Volume 23 | Number 7657 | 2 RiyalsSaturday 22 September 2018 | 12 Moharram I 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 14 SPORT | 18Man City's record scorer Aguero extends stay

Lord Mayor of the City of London

visits QFC

Qatar calls for accountability,

justice for victims in SyriaTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The State of Qatar has underlined that failure to take appropriate measures to achieve criminal justice in Syria despite clear evidence of human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity, docu-mented by many UN reports, sent a signal that there was immunity and impunity for those responsible for these violations and crimes, which encouraged further violations and crimes against the Syrian people.

This came in a statement delivered by Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other inter-national organisations in Geneva Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Man-souri, at a side event organised by the Permanent Delegation of Qatar with the Permanent Del-egation of Lichtenstein, entitled “Challenges and achievements of the independent international mechanism to assist in the inves-tigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes committed in Syria under the classification of international law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011”

The event was held on the sidelines of the current session of the Human Rights Council.

The Ambassador stressed that the work of the international mechanism represents the first step that will pave the way for achieving accountability, justice for the victims of the Syrian people after more than seven

years of the most heinous crimes and the worst violations.

Achieving accountability is also a prerequisite for reaching a political solution in accordance with the Geneva Declaration 1 and relevant Security Council resolutions for the achievement of a lasting and comprehensive peace in Syria.

He said that the two reports submitted by the Mechanism to the General Assembly reflect the efforts exerted and the progress made towards activating the mechanism and accelerating the pace of its technical work to achieve the objectives for which it was established.

The Ambassador welcomed the coordination between the international mechanism and the International Independent Investigation Commission on Syria, as well as its cooperation with States, other relevant

actors and Syrian civil society organisations with a view to enable the exchange of infor-mation and evidence.

The Ambassador thanked all States and donors that had pro-vided financial support to the international mechanism and urged them to contribute to pro-viding all the necessary support to enable this important mech-anism to meet the challenges it faced and to continue to carry out its mandated tasks in the best possible manner.

Ambassador Al Mansouri, reiterated the firm position of the State of Qatar to support the legitimate demands of the Syrian people and to support the international mechanism in order to facilitate and accelerate the advancement of fair and independent criminal pro-ceedings in accordance with the norms of international law.

He praised the efforts made by head of the International Mechanism Marchi-Uhel and the staff in facilitating the process of accountability in Syria in order to meet the requirements of its criminal justice.

For her part, Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of the Inter-national Impartial Independent Mechanism Investigating Serious Crimes in Syria, pre-sented a summary of the Mech-anism’s second report to the UN General Assembly on progress in policy and practical aspects of the Mechanism, particularly with respect to the collection of information.

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MoPH to train school nurses on Asthma careTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced the training of 180 nurses working in public schools participating in the asthma-friendly school program through a workshop focusing on the mechanisms of implementing the program for the current academic year.

The one-week training workshop, which begins today, features many topics related to the treatment of cases of asthma

among students by experts from the Ministry of Health, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), and the Primary Health Care Corpo-ration (PHCC).

The course will include the definition of the asthma-friendly schools program, its implemen-tation mechanism, follow-up, how to fill in the forms of the program and the lessons learned from past experiences, as well as review the causes and symptoms of asthma in children and the asthma crisis and how to deal with and prevent them.

The most important asthma drugs, in addition to the lung air flow meter, the asthma control plan, practical training on how to use asthma medicine, the lung air flow meter, and the questionnaire will also be reviewed.

The main aim of the asthma-friendly school program is to improve the quality of life and health outcomes of children with asthma in Qatar schools, targeting mainly students and students with asthma for the 6-12 age group.

Doha Forum to focus on peace, securityIRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Bringing top policy-makers and diplomats from across the globe under one roof to discuss world’s pressing challenges, the 18th edition of Doha Forum will be held on December 15 and 16 focusing on security; peace and mediation; economic development and trends and transitions.

“The world is more intercon-nected than ever before, but is it also fragmented? Doha Forum is returning in its 18th edition to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges on December 15th and 16th 2018,”

Doha Forum has announced on its official twitter account.

Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also responded to Doha Forum’s announcement by tweeting: “Eighteen years of success and com-mitment to create an effective mech-anism for cultural communication based on mutual respect and recog-nition of the other in order to reach common denominators and visions addressing the challenges we face in our world today.”

In another tweet, Doha Forum said, “Representing the different

components that form an intercon-nected world, Doha Forum returns in its 18th edition with a new visual identity. #Diplomacy, #Dialogue and #Diversity are the core of our vision as we tackle the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Yesterday, Doha Forum on the eve of International Day of Peace, again tweeted: “Today marks the Interna-tional Day of Peace. With #peace and mediation being one of the #Doha-Forum essential themes, this day embodies our shared aspiration safe-guard the human rights of all people.”

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Stars of Science: A decade of igniting flames of curiosityFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Marking a decade of success, Stars of Science, Qatar Foundation’s (QF) edutainment reality TV show, kicks off its 10th season today, on Al Rayyan Satellite Channel.

Through Stars of Science, in the past 10 years QF has achieved a major goal, which is to ignite the flames of curiosity and

creativity among young people and to motivate young Arabs to believe in their innovative ideas.

As the next band of Arab innovators start battling it out to chase their dreams, Khalid Al Mohannadi, Executive Director, Communications and Marketing at Sidra Medicine and mentor on Qatar Foundation’s Stars of Science TV show spoke to The Peninsula on several aspects of the TV show.

“The success of the program over the last 10 years has only been possible thanks to the support of QF and the vision of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of QF. Her belief in the capabilities of Arab youth and their creative ideas is what has allowed the program to come this far,” said Al Mohannadi.

“The people behind the scenes at Stars of Science are constantly on the lookout for

inventors with valuable ideas to introduce to the show and stim-ulate innovation, contributing to the success of the initiative. And another key factor in the popu-larity of Stars of Science is the uniqueness of a program like this in the Arab world,” he added.

The show, which was first broadcast in 2008, has cast the spotlight on the pace of inno-vation in science and technology, across the Arab world.

“In the beginning, when QF announced the program, people were skeptical. The idea, which was entirely new, was to be carried out on a site dedicated to scientific research – Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), a member of QF,” said Al Mohannadi, who was the Communication Director at QSTP in 2008.

“We had never done this kind of program before. Over

time, however, we began to feel the positive impact of the program – how it has allowed QF to be a platform for young innovators in Arab countries. The reason for the longevity of the program is that it demonstrates that the Arab world is prepared to support inventors in much the same way as other countries are,” he added.

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Achieving

accountability is

a prerequisite for

reaching a political

solution in accordance

with the Geneva

Declaration 1 and

relevant Security

Council resolutions for

establishing a lasting

and comprehensive

peace in Syria, said

Qatar's Permanent

Representative to UN

Office.

Sunrise

Sunset

On the day of an equinox, daytime and nighttime are approximately of equal duration allover the planet.

Sun will be

completely

perpendicular

to the equator

on Sunday at

4:15 am

Doha time.

12:06 11:54

5:23

5:29→STORY ON PAGE 2 Source: The Qatar Calendar House / The Peninsula Graphic

Qatar defeat UAE in AmmanA Qatari player scores a goal against the UAE during their Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship match in Amman, Jordan, yesterday. Qatar defeated UAE 27-25 after a tough fight to claim second victory over their opponents in the event. They also prevailed over the UAE (35-31) in the first round. Al Anabi will now meet China in their next match.

Day and night hours in Qatar

EQUAL DAY AND NIGHT TOMORROW

Olive Fest celebrated

02 SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018HOME

Amir sends congratulations to Armenian PresidentQNA

DOHA: Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to the Pres-ident of the Republic of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, on the occasion of his coun-try’s independence day.

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent a cable of congratulations to the Pres-ident of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, on the occasion of his country’s inde-pendence day.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani sent a cable of congratulations to the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on the occasion of his country’s independence day.

Amir greets Malta’s President QNA

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, on the occasion of her inde-pendence day.

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent a similar cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani sent a cable of congratulations to Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta, Joseph Muscat, on the occasion of his country’s independence day.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Qatar Calendar House has announced that the Sun will be completely perpen-dicular to the equator tomorrow at 4.15 am Doha time.

Dr Bashir Marzouk, Astronomer at the Qatar Cal-endar House, said that this day will be equal of length in night and day to almost all the inhab-itants of the globe, including the people of Qatar, where will occur the phenomenon of autumnal moderation in the northern hemisphere, while the situation will be the o p p o s i t e i n t h e

southern hemisphere, where inhabitants will have the phe-nomenon of spring equinox the same day.

Marzouk added that the length of day and night would be almost equal to the people of Qatar. The length of the day on Sunday will be 12 hours and 6 minutes, while the night will be 11 hours and 54 minutes as the Sun will rise this day on the skies of Qatar at 5:23am, while the sunset will be at 5.29pm, Doha local time.

An equinox, sometimes called an evennight, is com-monly regarded as the moment

when the plane (extended indefinitely in all directions) of Earth’s Equator passes through the centre of the Sun, which occurs twice each year: around March20 and September 22, 23. In other words, it is the point at which the centre of the visible Sun is directly above the Equator.

However, because the Moon (and to a lesser extent the other planets) cause the true motion of the Earth to vary from a perfect ellipse, the equinox is now officially defined by the Sun’s more regular ecliptic lon-gitude rather than latitude.

The instants of the

equinoxes are currently defined to be when the lon-gitude of the Sun is 0 and 180.3. There are tiny (up to 1 arcsecond) variations in the Sun’s latitude, which means the Sun’s center is rarely precisely over the equator under the official definition. The two understandings of the equinox can lead to discrepancies of up to 69 seconds.

On the day of an equinox, daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration all over the planet. They are not exactly equal, however, due to the angular size of the Sun and atmospheric refraction.

Olive International School, Al Thumama, celebrated Olive Fest on September 19 and 20. Students and teachers were enthralled by the fierce competitions, organised for students which included a wide range of events such as debate, recitation, dance, western song, dramatics etc.

Al Jazeera’s Contrast wins OJA’s Immersive Storytelling awardTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Jazeera’s Contrast was awarded the Online Journalism Awards (OJA) in the category Excellence in Immersive Story-telling category for its 360-film Yemen’s Skies of Terror.

The awards were presented on September 15, in Austin, Texas, as part of the US-based Online News Association 2018 conference, said a statement.

Yemen’s Skies of Terror is an immersive film by Contrast that sheds light on the suffering of Yemeni population, under the indiscriminate bombing and air raids over the past three years by Saudi led coalition against the Houthi rebels. The film features heart-breaking stories of three children from Sana’a and Al Hudayeda who have lost their family members and loved ones in addition to losing homes after being destroyed during raids by the coalition forces.

Yemen’s Skies of Terror was filmed by two local journalists Manal Qaed Alwesabi and Ahmad Al Gohbari, following remote training by Al Jazeera’s Contrast team on 360 immersive filming, Manal and Ahmad were given the necessary equipment to document the day to day reality of life in war-torn country during the ongoing conflict.

The film is a testament to a true collaboration across borders, as Al Jazeera journalists worked hand in hand with the brave Yemeni journalists on the

ground, alongside other Yemeni and international talent, from composers to animators.

Both Ahmad and Manal are thrilled to see the international community recognizing their work, hoping that the much needed stories coming out of Yemen will continue to be amplified. “I am happy if I see any-thing in the news about the war in Yemen. We need to feel that we are not alone,” says Manal.

The Online Journalism Awards (OJAs), launched in May 2000, is the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism around the world.

The OJA award is another achievement by Contrast team in bringing outstanding immersive content from around the world to global audience.

Contrast is Al Jazeera’s immersive media studio, special-izing in the production of com-pelling 360-degree video,

augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) content. The studio also collaborates with existing departments across Al Jazeera Media Network to produce best-in- class 2D and 3D content.

Contrast produces unique documentaries, videos, and live

streams that push the boundaries of narrative storytelling while taking viewers directly to the front lines of the biggest news events in the world. Learn more about the studio at contrastvr.com and social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube.

Careem signs agreement with online travel app RehlatTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Careem, the region’s leading ride-hailing app and only tech unicorn has signed an agreement with Rehlat, one of the Middle East’s leading online travel apps.

The partnership gives Rehlat customers access to Careem’s service directly from their app which will allow users to book rides from the airport in all the cities where Careem operates. It also offers special coupon codes to save up to 50 percent off on the next two rides to or from the airport, said a statement.

“This agreement comes as part of Careem’s mission to sim-plify and improve people’s lives

regionally” Khaled Nuseibeh, GM of GCC at Careem. “We aim to assist SME’s, online platforms and entrepreneurs in fulfilling the needs of both the companies and their customers”.

Bader Al Roudan, Chief business officer of Rehlat said: “We are striving to work with Careem to facilitate services for our users in order to make our innovative solutions more suitable for their needs”.

He added,“Extra benefits to our esteemed customers have always been a priority for us at Rehlat and we are always looking to offer convenience in the form of safe, hassle-free transportation from the start to the end of their journey.”

Rajiv Bhattacharjee, VP Global business development of Rehlat adds: “The service is available to all the cities where Careem operates globally and will help users to stay in the ecosystem of Rehlat and handle all their travel needs in a go. This integration will also give next-level of convenience to the com-muters who don’t have Careem App installed.” Rehlat users can enjoy Careem services through the following steps: Log into Rehlat app where a new “Cabs” feature will appear on the bottom left. Log into the Careem app, enter the departure and arrival destination and proceed with the Careem car selection. Confirm the booking to get the ride details.

Yemen’s Skies of Terror features heart-breaking

stories of three children

from Sana’a and Al

Hudayeda who have lost

their family members and

loved ones in addition to

losing homes after being

destroyed during raids by

Saudi-led coalition forces.

Mandela’s grandson attends South African Heritage Day in DohaRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Mandla Mandela, grandson of the late global unity and freedom icon Nelson Mandela, urged his compatriots in Qatar to be leaders in humanity, peace and justice.

Speaking before hundreds of South Africans as guest of honour at the celebration of South African Heritage Day Ubuntu Bash yesterday, Chief Mandla related his “life and experience I had sitting at the feet of my grandfather and having to watch him as a global icon to the world and I was privileged to call him my grandfather.”

“As South Africans we are to be leaders in humanity, peace and justice. These are the beliefs my grandfather repre-sented and stood for and the onus is on us,” he said.

