Volume 24 | Number 7932 | 2 RiyalsMonday 24 June 2019 | 21 Shawwal 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

New Ooredoo tvPlay like a pro Google, Android, Android TV, Chromecast and other related marks

and logos are trademarks of Google LLC.

BUSINESS | 13 SPORT | 20

Barshim back in action with victory in Poland

QFC emerges as major gateway

to Qatari market

BU

as

Amir honoured with Nishan-e-Pakistan

QNA ISLAMABAD

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a meeting with the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, at the Presidential Palace, Aiwan-e-Sadr, yesterday. The meeting dealt with bilateral rela-tions and means of enhancing them, particularly in the fields of economy, investment and energy. During the meeting, they also exchanged views on regional and international developments.

President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi conferred ‘Nishan-e-Pakistan’ , Pakistan’s highest civil award, on H H the Amir, as an expression of the depth of the historical

relations between Qatar and Pakistan.

The awarding ceremony held at the Presidential Palace “Aiwan-e-Sadr” in Islamabad, was attended by Their Excel-lencies members of the official delegation accompanying H H the Amir.

From the Pakistani side, the ceremony was attended by Their Excellencies ministers, senior

officials and businessmen. (QNA)H H the Amir attended the

luncheon banquet hosted by President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in honour of His Highness and the accompanying delegation at the Presidential Palace, yesterday.

The banquet was attended by a number of Their Excellences Pakistani ministers and senior officials.

H H the Amir left Islamabad yesterday, ending a two-day state visit. H H the Amir was seen off upon departure at Nur Khan Airbase airport by Special Adviser to the Pakistani Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs Zulfi Bukhari, as well as a number of senior officials, Qatar’s Ambas-sador to Pakistan Saqr bin Mubarak Al Mansouri, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar Syed Ahsan

Raza Shah and Their Excellences members of the Qatari Embassy.

H H the Amir sent cables to President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan, expressing deep thanks and appreciation for the hospitality and honour accorded to him and the accompanying delegation during the visit which allowed the exchange of views on issues

of common concern and the review of solid bilateral relations as well as means to support and develop them in various fields for the good and the benefit of the two peoples.

H H the Amir also wished the President and the Prime Minister the best of health and happiness, and the friendly people of Pakistan further progress and prosperity.

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, at the Presidential Palace, Aiwan-e-Sadr, in Islamabad yesterday.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with Kuwait's Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Khaled Nasser Abdullah Al Rawdan. They reviewed the fraternal relations between the two countries and means of enhancing and developing them, in addition to matters of mutual interest.

Prime Minister's decision on Media City Board of Directors issuedQNA /DOHA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani issued yesterday decision No. 20 of 2019 on forming the Board of Directors of the Media City.

Under the decision, the Media City Board of Directors shall be formed as follows: H E Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed Al Thani - Chairman; Abdulrahman Shareef Al Emadi - Vice-Chairman; Mohammed Ali Al Mannai, Youssef Ibrahim Al Maliki, H E Lolwah Rashid Al Khater, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saud Al Thani; and Nora Nasser Al Nuaimi - Members.

The decision stipulates that all competent authorities, each within its own jurisdiction, shall implement it from the date of its issuance and that it is to pub-lished in the Official Gazette.

H H the Amir and the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan discussed bilateral relations and means of enhancing them, particularly in the fields of economy, investment and energy. They also exchanged views on regional and international developments.

EAA Foundation's 2nd Ramadan campaign nets QR15m for beneficiariesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Education Above All (EAA) Foun-dation’s nationwide fund-raising campaign, which was launched in May 2019 in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan, has garnered overwhelming support from donors in Qatar.

The campaign held under the theme ‘No Child Left Out’ aimed at supporting projects and initiatives to assist marginalised and impoverished children accessing quality and baseline education.

On the heels of this fund-raising campaign, a total of QR15m will be channelled to the efforts and worldwide benefici-aries of EAA’s Educate A Child (EAC) and Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) educational pro-grammes, targeting margin-alised and impoverished children with access to quality educational facilities and resources.

On May 15, EAA’s fund-raising campaign kicked off with a special episode on Qatar TV’s Hayatuna programme, in a bid to raise awareness around the foundation’s global projects for children and youth.

Commenting on the turnout for EAA’s second Ramadan fund-raising campaign, Mohamed Al Naama, Senior Representative of Fundraising Department at EAA Foundation said: “This fund-raising round’s success takes on a different meaning this year, today, thanks

to the support of our partners here and across the globe, have successfully reserved places for out of school children in the educational system and a better chance for their future. These numbers are proof that no ambition is too big when people harness their energy, resources and efforts toward the greater good of their communities and others that need it.”

“Since we first started our mission, we have repeatedly stressed on the power of a col-lective in accomplishing what no organization can single-handedly achieve. Our partner network, to this end, was not merely an official list of committees and organisations enrolled under our programmes, but simply, indi-viduals who have risen to the responsibility and call of making the universal right to primary and basic education a reality.

Announcing the campaign, Dr Ali M Al Quradaghi, Secretary General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and Vice-Chairman for European Council for Fatwa and Research, stressed the importance and meaning of Sadaqah and Zakat in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan, and particularly so in supporting the right for universal education. By this, the EAA foun-dation is eligible to receive Sadaqah and Zakat donations to fund its programmes, which include several projects in Somalia, Gaza, Lebanon, Turkey, Mali, Pakistan, Iraq, and Qatar and many other countries. �P3

PM meets Kuwait's Minister of Commerce

HMC introduces new neurology servicesFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has introduced new services as part of its continues efforts to provide rapid and effi-cient care for people with neurology-related problems.

The new services include urgent care facilities and sub specialities for neurology at the Hamad General Hospital (HGH), said Dr Maher Saqqour, Head of Neurology and Senior Con-sultant, Neurology Department,

HGH, speaking to media yesterday.

“We have introduced a system named Urgent Neurology Spots to see patients who need quick appointments. Such patients will be seen when there is a free time slot in between appointments. The new system reduces the waiting time for patients,” said Dr Saqqour.

Urgent Neurology Spots were introduced at HGH’s Neu-rology Department a month ago and around 15 to 20 patients are seen in a week. They commonly

present with acute neurological problems, but in a stable condition.

“All patients are assessed and triaged then sent to relevant clinics. There are three stages in problems related to neurology such as acute, sub acute and chronic condition. Acute cases will be assessed and sent either to the Rapid Assessment Stroke Unit or other clinics. The Sub acute cases are seen at the Urgent Neurology Spots,” said Dr Saqqour.

Building upon the success of the Urgent Neurology Spots,

HGH will open a Urgent Neu-rology Clinic in the coming months. “This clinic will see urgent cases related to all types of neurology problems such as vertigo, headaches, stroke symptoms and epilepsy,” said Dr Saqqour.

The Neurology Department has introduced several sub spe-cialty clinics for stroke, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and headaches.

The multiple sclerosis clinic currently delivers advanced care to more than 700 patients. �P3

02 MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019HOME

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 15 AM04. 45 AM

11. 36 AM02. 59 PM

06. 29 PM07. 59 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum33oC 44oC

HIGH TIDE 08:13–21:15 LOW TIDE 05:07 – 00:00

Very hot daytime with slight dust at some

places and some clouds.

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani receives “Nishan-e-Pakistan”, Pakistan’s highest civil award, from the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, yesterday at the Presidential Palace “Aiwan-e-Sadr” in Islamabad. It was attended by Their Excellencies members of the official delegation accompanying HH the Amir, Their Excellencies ministers, senior officials and businessmen.

Amir receives Pakistan’s highest civil award

QNA/DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to HRH Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg on the occasion of his country’s National Day.

Amir congratulates Grand Duke of Luxembourg

03MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019 HOME

QFFD, UNHCR sign $3m pact for Syrian refugees’ healthcare THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Qatar Fund for Devel-opment (QFFD) and UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency, signed an agreement worth $3m, to operate five clinics to meet primary health needs in support of the Syrian refugees in Jordan.

The agreement was signed by Misfer bin Hamad Al Shahwani, Deputy Director General for Projects for QFFD and Amin Awad, UNHCR Director for the Middle East and North Africa Bureau, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for Syria and Iraq Situations, in support of UNHCR’s healthcare activities for Syrian refugees in Jordan for seven months. This

contribution aims to support UNHCR’s efforts in providing comprehensive healthcare services for an estimated 35,000 vulnerable Syrians ref-ugees in Jordan, whether living in camps or urban settings. These services include repro-ductive health, mental health, dentistry, nutrition, and referrals for further care.

Al Shahwani, said: “This agreement complements the continuous solidarity of the State of Qatar with the Syrian people and those affected by the Syrian conflict. It also sup-ports the efforts of the Jor-danian government to support Syrians and to achieve sus-tainable development goal number 3. The third objective

of the fund is to “ensure that everyone enjoys a healthy and prosperous lifestyle at all ages”

He added: “These clinics are equipped with basic services to ensure access to health care for Syrian refugees and to provide treatment for acute and chronic diseases, as the Syrian people are in dire need for access to treatment to ensure a decent life.”

“Today’s agreement focuses on alleviating the suf-fering of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in healthcare sector, in particular those who suffer from chronic medical conditions, the disabled and the elderly,” said Amin Awad com-menting on the importance of this agreement.

PM reviews ties with Malaysian Minister

The Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, met yesterday with the Malaysian Entrepreneur Development Minister, Mohd Redzuan Yusof, on the occasion of his visit to the country. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations and ways of developing and strengthening them and issues of mutual concern.

Shura Council Speaker meets envoys of Peru, China

The Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, met yesterday with the Ambassador of Peru to Qatar, Jose Benzaquen Perea, and the Ambassador of China to Qatar, Li Chen. The meetings discussed bilateral relations and means of developing them, especially in the parliamentary field, in addition to issues of mutual concern. H E the Speaker wished the outgoing Ambassador of China to Qatar success in his future duties, and the relations between the two countries further progress and prosperity. The meetings were attended by a number of officials at the Shura Council.

Qatar and China discuss media relations

The Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Media Corporation (QMC), H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Thani, met here yesterday with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Qatar, Li Chen. During the meeting, they discussed the media relations between the two countries and means of enhancing them.

Al Sulaiti, Kuwaiti Minister foster cooperation

The Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, met yesterday with Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State For Service Affairs, Khaled Nasser Abdullah Al Roudan. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of cooperation in the fields of transport, communications and postal services, ways of enhancing them, in addition to exploring the possibility of taking advantage of the investment opportunities available in these areas, as well as discussing a number of issues of common concern. The meeting was attended by Kuwait’s Ambassador to Qatar, Hafeez Mohammed Al Ajmi, and the Minister’s accompanying delegation.

IJSO praises Qatar’s preparations for 16th Olympiad in DecemberQNA DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education held a meeting yesterday with a delegation from the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) currently visiting the country to learn about Qatar’s preparations for the 16th International Junior Science Olympiad, which will be held in Doha between December 3 to 12.

Fawzia Al Khater, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Edu-cation and Higher Education and Vice-Chairman of the Olympiad, organising committee presented the preparations being made for the event noting that hosting the event is one of the most important initiatives for the min-istry. Al Khater highlighted the leadership of Qatar in the Arab region for hosting this important international event as it is the

first Arab country to organise it. She added that it is part of the targeted projects in the strategy of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education 2017-2022, part of Qatar National Vision 2030.

The President of the IJSO

Executive Committee, Professor Joshi Paresh, expressed content with Qatar’s preparations in hosting the Olympiads and praised the organising commit-tee’s efforts to attract the largest number of participating coun-tries. IJSO also inaugurated the

headquarters of the organising committee after the meeting.

The delegation will stay in Qatar till tomorrow where it will learn about the preparations Qatar has done to host the 16th International Junior Science Olympiad.

Fawzia Al Khater, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with other officials and members of IJSO delegation during a discussion.

HMC opens 1st mobile patient library at QRITHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) first mobile patient library was officially launched at Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI).

