Volume 24 | Number 8085 | 2 RiyalsSunday 24 November 2019 | 27 Rabia I 1441 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 17 SPORT | 24

Full-strength Qatar raring to have a go at Iraq in opener

QIB awards QR1m to

lucky MISKaccount holder

H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani presenting the Audience Award to ‘You Will Die at Twenty’ during the closing ceremony of Ajyal Film Festival, yesterday.

Ajyal Film Festival celebrates Best of Films in 2019 competitionTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The seventh Ajyal Film Festival, hosted by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) at Katara Cultural Village, concluded yesterday with a festive closing ceremony, where the winners of the Ajyal Jury Competition and Made in Qatar Competition were announced.

Addressing the assembled jurors at the closing ceremony, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Ajyal was created by the Doha Film Institute for you — but you are the true cre-ative essence that will continue to make this festival bigger and better each year. I encourage you

to keep your passion and curi-osity alive and always expe-rience the world with open minds and open hearts, being true to your humanity. This is not where your journey ends but rather where it begins, and I look forward to taking pride in your contributions to making the world a better place for all.”

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Festival Director and Chief Exec-utive Officer of the Doha Film Institute, thanked the leadership, public and private sector entities, sponsors, volunteers, filmmakers, and members of the jury for their support in hosting the event.

Ajyal’s flagship programme Made in Qatar presented by Ooerdoo included 22 narratives, documentaries and reflective

essays by 23 Qatari and Qatar-based filmmakers in celebration of the growing national film industry. The Made in Qatar jury was comprised of Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala, British actor Kris Hitchen and Qatari architect and urbanist Fatma Al Sahlawi.

The winners of the Made in Qatar Competition Awards presented by Minister of Culture and Sports H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, and Ooredoo Director CSR, Sponsorship and Media, Moza Al Muhannadi: Special Jury Award: Beit Byoot (Jordan, Qatar/2019) by Mayar Hamdan; Special Jury Award: The Unlucky Hamster (Qatar, Indonesia/2019) by Abdulaziz Mohammed Khashabi. �P3

Qatar National Day 2019 slogan announcedTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Culture and Sports yesterday released the Qatar National Day 2019 slogan ‘Al Maali Kaydah’, which means that the path to excel-lence is arduous.

The slogan is inspired by a poem by the founder describing his son Sheikh Ali bin Jassim (Joaan) and gives a clear picture of a whole gen-eration of Qatari youth in the founding period. The slogan reflects the belief of successive gen-erations of Qatari youth that the path of excel-lence is arduous.

The National Day Organising Committee 2019 announced that ‘Ten years embraced glory and arts .. Obtained all excellence and manliness’, will be the motto of this year’s celebrations and accom-panying slogan is ‘The path to excellence is arduous’.

The slogan is inspired by a poem of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, the Founder of the State of Qatar, describing Sheikh Ali bin Jassim

(Joaan), and by that he gives a clear picture of a whole generation of Qatari youth in the founding period. The slogan reflects the belief of successive generations of Qatari youth that ‘the path of excel-lence is difficult’.

In this stanza, the Founder laments his martyr son, Sheikh Joaan, and gives a glimpse into the truth of a generation of young people who grew up on ethics and knowledge and was brought up to search and acquire knowledge even if the price of that sacrifice was too expensive.

The Founder laments his son, listing his virtues. He was a young man of age; a student of science and a strong knight and these are the values for which he had been raised in from the Qatari environment.

Sheikh Joaan and his generation of young people has been a model for the Qatari youth of this day, in acquiring ethics and science, and will-ingness to sacrifice for precious homeland Qatar by overcoming all challenges.

Throughout its history, Qatar and its people were blessed with natural resources such ‘pearls’

which provided them with well-being and decent living. Also, their land was full with grass and water, and was blessed with oil and gas.

And, because the challenges are always there, Qataris have always been prepared for the chal-lenges of life, from natural disasters or the eco-nomic challenges such as the Pearl Depression, as well as the military and security challenges from the Mesaimeer in 1851 until the siege of Qatar in 2017.