“He may no longer be with us but the baton is in your hands. It is in yourselves and the younger generation to pick up where Madiba left off and continue charging forward in making South Africa proud. Unite our nation. Join hands to make his ideals be a reality. let us build a better world and champion a better future for the next generation,” he stressed.

He said he was honoured to be with his compatriots in Qatar “almost 10,000km away from home only to discover I’m home

away from home to see so many South Africans gathered here.”

“I hope that as you live your days here in Qatar looking forward to see 2022 and hosting wonderful World Cup you will indeed fly the South African flag because Madiba would love only that,” he said.

Welcoming the hundreds of attendees including a number of ambassadors, South African Ambassador Faizel Moosa said South African Heritage Day is a very important day in which South Africans unite as they cel-ebrate the cause of Nelson Mandela.

Celebrated to recognise the cultural wealth of the South African nation, the event saw dozens of stalls selling authentic South African delicacies and handicraft.

FROM LEFT: Mead Al Emadi, Community Engagement Manager at the Supreme Committee, Mandla Mandela and Faizel Moosa, South Africa Ambassador to Qatar, during the South African Heritage Day held at Doha Golf Club yesterday.PIC: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

Qatar to experience equal day and night tomorrow

Qatar calls for accountability, justice for victims in Syria

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The summary also contained the preparation of case files and the steps taken to address the challenges they face, in par-ticular with regard to the pro-vision of funding for the contin-uation of its work and efforts.

A number of permanent del-egates participating in the side event, including the Ambas-sadors of Monaco, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Swit-zerland, the European Union, Finland and Canada, thanked the State of Qatar and Liechten-stein for organising such an important side event and their continued support for this inter-national mechanism to ensure the success of its work.

Yemen’s Skies of Terror was filmed by two local journalists Manal Qaed Alwesabi and Ahmad Al Gohbari, following remote training by Al Jazeera’s Contrast team on 360 immersive filming.

“As South Africans

we are to be leaders

in humanity, peace

and justice. These

are the beliefs

my grandfather

represented and

stood for and the

onus is on us,” said

Mandla Mandla,

speaking before

hundreds of South

Africans as guest

of honour at the

celebration.

03SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018 HOME

Dutch envoy stresses importance of service sector in QatarTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Dutch Business Council in Qatar gathered on Thursday at The Grand Hyatt in Doha to network and share experiences from the service sector in Qatar.

The evening was introduced by the Ambassador of The Neth-erlands, Dr Bahia Tahzib-Lie, and DBCQ Chairman Robert Willem Cats. They both under-lined the importance of service as an enabler to advance business opportunities and strengthen relationships, and the contribution of Dutch com-panies in Qatar to progress in this area.

Bahia Tahzib-Lie and Robert Willem Cats welcomed Houtan Homayounpour, Head of the ILO Project Office in Qatar and congratulated him with the recent amendment of the residency law to allow most foreign workers to leave the country without exit permits.

The Dutch business com-munity discussed the

opportunities and challenges of the service industry in Qatar.

“Service is something we can do every day, in so many ways. I am proud to witness how the Dutch business com-munities and their families give their time, energy, devotion, and expertise to help others in Qatar – at the office, in the community, and at home. Service is important to the Netherlands Embassy.”

“It is an integral part of our vision and mission statement. As a gateway and key accel-erator for vibrant relations between the Netherlands and Qatar, we provide top quality services, knowledge, and focused support. There is no greater honour than service,” Ambassador Tahzib-Lie commented.

Guest speakers from the TMF Group, Ernst & Young and K&L Gates shared their expe-riences from providing services on tax, dispute handling, law, HR, and accounting matters and stressed the importance of combining an international

network with a strong local presence and relationships.

They all expressed their optimism about the market potential and the growing market opportunities for both established and new business initiatives and underlined a joint commitment to contribute to Qatar’s growth.

“We are proud of our Dutch heritage and network and see that the market in Qatar has tremendous opportunities for us to contribute with our expertise, high-quality services and entrepreneurial spir-it. We are very pleased to see that Qatar is supporting the facili-tation of new business initia-tives which will provide many opportunities for our Dutch entrepreneurs. We are keen to contribute to Qatar’s devel-opment and growth”, Robert Willem Cats concluded.

Established in 2006, The Dutch Business Council in Qatar supports the interests of the Dutch busi-ness com-munity in Qatar, and currently has 100 members.

Ambassador of The Netherlands to Qatar, Dr Bahia Tahzib-Lie, addressing the gathering.

Thailand sees up to 40% rise in tourist arrivals from QatarRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Having witnessed up to 40 percent year to date increase in tourist arrivals from Qatar, Thailand remains a popular destination for Qataris, an official from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has said.

“Thailand is already a popular destination particularly for Qatari people and 2018 is a very good year for Qatari tourist market because we have seen a growth of 30 to 40 percent from the beginning of the year until now,” Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of TAT Dubai and Middle East Office, told The Peninsula.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Amazing Thailand Health & Wellness Networking Dinner 2018 at Hilton Hotel Doha on Thursday, Saisaengchan was optimistic of the continued growth in tourist arrivals from Qatar.

“Last year, we had 28,000 visitors from Qatar with a slight drop from the previous year because of the blockade, but this year we have seen a growth of up to 40 percent and if this growth momentum con-tinues, we expect to see around 38,000 tourists from Qatar this year. We have four months to go and we are doing good so far,” he said.

To achieve their target, TAT is working closely with Qatar Airways with Doha’s strategic location where east meets west making Hamad International Airport gateway to the rest of the world connecting countless cities around the globe.

“There’s nowhere in the world where you can connect with Thailand easily like Doha. Qatar Airways has direct flights to five different destinations in Thailand that’s why we are working closely with them,” he said, adding they are also

working closely with travel agents associations.

Thailand targets to attract more Qataris to avail of its high quality health and wellness sector, he stressed.

“Thailand is a popular des-tination world over. Everyone knows it. We welcomed 35 million last year. But what we’d like to see particularly from the Qatari market is to visit Thailand for health and wellness, to stay healthier and look better.

Many of them may not know that Thailand is also a popular destination for health and wellness. We have interna-tionally well-known health and wellness sector which includes spas, wellness centres and even medical facilities which are world renowned,” he explained.

He said Thailand is already a popular destination for beaches, for culture, for nature and that what people may not

know much is its world class health and wellness and medical facilities spread around the country.

“A weekly magazine from the UK has announced that Thailand was voted world’s number one destination for wellness and spa. This is one of many of the awards we have received so far, thanks to our private sector who provides high quality of services,” he said.

Saisaengchan also high-lighted Thai people’s friend-liness and hospitality which attract many tourists to keep coming back to Thailand.

Thursday’s event saw eight sellers from Thailand’s health and wellness segment in the private sector which included hospitals, clinics, beauty treatment and anti-aging centres meet travel agents from Qatar to connect and develop further business in the future.

Pichaya Saisaengchan speaking to The Peninsula. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT / THE PENINSULA

British Council launches international awardsDOHA: The British Council has launched prestigious awards cele-brating the outstanding achievements of the UK’s international alumni in Qatar and around the world. The Study UK Alumni Awards cele-brate and showcase the impact and value of a UK higher education and raise the international profile of UK alumni, their former univer-sities, and the whole of UK education, said a statement.

Award winners and finalists are leaders in their fields who have used their experience of studying at a UK university to make a positive contribution to their communities, industries and coun-tries. For the first time in Qatar, the awards will be celebrated at a national level to celebrate the achievements of alumni in Qatar. National awards winners will then be put forward for the global awards.

UK university alumni can apply themselves or be nominated by someone else. Nominations for the Qatar national awards close on October 1 and applications close on October 15, 2018.

Finalists and winners of the awards will be announced on December 1, 2018 during the annual Qatar-UK Alumni Networking Gala Dinner, as part of the Qatar British Festival 2018.

“Last year, we had 28,000 visitors from Qatar with

a slight drop from the previous year because of

the blockade, but this year we have seen a growth

of up to 40 percent and if this growth momentum

continues, we expect to see around 38,000 tourists

from Qatar this year,” Pichaya Saisaengchan,

Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand said.

Third round of Qatar-India Foreign Office Consultations meeting tomorrow THE PENINSULA

DOHA: T S Tirumurti (pictured), Secretary, Economic Relations from the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, will be visiting Doha to hold Foreign Office Consulta-tions (FOCs) tomorrow.

This is the first visit of Sec-retary Tirumurti to Doha since he assumed charge as Secretary (ER) in February 2018. Tirumurti will be accompanied by a two-member delegation from the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. This is the third round of political consultations between India and Qatar and the first one to be held in Doha. The third round followed the visit of Secretary-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Qatar H E Dr Ahmed Hassan Al Hammadi to India in April

2018, during which he held extensive discussions with Sec-retary Tirumurti and also called on Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh.

During the consultations, the two sides will take stock of their overall relations and explore ways and means to enhance them. These consultations are a key institutional mechanism to review state of bilateral relations from time to time.

Stars of Science: A decade of igniting flames of curiosityCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The growing participation in the program, year after year, is proof that QF’s ultimate goal for Stars of Science has been achieved - stimulating and encouraging thousands of inno-vative minds in the Arab world. Espe-cially Qatari youth have showed an immense interest in participating in the show.

“QF has collabo-rated with several researchers and experts in the field of science and inno-vation to guide the participants and equip them with the required knowledge and skills. Stars of Science also aimed – and still aims – to support talents from different environments and diverse communities in order to inspire those watching from home to pursue their dreams, following the examples of the par-ticipants on the show,” said Al Mohannadi.

“The participation of young Qataris is heartening, making us optimistic about our young people and their potential for the future. In the previous seasons, five Qataris have reached the finals and two have gone onto win the grand prize. We are confident that the coming seasons of the program will see increased participation by our youth, who are clearly capable of excellence,” he added.

Stars of Science alumni are change-makers who aim to leave an impact on their communities, their countries, and beyond. Over the past ten years, 131 of the show’s alumni have raised $14m in revenue, crowd-funding, and research grants.

Many Stars of Science innovators have gone on to pursue their academic education, while almost 60 percent have gone on to

start businesses and are currently contrib-uting to their local communities through talks and other outreach activities.

“I was very impressed by GenomiQ, an invention by Sadeem Qdaisat back in Season

8 of Stars of Science, which deals with genetic testing. This type of testing is sometimes required for medical examina-tions to identify if a person has developed a disease. GenomiQ automates this process of genetic testing, with the ultimate aim of elim-inating human error and cross contami-nation of samples,” said Al Mohannadi.

At Sidra Medicine, we were delighted to have a young man from the Arab world introduce such an updated to our existing equipment,” he added.

Accustomed to hard work, and pas-sionate about problem-solving, every par-ticipant of Stars of Science pave the way for future generations of innovators as role models.

“My advice to anyone with creative ideas is to have complete confidence in their ability to transform them – however simple – into tangible inventions. The path to success lies in determination, research, and pursuit of success by seeking guiding oppor-tunities. As I personally learned from my decade-long experience of Stars of Science, nothing is impossible, and someone with a strong desire will not give up – no matter what,” said Al Mohannadi.

The latest season of the show will be available on multiple channels throughout the region. It can also be viewed with sub-titles on the ‘Stars of Science’s’ website, and YouTube platform.

Khalid Al Mohannadi

Doha Forum to focus on peace and securityCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The Forum, according to official website of Doha Forum, is shaping policy in international world. “During the last few decades, both policy practices and diplomatic discourse have become more dynamic. Political leaders are taking into consideration the multi-faceted decisions and their implications within states and across political borders. Our focus areas in this year’s forum will address the inter-connectedness of policy making through four main themes: Security; Peace and Mediation; Economic Development and Trends and Transitions.”

In two-day event, many important economic, political, security related topics will be discussed in different sessions like “Polarization in the MENA: what is the European role?”, “The economy of wars; ethics and survival?”, “How can states effectively counter extremism in an inter-connected world?”, “Trade Wars vs. Trade Imbalance”, “Gender and mediation: how the role of women in conflict resolution; new perspectives?”, “Economic sanctions to further war by other means: are they effective or just a means to an end?”, among dozens of others, according to Doha Forum agenda shared on its website.

Doha Forum is a global platform for dialogue, bringing together leaders in policy to build innovative and action driven net-works. European Council on Foreign Rela-tions, International Crisis Group and Munich Security Conference are the stra-tegic partners of Doha Forum. Established in 2000, the Doha Forum, as per its mission, “is a platform for global dialogue on critical challenges facing our world.” “Doha Forum reaches out to high level: policy makers, government leaders, private sector representatives, civil society, and non-governmental organ-izations with the belief that diversity in thought will enhance how we deal with our collective challenges,” says the official website of Doha Forum.

04 SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Syrians chant slogans as they wave flags of the opposition and of Turkey during a demonstration against the Syrian government in the rebel-held town of Maaret Al Numan in the north of Idlib province, yesterday.

Rescue workers are seen at the scene where a ferry overturned in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, yesterday.

A Yemeni member of a school administration inspects the damage on the first day of the new academic year on September 16, 2018, in a school in the country’s third largest city of Taez.

Turkey will patrol north Syria town with US forcesAP

ISTANBUL: Turkey will soon conduct joint patrols with US forces in the strategic northern Syrian town of Manbij, once a stronghold of the Islamic State group, a top Turkish official said yesterday.

The announcement came as Turkey’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the borders of Idlib’s demilitarised zone were determined in a meeting with their Russian counterparts during a three-day meeting.

This week’s agreement between Russia and Turkey to set up a demilitarised zone around Syria’s northwestern Idlib province to separate government forces from rebels averted a gov-ernment offensive on the last major opposition stronghold in the country.

The Syrian government and Turkey-backed opposition groups welcomed the Russian-Turkish agreement, which calls for setting up the demilitarised zone by mid-October. Jihadi groups, including Al Qaeda-linked fighters, rejected the deal saying they will not withdraw from the demilitarized zone.

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey’s pres-idential spokesman, said Turkish

armed forces and intelligence agencies were coordinating with their Russia counterparts to determine how to remove terror groups from the demilitarised zone, or “pacify” them.

He said all necessary steps would be taken to ensure no terror elements remain in the area or near Turkey’s border be it “through persuasion, by paci-fying, or other methods.” Kalin added that the goal is to protect civilians in Idlib as well as the moderate opposition to ensure they are part of the political process to resolve the Syrian crisis.

