silatech aims to expand its outreach to youth in 2019

Nebras expands presencein Jordan’s power sector

BUSINESS | SPORT | Page 8

GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978

MONDAY Vol. XXXX No. 11112

March 4, 2019Jumada II 27, 1440 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani participated in the 36th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, which was held at the council’s headquarters in Tunisia. The session addressed a number of security topics and the challenges faced by Arab countries. It also discussed the resolutions of a number of conferences and meetings, as well as the outcomes of the joint meetings held with Arab and international authorities during 2018, in addition to covering other important security issues. Page 2

PM attends Arab Interior Ministers Council

Roger Federer: From Mr Angry to Mr Perfect

Silatech aims to expand itsoutreach to youth in 2019QNADoha

Silatech aims in 2019, to expand its outreach to youth in countries with diffi cult economic conditions, es-

pecially in Africa, having created more than 1,100,000 jobs and employment opportunities for this category in the Arab world over the last ten years.

Silatech is a strategic partner of Qa-tar in its eff orts to combat terrorism by reducing unemployment, poverty and marginalisation of young people and women by enabling them economical-ly, after receiving a grant of 5mn euros from the European Union to implement youth employment projects in Yemen, in recognition of the strong perform-ance and positive results of its work on societies.

In 2006, as a member in the High-Level Group and an ambassador in the UN Alliance of Civilisations, Her High-ness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser launched Silatech as an international non-profi t and non-governmental development organisation that aims to connect young people with the jobs and resources need-ed to establish and develop their projects

by off ering innovative employment solu-tions in collaboration with partners lo-cally, regionally and internationally with a particular focus on youth employment in countries aff ected by confl ict, eco-nomically.

In ten years, Silatech has managed to provide more than 1,100,000 jobs or free jobs to young people in the Middle East and Africa.

These include 328,304 in Tunisia, 222,619 in Morocco, 406,417 in Sudan, 93,408 in Yemen, 38,007 in Somalia and 34,040 in Lebanon by the end of 2018.

In order to achieve its current and fu-ture plans, Silatech is collaborating with more than 300 regional and international partners at the level of governments and fi nancial institutions in the countries in which it operates, major international organisations, EU, World Bank, UN and its agencies such as the International La-bour Organisation, UN Counter-Terror-ism Centre, Offi ce of the UN High Com-missioner for Refugees, UN Women, UN Development Programme, Offi ce of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other academic institutions as well as the private sector.

Silatech also provided a number of innovative electronic solutions and

platforms to connect young people with jobs, including the electronic por-tal for training and employment, which provides more than 1,000 free training courses in various disciplines of life and professional skills in Arabic, English and French.

As well as a platform to provide pro-fessional guidance through psychologi-cal evaluations, a platform to link young entrepreneurs with private donors to fi nance their projects, a platform to con-nect craftsmen in Palestine with those who want their services, and mobile bank vehicles to deliver banking services to ru-ral and remote areas.

As part of its work to promote the youth employment, Silatech has sup-ported the establishment and rehabilita-tion of 272 employment and vocational guidance centres in several countries.

It also supported the training and re-habilitation of 984 professional trainers and counsellors to provide career guid-ance for young people and contributed to the establishment of youth empower-ment and unemployment control centres in several countries such as Bedaya in Qatar which provides youth support and guidance services to establish their own businesses and start their careers.

QNADoha

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani patronised the 12th edition of

the Education Excellence Day Award ceremony held at the Doha Sheraton yesterday.

The ceremony was attended by a number of Sheikhs, ministers, heads of diplomatic missions accredited to the State, senior education offi cials and parents of the outstanding students and researchers.

Addressing the ceremony, HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdulwahed Ali al-Hammadi affi rmed that Qatar’s sound strategic planning and vision and its implementation of development plans and programmes in all fi elds and at all levels are the basis for accom-plishing successes and achievements.

HE the Minister of Education said the issuance of the general framework of the national educational curriculum of the State came as a clear reference

to the educational system and sources of learning in Qatar, and marked the beginning of a new phase of curricula characterised by distinction and con-sistency between theoretical frame-works and scientifi c application of knowledge, which has been advanced to develop students’ capabilities and their spirit of innovation and creativity, and to promote the spirit of citizenship among students and their adherence to the Islamic values and the principles and ethics of the Qatari society.

The minister congratulated the award winners, stressing that Qatar, under its wise leadership, spared no ef-fort in caring for its students by provid-ing them with academic opportunities, choices and advantages at home and abroad. He also congratulated all those who contributed to this excellence, in-cluding parents, schools and teachers.

On behalf of the honoured, excellence day award winner Hamad Ali al-Korbi expressed delight at His Highness the Amir’s patronage of the ceremony and honouring of the winners of the Educa-tion Excellence Day award, noting that this was a great day that would remain

in the memory of all the winners who have worked hard for this moment to earn the honour of shaking hands with His Highness the Amir.

Winning the award, which is the most prestigious academic and sci-entifi c award in Qatar, was not easy at

all. It represents a strong incentive for scholars to excel and contribute to Qa-tar’s progress.

A fi lm about the march of excellence for the outstanding winners of the 2019 award in various categories and their future aspirations to serve their coun-try was screened during the ceremony.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani then hon-oured winners of the Education Excel-

lence Day award for 2019.The Amir met with the winners and

conversed with them on their educational achievements and projects. His Highness also appreciated their eff orts and that of their families and teachers who supported them on this outstanding path.

His Highness the Amir also urged the winners to continue on the path of excellence to serve their society and country.

The winners thanked and expressed their gratitude to His Highness the Amir for the honour and encourage-ment. The winners said being honoured and meeting His Highness the Amir was the greatest motivation for them to achieve more excellence and con-tinue on the path of success to serve the country and contribute to its prosperity in all areas, especially as they consider the Amir their role model. Page 20

Amir patronises EducationExcellence award ceremony

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani with the winners of the 12th edition of the Education Excellence Day award at a ceremony held at the Doha Sheraton yesterday.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani attending the 12th edition of the Education Excellence Day award ceremony with a number of Sheikhs, ministers, heads of diplomatic missions and senior education off icials.

Amir to visit Austria todayHis Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad al-Thani will head to Vienna

today for an off icial visit to Austria,

during which he will hold talks with

President Alexander Van der Bellen and

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on bilateral

relations and means to develop them in

diff erent fields besides a host of issues

of common concern. During the Amir’s

visit, the Qatari-Austrian Economic

Forum will be held jointly by the Qatar’s

Ministry of Commerce and Industry,

Qatar Chamber and Austrian Chamber

of Commerce. An off icial delegation and

a number of Qatar businessmen will

accompany the Amir. (QNA)

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, March 4, 20192

Amir condoleswith president of Somalia

Amir sends cableof congratulations to Bulgarian leader

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday sent cables to Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo condoling the victims of a car bomb explosion that took place in the capital Mogadhisu, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The Amir also condemned the explosion, stressing Qatar’s firm rejection of violence and terrorism regardless of their motives and reasons. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani sent a cable of condolences to Somalia’s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on the victims of a car bomb explosion, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani sent cables of congratulations to President Rumen Radev of Bulgaria on his country’s National Day. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani sent a cable of congratulations to the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on the occasion of his country’s National Day.

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met the Minister of Interior of Oman, Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal al-Busaidi, at the Arab Interior Ministers Council headquarters, in Tunisia, yesterday. They reviewed relations between Qatar and Oman, especially in the security fields. They also exchanged views on a number of topics mentioned on the meeting’s agenda. Later yesterday, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani left Tunisia, after participating in the seventh session of the Tunisian-Qatari Supreme Joint Committee, and the 36th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council that were held in Tunis. The prime minister was seen off at the presidential airport by Tunisia’s Minister of Interior Hichem Fourati, ambassador of Qatar to Tunisia, Saad bin Nasser al-Humaidi, and the staff of the Qatari embassy.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met the Chairman of the High Council of Libya, Khaled Ammar al-Mishri, who is currently visiting Qatar. The meeting discussed bilateral relations and ways of developing them, in addition to issues of common interest.

HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council, Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, holding talks with the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Jordan and the President of the 29th Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (APU) Atef Tarawneh, in Amman, yesterday. HE al-Mahmoud also met the Speaker of the People’s Assembly of Somalia Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdulrahman and the Speaker of the National Assembly of Sudan Ibrahim Ahmed Omer. During these meetings, held separately, the parliamentary relations of common interest were discussed as well as ways of strengthening and supporting them. These meetings, held on the sidelines of the 29th APU Conference, were attended by a number of Advisory Council members. The two-day conference began earlier yesterday in Amman, under the theme “Jerusalem: the Eternal Capital of the State of Palestine”.

PM meets Oman’s interior minister FM meets top Libyan official

Speaker holds meetings in Amman

Sidra Medicine andMada sign agreementSidra Medicine, the spe-

cialist women’s and chil-dren’s hospital, has signed

an agreement with the Assistive Technology Centre, Mada.

Under the agreement, Mada will provide assistive technolo-gies that will help with increas-ing, maintaining or improving the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities who are being cared for at Sidra Medi-cine. Mada will also off er train-ing to Sidra Medicine’s speech, physio and occupational health therapists, a press statement notes.

Commenting on the partner-ship, Sidra Medicine CEO Peter Morris said: “Sidra Medicine continues to build foundations that take a patient- and family-centred approach to care. Our partnership with Mada is a step in the right direction as we work towards helping our young pa-tients become active partici-pants in their own care.

“We are incredibly proud of our paediatric rehabilitation teams and therapists and by upskill-ing them with the Mada assistive technology training to advance the healthcare services available for people with disabilities.”

The Mada devices, which are available in Arabic and English, help children without language to communicate, express new ideas and integrate into schools and the community. High-tech ‘eye-gaze’ equipment such as customised iPads will allow the children to simply gaze at a par-ticular letter or icon on a screen and create language. The devices are particularly helpful for young patients with conditions like Anarthria and Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the statement explains.

Children with these conditions are often non-verbal and typi-cally use assistive technologies to access communication.

Maha al-Mansouri, CEO of Mada, said: “As a non-profi t or-ganisation, Mada works closely with organisations across Qatar to raise awareness and support persons with disabilities. Our agreement with Sidra Medicine demonstrates a joint commit-ment to empower children and young people – many who are vulnerable on account of their

disabilities - with the right tools and support systems to enrich their lives and play a key role in our community.”

The agreement with Sidra Medicine also covers the train-ing of its therapists in the skills necessary to assess children with disabilities and recommend the correct assistive technol-ogy device. The therapists will be certifi ed according to the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, the internation-ally recognised certifying body for assistive technology profes-sionals.

Dr Lisa Thornton, division chief of Paediatric Rehabilita-tion Medicine at Sidra Medicine, added: “We are committed to providing not only the clini-cal and rehabilitation services and in this instance the assis-tive technologies that will help the children assimilate, go about their daily tasks and achieve their fullest potential. Our in-tention is to further develop the programme at Sidra Medicine whereby the technologies, the assessment and the certifi ed staff will be a key draw for pa-tients in Qatar and beyond.”

Off icials mark the partnership.

HMC to host international consultants

Hamad Medical Corpo-ration (HMC) has an-nounced that it will

welcome a number of visiting consultants from various medi-cal specialities in March and April.

Members of the public wish-ing to book an appointment with one of the visiting consultants have been advised to discuss this option with their physician.

“If your doctor agrees that an appointment with a visiting consultant is appropriate, they will provide a referral,” HMC said in a statement.

The visiting consultants are as follows:

Dr Nikhil Shah, chief of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery at Piedmont Healthcare, Atlanta, Georgia, US, who will visit from March 7 to 12.

Dr Ahmed Nassar, a special-ist orthopaedic surgeon, who will visit from March 9 to 15.

Dr Noriya Uedo, vice-direc-tor of the Department of Gas-trointestinal Oncology at Osaka Medical Centre for Cancer and

Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan, who will visit from March 18 to 21.

Dr Philippe Morel, a diges-tive laparoscopic surgery spe-cialist from Clinique de Geno-lier, Genolier, Switzerland, who will visit from April 4 to 11.

Dr Duncan Whitwell, con-sultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Nuffi eld Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust in Oxford, England, who will visit from April 7 to 10.

Patients wishing to make an appointment should call the Bone and Joint Center at

40411140 or 40411141.Other experts are scheduled to

visit this year as part of HMC’s focus on hosting highly-re-spected physicians and surgeons from around the world.

Hosting visiting international consultants who are experts in their fi eld “is in line with HMC’s commitment to providing special-ised medical services to the people of Qatar”, the statement adds.

For more information and the full listing of visiting consult-ants, one can visit www.hamad.qa

Dr Philippe MorelDr Nikhil Shah

Traffi c diversion in Al Foroush

for 6 months from tomorrow

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced a traffi c diversion on part

of Hazm Al Themaid Street lo-cated in the Al Foroush area.

Traffi c will be diverted to a newly constructed parallel street starting tomorrow for a period of six months, Ashghal has said in a statement.

The diversion will be imple-mented in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Traf-fi c.

Motorists coming from the Al Kharaitiyat area can use the alternative road, which has one lane in each direction, heading towards the open part of Hazm Al Themaid Street or to Al Ru-faa Street (known as Celebration Road).

Those coming from the Al Themaid area can use the al-ternative road to reach the Al Kharaitiyat area, the statement explains.

The alternative road includes two roundabouts to facilitate lo-

cal access to the existing petrol station and schools in the area, as shown on the attached map.

This diversion will be car-ried out to facilitate the upgrade of Hazm Al Themaid Street to serve new residential areas in Al Foroush and Kharaitiyat by pro-viding connectivity to Al Rufaa Street for residents in the future,

as part of the roads and infra-structure project in Al Foroush and Kharaitiyat, the statement adds.

Ashghal will install road signs to advise motorists of the diver-sion. It has requested all road users to abide by the speed limit and follow the road signs to en-sure everyone’s safety.

QRCS, QFFD provide warmth in northern Syria, Turkey

Under its 2019 Warm Win-ter campaign, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS)

has initiated a multifaceted pro-gramme for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host com-munities in northern Syria, as well as Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Funded by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), the pro-gramme is aimed at meeting the increasing needs in the northern part of the war-torn country, QRCS has said in a statement.

QRCS’s representation mis-sion in Turkey has already pro-vided 2,400 winter clothes bags for children in the 5-14 age group in the city and country-side of Al-Bab. Each bag con-tained underwear, outerwear, cap, gloves, coat and shoes.

In partnership with the Turk-ish Red Crescent, another 16,000 winter clothes bags have been prepared for distribution, 10,000 in the city and country-side of Idlib, and 6,000 in Kilis, a city in south-central Turkey.

Also, work is in progress to dis-tribute a total of 200,000 litres of heating oil to 2,000 families, or 10,000 people, in the city of Jisr Al-Shughur. Each family will re-

ceive an average of 100 litres.Together with the Turkish Red

Crescent and the municipal coun-cil of Kilis, QRCS will deliver 1,200 tonnes of coal for the city’s Syrian refugees to use in heating. At the same time, QRCS’s fi eld teams are restoring 985 damaged houses in northern Syria, to be handed over to their owners within a few days.

The benefi ciaries are estimated at 5,000 people.

In addition, 250 torn tents in-habited by most-aff ected fami-lies are planned to be replaced in Jisr Al-Shughur, with more 200 tents to be replaced later.

“The communities of the northern governorates of Syria suff er from appalling living con-

ditions due to the destruction of houses, defi ciency of infrastruc-ture, overpopulation and lack of the least requirements for a de-cent life,” the statement noted.

This programme is part of the Warm Winter, a campaign launched by QRCS three months ago to help the displaced during the cold winter.

Distribution of winterisation aid.

QATAR3Gulf Times

Monday, March 4, 2019

Unconditional talks best solution to GCC crisis: Qatar

QNAAbu Dhabi

Qatar has emphasised that it still believes that dialogue without pre-

conditions is the best solution to the Gulf crisis.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bah-rain and Egypt imposed an un-just siege on Qatar and declared a land, sea and air embargo against the country on June 5, 2017.

Qatar stressed its stand for talks despite the continued il-legal blockade imposed on it, contrary to all humanitarian, legal and religious values and principles, and the failure to provide any evidence of the charges against it.

This came in the speech of the Director of Department of International Organisations,

Yousef bin Sultan Yousef Laram, in the 46th meeting of the For-eign Ministers of the Organisa-tion of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) of the member countries, which was held in Abu Dhabi.

Yousef bin Sultan Yousef Lar-am stressed that Qatar stands fi rmly against extremism and terrorism in all its forms. He added that the country plays an active role in all international and regional eff orts to combat extremism and terrorism at all levels, including co-operation with international organisa-tions and the United Nations.

Yousef bin Sultan Yousef Lar-am highlighted that this year’s meeting is taking place in the face of major crises and increas-ing challenges facing many Is-lamic countries at the political, security and economic levels as a result of the continued tension

and increasing trends of vio-lence and the rising phenom-enon of terrorism and persecu-tion against Muslim minorities in various parts of the world.

He pointed out that these se-rious challenges call on the OIC to increase eff orts in enhancing co-operation among its mem-bers through unifi ed positions eschewing divisions and diff er-ences.

The director of Department of International Organisations said that the continuing crises in some Muslim countries was

due to the failure of the inter-national community on the one hand, and the double standards in dealing with issues of certain people rather than others. He stressed that all parties involved should continue eff orts individ-ually and jointly to resolve these crises in accordance with the provisions of international law.

He also stressed Qatar’s fi rm stance supporting the Palestin-ian people in obtaining all their legitimate rights, especially their independent state with East Al Quds as its capital on the 1967 borders.

He also reiterated the posi-tion of Qatar in support of a political solution that preserves the unity of Syria, Libya and Yemen and respects their sov-ereignty and independence, and meet the legitimate aspirations of their peoples.

Qatar stressed its stand for talks despite the continued illegal blockade imposed on it, contrary to all humanitarian, legal and religious values and principles

MoI marks International Civil Defence Day

QNADoha

The Ministry of Inte-rior celebrated the In-ternational Day of Civil

Defence, in the presence of a number of offi cials and offi cers of the ministry, as well as rep-resentatives of companies and related institutions and several school students.

This year’s celebration was held under the theme “Chil-dren’s safety, our responsibility.” During the ceremony, the Gen-eral Directorate of Civil Defence highlighted its eff orts in fi ght-ing fi res and accidents, raising awareness about civil safety rules, and continuing training in evacuation while ensuring the highest standards of safety and security in the face of natural and human accidents.

Director of the General Directo-rate of Civil Defence, Brig Hamad Othman al-Duhaimi said that the Ministry of Interior takes pride in its human resources, equipment and modern management tech-niques that are capable of protect-ing the country’s capabilities and its current and future projects, noting the eff orts of the State in

developing this sector. Al-Du-haimi commended the country’s leadership for its commitment to the safety and security of people, and for its support to the civil de-fence department. He also praised workers in civil defence, saying they put their life on the line each day to ensure the safety of people.

This year’s celebration was held under the theme “Children’s safety, our responsibility.”

Ministry highlights importance of oral healthBy Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

The health authorities in Qatar aim to lower dental caries by 25% in children

by 2022, a top offi cial of the Min-istry of Public Health (MoPH) has said.

“Oral health is part of our public health strategy and is very important as we see a high number of oral cases, especially among small children. One of our targets in the National Health Strategy is to lower dental car-ies by 25% in kids by 2022. Ac-cording to a study in 2013, 88% of Qatari kids below the age of six are suff ering from tooth de-cay while 61% non-Qatari kids are also aff ected,” said Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of Public Health, MoPH.

Sheikh Dr Mohamed was

speaking to the media yesterday on the sidelines of the launch of the Oral and Dental Health Month event held on the MoPH premises.

“We are raising awareness about oral health in a big way. We have our oral health com-mittee, and are going to work on children and adolescents on a big programme through primary healthcare. We have also set up several programmes in schools to assure that kids have better care of their teeth,” he explained.

“We are going to target moth-ers so that they assure to take care of children’s teeth. Oral health is one of the highest bur-dens on the private sector. This can be reduced. A new study will be done to fi nd the present prev-alence of oral and dental health problems among children,” the offi cial continued.

Dr Wafaa al-Mulla, head of

the National Task Force for the Promotion and Prevention of Oral and Dental Health at the National Oral and Dental Health Committee, said Qatar has a signifi cant burden of oral and dental health problems, which is more prominent in children aged 4-5 years.

“The main message that we

are trying to convey during the oral health month is that good oral health is important for eve-ryone. Not taking care of teeth and gums can lead to serious pain, which eff ects physical, mental and social well-being. In children, dental problems can eff ect eating habits and the abil-ity to go to school as well as over-all activities,” said Dr al-Mulla.

The oral health month is part of a broader awareness activities that will be overseen by the Na-tional Oral Health Committee. “During the campaign, we will have students from various pub-lic and private schools who will be visiting the Ministry of Public Health three days a week for the entire month to learn about the importance of maintaining oral health,” she pointed out.

“We will also have booths at all Hamad Medical Corporation hospitals where dentists, will

provide free dental consultation and distribution of information brochures and pamphlets. The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) will also host various ac-tivities and awareness messages will be distributed through social

media,” she added.The ceremony was attended

by Najat al-Yafei, programme director and head of Preventive Oral and Dental Health at PHCC. The campaign include aware-ness activities organised by the

MoPH for students of public and private schools on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays of each week in March. It will have the participation of about 200 stu-dents from four schools on each day.

Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani

A programme presented by children on the occasion to raise awareness on oral health. PICTURES: Nasar T K

QATAR


Italian frigate to take part in exercise with Qatari NavyThe latest visit of Ital-

ian frigate Carlo Mar-gottini to Qatar un-

derlines the strong military partnership between the Italian and Qatari navies, especially fo-cusing on training programmes and education, continuous con-tact and exchange of best practic-es, Italian ambassador Pasquale Salzano has said.

The second visit of Carlo Mar-gottini to Doha, until tomorrow, forms part of the naval campaign in the Middle East and Arabian Sea, aimed at “ensuring pres-ence and surveillance for the protection of sea lines of com-munication of national interest”.

In a statement yesterday, the Directorate of Defence Com-munication at Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said the aim of the frigate’s visit is to participate in

the ‘Transit’ exercise with the Qatari Amiri Navy, in addition to strengthening relations between the two friendly countries, as re-ported by the offi cial Qatar News Agency.

“This visit of Carlo Margotti-ni, along with the former visits of the sister frigates ‘Carabiniere’ and ‘Martinengo’, confi rms the solid commitment of the Ital-ian navy to continue to co-op-erate with the Qatari navy and shows how close and dynamic our partnership is,” Salzano told reporters on board the frigate at Doha Port yesterday.

The envoy said Carlo Margot-tini will conduct co-operation activities with the Qatari navy during its journey, while “con-tributing to promoting our national industry, specifi cally Italian companies Fincantieri, Leonardo, MBDA and Elettroni-ca, which designed, built and equipped this advanced multi-purpose frigate”.

By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Off icials from the Qatar Amiri Naval Forces with Italian ambassador Pasquale Salzano (left). PICTURE: courtesy of the Ministry of Defence Twitter page.

The Italian frigate Carlo Margottini docked at Doha Port. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

Leonardo designed, produced and integrated the core technolo-gies of the ship, namely the combat management system, key radars and sensors, communications and defence systems.

The same high-level of ca-pabilities, particularly the ad-vanced naval technologies avail-able on board the Margottini vessel, will also be provided to

Qatar’s new seven ships, which the Qatar Amiri Naval Forces will start receiving in 2021.

“This vessel embodies all Ita-ly’s well-known assets: innova-tion and creativity applied to the industrial design and highly cus-tomised manufacturing,” Sal-zano said, adding, “It is a clear sample of the excellence reached by Italian companies in the ship-

building sector and specialised naval equipment.”

Leonardo will be responsible for the integrated supply of the combat system, main radars and onboard sensors and defence sub-systems for the ships, in-cluding 76/62 and 30mm weapon systems, an anti-torpedo protec-tion system and, in co-operation with MBDA, the missile system.

The supply also includes long-term, integrated logistics sup-port activities, according to the company.

Salzano said Qatar will also start receiving its NH90 heli-copters by the end of 2021, months before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while joint training activities involving Qatari pilots, the Italian army and navy have already started in Italy.

“In this respect, Italy repre-sents for Qatar much more than a reliable industrial partner in the supply of naval units: by providing advanced training for the Qatari personnel – namely for the navy’s future leaders,” Salzano said. “We are together

laying the foundation for stable and strong bilateral relations, not only for the present but most importantly for the future.”

The NH90 has been chosen by Qatar and Leonardo is the prime contractor for the 28 NH90 helicopter programme agree-ment signed during the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference 2018.

“Over the years, Italy has built on very strong naval traditions, based on the dedication and the professionalism of the proud women and men which form the Italian navy, whose skills have kept pace with industrial de-velopments and technological innovation,” Salzano stressed.