All the challenges have been linked to a common factor across successive generations and it is the readiness of Qataris, especially young people, to confront these challenges with two weapons: morality and science, above all else. �P4

Ambassadors’ group to bolster ties between Qatar, SADC countriesIRFAN BUKHARI AND SIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

To strengthen existing ties between Qatar and South African countries, the envoys of Tanzania, South Africa, Eswatini have launched the Southern African Devel-opment Community (SADC) Group of Ambassadors in Qatar.

On October 24, the Ambassadors of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) member states accredited to the State of Qatar (Tanzania, South Africa, and Eswatini) held their meeting at the Embassy of the United Republic of Tan-zania (the current chair of SADC) to offi-cially launch the SADC Group of Ambas-sadors in the State of Qatar.

Talking to The Peninsula, Fatma Mohammed Rajab, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania said that one of the main reason behind the launch the SADC Ambassadors’ Group (currently three countries out of 16 SADC member states have their embassies in Qatar) was to establish an economic kind of group to mobilise investment and trade between Qatar and SADC countries for which the group would also organise exhibitions to showcase products from those countries.

“The Southern African Development

Community (SADC) has partnerships with many regional groups and countries such as Russia, China, and EU; now we want to engage Qatar especially in mining and gas exploration sectors because our region is rich in these areas,” said Fatma.

The main objectives of the SADC are to achieve development, peace and security, and economic growth; to alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa; and support the socially disadvantaged through regional inte-gration, built on democratic principles and equitable and sustainable development.

Fatma Mohammed Rajab, Ambassador

of Tanzania; Sicelo V Dlamini, Counsellor of the Kingdom of Eswatini and Faizel Moosa, Ambassador of South Africa told The Peninsula during a joint interview that SADC Ambassadors’ Group could play an important role in future to expand existing relations, in different fields, between Qatar and the SADC countries.

SADC was established as a devel-opment coordinating conference (SADCC) in 1980 and transformed into a developing community in 1992. It is and inter-gov-ernmental organization whose goal is to promote sustainability and equitable eco-nomic growth and socio-economic

development through efficient productive systems.

“We are also trying to encourage Qatar’s community to visit our countries; we are rich in terms of tourism, the SADC countries have a lot of natural parks and safari tourism,” said the Ambassador of Tanzania.

She said that the group would showcase investment opportunities in the SADC countries for Qatari investors. “We are rich in natural resources especially in mining of gold, diamond and so many other precious resources.”

“The SADC countries have numerous opportunities therefore it is a time for us to encourage Qatari investors to come and invest in our region. Also, agriculture is another main area for foreign investments. We want to engage Qatar in the SADC region so that we can share agriculture produce with the Qatari market,” she added.

When asked whether any commitment from the three embassies present in Qatar would stand acceptable or applicable for the rest of 13 SADC countries, she said: “Yes because the SADC Ambassadors’ Group was representing the whole organisation and all member states. We have a secre-tariat so when we will have a partnership with Qatar, it will pass through the SADC Secretariat in Botswana.” �P5

FROM LEFT: Faizel Moosa, Fatma Mohammed Rajab and Sicelo V Dlamini talking to The Peninsula. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s trade surplus at QR38.2bn in Q3THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar’s foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and total imports, has shown a surplus of QR38.2bn in the third quarter (Q3) of 2019.

According to data released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), the value of Qatar’s total exports (including exports of domestic goods and re-exports) in Q3 2019 amounted to QR63.9bn, while country’s total imports in the quarter was QR25.7bn.