In Geneva, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria welcomed the Russia-Turkey deal, adding: “We

strongly call for immediate and unhindered humanitarian access and provision of relief to the civilian population of Idlib.”

In Idlib, residents took to the streets in anti-government dem-onstrations across towns and villages held by rebels. In the town of Ariha, one of Idlib’s largest, hundreds of people gathered in the main square car-rying opposition flags and chanting: “The people want to overthrow the regime.”

Similar demonstrations took part in the towns of Maaret Al Numan and Azaz, as well as the provincial capital, also named Idlib.

The Manbij patrols are part

of a “road map” that Ankara and Washington agreed on in June to defuse tensions amid Turkish demands for the withdrawal of a US-backed Kurdish militia that freed the town from IS in 2016.

Kalin, the presidential spokesman, said “joint training and joint patrols will begin very soon” in Manbij.

Manbij has been a major sticking point in the strained relations between the two Nato allies. Turkey considers the US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a terror group that is linked to a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

In July, the Manbij Military

Council, which administers the town, said the YPG units once stationed there had completed their withdrawal. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called reports of the alleged withdrawal “exag-gerated” and said they didn’t “reflect the truth.”

Ebrahim Ebrahim, a Europe-based Kurdish official, said the YPG has no presence in the town, adding that even YPG advisers who were in Manbij pulled out months ago. He said that only the Manbij Military Council is the only authority currently present in the town.

Kalin said continued US support for the Kurdish forces remains “a serious concern.”

127 dead after Tanzania ferry capsizes on Lake VictoriaAP

KAMPALA: The official death toll rose to 127 after a badly over-crowded ferry capsized on Lake Victoria, Tanzanian authorities said yesterday, as a second day of rescue efforts raced the setting sun.

While bodies were pulled from the water and many people were feared still missing, Pres-ident John Magufuli urged calm in the East African country with a history of deadly maritime disasters.

The ferry MV Nyerere, with a capacity to hold 101 people, had been dangerously over-loaded, the government’s Chief Secretary John Kijazi told reporters. He ordered an inves-tigation and said those respon-sible will face charges.

At least 40 people had been rescued, he said. Dozens of security forces and volunteers

wearing gloves and face masks resumed work at daybreak after suspending efforts overnight, hauling bodies into wooden boats.

“More than 200 people are feared dead,” based on accounts from fishermen and others nearby, because passengers had been returning from a busy market day, Tanzania Red Cross spokeswoman Godfrida Jola told The Associated Press. “But no one knows” just how many people were on board.

Tanzanian ferries often carry hundreds of passengers and are overcrowded, and shifts in weight as passengers move to disembark can become deadly. Images from the scene showed the ferry’s exposed underside not far from shore. Pope Francis and a number of African leaders expressed shock and sorrow.

“His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt solidarity

with those who mourn the loss of their loved ones and who fear for the lives of those still missing,” the condolence tel-egram said, according to the Vatican.

The MV Nyerere, named for the former president who led the East African nation to inde-pendence, was traveling between the islands of Ukara and Ukerewe when it sank, according to the government agency in charge of servicing the vessels.

Worried residents yester-daywaited for any word of survivors.

“We try to make calls to friends, relatives,” a local guide, Paschal Phares, said. He recalled how crowded his trip on the aging ferry had been last month: “Most of us were standing up. It was full.”

Accidents are often reported on the large freshwater lake sur-rounded by Tanzania, Kenya and

Uganda. Some of the deadliest have occurred in Tanzania, where passenger boats are often said to be old and in poor con-dition. In 1996, more than 800 people died when passenger and

cargo ferry MV Bukoba sank on Lake Victoria.

Nearly 200 people died in 2011 when the MV Spice Islander I sank off Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast near Zanzibar.

Cholera toll reaches 61 in Nigeria in 2 months

ABUJA: A cholera outbreak has claimed the lives of 61 people in the last two months in Nigeria, according to a local official. Muhammad Kawuwa, northeastern Yobe state’s commissioner of health, said Friday the 61 people died of the outbreak in six local govern-ments in the state. Kawuwa also said a total of 906 cholera cases were reported in the two-month period, while 50 people are currently under-going medical treatment.

Iran puts on show-of-strength military exercise in GulfREUTERS

GENEVA: The Iranian Revolu-tionary Guards and army carried out a joint aerial military drill in the Gulf yesterday in what official media said indicated the “pounding reply” that awaited the coun-try’s enemies.

Tehran has suggested in recent weeks that it could take military action in the Gulf to block other countries’ oil exports in retaliation for US sanctions intended to halt its sales of crude.

Washington maintains a fleet in the Gulf that protects oil shipping routes.

“In addition to a show of strength, this ceremony is a message of peace and friendship for friendly and neighbouring countries,” Colonel Yousef Safipour, the deputy commander of the army for public relations said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (Irna).

“And if the enemies and

arrogant powers have an eye on the borders and land of Islamic Iran they will receive a pounding reply in the fraction of a second.”

Mirage, F-4 and Sukhoi-22 jets took part in the exercise yesterday, according to Irna.

The Islamic Republic has a large naval military drill, including appproximately 600 naval vessels, planned today, Irna reported.

Separately, a prominent Iranian cleric said yesterday that the time had come for Israel to say goodbye. He did not give any further infor-mation on what that could mean.

“Mr. Netanyahu, you and your intelligence services know well that the time to say goodbye has arrived and what position of strength the resistance of Hezbollah and the people of Gaza are in,” Hassan Abu-Torabi Fard, the tem-porary Friday prayers leader in Tehran, said, according to Fars News.

Spanish plan to recognise Palestine laudedRAMALLAH: Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Al Maliki hailed Madrid’s stated intention to officially recognise Palestine.

“We are deeply gratified b y S p a i n ’ s r e c e n t announcement that it plans to recognize Palestine,” a ministry statement quoted al-Maliki as saying. “The recent remarks by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell are very encouraging,” he added.

On Wednesday, Borrell announced his country’s intention to officially rec-ognise the state of Palestine, saying Madrid was now awaiting a unanimous EU res-olution in this regard.

Yemeni children brave new school year as war rages onAFP

SANA’A: The walls are crum-bling, the windows shattered, and the boys sit three to a desk. But by being enrolled in classes at all, the pupils are among the luckiest children in war-torn Yemen.

In the rebel-held capital Sana’a, students in olive green uniforms lined up for a morning salute at the Al Wahda boys’ school. “Onwards!” nearly 70 pupils chanted in unison, reaching forward to form a human chain.

But 15-year-old Alaa Yasser was not among them. Instead, he was working at a nearby car shop to support his family.

“I had to stop going to school to work with my father to help him earn a living,” said Yasser, whose family fled the south-western city of Taez.

Two million children across the country have no access to education, according to the UN children’s agency (Unicef), three years into a war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and shows no sign of waning. Hisham Al Saka, 12, also dropped out to help support his mother

and sister after his father’s death in 2015.

“I wish I could go to school,” Saka said. “But my mother cannot afford to pay for school supplies... she can’t even afford to get me and my siblings the uniforms.”

Yemen’s war prompted the already weak economy to col-lapse and, coupled with a blockade of its ports and airport, people are struggling to survive

as prices skyrocket. More than 22 million people — three-quarters of the population — are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations. Yemeni children face significant risks, with a high proportion of girls marrying at an early age.

More than 40 percent are married before the age of 15, while three-quarters wed by 18, according to Unicef.

Boys, meanwhile, are threatened with being drawn directly into the conflict as child soldiers, fighting in a war which has killed nearly 10,000 people.

Fifteen-year-old Mokhtar Yehya is one of the fortunate few enrolled at Al Wahda. “We want to carry on studying to become doctors, engineers, and pilots,” he said. “We hope that things will get better, so that our future is bright.”

Unicef estimates 4.5 million children risk losing access to state schools in Yemen, as teachers have not been paid in nearly two years. More than 2,500 schools have been damaged or destroyed, while some are now used as shelters for displaced people or as camps run by armed groups.

Christophe Boulierac, a Unicef spokesman, said many teachers “have looked for other work to survive or are only teaching a few subjects. So, obvi-ously, the quality of education is at stake.”

“Children are not getting their full lessons due to the absence of their teachers.”

Ibrahim Kalin,

Turkey’s presidential

spokesman, said

Turkish armed forces

and intelligence

agencies were

coordinating with their

Russia counterparts

to determine how to

remove terror groups

from the demilitarised

zone, or “pacify” them.

ANATOLIA

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday voiced readiness to resume peace talks with Israel, either behind closed doors or in public.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Paris with F r e n c h c o u n t e r p a r t Emmanuel Macron, Abbas said: “We’re ready for nego-tiations with Israel — either in public or behind closed doors — with the Middle East Quartet as sponsor.”

The so-called Middle East “Quartet” is comprised of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU. “The Palestinians haven’t rejected negotiations,” Abbas asserted. “Israeli Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu is the one who has derailed the peace process.”

Abbas arrived in Paris on Thursday at the invitation of Macron.

Palestine ready to enter talks with Israel: Abbas

05SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018 ASIA

India cancels talks; ‘unfortunate’ says PakistanIANS

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: Blaming Pakistan for the killing of security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir and accusing it of glorifying terrorism, India yesterday called off talks between the two foreign ministers in New York in a move termed by Pakistan as “unfor-tunate” and “taken under internal pressure”.

External Affairs Ministers Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi were set to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week, marking the first thaw in bilateral ties that have steadily deteriorated.

The Indian government said

in a strongly-worded statement that since the announcement of the talks on Thursday, two “deeply disturbing” developments had taken place that led to Islamabad’s “evil agenda” being exposed.

In the first such incident earlier in the day, terrorists abducted and gunned down three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir, marking a sharp escalation in mil-itancy in the state which India says is backed by Pakistan.

Also, Islamabad on Thursday had issued postage stamps in memory of Burhan Wani, a Hizbul Mujahideen leader who was shot dead by Indian security forces in July 2016, sparking widespread street protests.

“The latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of a series of 20 postage stamps by Pakistan glo-rifying a terrorist and terrorism

confirmed that Pakistan will not mend its ways,” said the statement by the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

“Now, it is obvious that behind Pakistan’s proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning, the evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed and the true face of the new Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been revealed to the world,” Ministry spokes-person Raveesh Kumar said.

“Any conversation with Pakistan in such an environment would be meaningless. In view of the changed situation, there will be no meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York,” he said.

Calling the development “unfortunate”, Qureshi said: “We had already told India that if they

take one step towards us, we will take two. However, it seems that they faltered after taking just one step.” He told Dawn online the world should see that “Pakistan has held a positive outlook towards the situation while India’s attitude has not been so forthcoming”.

The Pakistani minister said it appeared as if New Delhi was facing internal pressure. “If the meeting is not to be considered as part of talks between the two countries, then what is the purpose of it? “I would only say that there was a chance, which was missed. Talks will only be held in a dig-nified and respectable manner... If they are not willing for it, then we also won’t act in haste.”

Pakistan’s Information Min-ister Fawad Chaudhry said extremist groups in India were

sabotaging talks between the two countries and that “entire world was watching Pakistan stand for peace and dialogue.

“It appears as if the Indian cabinet lacks consensus on the matter... If you won’t talk, then issues will not be resolved,” he was cited as saying by Geo News.

A day earlier, India had announced that it had accepted Pakistan’s request for a meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Qureshi.

New Delhi said that it agreed for the New York meeting in response to the spirit reflected in the letters from Khan as well as Qureshi. “The letter had spoken of, inter alia, bringing a positive change and mutual desire for peace as also readiness to discuss terrorism.”

Fishermen catch fish in the polluted Yamuna river in New Delhi, yesterday.

Fishing in troubled waters

Three policemen killed in Kashmir, govt denies cops have resignedIANS

SRINAGAR: In a dramatic esca-lation in militancy, terrorists kidnapped and shot dead three Jammu and Kashmir policemen yesterday, stunning the police force. But the government denied that any policeman had quit following the murders and death threats by the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Three special police officers (SPOs), who form the lowest rung of the police force in the state, were gunned down on Friday, hours after they were abducted separately from their homes in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, a militant stronghold, police said.

A police officer said that locals discovered their bullet-riddled bodies in a village in the morning. The dead men were identified as Firdous Ahmad Kuchai, Nisar Ahmad Dhobi and Kuldeep Singh.

The horrific incident took place days after militants issued threats at some mosques in Shopian, asking policemen to quit their jobs or face consequences.

This is the first time militants have seized and killed three policemen at one go since the start of the separatist campaign in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

Police said a total of four people, including a policeman’s brother, were abducted on Thursday night from their homes in Shopian’s Kapran and Batgund villages, surrounded by a thick cover of apple orchards.

The civilian was released unharmed after locals resisted his kidnapping.

Local news agencies yes-terday quoted the Hizbul as

taking responsibility for the abduction and killing of the policemen.

The police refuted rumours that the bodies of policemen were mutilated. “The bodies were riddled with bullets but not mutilated,” a senior police officer said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police denied claims by five policemen on the social media that they had resigned after the killings in Shopian.

A police statement said that the videos uploaded on the social media showing the SPOs claiming to have quit were motivated.

“Services of SPOs are reviewed from time to time and based on these reviews some SPOs are disengaged. The videos... are motivated,” it said. “There have been no resigna-tions by policemen after the killings of three SPOs by the terrorists.”

But the Jammu and Kashmir Police issued an advisory to all policemen on leave in south Kashmir to report for duty immediately.

The advisory directs policemen not to visit their homes till further orders.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police paid floral tributes to the slain men.

Senior officers led by S P Pani, the Inspector General of Police of Kashmir zone, offered the floral tributes in Shopian dis-trict’s police lines.

The police tweeted: “We have lost three of our brave col-leagues in a barbaric terror strike... We condemn this inhuman act and assure that all the culprits shall be dealt with under law.”

Former Chief Minister Meh-booba Mufti said: “Three more policemen have lost their lives to militant bullets. Outrage, shock and condemnation will be expressed by all of us on expected lines. Unfortunately, it brings no solace to the fam-ilies of the victims.

“Clearly, with the rise in kid-napping of police personnel and their families, the Centre’s mus-cular policy is not working at all. Dialogue, the only way forward, seems to be a distant dream for now,” she tweeted.

The SPOs are engaged in counter-terrorism operations on a meagre remuneration of Rs 6,000 a month. There are around 36,000 SPOs in the state. They are given uniform but, unlike other policemen, not all of them are issued weapons.