The opening of the library follows the launch of the Patient Experience Forum in March by H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, during the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare. The mobile library was opened by Nasser Al Naimi, Deputy Chief of Quality at HMC, Center for Patient Experience and Staff Experience (CPESE) and Director, Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute (HHQI).

QRI is the first HMC facility to receive a mobile patient library and any of its inpatients wishing to borrow a book can now do so through the Nesma’ak customer service team located within the hospital. Patients wanting to access the library are brought a mobile device which has a catalog listing all the books available. Once a patient has browsed through the selection and chosen the book they wish to borrow, the Nesma’ak cus-tomer service representative then delivers the book to the patient’s bedside. The library has been developed through col-laborative partnerships with a number of organizations,

including the Ministry of Culture and Sports and a number of embassies, including the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the Embassy of Japan, and the Embassy of Thailand. Katara Cultural Village, Qatar University, and the Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Islamic Cultural Center have also donated books and future dona-tions are expected from the Qatar National Library.

The CPESE team has also organised a book donation drive across HMC, Members of the public wishing to donate books should visit any Nesma’ak reception counter at HMC hospitals.

HMC’s new neurology servicesFROM PAGE 1

With two weekly clinics, it provides highly-specialised care to patients with different forms of the long-lasting, auto-immune disease which affects the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves in the eyes. A Stroke Pre-vention Clinic and Rapid Assessment Stroke Unit have been started at the Hamad General Hospital since July this year. These services were intro-duced under the Stroke Pro-gramme. The Stroke Prevention Clinic sees people at the high risk of getting a stroke. The Stroke Prevention Clinic sees an average of 15 to 20 persons on

daily basis. At the RASU, patients who present with minor strokes and warning symptoms are treated to prevent major stroke. Six to eight patients are treated daily at RASU.

EAA Foundation’s 2nd Ramadan campaign nets QR15m for beneficiaries

FROM PAGE 1

Qatar Radio also cast the fundraising call to the local com-munity on its Layali Ramadan Programme. Central to the success of EAA’s fundraising campaign across 60 locations in Qatar was a slew of employee a n d c u s t o m e r

engagement partnerships with Lulu supermarkets, Carrefour Qatar, Marriott Hotels, Exxon Mobil and Qatar Airways. Others to have come in support of the campaign include Ooredoo, Nakilat, W Doha, QAPCO, Shell, ELAN, Dar Al Sharq, Muntajat, and Dar Al Arab.

Dr. Maher Saqqour PIC: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

04 MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019HOME

Achievements of Qatar’s nurses celebrated at UCQ’s graduation ceremonyFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Academic achievements of Qatar’s nurses were celebrated at University of Calgary in Qatar’s (UCQ) annual graduation ceremony held yesterday.

Ninety five of Qatar’s current and future nurses graduated with UCQ’s Bachelor of Nursing (BN) and Master of Nursing (MN) degrees. The Class of 2019 includes 11 Qatari and 77 non-Qatari females along with seven non-Qatari males.

The graduation ceremony, held at Qatar National Convention Centre, was attended by UCQ Board of Trustees Chair, Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor Al Thani; Canadian Ambassador to Qatar Stefanie McCollum; Chancellor of the University of Calgary, Deborah

Yedlin; and President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calgary. Dr Edward McCauley.

The ceremony marks an important step as UCQ contributes to strengthening a sustainable work-force that supports the complex healthcare needs of the country. This year’s ceremony also marks the 10th anniversary of UCQ’s BN pro-gramme and fifth anniversary of its MN programme. “The need for highly educated and skilled nurses is increasing every year. You are

entering the nursing profession at a very important time for our nation. The knowledge and skills you have obtained will now be put into practice,” said Dr Al Thani, who addressing the graduates as the guest speaker.

With the completion of the 2019 Convocation ceremony, a total of 651 students have earned their BN degrees from the UCQ. While 56 have graduated from the MN programme. Qatari nationals currently make up approximately 16 percent of the University’s alumni network. Raising the level of local nursing talent via its ded-icated academic programmes, the University of Calgary in Qatar is advancing the overall per-formance and transformation of the healthcare system.

“Our graduates are very aca-demic and skilled. This is a time

the country’s healthcare system is looking for a difference. We look forward to our graduates making the difference by con-tributing and making an impact,” said Dr Deborah White, Dean & CEO at UCQ, while speaking to the media.

She also said that UCQ will introduce a new curriculum in

the Fall of 2020 and 2021. “We are reviewing the cur-

riculum and will introduce a brand new one to meet the challenges and healthcare needs of the country,” said Dr White.

Established in 2007, UCQ is the country’s only Canadian uni-versity and exclusive provider of nursing higher education.

Accredited in Canada and adapted to the local culture, the University’s curriculum provides its nursing students with the knowledge and expertise that allows them to become fully-integrated leaders in Qatar’s healthcare sector.

Many find UCQ as an oppor-tunity to continue their profes-sional education as nurses.

QU’s Al Bairaq programme bags honoursTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar University’s (QU) Al Bairaq programme continues its journey of excellence by winning 14 awards and honours in the National Scientific Research Competition (NSRC) and was honoured during the annual National Scientific Research Week (NSRW).

Al Bairaq is a non-traditional educational project, in which stu-dents at Qatari secondary schools work in teams with highly exquisite university-level scien-tists on practical scientific problems in authentic contexts. Faculty members train and mentor the future generation of scientists and help develop and enhance their critical-thinking, problem-solving and team-work skills. Al Bairaq participated in the NSRC with research in five dif-ferent categories: chemistry and material science, engineering, environment and earth science. The research was carried out in QU under the supervision of expert professors in the Centre for Advanced Materials (CAM) and Al Bairaq team members.

President of QU, Dr. Hassan Al Derham commented on the

programme’s achievements saying, “Al Bairaq affirms each year its importance in simplifying complex scientific ideas which increases students’ passion to innovate, aiming to prepare a gen-eration capable of digesting science and participating in the knowledge industry.”

President of Al Bairaq Pro-gramme and Head of Communi-cation and Outreach at QU, Dr. Noora Jabor Al Thani, added that Al Bairaq has a great responsibility to upgrade the education in Qatar. She said Al Bairaq was on the right track to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030, aiming to put it as a

platform for every step it takes for spreading the culture of creativity and excellence.

Al Bairaq won three grand awards that qualify for partici-pation in international competi-tions. In addition, the programme won three category awards, four special awards, and four honours. A research entitled “Value Added Sensors from Environmental and Industrial Wastes” about the use of plastic waste and industrial wastes resulting from the alu-minium industry — carbon black — in the manufacture of smart sensors of cost lower than the sensors currently used in market,

won two grand awards and will represent Qatar in ITEX Malaysia 2020 and Qatar in INTEL ISEF 2019 in USA. The same research won first place in the engineering category, as well as two special awards, one from Barzan Holding, and another from ExxonMobil.

Another research entitled “Development of Lightweight Al-SiO2 Nanocomposites for Automotive Applications – Qatar Electric Cars 2022” was awarded a grand award to represent Qatar in ITEX Malaysia 2020. It also won first place in the chemistry and material science category.

QU’s Al Bairaq programme students pose with their awards won during the NSRC.

QM invites applications for India photography expedition, exhibitionTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Museums (QM) has announced an open call for Qatari photographers to apply to represent Qatar in the Qatar- India 2019 Year of Culture.

To celebrate the cultural ini-tiative, QM will be sending Qatari photographers on expedition to the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, India, for up to two weeks each to create an inspiring portfolio that will help foster mutual understanding and cultural rela-tions between the countries.

Each year two photogra-phers from Qatar have the opportunity to explore the partner country and be assigned to photograph particular themes. This year they are landscape photography, astrophotography and portrait photography. After the exchange programme, two photography exhibitions will be held in both Qatar and the partner country to showcase the results of the exchange.

A final selection of

photographs will be exhibited in forthcoming exhibitions held by Q M , l o c a l l y a n d internationally.

Commenting on the expe-dition, Aisha Al Attiya, Head of Years of Culture at QM, said: “Photography has always had the incredible power of touching the hearts of people of all nation-alities, languages, and ages. The Years of Culture photography initiative is a tool that connects people from different cultures to make contact and build intimate and unique friendships. We are proud of the huge success this initiative has achieved so far and we look forward to discover India through the eyes of skilled Qatari photographers.”

Applications are open to Qatari citizens 18 years of age and older who should be available to travel to India for up to two weeks before the end of the year. All applications must be submitted before midnight on Wednesday, June 26 through the online application form that can be found at QM website.

Sudanese artist opens exhibition at KataraRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Despite distance and time, one feels close to home through the memory of his country and his people that resides within. Sudanese artist Noor Al Hadi pours his sentiments and memory of his homeland on canvas in multitude of colours for his solo exhibition titled “Land of the Dark” which opened yesterday at Katara Cultural Village.

The artworks, the artists says, are the “consequence of the memory of his homeland restless inside him, erupting and uniting with my pulse.”

On show are more than 30 paintings in different sizes that depict the rich Sudanese culture and heritage, present the important eras in Sudan’s history, and introduce local costumes of dif-ferent places in Sudan. The artist uses subtle dark colours but the paintings stand out for the artist’s unique style which combines figuration, abstraction and expressionism.

Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, Katara General Manager, officially launched the exhibition in the presence of Fath Al Rahman Ali Mohamed Omar, Ambassador of Sudan to Doha, and other embassy and Katara officials as well as artists and art enthusiasts.

“Katara always opens its doors to

artists from different schools and artistic orientations. It is the incubator of cre-ativity and creative artists, having hosted local and international artists residing in Qatar and abroad,” said Dr. Al Sulaiti.

He pointed out that the cooperation between Katara and most of the embassies in Qatar has produced cre-ative cultural outcomes reflected through art exhibitions, musical shows or festivals that highlight the cultures

and civilizations of those countries.The exhibition remains open to the

public until July 13 at Gallery 2 of Katara Building 18.

Meanwhile, another exhibition dubbed “Portrait” also opened yes-terday featuring paintings by Qatari artist Ebtesam Al Saffar and Indian artist Surabhi Gaikwad. The exhibition located at Katara Building 19 was organised as part of Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture.

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti (left), General Manager of Katara, with artist Noor Al Hadi at the opening of “Land of the Dark” exhibition at Katara building 18, yesterday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

THE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles, dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, has announced the recall of

Mer-cedes-Benz GLC, C Class, CLS model of 2018 because the software of the power-train control unit does not conform to manufacturer specification.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s

continuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will coor-dinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works.

MoCI recalls Mercedes-Benz GLC, C Class, CLS 2018 model

Established in 2007, UCQ is the country’s only Canadian university and exclusive provider of higher education in nursing in Qatar.

Guests and faculty of Calgary University Qatar, with graduates during graduation and Convocation 2019 ceremony held at the QNCC in Doha yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

05MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019 HOME

AAB announces winners of Camry Hybrid & RAV 4 Hybrid

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. (AAB), sole agents for

Toyota vehicles in the State of Qatar, have announced the winners of their just concluded Toyota Ramadan Campaign.

The company had

organised a campaign under the theme “Take the Hybrid Way” during the holy month of Ramadan which concluded on June 4. During the campaign

AAB officials during the event.

AFG College with the University of Aberdeen students attend graduation ceremonyTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Students from AFG College with the University of Aberdeen in Doha joined the students of the main campus in Aberdeen, Scotland, to receive their degrees at the University of Aberdeen graduation ceremony.

The AFG College students graduating at the ceremony were part of the first undergraduate business management cohort of the 2017 inaugural intake. Having previously undertaken study at institutes such as College of the North Atlantic Qatar (CNA-Q) and Community College Qatar, the graduates were able to complete the remaining two years of their degree programme in Doha and graduate at the bachelor’s level from the University of Aberdeen.

Bashayer Al Kaabi, one of the students graduating in Aberdeen said: “As a student from Qatar, I am very proud to be here in Scotland celebrating the culmi-nation of all my hard work over the past two years. I feel blessed and lucky to have experienced quality international education from Scotland, in the comfort of my supporting home in Doha. I’m very pleased to see my efforts come to fruition on this very special day. I am proud and hon-oured to be gathered here with

my fellow classmates from all across the globe coming together in celebration, here in Aberdeen.”