According to the data, Asian countries accounted for first place for the countries of destination for Qatari exports during the third quarter of this year, as well as for countries of origin for Qatari imports during the same period, with 79.6 percent for exports and 33.5 percent for imports, followed by the European Union at 10.2 percent and 31.1 percent. �P4

5th session of Qatari-Turkish HigherStrategic Committee tomorrowQNA/DOHA

The 5th session of the Qatari-Turkish Higher Strategic Committee, under the co-chairmanship of Amir H H Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and his brother, Pres-ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Republic of Turkey, will be

held tomorrow in Doha.The previous edition of this

high-level meeting was held last year in Turkey. The fourth meeting of Qatar-Turkey Supreme Strategic Committee was held under the chair-manship of H H the Amir and the President of the Republic of

Turkey at Vahdettin Pavilion in Istanbul. The leaders discussed ways to strengthen and develop the strategic partnership between the two countries in various fields, in addition to a number of regional and inter-national issues of common concern.

02 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019HOME

Qatar strongly condemns bombing in AfghanistanDOHA: The State of Qatar

has strongly condemned the

bombing in Kapisa province,

northeastern Afghanistan,

causing deaths and injuries .

In a statement issued yes-

terday, the Ministry Foreign

Affairs reiterated the State

of Qatar’s firm stance

rejecting violence and ter-

rorism, whatever motives

and causes. The state-

ment expressed the State

of Qatar’s condolences to

the victims’ families, the

Government and people

of Afghanistan, wishing of

the injured a speedy recov-

ery. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWS

Future bright for Qatar-German relations: EnvoySACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

The future of bilateral relations between Qatar and Germany is bright, said German Ambassador to Qatar, Hans-Udo Muzel.

Speaking at an event, organised to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ambassador praised Qatar for implementing ‘sweeping and impressive reforms’ in its labour market.

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Yousuf Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi; Qatar Chamber Chairman, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, several digni-taries and leading names in Qatar’s business community attended the event which was held at St. Regis Hotel on Wednesday.

“The future looks bright for the German-Qatar economic and com-mercial relationship, which continues

to flourish, despite current regional and international challenges,” said Hans-Udo Muzel.

The ambassador said that Qatar has become a role model for the region by implementing reforms in labour market.

“Qatar has started implementing sweeping and impressive reforms to its labour market, taking a momentous step forward in improving the work and living conditions of migrant workers,” said the ambassador.

“Germany highly welcomes these reforms and recognises the com-mitment of the government and business organisations in Qatar to pro-gressively transforming its labour market, becoming a role model for the

whole region,” he added. The ambassador said that Germany

is in favour of a diplomatic solution for the blockade imposed on Qatar.

“Closed borders and erecting walls harm all parties. Most of all, it impacts the ordinary citizen, as this has cer-tainly be the case in the Gulf. This is why Germany calls for a diplomatic solution of this conflict, which has lasted for far too long,” said Hans-Udo Muzel. “The people of this great and vibrant region have the power to overcome the current challenges and divisions,” he added.

Germany is the largest economy in the European Union and the fourth largest in the world. Qatar is an important trade, logistics and

investment hub for the Gulf region and beyond, said the ambassador.

He said that German companies have become trusted partners and household names. They have greatly contributed to the impressive devel-opment of our host country Qatar.

“They reaffirm their commitment to collaborating with Qatar in achieving its National Vision 2030 development plans and projects. In this context, they are dedicated to contributing in the cre-ation of a world-class infrastructure for hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022,” said the ambassador.

There are over 100 German com-panies operating in Qatar which are playing positive role in countries eco-nomic growth.

“Looking beyond the current chal-lenges to the future, I should like to suggest joining forces to prepare Qatar’s public and private sector for the opportunities of the digital economy. This will contribute to attract more foreign companies and investment to Qatar,” said the ambassador.

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Yousuf Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi; Qatar Chamber Chairman, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani; German Ambassador to Qatar, Hans-Udo Muzel, and other dignitaries, cutting a cake to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, at St. Regis Hotel on Wednesday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

The German Ambassador said that Qatar has become a role model for the region by implementing reforms in labour market. “Qatar has started implementing sweeping and impressive reforms to its labour market, taking a momentous step forward in improving the work and living conditions of migrant workers.”

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum19oC 26oC

HIGH TIDE 03:20 – 14:00 LOW TIDE 09:14 – 21:46

Moderate temperature daytime with scat-

tered clouds and a chance of rain at

places.