For some time, militants have been threatening the SPOs in Kashmir to quit, considering them as the eyes and ears of the administration.

The killings yesterday are the latest in a series of attacks and abductions of Kashmir policemen and security men in south Kashmir.

On July 27, SPO Mudasir Ahmad Lone was abducted and released.

On July 20, constable Mohommad Saleem Shah, who was on leave was abducted from his home in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. His body was found in a village a day later.

On July 5, another policeman, Javaid Dar, was abducted near his home in Shopian district. His body was found in Kulgam district.

The militants have also killed soldiers visiting their homes on holiday.

Govts had no say in Rafale offset decision, says MinistryIANS

NEW DELHI: Amid media reports of former French President Francois Hollande claiming that the Indian government suggested a particular private firm for Rafale offset contract, the Defence Ministry yesterday reiterated that neither government had any say in the “commercial decision”.

“The report referring to former French president Mr Hollande’s statement that government of India insisted upon a particular firm as offset partner for the Dassault Aviation in Rafale is being verified,” the Defence Min-istry said in a tweet.

“It is reiterated that neither government of India nor French government had any say in the commercial decision,” it said.

Hollande has been quoted by an article in French website “Mediapart” as claiming that the Indian gov-ernment had asked the French government to nom-inate Reliance Defence as its India partner in the Rafale jet offset deal. “We did not have a say in this,” Hollande was quoted by the website as saying.

“The Indian government proposed this service group and Dassault negotiated with Ambani.”

The opposition has been alleging that the Anil Ambani firm was favoured in the Rs 21,000 crore contract at the cost of state-owned Hin-dustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) despite the private firm having no prior expe-rience in aerospace manufacturing.

Controversy erupts over ‘Surgical Strike Day’IANS

NEW DELHI: A controversy erupted yesterday after the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a circular asking universities to celebrate September 29 as ‘Surgical Strike Day’, with the Congress calling the move politically motivated and the government countering it by saying the exercise will enhance national prestige.

A decision to celebrate the day was announced on Thursday when the UGC in a letter to all Vice Chancellors had asked them to observe the day in their institutions through special parades by National

Cadet Corps, and with a pledge of support by students to the armed forces by writing letters and cards.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal called the decision a ‘jumla’ (gimmick) and in an oblique reference termed the demon-etisation also a surgical strike on the country’s poor.

“UGC directs VCs of all uni-versities to celebrate Sep-tember 29 as Surgical Strike Day. Is this meant to educate or to serve BJP’s political ends? Will UGC dare celebrate November 8 as Surgical Strike Day depriving the poor of their livelihood? This is another jumla!,” Sibal tweeted yesterday.

An elephant laden with vegetation walking on a road in New Delhi. After years of pressure from activists who accuse elephant owners of flouting wildlife regulations by keeping them in a city, authorities have ordered the seizure of the animals.

Jumbo restrictions

UN chief to visit India with focus on renewable energyIANS

NEW DELHI: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will embark on a four-day visit to India from October 1 at the invi-tation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during which he will attend a series of events on renewable energy and sanitation, it was announced yesterday.

According to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, Guterres and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the joint inaugural cer-emony of the first General Assembly of the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Second Global Re-Invest Conference and the Second Renewable Energy Min-isterial Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association of States (IORA) member countries on

October 2 here.The UN chief will also be

participating in the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention the same day which will mark the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations as well as the fourth anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The inauguration of the ISA General Assembly will be fol-lowed by the ministerial level assembly the following day.

Launched by Prime Minister Modi and then French President Francois Hollande at the Paris climate summit in 2015, ISA was conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and provide a platform to collaborate on dealing with the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.

“Now, it is obvious that behind Pakistan’s

proposal for talks to make a fresh beginning,

the evil agenda of Pakistan stands exposed

and the true face of the new Prime Minister of

Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been revealed to the

world,” External Affairs Ministry said.

06 SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018ASIA

SC to hear petition seeking Imran’s disqualificationINTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar will take up next week a petition seeking disqual-ification of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

According to the cause-list issued by the apex court, the petition has been fixed before the bench comprising CJP Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan for Monday (September 24).

The petition was filed by Barrister Danyal Chaudhry in May last year soon after the apex court had constituted a six-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe allegations of corruption against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and has been pending before court since then.

The petitioner was seeking a special oath to the JIT members for protecting them from getting influenced by the speeches of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan.

The petition filed through Advocate Quasain Faisal Mufti had requested the apex court to restrain Imran Khan from activ-ities which could influence the minds of the JIT members because his speeches and press releases could prejudice the investigation team.

It also feared that if Khan was not stopped from making political statements, it might allegedly result in derailment of democracy — a process running successfully and smoothly for a decade.

The petition had also

requested the Supreme Court to order the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) not to allow broadcast by the electronic media of any material which jeopardised the sovereignty, integrity and soli-darity of Pakistan and well-being and prosperity of the people of Pakistan.

The petitioner was of the opinion that people could not afford any turmoil or turbulence at this juncture when the country and its people were trying to bridge the trust and peace deficit, which over the years developed due to unbridled waves of terrorism that had lessened after remarkable efforts by the coun-try’s armed forces, but not yet completely overcome.

International forces had been given the task of sabo-taging the China-Pakistan Eco-nomic Corridor against which certain indigenous political forces due to their innocence

acted as a catalyst to sabotage the historic and giant project - an emblem of long-lasting Pakistan-China friendship, the petition emphasised.

It recalled that due to the PTI’s 2014 sit-in in Islamabad, the Chinese president had deferred his visit to Pakistan, resulting in jeopardising dif-ferent projects pertaining to the CPEC because of political uncer-tainty that negatively impacted the country’s financial markets. The foreign exchange reserves had also declined considerably as a result, it argued.

The petition alleged that Imran Khan was making speeches to undermine the Panama Papers case judgement and further influence the expected outcome of the JIT investigation.

In some of his statements, it said, Khan was making allega-tions against different institu-tions including but not limited to those who were bestowed upon with the responsibility to investigate the allegations as ordered by the Supreme Court.

The petition alleged that the conduct of Khan amounted to destabilising the government and hampered the functioning of the federal government by weakening its writ and thus destabilising the confidence of the government in making deci-sions in respect of national and international affairs.

Besides other things, the petition had sought disqualifi-cation of Imran Khan for not disclosing his alleged loved child Teriyan White in his nomination papers for the general elections.

Pakistani security personnel stand guard along the side of a road during an Ashura procession in Karachi yesterday.

Keeping watch over religious procession

Britain’s Home Secretary reaffirms commitment to work with PakistanINTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: Britain’s Home Secretary Sajid Javid has reaf-firmed the strong partnership reached between the UK and Pakistan during his two-day visit to Islamabad earlier this week.

A statement issued by the British government said that Javid stressed the importance of the historic and unique rela-tionship as he ended his visit.

In the first visit to Pakistan by a UK minister since the July 25 elections, Javid called on Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He also met government

ministers, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Minister of State for Interior Shahryar Afridi, and dis-cussed with them cooperation to tackle organised crime, ter-rorism and corruption.

The government announced a new UK-Pakistan partnership on accountability to tackle illicit finance, a priority for the new government.

The home secretary also had the opportunity to visit a girls school in Islamabad to see how UK funding had helped support educational programmes in the country.

Over 9.5 million children in primary schools, including 4.6m girls, have benefited from the UK-sponsored programmes since 2011, the statement added.

He also attended a forced marriage roundtable hosted by the high commission and attended by operational partners.

The visit by the home sec-retary to Pakistan concluded with a tour of Allama Iqbal’s tomb in Lahore and the Badshahi Mosque with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar where they discussed continued partnership in the province on security, health and education.

Pakistani FM reaches US today for bilateral talksINTERNEWS

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrives here today on a visit that includes talks with the Trump administration and the new Pakistani government’s first interaction with the United Nations.

The foreign minister’s first official engagement of this week-long tour is an address to the Pakistani community in Washington, and the same day he will fly to New York to attend the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, which began on September 18.

The high-level General Assembly debate, however, begins on September 25 and is scheduled to last for nine working days.

Qureshi is expected to address the General Assembly on September 29.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, the pres-ident-elect of the 73rd session, will chair the debate on “Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Lead-ership and Shared Respon-sibilities for Peaceful, Equi-table and Sustainable Societies.”

The main event of the Pakistani foreign minister’s meeting, however, is an expected meeting with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Washington.

This would be a follow-up to their first meeting in Islamabad earlier this month when they agreed to work together to “reset” the troubled relations between their countries.

Imran likely to approve new LG structure for two provincesINTERNEWS

LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to give final approval to the basic structure of the new local government systems in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today as Balo-chistan has reportedly opted not to join the scheme.

Major features of the new local government system had been agreed upon in the previous meeting which the prime min-ister presided over last week in Islamabad. But the final approval to the structure of the new local government system was yet to be accorded by Khan, official sources said on Tuesday, adding the premier might do so today.

The sources said Balochistan appeared not interested in

having a new local government system as desired by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s central government.

The province’s representa-tives did not attend the last two meetings on the topic held in Islamabad and had conveyed that the issue would be decided by the provincial assembly.

“This means that the PTI-designed local government system would be enforced only in KP and Punjab. The spirit of the new system would be the same but both the provinces would have its different features best suited to their respective needs, they said.

Officials said there had been an overall agreement that the new local governments in Punjab and KP would be transferred

provincial powers.The new system would be a

two-tier mechanism, unlike the three-tier local governments of the Musharraf era, they added. And there would no duplication of work in both the tiers.

For example, they said, union councils would handle sani-tation, streetlight and sewerage, whereas the district council would deal with basic health and education facilities.

Punjab was advocating for district and union councils, whereas Balochistan desired tehsil and village councils. Punjab was being asked to also replace union councils with village councils but it was resisting the move on the ground that it would cost dearly.

The present cost of running

4,687 union councils was Rs7bn which would double in case of village councils. There were around 20,000 villages in Punjab and the proposal was to create a village council com-pris ing 10,000 rural population.

There was an agreement on party-based local elections in Punjab, while the polls might be sans parties in KP, they said.

The officials said the health and education authorities in Punjab would continue to function but under the local gov-ernments with a new shape.

There is an agreement on giving one third of the total pro-vincial development budget to local councils, while one third of this allocation will be reserved for union or village councils.

There is a debate on who will write the annual confidential reports (ACRs) of the deputy commissioner (DC), superin-tendent of police (SP) and above officers in the districts. The ACRsof all the remaining officials under the DC and SP will be written by the nazim or mayor.

There is also an agreement on direct election of nazim or mayor in Punjab. The electorate for the office will be the entire district, while the candidates will contest election in a panel for the seats of the deputies.

Each deputy will represent one tehsil in every district and will be elected by the voters of that specific tehsil or town. Heads of union or village councils will be the members of the district assembly.

China’s domestically developed AG600, the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, is reflected in a puddle at the Jing Men Aviclub Flight Carnival in Jingmen, Hubei province, China, yesterday.

World’s largest amphibious aircraft

China places top energy official under graft probeREUTERS

BEIJING: China yesterday placed one of the country’s most senior ethnic Uighur offi-cials, head of the energy admin-istration and a former governor of the restive region of Xinjiang, under investigation for suspected graft.

The ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog said in a brief statement National Energy Administration Director Nur Bekri was being probed on suspicion of breaking the law and violating party discipline, the usual euphemism for graft but which could also refer to other legal problems.

It gave no other details and it was not possible to reach Nur Bekri for comment.

President Xi Jinping has tar-geted the energy sector as part of a wider war against per-vasive graft that began when

he came into office six years ago.

Nur Bekri, 57, worked in Xinjiang until moving to Beijing in late 2014 to head the energy administration. He is also a deputy head of China’s pow-erful state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission.

Nur Bekri, a tall, jocular figure who speaks almost totally unaccented Mandarin and was known for being more open to foreign media than most Chinese officials, was the 12th senior official from the energy administration to be felled since it was founded in 2008.

In Xinjiang, he had been a strong proponent of expanding the resource-rich region’s coal-mining sector, but his advocacy for the polluting industry was tempered in favour of pro-moting cleaner projects after he came to Beijing.

The petition filed

through Advocate

Quasain Faisal Mufti

had requested the

apex court to restrain

Imran Khan from

activities which could

influence the minds of

the Joint Investigation

Team members

because his speeches

and press releases

could prejudice the

investigation team.

07SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018 ASIA

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang dead at 61AFP

HANOI: Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang, a former police chief known as a tough politician and committed communist with little tolerance for dissent, died yesterday at age 61 after a serious illness, state media reported.

His death is not likely to dra-matically alter politics in a country where the powerful communist government oversees almost every facet of society —although the death of a sitting leader is rare.

Coverage on state media was sombre yesterday, with a Vietnam Television anchor in dark clothing announcing the news of the leader’s death, first reported by the official Vietnam News Agency. A member of Quang’s staff confirmed his death.

The president had sought treatment in Japan for over a year before he was checked into hospital on Thursday afternoon after contracting a “rare virus”,

Nguyen Quoc Trieu, in charge of the healthcare committee for top leaders, said in state media.

In office as president since April 2016 after more than four decades at the powerful Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Quang had a reputation as a hardliner.

Though he held one of the country’s top four positions and was officially the head of state, his role was seen as largely cer-emonial, greeting visiting leaders and hosting diplomatic events in a bid to boost Vietnam’s profile on the world stage. Quang, also

a politburo member, had appeared thin and pale in public in recent months and was unstable on his feet last week when he hosted a welcoming ceremony for Indonesian Pres-ident Joko Widodo in Hanoi.

His last public appearance was just two days ago at a

meeting with visiting Chinese politicians and foreign dignitaries.

His death is not likely to shake up politics in the one-party state, which prides itself on stable, consensus-based lead-ership and where the dramas that are rumoured to play out in

the corridors of power are rarely aired publicly.

“It will not lead to any ruffles in leadership or any tensions,” Vietnam expert Carl Thayer said.

Born October 12, 1956 in northern Ninh Binh province, Quang joined the police academy as a young man and went on to study at the College of Foreign Language in Hanoi. He has been a communist party member since 1980.

He joined the security min-istry in 1975 and steadily climbed the ranks of the shadowy yet powerful institution, which heads up the country’s secret police and intelligence.

Despite his reputation as an influential politician, Quang often appeared uncomfortable in the public eye and lacked the charisma of his peers in the party’s upper echelons.