HBKU to host 10 prospective Kuwaiti studentsHamad Bin Khalifa Uni-

versity (HBKU) will host 10 prospective Kuwaiti

national students in an eff ort to build on bilateral ties and show-case academic programmes.

The visitors, whose trip will extend for four days, will have the chance to learn more about the university’s pro-grammes, initiatives, and re-search opportunities available to international students, as well as the range of teaching

facilities and other academic resources.

The HBKU-sponsored visit, in co-operation with the em-bassy of Kuwait, coincides with the celebration of Kuwait National Day on February 25. Wide-ranging events to cele-brate Kuwait’s sovereignty were held in Qatar under the theme of ‘Kuwait and Qatar: One Peo-ple’. The events served to un-derscore the strong ties binding Qatar and Kuwait, as well as the

two countries’ mutual vision in the fi elds of higher education and human development.

Hafeez bin Mohamed al-Ajmi, ambassador of Kuwait, said “The delegation of students who are set to visit HBKU will undoubt-edly benefi t from a unique cul-tural and academic exchange and experience. We are particularly pleased to associate with HBKU as one of our valued partners and a distinguished provider of edu-cational services in the region.”

Maryam al-Mannai, vice-president, Student Aff airs at HBKU, added: “We value the contribution of our interna-tional students to the academic and social life on campus and all of our degree programmes have signifi cant representation from Kuwait. Our ambition is for students to fi nd value in HBKU’s nurturing environment where they can obtain a world-class research education not far from home.”

Building regional partner-ships supports the university’s mission of being an academic hub, and strengthens its stance of being a driver of positive transformation in Qatar and the region.

In addition, HBKU will be sponsoring current Kuwaiti students to participate in a leadership programme off ered by HEC Paris, a Qatar Founda-tion partner university. Pro-grammes such as those off ered

by HEC are valuable contribu-tions to building leadership capacity for students to pursue their personal visions.

The Kuwaiti students taking part in the visit will be introduced to HBKU’s multidisciplinary spe-cialised research and teaching capabilities based on the institu-tion’s commitment to cultivat-ing excellence and innovation, and the opportunities to actively contribute to solving challenges for Qatar and the world.

Hafeez bin Mohamed al-Ajmi, ambassador of Kuwait.

QATAR5Gulf Times


Qatar Foundation (QF) recently hosted its annual ‘Our Heritage’ event, aiming to showcase the country’s rich culture to the wider community, at Education City’s Ceremonial Court. The event brought together people from across the country to sample local food and learn about the country’s customs through interactive demonstrations, including pearl extraction and falcon presentations. Additionally, Qatar Nanny Training Academy – a member of QF – hosted arts and crafts workshops and also off ered children a chance to play traditional games. Qatar Music Academy — also a member of QF — taught visitors about instruments from around the region, giving people the chance to learn how to play them.

Qatar Foundation’s annual heritage event showcases nation’s rich culture

Third Aspire International Kite Festival from WednesdayMore than 80 interna-

tional kite fl yers will turn the blue skies of

Aspire Park into a 3D artistic platform in the third edition of the Aspire International Kite Festival from March 6 to 9, it has been announced.

The participants will show-case creative designs and com-pete in four award categories: Best Design and Innovation Award, Biggest Kite Award, Longest Kite Award, and Best National Flag Award.

Teams from China, France, Pakistan and Mexico had won each of these award categories last year and 2019’s edition is expected to attract even more international competitors, As-pire Zone Foundation (AZF) has said in a statement.

The latest edition of the festi-

val will also feature more than 13 government and private schools competing in their annual schools competition, with hun-dreds of children also taking part in the festival’s lively activities, workshops and site visits.

“The Aspire International Kite Festival has turned into one of the mega ‘sportainment’ events hosted annually by Qatar in very little time. It’s a wonderful ac-tivity that introduces the local community to a new sport while also unleashing people’s kiting skills and artistic creativity,” the event’s organising committee chairperson, Kholoud al-Hail said.

“The past two editions have been a sweeping success locally and internationally, as demon-strated by the return of numer-ous international teams and the

increasing number of schools participating,” she added.

Al-Hail noted that the fi rst and second editions garnered the respect and interest of local and international participants, saying: “We were, therefore, keen to de-velop the third edition further and build on the momentum of past editions. To do this, we will extend this year’s evening sessions with impressive lit kite shows, a unique addition to the 2019 event.”

Last year, Oscar Academy, Muaz Bin Jabal Independent School for Boys and Halima Al-Saadeia Independent School for Girls were the winners of the kite fl ying competitions. Alongside the event, Aspire Park visitors fl ew an average of 1,000 kites a day, while kite sale points sold more than 10,000 kites in four days. “In 2018, more than 550 boys and girls

from Qatar-based schools took part in the kite fl ying workshops and site visits while 70 students took part in the kite fl ying compe-titions,” al-Hail noted.

The 2018 festival also high-lighted AZF’s support for small businesses, with a number of local companies promoting their prod-ucts and services to festival-goers. These included several Qatari small businesses serving a range of food and drink options, with food and beverage sales at the festival amounting to more than QR1mn.

AZF will also organise poster and social media photography competitions this year, to encour-age youngsters to express their creative side during the festival. Further details for both of these competitions will be announced on AZF’s social media

channels soon.

Japanese embassy holds seminar on Wagyu beef

The Japanese embassy organised a Wagyu Seminar and Tasting event in Doha on Sat-urday to seek potential investment oppor-

tunities in the Qatari food market as part of the two countries’ eff orts to promote the prospects of co-operation, as agreed upon during the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha-mad al-Thani to Japan in January.

The event was attended by a number of Arab and foreign ambassadors accredited to Qatar as well as persons concerned from the food industry and restaurant business in the country, the em-bassy said in a statement.

The seminar started with a presentation on the genuine Japanese beef, known as Wagyu, which is gaining popularity worldwide for its “delicious taste and high quality”. The presentation was made by Namba, president of the Japan Wagyu Beef Export Promotion Committee.

In his presentation, the offi cial explained the three important qualities that diff erentiate Wagyu from other lean beef.

The fi rst quality is that all Japanese Wagyu cat-tle have been registered by their bloodlines, and so pure bloodlines have been maintained over

many generations. The second quality is that the meat texture is smooth on the tongue thanks to the soft and fi ne muscle fi bres in the meat and the marbled fats, he said, adding that the third qual-ity is the sweet aroma similar to coconut fl avour that can be smelled when the meat is heated.

During the event, Wagyu assorted dishes were off ered to the attendees who expressed their ad-miration for the soft meat and its rich sweet aro-ma, the statement added.

Participants in the event.

QATAR


CRA attends preparatorymeeting of WRC-2019The Communications Regu-

latory Authority (CRA) participated and submit-

ted 12 contributions during the second session of the Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-2019), held last month at the Interna-tional Telecommunications Un-ion (ITU) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The high-level Qatari delega-tion led by CRA president Mo-hamed Ali al-Mannai gave the contributions as part of the CPM documents. During the various working groups meetings, the delegation participated in the discussion of CRA’s contributions towards the fi nal report format that will be discussed during the WRC-2019 slated from October 28 to November 22.

The preparatory meeting aims to conduct a series of comprehensive discussions and prepare a consoli-dated report based on contributions

from administrations, Radiocom-munication Study Groups, and oth-er sources, to be used in support of the work of WRC-2019.

WRC is held every four years to revise the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits, as well as to address any issue con-cerning radiocommunication at global level.

The State of Qatar is among the ITU member states that have signed this treaty, which obliges the signa-tory states to comply with the treaty provisions in accordance with the special radio regulations.

“The CRA ensures that all radio spectrum-related matters are ef-fectively managed and allocated, therefore ensures to attend and par-ticipate in international meetings and conferences like the CPM.

“Regulatory development cre-ates opportunities for a multi-trillion dollar industry, which in

turn enhances the development of communities globally. Global or regional spectrum harmonisa-tion for fi xed, mobile, satellites, and broadcasting industries, is es-sential to create economies of scale of roaming and interoperability,” al-Mannai said.

The CRA has published the Na-tional Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP) in 2016. It is aligned with the outcomes of the WRC-2015 and took into consideration the projects’ plans in the sectors that are critical to Qatar’s economy.

After concluding the WRC-2019 in November 2019, CRA will start updating the NFAP by consider-ing the new outcomes. The NFAP is a comprehensive frequency al-location document that provides a transparent, clear and non-dis-criminatory approach to the man-agement of radio spectrum. It is also a guide for individuals, govern-ment, and private entities on how the frequency bands are allocated in Qatar.

CRA president Mohamed Ali al-Mannai

NU-Q off ers executive programme on sport communicationNorthwestern Uni-

versity in Qatar (NU-Q) is off er-

ing an executive educa-tion masterclass on sport communication in March.

Students who enrol in the Sport Communication, Mar-keting and Governance mas-terclass at NU-Q will study successful sport organisa-tions that have generated new audiences and revenues through their engagement

with sport and examine how that is used in emerging markets such as China, In-dia, and the Middle East.

The Executive Educa-tion in Communication and Media programme will take place in NU-Q building in Education City on March 17, 24 and 31, from 9am to 3pm.

“We at Northwestern want to connect human and mate-rial assets in communication in a way that is useful to peo-ple in Qatar as we off er this timely and relevant course in the run-up to the World Cup. Through programmes like these, NU-Q is working with local Qatari organisations and individuals in planning how to best market Qatari based organisations and in-dividuals during major in-ternational sporting events,” said Everette E Dennis, dean and CEO of NU-Q.

“It is our aim to craft ex-ecutive education courses that are especially use-ful for people engaged in work in and around the World Cup activities—and to people who are simply interested in being better informed,” said Jairo Lugo-Ocando, director of NU-Q’s Executive and Graduate Education Programme.

The Sport Communica-tion, Marketing and Gov-ernance masterclass fea-turing leading experts, will take place over the course of three consecutive weeks.

Sport Marketing and Sport Branding, led by Can-dy Lee, a professor at North-western’s Medill School,

will discuss the concepts and methods of market-ing brands within the sport environment from event execution and retention of fans to sponsorship oppor-tunities and ticket pricing. Students will participate in interactive sessions as they explore how the world of sport and products are of mutual interest to audiences interested in sport.

Sport Law, Governance, and Ethics: The Interna-tional Sport Governing Sys-tem and the Need for Change is taught by Mark Conrad, a professor of law and eth-ics at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and author of “The Business of Sports – Off the Field, In the Offi ce, On the News,” will focus on the ethical break-downs in governance rules and legal questions found in the operations of inter-national sport federations. Case studies, which may include the successful FIFA bribery prosecutions and Ol-ympic host city bidding, will also be discussed.

Embracing Change in Sport Communication and Media Technologies is another area given by Craig L LaMay, an as-sociate professor at NU-Q and a faculty associate at North-western’s Institute for Policy Research. It will examine important issues for the news media involved in sports as well as issues for executives and offi cials from a variety of organisations that use sports as a platform for promotion, branding, and diplomacy.

Mercedes-Benz AROCS 964 model of 2018 recalledThe Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in collaboration with Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles, dealer of Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Qatar, has announced the recall of Mercedes-Benz AROCS 964 model of 2018 because the coolant tank is incorrectly installed on the vehicle.In a statement, the MoCI said the recall campaign came within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that

car dealers followed up on vehicle defects and repairs.The ministry will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out.The MoCI has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department..

Huawei Mate phones now at new prices

Huawei has announced that the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro are now available at new prices.

While the Mate 20 comes for QR2,099, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro sells at QR2,899, the company has said in a statement.

The devices are now restocked and avail-able at the Huawei showroom on Al Nasr Street, Huawei kiosk at Doha Festival City as well as other authorised selling points.

“Huawei’s continuous innovations, re-leasing unprecedented technologies and regularly stocking the market with latest devices, have reshaped the Qatari smart-phone market. It is true that consumers fi nd Huawei devices to be of the best qual-ity with prices that are very reasonable when compared to the features off ered. We know this is true for the Middle Eastern market when the Mate 20 Pro series was launched, it was sold out in Qatar and most countries,” the statement noted.

The Qatari market “is always asking for more – more technology, more inno-vation and more quality - and Huawei is able to provide greater choice and a more comprehensive experience for consum-

ers in the coun-try”, the company stressed.

The Mate 20 series promises a top-notch experi-ence with its ma-trix camera sys-tem, 4,200mAh battery that lasts more than one day

of intensive use, fast-charging technolo-gies, security system, crisp panel - glass fi nish display screen, Kirin 980 chipset and its Biometric Identifi cation and In-screen fi ngerprint.

Also, the Huawei Mate 20 series’ camera system has raised the bar for photography.

Users and buyers of Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro benefi t from a one-year warranty on smartphones purchased in Qatar, in ad-dition to the option of extending the serv-ice warranty. Users are also off ered a six-month screen protection service, meaning that if the phone drops or cracks, users can get a new screen within the fi rst six months of purchasing, for free.

QBRI now accepting applications for summer research programme

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), has announced

that it is accepting applications for its Summer Research Programme 2019.

QBRI is off ering intensive training op-portunities in specifi c fi elds of biomedi-cal research to exceptional undergraduate students.

Programme interns will gain hands-on laboratory research experience and will learn to conduct scientifi c research, for-mulate ideas, design experiments and test hypotheses under the supervision of QBRI researchers. Interns will work on projects that span applied sciences in three main research areas, including diabetes, cancer and neurological disorders.

Students who are interested in learn-ing more about the programme may visit www.qbri.org.qa/internship/srp19

Dr Omar El-Agnaf, executive director at QBRI, said: “QBRI’s work is aligned with and forms an integral part of Qa-tar’s vision, which is to use education in building the foundation for a resilient knowledge-based economy. The Sum-mer Research Programme cultivates an environment that encourages scientifi c discovery, and we believe the program will foster the students’ scientifi c and profes-sional development, giving them the op-portunities they need to make meaningful contributions to the fi eld of science.”

The students can choose from two batches in this eight-week programme, which runs from May 5 to June 27 and from May 19 to July 11, respectively. The pro-

gramme will off er undergraduate students a chance to experience the challenges and prospects of scientifi c research, and help contribute to QBRI’s work in pioneering healthcare in Qatar.

Now in its fi fth year, the programme is designed to develop students’ critical think-ing, as well as enhance communication and team-building skills. Participants will receive valuable mentoring and career counselling throughout the programme to support their educational goals and career development.

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar Biological Sciences student of the class of 2019, Najlaa al-Thani, said: “Thanks to QBRI’s Summer Research Programme, I gained invaluable research experience and technical skills and meaningful connec-tions with important research scientists who have supported me in my career and even extended my experience in QBRI by allowing me to continue my Senior Re-search Project with them.”

Students interested in the QBRI Sum-mer Research Programme may visit www.qbri.org.qa/internship/srp19

Interns will gain hands-on laboratory research experience.

ICBF to organise blood donation drive on March 8The Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) will organise a blood donation drive for its members and the public, in co-ordination with Hamad Blood Donation Unit, at the Blood Donor Unit of Hamad Medical Corporation on March 8, from 8am until noon. In a statement, ICBF has requested all community members to join the noble cause, as there are “hundreds of people

with life-threatening conditions who require blood”. ICBF is an apex body under the aegis of the Indian embassy, Qatar. It has been “at the forefront of providing assistance to the needy and the underprivileged members of the Indian community in Qatar through financial, medical and various other assistance and welfare activities”, the statement adds.

QATAR7Gulf Times


New Honda HR-V to be unveiled this monthDoha Marketing Services Company

(Domasco) recently announced that the new Honda HR-V will be un-

veiled in Qatar this month. This will mark the completion of Honda’s

“full-line” SUV marketing campaign, Pow-er of 3, featuring an updated version of the 8-seater Pilot and 5-seater CR-V models alongside the new HR-V.

The “sporty, stylish and well-equipped” SUV lineup from Honda is “expected to disrupt the market”, Domasco has said in a statement.

“The Honda HR-V caters to diff erent life-styles and preferences of a new generation of customers. The sporty and compact SUV fulfi ls various customer needs, especially for those looking for a dynamic driving ex-perience in the city.” said Faisal Sharif, man-aging director at Domasco.

“We are committed to off ering automo-bile models that match our customers’ life-styles and delivering aftersales services that exceed their expectations.”

The new HR-V off ers the “best of both worlds by blending the beautiful lines of a coupe with the practical space and tough-ness of an SUV, thus creating a car that can keep pace with your life, wherever it takes you”, the statement notes. The HR-V’s ver-satile and sleek design gives the car a dra-matic look but, more importantly, increases it’s aerodynamism and fuel-effi ciency. The refi ned bodywork, sitting on 17” sporty al-loy wheels, has a youthful and dynamic vibe. New design details like its distinctive dark chrome front grille, sleek headlights, inte-grated daytime running lights, rear chrome trim and sporty front bumper give it an el-egant, yet rugged look.

New to the SUV-B segment is the Pano-ramic Sunroof, in the EX grade, making the HR-V feel like a large sporty SUV ready for the next adventure.

Engineered to adapt to one’s lifestyle, the

HR-V’s interior boasts of premium comfort and spacious design. The elegant dashboard is fi lled with latest technology and is ex-tremely user friendly. The 6.8-inch display audio touchscreen with USB and HDMI ports allows you to connect your smart phone. The multifunction steering wheel puts the audio and cruise controls at your fi ngertips making it a driver friendly inter-face.

The new HR-V does not only feature technological advancement, but also exudes a sophisticated personality with practi-cal and functional features. A centrally-mounted fuel tank provides the HR-V with a huge boot and the innovative second row Magic Seats are designed to confi gure in lots of useful ways to increase the carrying ca-pacity and versatility.

The intuitive design of the new HR-V fea-tures class-leading leg and headroom, total of 1,456 litres of boot space, a wide tailgate opening and low loading height making per-

fect car suited for the life in the city. The HR-V is fun to drive, with a 7-speed

fully-automatic CVT (Continuously Vari-able Transmission) off ering the ability to drive a relaxed, automatic mode as well as to change gear using the racing car-inspired, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. The HR-V is powered by a responsive 1.8L i-VTEC petrol engine which maximises econ-omy and effi ciency, achieving 16.9km/l, on a tank of fuel.

Coming as standard into the new HR-V, the safety measures such as Vehicle Stabil-ity Assist with Traction Control, Electronic Brake Distribution and Advanced Compat-ibility Engineering Body Structure bring the safety to another level qualifying for the 5-start safety rating by Euro NCAP.

Customers can pre-book the new HR-V at the showroom located on Khalifa Street near the National Mosque and TV Intersection. It is open from Saturday to Thursday, 8am un-til 8pm, and on Friday from 4pm to 8pm.

Teaser of the new Honda HR-V.

Jumbo off ers Ooredoo Mobile Money services at all branches

Jumbo Electronics, a premium dealer of Ooredoo, has an-nounced that it has begun

providing Ooredoo Mobile Money services across its branches in Qatar. Thanks to this partnership of over 12 years with Ooredoo, Ooredoo Money customers will now be able to access all the Oore-doo Money services they need at any Jumbo Electronics branch, according to a press statement.

These include depositing cash, adding new benefi ciaries, learn-ing about how the Ooredoo Mo-bile Money facility works and more, the statement notes.

Customers who want to send money home via Ooredoo Mon-ey can visit their nearest Jumbo Electronics outlet and start transferring money through Ooredoo Mobile Money and MoneyGram – a leading money transfer service provider – to over 200 countries worldwide.

Customers can also send money to selected countries’ bank ac-counts and mobile wallets using Al Dar Exchange and Ooredoo Exchange services.

Ooredoo Money off ers “sim-ple and understandable access to essential” fi nancial services such as international and local transfers, mobile topup, interna-tional airtime topup and others. It is “easy to use and completely secure” with a four-digit mPIN, one-time password feature and free notifi cation on every log-in, the statement explains.

With Ooredoo Money, cus-tomers can receive money over-seas within 10 minutes from over 500,000 MoneyGram outlets across the globe, and use Al Dar Exchange services to send money directly to bank accounts in 11 countries.

The Ooredoo Money service ‘International Top Up’ option also

allows customers to recharge any prepaid mobile number across the world and purchase data bundles for selected countries.

Customers can benefi t from all the services of Ooredoo Mobile Money instantly by using their Ooredoo Mobile Money App, or by dialling *140# “anywhere, any-time”. The Ooredoo Mobile Money app is available in seven languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Malay-alam, Bengali, Tagalog and Nepali.

Customers can access the Ooredoo Money services at Jumbo Electronics outlets in Mesaieed, Al Khor, Najma, City Center Doha, Barwa Vil-lage, Airport Road, Plaza Mall in Asian Town and Al Nasser. Last month, Jumbo also began man-aging the Ooredoo outlet at The Pearl-Qatar as a franchisee store, thereby expanding the number of its branches off ering Ooredoo services.

Jumbo and Ooredoo off icials mark the occasion.

Ahlibank credit card holders can now win back dine-out expenses

Ahlibank has launched a dine-out campaign for all Ahlibank credit card

holders with the headline: Eve-rybody says “It’s on me!” We say “It’s on us!”, off ering them a chance to win back their dine-out expenses for the rest of 2019 when paying with their Ahlibank credit card, up to a maximum amount of QR25,000.

All point-of-sale and online purchases using Ahlibank credit cards will qualify for the draw. A minimum total dine-out spend of QR2,500 is required to be eli-gible for each draw.

For every QR250 of dine-out expenses paid with an Ahlibank credit card from now until De-cember 31, cardholders will earn three chances when paying abroad, two chances when paying for online transactions and one chance when paying in Qatar, the bank has said in a statement.

The fi rst draw will be held on July 9 for two winners and the second draw on January 9, 2020, for two winners. Ahlibank’s head of Marketing and Communica-tion, Khaled al-Zou’bi, said: “When developing our market-

ing and promotional campaigns, we make sure to meet the needs of our customers while reward-ing them with value-added serv-ices and tailor-made off ers.”

This campaign is one of the many benefi ts available to cus-tomers holding an Ahlibank cred-it card, which includes the Pearl Rewards programme, providing the fl exibility to redeem earned points through selected partners,

in addition to the Easy Payment Plan that allows customers to buy anything from electronics to jew-ellery, home furniture, travel and entertainment and repay in “easy and convenient” monthly instal-ments, the statement notes. “We are always seeking to reward our customers and to provide them with value-added services when using their Ahlibank credit cards,” the bank added.

For every QR250 of dine-out expenses paid with an Ahlibank credit card from now until December 31, cardholders will earn three chances when paying abroad, two chances when paying for online transactions and one chance when paying in Qatar.

Indian percussion virtuoso presents jugalbandi

Anuradha Pal, India’s fi rst female professional tabla and percussion virtuoso,

presented an instrumental mu-sic ensemble (jugalbandi) along with her talented team of musi-cians at the Ashoka Hall of In-dian Cultural Centre (ICC) on Saturday.

The programme, which had an audience of more than 250 people, was held as a part of the ‘Festival of India’ under the Qa-tar-India 2019 Year of Culture initiated by the Indian embassy in co-ordination with and sup-port from the Ministry of Cul-ture, Government of India, and Qatar Museums.

The musical evening con-tained an interactive narration through innovative rhythmic dialogue on the tabla, violin, fl ute and followed by an ensem-ble between the tabla, dholak, kadtaal, pakhawaj, udu djembe and darabuka, the ICC said in a statement. Pal (tablas and world percussion) is an internationally acclaimed accompanist with top Indian classical musicians and an enthusiastic collabora-tor with jazz, African, Latin, fl amenco, crossover classical, percussion, pop, rock and new-age music.

Other participating artistes were Nihal Khan Mangnehar (vocals, dholak and kadtaal) from Rajasthan, Prasanna Raj Joshi (Hindustani fl ute) from Maharashtra, Karthik Nagaraj (Carnatic violin) from Mysore and Tushar Raturi (keyboard and udu) from Uttarakhand.

Earlier, the performing ar-tistes were felicitated with a Plaque of Appreciation by He-mant Dwivedi, fi rst secretary

(Information, Culture and Edu-cation) at the Indian embassy in Qatar and chief guest for the day, along with Manikantan A P, president of the ICC, and K M Varghese, chairman – Advisory Council of the ICC.

In his address to the gath-ering, Dwivedi thanked the managing committee of the ICC for its contributions to the embassy’s drive pertaining to the Qatar-India 2019 Year of

Culture and spoke about the various cultural programmes planned for the next few weeks. Manikantan welcomed the gathering, and the programme was compered by Seenu Pillai, general secretary, with Nirmala Shanmugapandian, cultural co-ordinator, introducing the performance and artistes. Nay-ana Wagh, head of Cultural Ac-tivities at the ICC, proposed the vote of thanks.

Artistes with ICC off icials and members of audience after the musical performance.

The General Authority of Customs marked Arab Customs Day with a seminar that raises the awareness on the importance of protecting intellectual property. Assistant to the President of the Customs General Authority for Customs Aff airs Mohamed Ahmed al-Mohannadi stressed on the importance of fighting counterfeit goods and protecting copyrights and intellectual property.