The successful students were joined in Aberdeen by AFG College Principal, Brian Buckley, who said: “Witnessing our first graduates receiving their degrees was an important milestone in the continued success of our part-nership campus. I was thrilled to be present at this momentous occasion and look forward to our future graduates following in the footsteps of these students.”

Professor Richard Wells, Vice-Principal of the University

of Aberdeen commented: “Seeing our first students from our Qatar campus graduating here in Aberdeen gives me a great sense of pride and satisfaction. I am confident that these graduating students will go to be great ambassadors for the University of Aberdeen and moreover, be ready to contribute to Qatar’s national strategic vision.” AFG College with the University of Aberdeen will be holding their own graduation ceremony in Doha this November, for grad-uates who did not attend the cer-emony in Scotland.

Students from AFG College with the University of Aberdeen in Doha during graduation ceremony in Scotland.

Editor-in-Chief pens in-depth study of media trends during siege

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Dr. Khalid bin Mubarak Al Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula Newspaper, who is also Assistant Professor of Mass Communications at the Qatar University, recently published a new book titled ‘The Gulf Crisis: A Comprehensive Moni-toring of Media Trends’.

The book includes seven chapters which span over 390 pages and dis-cusses the issues of the unjust siege imposed on Qatar. The author has relied on more than 30 international media references including print, video, audio and digital media as well as modern applications and community journalism.

The book is a combination of mon-itoring, documentation, analysis, com-mentary and careful research on local, regional and international media trends and discourses and their impact on the public opinion. It presents the coun-try’s position on the Gulf crisis and how it was addressed by decision makers, opinion leaders and how the Qatari media have defended its homeland in the face of campaigns aimed at

distorting the political and social fabric of the Gulf at this sensitive situation in the region.

The book monitored the develop-ments of the events from June 5, 2017 to March 31, 2019, presenting valuable materials for researchers, observers and experts wishing to conduct further studies on the current Gulf crisis.

The researchers will find a study of Qatar’s positive and honest positions in confronting the siege countries without insulting and abusing national figures or trying to influence the unity of the Gulf, an outstanding and mature position which will be acknowledged by generations and positively counted for the people of Qatar and H H the Amir.

This is a sensitive crisis that will remain in the memory of the

generations for the unjust siege imposed on the State of Qatar.

The author has divided the book into seven chapters, beginning with studying the media policy of Qatar under the siege. In this section, the author has mentioned that the speeches of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during the siege, played the role of general guidance for the public and the media in Qatar.

The social media was also praised for its commitment to the general position of the state, staying away from using false and fabricated news, deception and abuse of national figures.

The second chapter examines the political dimensions of the Gulf crisis, its motives and measures used by the block-ading countries.

This chapter is an in-depth study of what happened during the crisis and how the world dealt with it, including political and media reactions and the positions of international organisations and activists.

The third chapter discusses the effects of the siege on the social fabric of the Gulf, based on the accurate reports that covered the social damage resulting from the siege, which included citizens, residents and citizens of the siege coun-tries. This also includes complaints filed in international courts, human rights organisations and United Nations organisations.

In the fourth chapter, the author has highlighted the international positions which showed support to the State of Qatar, and which are worth documen-tation and study, because it reflects the most prominent evidence of the validity of Qatar’s positions and the justness of its cause.

The Qatari position has played the most prominent role in winning

international public opinion alongside Qatar.

The strategic economic plan of Qatar is addressed in chapter five and it dis-cusses how Qatar managed to deal with the potential economic effects of the blockade from the first moments of the crisis, which strengthened the ability of the state to withstand the siege.

In chapter six, the author has discussed the role of Qatari media, in its various institutions, documenting its trends, achievements and how it challenged the alle-gation of the blockading quartet, on the basis of objectivity, credibility and loyalty to the country.

Chapter seven reviews the World Cup Qatar 2022 and its rela-tionship to the crisis and why siege countries attacked Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup and the reactions of the International Federation and international media institutions to the posi-tions of the siege coun-tries against the World Cup and the victories achieved by Qatar in this aspect. The book summed up with a set of conclusions which are useful for the Gulf media without exception.

The media of the siege countries have been fighting in this battle for two years and

have been involved in a lot of serious mistakes, most notably the state of con-fusion, subordination and the repetition of lies and accusations. The results of this book are the culmination of the author’s effort to monitor the phenomenon and study the resulting facts, trends and developments.

Dr. Khalid Al Shafi’s new book ‘The Gulf Crisis: A Comprehensive Monitoring of Media Trends’.

The book consists of seven chapters which span over 390 pages and discusses the issues of the unjust siege imposed on Qatar. The author has relied on more than 30 international media references including print, video, audio and digital media as well as modern applications and community journalism.

period, the customers were offered special prices on all Toyota models and in-house finance facility. The customers also had an opportunity to win a Camry Hybrid and a RAV 4 hybrid, the raffle draw for which was held on June 18 in

the Toyota Showroom in the presence of representative from the Ministry of Economy, pro-spective car buyers as well as senior officials from Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. The winner for Toyota Camry Hybrid is the holder of coupon

number. 1997 and the winner for the RAV 4 Hybrid is the holder of Coupon number 2451. AAB management took the opportunity to thank all their customers for making the cam-paign a success and congratu-lated the winners.

Dr. Khalid bin Mubarak Al Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula Newspaper

06 MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019GULF/ MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Kushner’s plan faces broad Arab rejectionREUTERS RIYADH/AMMAN/CAIRO

Arab politicians and commen-tators reacted to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East $50bn economic vision with a mixture of derision and exasper-ation. Set to be presented by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at a conference in Bahrain on June 25-26, the blue-print envisions a global investment fund to lift the Pales-tinian and neighbouring Arab economies and is part of broader efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestininan peace process.

“We don’t need the Bahrain meeting to build our country, we need peace, and the sequence of (the plan) — economic revival followed by peace is unrealistic and an illusion,” Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said yesterday.

The lack of a political solution, which Washington has said would be unveiled later,

prompted rejection not only from Palestinians but also in Arab countries with which Israel would seek normal relations.

From Sudan to Kuwait, com-mentators and ordinary citizens denounced Kushner’s proposals in strikingly similar terms: “colossal waste of time,” “non-starter,” “dead on arrival.”

Egyptian liberal and leftist parties slammed the workshop as an attempt to “consecrate and

legitimise” occupation of Arab land. While the precise outline of the political plan has been shrouded in secrecy, officials briefed on it say Kushner has jet-tisoned the two-state solution — the long-standing worldwide formula that envisages an inde-pendent Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority is boycotting the Bahrain meeting, saying only a political solution will solve the problem. It said Kushner’s “abstract promises” were an attempt to bribe Pales-tinians into accepting Israeli occupation.

The White House has not invited the Israeli government to Bahrain. “Those who think that waving billions of dollars can lure Lebanon, which is under the weight of a suffocating eco-nomic crisis, into succumbing or bartering over its principles are mistaken,” parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, said. Lebanon’s

Iranian-backed Shiah group Hezbollah, which wields signif-icant influence over the gov-ernment, has previously called the plan “an historic crime” that must be stopped.

Thousands of people marched through the Moroccan capital Rabat yesterday to

express their solidarity with the Palestinians and their opposition to the Kushner plan.“We came here to speak in one voice as Moroccans and express our rejection of all conspiracies that target the Palestinian cause,” Slimane Amrani, Vice-Secretary-General of the kingdom’s

co-ruling Islamist PJD party told Reuters. Arab analysts believe Kushner’s economic plan is an attempt to buy off opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land with a multi-billion dollar bribe to pay off the neighbouring hosts of millions of Palestinian refugees to integrate them.

“We don’t need the Bahrain meeting to build our country, we need peace, and the sequence of (the plan) — economic revival followed by peace is unrealistic and an illusion,” Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said yesterday.

Protesters march with Palestinian flags during a demonstration, in the Moroccan capital Rabat yesterday, against the US-led economic conference in Bahrain.

Ruling party wins Mauritania polls AFP NOUAKCHOTT

Government candidate and frontrunner Mohamed Ould Ghazouani has won an absolute majority in the first round of Mauritania’s presidential election, with nearly all votes counted, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said yesterday.

With counting completed in 3,729 of a total of 3,861 polling stations, the 62-year-old former head of the domestic security service won 51.5 percent of the vote, according to data pub-lished on CENI’s website.

Ghazouani had already declared himself the winner in the early hours of yesterday in

the presence of current pres-ident Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, his supporters and journalists.

The ballot is the first in Mau-ritania’s coup-strewn history that looks set to see an elected president complete his mandate and transfer power to an elected successor, although the oppo-sition has raised concerns the vote could perpetuate a gov-ernment dominated by military figures.

Some 1.5 million people were eligible to vote Saturday in the vast, predominantly Muslim state, which is approx-imately twice the size of former colonial power France and has a population of just 4.5 million.

Turnout was 62.68 percent, CENI said.

At least 8 killed in Nigeria oil pipeline blastAFP/LAGOS

At least eight people were killed when an oil pipeline exploded in the southeast of Nigeria, police and a local official said yesterday, adding that the death toll could rise.

The accident occurred on Saturday during maintenance work on the pipeline in Oyigbo near the West African country’s oil hub Port Harcourt, Rivers State police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said. “Some persons in the area had gone to scoop the spilled product when the explosion occurred,” he said, adding that authorities had ruled out “sabotage as the cause of the incident for now”. Local politician Gerald Oforji said rescue workers had “counted eight charred bodies, but I think there could have been more.”

Iran: War would spread across Gulf REUTERS DUBAI/WASHINGTON

Any conflict in the Gulf region may spread uncontrollably and threaten the lives of US troops, a senior Iranian military commander said yesterday after US President Donald Trump said he would impose further sanc-tions on the Islamic Republic.

While flagging more sanc-tions, Trump had also said on Saturday he wanted to make a deal to bolster Iran’s economy in an apparent move to defuse tensions following the shooting down of an unmanned US drone this week by the Islamic Republic.

“Neither Iran nor any other

hostile actor should mistake US prudence and discretion for weakness. No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East,” US National Security Adviser John Bolton said yesterday during a visit to Israel.

Iran has said it would respond firmly to any threat against it and warned on Sunday of the risks of a military confrontation.

“If a conflict breaks out in the region, no country would be able to manage its scope and timing,” Major General Gholamali Rashid said, according to the semi-official news agency Fars.

“The American government must act responsibly to protect the lives of American troops by

avoiding misconduct in the region.” Tensions in the region began to worsen significantly when Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six powers and reimposed sanc-tions on the country. The sanc-tions had been lifted under the pact in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.

Iran is feeling the effects of the sanctions, Bolton told reporters, adding Iran would never be allowed nuclear weapons.

“Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, its threats to exceed the limits set in the failed Iran nuclear deal in the coming days... are not signs of a nation seeking peace,” Bolton said.

Kuwaiti FM meets US envoy to IranQNA/KUWAIT

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah met yesterday with United States Special Envoy for Iran, Brian Hook. According to Kuwait news agency, the two sides discussed, during the meeting, the strategic relations between the two countries and reviewed the latest regional and interna-tional developments.

Sudan court orders to end military’s Internet blackout REUTERS KHARTOUM

A Sudanese court ordered telecoms operator Zain Sudan yesterday to restore Internet services, a lawyer said, after they were severed nearly three weeks ago when security forces dispersed protesters camping in central Khartoum.

Sudan’s military rulers ordered the Internet blackout as a security measure but it is harming the economy and humanitarian operations in the African nation of 40 million. The protesters are demanding the military hand power to a civilian

authority. Abdel-Adheem Hassan, a lawyer who filed his own case against Zain Sudan over the blackout, said the Khartoum District Court had ordered Zain to “immediately restore Internet services to the country”. Sudanese courts do not confirm or deny their rulings to the media. Zain Sudan, a sub-sidiary of Zain Kuwait and the largest operator in Sudan, was not immediately able to comment on the matter. Hassan said a Zain representative had told the court in response to the petition that the company had been ordered verbally by “high authorities” to cut the Internet.