In an interview in 2016, Quang read from a prepared statement and was quickly escorted out by staff when ques-tions went off-script. His time in

office was underpinned by a sim-mering conflict with Beijing over the South China Sea, a long-running dispute between the communist neighbours that escalated on several occasions during his presidency.

But Beijing paid tribute to Quang Friday, with foreign min-istry spokesman Geng Shuang calling him “an outstanding leader... (who) made important contributions to the national development of reform and opening up in Vietnam”.

Quang also threw his weight behind an anti-corruption cam-paign that critics said was designed to eliminate political foes. But his primary role was as the administration’s public face at high-profile events, notably at an APEC meeting in Danang in November last year where he hosted a bevy of world leaders — including US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Some paid respects to Quang online, but emotional out-pourings were largely absent.

This file picture shows Vietnamese President late Tran Dai Quang greeting journalists at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Participants take off to compete during a Dragon Boat Festival in Thailand’s southern province of Narathiwat yesterday. Participants include teams from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Philippines halts quarrying as 29 die in landslideREUTERS

MANILA: The Philippines yesterday temporar i ly suspended all quarrying opera-tions in seven regions following a landslide near a limestone quarry that killed at least 29 people, with dozens more feared trapped under the rubble.

As search, rescue and retrieval operations continued

at the landslide site in Naga City on the central island of Cebu, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu announced the 15-day sus-pension pending safety assess-ments at other quarrying areas.

The landslide, one of several incidents from September 15 to 20 in the country, was triggered by heavy rains early morning on Thursday, burying around two

dozen houses and the people inside.

Authorities put the death toll at 29 as of yesterday, with res-cuers still digging for possibly more than 50 people believed to have been buried alive.

“It could also happen in other quarries all over the country,” Cimatu said during a media briefing in Naga City. “I ordered the review and assessment of all

quarry operations all over the country to determine the safety of the quarry operations.” He ordered the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB), the state regulator for mining and quar-rying industries, to conduct the safety assessments specifically in seven regions where large quarry operations are located.

MGB Director Wilfredo Moncano said he expects the

impact of the suspension on the industry’s output to be “minimal”, without giving any estimate.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte repeated his call on Monday to shut all mines in the country following deadly land-slides triggered by heavy rains caused by Typhoon Mangkhut, which struck the country on Sep-tember 15.

Cambodia pardons Australian filmmaker convicted of espionageAP

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia granted a royal pardon yesterday to Australian film-maker James Ricketson, who was sentenced last month to six years in prison on spying charges in a trial widely criti-cised as unfair.

It was not immediately clear if he has already been released from Prey Sar prison on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh.

The pardon is the latest in a series of releases of political prisoners directed in recent weeks by Prime Minister Hun Sen after his ruling party’s land-slide general election victory at the end of July.

The election, which gave the Cambodian People’s Party all 125 seats in the National Assembly, was decried by Western nations and rights groups as unfair and undemo-cratic because the sole credible opposition party had been dis-solved by the courts last year at the instigation of Hun Sen’s government.

Hun Sen, who has been in power for 33 years, has a record of cracking down on his

opponents when he feels threatened, then easing up when he has secured his political goals and seeks to tone down criticism of his actions. The recent releases come as he prepares to attend this month’s UN General Assembly session in New York, where he intends to defend his mandate as legitimate.

Ricketson, 69, was arrested last year after flying a drone to photograph an opposition party rally. His arrest came as Hun Sen’s government was beginning a crackdown on critics and political rivals as the ruling party’s prospects for the general election appeared shaky. The opposition had made a strong showing in 2017 local elections, building on its surprisingly strong challenge in the 2013 general election.

The pardon issued yes-terday was signed by Senate President Say Chhum, the acting head of state in the absence of King Norodom Sihamoni, who is reported to be visiting China. Pardons are normally issued at the request of Hun Sen. Ricketson’s trial was described as farcical by his sympathisers.

Japan space rovers lowered to asteroid to collect dataAP

TOKYO: A Japanese spacecraft released two small rovers on an asteroid yesterday in a mission that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system.

The Japan Space Exploration Agency said the two Minerva-II-1 rovers were lowered from the unmanned spacecraft Hay-abusa2 to the asteroid Ryugu. The spacecraft arrived near the asteroid, about 280 million kil-ometers from Earth, in June.

JAXA said confirmation of the robots’ safe touchdown has to wait until it receives data from them today.

Hayabusa2 approached as close as 55 metres to the asteroid to lower the rovers, waited for a minute and then rose back to its waiting position about 20km above the surface. JAXA said the release went successfully.

The solar-powered rovers’ voltage plunged as night fell on Ryugu, a sign that they are on the asteroid, said Hayabusa project

team spokesman Takashi Kubota.

“We are very hopeful,” project manager Yuichi Tsuda said. “I’m excited about seeing the pictures. I want to see the scenery of space seen from Ryugu’s surface.”

The two rovers are to capture images of the asteroid and measure surface temperatures before a larger rover and a lander are released later. The rovers move by “hopping” up to 15 metres at a time because the

extremely weak gravity on the asteroid makes rolling difficult. They can continue jumping as long as their solar panels and power last, JAXA said.

Yesterday’s release bolstered the project members’ confidence ahead of more difficult maneuvers in the future, Tsuda said.

Hayabusa2 is scheduled to attempt three brief touch-and-go landings on the asteroid to collect samples in hopes of pro-viding clues to the origin of the

solar system and life on Earth. Since it arrived at Ryugu, scien-tists have been looking for suitable landing sites on the uneven surface, and its first attempt is expected in October.

The spacecraft is set to release a German-French lander called Mascot carrying four observation devices in early October and a bigger rover called Minerva-II-2 next year.

Hayabusa2, launched in December 2014, is due to return to Earth in late 2020.

Former Malaysian premier released on bailANATOLIA

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was arrested under an anti-corruption probe, was released on bail yesterday, according to local media reports.

According to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Razak was arrested

over a corruption scandal con-cerning the Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Razak paid 1m Malaysian ringgits, part of the 3.5m ringgits (around $846,000) of bail imposed on him by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur.

In July, the former prime minister had appeared before

court for the first time, where he pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.

1MDB, spearheaded by Razak, has been the subject of a global money-laundering probe.

The scandal has triggered probes and investigations in multiple locations around the globe, including the US and Switzerland.

Dozens of ex-graft convicts to run in Indonesia polls AFP

JAKARTA: Dozens of Indo-nesians who served jail time for corruption are set to run for public office, the country’s electoral agency said yesterday, as the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation kicks off campaigning at the weekend.

The ex-convicts are among more than 8,000 people vying for seats in par-liament and regional councils with 186 million registered voters eligible to cast a ballot in national polls on April 17.

Election campaigning starts tomorrow.

Indonesia is riddled with corruption at all levels of society and its House of Rep-resentatives is widely viewed as one of its most graft-riddled institutions. However, the Supreme Court ruled last week that 38 people previ-ously convicted of graft could run for office, despite their criminal records.

The decision came after Indonesia’s electoral agency tried to block their eligibility.

Moon rises in ratings after summit: PollsAFP

SEOUL: South Korean Pres-ident Moon Jae-in’s approval rating jumped this week as he basked in an intense media focus on his summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, a survey showed yesterday.

Seoul’s leader had seen his ratings fall to the lowest of his presidency earlier this month, in the face of a strug-gling economy with rising unemployment and high house prices.

But it leaped 11 points to 61 percent in a Gallup Korea survey of 1,001 people con-ducted from Tuesday through Thursday. The rise “can be seen as an effect of the third inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang”, Gallup Korea said. Those with negative views of Moon’s performance fell 9 percentage points to 30 percent, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 per-centage points. The two Koreas signed an agreement aimed at reducing military tensions.

His death is not

likely to dramatically

alter politics in a

country where the

powerful communist

government oversees

almost every facet

of society —although

the death of a sitting

leader is rare.

Dragon Boat Festival

The new alliance

is structured

after Nato,

where a joint

command will be

created and most

probably manned

by American

personnel.

Meanwhile, the

US counts on oil-

rich Gulf nations

to pick up the tab.

THE WASHINGTON POST

08 SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018VIEWS

New Middle East order quietly constructed

Despite all the wars, chaos and schisms that engulf the Middle East, Washington seems determined to quietly

construct a new order. But why would a new Middle East succeed where past efforts failed?

The major difference in America’s new Middle East order is that it is not being put together by diplomats or politicians, but by military generals. Perhaps the American experience in Iraq, where the military were given the steering wheel and successfully put down a civil war, has convinced Washington that the military are much more effective than politicians.

Over the past few years, Israel has insisted that the only pressing danger in the Middle East is Iran, nuclear or not. Under former President Barack Obama, America disagreed with its ally vehemently. But with President Donald Trump, the foreign policies of the US and Israel have merged to a point where they almost look identical.

Other major Israeli allies, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have also reasoned that — given its reach and aggressive posture —Iran is the greatest threat to them and their national interests.

Because Iran is the enemy of both, Israel and Gulf states, it was only a matter of time that all those involved arrive at the classic con-clusion: My enemy’s enemy is my friend. But friendship between Israel, on the one hand, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

members, on the other, is easier imagined than done.

The seven-decade-old Arab-Israeli conflict has left much bad blood between the two sides, and with peace between the Palestinians and Israelis seemingly stalling, constructing an alliance between Israel and GCC coun-tries has remained a long shot, even for the biggest Arab advocates of quick and unconditional peace with Israel.

To circumvent Arab animosity toward Israel, and given its successful

military-to-military relations with Egypt, Iraq, and to an extent Lebanon, America seems decided that -- where diplomacy and politicians fails -- mil-itary generals can succeed.

Against this background, generals from GCC countries, Egypt, Jordan and the US met in Kuwait, earlier this month, to discuss the building of what is coming to be known as the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA). Some-times called the Arab Nato, this mil-itary alliance is planned to be more durable than tentative political rela-tions. The MESA meeting did show some signs of breakthrough, especially with the participation of military com-manders representing the two rivals: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, on the one hand, and Qatar, on the other.

The new alliance is structured after Nato, where a joint command will be created and most probably manned by American personnel. Meanwhile, the US counts on oil-rich Gulf nations to pick up the tab.

The primary mission of MESA is to guard against two kinds of Iranian activity that the US considers trou-blesome: Iran’s arming of its militias across the region and its military ability to strike Gulf targets. Either way, the alliance will have to police three waterways, at Hormuz, Bab Al-Mandab, and Suez. The alliance will also support local groups that can interrupt Iranian ability to provision its militias overland, especially groups in northwestern Iraq and northeastern Syria.

Second to military considerations, the US hopes that MESA will yield political gains. If Qatar and its oppo-nents can fit in a military MESA meeting, there is no reason why such cooperation cannot be expanded to include intelligence, and perhaps later restore diplomatic ties.

Finally, MESA would not be com-plete without introducing Israel as some sort of partner. After all, Israel

and MESA will be shooting in the same direction, mainly against Iran and its militias across the region, and hence, it only makes sense to suggest military cooperation between Israel and the new alliance. Because any Gulf-Israeli cooperation will be military, it should not raise the eyebrows of those Arabs who oppose the normalization of rela-tions with Israel.

But like in the case of Qatar and its rivals, military cooperation can open the way toward improving Arab rela-tions with Israel on other levels. If Arab Israeli relations start warming up, militarily then diplomatically, the ground will become ripe for the exe-cution of the “Deal of the Century,” a peace treaty whose architect is Jason Greenblatt and his sponsor at the administration, Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law. While still at its early stages, MESA looks a win-win situation for the US and its allies. Channeling Arab and Israeli anger toward Iran helps both sides weaken a stubborn and troublemaking adversary, while at the same time lessens the anger that both sides, the Arabs and the Israelis, have expressed against one another for almost a century. As the anger between the Arabs and Israelis sub-sides and gives way to hatred of Iran, Arab-Israeli peace should be more plausible.

Military cooperation has proven to be transcendental and more durable than political friendships. As such, MESA can serve as the cornerstone of inter-Gulf peace, as well as Arab-Israeli peace, while forcing Iran to retreat.

While a hot issue inside Wash-ington, MESA has remained the realm of army generals rather than dip-lomats and politicians, and has as such maintained a low profile, especially when compared to previous US attempts that often came with much fanfare and little results.

HUSSAIN ABDUL-HUSSAIN ANATOLIA

QUOTE OF THE DAY

While understanding the logic of the negotiations,

I remain convinced that a compromise, good for all, is still possible. I say these words as a close friend of the UK and a

true admirer of PM May.

Donald Tusk

European Council President

Tiny country, big problem

In the past few weeks, a parade of senior Western officials has streamed through Skopje, the modest capital of the tiny republic

of Macedonia, which is smaller than Maryland and boasts a population of barely 2 million.

The most recent VIP, on Monday, was Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who called Macedonia “a reliable security partner and a valued contributor to global peace and security.” Why all the fuss? On Sept. 30, citizens will vote on whether to change the country’s name to North Macedonia, to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece and to open the way for membership in the European Union and NATO.

That choice, in turn, has touched off another geopolitical joust between the West and Russia, which is doing its best to undermine the Greek- Macedonian agreement and, thus, block another NATO expansion. What’s striking is the difference in tactics: While the democ-racies are wooing Macedonians with

appearances and speeches by the likes of Mattis and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia is conducting a veiled propaganda campaign, flooding social media with fake news and subsi-dizing local extremists who have organized protests. “No doubt that [the Russians] have transferred money and they are also conducting broader influence campaigns,” Mattis said.

Moscow’s operation resembles those it conducted in the United States, Britain and other democracies before recent elections. A principal feature is fake social media accounts dissemi-nating poisonous - and blatantly false - information. The New York Times quoted Western diplomats as saying that dozens of new pages were appearing daily on Facebook urging a boycott of the referendum; some tell people to burn their ballots. They peddle lies about police attacks against opponents of the name change. One civil society activist told the Times that a photo of a famous singer who was assaulted in a domestic incident was circulated with the claimthat she had been injured while protesting.

The determination of the regime of Vladimir Putin to wreck the Mace-donian deal, even at the expense of harming friendly relations with Greece, is instructive. Macedonia does not border Russia but is surrounded on three sides by NATO member states. It poses no conceivable threat to Russia, but its entrance into the transatlantic alliance and European community will help stabilize a historically volatile corner of Europe. Moscow’s spoiling campaign is another reminder that Putin views relations with the West in stark zero-sum terms: Any gain by the democracies, however small, is regarded as a mortal threat.