Arab Customs Day celebrated

‘The Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue’ hosts cultural discussions

Landing earlier this year at the Institut du monde arabe (IMA) in Paris, ‘The

Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue’, a travelling cross-cultural exhibi-tion organised at the initiative of the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum – which features a collection of a unique assembly of artefacts refl ecting the inter-action of civilisations in the past while encouraging dialogue in the present – gathered its visi-tors in February around interest-ing open cultural discussions.

The discussion were held at the heart of the majlis, the main hub of the exhibition and the space of hospitality and dialogue present in every home in the Arabian Gulf.

The exhibition, present at IMA until March 10, invites visi-tors to sit in the majlis to listen to

stories and engage in conversa-tions on what they see and hear; transmitting the cultural dia-logue by exchanging their im-pressions of the exhibition and learning about how much com-mon ground exists between dif-ferent cultures.

The open discussions that were held on the topics of ‘The Power of Language in Shaping Culture’ and ‘Evolving Art to Identities’, focused on the ad-vancement and preservation of culture through language and art, giving participants an op-portunity to view the world with a diff erent lens and explore other traditions, customs, beliefs, so-cieties and more, a press state-ment noted.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal al-Thani, member of the board of trustees of Sheikh Faisal

Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, who attended the first cultural dialogue, said: “We believe the valuable feature of this exhibi-

tion in the form of discussions at the heart of the majlis result-ed in a great exchange between the culture veterans and the

visitors, and we are proud to act as a cultural bridge bring-ing people together under one roof.”

Through ‘The Power of Lan-guage in Shaping Culture’, ‘The Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue’ embraced the diff erent thoughts surrounding the preservation of language as a means of preserv-ing culture and discussed the way language and culture have developed over time and infl u-enced each other.

The discussion saw the par-ticipation of renowned speakers, including Jacqueline Morand-Deviller, associate professor of Public Law and Political Sci-ence and Professor Emeritus at Pantheon-Sorbonne University; and Dr Nasser al-Hinzab, legal counsel of the State of Qatar to Unesco, who shared their im-

pactful opinions and engaged the audience in an interactive dialogue.

The ‘Evolving Art to Identi-ties’ cultural dialogue success-fully shed light on the extent to which art can contribute to positive change among societies and the crucial role art plays in the development of cultures. The participants, including Julien Borowczyk, member of the French National Assem-bly; Philippe Heracles, chair-man of the board of directors at Le Cherche-Midi Editeur SA; Claude D’Anthenaise, director of the Paris Museum of Hunting and Nature; Ghaleb Bencheikh, president of the Foundation of Islam in France; Vianne Sa-voli, artist and fi nancial market professional; as well as Cecile Plaisance, renowned photogra-

pher; and Jean-Paul Scarpitta, director and curator, discussed the infl uence of art on shaping identities from one side and the role that the identity could have in inspiring art from another side.

Professor Monem Jemni, moderator of the open discus-sions, said: “The majlis set-up, which is hardly known in the Western world, is the perfect fa-cilitator for dialogue. All visitors attending, including politicians, artists, academics and journal-ists, expressed their views freely at an equal level.”

The exhibition will host its last open discussion, ‘Sports as a Driver of Cultural Change’, on March 10 before travelling to other European destinations and encourage dialogue among other societies.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal al-Thani with others at the first cultural dialogue in Paris.

AFRICA


Nigeria court deems extradition of Cameroon separatists ‘illegal’AFPLagos

A Nigerian court has con-demned as “illegal and un-constitutional” the arrest

and deportation of Cameroonian separatists who had applied for asylum in Nigeria, their lawyers said yesterday.

In January 2018, Nigeria arrest-ed and sent back 47 anglophone separatists who had fl ed Cam-eroon following a crackdown by the authorities.

The move was denounced by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which said most of them had fi led asylum claims.

It accused Nigeria of breaching

international agreements.“Justice Chikere declared the

arrest and detention of the 12 ap-plicants illegal,” said a statement from Nigerian law fi rm Falana & Falana, referring to a ruling issued last week in the capital Abuja.

“Consequently, Justice Chikere declared the deportation of the applicants illegal and unconstitu-tional, awarded (compensation) to each of them and ordered the federal government to ensure that they are brought back to Nigeria forthwith.”

Among the 12 Cameroonian claimants in this case was separa-tist leader Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, president of the self-declared ‘Re-public of Ambazonia’.

He and his supporters were among

those arrested by Nigerian intelli-gence agents on January 9, 2018.

Nigerian offi cials sent the group back to Cameroon a few weeks lat-er on January 26.

For months, the 47 have been held in isolation at a high-security facility at police headquarters in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital.

In December, a military court in Yaounde opened a trial against Ayuk Tabe and nine others for “terrorism” and “secession”.

Just before the start of that tri-al, Ayuk Tabe was transferred to a lower security prison in the capital where he can receive visits.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 7.

Defence lawyers have already ar-gued before the court that the defend-

ants should be returned to Nigeria.During last week’s hearing in

Abuja, defence lawyer Femi Faka-na had argued that the arrest and detention of refugees and asylum seekers constituted a breach of Nigeria’s constitution and the Af-rican Charter on Human and Peo-ples’ Rights.

The judge agreed, saying the expulsion of the group was in “ut-ter violation” of legal obligations which ban Nigeria “from expelling or deporting refugees” from the country.

He ordered the government to ensure they were brought back to Nigeria, and that their fundamen-tal rights were respected.

Mark Bareta, one of the leading advocates of the anglophone sepa-

ratist cause, welcomed the Nige-rian court ruling.

English-speaking Cameroo-nians “are happy that at least in Nigeria there is an independent judiciary,” he wrote on his Face-book page, which has more than 100,000 followers.

They were hoping that the Ni-gerian government would respect this legal ruling, he added.

Clashes between the armed forces and separatists take place almost daily in the two Anglo-phone regions on the western fl ank of Cameroon. Resentment there at perceived marginalisation by the French-speaking majority boiled over into an armed uprising in late 2016, prompting a harsh govern-ment crackdown.

6 more die in Goma shootingsAFPGoma, DR Congo

Bandits shot dead six people in eastern DR Congo over-night, sparking angry pro-

tests by residents who yesterday blockaded the main street running through Goma city, offi cials said.

“We have just recovered the bodies of fi ve civilians and a sol-dier who were killed” during an overnight gun battle, the city’s deputy prosecutor Claver Kahasa told AFP.

“Armed bandits came into Goma to the Ndosho neighbourhood and have left the town bereaved by shooting dead fi ve civilians,” said city mayor Timothee Muissa Kiense.

Since the start of the year, at least 25 people have been killed in a string of shootings in Goma by un-identifi ed gunmen, often referred to as bandits.

“The population is very clearly angry, there is a lot of tension,” said the mayor, whose city is the capital of North Kivu province and home to 1mn people.

Residents furious at the ongo-ing violence ravaging the coun-try’s east blocked off the main road leading to the western Ndosho dis-trict, halting traffi c, an AFP corre-spondent said.

For Marrion Ngavho, a local civil society leader, the gunmen were “enemies of peace”.

“Five civilians killed, it’s just too much. If the authorities are not able to keep us safe, then they should resign,” he said.

The incident occurred just hours after a group of newly-elected re-gional MPs met with local offi cials, the police and the army to discuss the growing insecurity in the city.

“It is unacceptable that they can continue to kill people like that in Goma,” MP Jean-Paul Lumbu-lumbu, who was leading a group of lawmakers, told AFP.

North Kivu, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, has been gripped by violence for decades, with numerous militia groups and armed gangs roaming the province and fi ghting for control of territo-rial and natural resources.

Rwandan fi lm picks top honours at Africa festivalAFP Ouagadougou

Rwandan director Joel Karekezi’s The Mercy of the Jungle scooped best fi lm on Saturday night at Africa’s top fi lm fes-

tival, following a fi erce debate about gender equality and sexual aggression in the conti-nent’s movie industry.

The fi lm was among 20 vying for the top Golden Stallion of Yennenga award at the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouaga-dougou (Fespaco).

A road movie focusing on the wars in Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo through the eyes of two soldiers lost in the jungle, it also picked up the best actor award for Belgian Marc Zinga.

Egyptian director Khaled Youssef won sec-ond prize for his drama Karma, while third prize went to Tunisia’s Ben Hohmound for Fatwa about a father who discovers that his dead son had been a militant.

In the half century since it was established, Fespaco has never awarded its top prize to a female director — a fact that faced uncomfort-able scrutiny during the week-long event.

Only four of the fi lms in competition at the festival were directed by women.

“Where are the women?” asked South Af-rican actress Xolile Tshabalala, who starred in Miraculous Weapons made by Cameroonian director Jean-Pierre Bekolo.

“Can it be that in 50 years, there hasn’t been a single woman capable of telling a great story to win the Fespaco?”

Burkinabe director Apolline Traore whose fi lm Desrances won a special prize on Friday said recognition had to be on merit, not a token gesture in the fi ght against discrimination.

But she added: “Of course there’s a prob-lem” in gender equality for directors.

“There’s no equality for the craft of a woman director, not just in Africa, but in the world,” she said.

Encouraged by the #MeToo movement, some took the opportunity to use the festival to also highlight alleged sexual abuse within the African fi lm industry.

“It’s time to speak out,” said French actress Nadege Beausson-Diagne, who told AFP that she was setting up the movement called #Me-mepaspeur (“Not even scared”) to help wom-en speak out in Africa.

Rwanda’s film director Joel Karekezi (right), winner of the 26th Pan-African Film and Television Festival for The Mercy of the Jungle, his producer Aurelien Bodinaux (left) and actress Nirere Shanel hold the Yennenga Stallion trophy at the Sports Palace in Ouagadougou on Saturday night.

Sirleaf ’s son expected in Liberia court over missing currencyAFPMonrovia

The son of former presi-dent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and two other senior fi g-

ures at the Liberian Central Bank are due in court today following a probe into missing banknotes.

Two of them were detained just hours after independent US investigators dismissed rumours that a haul of newly-printed cash that should have been put in the national reserves had gone missing.

But the report, by private consultants Kroll Associates, did raise concerns “regarding the overall accuracy and com-pleteness” of the bank’s internal records and found evidence of “systemic and procedural weak-nesses”.

Charles Sirleaf, who held a senior post at the bank until last August, was arrested last week shortly after the release of the report.

So too was another senior ex-ecutive Dorbor Hagba.

Milton Weeks, the bank’s former governor until he stepped down when President George Weah took power in Jan-uary 2018, surrendered to police on Friday.

A police source told AFP the three men would appear today in court.

The report from Kroll Associ-ates dismissed rumours that a container Liberian dollars worth $102mn printed in Sweden had gone missing during transfer to the central bank.

But it raised concerns over procedures and practices at the bank that it said “were long-

standing and continue to the present day”.

One of the world’s poor-est countries, Liberia has been struggling with rampant cor-ruption which Weah vowed to combat when he took offi ce a year ago.

Following the protests that followed reports of the miss-ing banknotes, Washington in-tervened at the request of the Liberian government and civil society groups, commissioning the inquiry by Kroll Associates.

Sirleaf, the fi rst elected female head of state in Africa, was pres-ident for 12 years.

She gained widespread praise for stable governance following back-to-back civil wars which killed an estimated quarter of a million people.

In 2011, she was joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hundreds fl ee Nigeria pipeline explosion

A major Nigerian oil pipeline has exploded, local police said in Warri yesterday, forc-

ing nearby residents to fl ee and rais-ing suspicions of possible sabotage.

The Nembe Creek Trunk pipeline runs from an oil terminal in Bonny to the state of Bayelsa with capacity of 150,000 barrels per day.

The explosion happened on Fri-day. “We have not been offi cially briefed on the incident, but it oc-curred,” Bayelsa State Police spokes-man Asinim Butswat told AFP.

“No lives were lost as a result of the explosion and we can’t confi rm if it was an attack by militants or an equipment failure unless the people managing the facility go there” to determine the cause, he said.

Ndiana-Abasi Mathew, a pub-lic relations offi cial for Aiteo, the company that manages the pipe-line, confi rmed the incident in a text message on Saturday.

“There is no offi cial statement at the moment but I can gladly inform you that the fi re has been contained and no lives were lost,” Mathew said.

Oyinkro Jasper, a local chief from Kalablomi, one of the aff ected com-munities, said the blast forced hun-dreds of residents to fl ee as it caused “a huge inferno” along the pipeline, which ran through six communities.

The explosion could also be the result of a criminal act after the re-election of Nigerian President Mu-hammadu Buhari.

During his fi rst mandate, a group called The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) had claimed several attacks on oil infrastructure.

In February, the NDA warned that “strike teams are active and gallant-ly waiting to receive instructions from the high command to cripple the Nigerian economy again” if Bu-hari won the election.

REGION/ARAB WORLD9Gulf Times


British foreign minister holds talks in AdenAFPAden

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt held talks with his Yemeni counter-

part in government-held Aden yesterday, in the fi rst visit by a Western foreign minister to the war-torn country in years.

“I am here because this is re-ally the last chance for peace,” Hunt said from Aden, in a video uploaded to his Twitter account.

Hunt held talks with Yemen’s top diplomat Khaled al-Yamani on the confl ict and “interna-tional eff orts to bring peace to Yemen”, state news agency Saba

said. They discussed an agree-ment on a ceasefi re and prisoner exchange between the warring sides, brokered by the United Nations at talks in Sweden in December, Saba said.

On Friday, Hunt tweeted a pic-ture with Mohamed Abdelsalam, head of the rebel delegation to the UN talks, saying the two had met in the Gulf state of Oman to discuss the implementation of the Sweden agreements.

Britain has resisted pressure to halt arms sales to Saudi Ara-bia, which along with the UAE leads a pro-government alliance in Yemen battling Houthi rebels.

The coalition has been black-listed for the killing and maim-

ing of children by the UN, while both sides in the confl ict stand accused of failing to protect ci-vilians. Since the Saudi-led al-liance intervened four years ago some 10,000 people have been killed, according to the World Health Organisation, although rights groups say the fi gure could be fi ve times higher.

Millions more are at risk of starvation, according to the UN which says Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Hunt’s visit to Aden comes a day after he met with Yemen’s embattled president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Saudi Arabia, where he has lived in self-im-posed exile since 2015.

While in the kingdom Hunt also held talks with Saudi For-eign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf and Adel al-Jubeir, state min-ister for foreign aff airs, on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the fate of jailed Saudi women activists.

The killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, at the kingdom’s Istanbul consu-late last October sparked global uproar and amplifi ed calls to end arms exports to Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia on Friday an-nounced that a group of women activists will face trial after nearly a year in detention, during which they have allegedly faced torture and sexual harassment.

Yemen’s Foreign Minister, Khaled al-Yamani gestures as he walks with British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, at the presidential palace in Aden, yesterday.

IS deploys car bombs in defence of last enclaveReuters Baghouz, Syria

Islamic State unleashed car bombs against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as-

saulting Baghouz, in a last-ditch eff ort to stave off defeat in its fi nal patch of territory, fi ghters from the US-backed force said yesterday.

Capturing the besieged village in eastern Syria will be a mile-stone in international eff orts to roll back the militants, whose self-styled “caliphate” covered roughly a third of Syria and Iraq at its height in 2014.

But it is universally accepted that the group, which has been in territorial retreat since then and suff ered its major defeats in 2017, will remain a security threat as an insurgent force with sleeper cells and some remote pockets of territory.

The SDF had said it expected a “decisive battle” yesterday after advancing gradually for 18 hours to avoid landmines sown by Is-lamic State (IS), whose fi ghters are also using underground tun-nels to stage ambushes and then disappear.

But there was no sign of the assault ending by yesterday af-ternoon as the IS fi ghters — be-lieved to be predominantly for-eign militants — put up fi erce resistance and the SDF said its advance was impeded by land-mines and car bombs.

A Reuters witness spotted Is-lamic State militants inside the

enclave as gun battles raged in-termittently and the SDF fi red mortar and artillery shells.

Warplanes from the US-led coalition fl ew overhead.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition said the pace of the ad-vance had ebbed.

“ISIS fi ghters have been using suicide vests and car bombs to slow down the SDF off ensive and hide from coalition strikes in the area of Baghouz,” Colonel Sean Ryan said.

“They still hold civilians and are lacing the tunnels with IEDs (improvised explosive devices) as well.”

The SDF has previously esti-mated several hundred IS insur-gents to be inside Baghouz. The coalition has described them as the “most hardened” militants.

But Ryan said their hiding un-derground made it diffi cult to determine numbers. The SDF said that several car bombs were destroyed by coalition air strikes in the past two days and that SDF fi ghters had destroyed three other car bombs targeting SDF positions.

The militants had also shelled the approaching force.

Sinjar Shammar, from the Kurdish YPG, which spearheads the SDF, was wounded when shrapnel from a shell struck the armoured vehicle he was driv-ing.

“My comrade was sent to the hospital. His leg is gone,” said Shammar, 22, as his arm was being bandaged at a first-aid point.

“(But) morale is great (at the front line). I will return to the comrades in a bit...God willing, we will triumph.”

After declaring its “caliphate” across large

swathes of territory it had seized in flash offensives in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, IS attracted thousands of foreign-ers to live under its rule and de-fend its realm.

But its rapid expansion also attracted an array of enemies, both local and international, who began rolling back those gains.

As IS territory shrivelled, thousands of fighters, follow-ers and civilians retreated to Baghouz, a small cluster of hamlets and farmland along the Euphrates River.

Over the past few weeks peo-ple poured out of the shrinking IS territory in greater numbers than expected, holding up the final assault.

An SDF commander told Re-uters on Thursday that many of those leaving the enclave had been sheltering underground in caves and tunnels.

After extricating the remain-ing civilians, the SDF resumed its assault on Friday evening. It has not ruled out the possi-bility that some militants have crept out, hidden among non-combatants.

The SDF commander-in-chief on Thursday said that his force would declare victory within a week.

He was later contradicted by US President Donald Trump, who said the SDF had retaken 100% of the territory once held by IS. Washington has about 2,000 troops in Syria, mainly to back the SDF against IS.

Trump announced in Decem-ber he would withdraw all of them, but the White House par-tially reversed itself last month, saying some 400 troops would stay.

Coalition spokesman says IS tactics have slowed the off ensive; Mostly foreign fighters holed up in town near Iraq border

Militants kill 33 regime forces in northwest SyriaAFP Beirut

At least 33 pro-regime fi ghters were killed yes-terday in attacks mount-

ed by militant groups near Idlib province, in the deadliest day in six months for loyalist forces, a monitor said.

Twenty-seven fi ghters were killed in two attacks by Ansar al-Tawhid militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“Five militants were also killed,” said Rami Abdel Rah-man, director of the Britain-based monitoring group.

Ansar al-Tawhid has ties to the larger Hurras al-Deen group, which is also active in

the area of northwest Syria.Both are considered semi-

offi cial franchises of Al Qaeda in Syria.

The area of Idlib and small parts of the adjacent provinces of Hama and Aleppo are mostly controlled by the rival Hayat Tahrir al-Sham organisation.

HTS is led by fi ghters who formerly belonged to Al Qaeda’s ex-affi liate in Syria.

The attacks by Ansar al-Tawhid were carried out against regime positions in Masasna, a village in Hama province, the Observatory said.

A military source quoted by state news agency SANA con-fi rmed soldiers had been killed and wounded in the attacks on their positions near Idlib prov-ince. Loyalists forces had killed

some assailants, the source added without giving fi gures.

The foreign ministry said Syria “will not allow terrorists and those who are behind them to carry on with their attacks against innocent civilians and the armed forces”. In Latakia province, also northwest of the capital, at least six pro-regime fi ghters were killed in attacks by HTS militants later, the Ob-servatory said.

According to Abdel Rah-man, the latest spate of attacks caused “one of the highest casualty fi gures among regime ranks since the Putin-Erdogan deal”.

He was referring to an accord struck in the Russian resort of Sochi by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish

counterpart Recep Tayyip Er-dogan. Under the September 17 truce deal, Turkey would exert its infl uence over anti-regime groups in the Idlib region to have them pull back fi ghters and heavy weapons from a de-militarised zone.

It was meant to stave off a planned off ensive by the regime and its Russian backers that aid groups feared could spark the eight-year-old Syrian confl ict’s worst humanitarian crisis to date.

The government assault on the last major bastion of rebel forces has been held off but the deal’s provisions have not been implemented.

Since the Sochi agreement, HTS has consolidated its grip on Idlib province.

Boutefl ika vows to run for last time in face of protestsAFPAlgiers

Algeria’s President Ab-delaziz Boutefl ika pledged yesterday not to serve a

full term if re-elected at April polls after huge protests against his bid to extend his 20 years in power.

The ailing leader vowed in an 11th-hour letter read out on state television to organise a “na-tional conference” that would set a date for early polls which he would not contest.

The announcement came af-ter hundreds of students staged new protests yesterday in the Algerian capital and other cit-ies against a fi fth term ahead of a midnight deadline for candi-dates to register for the April 18 vote.

The latest demonstrations

came after tens of thousands of people took to streets of the capital Friday in the biggest challenge in years to Boutefl ika’s rule.

The veteran leader uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke.

Chanting “Boutefl ika go

away”, the students rallied yes-terday near the main city cen-tre campus of the University of Algiers, cordoned off by police, AFP journalists said.

Hundreds more demonstrated at campuses across Algiers, in-cluding at the Faculty of Law near the headquarters of the Constitutional Council.

Police fi red water cannon to prevent protesters from reaching the Council, where candidates must register for the presidential race, security sources said.

Rallies inside and outside campuses in the northeastern city of Annaba also drew hun-dreds chanting “anti-Boutef-lika” slogans, a local journalist said on condition of anonymity.

The TSA news website re-ported other protests in Algeria’s second and third cities, Oran and Constantine.

Boutefl ika’s announcement

in February that he would seek another fi ve-year term despite his failing health has unleashed pent-up frustrations in the North African country.

The 82-year-old fl ew to Swit-zerland on February 24 for what his offi ce described as “routine medical checks”. The presidency has not detailed when he will re-turn from the Geneva hospital, which was calm when AFP vis-ited yesterday.

On Saturday, Boutefl ika sacked his campaign manager Abdelmalek Sellal, a former pre-mier who successfully oversaw the president’s past three re-election bids, state media said, without giving a reason.

Sellal was removed on the eve of the election registra-tion deadline and replaced by Transport Minister Abdelghani Zaalene.

Six other candidates have

already registered, including prominent retired general Ali Ghediri, who was the fi rst to an-nounce he would run for presi-dent and promising change.

Businessman Rachid Nekkaz, who has cultivated a mass fol-lowing among young people, said he would follow suit, but former premier Ali Benfl is, a key contender in 2004 and 2014 polls, pulled out of this year’s race.

An editorial yesterday in El-Moudjahid newspaper, a mouth-piece of the government, said protesters would be “disap-pointed” in their campaign to force Boutefl ika to pull out of the election.

The sacking of Sellal came af-ter more than a week of demon-strations by Algerians, including lawyers and students, in Algiers, where protests have offi cially been banned since 2001, and

other cities. On Friday, clashes erupted between police and protesters in Algiers as tens of thousands of people took to the streets.

Riot police used tear gas and batons to keep some protesters from marching on the Govern-ment Palace which houses the prime minister’s offi ce.

According to a police toll, 56 police offi cers and seven demon-strators were hurt and 45 alleged stone-throwers were arrested in Algiers.

Boutefl ika has been in power for two decades, gaining respect from many for his role in ending a civil war in the 1990s that of-fi cials say killed nearly 200,000 people.

Offi cials have warned that the protests risk dragging Alge-ria into instability, comparing the rallies to those that sparked Syria’s war.

Students protest against Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s plan to extend his 20-year rule by seeking a fifth term in April elections, at a university in Algiers, yesterday.

800 Palestinians allowed to exit Gaza for pilgrimageAFPGaza City

Some 800 Palestinians crossed yesterday from the Gaza Strip into

Egypt on their initial stage of a pilgrimage to Makkah, the fi rst time since 2014 Egyptian authorities have granted visas for such a trip.

The pilgrims left at around dawn and were to be met by buses on the Egyptian side to bring them to Cairo’s airport, from where they would fl y to Makkah in Saudi Arabia, said a Palestinian offi cial at the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip. Fifteen Gazans among the 800 were not authorised to cross, according to a Pal-estinian security offi cial at Rafah, without providing the reasons.

Security sources on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing confi rmed it was the fi rst such permission for the Umrah pilgrimage since the start of Egyptian military op-erations in northern Sinai in 2014.

Around 2,500 pilgrims are authorised annually to leave Gaza via Egypt for the Haj. Since the overthrow of presi-dent Mohamed Mursi in 2013, Egypt has faced a militant in-surgency in North Sinai.

