, peace and security, which calls for women to participate in peace building exercise. Women’s participation can provide a more comprehen-sive understanding of the causes of and alternate solutions to con-flicts, and bolster actions address-ing varying needs and sustaining peace over time,” said Alfaro.

Commenting on how women can be more active players in the

society, the Spanish official un-derlined the importance of net-working with other women. Simi-larly, she said that challenges of the 21st century can only be faced with a sustained participation and contribution of women.

On the growing presence of Qatari women in various industries, Alfaro highlighted the important contribution of women in Qatar’s efforts to achieve its na-tional vision.

She added, “In 2017 academic year, 64 percent of the Qatari grad-uates were ladies while they were a majority among the Excellence in Education awardees recently.

Official reports indicate that the representation of Qatari women in decision-making positions is cur-rently 30 percent. There is a prom-inent role of women in all sectors contributing to the development

of Qatar. Women play an important role in helping achieve the objec-tives of Qatar Na-

tional Vision 2030 and they are a key partner in economic devel-opment. This is the result of the important policies that have been implemented in Qatar to promote quality education and integrated health care system for women.

“Qatar Foundation has also played an impressive role in terms

of women’s education, empower-ment and leadership. I would like to praise the announcement re-cently made by the Vice-Chairper-son and CEO of Qatar Foundation HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al Thani that 50 percent of all par-ticipants at QF’s local and interna-tional events will be females effec-tive from 2020,” the envoy added.

Ambassador Alfaro has been the head of Spain’s diplomatic mission in Qatar since November, 2018. Her impressive career his-tory includes serving as Ambassa-dor at large for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and for Intercultural Dialogue, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Spain from 2011 to 2018. She was also the minister counsellor of the Mission of Spain to the UN in New York from 2006 to 2011.

The envoy’s personal interests include arts, culture and muse-ums. She is also fond of golf and horse riding.

“The celebration of Interna-tional Women’s day in Spain is similar that of Qatar with many public activities and conferences. It is important to celebrate this day because women represent more than half of the world’s pop-ulation and have a tremendous influence in many spheres of life. Women’s education and empow-erment is the best path for stable and fully successful societies,” the official said.

Spanish Ambassador to Qatar HE Belen Alfaro.

‘Love Ball Arabia’ for special needs children on March 29


THE Love Ball, the signature fundrais-ing event created by Natalia Vodianova in aid of her Naked Heart Foundation that supports children with special needs, will take place in Doha on March 29 at the Museum of Islamic Art as ‘Love Ball Arabia’.

To be held under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani and Natalia Vodianova, Love Ball Arabia will be held in partnership with Al Shafallah Centre and Qatar Museums as part of the Qatar-Russia Cultural Exchange.

One of the most anticipated char-ity events in the world drawing a high-profile audience, the Love Ball Arabia promises to be an outstanding char-ity gala that continues the tradition of the previous occasions held in Lon-don, Paris, Moscow and Monte Carlo. All proceeds will benefit the work of Al Shafallah Centre and Naked Heart Foundation, and will go towards de-veloping professional support services for families of children with mental, physical and sensory disabilities, as well as enhancing campaigns in both Russia and Qatar to raise awareness of the cause.

The evening’s programme will comprise of a gala dinner with an im-mersive theatrical performance com-bining dance, music and art produced by internationally-lauded performers alongside actors with special needs, and will culminate in an exclusive fashion show by Ulyana Sergeenko featuring the full Spring-Summer 2019

collection that includes brand-new couture pieces inspired by and devot-ed to Qatar. Renowned Moscow chef, Georgy Troyan, has created a bespoke menu specifically for the Love Ball Ara-bia offering a contemporary twist to traditional Russian cuisine.

The festivities will end with a char-ity auction held by Lord Mark Pol-timore offering a variety of money-can’t-buy experiences. Among the highlights are: ‘Meet and Greet’ with top players of Paris Saint-Germain F.C; Daniel Arsham’s unique sculp-ture ‘Wrapped Frog’; lunch with Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen; personal-ised fashion advice and a couture dress by Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing; afternoon tea with Valenti-no Garavani at his Château de Widev-ille; after hours exclusive shopping ex-perience at iconic Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche; Ulyana Sergeenko unique Couture gown with Faidee limited edi-tion ruby brooch; artwork by Markus Martinovitch, visual artist with autism ‘Mama in a dress with dots’ and one of a kind ‘Naked Heart’ ring with a heart shaped garnet created especially for Love Ball Arabia by Russian jewellery and fashion house founded by design-er Yana Raskovalova.

The Love Ball Arabia itself will play a crucial part in advocacy, connecting the two worlds – the one of people with mental disabilities and the other of the typically developed. The performances during the evening will highlight how these two worlds can enrich and influ-ence the other, and how together they can create an inclusive society.

For further information on tickets please contact: [email protected]

INTERVIEW

AgriteQ 2019 concludes successfully, attracting thousands

The 7th Qatar International Agricultural Exhibi-tion 2019 (AgriteQ) and the first international environmental exhibition ‘2019 EnviroteQ’

organised by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment has concluded successfully attracting a large number of visitors. The four-day event also witnessed the signing of a number of contracts and memoranda of understanding (MoU) between the ministry as well as the local, regional and inter-national participants. The exhibition showcased diverse range of agricultural, animal, fisheries and environmental offerings and also featured confer-ences and seminars. It also witnessed the launch of ‘Planting a Million Trees’ project, which is part of Qatar’s relentless efforts to fight climate change and promote environmental sustainability. (TNN)

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