For now, it looks as though the open appeals of the West will trump Russian subterfuge. Polls show the ref-erendum proposition passing, which would give the Macedonian par-liament the basis to approve the nec-essary constitutional change. But whatever the outcome, one message from Macedonia is clear: Putin remains bent on undermining the West and its institutions whenever and wherever he can.

In the times when

scientific research

and excellence

have become the

real forces behind

development

and progress in

all dimensions,

Qatar University’s

achievements in

fields of scientific

research deserve

a huge applause.

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

March towards excellence

Apart from imparting quality higher education, Qatar University is fast becoming a center of excellence in research making its mark not only in the Middle

East but also at the global level. With 17 research centers covering all subjects related to national priorities, Qatar University has done tremendous job to serve the country and the nation. In the times when scientific research and excellence have become the real forces behind devel-opment and progress in all dimensions, Qatar Univer-sity’s achievements in fields of scientific research deserve a huge applause.

Qatar University has made great leaps recently in the field of scientific research and the rate of research increased 442 percent in the last eight years.

The growth in the research sector in recent years has resulted from the university’s focus on establishing spe-cialized research centers, including the establishment of 17 research center that covered all issues related to the national priorities. These issues included traffic safety, healthcare, gas treatment, population surveys and con-servation of the marine environment among other issues.

Qatar University has con-firmed its growing role as a research engine in the region by launching a research road map in 2014 and setting its research priorities for the next five years.

The fields the university has said it will focus on was energy, environment, resource sustainability, social change, identity and population, healthcare, information and communication technology.

In May this year, a com-puting research centre at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU-CENG) won a grant for a 3-year project to build a platform to enhance the cyber-security of smart grid distribution networks. The KINDI Center for Computing Research (KINDI) at QU-CENG

won a $1.82m grant from Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).

In Aug 2018, Qatar University (QU) was ranked 48th in Telecommunication Engineering subject in the Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2018, making a sig-nificant leap on its last year’s ranking, where it had been ranked in the range of 51-75 best universities.

Qatar University (QU) made a huge improvement in the Times Higher Education (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings by advancing its position from 75 in 2017 to 35 in the 2018 rankings.

Qatar University also enjoys the honour of being ranked first in the international outlook indicator in the overall Times Higher Education World University Rankings list (THE-WUR) since 2015 and third among universities in the Arab world in THE Arab World Rankings 2018.

Qatar University (QU) in March 2018 was chosen as one of the top 400 universities worldwide in electrical and electronic engineering in Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) World University Ranking by subject.

Whether Yameen or

the opposition wins

this election, there is

little hope the country

would be put back on

the democratic track.

09SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018 OPINION

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As typhoons get stronger, Asia mustbuild better

The Maldives: The rise and fall of a democracy

MICHAEL TAYLOR REUTERS

AZIM ZAHIR AL JAZEERA

P opulation growth, rapid urbanisation and unfettered development of coastal areas in the Asia-Pacific region, are

increasing the risk of heavy damage from powerful typhoons, experts said.

They urged governments and the private sector to collaborate on improving urban planning, protecting

mangroves and developing “sponge cities” that can absorb water and prevent flooding. “(Cities) need to move from unplanned urbanisation to planned urbanisation,” said Loretta Hieber Girardet, chief of Asia-Pacific at the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in Bangkok.

“They need to plan urban growth - and that’s not happening in Asia to the extent that it needs to happen.” Over the past 40 years, natural disasters have cost Asia-Pacific about $1.3 trillion, according to UN estimates, with China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan worst-hit by typhoons.

The latest major storm, super-typhoon Mangkhut, left a trail of destruction in both rural and urban areas of the northern Philippines,

Hong Kong and southern China this week. Asia has to deal with an average 29-30 typhoons each year, but fatal-ities have fallen with better weather forecasting, early warning systems and public awareness campaigns.

However, since the late 1970s, storms making landfall have become 15 percent more intense and their destructive power has increased by about 50 percent, Hieber Girardet said on Friday.

“Exposure is increasing and intensity of the hazard is increasing, and combined - these two - mean that the risk is increasing,” she said.

This year, more than half Asia-Pacific’s population will be urban for the first time in history, and that figure will rise to two-thirds by 2050, the UN estimates.

The damage from typhoons can be mitigated through improved urban planning, which would draw upon available data on recurrent natural disasters, mapping, and under-standing the risks to cities, experts said.

Both the private and public sectors can build resilience into infrastructure and developments to ensure they are able to withstand the impact and aftermath of typhoons, including flooding, damage to structures and high winds.

The region will need to invest $26 trillion from 2016 to 2030 in infra-structure in order to maintain its eco-nomic growth, tackle poverty, and respond to climate change, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Incorporating resilience into infrastructure projects pushes costs up by only 2 percent to 4 percent, said

Hieber Girardet, adding that the increased cost should be seen as an investment in the future.

Technology can also play a role in tackling problems like excess rainfall - as seen in a pilot “sponge city” project in Wuhan, a flood-prone metropolis in central China.

Arcadis, a Dutch engineering and consultancy company, began the decade-long project in 2016, which incorporates sustainable drainage systems into infrastructure development.

These include a type of water-absorbing asphalt, as well as green spaces to help stop water from pooling. City authorities should also build more parks, bolster flood defences and levies, and develop berms in flood-prone areas, said John Batten, an Arcadis director in Hong Kong.

The berms can have the added benefit of creating green spaces where people can enjoy leisure time, which also pay for themselves as developers are more likely to invest in such areas and boost tax revenues, he added.

“In the old days there would be a bunch of ugly gates or dykes built and they’re not places where people want to hang out,” Batten said, adding that “now they are landscaped attractions”.

It is also important to improve building codes to ensure that struc-tures can withstand strong winds, while banning poster and electronic billboards on the top of buildings.

“Resilience is a lower priority in Asian cities and urbanisation is the higher priority,” said Batten.

It has been 10 years since the Mal-divians shook off a three-decade-long dictatorship and chose to walk down the path of

democracy. In October 2008, long-term Maldivian leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom left power peacefully, after a popular opposition movement challenged his power and forced him to hold the Maldives’ first multiparty presidential vote.

Over the past 10 years, the country has held regular multiparty elections and in just a few days, tomorrow, Maldivians will head to the polls to choose their president for the third time since 2008. The incumbent Abdulla Yameen is running against long-term legislator Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, endorsed by a coa-lition of opposition parties.

In any young democracy, an election would be celebrated as an expression of democratic life, but in the Maldives today, the upcoming vote is just another indication of the death of its democracy.

There is currently little hope that the flawed electoral process and the vote on September 23 will change the current tendencies towards an authoritarian relapse in Maldivian politics.

When popular protests erupted in September 2003, following the brutal killing of an inmate in Maldivian prison, hopes for meaningful change in the country ran high. A coalition of opposition parties, led by Mohamed Nasheed from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rode the wave of public discontent and managed to force Gayoom to open up the political system and hold free elections.

In 2008, Nasheed, backed by a coalition of parties, defeated Gayoom

in a runoff and became the Maldives’ first freely elected president. Two years later, the international watchdog Freedom House listed the country as an electoral democracy for the first time in its history.

But that newly acquired “status” did not translate into practises on the ground. The Maldivian political class did not give up their predatory behaviour and unprincipled politics.

The new political parties, their leaders, parliamentarians, the judges, and those who pump money into pol-itics did not fully embrace democracy.

Nasheed himself made authori-tarian moves, including arresting offi-cials and opposition politicians to deal with mounting political and economic challenges.

Instead of trying to make the democratic transition work despite disagreements, the opposition sought to end Nasheed’s government by any means. He was forced to resign in February 2012 after sections of the police and the military mutinied and backed the demand of the opposition for his resignation.

Then in 2013, Gayoom’s Pro-gressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) nominated his half-brother, Yameen, to run against Nasheed in the presi-dential race. It then entered into a coalition with the Jumhooree Party and Islamist Adalat Party, both of which backed the MDP against Gayoom back in 2008.

This alliance helped Yameenhe win the vote with 51 percent.

Soon after he took power, Yameen, too, veered off the demo-cratic path. He gradually took control of various institutions, hollowed them out and made them subservient to his political agenda, all the while talking

about democracy, rule of law, and development.

The judiciary has been one of the main targets of Yameen’s authori-tarian assault on state institutions. Soon after he took power, he used his party’s legislative majority to change the law regulating the composition of the country’s top court.

Using these amendments, the president managed to remove the chief justice and lower court judge, both of whom were known for their relative independence. This effec-tively made the judiciary dependent on the executive branch.

In the following years, all major political rivals to Yameen were imprisoned on various charges, including former President Nasheed, his own half-brother - Gayoom, his own vice president - Ahmed Adeeb, Adalat Party leader Imran Abdullah, and the country’s richest man, Gasim Ibrahim.

Similarly, when his despotic adventurism estranged his coalition partners and the president lost their legislative majority, the courts and the elections body stripped 12 opposition MPs of their seats.

And when, in a surprising turn of events, in February this year, the top court ruled to free all opposition leaders, the security apparatus arrested the chief justice and lower court judge.

A month later, parliament changed the law again and paved way for the removal of the two judges. Yameen thereby regained control over the court.

His type of despotism, of course, still leaves pockets of space for political and civic activism. Parties still function; there is still part of the media that can be critical; there is some freedom of expression, espe-cially on the internet; and there is a sense of a vibrant public sphere.

However, the effect of ever-changing laws and hijacked institu-tions is that even those freedoms can be taken away whenever Mr Yameen wants. This type of regime is what Australian political thinker John Keane calls “new despotism”: govern-ments, “backed by democratic rhetoric and election victories, mas-sively expand their executive powers by means of economic nepotism, media controls, strangled judiciaries, dragnet surveillance and armed crackdowns on their opponents”.

It is amid such political circum-stances that Maldivians will be voting on September 23. There are already signs that the electoral process is flawed. Several candidates were not allowed to contest the election because of politically motivated

“They need to plan

urban growth - and

that’s not happening in

Asia to the extent that

it needs to happen.”

Over the past 40 years,

natural disasters have

cost Asia-Pacific about

$1.3 trillion, according

to UN estimates, with

China, the Philippines,

Vietnam and Japan

worst-hit by typhoons.

prison sentences.The independence of the

election commission and the Supreme Court are also in doubt. Elections have been postponed before several times and the results of the 2013 vote annulled.

And even if the election is free and fair on September 23, what is on offer are two bad options: Yameen and the promise of deep-ening authoritarianism; or Solih and the prospect of an unstable government of warring factions.

Solih is backed by Nasheed’s MDP and its unholy alliance with Jumhooree Party and Islamist Adalat Party (which went against him in 2012) and with his former rival, Gayoom, who was pushed out of the PPM.

This coalition is currently held together by their common enemy - Yameen. If they win and Solih comes to power, there is no guar-antee that they will stick together. In fact, the recent past shows that these political parties are quick to abandon their alliances whenever their narrow self-interest is in danger.

If, unlike his predecessors, Solih tries to stick to democratic proc-esses and negotiations to resolve political disagreements, he would find it difficult to do so in the face of a predatory political culture and widespread corruption which have eroded any serious commitment to democratic norms and principled politics.

In other words, whether Yameen or the opposition wins this election, there is little hope the country would be put back on the democratic track.

Maldives’ main opposition leader and presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih greets a crowd during a campaign rally in the Maldives capital Male.

10 SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018EUROPE

Defiant May hits back at EU over Brexit planAFP

LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May hit back yesterday at the European Union after it roundly rejected her Brexit plan, saying its refusal to compromise was “not acceptable” and reiter-ating the possibility of walking away from the negotiations.

In a defiant televised statement from Downing Street, May said the talks were at an “impasse” just six months before Britain leaves the EU and weeks ahead of a deadline to seal a deal — but put the blame on Brussels.

“Throughout this process, I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same. A good relationship at the end of this process depends on it,” the prime minister said.

May was speaking after returning from an EU summit in Salzburg, where her fellow leaders condemned her pro-posals for post-Brexit trading ties and the Irish border.

It was a setback charac-terised by the British media as a “humiliation”, just days before a meeting of the ruling Conserv-ative party, where eurosceptics are ramping up the pressure on May to be tough.

Standing at a podium with two British flags behind her, May said: “At this late stage in the negotiations, it is not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and counter proposals.

“So we now need to hear from the EU what the real issues are and what their alternative is so that we can discuss them. Until we do, we cannot make progress. “In the meantime, we must and will continue the work of preparing ourselves for no deal.” The British pound, already down yesterday against the dollar and the euro, fell more sharply following May’s comments.

Craig Erlam, an analyst at Oanda, said it was a sign that

traders believed a no-deal sce-nario was an “increasingly likely outcome”.

The EU summit in Salzburg was intended as a staging post in the negotiations, but leaders savaged May’s plan — and demanded she come back with an alternative by an EU summit in mid-October.

EU Council President Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron said May’s Chequers plan for a free trade in goods after Brexit would fragment the bloc’s prized single market and “not work”.

To up the pressure, they put on ice a special summit sug-gested for mid-November to seal a deal, saying it would only happen if there is progress next month.

Before leaving Austria, May gave a feisty press conference, insisting her plan was “the only proposal on the table”.

On Friday, she said the EU’s proposal for Britain to stay in the European Economic Area, effec-tively the single market without any say in the rules, would “make a mockery” of the 2016 vote to leave the bloc.

Meanwhile its alternative offer of a free trade agreement

was contingent on a “backstop” keeping the British province of Northern Ireland aligned with EU rules, “something no British prime minister would ever agree to”. “If the EU believe I will, they are making a fundamental mistake,” she said.

She repeated that she would bring forward alternative pro-posals to the backstop. The EU had previously indicated its opposition, but the tough tone at Salzburg surprised many com-mentators, with some headlines

talking of an “ambush”. “Perhaps a sense was created that Prime Minister May would come away with something more positive than occurred, but I don’t think anyone in the EU or Ireland is to blame for that,” Irish Prime Min-ister Leo Varadkar said.

He admitted the two sides were “entering into a rocky patch” but said he was deter-mined to secure a deal.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker conceded yes-terday that the Brexit

negotiations were prickly, but said the two sides were “moving closer”.

“We have to be careful, like two hedgehogs who love each other. When two hedgehogs embrace, they have to watch out that they don’t get scratched,” he told the Austrian daily Die Presse.