Ekrem Imamoglu, candidate of the secular opposition Republican People’s Party, arrives to make his victory statement at CHP offices in Istanbul, yesterday.

New Istanbul mayor ready to work with ErdoganAGENCIES/ISTANBUL

The newly elected mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, said yesterday he was ready to work with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to solve Istanbul’s problems.

“Mr President, I am ready to work in harmony with you. I convey from here my request to meet with you in the shortest time possible,” opposition can-didate Imamoglu said after winning a decisive victory over Erdogan’s candidate in the mayoral election.

Ekrem Imamoglu won the redo of the Istanbul mayor’s race by a landslide. According to state-run Anadolu news agency, Imamoglu of the CHP party won 54% of the vote, and the ruling AK Party’s candidate, former

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim captured 45%, with more than 95% of ballot boxes opened.

Even though AK Party has lost Istanbul, Erdogan would have other levers of power to assert his will over the city. The party commands a majority on the municipal council, and together with an ally, leads 25 of Istanbul’s 39 districts.

More than 10 million people were eligible to vote, and the candidates put a priority on getting some of the 1.7 million who didn’t cast ballots in the last round to go to the polls. The March tally gave Imamoglu a margin of just 14,000 votes.

The decisive nature of the win might put investors at ease. A narrow victory would have brought the legitimacy of the vote into question.

Ethiopia thwarts coup attempt Military chief, three others killed in the coup at Amhara region REUTERS ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia’s army chief of staff and the head of the northern state of Amhara were killed in two separate but related attacks when a general tried to seize control of Amhara in an attempted coup, the prime minister’s office said on Sunday.

Amhara state president Ambachew Mekonnen and his adviser were shot dead and the state’s attorney-general was wounded in the regional capital of Bahir Dar on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement. In a separate attack the same night, Ethiopia’s army

Chief of Staff Seare Mekonnen and a retired general were both shot dead in Seare’s home in Addis Ababa by his bodyguard. The two attacks were linked, the statement said, without giving details. Abiy’s office named Amhara state security head General Asamnew Tsige as responsible for the foiled coup, without giving details of his whereabouts. Asamnew was released from prison last year after receiving an amnesty for a similar coup attempt, according to media reports.

Abiy took office just over a year ago and embarked on unprecedented reforms in Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country and one of its

fastest-growing economies.But the premier’s shake-up

of the military and intelligence services has earned him pow-erful enemies, while his gov-ernment is struggling to rein in powerful figures in Ethiopia’s myriad ethnic groups fighting the federal government and each other for greater influence and resources.

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, said the attacks were probably prompted by disaf-fection over Abiy’s rise to power and his sweeping reforms.

“There are vestiges of the old regime in power. Some of the elites are very unhappy with some of the reforms that... Abiy

is taking for a variety of reasons including, I’m sure, some ill-gotten gains,” Nagy told reporters in Pretoria, South Africa. “It’s certainly not clear sailing for him (Abiy) from now on. He has an incredible number of issues he has to deal with,” said Nagy, a former US ambas-sador to Ethiopia.

The shooting occurred when the state president — an ally of Abiy — was holding a meeting to decide how to put a stop to the open recruitment of ethnic Amhara militias by Asamnew, one Addis-based official said.

Asamnew had advised the Amhara people to arm them-selves in preparation for fighting against other groups.

07MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019 ASIA

Death toll from acute encephalitis in Indian town rises to 129 childrenREUTERS NEW DELHI

At least 129 children have now died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the town of Muzaffarpur in the eastern Indian state of Bihar since an outbreak earlier this month, a medical official said yesterday.

The death toll from AES, a fever that affects the central nervous system, has risen from 97 reported last Monday and medical and government offi-cials are facing mounting crit-icism for struggling to contain the crisis in the town of nearly 350,000 people.

AES, known as ‘brain fever’ is caused by any one of a number of viruses. Symptoms include

high fever, vomiting and, in severe cases, seizures, paralysis and coma. Infants and elderly people are particularly vulnerable.

“I received my last update in the afternoon and according to the latest report that I have, 129 children have died so far,” Shailesh Prasad Singh, the top state medical official in Muzaf-farpur said. The town lies about 80 km from Patna, the state capital. The precise causes of AES are not known, though a majority of medical profes-sionals say it is linked to a fero-cious heat-wave.

Some studies have blamed toxins in lychees, a fruit grown in abundance in orchards around Muzaffarpur. But many

families said last week that their children had not eaten them in recent weeks.

Singh said a team of experts, including doctors, paramedics and other government officials were working “round the clock” to contain the spread of AES, which killed more than 350 children in a previous outbreak in Bihar in 2014.

Doctors from other parts of the country had been dispatched to Muzaffarpur to help staff at the Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital which had to evict a group of sick inmates from a ward to accommodate the surge in AES patients.

Most of the children who died were being treated at the hospital.

At least 14 dead, 26 injured as tent collapses during rainIANS JAIPUR

At least 14 people were killed and 26 injured when a massive tent erected for people attending a religious gathering collapsed during rain in Rajasthan’s Barmer yesterday, police said.

“Around 1,000 people had gathered under a tent to listen to Ram Katha in Jasol village of Balotra area, when a storm played havoc around 3.30pm. Most participants were senior cit-izens,” said District Collector Himanshu Gupta.

Balotra Sub-Inspector Khe-taram Parmar said: “Some 14 people have lost their lives, while 26 injured have been admitted to the district hospital.”

There are reports of many people getting electrocuted after an electric wire fell to the ground. According to an eyewitness: “The

breaking of the wire in the rain led to a stampede in which many people were electrocuted.”

Meanwhile, a video has also gone viral since the evening, in which Murlidhar, the man deliv-ering the discourse, is seen asking people to evacuate the tent even as the structure crashes.

Parmar added that the number of injured was much higher as many people had been shifted to private hospitals by their families. However, their exact number was yet to be confirmed.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Kailash Chaudhary cancelled his Ranchi tour and left for Barmer to monitor the situation.

The state government has formed a five-member team, comprising senior officials, to look into the relief work. A com-pensation of Rs 5 lakh has also

been announced for the families of each of the deceased, while every injured will get Rs 2 lakh.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has directed Jodhpur Divisional Commissioner BL Kothari to investigate the tragedy.

Expressing anguish over the tragedy, Gehlot wrote on Twitter: “The loss of lives of so many people during Ram Katha in Jasol, Barmer is unfortunate and sad. I pray to God to bestow peace on the departed souls and strength to the bereaved families. I also wish quick recovery to the injured.”

“The local administration is engaged in rescue and relief work. The officials concerned have been asked to investigate the incident. They have also been asked to provide quick medical treatment to the injured and all help to the families of those affected,” he tweeted.

Bodies of seven foreign climbers retrieved from Indian mountainIANS DEHRADUN

A search team yesterday found seven bodies of foreign moun-taineers who had gone missing last month while climbing the Nanda Devi East peak in Utta-rakhand, a top government official said.

District Magistrate, Pithor-agarh, Vijay Kumar Jogdande, who had organised the search team comprising personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force, confirmed that seven bodies, including one of a woman, have been found at a height of 5,800 metres on the mountain this morning.

The team found the seven bodies buried under a thick layer of snow on the western ridge of the peak. The bodies have not yet been identified.

The search is on to find one remaining body as there were a total of eight members in the team, including an Indian, which had gone missing on way to the peak. The operation to retrieve the bodies from the mountain had begun on June 12. The mission called ‘Oper-ation Daredevil’ was assisted by Indian Air Force helicopters.

IAF choppers early this month had spotted the bodies of five of the eight moun-taineers who perished on way to the Nanda Devi East peak. The bodies had been sighted at an unnamed peak adjoining Nanda Devi East during an air search by the helicopters.

The team which went missing en route to the Nanda Devi East peak consisted of climbers from the UK, the US, Australia, apart from one Indian. They had left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the peak but did not return to the base camp.

An Indian man, Kalpesh Modi, performs stunts with his motorcycle during the rehearsal for the forthcoming Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, an annual festival, in Ahmedabad, yesterday. The 142nd Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra festival in Ahmedabad is scheduled for July 4.

Daredevil stunts

India rejects US religious freedom reportAFP NEW DELHI

India hit out yesterday at a US report saying religious intol-erance was growing under its right-wing government, setting off a new spat ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

An annual report on inter-national religious freedom released by Pompeo on Friday said Hindu-groups had used “violence, intimidation, and har-assment” against Muslims and low-caste Dalits in 2017 to force a religion-based national identity.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government insisted that no foreign country had the right to criticise its record.

Pompeo arrives in New Delhi tomorrow for a trip intended to strengthen ties, but already complicated by spats over trade tariffs, data pro-tection rules, US visas for Indians and buying arms from Russia.

The US religious freedom report said groups claiming to protect cows — considered sacred by Hindus — have attacked Muslims and Dalits. Christians have also been tar-geted for proselytizing since Modi came to power in 2014.

“Despite Indian government statistics indicating that com-munal violence has increased sharply over the past two years, the Modi administration has not addressed the problem,” the report said.

The Indian foreign ministry rejected the report, saying there was no right “for a foreign entity/government to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ con-

stitutionally protected rights”.“India is proud of its secular

credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a plural-istic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion,” spokesman Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.

“The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities.”

The United States has sought to boost ties with India as a counterweight to China, and both US President Donald Trump and Modi have high-lighted their good relationship.

However, India last week imposed higher import tariffs on 28 US items in retaliation to Washington’s recent withdrawal of trade privileges for New Delhi.

Pompeo wants to use his New Delhi trip to lay the ground for a Trump-Modi meeting at the G20 Summit in Osaka this month. It will be their first since Modi’s new landslide election win last month. Pompeo is also to give a speech on the future of the relationship between the two countries.

A general view of the site where a pandal (a large marquee) collapsed during a religious event killing and injuring people in Barmer in the state of Rajasthan, yesterday.

An annual report on international religious freedom released by Pompeo on Friday said Hindu-groups had used “violence, intimidation, and harassment” against Muslims and low-caste Dalits in 2017 to force a religion-based national identity.

The current world population of 7.7 billion by 2050, the UN Numbers will still be rising as the total approaches 11 billion people in 2100, according to the UN’s central forecast.

08 MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019VIEWS

Global population could peak sooner than we think

Since the days of Thomas Malthus, we’ve worried that overpopulation is about to overwhelm our planet.

Those fears haven’t gone away. A further two billion people will be added to the current world population of 7.7 billion by 2050, the United

Nations Pop-ulation Division said in a report this week. Numbers will still be rising as the total approaches 11 billion people in 2100, according to the UN’s central forecast.

Agricul-tural produc-tivity has confounded Malthus’s predictions by keeping the

world’s population well fed despite its headlong growth in the past century. Still, a further 40% increase in the number of humans would put fresh pressure on the globe’s 33 million square kilometers of agricultural land - not to mention a climate that’s already at risk from population levels.

At the same time, signs are starting to emerge that this picture may be too pessimistic. Malthus’s key error was his failure to foresee how fertility rates would fall with increasing incomes - and the pace of change on that front has been staggering in recent years.

While India is forecast to overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2027, its number of inhabitants will start to level off by mid-century thanks to a fertility rate that’s already fallen to 2.24 births per woman, around where Ireland was in the late 1980s. By 2025 the rate will fall to 2.14, roughly the levels at which population hits a steady state.(1)

Other large countries in Asia have seen even sharper declines. The rate of 2.05 in Bangladesh is already below where it was in the U.S. during the mid-2000s. Thailand’s 1.53 is barely higher than Japan’s, at 1.37. Of the world’s top 30 countries by popu-lation, 19 are already around or below replacement-level fertility.