Last year, Egypt’s military launched a major off ensive against the Sinai militants, though Cairo has for years considered the entire area a

security priority. Gaza, run by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade for more than a decade. Gaza fi ghters and Israel have fought three wars since 2008.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt is the only one out of Gaza not controlled by Israel.

It had been largely closed in recent years, but was reo-pened some 10 months ago.

Palestinian pilgrims wait at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt yesterday, before crossing to depart for the holy city of Makkah.

Jordan accuses Israel of barring top offi cials from Al-Aqsa mosque

Jordan yesterday accused

Israeli authorities of barring top

Palestinian Muslim off icials from

Al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east

Jerusalem.

Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab, head

of the Waqf religious author-

ity that runs the site in the

disputed city, has been barred

for 40 days and his deputy for

four months.

Two other religious officials

have been detained, said Firas

al-Dibs, spokesman for the Waqf

which answers to Jordan as

custodian of Al-Aqsa.

Israeli police, contacted by AFP,

had no immediate comment on

the reports. Jordan’s minister

for religious affairs, Abdel Nass-

er Abu-Bassal, quoted by state

news agency Petra, accused

Israel of “a new escalation

aimed at impeding Waqf’s work

in Jerusalem and intimidating

its members”.

Scuffles have broken out be-

tween worshippers and Israeli

police around Al-Aqsa since

late February over access to a

side building in the compound

closed by Israel since 2003.

The site is located in the Old

City of east Jerusalem, oc-

cupied by Israel in the 1967

Six-Day War and later annexed

in a move never recognised by

the international community.

AMERICA


US House panel probes possible obstruction by Donald TrumpBy Tim Ahmann, Reuters Washington

The House Judiciary Committee will seek documents from more than 60 people and organisations

as it begins investigations into possi-ble obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Donald Trump, the panel’s chairman said yesterday.

Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler told ABC’s This Week the panel wanted to get documents from the Department of Justice, the president’s son Don-ald Trump Jr and Trump Organization chief fi nancial offi cer Allen Weisselberg, among others.

“We are going to initiate investiga-tions into abuses of power, into corrup-tion...and into obstruction of justice,” Nadler said. “It’s our job to protect the rule of law.”

“It’s very clear that the president ob-structed justice,” Nadler said.

He said it was too soon to consider whether impeachment should be pur-sued, however.

“Before you impeach somebody, you have to persuade the American public that it ought to happen,” he said.

As evidence of obstruction, Nadler cited Trump’s May 2017 fi ring of FBI director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russia activities in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with Trump’s cam-paign.

That investigation was subsequently taken over by Special Counsel Rob-ert Mueller, who is expected to deliver his fi ndings to the US attorney general within weeks.

Nadler also cited what he called Trump’s attempts to intimidate wit-nesses in the investigation.

He said the committee would today release the list of people and organiza-tions it would request documents from.

Trump has denied his campaign worked with Moscow.

“I am an innocent man being perse-cuted by some very bad, confl icted & corrupt people in a Witch Hunt that is

illegal & should never have been allowed to start,” Trump said in a tweet yester-day.

The White House and the Trump Or-ganization did not respond to requests for comment on Nadler’s remarks.

Trump told a group of conservative activists and politicians on Saturday that investigators want to look at his fi nances and business dealings because no evidence of collusion has been found.

“All of a sudden they are trying to take you out with (expletive),” he said.

While the Mueller investigation is focused on specifi c crimes, Congress’ probes will cast a wider net, Nadler said.

Congressional investigators will also look at whether Trump used the White House for personal enrichment in viola-tion of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, he said.

“All of these have to be investigated and laid out to the American people,” said Nadler, whose committee would take the lead in any eff ort to impeach the president.

“This investigation goes far beyond collusion.”

House Republican leader Kevin Mc-Carthy attacked Nadler as having an impeachment agenda.

“They’re setting a whole new course because there’s no collusion so they want to build something else,” he told ABC.

Several US congressional committees are pursuing investigations focusing on Trump.

The House Intelligence Committee’s Democratic chairman, Adam Schiff , said his panel would look closely at ne-gotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, which Cohen said continued well into the 2016 presidential cam-paign.

“That was a deal that stood to make him more money than any other deal in his life and it was a deal where he was pursuing help from the Kremlin, from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin himself, at a time when Putin was seek-ing relief from sanctions,” Schiff told CBS’ Face the Nation yesterday morn-ing.

“That is the most compromising cir-cumstance that I can imagine.”

Bolton defends Trump-Kim summit

US national security adviser John Bolton

yesterday denied that last week’s nuclear

summit with North Korea was a failure,

despite President Donald Trump coming

home empty-handed.

Bolton told CBS’s Face the Nation

that Trump’s failure to obtain commit-

ments from Pyongyang on destroying its

nuclear capability should be seen as “a

success, defined as the president protect-

ing and advancing American national

interests.”

The White House aide said the issue was

whether North Korea would accept what

the president called “the big deal” — denu-

clearising completely — or something less,

“which was unacceptable to us.”

“So the president held firm to his view.

He deepened his relationship with Kim

Jong-un. I don’t view it as a failure at all

when American national interests are

protected,” Bolton added.

Compounding criticism of the sum-

mit, Trump sparked a firestorm by his

remarks on the case of an American

student tortured and left in a coma in

North Korea.

The president said he believed Kim’s

claim that he didn’t know what happened

to 22-year-old Otto Warmbier, who died

days after being sent back to the United

States in 2017.

After a stern rebuke from Warmbier’s

parents, Trump took to Twitter, insisting

he held North Korea responsible for the

student’s death — but without directly

blaming Kim or even mentioning him.

“The president’s been very clear he

viewed what happened to Otto Warmbier

as barbaric and unacceptable,” Bolton

told CBS. “And I think the best thing North

Korea could do right now would be to

come up with a full explanation of exactly

what happened to him.”

Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska starts with pageant, crowdsBy Yereth Rosen, Reuters Anchorage, Alaska

Fifty-two mushers and their dog teams drove through Alaska’s largest city in bright

sunshine on Saturday to start the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Downtown Anchorage was temporarily converted into a noisy dog lot, with trucked-in snow covering the streets.

Bundled-up spectators — including dignitaries such as Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Lisa Murkowski — gathered to cheer, snap photos and get autographs from the dog drivers headed out on the annual 1,609km trek to Nome.

Saturday’s 16km run through Anchorage was merely ceremo-nial, and featured a performance by an Inupiat dance team and other pageantry.

Competition began in earnest yesterday, when teams took off from a frozen lake in Willow, a community about an hour’s drive north from the city.

That gave mushers a chance to relax, mingle with fans and wax poetic about the signifi cance of the Iditarod.

“It’s an amazing one-of-a-kind event that I think everybody should experience,” said four-time champion Lance Mackey.

As for this year’s race, “I’m ex-pecting the unexpected,” he said.

“I’m expecting soft trail, hard trail, lots of snow, no snow, mountains, fl at, open water ice, all the things Alaska has to off er.”

One feature of this year’s race is a nearly ice-free section of the Bering Sea.

Dramatic winter melt has re-moved sea ice that the mushers would normally cross on their approach to Nome.

Mackey joked about that twist.“I think I need a pontoon sled.

They better not lead us up into the Bering Sea with open water, because I don’t have real good swimmers,” he said, motioning at his dogs.

Race managers rerouted the course so it skirts the now-open waters, adding an estimated 45km to 60km to the race.

This year’s contest of 52 teams, a third of them headed by women mushers, is the smallest since 1989.

While the top competitors can rely on corporate sponsors, other would-be racers say the high year-round costs of participating can be an obstacle.

Scott Janssen, an Anchorage funeral home owner and Iditarod veteran whose nickname is ‘The Mushin’ Mortician’, is sitting out this year after spending $118,00 to race in 2018.

Over the years, he has spent $800,000 to $900,000 on his Iditarod runs, “and my winnings are fi nally approaching $5,000,” he said. “But it’s worth it.” This year, another musher, Travis Beals, is running Janssen’s dogs.

But in many ways, Saturday’s ceremonial start was similar to those of past years.

There was the usual interna-tional fl air, with 2018 champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom of Norway as the most prominent non-US competitor.

“Dog mushing is very big in

Norway now,” Ulsom said before setting off from the Anchorage start line.

Michi Konno, who moved to Alaska from Japan to pursue his sled-dog-racing passion, displayed on his sled a Japanese fl ag signed by well-wishers back home.

Other countries represented in this year’s fi eld include Sweden, France and Ukraine.

The top contenders remain the same as in previous years, mush-ers said.

Four-time champion Jeff King, embarking on his 29th Iditarod, listed a few names: Ulsom, Pete Kaiser of Bethel, Alaska, and Nicolas Petit of Girdwood, Alas-ka.

The top racers from last year are back, King said, “and I expect them to be highly competitive.”

The total prize purse is about $500,000, with the winner tak-ing about $50,000 and a new pickup truck.

The winner is expected to reach Nome about eight or nine days after yesterday’s offi cial start in Willow.Musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom at the ceremonial start of the Iditarod dog sled race in Anchorage on Saturday.

Demonstrators gather outside the Sacramento Police Department on Saturday ahead of a protest against Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announcement that officers did not break any laws when they shot African American Stephon Clark in 2018.

Black lives matter

SpaceX Dragon capsule docks at ISSAFPWashington

SpaceX’s new Dragon capsule yesterday successfully docked on the International Space Sta-

tion, Nasa and SpaceX confi rmed during a live broadcast of the mis-sion.

“We can confi rm hard capture is complete,” Nasa said.

The announcement was met with applause at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The docking began at 1051GMT, more than 400km above the Earth’s surface, north of New Zealand — and 27 hours after the capsule’s launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Ca-naveral in Florida.

Although the contact appeared slow, the ISS and the capsule were moving at a speed of over 27,000kph in orbit around the Earth.

The mission is a test launch with only a dummy on board the capsule ahead of a manned fl ight scheduled for later this year.

The Dragon capsule will remain on the ISS until Friday before detaching to splash down in the Atlantic.

It will be slowed by four para-chutes, in what is the one of the mis-sion’s riskiest stages.

The launch is a key step towards resuming manned space fl ights from US soil after an eight-year break.

SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has made the trip to the ISS a dozen times before since 2012, but only to refuel the station.

Transporting people is a more complex task, requiring seats, a pres-surized cabin with breathable air, temperature regulation and emer-gency infrastructure.

After its shuttle program was shut down in July 2011 following a 30-year run, Nasa began outsourcing the lo-gistics of its space missions.

It pays Russia to get its people up to the ISS orbiting research facility at a cost of $82mn per head for a round trip.

In 2014, the US space agency awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing for them to take over this task.

In SpaceX’s case, Nasa has agreed to pay $2.6bn for six round trips to the ISS.

The switch from Nasa owning spacecraft to paying private fi rms for a service was initiated under former president Barack Obama — but due to development delays, has come to fruition under President Donald Trump.

“We’ve got Nasa “rocking” again. Great activity and success. Congrats to SPACEX and all!” Trump tweeted on Saturday evening.

Since 2017, Nasa’s offi cial mission has been to return to the Moon — a project awarded $21.5bn by Congress in the 2019 budget.

Jim Bridenstine, head of the US space agency, has explained Nasa wants to reduce costs in low orbit to devote resources to getting back to the Moon and constructing a small space station in lunar orbit in the 2020s.

“As a country, we’re looking for-ward to being one customer of many customers, in a robust commercial marketplace in low Earth orbit, so that we can drive down costs and in-crease access in ways that historically have not been possible,” he said Sat-urday following Dragon’s launch.

But Musk has admitted that mar-keting travel in the Dragon capsule is not a priority — and he is more in-terested in distant exploration of the solar system.

At the post-launch press confer-ence on Saturday, he reiterated his dream for a permanent Moon base — and sending people to Mars.

Musk has already locked in his fi rst private customer to fl y to the Moon: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Mae-zawa.

But it won’t happen before 2023 — with the rocket, far more powerful than that used for the Dragon mis-sion, still in development.

Ostrich jacket, fake rallies pepper Trump-Russia collusion investigationBy Andy Sullivan, Reuters Washington

Question: What do you get when you

combine Russian agents, a therapy

dog and a $15,000 ostrich-skin jacket?

Answer: A criminal investigation that

could decide the fate of a US president.

Donald Trump’s presidency has

produced no shortage of eyebrow-

raising moments — such as the

former acting head of the FBI, An-

drew McCabe, saying that Trump

might be a Russian asset.

And Special Counsel Robert

Mueller’s investigation has turned

up some surreal anecdotes as he

examines whether the 2016 Trump

election campaign worked with

Russia to win the White House.

Some of those episodes resemble

reality television, fitting perhaps be-

cause Trump was once the star of his

own show, The Apprentice. Moments

of heightened drama appeared to be

legitimate, but in fact involved paid

actors and off -site directors.

In a criminal indictment, Muel-

ler’s team says Russians set up the

Facebook group, organised the

campaign event, and recruited

someone to hold the sign.

It was one of several events that

year orchestrated by the Internet

Research Agency, a Kremlin-

backed troll farm in St Petersburg

that spent millions of dollars to

disrupt the US democratic process,

according to court documents filed

by Mueller’s off ice.

Using fake personas, employ-

ees of the agency staged political

rallies in New York, Pennsylvania,

Washington and Florida, recruiting

unwitting local activists, and, at

times, Trump campaign off icials to

help out, prosecutors said.

A volunteer for the Trump

campaign agreed to provide signs

for a Russian-organised ‘March for

Trump’ event in New York in June

2016 and sent out a press release

for a ‘Down With Hillary’ rally a

month later, the indictment said.

After the election, Russian

agents staged duelling rallies in

New York — one to support Trump,

one to protest his victory.

The Russian government has de-

nounced the allegations as absurd and

ridiculed the notion that so few Rus-

sians could undermine US democracy.

Jesse Ferguson, a former

Clinton campaign off icial, said the

campaign thought these were

legitimate grassroots events.

“You can see where voters

would have no way to figure out

whether this is a rally of sympathis-

ers — or subversives,” he said.

Mueller’s team also revealed the

lavish lifestyle of Trump’s former

campaign chairman Paul Manafort

— and his disregard for lobbying

laws and financial regulations.

One piece of evidence convicted

Manafort in the court of public

opinion: a $15,000 ostrich-leather

bomber jacket. A Washington Post

fashion critic called the garment “an

atrocity — both literal and symbolic.”

Prosecutors introduced the jack-

et as evidence of the high-flying life-

style that they say Manafort funded

by lying to banks and hiding more

than $16mn from tax authorities.

Prosecutors also cited $934,000

in purchases from an oriental rug

store and $1.8mn in payments to

home-theatre installers.

Manafort subsequently agreed

to forfeit many of his assets, includ-

ing five properties and several

bank accounts, as part of a plea

deal in a separate criminal case.

The plea deal does not require him

to give up the ostrich skin jacket.

ASIA/AUSTRALASIA11Gulf Times


Xi faces doubts as legislature meetsAFPBeijing

China’s parliament opens its annual session today as President Xi Jinping

faces growing concerns about the slowing economy, a major chal-lenge to the country’s pre-em-inent leader. One year after the legislature abolished presidential term limits and etched Xi’s name on the constitution, his “new era” vision of a resurgent China at the centre of world aff airs has hit unforeseen road bumps.

Economic growth is slowing, a festering trade war with the United States has eroded confi -dence and Xi’s signature Belt and Road global trade infrastructure initiative has faced setbacks in some countries.

Bubbles of discontent have ap-peared as the state has pushed deeper into the economy and people’s lives. “This will be a much more diffi cult situation for Xi Jinping than last year. Last year he was riding high,” said Hong Kong-based political ana-lyst Willy Lam.

Premier Li Keqiang is expect-ed to open the National People’s Congress by announcing a lower GDP growth forecast for 2019, setting the tone for a session heavy on economic legislation and expected to last two weeks. Nearly 3,000 delegates will ratify a raft of bills in a session expect-ed to last two weeks, including a foreign investment law that could address some US demands and possible tax cuts.

“Xi Jinping has been criti-cised by party members for not handling the economy well, and failing to tackle the challenges posed by Donald Trump,” said Lam. Lam believes Xi avoided holding a fourth plenum of the party’s Central Committee last autumn because of his weakened position.

But he convened a meeting with hundreds of provincial and ministerial leaders in Beijing in January to warn them on the need to prevent “major risks” in poli-tics and the economy. “We must

increase our readiness for unex-pected developments, take pre-cautions, and properly prepare for major risks that may arise in the economic fi eld,” Xi warned. China reported 6.6% growth in 2018, the slowest in nearly three decades. Independent analysts estimate it was worse. Three-quarters of provinces have low-ered annual growth targets for 2019.

Delegates from around the country will convene for the NPC session and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Confer-ence, an advisory body that runs simultaneously and begins dis-cussions Sunday. “Behind closed doors NPC members from the provinces will demand Xi Jinping do something about reviving the economy,” Lam said, adding he will face “angry voices”.

Still Xi presides from a posi-tion of strength with no potential challengers on the horizon. “For him it’s not only the backbone of the economy that makes him a strong leader, but also political ideology. An ongoing campaign places Xi centre stage,” said Mat-thias Stepan of Germany’s Mer-

cator Institute for China Stud-ies, noting it made it hard for any competitor to emerge.

Most recently the party re-leased a “Study to Make China strong” propaganda app that grades people’s knowledge of all things Xi.

In 2017, Xi expanded his port-folio into economics — once seen as the purview of the premier — stamping it with a new wordy banner: “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.

His push to increase the state and party’s role in the economy has coincided with a downturn. Video game, fi lm and TV makers have struggled to navigate the vagaries of changing censorship guidelines while internet compa-nies have been forced to retrench in some areas and step up moni-toring.

Some entrepreneurs have pri-vately bristled at a push to ex-pand party cells in all companies while others bat about the phrase “guojinmintui” or “state fi rms advance, private companies re-treat”.

“On the one hand the govern-

ment wants to develop the mar-ket but on the other hand they want to control the freedoms that come with a market economy,” said Sheng Hong of the Unirule Institute of Economics. “They are afraid of an economy without government control,” Sheng said.

US trade negotiators, mean-while, are pushing for further economic reforms. The invest-ment law seeks to eliminate a major bone of contention — the requirement for foreign compa-nies to transfer proprietary tech-nology to Chinese joint-venture partners.

Tim Stratford, chairman of the American Chamber, said “our initial impression is positive” but businesses are waiting for more details. But the European Cham-ber of Commerce said it fears the legislation is being fast-tracked to meet US demands. Xi and his lieutenants have their work cut out for them.

“They have to reinstate confi -dence, especially that the party has the right tools and the right team around Xi to deal with the challenges,” said Stepan of Mer-cator.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) prepares to leave after the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People yesterday.

US, S Korea to end key joint military exercisesAFPSeoul

The US and South Korea an-nounced yesterday an end to key annual large-scale

military exercises in support of diplomatic eff orts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nu-clear weapons programme.

The decision comes days after the conclusion of US President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, which ended without a formal agreement but with both sides suggesting they would keep talking.

There are close to 30,000 US troops stationed in South Ko-rea, and their annual drills with tens of thousands of South Ko-rean soldiers have been a peren-nial target of North Korean fury — with Pyongyang condemning the manoeuvres as provocative rehearsals for invasion.

While Trump has ruled out withdrawing the troops, he has repeatedly complained about the cost of the exercises, describ-ing them at a press conference in Hanoi as “very, very expensive”.

During a Saturday phone call between South Korean Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his US counterpart Patrick Shanahan, “both sides decided

to conclude the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle series of exercises”, ac-cording to a Pentagon statement. Foal Eagle is the biggest of the regular joint exercises held by the allies. In the past, it has involved 200,000 South Korean forces and some 30,000 US soldiers.

It is accompanied by Key Re-solve, a computer-simulated

war game conducted by mili-tary commanders which usu-ally begins in March and runs for about 10 days. The decision was reached to support ongoing diplomatic eff orts for North Ko-rea’s denuclearisation and ease military tensions with the North, Seoul’s defence ministry said yesterday.

Washington and Seoul will in-stead conduct “modifi ed” drills starting today through to March 12, a joint military statement an-nounced yesterday. The nine-day exercise, offi cially named “Dong Maeng” or “Alliance”, will largely focus on joint defence manoeu-vres rather than the off ensive posture of the Key Resolve drill,

a South Korean military offi cial who requested anonymity told AFP.

There was no indication of how many US and South Ko-rean troops will be mobilised for the new exercise. South Korea’s foreign ministry said that Lee Do-hoon, Seoul’s chief nuclear

envoy, will also leave for Wash-ington to hold talks with his US counterpart Stephen Biegun.

“Lee will fl y sometime this week,” ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told AFP.

Lee and Biegun are expected to discuss the Hanoi summit, which failed to build on the vaguely-worded commitment to denu-clearise the Korean peninsula signed by Kim and Trump during their meeting in Singapore last year. Opponents of scrapping the drills have warned that it could impact the combat readiness of the combined US and South Ko-rean forces and hand the North a strategic advantage on the divid-ed peninsula, but most analysts said such concerns were exag-gerated.

“Suspending or downgrading the US-South Korean drills may hurt the readiness of the two mil-itaries, but I don’t think it’s going to be a serious security threat to South Korea,” Ahn Chan-il, the president of the World Insti-tute for North Korea Studies in Seoul, told AFP. “The South’s conventional forces outclass the North’s, and given the current situation (with the US and the

existing sanctions), it’s highly unlikely that Pyongyang will do anything with its nuclear weap-ons in the foreseeable future,” he added. Retired General Vincent Brooks, a former commander of US forces in South Korea who helped organise Trump’s fi rst meeting with Kim in Singapore, said last year that any end to joint training would not hinder the Pentagon’s combat-readiness on the peninsula.

“Perhaps we’ve been told for now to put our sword back into its sheath, but we have not been told to forget how to use it,” he said.

Washington has sought to end long-running tensions on the peninsula and encourage North Korea to scrap its nuclear pro-gramme. Since the Singapore summit, the US and Seoul have scaled back or scrapped sev-eral joint military drills, and US bombers are no longer fl ying over South Korea. “Not downgrading or suspending the drills at this point ... would mean the involved countries are not serious” about reaching a denuclearisation ac-cord, said University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Moo-jin.

In this file picture, South Korean Marines take position as amphibious assault vehicles fire smoke shells during a joint landing operation by US and South Korean Marines in the southeastern port of Pohang.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un lays a wreath at the War Memorial in Hanoi.

N Korea has no economic future if it has nuclear weapons: Trump

US President Donald Trump said

that North Korea does not have

any economic future with nu-

clear weapons as the Pentagon

confirmed the United States and

South Korea had agreed to end

joint large-scale spring military

exercises. “North Korea has an

incredible, brilliant economic fu-

ture if they make a deal, but they

don’t have any economic future

if they have nuclear weapons,”

Trump said at a Conservative

Political Action Conference. He

added that the relationship with

North Korea seemed to be “very,

very strong.” According to a

statement, acting Pentagon Chief

Patrick Shanahan spoke with his

South Korea counterpart on Sat-

urday and they agreed to adapt

their training programmes.

Bangladesh returns ‘lost’ Myanmar soldierBangladesh forces handed back yesterday a Myanmar soldier more than two months after he strayed across the border into a jungle in the Muslim-majority na-tion, a senior off icial said. Aung Bo Bo Thein, 30, was detained by Bangladeshi security forces on January 24 near the southern town of Naikhongchhari, Briga-dier General Sajedur Rahman told AFP.“He crossed the border and was found in a jungle. Today we have handed him over to Myanmar border police through a flag

meeting,” said Rahman, border guard regional commander. Ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar have soured since about 740,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the Buddhist-ma-jority country in 2017 following a military clampdown in restive Rakhine state.Dhaka had already been hosting another 300,000 Rohingya who took refuge in squalid camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern Cox’s Bazar district after previous bouts of violence. Bangladesh and Myanmar signed

an agreement in November 2017 for the repatriation of the Rohingya, but the persecuted Muslim minority has refused to go back unless they are granted citizenship and other rights.This week Bangladesh told the UN Security Council that it will no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar.Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a Council meeting that the crisis over the repatria-tion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from “bad to

worse” and urged the council to take “decisive” action. Rahman said Rohingya arrivals from Myanmar have almost stopped, with none arriving in the past few weeks. Bangladesh in recent months has stepped up security near the border to curb smuggling of Yaba — a popular methamphetamine pill — across the border from Myanmar, he said.Myanmar’s ambassador Hau Do Suan insisted his government was taking steps and appealed for patience.

Former Nepalese finance minister Adhikari dies at 83Former Nepalese finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari, who introduced the country’s first old-age pension scheme, has died in Kathmandu at the age of 83, a party spokesman said yesterday. “We are saddened by the death of Adhikari at the hospital in Kath-mandu on Saturday,” said Krishna Gopal Shrestha, a spokesman for the ruling Nepal Communist Party.