Simon Usherwood, politics professor at the University of Surrey, said the EU’s “desire to help Theresa May have a bit more space back home (had) col-lapsed” in Salzburg.

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement on Brexit negotiations with the European Union at Number 10 Downing Street, London, yesterday.

“Throughout this

process, I have treated

the EU with nothing

but respect. The UK

expects the same. A

good relationship at

the end of this process

depends on it,” the

prime minister said.

Merkel’s govt allies question spymaster dealREUTERS

BERLIN: Two government parties are reconsidering a job transfer cobbled together for Germany’s scandal-tainted domestic spymaster, tipping Angela Merkel’s six-month-old ‘grand coalition’ deeper into crisis.

Hans-Georg Maassen had faced accusations of harbouring far-right views after he ques-tioned the authenticity of video footage showing radicals

hounding migrants in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

On Tuesday, a deal was struck to move him into a better paid job at the interior ministry. Social Democrats leader Andrea Nahles said the “overwhelmingly negative reactions from citizens” to that decision showed the three-party coalition had made a mistake.

“We have lost trust instead of restoring it,” she wrote to the Chancellor and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, leader of the

conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), in a letter.

“That should give us all reason to pause and reconsider the agreement.” The row over Maassen has exposed painful faultlines in German politics and wider society, where any espousal of far-right views has been anathema since the Nazi era. Those inhibitions are less marked in the country’s eastern regions, which were subject to political extremism as a satellite of the USSR until the country’s

reunification in 1990. Nahles added that the SPD wanted to continue working in the coalition but that there needed to be trust in the alliance.

Seehofer has not ruled out new talks on the unpopular deal, a spokesman for the CSU — the sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) — said.

Merkel is due to give a statement later yesterday, a CDU spokesman said. A poll published earlier yesterday taken partly before and partly after Maasen’s

comments showed that support for Merkel’s conservative bloc has slumped to a new low, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be the second-biggest party if an election were held right away.

The anti-immigration AfD gained two points to a record high of 18 percent, with the SPD slipping to 17 percent. The Maassen scandal comes only two months after Merkel closed a painful row with her Bavarian CSU allies on immigration.

Ukrainian leader Poroshenko suing BBC for libel: LawyerAFP

KIEV: Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko is suing British broadcaster BBC for libel over an article that said Kiev paid $400,000 to secure a meeting with US leader Donald Trump last year.

Poroshenko issued the libel claim over an article published in May this year that said Kiev paid Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen a “secret payment of at least $400,000” to “fix talks” between Poro-shenko and Trump in the White House in June 2017.

The claim, filed through a British law firm, says the news story damaged Poroshenko’s “political and business” repu-tation and caused him “sub-stantial distress and embar-rassment”. It added that the

allegation of “serious cor-ruption” was especially dam-aging because of Poroshenko’s “promotion of a number of anti-corruption measures in Ukraine”.

The article was based on “sources in Kiev close to those involved”. It said a “high ranking Ukrainian intelligence officer” told the BBC the payment was made as Kiev’s embassy in Washington “could get Poroshenko little more than a brief photo-op with Trump”.

There was speculation ahead of the meeting that Trump would refuse to meet the Ukrainian leader. Washington did not announce the sit-down in advance — as is customary — and when it was described, the White House called it a “drop-in” with the US president.

Finnish FM survives confidence voteAFP

HELSINKI: Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini clung on to his job yesterday after winning a no-confidence vote in parliament over his attendance at an anti-abortion vigil during an official visit to Canada.

Members of parliament voted 100 to 60 against a motion to oust Soini.

It was put forward by four opposition parties who claimed that his participation at the anti-abortion rally in May gave the impression the foreign minister was acting in an official capacity.

After the vote, he admitted mixing up his official and personal roles.

Soini’s coalition partners, the Centre Party and the con-servative National Coalition, had pledged their support for the foreign minister.

Nazi war crimes suspect, 94, faces trial in Germany REUTERS

BERLIN: A 94-year-old German is to go on trial accused of being accessory to hundreds of murders in a Nazi concentration camp during the First World War, a court in the western city of Muenster said.

The man, who has not been named for legal reasons, denies the accusations. He will be tried in a juvenile court, since he was aged less than 21 at the time of the alleged crimes. The former guard in the SS, the paramil-itary wing of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, stands accused of having known about the killings of hundreds during the three years he served in Stutthof concentration camp near the Polish city of Gdansk. Between 1942 and 1945, hun-dreds of prisoners were killed in gas chambers or by having poison injected into their hearts, while others died of exposure or cold, Der Spiegel magazine quoted Muenster prosecutors as saying.

Germany sets out measures to tackle affordable housing shortageREUTERS

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government set out a raft of measures yesterday to try to speed up the construction of housing and limit rent rises as it seeks to tackle a drastic shortage of affordable housing.

The shortage presents a political problem for Merkel’s ruling coalition and makes it easier for far right politicians to argue that an influx of migrants starting in 2015 has made life harder for ordinary Germans.

For decades, Germans

enjoyed comparably cheap housing. But ultra-low interest rates, foreign investment and a failure to build enough flats to keep pace with an influx of people to big cities have pushed up house prices and rents in recent years.

German home prices have risen by 60 percent since 2010, says Fitch Ratings, while rents in Berlin have more than doubled since 2008, according to a recent study by online housing portal immowelt.de.

In Munich, the most expensive city in Germany, renters now pay on average 61

percent more than 10 years’ ago.As Germans struggle to keep

up with rent increases, Merkel’s conservative bloc and its junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), have made tackling the shortage of affordable housing a priority.

Merkel told the news con-ference that the so-called “housing summit” had mad a start at addressing how to solve the question of how to build more houses and apartments in the right place.

The government aims to build 1.5 million new flats by 2021. It has set aside over ¤5bn

for social housing and said yes-terday it plans to build over 100,000 new social flats by 2021.

It has already approved a bill to strengthen curbs on rent increases in big cities, and backed new tax incentives to encourage private developers to build new rental flats.

Other measures put forward in a draft bill on Friday include raising housing allowance for poor households and over-hauling building regulations to make it easier to build more quickly.

The government will also give its own land to

municipalities at a subsidised rate so they can build affordable housing.

The German Economic Institute in Cologne forecasts that Germany needs to build around 380,000 new apart-ments each year until 2020 to keep up with demand.

Affordable housing has become a pressing social issue. In April, more than 10,000 people marched through the streets of Berlin to protest against rising rents, while the topic has been a campaign issue ahead of Bavaria’s state election next month.

People lay flowers near the rail crossing where a train crashed with a cargo bike, in Oss, yesterday. Four young children from a Dutch daycare centre were killed on Thursday when a train smashed into their electric cart at a crossing, in an accident described as the “worst nightmare of any parent”.

Floral tribute...

11SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018 AMERICAS

Trump delays release of Russia probe documentsREUTERS

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump yesterday said documents from the federal Russia probe would not imme-diately be released, just days after he ordered them to be made public, citing concerns by the US Justice Department that doing so could harm the investigation.

Trump, on Twitter, said the department’s inspector general would review the documents “on an expedited basis” and would “move quickly.”

“In the end I can always declassify if it proves necessary,” Trump wrote, after earlier demanding the release of docu-ments in the ongoing investi-gation of alleged Russian inter-ference in the 2016 presidential election.

Representatives for the department’s Office of the Inspector General did not imme-diately respond to a request for comment.

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelli-gence Committee, welcomed Trump’s remarks.

“Thankfully it seems that saner minds have prevailed, at

least for the time being. This underscores why the President should be relying on the expertise and advice of intelli-gence and law enforcement pro-fessionals, not cable news hosts,” Warner said.

Trump had called for the documents’ declassification on Monday in his latest effort to cast doubt on the probe, which has loomed over his presidency. The move prompted sharp criticism from Democrats and others that Trump was abusing his power and that he and his allies were politicising the probe to protect the White House just weeks before November’s congres-sional elections.

Trump has denied colluding with Russia and Moscow has denied meddling in the 2016 election, though major US

intelligence agencies agree that Russia interfered. In his Tweet, Trump said he met with Justice Department officials about the documents, and that Justice offi-cials said releasing the material “may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe.” “Also, key Allies’ called to ask not to release,” he wrote.

Among the documents Trump wants to release are parts of an application to a special court for electronic surveillance of former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page, and three applications for renewal of the surveillance.

In July, the Justice Department and FBI made public heavily redacted versions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court applications involving Page. Cryptic clues in these reports indicate that a key FBI informant, identified as Source 1, is in fact Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who compiled a controversial “Dossier” charting alleged Trump links to Russia.

People familiar with Steele’s career and the British govern-ment’s views said Britain was indeed concerned that its official

secrets could be revealed if too much of the surveillance appli-cation material were declassified and released.

On Twitter, Trump wrote that he believed Justice Inspector

Michael Horowitz “will move quickly on this (and hopefully other things which he is looking at).” While it was unclear what Trump was referring to, a source with knowledge of the matter

said Horowitz’s office also is con-ducting a review of the FBI’s counter-intelligence investi-gation on Trump campaign asso-ciates’ ties to Russia, which began in July 2016.

‘Warehouse shooter may have been mentally ill’AP

ABERDEEN, MARYLAND: Investigators have found evidence that the woman who killed three people and wounded others before killing herself at a Maryland drugstore warehouse was suffering from a mental illness, a law enforcement official said yesterday.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told news reporters yesterday that the suspect, 26-year-old Snochia Moseley of Baltimore County, had been diagnosed with a mental illness in 2016. “That’s as far as I’ll go with it,” he said, declining to give any more details on her mental state.

He said in recent weeks Moseley had become increas-ingly agitated, and relatives had been concerned for her

well-being. Gahler said she used a handgun that she legally pur-chased in March to fire a total of 13 rounds on Thursday morning, and died after shooting herself twice in the head — once with a grazing wound and again with the fatal shot.

He also gave more details about how the violence unfolded.

Moseley had been hired for the holiday season and had been working there for less than two weeks. She entered the building at 6:30am. As people lined up to come in the building, Gahler said she cut in line and words were exchanged, but it was a “little incident.” She left around 7:21am. Moseley, who had worked security jobs in the past, drove to her White Marsh home and got a handgun, pepper spray and handcuffs. She arrived back at the parking lot around 8:35am

and entered the front door around 8:52am.

He says she pulled a hooded shirt over her head and began shooting, striking a man outside the building. Inside, where there were about 65 people, she fatally struck two women and shot three other people who have survived. She shot herself twice before police arrived, he said — once with a grazing wound and then with the fatal shot. She was already down when officers arrived and an officer moved her from the scene, not knowing that she was the shooter, he said.

Gahler said Moseley used a Glock 9mm handgun. When asked how she could legally buy a gun after being diagnosed with a mental illness, officials said it had not been determined that she had a “propensity for vio-lence to self or others.”

US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

President drops civil tone, slams Kavanaugh accuser credibilityAP

WASHINGTON: Abandoning his previous restraint, President Donald Trump challenged the credibility of the woman accusing his Supreme Court nominee of assault yesterday, declaring that if the alleged attack was so terrible she would have reported it to law enforcement.

Trump’s change in tone — and apparent shift in tactics — came as Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers negotiated with the Senate Judiciary Committee on

the terms for her possible tes-timony next week in a dramatic showdown over her accusation that threatens Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Trump tweeted: “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been imme-diately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!”

The president previously had avoided naming Ford or plainly

casting doubt on her account. Ford alleges that at a party when they were teenagers 30 years ago a Kavanaugh assaulted her. Kavanaugh has denied all parts of the allegation.

Shortly after Trump’s tweet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed his determination to get Kavanaugh confirmed. He told evangelical activists at the annual Values Voter conference the Senate will “plow right through.”

The accusation has jarred the 53-year-old conservative jurist’s prospects for winning

confirmation, which until Ford’s emergence last week had seemed all but certain. It has also bloomed into a broader clash over whether women alleging abuse are taken seriously and how both political parties address such claims with the advent of the #MeToo movement - a theme that could echo in this November’s elections for control of Congress.

With his comment, Trump went against the advice of advisers who had counselled him to stay out of the fray. He has previously defended friends and

other men against the claims of women. Ford has said she didn’t tell anyone at the time about the incident. According to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, a majority of assaults are not reported to police.

Trump’s tweet could affect GOP support among women going into the midterm elections. It could also threaten Kavanaugh’s support with several Republicans — including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona — who have not declared their stances.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R Gahler greets a member of law enforcement after a press conference yesterday addressing the shooting of multiple people in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Pompeo hopes for Trump-Kim summit again AFP

W A S H I N G T O N : U S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday he hoped for a second summit between Donald Trump and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un “before too long” to press ahead with efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.

“I’m hopeful that I get a chance to travel again to Pyongyang to continue these negotiations before too long,” Pompeo said.

“And then before too long... I hope the two leaders get together again to con-tinue to make progress on this incredibly important issue for the entire world.”

In separate remarks to Fox News, however, Pompeo cautioned there was “still a little bit of work to do left, to make sure that the condi-tions are right and the two leaders are put in a position where we can make sub-stantial progress.”

Trump earlier this month received a letter from North Korea’s leader seeking a follow-up meeting after their historic summit in Singapore on June 12.

The White House said at the time it was open to such a meeting and that prepar-atory work had already begun.

Speaking on Thursday after a three-day trip to the North, South Korea’s Pres-ident Moon Jae-in said Kim had expressed hope for a summit with Trump “at an early date.”

Brazil police arrest man over crimes in ParaguayAP

SAO PAULO: Brazilian police yesterday arrested a fugitive sought in Paraguay who is accused by US officials of belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and of being a key financier of terrorism.

Police took Assad Ahmad Barakat into custody in the border city of Foz do Iguacu, which is home to the famous Iguazu Falls and sits where Brazil, Argentina and Par-aguay meet.

Authorities in Paraguay are seeking Barakat on alle-gations of false represen-tation, police said, and Bra-z i l ’ s S u p r e m e C o u r t authorised his arrest earlier this month.

The Brazilian federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Barakat’s case meets the requirements for an arrest with a view to extra-dition. In Paraguay, Barakat

is accused of presenting a declaration of incorrect nationality and omitting information about the loss of nationality, the prosecutors’ statement said. Barakat was born in Lebanon but has lived in South America for years.

Prosecutors said they had information that Barakat applied for refugee status in Brazil when he learned of Paraguay’s arrest warrant, but that only the recognition of refugee status would prevent his extradition.