The exception is sub-Saharan Africa. More than half the growth the UN expects to see in the global popu-lation up to 2050 will happen there. From about one-seventh of the world’s population at present, the region will grow to account for a fifth in 2050, and a third in 2100, according to the latest forecast. In Nigeria, where the fertility rate is 5.4, there are about 43 million women between the ages of 15 and 45, and a further 43 million who’ll hit child-bearing age by the mid-2030s.

Bullish expectations for African population growth depend on the idea that the region is fundamentally dif-ferent from the rest of the emerging world. Demographic transition - the process whereby countries switch from high to low fertility rates as they urbanize and women get better access to education, contraception and employment - is expected to play out there in a unique way.

While most Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries took about two decades to make the tran-sition to fewer than three children per woman from more than five, the UN expects sub-Saharan African countries to take almost twice as long. Indonesia made the switch in just over 16 years; Tanzania is expected to take about 50.

Is that forecast right? There’s reason to think that

after overestimating the pace of African fertility decline in previous decades, demographers are now underestimating it. If most countries in the region haven’t started a steep drop yet, it’s plausible that in most cases it’s because most countries have only just hit the sub-five levels at which the process starts to gather pace. Those that reached that point early, such as Botswana, South Africa, and Kenya, seem to be transitioning at a similar pace to countries elsewhere.

Sharp improvements in infant mor-tality also suggest a change may be around the corner. One tragic reason that African women have so many children is that so many of them die before their fifth birthday. But there’s now only a handful of countries where the chance of that happening is higher than 8%, roughly the level at which fer-tility rates start to fall.

Fewer infant deaths and mouths to feed will mean less heartache and stress for African families. At the same time, a proportionately larger working-age population will help gen-erate the “demographic dividend” experienced by other countries at their most rapid stages of development, a boon that some analysts have feared Africa may miss out on. Beyond that, population growth more in line with the rest of the world will put less pressure on the planet’s climate and farmland.

To be sure, fertility rates are unpredictable. The availability of con-traception in west and central Africa is still shockingly low by global standards, as is female education; 31 of the 39 countries where less than half of girls enroll in secondary school are in sub-Saharan Africa. Healthcare improvements can be reversed, too, while chaos and conservative social policies can cause birth rates to spike, as has happened in Egypt since the Arab Spring.

Still, those who fear a Malthusian outcome for the world’s population should think twice. Shrinking families confounded his grim predictions about the world’s future. The same may go for our current forecasts.

DAVID FICKLING BLOOMBERG

QUOTE OF THE DAYWe don’t need the

Bahrain meeting to build our country, we need

peace, and the sequence of (the plan) — economic revival followed by peace

is unrealistic and an illusion. First of all give us

our land and our freedom.

Shukri Bishara Palestinian Finance

Minister

Unlearning the lessons from Chernobyl

Five years after the Chernobyl disaster, in the summer of 1991, the last summer the Soviet Union was still in

existence, I visited Ukraine. I trekked out to the 20-mile exclusion zone - it had been cleared of all people after the accident - together with some local environmental activists. We brought Geiger counters, which indeed ticked upward as we got nearer to the reactor, but not in any way that was conclusive. We also talked to a local doctor, whom I remember as not very forthcoming. Some people told us of two-headed pigs and mutated cows, but others dismissed them as rumors.

In fact, it wasn’t possible to learn that much about Chernobyl when you were at Chernobyl five years after the accident. The number of deaths was dis-puted, even then, and it remains so now. As I wrote at the time, the official number then was 31; the scientific director of the exclusion zone thought the number was closer to 7,000; other Soviet nongovernmental organizations used much higher numbers, speculating that early deaths as a result of the accident would hit 300,000. Those figures have changed, but the range hasn’t. There was no way to be certain of the fatalities then, and there still isn’t now. Nobody had measured the radi-ation at the time of the explosion; nobody kept track of the people who had been evacuated to new homes all over the country; nobody even knew the fate of the soldiers and plant employees who had taken part in the cleanup.

Anyone who has watched HBO’s recent brilliant five-part series, “Cher-nobyl,” or read Serhii Plokhy’s prize-winning 2018 book, “Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe,”

knows that there were deeper problems, too. Layer upon layer of lies and falsehoods surrounded the accident from the beginning. First the reactor’s leadership, then the Soviet leadership, covered up the explosion. Later, they tried to cover up the human errors that led to the disaster. That was why measurements were not made, assessments were not com-pleted, victims were not informed.

In due course, the extent of the lying created a further problem: Trust in Soviet institutions plunged, espe-cially in Ukraine. Rumors replaced information. Conspiracy theories replaced explanations. As a result, Chernobyl became an important inspi-ration for the nascent Ukrainian inde-pendence movement; Chernobyl also persuaded the last general secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to launch his program of glasnost, or openness. He thought that if Soviet institutions began to tell the truth, other Chernobyls could be avoided, and the Soviet Union would remain intact. Instead, it melted down, too.

QFC now has over 600 firms registered on its platform which is a 31% increase from the previous year. QFC’s achievement and accomplishments mirrors the growth in Qatar’s economy, which is growing steadily, overcoming several challenges.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

QFC’s year of achievements

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) yesterday released it annual report that shows its achievements in 2018. Highlights of the report include an increase in key QFC

partnerships, licensing over 150 firms, successful roadshows in important markets across the globe, new laws creating a more conducive business platform, and expanding its digital reach to 50 industries in 183 countries. Overall, the centre has had a year which was full of accomplishments.

QFC now has over 600 firms registered on its platform which is a 31 percent increase from the previous year. QFC’s achievement and accomplishments mirror the growth in Qatar’s economy, which is growing steadily, overcoming several challenges.

The 2018 United Nations report has noted a 27 percent increase in FDI inflows to Qatar between 2016 and 2017.

Qatar’s economy has proved its resilience and attrac-tiveness to investors. The World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Competitiveness Report has once again ranked it as the second-most competitive place to do business in the Middle East region.

According to the World Bank, Qatari economy is expected to grow at 2.7 percent in 2019 and 3 percent in 2020, partly driven by Qatar’s success in attracting foreign direct investments.

Qatar’s foreign trade saw remarkable growth in 2018 with total trade increasing by 19 percent to reach $116bn.

In 2018 QFC intensified efforts to further attract inter-national business to expand their operations into Qatar’s rapidly growing market bringing the total number of companies under QFC to 612, out of them 520 are regulated and 92 are non-regulated companies.

QFC’s growth is also reflected in the number of milestone MoUs, events and international engagements that took place in 2018. The QFC signed five landmark MoUs in 2018 with key local and international stake-holders to develop various sectors of the economy.

Most notably, with the Aspire Zone Foundation to establish ‘Qatar’s Sports Business District’ (QSBD), a new national project which aims to create a premier sports business cluster in Qatar and the Middle East. The QFC also signed an MoU with B-Hive, a European collaborative inno-vation FinTech platform to develop the FinTech industry in Qatar. In line with its mandate to support Qatar’s economic diversification efforts, the QFC signed a key MoU with the Ministry of Transport and Communications to develop the digital industry.

The centre is gearing up for the next phase of growth, which will see the QFC supporting some of Qatar’s leading industries to further diversify its economy and attract foreign direct investment. Due to the proactive approach to engaging with key international markets around the world, QFC’s growth will continue in 2019 and beyond.

ANNE APPLEBAUM THE WASHINGTON POST

09MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019 ASIA

Sri Lanka President seeks to roll back political reformsAFP COLOMBO

Sri Lanka’s President yesterday called for sweeping reforms to the country’s constitution that he introduced in 2015 to be rolled back, saying they are responsible for political insta-bility.

Maithripala Sirisena said the 19th amendment to the consti-tution — which notably trans-ferred some of the president’s powers to the Prime Minister and depoliticised key institutions —should be scrapped because it has led to a power struggle.

It “has triggered instability. There is no single leader,” Sirisena told a meeting in Colombo. “People believe that the president and Prime Minister are pulling in different directions.”

Sirisena came to power in 2015 promising constitutional reform carried out with the 19th amendment, including the reduction of the powers of the executive and giving greater

authority to parliament.The police, public service,

election commission and the judiciary were depoliticised — and term limits of the presi-dency, which were removed by Sirisena’s predecessor, were restored.

Human rights were strengthened and the president was made answerable to par-liament and could be challenged in court.

At the time, Sirisena was hailed internationally for the sweeping reforms.

However, in October, he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and tried to bring his former nemesis Rajapakse back to power. The Supreme Court held his actions were illegal and restored the status quo.

Sirisena’s attempts to extend his presidential term by a further year was also shot down by the top court. The president does not have the two-thirds parlia-mentary majority in the current parliament that he needs to change the constitution.

The independent elections commission is due to conduct the next presidential poll between November 9 and December 9.

Sirisena has an uneasy rela-tionship with the premier who helped him come to power. The two have clashed openly as the prime minister has made it clear that he wants to contest the upcoming presidential polls.

Truck plunges into river in Pakistan; 9 deadAP PESHAWAR

Pakistani police say nine people drowned when a vehicle plunged off a mountainous road into a river in the country’s northwest.

Officer Hafeezur Rehman says the passenger truck was carrying more than twenty people to the Gadar area yes-terday, when it toppled off a road in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

province. Rehman says the road’s condition caused the accident. Police said seven people have been rescued from the river, and efforts were underway to retrieve bodies.

Internet blackout continues in Rakhine stateAFP YANGON

An unprecedented shutdown of mobile data across swathes of Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state entered a third day yesterday, blocking villagers from the Internet in areas where the army is accused of abuses in its battle with ethnic rebels.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) ordered all mobile phone operators on Friday to suspend Internet data in nine townships across Rakhine and neighbouring Chin State.

“As a basis for its request, the MoTC has referenced dis-turbances of the peace and Internet services to coordinate illegal activities,” Telenor Myanmar said in a statement.

The decree was made under the Telecommunications Law, hitting all mobile operators for an unspecified period.

Myanmar’s army is fighting ethnic Rakhine rebels who want greater autonomy from the central state. The Rakhine are Buddhists and are also fighting in northern Chin state which borders their homeland.

The Rakhine accuse the army of committing abuses — including arbitrary arrests —against them, while the military confirmed it shot dead six Rakhine detainees in late April.

Civilians have been killed in crossfires and shellings, even while taking refuge in monas-teries. Villagers in Rakhine said the mobile data ban had cut them off from the outside world, where few have per-sonal computers and most people share information on the violence through social media.

“We have no Internet at all. We use the Internet to share information through (mes-saging app) Viber,” Kyaw Soe Moe, head of Inn Din village in Rathedaung said.

Protest against the budget

Hazara Culture Day celebration in Quetta

Pakistani ministry forms action plan for population controlINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Ministry of Health of Pakistan has formulated for population control an action plan, which will be presented for approval of the National Task Force on Population Control, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The action plan is formu-lated on directives of the Council

of Common Interest (CCI).In case of an approval, the

action plan will be implemented all over the country.

According to the documents, the federal and provincial gov-ernments will speed up their efforts to control the population growth under the proposed action plan.

The Ministry of Health held consultations wil l al l

stakeholders including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and then prepared a draft entitled ‘Pakistan Popu-lation Vision 2018-30’.

Targets have been set in this draft to control the population. According to the draft, the fer-tility rate or growth rate will be reduced to 2.1 per cent; the con-traceptive prevalence rate will be increased to 70 per cent and

the child and maternity mortality rates will be reduced.

According to the draft, the government would aim at obtaining universal productive health services by 2025. The draft will be sent to the federal task force formed under the PM for approval.

Under this plan, guidelines, action and family planning projects will be prepared to

control population in the country. The documents state that the federal and provincial governments have allocated a reasonable amount in the coming budget for population control and welfare programmes.

The federal government has proposed allocating Rs438.6m while the provinces have pro-posed allocating Rs7.77bn for this purpose.

Last year, former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar had ordered formation of a task force at the federal and provincial levels — to be headed respec-tively by the prime minister and chief ministers — to control pop-ulation growth.

The Supreme Court had ordered the task force to for-mulate an action plan for popu-lation control.