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 37 AM05. 57 AM

11. 20 AM02.23 PM

04. 46 PM06. 16 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

03SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

Junior Science Olympiad in December THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education will host the 16th International Junior Science Olympiad 2019 next month under a slogan ‘Towards a Generation Enjoying the Skills of Tomorrow’ with the partici-pation of 70 countries from around the world.

The event will be held from December 3 to 12, 2019 with 659 participants including 409 stu-dents, 183 leaders, 53 observers and seven members of the

Organization. The 16th edition of Olympiad, which will be hosted by Doha, is also the exceptional one, with the highest participation rate from coun-tries. Qatar has achieved an advanced position in the quality of education, ranking fourth in the world, at a time when good leadership gives education and scientific research a high priority.

Qatar is leading the Arab world in hosting this important international event, as it is the first Arab country to organize this unique event, which comes

within the targeted projects in the strategy of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education 2017-2022 as part of the reali-zation of the Qatar National Vision 2030. The Ministry has signed cooperation agreements with sponsors of the event as Qatargas, the Gold Sponsor; Al Sharq Newspaper, the media partner; and Ras Laffan Com-munity Outreach Programme, the strategic partner. Ooredoo will be the official communi-cation partner; Qatar Airways, official carrier; and Katara to be the cultural partner.

Society to enhance cooperationamong critical care providersFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The Qatar Critical Care Society - a forum launched recently - aims to bring all critical care practitioners in the country together and provide the latest cutt ing-edge scient i f ic knowledge in the diagnosis and management of critically ill and injured patients.

Critical care services have improved and expanded tre-mendously over the years and the new forum will further strengthen the delivery of care in this ever changing field, said Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Fawzy (pictured), Director of Critical Care at Hamad Medical Corpo-ration (HMC).

“Critical care is by far the most sophisticated speciality in medicine with major attention needed to details, a few seconds can cost lives. We witnessed major revolution in the diagnosis and management ranging from simple organ support all the way to artificial organ support such as artificial heart and lung implementation,” he told The Peninsula.

“Critical care services in Qatar started in 1978 with two beds and has expanded vastly by number of beds and healthcare professionals have increased. We established the

Qatar Critical Care Society as a very powerful care group to unite all critical care providers, standardize the services and share experiences,” he added.

The Qatar Critical Care Society will further enhance the good relationship with the Min-istry of Public Health to support the standardisation of care across the country, train the healthcare providers and work as a platform to start research. It will also train nurses and phy-sicians to conduct research as it will help to progress skills and knowledge of clinicians.

“Our ultimate aim is to provide a better services to the patients. We aim to bring fam-ilies and patients together espe-cially those who have survived severe illnesses and share their experience to improve patient physician relationship,” said Dr Fawzy.

The Qatar Critical Care Society was launched during the first Qatar Critical Care Con-ference held in early November. The conference gathered hun-dreds of local and international experts in the field of specialised care for people who have expe-rienced critical care illness such as cardiac arrest, severe multi-organs dysfunction, among other who required artificial organs support.

The Critical Care units across HMC provides care to all types of critically ill patients who require close monitoring or intensive care. Critical Care Units work closely with other Intensive Care Units and all spe-cialties in across HMC for the transfer, admission, discharge, referral, diagnosis and treatment of patients. “HMC provides same level of critical care and services across all hospitals,” said Dr Fawzy.

NHRC vows to strengthen ‘Global Alliance’ to safeguard human rightsQNA BOGOTA

The Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, who is also Deputy Chairman and Secretary-General of the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Insti-tutions has affirmed his commitment to continue exerting efforts to make the Global Alliance stronger and more effective

He said Global Alliance will strengthen its relationship with national human rights institu-tions to achieve the overarching goal of protecting human rights throughout the world.

Al Marri noted that the Global Alliance had come a long way in the past ten years and had been recognized internationally, and many achievements had been made, which had enabled it to become the main interface of national human rights insti-tutions at the global level, and speak with one voice on behalf of its members.