In 2004, the US Treasury Department accused Barakat of serving as a treasurer for Hezbollah, which it considers a terrorist organisation, and ordered American banks to freeze any of his assets found in the United States.

At the time, Barakat was serving time in a Paraguayan prison for tax evasion. Two years later it added several of his associates to its watchlist.

Malaysia pardons three Mexicans on death rowAFP

MEXICO CITY: The sultan of the southern Malaysian state of Johor has commuted the death sentences of three Mexican brothers who were set to be hanged for drug trafficking crimes, Mexico said.

After years of lobbying by Mexican diplomats, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor — one of Malaysia’s most powerful and wealthiest state rulers — commuted the men’s death sentences to life in prison,

Mexico’s foreign ministry said.“This was the result of a

long process and intense dia-logue with Malaysian federal authorities,” it said in a statement.

The brothers — Simon, Luis Alfonso and Jose Regino Gonzalez Villarreal — were arrested in a raid on a meth-amphetamine lab in Johor in March 2008.

The brothers, who hail from the Mexican state of Sinaloa —home to jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s

Sinaloa cartel — insisted they were innocent, saying they had been hired to clean the building and were unaware what was being made inside.

But a Malaysian court sen-tenced them to hang to death in May 2012. The conviction was upheld on appeal the fol-lowing year.

Mexico, which does not use capital punishment, neither accepted nor rejected the court’s guilty verdict, but pushed for the death sentence to be commuted.

Trump, on Twitter,

said the department’s

inspector general

would review the

documents “on an

expedited basis” and

would “move quickly.”

12 SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018AMERICAS / CLASSIFIEDS

Duke Energy ash basin overflows, spilling coal byproduct into riverBLOOMBERG

NEW YORK: Floodwaters have overwhelmed an ash basin at a Duke Energy Corp power plant in North Carolina, spilling a byproduct of burning coal into the Cape Fear River.

The company said coal ash at the site “remains in place” but that tiny beads called ceno-spheres are flowing into the river. The hollow beads, left over from burning coal, are comprised of alumina and silica, Duke said in a statement yesterday.

“Cenospheres are moving from the 1971 ash basin to the cooling lake and into the Cape Fear River,” the company said.

Peter Harrison, a staff attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, said it’s mis-leading for Duke to draw distinc-tions between cenospheres and toxic coal ash. The spill, he said, could have se r io us consequences.

“It’s a major escalation,” Har-rison said in an interview

yesterday. “Cenospheres are coal ash. To say that cenospheres are not coal ash is like saying a poodle is not a dog.” Duke shares fell as much as 2.6 percent yesterday.

If coal ash did flow into the Cape Fear river it “would be hardly measurable” because of all the rainfall, said Avner Vengosh, a Duke University pro-fessor who specialises in geo-chemistry and water quality. But even small quantities can harm fish and aquatic life, he said.

Coal ash, a byproduct from burning the fuel in power plants,

can carry arsenic, mercury, lead and selenium, though its overall toxicity has long been debated.

Record floods cover much of eastern North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Florence, and the waters are still rising. Emer-gency responders and companies like Duke will be dealing with the deluge for weeks after the storm made landfall in the state Sep-tember 14, according to the National Weather Service.

Duke activated a high-level emergency alert Thursday at the site in Wilmington, North Carolina, where the Cape Fear River overtopped the facility’s cooling pond, also know as Lake Sutton. The facility also includes a coal-ash landfill, and Duke told state officials earlier this week that some material has spilled into the cooling pond, according to Duke spokesman Bill Norton.

The company said on Wednesday that initial tests show the coal ash spill “has not impacted water quality” in Sutton Lake.

Duke Energy crews work to restore power following Hurricane Florence, now downgraded to a tropical depression, in Rocky Point, North Carolina, US.

Three babies stabbed at New York childcare centreAFP

NEW YORK: Three newborn babies and two adults were stabbed during a pre-dawn attack at a suspected illegal childcare centre in New York yesterday, allegedly carried out by a female employee, police said.

The injured infants ranged from three days to one-month old, police said. One woman suffered multiple stab wounds to the torso, while a man received a stab wound to the leg. The motive was not imme-diately clear. A 52-year-old female “babysitter/worker” at the in-home centre was

arrested, police said. The stabbing took place in the borough of Queens shortly before 4am. The suspect had a slash wound to her left wrist, police said. Two knives were recovered at the scene and all the injured were taken to hos-pital in a critical but stable con-dition, police told reporters.

Police said earlier that the suspect attacked two baby girls and a baby boy, leaving one of the girls in a serious condition. None of the victims’ lives was in danger, police said. The wounded female victim worked at the daycare, while the other was the father of one of the babies.

Venezuelans block streets with cars to protest gas shortage in AndesREUTERS

VENEZUELA: Dozens of Vene-zuelans yesterday brought the Andean city of San Cristobal to a standstill by blocking roads with their cars to protest gas shortages that have piled further misery on the Opec nation’s crisis-weary citizens.

“We have been here since Tuesday night waiting for a delivery truck and it is unac-ceptable for us to be begging for gasoline in an oil-rich country,” said Maria Auxiliadora Prato, 68, as she cut off one of the city’s main avenues with her car.

National Guard soldiers later made protesters remove their vehicles from the middle

of the street, but angry Vene-zuelans instead used branches, bottles, tires and garbage bags to snarl traffic. “We have had to take our pillows to the car to be able to sleep during a three-day wait for 40 litres of gas,” said protester Cesar Mendez, 41, speaking next to a queue of hundreds of cars waiting for gas. “We do not have money to eat the meat that the president eats,” added a tired-looking Mendez in reference to Pres-ident Nicolas Maduro’s expensive steak dinner at a res-taurant in Istanbul.

Venezuela, which has the world’s cheapest gasoline, has been plagued by intermittent fuel shortages in recent months as its oil industry struggles.

Small plane crash leaves two dead in MissouriFESTUS, MISSOURI: A man and his adult son were killed when a small plane crashed near a Missouri airport after the pilot reported electrical problems that made it difficult to see the runway.

The wreckage was dis-covered yesterday morning in woods near the airport in Festus, 55km south of St. Louis. The victims’ names haven’t been released.

Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak says the pilot was returning from New York with a newly purchased single-engine plane Thursday night. The pilot reported elec-trical problems that pre-vented him from activating the runway lights, which are otherwise turned off at night.

Mexican judge frees suspect of poaching in vaquita habitatMEXICO CITY: A judge in Mexico ordered the release yesterday of a man accused of illegal fishing that endangers the world’s smallest porpoise.

The arrest of Oscar Parra in September had been depicted as an advance in efforts to save the critically endangered vaquita marina, of which fewer than 30 remain. Instead, it has proved an embarrassment. Police in Baja California state had claimed Parra was a lieu-tenant of the Sinaloa drug cartel who also oversaw fishing for totoaba.

“If coal ash did flow

into the Cape Fear

river it would be

hardly measurable

because of all the

rainfall. But even small

quantities can harm

fish and aquatic life,”

said an expert.

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Nasa telescope discovers two new planets five months after launchREUTERS

ORLANDO: A planet-hunting orbital telescope designed to detect worlds beyond solar system discovered two distant planets this week, five months, after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Nasa’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, better known as TESS, made an early dis-covery of “super-Earth” and “hot Earth” planets in solar systems at least 49 light-years away, marking the satellite’s first discovery since its April launch. TESS is on a two-year, $337m mission to expand astronomers’ known catalog of so-called exoplanets, worlds circling distant stars.

While the two planets are too hot to support life, TESS Deputy Science Director Sara Seager expects many more such discoveries.

“We will have to wait and see what else TESS discovers,” Seager said. “We do know that planets are out there, littering the night sky, just waiting to be

found.” TESS is designed to build on the work of its prede-cessor, the Kepler space tele-scope, which discovered the bulk of some 3,700 exoplanets documented during the past 20 years and is running out of fuel.

Nasa expects to pinpoint thousands more previously unknown worlds, perhaps hun-dreds of them Earth-sized or “super-Earth” sized - no larger than twice as big as our home planet.

MIT researchers on Wednesday announced the dis-covery of Pi Mensae c, a “super-earth” planet 60 light-years away orbiting its sun every 6.3 days.

The discovery of LHS 3844 b, a “hot-earth” planet 49 light-years away that orbits its sun every 11 hours, was announced on Thursday.

Pi Mensae c could have a solid surface or be a water-world as the composition of such planets is a mixed bag, Martin Spill, Nasa’s program scientist for TESS, said in a phone interview.

Artist as an algorithm: Robot-made Rembrandt for saleREUTERS

PARIS: Robots can do many of the jobs previously performed by humans, but could they ever replace artists?

A team of French entrepre-neurs who believe so have written a computer algorithm that can create original paintings with some resemblance to works by Old Masters such as Rembrandt.

The pictures of an imagined “Baron of Belamy” and his aris-tocratic relations have a smudgy, blurred finish that would not have impressed Rembrandt’s clients, but are good enough for the auction house Christie’s to put one of them on sale in New York in October with a price estimate of $7,000 to $10,000.

“We are artists with a dif-ferent type of paintbrush. Our paintbrush is an algorithm developed on a computer,” said Hugo Caselles-Dupre, a com-puter engineer who founded the group with childhood friends Gauthier Vernier and Pierre Fautrel, who both have a business background.

The artworks are created by the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), an algorithm that learns to generate new

images by being fed a database of existing paintings - 15,000 portraits in the case of the “Belamy” pictures.

“The visual is not the only thing that comprises the final

portrait,” said Fautrel.“All of the message, and the

artistic process to get to the visual, are also important, even more than the final product,” he said, admitting that GAN’s

pictures -- printed onto canvas and then framed -- are fuzzy.

“The fact that it’s not yet perfect, I think is logical because it’s a technology that is still very new, and to have very good results, we need signif-icant calculating power, that for now we don’t have in this small apartment.”

The trio sold “The Count of Belamy” for around $10,000 to Paris-based collector Nicolas Laugero-Lasserre.

“What was astonishing was that they knew nothing about art, nothing at all,” Laugero-Lasserre said.

“In the beginning, I took them for crazy people. And finally, are they crazy, are they genius? We’ll see,” Some artists are unconvinced that a machine can make real art.

“If there was no anger from Picasso, ‘Guernica’ would never have existed. If Modigliani were not in love with his models, his pictures would be dull and uninteresting,” said painter Robert Prestigiacomo.

“There’s always a feeling behind a painting, always - whether it’s anger, yearning, desire. And artificial intelligence is - well, you have the word ‘artificial’ in it - there you have it!”

The artwork “La Comtesse de belamy” (2018) by team of French entrepreneurs Obvious, a piece created by the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), an algorithm that learns to generate new images by being fed a database of existing paintings, in Paris, France, yesterday.

Questions raised about US museum’s Abraham Lincoln hatAFP

CHICAGO: It has been a question plaguing the museum dedicated to one of America’s greatest presidents: Is the hat real? The hat in question is of the stovepipe variety that adorned the head of Abraham Lincoln -- recognized for his fashion sense and lauded for ending slavery.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Illinois had dis-played the chocolate brown, beaver fur hat as one that had in fact been on the 16th US president’s head.

It is a prized possession, a big visitor draw, and valued at $6.5m -- one of only three such Lincoln hats displayed at an American museum. But it may not be Lincoln’s hat after all.

FBI analysts and curators at the national Smithsonian Institution have analyzed the hat at the unpublicized request of the Illinois museum’s foun-dation, an independent organization responsible for fundraising and acquiring objects.

Even DNA testing was done -- com-paring samples taken from the hat to Lincoln’s blood recovered from the night of his assassination in 1865. Historians

wrote a report telling the museum it “might want to soften its claim about the hat” given the fact that its origins cannot be definitively authenticated.

The results were not shared with the public until Chicago radio station WBEZ uncovered them this week.

Museum chief Alan Lowe expressed

frustration over the f o u n d a t i o n ’ s secrecy, but down-played the DNA test results, saying it would be hard to get a perfect match from an 180-year-old item handled by many people.

“It is important to understand that neither of these ini-tiatives produced new evidence about the hat’s origins,” Lowe said in a statement.

Thanks to the publicity, the museum will begin a new search for evidence about the

hat’s past, he added.“What we learn, no matter what it

says about the hat’s origins, will be shared with the public.” For now, the hat is stowed away.

The museum will decide how to present it to visitors once the additional research is completed.

A stovepipe hat reportedly belonging to US President Abraham Lincoln, displayed at the museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Three exhibitions open in KataraTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Cultural Village Foun-dation – Katara launched three art exhibitions on Thursday featuring works by Qatari, Sudanese and Japanese artists.

The exhibitions included “Athar N” in Building 22 by Qatari artists Muna Al Bader, Fatima Al Nuaimy and Jawahir Al Mannai; “Reaction” by a group of elite Sudanese artists and a show by Japanese artist Ayumi Endo.

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, opened the exhibitions along with several dip-lomats and dignitaries.

For the exhibition “Athar N”- impact of feminine in Arabic- a group of Qatari female artists joined hands to highlight significant aspects of Qatari heritage by creating an excep-tional collection of artworks.

Japanese artist Endo illustrated her vision to humanity through her paintings as well as displayed three stunning portraits of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

The Sudanese artists whose works are on display at the collective

exhibition titled “Reaction” said that the works were a reaction on some aspects of life’s daily phenomena.

Hazim Hussein, one of the

participating artists, said his paintings talk about the negative impact of tech-nology on people’s social life.

All the exhibitions indicate

different creative art trends and each one shows a unique style which goes in line with Katara’s vision to introduce and promote fine arts of all types.

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti (second left), General Manager of Katara touring one of the exhibitions with diplomats from various embassies and other officials.

India probes death of 12 endangered lionsAFP

NEW DELHI: Indian author-ities yesterday ordered a probe into the deaths of a dozen endangered wild Asiatic lions, half of them cubs, over the last 10 days, officials said.

One lioness died after preying on a poisoned boar while eight others lions died of an infection in the lungs and liver.

Three cubs were killed in infighting while other three passed away in the course of treatment.

“Primarily the deaths appear due to natural causes or some infection,” Vijay Chaudhary, forest department official, told AFP.

Listed as critically endan-gered in 2000, wild Asiatic lions reside only in one Indian forest -- the Gir Sanctuary spread over 1,400sqkm in the western state of Gujarat.