Move to deploy forces in tribal areas questioned INTERNEWS PESHAWAR

The nationalist political parties questioned the decision to conduct the upcoming elections for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the tribal districts under the supervision of the army.

In a statement, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao expressed aston-ishment over the decision to deploy soldiers during the election in tribal districts.

“It seems the writ of the civil administration is very weak in the tribal districts,” the QWP leader told a party meeting here.

The Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday ordered deployment of armed forces inside and outside polling stations during the upcoming elections in tribal districts.

The decision showed the civil administration did not have the ability to conduct the polls, the QWP chief said and demanded the government to withdraw the decision.

Aftab Sherpao said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had added to the woes of the people due to its poor economic policies.

He criticised the PTI gov-ernment for its flawed economic policies and said the IMF-dictated budget would trigger a fresh wave of inflation and compound the miseries of the people.

The QWP leader urged the federal government to release the arrears of the net hydel profit to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it was the constitutional right of the province.

Aftab Sherpao also con-demned the curbs on the media houses and said the restrictions were meant to muzzle the press and stifle dissenting voices.

He also announced at the meeting that his party would soon launch a mass contact movement

to mobilise the people and reg-ister protest against the price-hike and ill-conceived policies of the government.

He said the QWP would also attend the all parties conference convened by the opposition to iron out a strategy on how to tackle the issues facing the country.

Aftab Sherpao said that the report of the Auditor General of Pakistan about irregularities in the Bus Rapid Transit project should serve as an eye-opener for the National Accountability Bureau.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party provincial head Aimal Wali Khan also accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of being partial in conducting the polls in the erstwhile Fata.

Expressing his reservations, he said the ECP should explain why the deployment of the army troops was necessary for holding the polls in the merged districts.

He said his party had written to the ECP against the move, but its apprehensions were ignored.

The ANP leader said the pro-vincial government was busy dis-tributing funds in tribal districts in violation of the election code of conduct. “A free and fair election in tribal districts is a must to put the areas on road to progress,” he added.

Aimal Wali said the ANP con-sidered deployment of security personnel inside the polling sta-tions as interference in the elec-toral process.

The ANP leader said that army’s role should be restricted to maintain law and order.

Aimal Wali said if the law and order was not good then the army should perform duty outside the polling stations. He said that involving the institution in the election process was an unwise decision. He said all major political parties had reservations about the fairness of the last general election.

Activists of Pakistani Peoples Party (PPP) gather to protest against the budget in Karachi yesterday. Pakistan government vowed to collect more taxes and make spending cuts in a closely watched budget presented to parliament June 13, weeks after reaching a deal with the IMF for a $6bn bailout.

Maithripala Sirisena said the 19th amendment to the constitution — which notably transferred some of the president’s powers to the Prime Minister and depoliticised key institutions — should be scrapped because it has led to a power struggle.

The children perform a tablo during Hazara Culture Day celebration in Quetta. The culture of the Hazara people is rich in heritage, with many unique customs and traditions, and shares influences with Persian, Mongol and various central Asian cultures.

Model Healthcare System to facilitate Islamabad residentsINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

As part of the Model Healthcare System planned for the capital of Pakistan, the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has decided to introduce a smart-phone application through which residents can call ambulances.

According to international standards, an ambulance, after receiving the call, should reach its destination within eight to nine minutes, and should shift the patient to the hospital at the ear-liest, and this has been made a part of the Model Healthcare System that is being introduced in Islamabad, NHS Director General Dr Asad Hafeez said.

“The system will be repli-cated in the provinces, so we want to make sure it will be perfect,” he added.

He said that one of the six aspects of the Model Healthcare

System is to ensure connectivity with IT, and so an app was a requirement.

“We have just a few dozen ambulances on the hospitals of the capital, but we require more. On the other hand, ambulances are not used all the time, as they are sometimes used to shift 10 people and sometimes just one person. So there is a need to use ambulances smartly,” he said.

When asked how the app would work, Dr Hafeez likened it to ridesharing services Careem and Uber. “People will have to install the ambulance service app, due to which not only will they be able to see the ambulances available in the area but they will also get information on the ambulance driver and will be aware of how much time the ambulance will take to reach. There are around 150 private ambulances in the capital, so they will also be linked to the app.”

Dr Hafeez added that people can pay their ambulance bills in cash or, if they have health cards provided by the government, the charges will be deducted from their cards. Ambulances will also have a bed registry, using which staff, after identifying the nature of the emergency, will be informed which hospital has a ventilator, bed or any other facility that the patient requires.

“Currently, patients are shifted from one hospital to another and they do not get a ventilator. However, after intro-ducing the Model Healthcare System, ambulance staff will be aware that a ventilator is not available at a public sector hos-pital and they will take them directly to a private hospital after checking if a ventilator is available, because in such emer-gencies a delay of 10 to 20 minutes can cost a person’s life,” he said.

10 MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019ASIA / EUROPE

Cambodia building collapse toll rises to 18

AFP SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA

Victims of a Cambodia building collapse were buried alive as they slept, a survivor said yesterday, as the death toll at the Chinese-owned site rose to 18 and hopes faded for finding more survivors.

Tearful onlookers — among them relatives of the missing —waited into yesterday evening as diggers picked through the rubble of the seven-storey building, which was under con-struction at the time of the accident.

The building came down before dawn on Saturday while workers slept.

“I’m so lucky to be alive,” survivor Phat Sophal, 37, said.

“There was a loud bang... my

floor trembled, suddenly the building went down. I was crushed by debris from my waist down,” he said.

“My nephew and brother-in-law were also sleeping near me. Everyone was screaming and crying for help. A bit later I stopped hearing them.

“I don’t think they have sur-vived.” A soldier at the scene said they had heard screams for help,

but “today we didn’t hear any sounds”.

“If you go onto the pile of debris, you can smell the decom-posing bodies,” he said, requesting anonymity, and spec-ulating the searing temperatures would be hard to survive.

Around 70 workers were sleeping on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, the survivor said, adding Chinese

electricians were using the upper floors.

The former fishing village of Sihanoukville has seen a Chinese construction boom buoyed by tourists to its dozens of casinos in recent years, with questions raised about the speed of devel-opment in a nation notorious for lax safety standards.

Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse, which Prime Minister Hun Sen blamed on “carelessness” by the con-struction company.

Local authorities yesterday raised the death toll to 18 — including at least three women — with 24 injured.

Some of the scores of res-cuers wore hard hats and oxygen tanks and used pneumatic drills to chip through concrete blocks, while diggers cleared gnarled metal.

One person was pulled alive from the rubble late Saturday — the last survivor to be extracted as of Sunday afternoon.

“We fear more bodies are trapped in the debris because the

search has not reached the bottom of the building yet,” a provincial official said.

It is not clear how many people were at the site at the time of the collapse.

There are an estimated 200,000 construction workers in Cambodia — about 11 percent of the informal work sector — most who are unskilled, paid day wages and are not protected by union rules, according to the International Labour Organi-sation (ILO).

Cambodia has not kept pace with the construction boom “to ensure safety and health of the sector’s workforce”, the ILO has said.

The southwestern town of Sihanoukville is awash with Chinese cash that has sparked a building frenzy to cater to mainland tourists flooding the town’s casinos, beaches and glitzy hotels.

Beijing is pouring investment into Cambodia as part of its behemoth Belt and Road initi-ative, a sweeping trillion-dollar infrastructure programme across Asia, Africa and Europe.

Rescue workers search for victims in the debris after an under-construction building collapsed in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, yesterday.

Kim receives ‘excellent’ letter from TrumpAFP SEOUL

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a personal letter of “excellent content” from US President Donald Trump, the country’s state media said yesterday, amid a nuclear deadlock between Pyongyang and Washington.

Talks have been stalled since the collapse of a second summit between the two leaders in Feb-ruary after they failed to agree on what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.

The two sides have blamed each other for the breakdown but both have expressed a will-ingness to meet again, with Trump saying earlier this month that he had received a “beautiful letter” from Kim.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported yesterday that Trump had written to Kim, who “said

with satisfaction that the letter is of excellent content”.

“Appreciating the political judging faculty and extraor-dinary courage of President Trump, Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,” KCNA said.

The report gave no further detail about the content of the letter or when it was sent and received.

The front page of North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried a photo of Kim holding Trump’s letter as he read it in his office.

In a statement the White House confirmed “a letter was sent by President Trump and correspondence between the two leaders has been ongoing.” South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it was aware of the correspondence through its communication with Wash-ington, and described the exchange as “positive”.

The KCNA report came just

two days after Kim hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping, who wrapped up a highly sym-bolic visit to nuclear-armed North Korea on Friday.

Kim told Xi that his visit was an opportunity to demonstrate “the immutability and invinci-bility of the DPRK-China friendship before the world”, KCNA said, using the abbrevi-ation of North Korea’s official name.

Analysts say the North’s apparently friendly overtures to Trump signalled that Pyongyang was ready to break the deadlock with Washington.

Trump and Kim held a groundbreaking summit in Sin-gapore last year — the first-ever meeting between a North Korean leader and a sitting US president — where the pair signed a vaguely-worded deal on denuclearisation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reading a personal letter sent by US President Donald Trump, yesterday.

Asean-China talks on South China Sea ahead of scheduleBLOOMBERG SINGAPORE

Southeast Asian nations say their first draft of a code of conduct with China on the disputed South China Sea is ahead of schedule and may be finished by the end of this year.

The 10-nation group, known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean, said the two sides were moving swiftly to complete talks on the text to “reduce ten-sions and the risk of accidents, misunderstandings and miscal-culation,” according to a statement following its regional summit in Bangkok this weekend.

“We warmly welcomed the continued improving cooper-ation between Asean and China and were encouraged by the progress of the substantive negotiations towards the early conclusion,” according to the statement.

Still, the progress in the talks comes as the Southeast Asian nations raised concerns over China’s land reclamations and other activities in the dis-puted area, “which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region,” according to the statement.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday expressed “concern and disap-pointment” over an apparent delay on the negotiations. This month, a Chinese vessel col-lided with a Filipino fishing boat, leaving 22 men stranded at sea.

“The longer the delay for an early conclusion of the code of conduct, the higher the proba-bility of maritime incidents happening and the greater the chance for miscalculations that may spiral out of control,” Duterte’s spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said in a statement.

In November, China and the group agreed that the talks should be concluded in the next three years.

China’s Qu Dongyu becomes FAO chiefAFP ROME

Qu Dongyu (pictured) yesterday became the first Chinese national to be elected to head the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, clinching the post in the first round of voting.

Qu, 55, a biologist by training, won 108 votes, followed by Catherine Geslain-Laneelle of France with 71 votes and Georgia’s Davit Kirvalidze with 12, according to official results.

“I’m very grateful to all member countries for your active participation,” the new

FAO chief said after the results were announced. “Thanks also to other candidates who helped make me better.

“I will be committed to FAO’s original aspirations, mandates

and the missions of the organi-zation.” His election to the helm of the Rome-based agency, which brings together 194 member countries, comes as the fight to eradicate world hunger takes a blow from global warming and wars.

Hunger blamed on the com-bined effects of extreme and erratic weather, economic slow-downs, and conflicts, particu-larly in Africa and the Middle East, has risen for the past three years.

FAO has sounded the alarm over rising food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition.

Indonesia police arrest three suspects over factory fireREUTERS JAKARTA

Indonesian authorities have arrested three people suspected of negligence after a fire ripped through a makeshift factory in North Sumatra, killing 30 people, a police spokesman said yesterday.

The blaze broke out on Friday in the facility located in a residential area, killing the workers, mostly women. Several children were among the victims, suspected to be the off-spring of the workers.

North Sumatra police spokesman Tatan Dirsan Atmadja said two men and a woman, co-owners of the factory, had been arrested and named suspects in the case for negligence causing injury or death. The suspects could face up to five years in jail if found guilty, Atmadja said.

The fire started when a worker was testing a spark wheel which turned out to be faulty and caused large spark which quickly set ablaze a nearby gas cannister and other flammable materials, he said.