A lawyer by training, Adhikari, was part of the second genera-tion of communists in Nepal who fought for democracy in the 1970s and 80s.He became finance minister in the country’s first democrati-cally elected communist gov-ernment in 1995. His pension scheme, first introduced with a monthly allowance of 200

Nepali rupees for people over the age of 70, has since been in-creased to 2,000 Nepali rupees and the age at which people qualify was reduced to 65 last year. Adhikari was a member of a commission that drafted the country’s constitution after restoration of democracy in 1990. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Australia despatches more help for Solomon Islands oil spillReutersSydney

Australia is sending more help to the Pacifi c nation of the Solomon Islands

to stop oil from a grounded cargo ship destroying a World Heritage-listed marine sanctu-ary, Australia’s foreign minister said yesterday.

At least 75 tonnes of heavy fuel oil has spilled from Hong Kong-fl agged bulk carrier Solomon Trader since Cyclone Oma drove it onto a reef at Ren-nell Island on Feb. 5.

The ship was carrying 700 tonnes of oil when it ran aground and there are fears the remaining fuel will spoil Ren-nell Island, the world’s largest raised coral atoll and home to many species found nowhere else. “Australia remains ex-tremely concerned by the on-going risk of a major oil spill,” said Foreign Minister Marise Payne in a release yesterday.

“Up to 75 tonnes of heavy fuel

oil from the ship has dispersed across the Island’s sea and shoreline, contaminating the ecologically delicate area.

“Given escalating ecological damage, and a lack of action by commercial entities involved, the Solomon Islands Govern-ment has requested Australia’s assistance.” Payne said in re-sponse, Australia was sending equipment, vessels and experts under the leadership of the Australian Maritime Safety Au-thority (AMSA).

The eastern half of Ren-nell Island was the fi rst natural property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List with cus-tomary management, and is home to 1,200 Polynesians who live by subsistence farming, hunting and fi shing, the United Nations Educational Scien-tifi c and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) website showed.

The United Nations body de-scribes the site, with its unique limestone formations, a large lake and dense forest, as “a true natural laboratory for scientifi c

study”. Unesco listed East Ren-nell as “in danger” in 2013 for threats posed by commercial logging of its forests for export to China and the introduction of rats. Indonesian fi rm Bintan Mining SI chartered the ship to take bauxite from its mine on the western half of Rennell Is-land to China.

Bintan Mining could not be immediately reached for com-ment. The bulk carrier ran aground while loading bauxite during a cyclone, Radio New Zealand reported.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Aff airs and Trade said on its website on Thursday that oil had leaked for 6km across the shore. “There is a high risk remaining heavy fuel oil on the vessel (currently estimated at over 600 tonnes) will be re-leased into the surrounding area,” the foreign aff airs depart-ment said.

“Australia is supporting the Solomon Islands government to hold the responsible commer-cial entities to account.”

Smoke covers the sky from a bushfire in Berwick, Melbourne, Australia in this drone timelapse still taken from social media.

Bushfire in Berwick

12 Gulf TimesMonday, March 4, 2019

BRITAIN

Child raised in Pakistanprison returned to UK

Guardian News and MediaLondon

A six-year-old girl who has spent her entire life inside a Pakistani pris-

on after her British mother was convicted of drug traffi cking has been released and returned to the UK.

Khadija Shah, 32, gave birth to her daughter Malaika while serving a life sentence inside the notorious Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, in the Punjab province.

Shah, from Birmingham, was caught at Islamabad air-port with £3.2mn of heroin in May 2012.

This week, the Foreign and Commonwealth Offi ce con-fi rmed that her daughter was returned to the UK three weeks ago.

Malaika’s current location has not been given, but it is be-lieved she is living with family in the West Midlands.

A Foreign Offi ce spokesman said: “Our staff continue to assist a British woman jailed in Pakistan. We supported her

family in bringing her daughter to the UK, working with them and the Pakistani authorities.”

Shah narrowly avoided exe-cution after being caught with two suitcases containing 63kg of heroin.

During her time in prison, Shah has continually protested her innocence and claims she was asked to take the cases during a stay in an Islamabad guesthouse.

Six months pregnant and accompanied by her two chil-dren, aged four and fi ve, Shah was arrested at Benazir Bhutto International airport. Police found 120 wraps of heroin con-cealed in the folds of garments in the cases. Her two other children were detained with her, but fl own back to Britain after four-and-a-half months, and are being cared for by their grandmother.

Foreign Offi ce staff have vis-ited the mother and daughter in prison several times, while charities and authorities have pleaded for the pair’s release. It is understood Shah and her daughter shared a cell with six other mothers.

Conmen posing as taxmendupe 60,000 in six monthsDaily NewsLondon

Scam callers posing as tax offi cials targeted at least 60,000 households in just

six months.About 328 victims a day are re-

porting the telephone fraudsters, who are threatening homeowners with jail unless they repay fake tax debts, HMRC said.

The fi gures are a rise of 360% on the previous six months and many more are believed to have been targeted but not alerted the taxman.

The elderly and vulnerable are the main victims of the swin-dlers who usually phone the 26mn homes with a landline.

Those who are not ex-directo-ry are especially at risk because their details are available online.

The shady scheme is part of a massive increase in bank trans-fer scams which costs customers £1mn a day. Victims are tricked into making payments into ac-counts controlled by criminals.

HMRC urged people to stay vigilant and asked them to alert

anyone they know with a land-line about the scam. It said in the past year it had helped close more than 450 phone lines the fraudsters use to steal money.

The explosion in tax fraud calls followed a clampdown on a similar e-mail and text scams, where swindlers sent messages claiming to be from the tax-man to trick victims into paying them. Treasury Minister Mel Stride said: “We have taken ma-jor steps to crack down on text and e-mail scams leaving fraud-sters no choice but to try and con taxpayers over the phone.

“If you receive a suspicious call to your landline from some-one purporting to be from HMRC which threatens legal action, to put you in jail, or payment using vouchers, hang up and report it to HMRC who can work to take them off the network.”

Pauline Smith, head of the UK’s national fraud and cyber re-porting centre Action Fraud, said: “Fraudsters will call your landline claiming to be from reputable or-ganisations such as HMRC.

‘Contact like this is designed to convince you to hand over valua-

ble personal details or your mon-ey. Don’t assume anyone who calls you is who they say they are. If a person calls and asks you to make a payment, log in to an on-line account or off ers you a deal, be cautious and seek advice.”

Caroline Abrahams, char-ity director at Age UK, added: “Scammers will use any means possible to cheat people out of their money and we’d urge eve-ryone to be cautious. If there are any niggling doubts it is always sensible to end the call and con-tact the company or government department separately using a phone number taken from a piece of offi cial correspondence or their website.”

In the fi rst six months of last year, £145mn went missing in bank transfer fraud – almost £1mn a day and 50% more than in the same period of 2017, ac-cording to trade body UK Finance. About a quarter of the total losses – £36.6mn – was the result of impersonation fraud. HMRC said it received more than 60,000 reports of phone scams in six months up to January 2019 – a rise of 360 % on the six months prior.

Labour willwhip MPs to back new vote:McDonnellGuardian News and MediaLondon

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said the Labour party will whip

its MPs to back a second referen-dum rather than off er a free vote, a move that senior backbencher Caroline Flint warned could lead to the rebellion of up to 60 MPs.

McDonnell said it would be common practice to see MPs whipped to support party policy, but said he understood the dif-fi culties such a decision could pose for MPs in Leave constitu-encies.

“Normally we will whip and that will be decided in the nor-mal way by the chief whip and the shadow Cabinet and the par-ty overall,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

“I think on an issue as this we would see a whip but also you’ve got to respect people’s views and their constituency interests as well, and the whipping arrange-ment will be determined in dis-cussion in due course.”

He said Labour would “never be forgiven in the future” if it al-lowed a Brexit deal or ‘no-deal’ exit to damage people’s jobs and the long-term future of the economy.

A number of frontbenchers have publicly opposed a sec-ond referendum, including the shadow housing minister, Mela-nie Onn, and the shadow justice minister, Gloria De Piero.

Flint urged McDonnell and the Labour leadership to allow a free vote and said she hoped Labour colleagues would vote for an im-proved Brexit deal including one with new promises on workers’ rights that she and other Labour MPs had been working to secure.

“Myself and so many Labour MPs in the general election 2017 made a promise to respect the outcome of the referendum and that was Labour’s policy,” she said.

“So my appeal, to Jeremy Cor-

byn, John McDonnell, to Keir Starmer, is to allow MPs a free vote on an improved deal, so those who want a second referen-dum can vote for that but those of us who want to keep our promis-es to our electorate can also keep faith with those people.”

McDonnell said discussions would take place in the shad-ow cabinet about what kind of amendment for a fresh public vote the party could support – and that frontbenchers would be expected to support it.

“In the normal way we’ll come to a conclusion on the exact wording of whatever amend-ment was put up and you’d ex-pect the frontbench to support it,” he said.

Asked if McDonnell believed he was damaging Labour’s elec-toral prospects, he said: “It may well be but we’ve got to be hon-est with people – people have had enough of politicians who say one thing and actually do another.”

McDonnell also hinted he could attend the People’s Vote march on March 23, the week-end before the UK leaves the EU. “Well, I’ll think about it cer-tainly, I’m not one to miss a good march,” he said.

“I also have to say as well I don’t want to do anything or say anything that disrespects the people who strongly, in my own constituency and elsewhere, who supported leave.”

The shadow business sec-retary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, echoed some of Flint’s concerns and insisted the party would not stop pushing its own version of a Brexit deal or the possibility of a general election, saying she “truly hopes” the party is not forced into backing a second ref-erendum.

“We have got to leave all op-tions on the table to avoid an economic catastrophe for Brit-ain,” she told the BBC’s The An-drew Marr Show. “We are not looking to overturn the result of the referendum.”

Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox and former prime minister Tony Blair appear on BBC TV’s The Andrew Marr Show in London yesterday.

Article 50 extension ‘may beonly smooth Brexit option’Guardian News and MediaLondon

The International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has said a delay in exiting the

EU may be the only way to en-sure a smooth departure, as hard Brexiters laid down three tests for Eurosceptic MPs to support Theresa May’s deal.

Fox said it would be “very unfortunate” if MPs were to re-ject May’s deal and then vote to extend Article 50, in votes the prime minister has promised will take place by March 14.

“But, if we have no option, in order to deliver a smooth Brexit, then so be it,” Fox told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show.

May has pledged a vote will take place on her Brexit deal,

including any changes agreed in Brussels, by March 12, though it is possible Downing Street will seek to put the vote to MPs as early as next week if changes can be secured. The EU has sug-gested progress has been mini-mal.

The European Research Group, a group of Tory Eurosceptics led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, has agreed that a group of eight lawyers, seven of them MPs, will scruti-nise and pass judgment on the fi nal compromise off ered by the attorney general, Geoff rey Cox.

The group will be chaired by the veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash and includes the DUP’s Nigel Dodds, whose opinion carries huge weight with Tory Brexiters.

Others in the group include the former Brexit secretary Do-

minic Raab, former department for exiting the European Union ministers David Jones and Suella Braverman and the backbench-ers Michael Tomlinson and Rob-ert Courts, both former barris-ters, as well as Martin Howe QC, chair of the pro-Leave group Lawyers for Britain.

Tomlinson told the Sunday Times that the committee would apply three tests to whatever Cox produced from the nego-tiations in Brussels, which if met would deliver the support of the group’s key backers, including Rees-Mogg and former Brexit minister Steve Baker.

Tomlinson said the change “has got to be legally bind-ing, so effectively treaty-level change” and that the attorney general must secure changes that altered his legal advice

that the backstop could “en-dure indefinitely”.

The third requirement is “a clear exit route” such as an end date or a unilateral exit mecha-nism for the UK to leave the backstop. It remains very un-likely that Brussels is willing to off er anything close to that de-mand.

“There is a spectrum and a range of options that the attor-ney general has, but I’m not go-ing to say protocol good, codicil bad, letter very bad, because that would be prejudging it,” Tomlin-son said.

May’s hopes of passing her deal were given a boost by Sir Graham Brady, who chairs the 1922 Committee and who has previously successfully cham-pioned a Commons amendment that instructed May to return to

Brussels to negotiate the com-plete removal of the backstop from the withdrawal agreement and fi nd another way to solve the Irish border issue.

Now Brady has indicated he could be prepared to drop his demand on the condition that the attorney general wins assur-ances that the backstop will be temporary.

Brady told the Observer that his intention had always been to “ensure that the backstop could not assume a permanent status, trapping the UK in the EU cus-toms union”.

“As long as the attorney gen-eral is able to assure the house that he has a legally binding guarantee that the backstop can only be temporary, I would ac-cept that and would urge others to accept it,” he said.

People visit the area near to where 17-year-old Jodie Chesney was killed, at the Saint Neots Play Park in Harold Hill, east London, yesterday.

Crime scene

The Dutch husband of a British teenager who was stripped of her citizenship after joining the Islamic State group wants to return to the Netherlands with her and their child, the BBC reported yesterday. Shamima Begum, 19, left London to join IS when she was 15 but now wants to return to the UK with her newborn son. Her British citizenship was revoked last month. Citing an interview with her husband Yago Riedijk, the BBC reported he had fought for IS but had surrendered. The BBC said Riedijk wants to return to the Netherlands with his wife and son. “She seemed in a good state of mind,” he said of when he first met her. “It was her own choice. ”

A group of police off icers suspended for years after being accused of misconduct over the death of a musician in custody a decade ago have been finally cleared. In a case likely to have cost taxpayers millions, five police off icers waited 10 years to learn their fate after being suspended on full pay while a succession of inquiries looked into the death of 40-year-old Sean Rigg. The paranoid schizophrenic died after being arrested and detained in Brixton on August 21, 2008. Police constables Andrew Birks, Richard Glasson, Matthew Forward and Mark Harratt and Sergeant Paul White were accused of a string of failings. Yesterday a Metropolitan Police disciplinary panel dismissed all of the allegations.

BBC boss Tony Hall has been told by MPs that it would be ‘unacceptable’ for pensioners to be prosecuted if it scraps free TV licences for the over 75s. In their letter, 33 cross-party MPs raised concern over the elderly being jailed because they cannot aff ord the £150.50 fee. They told Lord Hall that scrapping the perk would put elderly women particularly at risk, and take an average of £22,000 a week from pensioners in every constituency. The letter was signed by two former Cabinet ministers, Priti Patel and Esther McVey. The warning comes as the BBC weighs up whether to abolish free licences for the over 75s, after it accepted a deal with the government to foot the bill from next year.

Social media is giving anti-vaccination fanatics a platform to spread myths about life-saving immunisations, the head of NHS England has warned. Simon Stevens said he was concerned by stalling vaccination uptake and the dangers ‘fake messages’ posed to children’s health. He said parents at his own daughter’s primary school had used WhatsApp to express concerns about children’s immune systems being ‘loaded up’ with vaccines. He likened it to not bothering to tell children to ‘look both ways when they cross the road.’ Stevens added these parents were risking their own child’s health and that of others because of what is known as herd immunity.

Henry Moore’s celebrated series of helmet head sculptures, which he made sporadically over three decades, will this week be exhibited together for the first and probably only time. The group of seven works will go on display at the Wallace Collection in London for a groundbreaking exhibition that explores the artist’s fascination with armour and reveals how much how it fed his imagination and inspired his work. As one of the 20th century’s greatest sculptors, Moore has been endlessly analysed, studied and theorised about by art historians. There is, however, still more to learn, the curators of the new show say. The exhibition at the Wallace Collection is from March 6 to June 23.

Husband of IS teen ‘wantsto take her to Netherlands’

Police cleared of2008 custody death

MPs warn BBC on charging over-75s

Online anti-jab mythsrisking lives, says NHS boss

Henry Moore’s helmetheads go on display

PEOPLE VERDICTCAUTIONED HEALTH ART

EUROPE13Gulf Times


People dressed as traditional ethnographic characters ‘Gypsies from Dornava’ perform yesterday during the International Carnival Procession of the International Carnival Festival in Ptuj, Slovenia.

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Crimea said yesterday he was arrested by authorities in the Russian-annexed peninsula. Father Kliment told AFP he was speaking from a police station in the Crimean capital of Simferopol, where he had been arrested at a bus station. Police did not tell him why he was being held, he said. The arrest comes after a historic religious split between Kiev and Moscow, which may lead to the closure of Kliment’s church, the Cathedral of Saint Vladimir and Saint Olga. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church said in a statement yesterday that Kliment had planned to travel to Russia to attend the trial of a political prisoner.

Unions and government representatives in Germany were able to find an agreement early yesterday on public service workers’ wages, averting another round of disruptive strikes. After days of negotiations, both sides agreed to a multistage wage increase over the course of 33 months, with the roughly 1mn employees gradually receiving a pay boost totalling 8%. Frank Bsirske, chairman of the Verdi union, spoke of “the best result in the state sector for a wage agreement in years,” while the states’ negotiator, Matthias Kollatz, said the gradual increase allows for more planning security. The agreement will cost the German states more than 7bn euros ($8bn), according to Kollatz.

Around a month and a half after the murder of Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz, voting to determine his successor began yesterday in the northern Polish city. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, deputy to the late popular politician, was the clear favourite in polls. According to the election commission, the off icial result should be announced today. In an attack that shocked Poland and triggered a political debate over hate speech, the mayor of more than 20 years was stabbed during a fundraiser in mid-January, later succumbing to his injuries. Critics say the fierce dispute between the opposition and the ruling Law and Justice party could be partly to blame for the violence.

Agreements on what to do with migrants on Germany’s southern border — a source of strife that threatened to topple the government last year — have resulted in only 11 people being sent away. Germany’s Interior Ministry told DPA that based on the bilateral agreements signed in August with Greece and Spain, nine people have been sent back to the former and two were sent back to the latter. An agreement was also signed with Italy. “Regarding the political agreement with Italy, there has so far been no new state of aff airs,” the ministry said. According to EU rules, incomers should seek asylum in the first member state they set foot in.

Ukrainian archbishop arrested in Crimea

Strikes avoided as German public workers strike a deal

Gdansk votes on successor to murdered mayor

Only 11 migrants sent back under Germany return deals

GYPSY CARAVAN SCHISMWAGE AGREEMENT POLITICS ASYLUM

Migrants scramble aboard Calais ferry, sparking police sweepBy Elia Vaissiere, AFPLille

Dozens of migrants hoping to reach Britain scrambled aboard a cross-Channel ferry in northern France, sparking a 12-hour manhunt as police combed the

ship to fi nd them, offi cials said yesterday.Around 100 migrants broke into the dock area of the

port of Calais late on Saturday, and dozens managed to get onboard the ferry that had just arrived from Dover, England.

A total of 63 migrants were detained, many of whom had tried to hide aboard the Danish-operated DFDS ‘Calais Seaways’, regional authorities said.

Yesterday morning, fi remen talked down the last group of about a dozen migrants who had climbed high above the deck to a catwalk attached to the ship’s funnel.

The migrants managed to get aboard the ferry by using a maintenance ladder at high tide, senior regional offi cial Jean-Philippe Vennin told AFP.

“Two of the migrants fell into the sea and were quickly rescued by fi remen,” he added.

Police offl oaded vehicles arriving from Britain on the ferry before making a top-to-bottom search of the ship.

Those detained were taken to Calais police headquar-ters, Vennin said.

Cross-Channel ferry traffi c was delayed overnight with at least two forced to remain at sea before being allowed into port.

The ‘Calais Seaways’ was itself moved overnight so the harbour could resume operations.

To reach the port area, “the migrants crossed a pedes-trian gangway normally used by employees and I am con-vinced the place had been cased and that last night’s op-eration was orchestrated by people smugglers,” harbour master Jean-Marc Puissesseau told reporters after the po-lice search ended.

“It’s not normal to have 100 migrants break into a se-cure area such as a harbour. There must be a failure some-where,” local mayor Natacha Bouchart said, before blam-ing police force cutbacks.

“We must reinforce our police forces on the eve of Brexit which people smugglers exploit in a bid to promote their traffi cking,” regional president Xavier Bertrand said on Twitter.

Migrants, many from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, and smugglers have diversifi ed ways of trying to cross the Channel.

Many still hide in trucks headed to the ports, but more recently others have attempted to cross the Channel aboard small vessels and lifeboats stolen from local har-bours or acquired by traffi ckers.

On Friday, a French court jailed two Iraqis and an Ira-nian for organising illegal migrant boat trips to Britain. A 30-year-old Iranian, considered the group leader, received an 18-month sentence, while his two accomplices, aged 39 and 32, were each jailed for a year.

Some 500 people attempted to cross the Channel last year — most of them in November and December, com-pared with just 13 such known attempts in 2017.

French interior ministry fi gures showed that 276 people successfully reached British waters.

In December, London dispatched a Royal Navy cutter to help coastguard vessels survey the 33km of sea that sepa-rates France and Britain at its narrowest point.

All aboard and full steam ahead for Austria’s night trainsBy Sophie Makris, AFPVienna

It looks like a scene from the halcyon days of the railways: travellers fi nding their sleep-

er berth, turning on the reading light and stowing their cases un-der the bed.

But it’s still a common nightly ritual at Vienna’s main station, where overnight train routes have endured in the age of low-cost fl ights — and are even expanding.

From early evening onwards, the departures board at Vien-na’s “Hauptbahnhof” station becomes a roll call of destina-tions to whet the appetite of any globetrotter: Venice, Rome, Zu-rich, Berlin, Warsaw...

It’s an unusual sight in a con-tinent where budget airlines and faster trains have become the norm and led to the closure of many slower overnight routes.

But Austria’s state railway company OeBB is looking to ex-pand its network.

It already runs 26 such routes, either on its own or in partner-ships with other operators.

In late 2016, OeBB bought the

night train operation of its Ger-man counterpart Deutsche Bahn, which was looking to offl oad a department it judged insuffi -ciently lucrative.

Around 60% of DB’s overnight routes were preserved, including a revamped Vienna-Berlin service which started a few months ago.

Pointing to the “moderate growth” in passenger numbers — more than 1.4mn used the servic-es in 2018 — OeBB has ordered 13 new trains equipped with state-of-the-art sleeper carriages.

It’s no surprise then that Aus-tria has become the poster child for rail enthusiasts, who say it provides an example of how overnight train travel can provide an alternative to air travel and even help in the fi ght against cli-mate change.

“With regard to the target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, night trains which run on renewable energy are an attrac-tive alternative,” according to Thomas Sauter-Servaes, trans-port expert at the Zurich Univer-sity of Applied Sciences.

But as with all those who have researched the sector, he admits that cross-border overnight rail

travel can represent a logistical and fi nancial challenge.

The profi ts per passenger take a hit from the extra space that sleeper compartments require, on top of the higher labour costs for those who have to work on the trains overnight and money spent on laundry.

And that’s before you take into account the hefty fees sometimes charged by other network owners for use of the rails, the technical diffi culty of decoupling and then re-attaching carriages, and navi-gating the myriad of diff erent rules a train has to adhere to over a long journey.

Sauter-Servaes points out that international air transport has a big commercial advantage in being exempt from VAT and fuel taxes.

Among those preparing to board at Vienna station to spend a night on the rails on a recent evening, some told AFP they had chosen a night train with the en-vironment in mind.

“It’s a small gesture, and it won’t stop me taking the plane for my holiday in Madagascar this autumn, but it’s better than nothing,” said Austrian traveller Yvonne Kemper.

David, a 42-year-old from Germany, said he was using the Hamburg service because he needed to get to Goettingen in Germany for a business trip — a medium-sized town which, typi-cally, is served by night trains but has no airport.

OeBB spokesman Bernhard Rieder explained that Austria’s attachment to night trains is down to “a tradition stemming from Austria’s mountainous ter-rain, which limited the develop-ment of high-speed lines”.

He added that “the night train sector is distinct in that it can’t function without strong cross-border cooperation.”

“Night trains are and will con-tinue to be a niche market, but that doesn’t mean a niche market can’t be profi table.”

But Poul Kattler, from the pan-European “Back on Track” group which campaigns for more cross-border night trains, says the sec-tor should be more ambitious.

“If national railway companies were more aggressive in the mar-ket and the EU built a truly com-mon rail policy, we could off er a real transport alternative and a very popular European project,” he says.

Night train conductor Helmut Artner prepares a sleeping compartment in the sleeping car of the Austrian Federal Railways’ Nightjet train from Vienna to Berlin at the main railway station in Vienna.

Estonian far-right party challenges mainstreamAFPTallinn

Estonians voted yesterday in a general election with the centre-left coalition fi ghting

for survival in a duel with its tradi-tional liberal rivals and a surging far-right party buoyed by a back-lash from mostly rural voters in the Baltic eurozone state.

Bread-and-butter issues like taxation and public spending dominated the lacklustre cam-paign, along with tensions over Russian-language education for Estonia’s sizeable Russian minor-ity and the rural-urban divide.

Nearly 60% of the 880,690 eli-gible voters had cast their ballots by 4pm yesterday, including 40% who used e-voting in advance polling, with offi cials confi dent the online system can withstand any attempted meddling.