This came during the partic-ipation of Dr. Al Marri in the annual meeting of the Office of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in Colombia held from November 20 to 22 for the first time since his election as Secretary-General and Deputy Chairman of the

Global Alliance. NHRC has won the confidence of 120 national human rights institutions across the world to assume leadership positions in the global coalition, where Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri unanimously elected to the positions of Deputy Chairman and Secretary General of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, and member of the Executive Office of the Alliance National Human Rights Institutions.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Office of the Global Alliance of NHRIs in Colombian city of Medellin, Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri praised the hosting of this historic event, expressing appreciation to the commitment of the members of the Global Alliance of NHRIs for their continued commitment and will to make the organization more participatory, more rep-resentative and more powerful than ever.

He also appreciated the support of UNDP partners, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and their long-term partnership with the Global Alliance for the Protection of Human Rights worldwide, along with the appreciation of the efforts of United Nations Head-quarters in Geneva to support the necessary cooperation and synergy between the Office of

the President and the Office of the Secretary-General in order to achieve common goals.

Dr. Al Marri reviewed some of the benefits and achievements of the Global Alliance, starting with the signing in May 2019 of the agreement with the European Union in relation to the second phase of the project of national human rights institutions.

He noted that last June, wit-nessed the most prominent and very fruitful event through the 9th annual meeting of Cooper-ation between the three parties, namely, the United Nations Development Program and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the four regional networks of national human rights institutions to help intensify cooperation on many topics.

The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institu-tions, through its four regional networks and national human rights institutions, is now con-sidered a more active and key player in dialogues on global issues such as migration as rec-ognized in the Global Migration Charter and its role has also emerged recently during the Cairo conference and the sub-sequent Cairo Declaration adopted two weeks ago, Dr. Al Marri added.

The Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, presenting awards to the winners of ‘Made in Qatar Competition’ during the closing ceremony of the seventh Ajyal Film Festival at Katara Cultural Village, yesterday.

The Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee, Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, speaking during the annual meeting of the Office of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in Colombia, recently.

Ajyal celebrates Best of Films in 2019 contestFROM PAGE 1

Abdulaziz Jassim Award for Best Performance: Abbas Riaz for his role in Ahmad Al-Sharif’s End of the Road (Qatar/2019); Best Doc-umentary Award: In the Middle (Qatar/2019) by Mariam Al-

Award: Falling Leaves (Qatar/2019) by Dimitri Yuri

The 2019 Ajyal Film Festival

Audience Award presented by H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani:

You Will Die at Twenty (Sudan, France, Egypt, Germany, Norway, Qatar/2019) by Amjad Abu Alala The Ajyal Jury Competition Awards winners were chosen by over 450 young Ajyal Jurors representing 45 countries, including 48 interna-tional jurors, who travelled to Doha

for the event from Armenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Italy, Iraq, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mozam-bique, Oman, Palestine, Turkey, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. Jurors were divided into three age categories: Mohaq (8-12 year olds), Hilal (13-17 year olds), and Bader (18-21 year olds) to evaluate a selection of shorts and feature films.

Critical care services have improved and expanded tremendously over the years and the new forum will further strengthen the delivery of care in this ever changing field.

04 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019HOME

Qatari-Senegalese Joint Committee meets

The Qatari-Senegalese Joint Committee has held a meeting in Dakar to follow up the implementation of the agreement regulating the employment of Senegalese manpower in Qatar. The meeting discussed issues related to recruitment procedures, in addition programmes and projects within the areas of cooperation agreed upon in the agreement signed between the two countries, and preparing joint programmes to educate workers in Senegal before bringing them to Doha with the Qatari legislations, laws and work procedures.

DIFI panel tackles child protectionTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Protecting the best interests of children in cross-border family disputes — from a Qatari perspective — was the topic of discussion in a recently organised panel hosted by the Doha International Family Institute.

Titled Protecting the Best Interest in Cross-Border Family Disputes: Qatar Experience, the Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) symposium, which brought together experts from the field, was held at the regional seminar on Child Rights in International Family Disputes, in Jordan recently.