Italy holds Netherlands, EU ‘responsible’ for migrant boatAFP ROME

Italy’s hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he would hold the Netherlands and the European Union “responsible” for the fate of 42 migrants that Rome has blocked from disem-barking at Italian ports for over a week.

The Dutch-flagged rescue boat Sea-Watch 3 has been stuck in the Mediterranean since res-cuing 53 migrants drifting in an inflatable raft off the coast of Libya on June 12.

While eleven of those on board the Sea-Watch were allowed to disembark — including two pregnant women — the vessel was denied per-mission to dock in Italy and has

refused to return those rescued back to crisis-hit Libya, saying Tripoli was not a safe port.

Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister and leads the powerful right-wing League party in the ruling coalition, has seen his popularity soar in the last year with a hard line against migrants which has included closing ports to rescue vessels.

He said yesterday that he had written to his counterpart in the Netherlands.

“I am incredulous because they are not interested in a boat that is flying their flag... and has been floating in the open sea for 11 days,” he said in a statement.

“We will hold the gov-ernment of the Netherlands and the European Union, distant and absent as usual, responsible for

all that happens to the women and men on board the Sea-Watch,” he added.

Ten of the Sea-Watch migrants were allowed to dis-embark a week ago on the Med-iterranean island of Lampedusa, which lies between the Italian mainland and the north African coast, while a sick man was also able to leave the boat on Saturday.

But 42 people remain on board the ship, which is operated by a German aid group.

Malta yesterday said its navy had rescued a group of 37 migrants in difficulty in the Med-iterranean. Rome and Valletta insist on there being a fair dis-tribution of migrants to other EU countries, while countries such as France say migrants should

disembark at the closest port and then be voluntarily redistributed around Europe.

More than 12,000 people

have died since 2014 trying to flee Libya to Europe by what the UN refugee agency calls the “world’s deadliest sea crossing”.

Migrants arrive on an Armed Forces of Malta vessel at its base in Marsamxett Harbour, Valletta, Malta, yesterday.

Jakarta, Manila to ratify maritime boundary dealBLOOMBERG SINGAPORE

Indonesia and the Philippines said they will begin to ratify a deal in August to establish a boundary between overlapping so-called exclusive economic zones.

The deal, which was signed in May, will bolster economic ties by determining the limits of borders in the Mindanao and Celebes seas — marking the end of 20 years of negotiations.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Indo-nesian President Joko Widodo jointly announced the timeline during a meeting on the side-lines of the 34th Asean Summit in Bangkok late Saturday.

“This ratification will provide legal certainty for law enforcement and increase mar-itime cooperation,” according to the statement released by the Indonesian government.

Asean leaders hold off from demanding citizenship for RohingyasBLOOMBERG SINGAPORE

Southeast Asian leaders held back from collectively demanding that Myanmar provide citizenship for Rohingyas even as some member nations sought more rights for the persecuted minority group.

The region’s leaders had faced pressure from rights groups ahead of their biannual meeting in Bangkok to take a tougher stance on Myanmar, including holding the military accountable for the atrocities committed. The nation has also been criticised for failing to ensure the safe repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims forced into Bangladesh.

‘We stressed the importance of and expressed our continued support for Myanmar’s com-mitment to ensure safety and security for all communities in Rakhine State as effectively as possible and facilitate the vol-untary return of displaced persons in a safe, secure and dignified manner,’ the leaders said in a joint statement after the summit. Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Saifuddin Abdullah had earlier said the repatriation process should include citizenship for Rohingya.

Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse.

11MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019 EUROPE

Climate activists end blockade of German coal mineAP BERLIN

Hundreds of climate activists called an end to their protest yesterday inside one of Germany’s biggest open-pit mines after police repeatedly ordered them to leave, citing life-threatening danger, and author-ities pulled some protesters out.

The Garzweiler lignite coal mine has been the focal point of environmental protests in Ger-many’s Rhineland region since Friday, when 40,000 students rallied for more government action against climate change in the nearby city of Aachen.

“We wrote climate history this weekend,” the activist group End of Story said as it halted the protest. “Our movement has never been so diverse and never been so determined.” The long-planned protests began Friday just hours after European Union leaders failed at a summit to agree on how to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050.

On Saturday, some demon-strators blocked the railroad

tracks used to transport coal before others broke through a police cordon to enter the mine.

Protesters and police accused each other of combative behaviour in the mine and of causing injuries. Police said eight officers were injured in scuffles with protesters.

Police cut the locks the pro-testers had used to chain them-selves to the railway tracks and then carried the protesters out one by one.

Inside the mine, some pro-testers left voluntarily, while others were taken on buses and driven out of the mine. Police took the identities of all demon-

strators before letting them go.German news agency DPA

reported that activists claimed police had denied water and food to those who were temporarily detained. Police denied the allegation.

The mine has been the focus of many protests in recent years because the operator, German utility company RWE, planned to cut down a forest to enlarge it. Later yesterday, Aachen police

tweeted that RWE had filed a criminal complaint against those protesters who had locked them-selves to the tracks. The utility company had stopped mining during the three days of protests.

Following months of climate protests by students and a sharp rise in the polls for Germany’s Greens party, German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel recently threw her weight behind the goal

of making Germany climate neutral by 2050. That would mean the country’s economy no longer would add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Scientists say ending fossil fuel use by mid-century is a must if countries want to achieve the 2015 Paris climate accord’s most ambitious goal of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius com-pared to pre-industrial times.

Climate activists occupy railtracks in Neurath, close to the Garzweiler brown coal mine, in western Germany, yesterday, during protests in a growing “climate civil disobedience” movement.

UK’s Boris Johnson under pressure to explain domestic ‘row’AFP LONDON

Boris Johnson, the strong favourite to become Britain’s next prime minister, came under pressure from figures in his own party yesterday to explain reports of a domestic “row” that led to a police visit.

Although still heavily backed to beat Jeremy Hunt to become Conservative Party leader, and therefore prime minister, a snap poll published in the Mail yes-terday suggested that the incident had cut his support.

The Guardian reported that

police were alerted early on Friday after a neighbour heard a loud altercation involving screams, shouts and bangs at the south London property, shortly after Johnson had secured his place in the final run-off to become prime minister.

The paper said Johnson’s partner Carrie Symonds could be heard telling the former London mayor to “get off me” and “get out of my flat”.

The former foreign minister refused to answer questions about the incident on the first day of the month-long contest to win over Conservative

grassroot members, saying “I don’t think people want to hear about that kind of thing.” He instead tried to focus on his pol-icies, saying “we need to get Brexit done”, promising to prepare Britain for a no-deal exit from the EU, if a deal cannot be reached. Johnson’s leadership rival Hunt told Sky News yes-terday that “someone who wants to be prime minister should answer quest ions on everything”.

Trade minister Liam Fox — who is backing Hunt for leader — told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I think it is always easier

to just give an explanation.” Former Tory foreign office min-ister Alan Duncan — another Hunt supporter — told the Guardian newspaper his former boss now had a “big question mark over his head”. Johnson had shown a “lack of discipline” throughout his career, he added.

According to the Survation poll in the Mail yesterday, Hunt is now the preferred candidate to become prime minister among voters for all parties, as Johnson saw a seven-percent decline in support. His lead over Hunt with Conservative voters had been slashed from 27 percent to nine

percent since Friday, the poll suggested.

But only the Conservative Party’s 160,000 members get to choose between Johnson and Hunt. And their support for Johnson appeared undimmed on Saturday, at the first of a series of “hustings” — internal party debates to decide the new leader.

The Conservative members in the central English city of Bir-mingham gave Johnson a standing ovation, and loudly heckled interviewer Iain Dale as he quizzed the former London mayor over Friday’s domestic incident.

Protesters gather to demand the resignation of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Prague, Czech Republic, yesterday. The premier has refused to step down.

Thousands demand Czech PM’s ousterREUTERS PRAGUE

Czechs turned out in their thou-sands yesterday in Prague to call for the ousting of Prime Minister Andrej Babis, in the biggest show of public discontent since the 1989 Velvet Revolution which overthrew Communism.

The rally in Letna park was the culmination of a series of demonstrations in recent weeks against Babis, who has faced investigations over alleged fraud and conflicts of interest.

Organisers said they believed that about 250,000 people had attended yesterday’s rally, from all around the country, but this figure could not be verified.

Some carried banners saying “Resign”, “We’ve had enough”, and others waved Czech or EU flags. Many families brought

children to the protest, which was peaceful so far as were other recent protests against both Babis and his justice minister.

Police proposed in April that Babis, a billionaire businessman-turned-politician sometimes likened to US President Donald Trump, should be formally charged for fraud in tapping a European Union subsidy a decade ago to build a hotel and conference centre outside Prague. He denies any wrongdoing.

The appointment of a new justice minister just after the police announcement prompted rallies by demonstrators suspi-cious that Babis was trying to influence proceedings. Babis has also vigorously denied that claim. The protest was organised by civic group Million Moments for Democracy, founded by

students. Politicians were not invited to speak at the rally which began at around 16.30 (1430 GMT). Babis suffered another setback from leaked preliminary results of an audit by the European Commission, which determined he is in con-flict of interest as the beneficiary of trust funds where he had transferred his business valued at $3.7bn by Forbes.

Babis insists the audit is wrong and this would be proven in the final conclusions, expected late this year or early in 2020.

Babis has said people have the right to protest but has firmly refused to step down. His pop-ulist ANO movement remains the most popular party, although its support has dipped slightly in the past two months to 27.5%, according to a poll by Kantar agency.

Paris aims to beat Olympic traffic with flying taxisAFP LE BOURGET, FRANCE

Paris aims to give visitors to the 2024 Paris Olympics a flying start by offering airborne taxis to tournament sites straight from the airport.

Arrivals in the City of Light currently face an hour-long haul by train or bus into town from Charles de Gaulle airport to the north of Paris.

But if Aeroports de Paris (ADP), Airbus and the RATP regional transport have their way passengers, right after their jets have taxied to a halt on the runway, will be able to take to the air once again with a self-flying urban taxi of the future.

The firms used this past week’s Paris Air Show to say the Olympics afforded the perfect opportunity to bring into service futuristic Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) machines, and that they would launch a feasi-bility study.

“In 2010, for the first time, more than half of humanity was living in urban zones and we think we shall surpass 60 percent by 2030,” said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.

The time had now come to vault up to “the third dimension” of local commutes — air, he said.

“If we have the conviction that in the next five, 10, 15, 20 or 30 years low altitude is a space to be conquered we have to put in place the conditions today,” said ADP Group’s executive director general Edward Ark-wright. VTOL converts are already sprouting in number as the world looks to move beyond — or rather, above — today’s sat-urated motorways and growing environmental concerns.

Back on the ground, the view has been muddied by a delay beyond the Games, to 2025, of the express fast train designed to cut congestion and travel time between Charles de Gaulle airport and the city centre.

For aircraft manufacturer Airbus, airport manager ADP and RATP, which manages Parisian public transport services, the Games are a chance to showcase French savoir-faire in urban mobility.

ADP has until the end of the year to choose a site for a “Ver-tiport” capable of hosting taxis from one of 10 aerodromes in the region around Paris.

Merkel stresses cooperation on pressing global issuesQNA/BERLIN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stressed the importance of global cooperation on trade, noting that US-China tensions have an indirect impact “felt daily” in Germany. In a video blog yesterday, Merkel highlighted the importance of the G20 in addressing issues including free trade, digitisation, climate change, and health. Merkel said that global problems can not be solved unilaterally, noting that US-China tensions have an indirect impact “felt daily” in Germany. Merkel’s comments come ahead of the G20 summit of major industrial and emerging nations next week in Japan.

Debate in Germany over tie-up between Merkel’s CDU and far-rightAFP BERLIN

Until now, a possible tie-up between any of Germany’s mainstream parties and the rising far-right AfD movement has always been strictly seen as a political taboo.

But what was previously unthinkable could eventually become a reality as Angela Mer-kel’s embattled centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party feels compelled to consider other power-sharing options.