A poll yesterday collating e-vot-ers and those intent on using paper ballots suggests a tight race.

Prime Minister Juri Ratas’s cen-trist Centre party scored 24.5% support, narrowly trailing the lib-eral Reform party led by former MEP Kaja Kallas with 26.6%, ac-cording to pollster Kantar Emor.

Promising to slash income and excise taxes and pushing anti-im-migration rhetoric, the far-right

EKRE stands to more than dou-ble its support to 17.3%, but could struggle to fi nd coalition partners.

With fi ve to six parties expected to enter the 101-seat parliament, the splintered outcome could make for tricky coalition building.

Traditional rivals, Centre and Reform have alternated in govern-ment and even governed together over the nearly three decades since Estonia broke free from the crum-bling Soviet Union.

Both strongly support Estonia’s EU and Nato membership and have favoured austerity to keep spend-ing in check, giving the country the eurozone’s lowest debt-to-GDP ratio.

Centre has vowed to hike pen-sions by 8.4% and to replace Esto-nia’s 20% fl at income tax and 21% corporate tax with a progressive system to boost state revenue.

Nixing a progressive tax, busi-ness-friendly Reform instead wants to raise the tax-free month-ly minimum exemption and lower unemployment insurance premi-ums to aid job creation.

Joblessness hovers at just un-der 5% while economic growth is expected to slow to 2.7% this year, from 3.9% in 2018.

Alexander, a Russian-speaking factory worker who also did not give his full name, wants pension and salary hikes.

“It’s impossible to survive with the minimum wage,” he told AFP in Tallinn, referring to Estonia’s 540 euro ($615) monthly minimum.

For Lauri, an advertising spe-cialist who also declined to reveal his family name and voter pref-erence, the isolationist and con-servative social and foreign policy proposed by parties like the EKRE is cause for concern.

“There’s a trend in western Eu-rope right now, if we look at the Netherlands, at England, maybe even France. I don’t support such populism myself,” he told AFP.

While it won just seven seats in the 2015 election, the EKRE is set to capture a close third spot behind established parties.

Staunchly eurosceptic, it called for an “Estxit” referendum on Esto-nia’s EU membership, although the move would be doomed to fail in the overwhelmingly pro-EU country.

The party’s deep suspicion of Moscow translates into strong support for Nato membership and the multinational battalion the al-liance installed in Estonia in 2017 as a tripwire against possible Rus-sian adventurism.

Tonis Saarts, a Tallinn Univer-sity political scientist, describes the EKRE’s position on liberal de-mocracy, including civic and hu-man rights, rule of law and the separation of powers, as “very am-biguous” and draws comparisons to similar parties that have gained support across Europe in recent years.

The party’s surging popularity is largely rooted in the misgivings of rural Estonians who feel left be-hind after years of austerity under Centre and Reform.

“These people see few economic prospects and feel the mainstream parties don’t care much about their problems,” Saarts told AFP.

The Centre party has long been favoured by the Russian minority, comprising around a quarter of the Baltic state’s population of 1.3mn.

To avoid losing voters suspi-cious of Russia, Ratas insists that a 2004 cooperation deal with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is “frozen”.

But out of fear of losing the Rus-sian vote, he has refused to rip it up.

The minority is counting on Centre to save the existing educa-tion system comprising Estonian and Russian-language schools set up in Soviet times, while Reform and EKRE want to scrap Russian-language teaching.

Kaja Kallas, leader of the Reform Party, casts her ballot in a polling station during Estonia’s general election in Tallinn.

Italy’s centre-left PD party picks new leader a year after election rout

By Crispian Balmer, Reuters Rome

Supporters of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) yesterday voted to elect

a new leader one year after the group lost power in a humbling defeat at a national, parliamen-tary election.

Previously led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, the PD was thrown into turmoil by the 2018 ballot box beating as the electorate punished the party for not doing enough to tackle growing poverty, high unemployment and mass im-migration.

Following months of internal feuding, three candidates have put themselves forward — the gov-ernor of the Lazio region, Nicola Zingaretti, the interim PD chief Maurizio Martina and Roberto Gi-achetti, who is seen as the closest to Renzi.

Yesterday’s primary election is being held in some 7,000 voting booths set up around Italy by PD supporters.

Opinion polls suggest Zinga-retti, whose actor-brother plays the lead role in the Italian TV po-lice drama Inspector Montalbano, should win more than 50% of the vote.

If he fails to take an outright ma-

jority, party chiefs will gather on March 17 to decide the matter.

The primary vote comes at a time of growing tension within Italy’s coalition government as the far-right League and anti-system 5-Star Movement struggle to overcome growing policy disputes in the face of an unexpected eco-nomic slowdown.

In a heartening sign for Italy’s left, tens of thousands took to the streets of the fi nancial capital Mi-lan on Saturday to denounce rac-ism and the anti-migrant policies of the League — the largest such protest since the government took offi ce.

The League has surged in the

polls on the back of its anti-im-migration stance, with a survey in Corriere della Sera daily at the weekend putting its support at 35.9%, more than double the 17.4% it won in last March’s ballot.

By contrast support for 5-Star has dropped to 21.2% from 32.7%, as the group struggles to adjust from life as a vociferous, opposi-tion force to a ruling government party.

Corriere put backing for the PD at 18.5%, little changed from a year ago but up from 16.1% that it reg-istered in a similar survey at the start of February.

All three PD leadership con-tenders have ruled out cutting any

coalition deals with 5-Star in fu-ture and say early elections would be needed if the current govern-ment fell.

Renzi, whose confrontational leadership style made him a high-ly divisive fi gure both inside and outside his party, has not openly backed any of the three candidates but has dismissed speculation that he might breakaway to create his own group.

“Whoever wins should not fear from me the guerrilla warfare that I suff ered,” he wrote in a Facebook post at the weekend, referring to the ferocious PD infi ghting that marked his time in charge and eventually led to a party schism.

INDIA


Dynasty’sinterest abovenation forCongress: PMIANSAmethi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday lashed out at the previous Congress

governments, alleging that they kept the defence forces exposed to danger for several years af-ter failing to get commissions in defence deals and to protect the “dynasty”.

“They always put personal interest over national interest,” Modi said at a public rally in his fi rst visit to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha con-stituency as prime minister.

Modi had come to Amethi be-fore polling in the 2014 general elections to request people to vote for his “sister Smriti Irani”.

The prime minister stressed how eff orts to get the Indian Air Force state-of-art fi ghter jets in the form of Rafale were delayed and blocked by the Congress. “As we expedite the process, the fi rst Rafale jets will be in Indian skies soon,” he said while charging the Congress with spreading false-hoods about the Rafale deal.

“Everyone from the Supreme Court to the CAG (comptrol-ler and auditor general) have cleared the deal as one which is transparent and in national in-terest... (but) some people were still spreading misinformation... the dismay of not getting their cuts and commissions in defence deals is writ large on their faces,” he said.

Tearing into Rahul Gandhi, without specifi cally naming him, the prime minister said between 2009 to 2014, the defence forces’ demands for 186,000 bulletproof jackets had been neglected.

“It was our government that ordered 230,000 bullet proof jackets. Development and na-tional interest were blocked

for years because it did not suit power centres in that party and the dynasty,” he alleged.

Referring to the ordinance fac-tory here, whose foundation the prime minister laid and which will produce AK-203 assault ri-fl es and subsequently export to other countries, Modi said work on the project had begun way back in 2009.

“You can see for yourself their seriousness towards you and de-velopment,” he said as people started shouting slogans of ‘Ra-hul Gandhi chor hai’ (Rahul Gan-dhi is a thief).

After Defence Minister Nir-mala Sitaraman read out Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mes-sage extending his good wishes for the joint Indian-Russian venture, Modi said while Rahul had in his speeches promised he “would ensure Made in Ujjain, Made in Jabalpur”, he had made it possible for the assault rifl es to be ‘Made in Amethi’.

The prime minister claimed that Rahul had promised 1,500 jobs to local youth while only 200 were given and “now this person is going around the country, giv-ing lectures on employment”.

Modi, who inaugurated nine projects built at a cost of Rs5.38bn and laid foundation

stones for eight other projects, also accused Rahul of neglecting his constituency.

Referring to a cycle factory which was to come up in Amethi, the prime minister said while land was allotted and hopes kindled, it was later taken away through the back door for per-sonal use.

“People who do not have a fair vision, a fair sense of empathy with the poor cannot be trusted. Those whose intentions are bad, how will they ensure the welfare of the country,” he asked.

Referring to Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, the prime minister said she was sent to Amethi to fi ght the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and though she may not have won the electoral battle, she had certainly won the hearts of people here.

Lauding the zeal with which she had taken care of the con-stituency since 2014, Modi said Amethi was a glaring example of how his government followed the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (collective eff orts, inclu-sive growth) .

“We have shown here and elsewhere too that we will work relentlessly for people who have voted for us and even for those who have not,” he said.

Govt not to share proofof air strikes on PakistanReuters/DPASrinagar

Finance Minister Arun Jait-ley said the government would not share proof that

“a very large number” of mili-tants were killed in air strikes in-side Pakistan, after doubts were raised on whether there were any casualties in the attack that stoked tensions between the two countries.

The fl are up appeared to be easing after Pakistan handed back a captured Indian fi ghter pilot on Friday night, amid ef-forts by global powers to prevent another war between the two na-tions.

However shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), a frequent feature in recent weeks, con-tinued, said military offi cials on both sides.

Hostilities escalated rapidly following a suicide car bombing

on February 14 that killed at least 40 paramilitary police in Indian-administered Kashmir.

India accuses Pakistan of har-bouring the Jaish-e Mohamed group that claimed the bombing.

Indian warplanes carried out air strikes on Tuesday inside northeast Pakistan’s Balakot on what New Delhi called militant camps.

Islamabad denied any such camps existed, as did local vil-lagers in the area when Reuters visited.

Jaitley, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top lieutenants, said “no security agencies ever share operational details”.

“It’s a very irresponsible stand,” Jaitley said at a confer-ence organised by the India To-day media group.

“The armed forces must have, and our security and intelligence agencies must have, a full leeway in dealing with situations, and if anybody wants operational de-

tails to be made public...he cer-tainly does not understand the system.”

Indian Air Force offi cials said ear-lier it was up to the political leaders to decide when and how to release evidence of the Balakot strike.

Jaitley dismissed suggestions that the rapid escalation in ten-sions with Pakistan had anything to do with domestic politics ahead of a general election due by May.

Pollsters expect the ruling par-ty to benefi t from the nationalis-tic passion sweeping the country.

Meanwhile at least eight peo-ple have died in a fi erce gun bat-tle between militants and army forces in Kashmir over the past three days, offi cials said yester-day.

Among those killed in clashes since Friday were fi ve Indian se-curity forces personnel, two mil-itants and a civilian, when forces entered villages in the Kupwara district after receiving intelli-gence of militant presence there.

Many hurt in clashesafter BJP rallies haltedIANSKolkata

Several people were injured as clashes broke out in vari-ous parts of West Bengal

yesterday after the police sought to stop BJP activists from holding bike rallies.

Launched by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Fri-day, the bike rallies are part of the party’s nationwide outreach cam-paign ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, in West Bengal, the rallies were denied permission be-cause of board examinations and traffi c issues, a senior police of-fi cer said.

In Kolkata, police intercepted the rally participants on Central Avenue, Jorabagan, Kakurgachi and other important points, while disruptions were reported from North 24 Parganas, Howrah, West Burdwan, South Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and West Medinipur dis-tricts.

Workers of the BJP and the rul-ing Trinamool Congress clashed in Baraboni of West Burdwan district during the rally, police said.

BJP leader and Union minister Babul Supriyo, who led the bike rally in Baraboni, accused the po-lice of attempts to stop the event.

“West Bengal Police tried so hard to obstruct BJP’s peace-ful bike rally at Amdiha More, Baraboni but how could they have stopped us when we had the sup-port of the people with us?” he asked in a series of tweets.

In West Medinipur’s Goaltore area, BJP activists tried to break police barricades, leading to a ba-ton-charge and scuffl e, which left several people injured. “We have detained eight BJP workers,” an offi cer of the Goaltore police sta-tion said.

In Durgapur, the activists clashed with police, following which the Rapid Action Force was called in to restore order.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said around 100 such rallies were being organised in Bengal.

Facebook Vice-President Joel Kaplan (global public pol-icy) will appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology (IT), in New Delhi on March 6, to elucidate what it and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram are doing to safeguard the citizen rights across platforms. “Senior Facebook off icials will appear on March 6 before a parliamentary panel to outline the specific measures taken to ensure safety of users on its platform,” sources said. Ajit Mohan, vice-president and managing editor of Facebook India, and Ankhi Das, di-rector, will accompany Kaplan, sources said. CEO Mark Zuckerberg or COO Sheryl Sandberg are not travelling to India for the hearing.

Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was discharged from a hospital in Panaji yesterday, an hour after he was admitted for “tests and examina-tions”, an off icial said. “The chief minister was discharged after few medical tests. The reports are awaited. He has left for his residence,” the off icial from the state-run Goa Medical College, said on the condition of anonymity. Parrikar was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in February 2018 and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mum-bai, Delhi and New York since. He was admitted at the Goa Medical College for nearly a week last month after he suff ered from internal bleeding.

Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) and N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), disgruntled BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha – who has quit the BJP – are among the top leaders the Aam Aadmi Party is looking at inviting to be star campaigners in the Lok Sabha polls, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal holding centre stage, a party leader said. “The party is preparing a list of those who will campaign for it in the national capital for the upcoming polls. There are a few names we are considering and after a nod from senior party leaders, we will send an invite to these campaign-ers,” the party leader said.

Transport fuel rates continued to increase in tandem with global crude prices, which have been rising fol-lowing the implementation of output cuts by oil pro-ducers from January 1. State-run oil marketing firms increased petrol prices by 13 paise per litre and diesel prices by 14-15 paise across the four metros, as per data from Indian Oil Corporation. Petrol price in Delhi was yesterday increased to Rs72.07 per litre, while in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai the fuel cost was Rs77.70, Rs74.16 and Rs74.84, respectively. Similarly, the price of diesel in the capital went up to Rs67.41 per litre. In Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, diesel sold at Rs69.20, Rs70.62 and Rs71.24 a litre, respectively.

State-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman G Satheesh Reddy is the joint winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the US, the Virginia-based aerospace technical society said yesterday. Reddy, 55, is also the defence secre-tary and director-general of DRDO’s aerospace arm Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in Bengaluru. The other winner of the missile award, Rondell J Wilson is the retired principal engineering fellow of Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona.

Ailing Parrikar discharged after hospital check-up

AAP ‘eyeing Mamata,Naidu for poll campaign’

Facebook vice president to depose before House panel

Petrol, diesel pricescontinue to rise

American award fortop defence scientist

HEARING PEOPLEPOLITICS DATA ACCOLADE

Muslim brides-to-be gather as they participate in a mass wedding ceremony in Ahmedabad yesterday.

Mass weddingCongressblamesTRS fordefectionsIANSHyderabad

The Telangana state Con-gress staged a sit-in at the Assembly premises, here

yesterday, protesting against the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for allegedly en-gineering defections in the op-position party.

The party announced that it would wage a full scale con-stitutional battle against Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao who engineered defection of two Congress MLAs - Athram Sakku and Rega Kantha Rao - to the TRS ahead of elections to the state legislative council, sched-uled on March 12.

Wearing black badges, state Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Congress Leg-islature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other MLAs and MLCs staged the pro-test.

The Congress leaders said despite getting majority in the recent elections, the TRS was trying to engineer defections to ensure that there is no opposi-tion to it in the state.

Reddy accused KCR of turning Telangana into a symbol of op-pression and injustice.

He demanded immediate dis-qualifi cation from the House of both MLAs to deprive them their voting rights in the MLC elec-tions. A complaint would also be lodged with the Election Com-mission seeking their immediate disqualifi cation, he added.

Reddy said it was essential for all, especially the elected repre-sentatives, to honour the deci-sion of the people to facilitate the functioning of state in a demo-cratic manner.

CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka accused KCR of murdering the democracy in Telangana. He said the Congress would expose the unconstitutional and undemo-cratic practices of KCR.

Meanwhile, in a jolt to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Te-langana, one of its two legislators yesterday decided to switch loy-alties to the ruling TRS.

Sandra Venkat Veeraiah said he was impressed with the de-velopment and welfare pro-grammes taken up by the TRS government and hence decided to join the ruling party.

An employee of Indian Railways holds flowers to welcome passengers of the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express before its departure at Howrah near Kolkata yesterday. Indian Railways’ Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express completed 50 years of service yesterday. The Howrah Rajdhani was the first Rajdhani Express introduced in India, and it is the first fully air-conditioned train in the country.

Rajdhani Express turns 50

Posters opposing Modi crop up in AmethiAhead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile visit to Amethi yesterday posters opposing him cropped up in many parts of the Uttar Pradesh district. Put up by Jaisingh Pratap Yadav, a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, the posters and banners ask Modi to give a “report card of his five years in power” and to “go back”. Yadav, who is a member of the state executive of the SP, has alleged step-motherly treatment by the

BJP government towards the constituency. He also accused the Modi government of taking away from Amethi projects like the Mega Food Park, Hindustan Paper Mill and the IT parks. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, who unsuccessfully contested against the Gandhi scion in 2014 and has been since then rearing the constituency as her own, has inspected the ground and other venues ahead of Modi’s visit.

US threat loomsover foreignfi rms tradingwith CubaAFPHavana

US President Donald Trump’s administration is brandishing the threat

of sanctions against foreign companies “traffi cking” with Cuba, a move hitherto moth-balled by Washington so as not to off end allies.

The White House has broken with two decades of precedent in threatening to activate Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which extended the US embargo to ap-ply to foreign companies trading with Cuba.

The European Union is Cuba’s largest foreign investor and will watch with interest as the count-down to Trump’s March 17 dead-line to activate new sanctions against Cuba approaches.

Title III specifi cally penal-ises foreign companies allegedly “traffi cking” property that was confi scated by the Cuban regime under Fidel Castro but previ-ously belonged to US nationals or Cuban immigrants to the US.

Although the Helms-Burton Act was signed in 1996, Title III was been systematically sus-pended every six months to pre-vent discord between the US and key partners, including the EU.

But that may come to an end as early as this year, Trump fi xed a 45-day suspension from Febru-ary 1 that expires on March 17.

“I think the Trump adminis-tration is trying to create confu-sion... to scare off investment in Cuba,” the European Union’s ambassador to Havana, Alberto Navarro said. He said the EU would view the move as “a sword of Damocles” for its companies in Cuba.

“We’re very worried about this,” added Navarro. “We can-not accept that a country tries to impose its laws outside its own borders...that would be a return to the jungle.”

After years of thaw intro-duced under the administration of US president Barack Obama, Washington has returned to the

language of the Cold War in the once-again frosty US-Cuba re-lationship.

“We encourage any person do-ing business in Cuba to reconsid-er whether they are traffi cking in confi scated property and abet-ting this dictatorship,” said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January.

Activating Title III could open the way for thousands of claims against Cuba in US courts.

For Cuban political scientist and former diplomat Jesus Arbo-leya, Title III is a “legal and po-litical aberration” that will create new diffi culties for Cuba to at-tract foreign investment.

Cuba needs that to boost its economy, which is already ham-pered by US sanctions.

In 2017 it attracted only $2bn in investments — it needs $5bn to spark growth.

“Our country is ready to meet whatever measures that rein-force the embargo, including the application of new elements to the Helms-Burton law,” said Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

Among the companies that could be aff ected by Title III are Canadian fi rm Sherritt Inter-national, which part owns the Pedro Soto Alba nickel plant that used to belong to the Moa Bay Mining Company.

Another is the emblem-atic Hotel Habana Libre run by Spain’s Melia but which used to be a Hilton.

During the 1960s, Castro na-tionalised a number of foreign enterprises.

Firms from Britain, Canada, France, Spain and Switzerland received compensation but the breakdown of relations with Washington, followed by the embargo, scuppered any possi-bility of a deal with the US.

A US commission for the cer-tifi cation of claims abroad rati-fi ed almost 6,000 claims worth $1.9bn, which would now be worth $6bn at a 6% annual inter-est rate, according to a study by Richard Feinberg of the Brook-ings Latin America Initiative.

Guaido calls for protestsahead of return to CaracasAFPCaracas

Venezuela’s opposition leader called for mass protests across the coun-

try today as he announced his re-turn to the country after a week touring Latin American allies.

“I’m announcing my return to the country. I am calling on the Venezuelan people to mobi-lise all over the country today at 11am (1500GMT),” Guaido said on Twitter.

Guaido, who has been recog-nised by more than 50 countries as interim president, gave no details of when or how he would return.

He asked supporters to pay

close attention for messages of where the demonstrations would take place today. “Let’s go Venezuela,” he said.

Defying a travel ban by Presi-dent Nicolas Maduro, Guaido slipped across the border to Co-lombia last week to try to bring in the aid and to meet with vis-iting US Vice President Mike Pence.

The 35-year-old political newcomer continued on to Bra-zil, where he met the new right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, and on Friday travelled to Para-guay and Argentina.

He has spent the weekend in Ecuador.

Guaido stunned the world on January 23, proclaiming himself Venezuela’s acting president

after the National Assembly he leads declared Maduro a usurper and illegitimate over his May re-election which was widely criti-cised as fraudulent.

Guaido wants to oust Ma-duro and set up a transitional government ahead of new elec-tions.

Maduro — who retains the support of Venezuela’s powerful military — enjoys strong sup-port from Russia, which accuses Washington of interventionism, and China, which is concerned over the fate of billions of dol-lars in loans to Maduro’s regime.

The socialist president warned last week that Guaido should “respect the law” and would have to “face justice” if he returns to the country.

Guaido said last week he in-tended to return to Venezuela “despite threats” to arrest him.

The US and other allies have expressed concern for his safety.

The European Union has warned the Venezuelan gov-ernment not to arrest opposi-tion leader Juan Guaido. “Any measure that could put at risk Guaido’s freedom, safety or per-sonal integrity would represent a major escalation of tensions and meet the fi rm condemna-tion of the international com-munity,” the EU’S top diplomat, foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, said.

“The members of National Assembly enjoy constitutionally granted immunity that needs to be fully respected,” she wrote in

a statement issued on behalf of EU member states.

Lawmakers “should be able to exercise their parliamentary mandate free of intimidation on them or their family members,” Mogherini added.

Meanwhile, Russia said it is determined to prevent a military intervention in Venezuela. The speaker of the country’s upper house of parliament said yester-day “we are very afraid that the US may stage any provocations to provoke bloodshed and fi nd a reason and pretext for inter-vention in Venezuela.” Federa-tion Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko added “we will do our utmost to prevent this.”

Matviyenko did not say how Russia would block such a move.

Vale president stepsdown temporarilyAFPBrasília

Brazilian mining giant Vale accepted the temporary resignation of its president

Fabio Schvartsman and three ex-ecutives, weeks after a mine dam owned by the fi rm collapsed in the southeastern town of Bru-madinho, killing 186 and leaving 122 missing.

According to a statement, Schvartsman and the other exec-utives submitted the requests for “temporary removal from offi ce” — which were accepted immedi-ately — after prosecutors recom-mended their dismissal.

In a letter addressed to the fi rm’s board of directors, which was leaked to some Brazilian media, Schvartsman made the request “for the benefi t of the continuity of the company’s op-eration and support for victims and their families.”

He defended his management in the wake of the disaster — but

added his presence at the helm of the fi rm, which is under in-vestigation over the tragedy, had come to be “seen as an incon-venience.”

Vale, meanwhile, said in its statement that it had appointed executive director of base metals Eduardo de Salles Bartolomeo as interim CEO.

However, it did not imme-diately confi rm how long that interim period would be, or the company’s long term plan.

Vale, the world’s biggest pro-ducer of iron ore, owned the dam that collapsed on January 25, washing over the iron ore mine.

Most of those buried under its thick mud were mine workers, though some nearby residents were also engulfed.

So far neither the company — which has been fi ned millions and had its assets frozen to pay for future compensation — nor the authorities have off ered any explanation of what caused the disaster.

The disaster was the second involving Vale in three years in the same region of Brazil, after a 2015 collapse of another tailings dam at a jointly owned mine that caused what is considered the country’s worst-ever environ-mental catastrophe.

Brazil’s average daily iron ore exports in the fi rst four weeks of February outpaced shipments from a year ago, despite the Vale SA disaster.

For the month to February 22, Brazil exported 1.4mn tonnes of iron ore per business day on average, exceeding the average daily shipments of the mineral in February 2018 by 7.8%, accord-ing to data from foreign trade agency Secex.

That places Brazil’s February iron exports well on track to out-strip the 23.8mn tonnes it export-ed in the same month last year.

The pace of exports slowed slightly compared with Janu-ary when an average of 1.5mn tonnes of iron ore per day were shipped.