“The Qatari legislator takes care, through various consti-tutional and legal frameworks in Qatari legislation, to protect the best interests of the child during cross-border family dis-putes, as stated by the Qatari Family Law of 2006,” said Abdullah Mohammed Abu Shehab Al Marri, Legal Spe-cialist, Ministry of Justice.

“This includes the provision of Article 185, which protects the custodians of the abuse of

foreign foster care in case of travel outside the State of Qatar, and the requirement of non-arbitrariness and mecha-nisms, relaying the decision to a judge in case of guardian and custodian conflicts.”

Juznan Al-Hajri, a member of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Lawyers Association and a lawyer at the Court of Cas-sation, added that the legislator has granted the judge the authority to make the court decide, as a matter of interest for the young.

Salim Mohammed Al-Enezi, Director of the Planning and Development Office, the Family Counseling Center (Wifaq), pointed out that Wifaq primarily focuses on affected children, as this is because it is in the best interest of the child to remain with the parents. The center provides support to various members of the

affected families, helping indi-viduals to deal with the psy-chological pressures and internal confl icts that accompany changes in family life.

The seminar in Jordan was organized by the Working Party on Mediation of the Malta Process - the Hague Con-ference on Private Interna-tional Law (HCCH); Supreme Judge Department of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; and Global Affairs Canada.

Dr. Sharifa Noaman Al Emadi, Executive Director, DIFI, said: “We underlined the legal framework and expe-rience of Qatar with relevance to protecting the best interest of the child in cross-border family disputes by bringing together legal experts and practitioners from the Ministry of Justice, Qatar Lawyers Asso-ciation, and Wifaq.”

Ashghal partners with QLC to enhance leadership skills of its members

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) announced yesterday the signing of a Memo-randum of Understanding, which creates the Leadership Devel-opment Program, a customised educational programme designed for members of Ashghal’s senior management, department heads and employees.

“Qatar Leadership Centre is proud to partner with Ashghal once again to jointly contribute to Qatar National Vision 2030,” said Sheikh Dr. Abdulla bin Ali

Al Thani, Managing Director and Member of the Board of Directors of QLC.

He said that Ashghal has already identified one of its goals to bolster leadership capabilities in the organisation, in order to prepare for future challenges. “The work of this important gov-ernment authority and that of its employees will be strengthened by the QLC leadership program,” he added.

Mishal Sultan Al Hitmi, Director of Shared Services Affairs at Ashghal, expressed his happiness for this partnership, as the QLC is a key player for the future social development of the country and a key partner in

Ashghal’s human capacity devel-opment, enabling to lead the vital projects in the country.

He added saying, “Devel-oping capacity and increasing the contribution of national part-nerships is a key part of Ash-ghal’s strategic objectives. Hence, Ashghal seeks part-nership with leading national entities like QLC.

The six-month programme, to be called “Leaders”, will include a range of features designed to enhance partici-pants’ development on strategic and practical levels. Ashghal’s Leadership Competency Model emphasises the importance of developing internal and external partnerships, as well as creative thinking, innovation, and com-munication skills.

One valuable learning aid is the Knowledge Portal, a website that allows participants to access presentations in Arabic (modules, workshops, and case studies, as well as summaries of global reports). These are centred on significant develop-ments and concepts useful to leaders in the public sector.

The “Leaders” programme will be offered for two groups of participants from Ashghal’s various departments. Prominent experts and consultants in the field, with extensive academic and managerial experience, will lead the courses.

Launched in 2014, QLC’s Institutional Programmes offer unique leadership education platforms for Qatari government organisations in order to advance institutional per-formance and enhance mana-gerial competence toward the overall goal of leadership development.

Designed for Qatari profes-sionals in public, private and governmental organizations, the programme includes customised training courses, seminars and executive discussions, all based on individual institutional needs.

The officials from QLC and Ashghal during the MoU signing ceremony.

The “Leaders” programme will be offered for two groups of participants from Ashghal’s various departments.