One possibility is an alliance with the fiercely anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), at least at a regional level.

Local elections in three states in the east of the country where polls suggest that the AfD could become the strongest political force — Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia —is forcing the CDU to re-think its stance.

“We should not rule out a coalition” with the AfD, Ulrich Thomas, one of the regional leaders of the CDU in the central state of Saxony-Anhalt, told local daily Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

“It is not possible now, but we don’t know what the situ-ation will be like in two or five years’ time.” For the time being, the CDU’s central leadership rules out any suggestions the party could join forces with the AfD, especially in the wake of the murder of local politician Walter Luebcke earlier this month, allegedly by a right-wing extremist.

Mine’s operator RWE has filed a criminal complaint against the protesters who had locked themselves to the tracks. The utility company had stopped mining during the three days of protests.

Mercury rises as Europe braces for heatwaveAFP PARIS

Temperatures were climbing yesterday as Europe braced for a blistering heatwave with the mercury set to hit 40 degrees Celsius as summer kicks in on the back of a wave of hot air from North Africa.

Europeans are set to bake in what forecasters are warning will likely be record-breaking temperatures for June with the mercury set to peak mid-week.

Hot and humid nights can be expected, officials say, with many issuing guidelines for sur-viving the scorcher, and local authorities and hospitals on high alert for a surge in cases of dehydration, heat-stroke and other weather-related conditions.

They are also warning that the extreme heat could bring on violent storms.

Spain’s AEMET weather agency issued a “yellow alert” for severe weather yesterday, but said it expected the heat to peak later in the week with temperatures soaring over 40 degrees Celsius, particularly inland.

“Temperatures may exceed 42 degrees” in the northeastern Ebro valley area from Thursday until Saturday, the agency said, indicating the heat could persist into early next week.

Britain’s MetOffice said it was particularly concerned that the heatwave could trigger “violent storms” and warned Britons to expect “hot, humid and unstable” weather.

It issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain and thunderstorms today and tomorrow, saying the highest temperatures were expected later in the week rising into the 30s in central and southwest England.

12 MONDAY 24 JUNE 2019AMERICAS

Trump says reelection ‘easier’ if he is impeached

Activists from the group Extinction Rebellion block traffic on 8th Avenue in front of the New York Times building and the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square, in Manhattan, yesterday.

AP/NEW YORK

Police said 70 climate change protesters were arrested after they blocked traffic outside the New York Times building.

The protesters from the group Extinction Rebellion hung banners on the skyscraper in midtown Manhattan on Saturday

and on the outside of the Port Authority Bus Terminal across the street.

The protesters were taken into police custody after they lay down on Eighth Avenue and blocked traffic. Charges are pending.

A spokeswoman for Extinction Rebellion, Eve

Mosher, said the group wants the media to report on “the climate emergency” so that “people can start pushing for more radical responses.”

A Times spokeswoman says in an email that no national news organisation devotes more resources to covering climate change than the Times.

Climate protesters arrested outside NYT Trump falsely blames Obama on immigrant family separationsBLOOMBERG WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump dismissed the plight of migrant children housed in US detention centres and falsely claimed that his predecessor enacted a policy to separate kids from their caregivers after they illegally cross the border.

Asked in an interview broadcast yesterday about recent reports that migrant children have been held in Customs and Border Protection detention centres for weeks without sufficient food, medical care or even basic hygiene sup-plies such as soap or toothpaste, T r u m p b r u s h e d o f f responsibility.

“This has been happening long before I got there,” Trump said in an interview . “You know, under President Obama you had separation. I was the one that ended it. Now I said one thing, when I ended it I said, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. More families are going to come up.’ And that’s what’s happened.”

Trump’s interview coincided with a string of reports about children held in substandard condition in Border Patrol facil-ities, including a New Yorker article on Saturday that described flu and lice outbreaks going untreated, and children sleeping on cold floors.

The hashtag #CloseThe-Camps was trending yesterday on Twitter.

“They’re really coming up for the economics,” Trump said of the stream of migrants attempting to enter the US “But

I ended separation. I inherited separation from President Obama.”

That isn’t true. While Pres-ident Barack Obama’s adminis-tration detained migrant children who entered the US alone, it didn’t have a policy to separate children from car-egivers when they crossed the border together.

That practice emerged in 2018, under Trump, after his then-Attorney General Jeff Ses-sions issued a policy known as “zero tolerance” that called for all migrants who crossed the border outside official ports of entry to be arrested and detained.

Trump ended family sepa-rations with an executive order in July 2018 after bipartisan outrage among the public and lawmakers, though there have been periodic reports that the practice continues less systematically.

The host of “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd, said that Trump has made conditions in US detention centers worse for children by scaling back recreation and edu-cation services.

“We’re doing a fantastic job, under the circumstances,” Trump said. “The Democrats aren’t even approving giving us money. Where is the money? You know what? The Democrats are holding up the humanitarian aid.

“If the Democrats would change the asylum laws and the loopholes, which they refuse to do because they think it’s good politics, everything would be solved immediately.”

Deluge of Democratic presidential hopefuls descends on S CarolinaREUTERS COLUMBIA

South Carolina became the epicentre of the Democratic presidential primary contest this weekend as 22 candidates descend on the state’s capital to make their pitch for the party’s nomination for president of the United States.

Candidates bounced between two events on Saturday across the street from one another in downtown Columbia that let candidates make their pitch to hundreds of voters.

South Carolina will be the fourth state to hold a primary contest early next year, the first in which a significant proportion of the Democratic electorate — about 60 percent — is black.

At the state Democratic Party’s convention, a parade of more than 20 candidates appeared before organisers and activists in the party.

“Our strength is that we know how to organise, that we know how to do the critical work

that needs to be done everyday to ensure that we get our message across,” said US Senator Kamala Harris.

There are 24 Democrats competing for their party’s nom-ination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.

The candidates in South Carolina offered remarks at a fish fry hosted by US House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Friday night, battling bugs and the sticky summer heat to shake hands with voters. Their remarks were capped at just a minute, so the Saturday events offered a chance for more detailed exchanges.

Across the street from the party convention, Planned Par-enthood Action Fund hosted a “We Decide 2020” forum. As Republicans have stepped up efforts to limit access to legal abortion, the issue is increasingly galvanizing Democrats.

“It is time to go on offense with Roe versus Wade, it’s not enough to say we’ll rely on the courts, we need to pass a federal

law to make Roe versus Wade the law of the land,” said US Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Former vice-president Joe Biden recently reversed course on so-called Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion. He said he was aban-doning support for the measure because he also changed his

opinion on universal, gov-ernment-run health insurance.

While the candidates stumped before their party’s faithful, hopes of winning South Carolina in a general election remain thin.

South Carolina swings strongly Republican, and its gov-ernor and two US senators are Republican. A Democrat last won

the state in a presidential election in 1976, and Trump tri-umphed in South Carolina in 2016 with 54.9% of the vote.

Bernie Sanders brought with him a group of surrogates to make his case, including actor Danny Glover, who travalled from California to campaign for the US Senator from Vermont.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke delivers a speech during the SC Democratic Convention in Columbia, South Carolina.

Device to trap plastic waste in Pacific Ocean relaunchedAP SAN FRANCISCO

A floating device designed to catch plastic waste has been redeployed in second attempt to clean up a huge island of trash swirling in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.

Boyan Slat, creator of The Ocean Cleanup project, announced on Twitter that a 600 metre long floating boom that broke apart late last year was

sent back to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this week after four months of repair.

A ship towed the U-shaped barrier from San Francisco to the patch in September to trap the plastic.

But during the four months at sea, the boom broke apart under constant waves and wind and the boom wasn’t retaining the plastic it caught.

“Hopefully nature doesn’t have too many surprises in store

for us this time,” Slat tweeted. “Either way, we’re set to learn a lot from this campaign.”

Fitted with solar-powered lights, cameras, sensors and sat-ellite antennas, the device intends to communicate its position at all times, allowing a support vessel to fish out the col-lected plastic every few months and transport it to dry land.

The plastic barrier with a tapered 3 metre deep screen is intended to act like a coastline,

trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic that scientists estimate are swirling in the patch while allowing marine life to safely swim beneath it.

During its first run, the organisation said marine biolo-gists on board the support vessel did not observe any environ-mental impact.

Slat has said he hopes one day to deploy 60 of the devices to skim plastic debris off the surface of the ocean.

US blacklists five Chinese groups over link to supercomputing

AP WASHINGTON

The United States is blacklisting five Chinese organisations involved in supercomputing with military-related applica-tions, citing national security as justification for denying its Asian geopolitical rival access to critical US technology.

The move by the US Com-merce Department could com-plicate talks next week between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, aimed at de-escalating a trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies.

The five blacklisted organ-isations placed on the so-called Entity List includes supercom-puter maker Sugon, which is heavily dependent on US sup-pliers including chipmakers Intel, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

The Commerce Department called their activities “contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”

AFP WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast yesterday that his chances of retaining the White House in 2020 would be strengthened if Democratic lawmakers start impeachment proceedings against him.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he thought impeachment was good politics for him, Trump replied, “I think I win the election easier.”

The president repeated his longstanding allegation that the FBI’s counterintelligence inves-tigation into his 2016 campaign

was illegal.“I was spied on. What they

did to me was illegal. It was illegal on the other side. I did nothing wrong,” he said in the previously recorded interview.

“So impeachment’s a very unfair thing because nothing that I did was wrong. And if you look at the Mueller report, there was no collusion. This was all about collusion.”

The Democrats are split over whether Trump should be impeached after the Mueller Report into Russian interference in the 2016 election outlined numerous contacts between his campaign and Russians, as well as evidence that the president tried on several occasions to stymie the investigation.

While many of the candi-dates for the Democratic nomi-nation are pro-impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has

argued that it would be a risky move without an “ironclad” case and bipartisan support.

If the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives were to vote on formal impeachment charges, the Republican-held Senate would decide whether to convict, which requires an unlikely two-thirds majority.

Trump told “Meet the Press” Pelosi was staving off growing impeachment calls from within the Democratic caucus because she agreed with his assessment that it would harm their pros-pects in 2020.

“I think she feels that I will win much easier,” Trump said. “I mean, I’ve been told that by

many people.”Former special counsel

Robert Mueller spent nearly two years investigating Russian election interference and pos-sible involvement by Trump and his inner circle.

He concluded that there wasn’t sufficient proof of a criminal conspiracy but found that Trump’s campaign wel-comed and expected to benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.

Trump would not commit to addressing foreign election inter-ference with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet at the G20 summit in Osaka later

this month. Asked if he would directly

bring up the issue with Putin, Trump said, apparently sarcas-tically: “I may if you’d like me to do it, I’ll do that.”

In a wide-ranging interview Trump said he was not prepared to lose his reelection bid and revealed that former vice-pres-ident Joe Biden was his preferred opponent. “No I’m probably not too prepared to lose. I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.”

He offered rare praise for 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, saying she was a “great candidate” and that he would rather run against Biden than face her again.

Trump said Speaker Pelosi was staving off growing impeachment calls from within the Democratic caucus because she agreed with his assessment that it would harm their prospects in 2020.

6 military, police officials detained in VenezuelaREUTERS/CARACAS

Venezuelan authorities have arrested six members of the country’s military and police forces over the weekend, according to relatives of the detainees and human rights activists, as President Nicolas Maduro seeks to weed out dissent.

Air Force Brigade General Miguel Sisco Mora was arrested on Friday in a parking lot in Guatire, some 40km east of Caracas, his daughter Stephanie Sisco said. Navy Corvette Captain Rafael Costa was detained nearby Guarenas, according to his wife Waleska Perez.

“We demand that the gov-ernment provide us with infor-mation about his whereabouts,” Sisco wrote on Twitter.

The arrests come nearly two months after a failed uprising against Maduro called by oppo-sition leader Juan Guaido, who in January invoked the consti-tution to assume a rival interim presidency and has called on the armed forces to join his cause.