Giant tortoises releasedon Galapagos islandAFPQuito

Conservationists have re-leased 155 giant tortoises on an island in the Gala-

pagos to help replace a similar species that died out 150 years ago, offi cials said.

The young tortoises, of the breed Chelonoidis hoodensis, were set free on Santa Fe island, the Galapagos National Park service announced.

The tortoises, each aged around 10-12 years old, were raised at the Fausto Llerena breeding centre and are part of a programme to repopulate the island at the cen-tre of the Pacifi c archipelago.

Also known as the Espanola Giant Tortoise, the newly freed reptiles are a similar species to the Chelonoidis spp, which are today extinct.

They originally come from Espanola Island, also known as Hood Island, in the far southeast of the Galapagos chain.

“The tortoises that have been released carry a microchip un-der their skin with a permanent

number attached to make it easi-er to track them,” said Jorge Car-rion, the head of the Galapagos National Park.

The newly released tortoises join 394 others which were set free on the 24.7 square kilometer island. The programme, run by the national park service and the NGO Galapagos Conservancy, is due to run until 2026.

The giant tortoises are “engi-neers of the ecosystem” because they help spread vegetation in their natural habitat, said Carri-on. The fi rst of the creatures was released on to the island in 2015, said Washington Tapia, in charge of Galapagos Conservancy’s gi-ant turtle project.

The animals are “between 10 and 12 years old and should start to reproduce in the next fi ve to seven years,” he said.

Located some 600 miles off the coast of south America, the islands belong to Ecuador and are classifi ed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Giant tortoises are believed to have arrived on the remote volcanic island chain about 3mn to 4mn years ago, borne by ocean currents.

ReutersTijuana, Mexico

The US is aiming to ramp up in coming weeks a programme to send Cen-

tral American asylum seekers to Mexico to await US court dates, an experimental policy that Mexican offi cials and migrant shelters say risks overwhelming an under-

funded system. In late January, the US began sending central Ameri-can migrants who crossed at the Tijuana-San Diego border back to Mexico to wait as their asylum requests were processed, a pro-gramme called Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP.

On Friday, a US offi cial said sev-eral government agencies met to discuss implementing the policy in more border cities.

Rights groups are simultane-ously suing the US government to try to close down the programme, which plaintiff s says breaks the law and endangers refugees.

The US offi cial, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the programme would likely be ex-panded in the next few weeks, and that one option was the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border, which saw a surge in migrant ar-

rivals in February. Asylum claims from central America have been the fastest growing segment of immigration across the southern border and the policy is US Presi-dent Donald Trump’s most radi-cal eff ort yet to dissuade more migrants from using asylum to reach the US.

One of the fi rst people to be sent back was Salvadoran fruit seller Yanira Esmeralda Chavez, who

waited in line in Tijuana for fi ve weeks to ask for asylum at the US border.

She said she fl ed her home when men threatened to kill her son unless she gave them part of her earnings and the 11-year-old boy joined their vicious street gang.

“I have nowhere to go and no money for me or for my children. I’m afraid of being in Mexico, the

crime here is like back home,” Chavez said at the Madre Asunta shelter, where she is waiting with three of her children for an im-migration hearing in San Diego on March 27.

Critics of the existing asylum system say many immigrants end up waiting years for court dates in the US, and that forcing them to stay in Mexico could help cut down on the number of appli-

cations. But Chavez and others waiting in Mexico interviewed by Reuters said they would have left their homes regardless of the new policy, to protect their families.

The head of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute (INM), To-natiuh Guillen, warned Mexico’s border cities would struggle to look after vulnerable asylum seek-ers for long periods.

Mexico frets over US plans to take asylum policy to new cities

Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido poses for a picture with a baby before leaving his hotel in Salinas, Ecuador, yesterday.

Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benitez (left) and Bolivia’s President Evo Morales pose for a picture in the Bolivian city of Oruro.

All smiles

LATIN AMERICA15Gulf Times


PAKISTAN


PM directs PIA to bring people stranded in GulfA day after Pakistan par-

tially opened its air space and allowed domestic and

international airlines to resume fl ight operations at four airports, Prime Minister Imran Khan or-dered the national fl ag carrier to give priority to the passengers stranded in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries.

The fl ight operations at the international airports in Kara-chi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta fully resumed and for-eign airlines, as well as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), be-came operational.

However, thousands of Paki-stani passengers hit by the sud-

den cancellation of their fl ights were still waiting in diff erent countries for their turn to be taken back home.

PIA’s fl ights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing are still sus-pended.

A PIA spokesman said that restoration of its normal fl ight schedule from Karachi, Islama-bad, Peshawar and Quetta sta-tions started after “remaining suspended for four days”.

According to a PIA statement, during the last four days, more than 400 fl ights and 25,000 pas-sengers were aff ected, and more than 8,000 passengers had been transported to their destinations since the restoration of the fl ight operations.

Quoting Aviation Minister MuhammEd Mian Soomro, the

statement said that PM Khan had given instructions to fl y the stranded passengers on prior-ity “especially, those who are stuck in Saudi Arabia and Gulf as they may be facing a shortage of funds and expiry of their visas”.

Following the instructions, the statement said that PIA chief Air Marshal Arshad Malik assured the government that “every pos-sible eff ort will be carried out to clear the backlog within the shortest possible span of time”. He said that very soon the situ-ation would return to normalcy.

“However, complete restora-tion will happen when fl ight op-erations from across the country resume. PIA fl ights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing re-main temporarily suspended,” the statement added.

Resumption of Pakistan’s cur-rency trade with Dubai after a gap of three days is likely to im-prove dollar supply in the open market.

The dollar traded at Rs140.50 in the open market on February 27, the day on which the Indian war planes crossed the line of control but started falling from the very next day to trade at Rs139.20 in the open market.

Currency dealers said that following air space violation by India, dollar rates increased as demand shot up which was sub-sequently satiated by the State Bank of Pakistan which started supplying dollars in the market.

“Now there is no shortage of dollars since demand is at its lowest level. The market volume has dropped to $2-3mn com-

pared to $5-6mn in normal days’ trading,” said Forex Associa-tion of Pakistan president Malik Bostan.

He added, “Today we have ex-ported foreign currencies to Du-bai equal to an amount about $8 to $10mn. This amount of dol-lars would return to our market on Monday which may create surplus in the open market.”

The current trading volume is not more than $3mn which means banks would receive the rest of dollars. For the last two months, exchange companies have been surrendering their 50-70% dollars to the banks.

The reserves with the schedule banks have also increased since December 2018 to $6.779bn in-dicating an addition of $226mn during the period.

InternewsKarachi

Washington says trying to fi nd out if US-built jets were used

The United States said yesterday it was try-ing to fi nd out if Paki-

stan used US-built F-16 jets to down an Indian warplane, potentially in violation of US agreements, as the stand-off between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours appeared to be easing.

Pakistan and India both carried out aerial bombing missions this week, includ-ing a clash on Wednesday that saw an Indian pilot shot down over the disputed region of Kashmir in an incident that alarmed global powers and sparked fears of a war.

A Pakistan military spokes-man on Wednesday denied In-dian claims that Pakistan used F-16 jets.

Pakistan returned the cap-tured Indian pilot on Friday in a high-profi le handover Islamabad touted as a “peace gesture”, which appeared to signifi cantly dial down ten-sions, but both sides remain on high alert.

At the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border be-tween the two countries in the disputed Kashmir region, there was relative calm in the past 24 hours, both armies said yesterday. But Indian se-curity forces said they were carrying out major anti-mili-tancy operations on their side on Kashmir and had shot dead two militants.

The US embassy in Islama-bad said yesterday it was look-ing into reports that Pakistan used F-16 jets to shoot down the Indian pilot, a potential violation of Washington’s military sale agreements that limit how Pakistan can use the planes.

“We are aware of these re-ports and are seeking more information,” a US embassy spokesperson said. “We take all allegations of misuse of de-fence articles very seriously.”

While Pakistan has denied

using F-16 jets during a dog-fi ght that downed an Indian Mig-21 warplane over Kash-mir on Wednesday, it has not specifi ed which planes it used, though it assembles Chinese-designed JF-17 fi ghter jets on its soil.

Pakistan has a long history of buying US military hard-ware, especially in the years after 2001 when Islamabad was seen as a key partner in the US-led War on Terror.

Pakistan bought several batches of F-16 planes, built by Lockheed Martin Corp, from Washington before rela-tions soured and the United States cut off subsidised sales in 2016.

It is not clear what exactly these so-called “end-user agreements” restrict Pakistan from doing. “The US Govern-ment does not comment on or confi rm pending investiga-tions of this nature,” the US embassy added.

On Thursday, Indian of-fi cials displayed to report-ers parts of what they called an air-to-air missile that can only be fi red from F-16 jets, al-leging they were used to bomb its side of the disputed Kash-mir border on Wednesday.

A Pakistan military spokesman told reporters on Wednesday that Pakistani jets “locked” on Indian targets to demonstrate Pakistan’s ca-pacity to strike back at India, but then chose to fi re in an empty fi eld where there would be no casualties.

Pakistan said its mission on Wednesday was in retaliation for India violating its airspace and sovereignty a day earlier, when Indian jets bombed a forest area near the northern city of Balakot.

India said it struck at mili-tant training camps, but Is-lamabad denied any such camps existed, as did some villagers in the area when Reuters visited.

By Drazen Jorgic and Fayaz Bukhari, ReutersIslamabad/Srinagar, India

UK urges action

British Prime Minister Theresa May emphasised the importance of Pakistan

taking action against all terror-ist groups in a call with Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday, May’s offi ce said.

India and Pakistan came to the brink of war this week as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in In-dian-controlled Kashmir. India accusing Pakistan of harbouring the Jaish-e Mohammed group behind the attack, which Islama-bad denied.

“She welcomed his commit-ment to reducing tensions with India,” May’s offi ce said of the call with Khan.

“The leaders discussed the need to address the causes of this confl ict. The prime minis-ter emphasised the importance of Pakistan taking action against all terrorist groups, in sup-port of global eff orts to combat terrorism.”

ReutersLondon

People hold signs during a vigil for peace in Lahore yesterday as tensions have soared between India and Pakistan since a suicide bombing in Kashmir last month killed 40 Indian paramilitaries. Tensions between India and Pakistan raged on March 2 as heavy firing by their armies killed at least seven people on either side of their fiercely disputed Kashmir border.

Vigil for peace

“We are aware of these reports and are seeking more information”

Tourists head to hills covered with snow

The snow covered moun-tains of Murree near Pa-kistani capital Islamabad

are not only showcasing beauti-ful scenery of snow nowadays, but have also become a point of attraction for tourists from all over the country.

A large number of tourists from across the country espe-cially from Punjab visited snow covered Malka-e-Kohsar, Mur-ree on the weekend to enjoy the mesmerising spell of snowfall on these hills.

Murree is blanketed with white sheets of snow this sea-son. Amid the new spell of snowfall, the markets and streets have come to life in Murree as people from diff er-ent parts of the country started thronging to the area.

“The tourist infl ow is likely to increase as visitors would visit key tourist spots after snowfall and the weekend will prove a boon for the hotel industry,” said a tourist in Murree.

“The snowfall has delighted me because I came from Lahore to enjoy it,” said Ahmad Raza, a tourist.

Another tourist Hina Zia with her family was of the view that though the intense snowfall had made it diffi cult for them to move their vehicles on the road she was enjoying the weather.

She further said that she along with her family had arrived at

the hill station from Wazirabad to enjoy weekend.

“People coming to enjoy the snow are advised to keep their tanks full,” he said while point-ing to the long queue of sta-tionary cars. He further urged visitors to bring proper winter gear including warm clothes and shoes. “Please don’t wear heels or dress shoes with leather soles.”

A tourist Bushra Fakhar talk-ing to private news channel said, it is blessing in the month of March that the country is still receiving more rains and snowfall and the current spell of snowfall has transformed Pa-kistan’s northern region into a winter wonderland.

“It is amazing to see some of the best colours of nature here. I had never imagined that I would be witnessing snowfall like this in my life,” said Haris Shoaib, a tourist.

The enthusiastic tourists built snowmen and threw snowballs at each other. Some were posing for photographs and others were busy in taking selfi es.

On the other hand, the weath-er sparked excitement through social media where people shared hundreds of photos and videos of snow-blanketed towns.

Another visitor said people out on the streets of Murree enjoyed food in the cold, amid snow topped trees and shops, cap their meals. They enjoyed their food with coff ee and Kash-miri or green tea.

InternewsIslamabad

Healing process for 2010 attack scars

Whenever umpire Ah-san Raza looks at his scars from the deadly

militant attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Lahore, 10 years ago on Sunday, he shudders.

Raza, 44, was lucky to survive the gun, grenade and rocket as-sault which changed not only his life, but also the landscape of cricket in Pakistan.

Raza, then a reserve um-pire for the second Test, was on his way to the Gaddafi Sta-dium with other match offi cials when the team bus just a few yards ahead of them came un-der fi re, killing eight police and bystanders and wounding six others.

Two bullets pierced his lungs and liver, and after emerging from a coma, it was nearly six months before Raza could walk again.

“My wounds have healed but whenever I look at them I remember the gruesome inci-dent,” Raza said.

“Whenever someone men-tions that incident I request him not to remind me of that tragedy.”

The attack proved a heavy blow to cricket-loving Paki-stan: international games were suspended in the country, and a decade later most foreign teams still refuse to tour.

With Pakistan playing their home series in the United Arab Emirates, the national cricket board estimates it has missed out on nearly $200mn in revenues.

Even the Pakistan Super League, a star-studded Twen-ty20 tournament, is mainly played in the UAE although it is gradually inching back to Pa-

kistan by holding more games there each year.

After the attack on the Sri Lankan team, it was six years before Pakistan hosted any in-ternational cricket when min-nows Zimbabwe toured in 2015.

Under heavy security, Gadd-afi Stadium hosted the PSL fi -nal in March 2017, and a World XI also played three Twenty20 internationals in Lahore.

But the biggest event was Sri Lanka’s return for a one-off Twenty20 international in Oc-tober 2017 - eight years after they were attacked and airlifted from the same stadium.

Fittingly Raza, who also of-fi ciated during the Zimbabwe series, was one of the on-fi eld umpires in the Sri Lanka match.

“I was very emotional that day,” he said. “To their credit PCB (Pa-kistan Cricket Board) has taken gradual steps and I am 100% con-fi dent that more foreign teams will come in the near future.”

The West Indies also played three Twenty20 internationals in Karachi in last May

From next week eight PSL games will be held in Lahore and Karachi, including the March 17 fi nal, with the PCB confi rm-ing the games will go ahead as planned despite escalating ten-sions over the fi ercely disputed Kashmir border with India re-sulting in military skirmishes in recent days.

Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal believes hosting the PSL matches will gradually restore

the confi dence of foreign teams, but it has been a long, slow process and the major nations are still staying away.

“International cricket will return to Pakistan but it will be through a process which has already started with the hold-ing of the fi nal rounds of the PSL in the country and tours by the World XI, Sri Lanka and the West Indies,” said Iqbal.

Last year, New Zealand re-fused to play a Twenty20 se-ries in Pakistan, and in Janu-ary, Australia turned down a request to visit for two one-day internationals.

However, the PCB is hopeful it will convince a major team to tour the country this year starting with Sri Lanka, who

are scheduled to play two Tests against Pakistan in October.

“I have no doubt that Paki-stan is safe. But there is a per-ception in people’s mind, and players have to play in their comfort level so until they have that reassurance it won’t be easy, but we are working on that,” said PCB chairman Ehsan Mani last in an interview with website Cricnfo last October.

“More people we get from outside, whatever the level, a message goes back that how beautiful the country is and how good people are. So people go back with a good percep-tion, it sends a soft image of the country, and I believe this will work to bring back cricket to Pakistan.”

By Shahid Hashmi, AFPLahore

A family rides past the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore yesterday, the day of the 10th anniversary of a deadly militant attack on the Sri Lanka’s cricket team bus.

PHILIPPINES17Gulf Times


Aquino, Abad ‘should be charged for vaccine deaths’By Javier J Ismael Manila Times

Senator Richard Gor-don yesterday expressed disappointment over

the non-inclusion of former president Benigno Aquino and former Budget secretary Flor-encio Abad in the list of per-sons indicted for reckless im-prudence resulting in homicide over deaths allegedly linked to the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

Gordon, chairman of the Sen-ate Blue Ribbon committee, said Aquino and Abad, along with former Health secretary Janet Garin, should be held criminally liable for the mess.

“Former president Aquino is responsible because he caused the purchase of Dengvaxia and in the process caused irrevers-ible damage, possibly death to children, and anxiety, sleepless nights, unnecessary expense on the part of the parents and guardians,” he said.

“The greatest sin and trans-gression of Aquino was to put the lives of Filipino children in grave peril. He simply did not care. He’s insensitive and lacks compassion,” Gordon added.

A blue ribbon committee re-port submitted earlier by Gor-don recommended the indict-ment of Aquino for violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Prac-tices Act,” as well as RA 6713 or the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Of-fi cials and Employees.”

Gordon said Aquino’s two meetings with offi cials of vac-cine manufacturer Sanofi Pas-teur violated RA 6713.

“President Aquino is guilty of

malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance. From the time he inappropriately met with Sanofi in Beijing on November 9 2014, and once again a year later in December 1, 2015,” the report said.

Gordon said that by meeting with mere senior vice presi-dents of Sanofi Pasteur, Aquino was sending a strong message of perception that he was dispens-ing undue patronage.

Gordon said Abad commit-ted technical malversation for releasing funds for a pro-gramme that was not in the national budget. “Malacanang should take a second look at it, I hope the DoJ (Department of Justice) secretary is listen-ing and he will take a second

look at it, because as far as I am concerned ‘they did not look at the procurement aspect and the most reckless was that they gave the drugs even if they were not sure that it will work,” Gor-don emphasised.

In a statement on the indict-ment prepared by the offi ce of Justice Undersecretary Mark Perete, DoJ spokesman, stated that the Justice department has indicted Garin and four others of reckless imprudence result-ing in homicide over deaths al-legedly caused by controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvax-ia.

The statement made no men-tion about Aquino and Abad.

Malacanang on Saturday welcomed the indictment of

Garin and several others over the alleged deaths of eight chil-dren who received the govern-ment’s anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

“The wheels of justice have began to grind for the victims and families of children who died allegedly because of the Dengvaxia vaccine with the Department of Justice fi nd-ing probable cause to charge former offi cials responsible for the failed immunisation pro-gramme initiated during their time,” Palace spokesman Sal-vador Panelo said in a state-ment.

“We hope that true justice and peace will be attained as this is the only way we can deliver proper closure to the victims of

the vaccination initiative and their families,” he added.

Panelo, however, appealed to the public to stop politicising the Dengvaxia controversy be-cause it discredited other health programmes of the government and brought about undesirable results.

“Now that the legal process has taken its course, we wish everyone would fi nally stop po-liticising the issue in the court of public opinion, noting that such exercise has only caused an unnecessary fear on the part of parents for good and creditwor-thy health programmes of the government to the detriment of innocent children,” he said.

The Palace offi cial also as-sured the public that the execu-tive branch would not interfere with the court cases that Garin and her co-accused would face.

“As for the defendants, they should welcome this latest de-velopment as an opportunity to clear their names and raise whatever defence they have in relation to the matter before a court of law,” Panelo said.

“As always, we will not in-terfere in the proceedings, save for the DoJ, which is mandated by law to prosecute accused fel-ons,” he added.

The Justice department has said there were enough grounds to indict Garin, nine offi cials from the Department of Health (DoH), two offi cials of the Food and Drug Administration, two offi cials of the Research Insti-tute for Tropical Medicine, and six from Dengvaxia manufac-turer Sanofi Pasteur.

State prosecutors, however, dismissed the same complaint against incumbent Health chief Francisco Duque 3rd, former DoH offi cer in charge Her-

minigildo Valle, two Sanofi Pasteur offi cials and 15 Zuellig Pharma offi cers. Garin and the other respondents were found to have “exhibited ‘inexcusable lack of precaution and foresight’ when they facilitated, with un-due haste, ‘the registration and purchase of Dengvaxia’ and used the vaccine in implement-ing a school-based dengue mass immunisation programme,” ac-cording to the statement.

“The Panel found suffi cient evidence that Garin and the other respondents circum-vented various regulations in the purchase of P3.5bn worth of Dengvaxia vaccine which con-stituted proof of their reckless imprudence,” it added.

Garin earlier said in her counter-affi davit that the avail-able data and information on Dengvaxia at the time the vac-cines were purchased all point-ed to its safety and effi cacy.

If convicted, Garin and the other respondents face up to six years in prison for each of the accusations. Responding to the DoJ’s fi ndings, Garin said, “I believe the criminal case is very weak because there is absolutely no evidence linking the vaccine to the deaths.We are confi dent in the dismissal of this case.”

“It is only the Philippines that has politicised the issue,” Garin said in a statement.

The government stopped its nationwide dengue vaccina-tion programme and pulled Dengvaxia off the market in late 2017 after Sanofi warned that the vaccine might cause severe symptoms if given to those who did not have prior exposure to the mosquito-borne disease. Sanofi maintained no death was confi rmed to have been caused by Dengvaxia.

Most fear becoming victims of extra-judicial killings

By Catherine S Valente Manila Times

Majority of Filipinos fear they or someone they know will be a victim

of extra-judicial killings (EJKs) amid the Rodrigo Duterte ad-ministration’s harsher war on drugs, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The poll, conducted from December 16 to 19 among 1,440 respondents nationwide, showed 78% of those polled said they were concerned that they or anyone they know would be a victim of EJK.

This figure is five points higher than the 73% in June 2017, according to the SWS.

Meanwhile, 22% said they were “not worried” that they or anyone they know would be a victim of EJK.

“This compares to June 2017 when 73% said they are worried (41% very worried, 32% some-what worried), and 27% said they are not worried (13% not too worried,

14% not worried at all),” the SWS said.

The worry is highest in Visa-yas at 83%, followed by Metro Manila at 79%, Mindanao at 78% and Balance Luzon at 75%. The same survey also found 50% of respondents said the poor were the usual victims of EJKs, while 48% said the kill-ings did not choose a class, and 2% said only the rich were tar-geted.

“This is similar to June 2017 when 51% said only the poor are the usual victims of EJKs, 4% said only the rich and 44% said EJK victimisation does not choose a class,” the SWS said.

Despite this, the survey showed that an overwhelming number of Filipinos believe that the Duterte administration was serious in solving the spate of killings happening amid its war on drugs.

In the survey, 71% said the government was serious in ad-dressing the EJKs, while 11% said it was not serious and the remaining 17% undecided.

The fourth quarter report, surveyed through face-to-face interviews, had sampling error of margins of + or — 2.6% for national percentages and + or – 5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.

The survey results come amid worries over the high body count seemingly resulting from the Duterte government’s war on drugs that it has several times denied.

More than 5,000 drug sus-pects have been killed in police anti-drug operations, but hu-man rights groups and govern-ment critics say this figure is understated.

They suspect that killings carried out by so-called “vigi-lante groups” were also state-sponsored, citing cases where some policemen were caught in illegitimate operations.

Boracay remains one of Asia’s best beachesBy Neil J ServallosManila Times

Despite the environmen-tal woes that prompted its six-month closure,

Boracay was recently listed among Asia’s top 25 beaches rankings of an American travel website.

TripAdvisor ranked Bo-racay’s White Beach ninth among 25 others for the four-kilometre main beach’s “calm, warm waters, gently sloping sand, very relaxing (environ-ment)… possibly the most beautiful beach in Asia.”

Yapak Beach (Puka Shell Beach) of Boracay Island also took the 25th spot. Two other Philippine beaches also made it to this year’s elite list.

These are Nacpan Beach at 13th, and Las Cabanas Beach at 22nd, both in El Nido, Palawan.

In a recent top 50 best beach-

es in Asia by Flight Network, nine beaches in the country were recognised, with the Hid-den Beach in El Nido, Palawan ranked as No 1.

Boracay, however, was not in the list. In 2018, the White Beach was listed second best beach in Asia. The Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) said the ranking was a testament to Boracay’s endur-ing reputation and beauty de-spite its closure last year.

“This means that Boracay was able to hit the ground run-ning upon its reopening. That’s a testament to its reputation and beauty, that despite every-thing, it was listed as one of the top destinations in the region,” TCP president Jose Clemente 3rd told reporters.

The TripAdvisor’s list ranked Radhanagar Beach in Havelock Island, Andaman and Nico-bar Islands the top beach in Asia, while Kelingking Beach

in Nusa Penida, Bali, came in second. Nai Harn Beach in Thailand got the third spot and Agonda Beach in India took fourth place. Bentota Beach in Sri Lanka was ranked fifth, PhraNang Cave Beach in Ao Nang, Thailand, placed sixth, Varca Beach of India came in seventh, Karon Beach of Thai-land took the eighth spot and Ngapali Beach of Myanmar was ranked 10th.

Clemente said now that Bo-racay is 90% operational, the government and the private sector has become strict in implementing environmental laws and ordinances.

In a recent bulletin from the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force, 320 more tourism es-tablishments and hotels have been allowed to operate on the island, which brings a total of 11,662 rooms available for booking.

“The problem before was

less of the influx of visitors in Boracay but more on inefficient enforcing of those ordinances and laws. This time, despite the influx of tourists, the element of sustainability will still be there,” Clemente said.

He, however, explained that accessibility to the island re-mains inadequate because of limited flights.

“But now I think maybe they (airlines) have to rethink it be-cause airfares are now high, but people are still going. So it’s still a viable destination,” Cle-mente said.

Boracay reopened on Octo-ber 26 after a six-month clean-up and rehabilitation ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The TripAdvisor’s ranking of beaches was determined by the quality and quantity of reviews and rankings for beach desti-nations, restaurants, hotels, attractions on the islands and traveller booking interest.

Gordon: seeking criminal liability

Study fi nds more females out of school than malesBy Neil Jayson Servallos Manila Times

The Department of Edu-cation (DepEd) has partnered with United

Nations Educational, Scien-tifi c and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and the South Korean government to strengthen its Alternative Learning System (ALS) programme among girls, as it saw that majority of out-of-school learners were fe-males.

H Ambat, DepEd assist-ant secretary for the ALS pro-gramme, said based on data and accounts of ALS mobile teachers, there were more males enrolled in their classes than females.

“If there are more girls drop-ping out of schools but there are more boys enrolled in ALS classes, where are the girls? If ALS is delivered free, why are they not going to our classes? That’s why we are conducting various eff orts, together with our partners, to address this,”

she added. Data from the De-pEd showed that of the coun-try’s out-of-school youth, 36.7% were males and 63.3% were females.

Last year, 823,301 enrolled in the government’s ALS pro-gramme nationwide.

The ALS is a parallel learning system that provides a practi-cal option to the existing for-mal instruction.

Ambat said the government, together with Unesco-Jakarta and Korea International Co-operation Agency (Koica),

seek to bolster their measures to improve the showing of fe-males in the programme.

The three agencies initi-ated the Better Life for Out-of-School Girls Project in July 2017 for out-of-school girls in typhoon-damaged Tacloban City, Leyte, and its vicinities.

“If these girls need to be taught the value of educa-tion because if they are to be mothers one day, this aff ects how their children value edu-cation. The same goes for the boys. The cycle of the grow-ing number of out-of-school youths will not stop,” Ambat said.

Jesus Mateo, DepEd under-secretary for planning and fi eld operations, highlighted the rollout of the enhanced ALS curriculum, in line with the 10-point agenda of the DepEd under Secretary Leonor Bri-ones.

“The DepEd has been pur-suing reforms in the ALS (pro-gramme) in order for it to be aligned with the K to 12 curric-ulum in formal education. We

are now rolling out the version 2.0 of the ALS programme, which is substantially diff erent from the existing one,” he said.

Mateo explained that the changes in the programme lie mainly in the system compo-nents, learning delivery sys-tem, learning environment, assessment, certifi cation sys-tem and system support.

The Better Life for Out-of-School Girls project is set to run until June 2021.

Unesco-Jakarta Offi ce Di-rector Shahbaz Khan said this programme supports the Phil-ippine government’s aspira-tions for a strengthened ALS programme within the frame-work of the Sustainable Devel-opment Goals to provide qual-ity, accessible and equitable education and lifelong learning for all.

“In the Philippines, the mixed performance in basic education points to the need to improve quality, to focus on sectors that are left behind, and to address disparities across regions,” Khan said.

Tourists throng Boracay Island, which has not lost its reputation as one of the world’s best destinations.

Female students listen to their teacher during a class at a hallway of a public school in Manila.

Magnitude 5.3 quake strikes Ilocos Norte

Manila TimesManiola

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was recorded 22 kilome-tres northwest of Burgos,

Ilocos Norte yesterday, accord-ing to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

The quake, tectonic in origin, happened at 3:46am and had a depth of 22 kilometres.

Phivolcs said aftershocks were expected although no damage was reported.

Intensity 4 was felt in Laoag, Ilocos Norte and Intensity 3 in Badoc, Ilocos Norte; Bantay, Masingal, San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, Sinait, and Vigan, Ilo-cos Sur.


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EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing EditorK T Chacko

You don’t need aPhD anymore toread Fed statements

The Fed’s policy statements grew so complicated after the recession that standard gauges of readability suggested people needed four years of university or more to understand them.

That is changing under the Federal Reserve’s new leadership, a Reuters analysis has found.

Since Fed Chairman Jerome Powell took the helm in February 2018, statements have grown less complex and opening remarks at the central bank’s news conferences have become easier to follow.

While the change in remarks refl ects Powell’s eff ort to simplify the Fed’s communications, less complex statements appear at least in part to result from the central bank phasing out the exotic instruments deployed during and after the 2007-09 recession, including bond purchases and forward guidance on policy, and replacing them with more conventional tools.

While experts say more clarity might help reduce fi nancial market volatility, some of Powell’s comments appeared to have had an opposite eff ect, a sign being plain-spoken also carries risks.

In January, readers needed about three years of college to easily parse the Fed’s policy statement, according to the Reuters analysis, which used a standard readability index known as the Flesch-Kincaid grade-level formula.

The formula calculates a text’s reliance on big words and long sentences.

Reading-grade levels for Fed policy statements rose after the recession and peaked in late-2013 at around 20 — equivalent to a PhD — as the Fed detailed complex tools like

purchases of government bonds and asset-backed securities.The scores declined in 2014, the fi rst year under Janet

Yellen, Powell’s predecessor.During Yellen’s last three years, the scores averaged around

16, roughly equivalent to a four-year university degree.Under Powell, that average has eased to about 15, above a

high-school reading level but close to scores from before the recession.

Researchers have found evidence in the past that more complex Fed communications led to larger market swings.

It is not clear, though, whether the recent drop in statement complexity has improved the public’s understanding of Fed actions and how fi nancial markets interpret the statements.

“You would expect less volatility from a drop in complexity,” said Charles Calomiris, an economist and text mining expert at Columbia University, referring to the drop in the Flesch-Kincaid scores identifi ed by Reuters.

Calomiris stressed, however, that deciphering market movements and measuring what role recent changes in Fed’s language played was a complex task.

Market volatility has actually increased in recent months as investors grew less certain about the direction of the global economy and Fed policy.

For example, in December, Powell eff ectively reiterated past Fed guidance when he said the Fed’s plan to trim bond holdings was on “automatic pilot,” Still, stocks sank on disappointment that he did not indicate more fl exibility.

The reading grades calculated by Reuters closely tracked those found in a 2016 research paper by Dallas Fed economists who analysed policy statements from 1994 through early 2014.

They found larger market moves after statements with higher reading grade levels.

David-Jan Jansen, an economist at the Dutch central bank, found evidence medium-term interest rates were less volatile after easier-to-read congressional testimonies by Fed chairmen.

“It’s not just what you say. It’s how you say it,” said Jansen.

“It’s not just what you say. It’s how you say it”

Access to Venezuela’s oil fi elds fuels Putin’s support for MaduroBy Nina L KhrushchevaNew York

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have each championed a model of

authoritarian capitalism (call it “development with a dictator’s face”). But what neither leader seems to have anticipated is that the Russian and Chinese commercial sectors are becoming political forces in their own right, increasingly bringing pressure to bear on policymaking.

Over the past two decades, Russian and Chinese multinational corporations – many of them awash in cash – have become powerful foreign-policy tools for their respective regimes. But they were once seen as modernising forces that would help open up business and society alike. With energy giants like Gazprom and Rosneft promising to bring commercial values to backward Russia and the newly independent former Soviet states, Anatoly Chubais, a key architect of Russia’s privatisation programme, touted them as the vanguard of a new “liberal empire.” (Insofar as these firms also bound the former Soviet republics closer to Russia, so much the better.)

Likewise, in China during the presidencies of Jiang Zemin (1993-2003) and Hu Jintao (2003-2013), the rise of banks like the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China, and of energy and heavy-industry firms like Sinopec, Sinochem, and the China Railway Construction Corporation, were seen as harbingers of modernisation. Yet today, no one could mistake these firms for the equivalent of an ExxonMobil or a Microsoft. With top executives often parachuting directly into the boardroom from high political office, Chinese mega-corporations have long represented a merger of business and the state.

Moreover, as Gazprom, Rosneft, and the Chinese technology giants ZTE and Huawei have grown more essential to their respective governments, business and state interests have become even harder to disentangle. In the interest of their “national champions,” both the Russian and Chinese governments now seem to be pursuing policies they might not have chosen otherwise.

This dynamic is clearly on display in Venezuela. Through its affiliation with Venezuela’s state oil monopoly, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Rosneft has funnelled upward of $17bn in loans to the Chavist regime over the past decade. Meanwhile, Rosneft gained 3mn tonnes of oil in 2017 from its operations in Venezuela; more generally Russia has invested in many Venezuelan industries, from banking to bus assembly. At the same time, Venezuela has been one of the largest buyers of Russian weapons among Latin American countries.

Owing to these debts and other economic ties, Putin has little choice but to back the Venezuelan strongman

Nicolás Maduro’s crumbling regime, even as public support in Russia for the Kremlin’s foreign interventions declines. Rosneft’s interests in Venezuela are simply too deep for it to withdraw, especially now that Western sanctions have crippled the firm’s ability to secure financing in international markets.

Russia’s support for Maduro does not rise to the same level as its commitments in Syria, where its relationship with the Assad family goes back decades. Rather, its continued engagement in Venezuela reflects a cold, hard business calculation. According to Reuters, private security contractors with close ties to the Kremlin have been sent to defend Maduro. At the same time, there have been unverified (but plausible) reports of Russian planes departing Venezuela with shipments of gold, as payment for the country’s debts. Putin knows that if National Assembly President Juan Guaidó takes power, those who stood with Maduro will likely be ousted, and Russia’s privileged access to Venezuela’s oil fields revoked.

In monetary terms, Maduro’s fall could mean even larger losses for China, which has investments in Venezuela estimated to be worth around $60bn – at least three times more than Russia’s. Like Russia, China got into bed with the Venezuelan

regime in the 2000s, when the country was flourishing under former President Hugo Chávez. While China secured a sorely needed source of oil for its fast-growing economy, Chávez was able to reduce Venezuela’s reliance on the US as one of its leading export markets. In the meantime, Chinese tech giants have aided the Maduro regime in its domestic surveillance efforts, and (like Russia) China has sold Venezuela expensive weapons.

Still, should Maduro fall, China may be less exposed than Russia. The Chinese have been careful to cultivate contacts among various elements of Venezuelan society, including the opposition. And while China still supports Maduro officially, it has not followed Russia in accusing the US of an attempted coup.

This suggests that China wants to avoid the kind of radical steps that Russia is taking. The Kremlin is now actively competing with the US to influence the course of events in Venezuela, and has described the US attempt to deliver humanitarian aid across the Colombia-Venezuela border as a ruse to smuggle in weapons for the opposition.

China’s moderate behaviour no doubt owes something to its ongoing trade negotiations with the US. Before extending his deadline for imposing higher tariffs on Chinese

imports, US President Donald Trump indicated that Huawei and ZTE might be included in a final Sino-American trade deal. That would certainly please Xi, whose paramount interest is to protect both firms’ economic might.

With the ability to bar US companies from selling crucial inputs to Chinese firms, the Trump administration could inflict serious harm on both ZTE and Huawei. Huawei already stands accused of conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran, leading to the arrest of its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada this past December. And ZTE has pled guilty to similar charges, paying penalties of $1.4bn in 2017.

At the end of the day, Venezuela can’t hold a candle to the strategic importance of these two firms. And for the Kremlin, the calculus is the same: the prerogatives of business define the national interest. But, perhaps to Putin’s chagrin, in Venezuela that calculus has produced the opposite outcome. — Project Syndicate

Nina L Khrushcheva is Professor of International Affairs at The New School. Her latest book (with Jeffrey Tayler) is In Putin’s Footsteps: Searching for the Soul of an Empire Across Russia’s Eleven Time Zones.

File photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin shaking hands with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro during a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, on December 5, 2018.

COMMENT

Gulf Times Monday, March 4, 2019 19

Quitting smoking may reduce rheumatoid arthritis risk

Intellectual freedom and its new enemies

Live issues

QNAWashington

Smoking is an important risk factor for developing the most common form of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other

infl ammatory diseases, The Harvard Gazette reported.

New research by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital examines that question using data from the Nurses’ Health studies, the fi rst of which was started in 1976 at the Harvard School of Public Health and is now in its 42nd year.

Their fi ndings, which appear in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, demonstrate for the fi rst time that changing behaviour, in this case, sustained smoking cessation can reduce the risk of developing seropositive RA, the more severe form of the disease.

“Ours is the fi rst study to show that a behaviour change can reduce risk for seropositive RA,” corresponding author Jeff rey Sparks, an associate physician in the Brighams rheumatology division and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School said. “Risk isn’t just about genes and bad luck. There’s a modifi able environmental component to the onset of this disease and a chance for some people to reduce their risk or even prevent RA.”

To conduct their study, Sparks and his colleagues used data from the original Nurses’ Health Study and the Nurses’ Health Study II, a second cohort established in 1989. Both studies asked registered nurses from across the US who fi lled out health surveys every two years for information about smoking and health status.

Among more than 230,000 participants in this analysis, the

researchers identifi ed 1,528 who developed RA.

They were especially interested in the 969 seropositive (as opposed to seronegative) patients, who have auto-antibodies related to the disease and generally have more severe symptoms, including joint deformities and disability.

For seropositive RA, risk began to lower about fi ve years after women quit smoking and continued to decrease the longer they did not smoke.

Participants who quit for good reduced their risk of seropositive RA by 37% after 30 years.

The team did not fi nd any association between seronegative RA and smoking, adding further evidence to the theory that seronegative and seropositive RA may be two distinct diseases with distinct risk factors.

“One of the lessons here is that it takes sustained smoking cessation

to reap the full benefi t,” Sparks said. “Whereas for other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, quitting smoking can provide a more immediate eff ect, here were seeing benefi ts decades later for those who quit smoking permanently.”

While the biological mechanisms that link smoking and the development of RA are unclear, Sparks and others think the habit may aff ect a preclinical disease process that leads to the formation of RA-related auto-antibodies and increases infl ammation.

In addition to continuing to study the biology of RA, Sparks and his colleagues want to extend their investigations to include men and interventional trials among active smokers to see if it is possible to prevent the formation of RA-related auto-antibodies and slow or halt the progression of the disease among those at increased risk.

By Andrea PetBudapest

The World War I exhibit at the House of European History in Brussels offers visitors an arresting sight.

In a simple yet dramatic gesture, the museum has placed the pistol used in the June 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in a glass-panelled cabinet right in the centre of the room.

The tour guide informed our group that, following much heated debate, the museum had agreed to change the objects on display from time to time, so that diff erent countries could exhibit their most precious historical relics. But when I peevishly remarked that the pistol Gavrilo Princip used in Sarajevo is irreplaceable, the curator replied that four European museums claim to have the authentic pistol on display.

As much as I respect and defend the plurality of European national traditions, only one pistol, not four, triggered the outbreak of World War I. We cannot be “pluralistic” and “inclusive” when historical facts dictate a single right answer to a question. And such questions must be decided by experts who have been rigorously educated in the history (and trained in the historical sources)

of a given era, not by those with a political agenda.

Such a view may seem like common sense. But scientists, their institutions, and the legitimacy of scientifi c knowledge itself are under increasing threat in several European countries. Freely elected governments have recently blocked fi nancial support for research projects with no offi cial explanation (Bulgaria), removed educational programmes from the list of accredited university subjects (Hungary), and even eliminated entire disciplines (Poland).

These governments are disregarding centuries-old university traditions that were respected even during the communist era. But the powers behind such decisions are not interested in establishing historical or scientifi c facts. And they are ready to criticise, ridicule, or even threaten those who have already acquired such knowledge, or wish to do so.

We should reject the notion that the instigators of these attacks are ignorant and uneducated, and do not respect knowledge. Senior members of the Hungarian government that forced the Central European University, founded by the fi nancier George Soros, to move to Vienna, and banned gender studies, had previously received scholarships from Soros’s Open Society Foundation to study in Oxford, New York, and elsewhere. These are

highly educated people who know that knowledge is power, have a clear agenda, and are taking advantage of the fact that education in the European Union is the responsibility of national governments, not Brussels-based institutions.

These governments want to establish an educational system according to which the state alone decides which fi elds of research are necessary and socially important. In the long run, they probably also want the state to grant political loyalists the right to produce and transfer knowledge.

In other words, access to knowledge will cease to be a civil right. Political trustworthiness will determine who can teach and study what about a country and its past. This would mean the de-democratisation of higher education and of science in general and putting “experts” in the service of broader anti-democratic goals. To prevent the latter, we must resist the former.

Democratic science policies build on the principle that access to science is a human right. Furthermore, they assume correctly that the knowledge produced through a democratic spirit of inquiry is of higher quality than that produced by someone who became an “expert” through political connections.

Many questions in the social

sciences and humanities have straightforward answers. Ultimately, we should accept the verdicts of experts who have devoted their careers to a particular issue, and not those with political axes to grind.

We must, therefore, fi ght the disturbing trend of European governments giving themselves the right to decide scientifi c questions, and appointing loyal supporters to act as arbiters of truth. And we should question whether the new, ideologically-based governmental research institutes and universities in some of these countries have a rightful place in the network of European universities and research institutions.

Social scientists and other academics across ex-communist Europe are once again working in an increasingly oppressive intellectual climate. It must not be up to them alone to defend the democratic quest for knowledge against those who would decide by government decree which pistol was fi red in Sarajevo. - Project Syndicate

Andrea Pet is a professor in the Department of Gender Studies at Central European University and a Doctor of Science of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 2018, she was awarded the All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values.

Independent Arabia, UK-based Saudi trumpet!By Ahmed Al QudahDoha

Since its launch a month ago, the UK-based Independent Arabia website has spared no eff ort to ruin the high

reputation and status of its original The Independent, acting as a mere Saudi propaganda tool to whatever Riyadh’s orientations are. In a way, it might be fair to posit the claim that the Arabic version is vainly trying to save what remains of the controversial image and reputation of the de facto Saudi ruler crown prince Mohamed bin Salman, also known as MbS. This claim is based on careful observation and analysis of the website’s content and topics.

News of interest to Arab audience is being systematically ignored or marginalised; yet, the same news would appear on The Independent professionally covered, exposing whatever happens while maintaining utmost neutrality. It is correct that this is how media generally do, but not correct when the media is directly associated with The Independent. I can even hear The Independent saying: “Please, not in my backyard!”

It really struck me as an avid reader of The Independent how the Independent Arabia has so far covered news related to the brutal murder and dismembering of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The shock is related to the totally diff erent way the two websites, The Independent and its Arabic Independent Arabia, covered that news. For instance on February 8, 2019, while The Independent headlined its piece as “Khashoggi murder: Saudi crown prince said he would ‘use a bullet’ on journalist a year before his killing,” its Arabic version ran the story the same day with the vague headline: “Khashoggi’s death crisis returns to surface and Saudi Arabia renews pledge to prosecute those involved.” I think the dubiousness which enriches the latter headline is telling of the

derailment and bias adapted in the Arabic version.

Another instance in which the infl uence of Saudi Arabia on the Arabic news portal is crystal-clear is seen in the way it handles the news regarding the Saudi-led war on Yemen. As it is no secret to the whole world by now, Saudi Arabia and the UAE sabotaged all meanings of humanity and human rights in their war on ‘The Happy Yemen’ as it was once referred to. Because of this Saudi-UAE war, Yemenis experience atrocities, massacres, uprooting and displacing on almost a daily basis. Yemenis are literally on the brink amid the famine, poverty, and diseases which plague them. Some of these inhumane situations are covered by international media, The Independent included. Independent Arabia, however, is turning a blind eye to the Yemenis’ plight! As of the time of writing this article, the last news about Yemen was covered in on February 26, 2019, and it was a translation and, ironically enough, literally bears no mention of Saudi Arabia at all in it, although the whole war is a Saudi-led one!

Another instance in which the Independent Arabia website’s derailment from its original newspaper’s “established ethos of The Independent” is the interview with ex-ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the US and former director general of Saudi Intelligence Agency Bandar bin Sultan who vehemently attacked Qatar, falsely attributing words to former US secretary of state James Baker in a vain attempt to add some credibility to his fake narrative. Hours after the publication of the interview, Baker Institute issued a statement attributed to James Baker refuting bin Sultan’s narrative. It must have felt embarrassing; bin Sultan should have chosen another dignitary who would buy his lying narrative.

As a lot of people already know, Saudi Arabia’s MbS spent hundreds of millions of US dollars on inventing and

promoting his image and reputation in the West as a ‘reliable reformer’. This might be normal to some, but to do it at the expense of ruining the reputation and status of a giant newspaper like The Independent is not fair either to the readers of this newspaper or to its history.

In a word, Independent Arabia website is owned and operated by the Saudi Research and Marketing

Group (SRMG), and is supposed to follow the track of “[a]ll editorial practices and output.. conform[ed] to the world-renowned standards, code of conduct and established ethos of The Independent.” Still, the newspaper appears to be a Saudi propaganda machine working on a biased political narrative of demonising and tarnishing the image of those with whom MbS is not on

good terms, neglecting significant stories of interest to Arab readers in the process.

This article is not as much to criticise the way Independent Arabia covers its news as it is to highlight the very fact that The Independent is risking its reputation; risking its essence of being the mouthpiece of truth and an exemplary platform for free speech and neutrality.

The question posed is whether The Independent is aware of what its Arabic version is publishing. Independent Arabia is supposed to be an extension of the original English one in publishing “the highest-quality, free-thinking, independent news, insight and analysis on global aff airs and local events.” However, it has so far exposed the demagogic face found in local Saudi media.

WARNING

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20 Gulf TimesMonday, March 4, 2019

QATAR

Education Excellence award crosses another milestone in success journeyQNADoha

Qatar hosted yesterday the 12th edition of Education Excellence Day Award

Ceremony, which honoured 93 winners from 292 who competed in this year’s nine categories.

The event refl ects Qatar’s commitment to education as an important component to realis-ing Qatar National Vision 2030. It was fi rst launched by the Min-istry of Education and Higher

Education in 2006. On the side-lines, HE the Head of Statistics and Planning Authority Dr Saleh bin Mohamed al-Nabet said that the Education Excellence Day Award Ceremony confi rms Qa-tar’s commitment to education and learning, given it is a crucial part of Qatar’s vision for human development.

He added that the ultimate goal was to achieve sustainable, with education being the best way for-ward towards that goal. He noted the large investments made by Qatar in education, highlighting

that it is the highest in the world on a per capita basis. For his part, Chairman of Qatar Businessmen Association HE Faisal bin Qas-sim al-Thani said that the leader-ship’s commitment to honouring outstanding students, includ-ing primary school students, is a clear indication of the impor-tance it attaches to education as the cornerstone of the nation’s advancement and progress, giv-ing citizens confi dence in the bright future of their children.

He noted that the distinguished national cadres contributed to

the promotion of the country on the world stage in all fi elds, where every offi cial succeeded in play-ing his role to the fullest, which contributed to pushing the ship forward and raise it in interna-tional forums.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Educa-tion Dr Ibrahim Saleh al-Nuaimi said that the award proved its success over the years, evident by the number of participants that increases with every year.

He highlighted that the at-tendance of His Highness the

Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and honouring of the winners will serve as a great mo-tivation for students to excel in everything they do. Chief execu-tive of the award and Secretary-General of Qatar National Com-mission for Education, Culture, and Science Dr Hamda Hassan al-Sulaiti said that the attend-ance of His Highness the Amir refl ects his commitment to the education system in Qatar, given it is the foundation of the devel-opment process carried out in the state. She stressed that the award,

which ended its 12th edition, is proceeding steadily and steadily towards realising the vision and objectives of the wise leadership to reach the building of a distin-guished scientifi c generation ca-pable of local and international competition.

She added that its winners rep-resent the country’s human capi-tal, as it pursues its plans of hav-ing distinguished national cadres.

Winners for their part ex-pressed their delight with the award. They also said they were pleased with the attendance of

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, say-ing it signalled His Highness’ commitment to education. Each of the nine categories of the award has its own rules of nomination.

The organising committee of the award holds continuous meetings to discuss the candida-cy procedures in order to expand participation. Awards are handed out to students, teachers, and schools who excel in their respec-tive roles. Prizes include medals as well as cash that ranges from QR10,000 to QR100,000.

Amir honours Education Excellence award winners in grand ceremonyAmir honours Education Excellence award winners in grand ceremony

silatech aims to expand its outreach to youth in 2019

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