Qatar National Day 2019 slogan announcedFROM PAGE 1

As an example and a historic testimony to these challenges is that on May 28, 1888 at Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Mosque (Joaan) at the Eastern Palace (the current National Museum of Qatar) during Fajr prayers a few people received the news of a surprise attack on Doha and its

surroundings. At that time, many Qataris were away on a pearl diving trip.

Sheikh Joaan completed the Fajr prayer with a few knights and proceeded to challenge the invaders who had withdrawn to the Rawdat Al Khayl, where the Qataris clashed with them while the number of invaders was

double. Sheikh Joaan martyred that morning after he swore that he would not go back until defeating the invaders and a number of the finest youth of the homeland were also martyred and a number of them got injured. This was an important event in establishing our beloved State.

Qatar’s trade surplus at QR38.2bn in Q3FROM PAGE 1

The GCC countries then averaged 4.4 percent and 3.8 percent for both exports and imports, respectively.

Qatar’s trade balance was QR 49.9bn in the third quarter last year.

The year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decrease in total exports in Q3 2019 was mainly due to lower exports of mineral fuels, lubri-cants and related materials by QR14.7bn, chemicals and related products by QR800m,

machinery and transport equipment (mainly re-exports) by QR300m. On the other hand increases was recorded mainly in manufactured goods classified chiefly by material by QR100m, and miscellaneous manufac-tured articles by QR100m.

The value of Qatar’s total imports in Q3 2019 stood at QR25.7bn, which has decreased by QR4.3bn (14.2 percent) com-pared to QR30bn of imports in Q3 2018.

The Q3 2019 (Y-o-Y) decrease in imports reflected

decreases in machinery and transport equipment by QR1.8bn, miscellaneous manufactured articles by QR1bn, manufactured goods classified chiefly by material by QR900m, chemicals and related products by QR100m, food and live animals, by QR100m, mineral fuels, lubri-cants and related materials by QR100m, and beverages and tobacco by QR100m. On the other hand increases was recorded mainly in crude mate-rials, inedible, except fuels by QR100m.

Titled Protecting the Best Interest in Cross-Border Family Disputes: Qatar Experience, the DIFI symposium, which brought together experts from the field, was held in Jordan.

05SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

HIA completes full-scale emergency exerciseTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hamad International Airport (HIA) has successfully completed its fourth full-scale emergency exercise. The exercise, ‘Oryx Golf 2019’, was conducted on November 21 at HIA with over 26 government agencies, partners and stakeholders including Qatar Airways Group, Airline Operators Committee-Doha, Airport Customs, Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation facilities, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, Civil Defense Department, National Command Center, Ministry of Transport & Commu-nications and Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

The emergency exercise ‘Oryx Golf’ 2019 was arranged and orchestrated by HIA, in com-pliance with the requirements established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). HIA is responsible for ensuring that the Airport Man-agement Systems and

Emergency Preparedness meet the exact requirements of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) Aerodrome Licensing Standards.

This year’s emergency exercise scenario was conducted differently to previous years. While previous years focused on aviation-specific incidents, this year’s exercise aimed at simu-lating a public health emergency incident at the airport to test its capabilities when dealing with public health emergency incident of international concern which included medical facilities throughout the State of Qatar.

The exercise scenario involved a Qatar Airways inbound flight from a country

that has been identified by the World Health Organisation with an Ebola Virus Disease outbreak. The said flight declared an emer-gency an hour before landing at HIA reporting one sick passenger onboard showing signs and symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease.

The exercise involved air traffic control, aircraft crew, public health emergency responders, MOI Airport Security, Hamad Medical Corporation Ambulance Service, MOI Civil Defence, Emergency Operations Centre amongst others to test HIA’s crisis readiness and effec-tiveness of communications, responses, procedures and des-ignated facilities for the Public

Health Emergency Incidents. The exercise aimed to also measure how well the different stake-holders coordinated together to ensure the best crisis man-agement procedures are implemented.

Commenting on the

successful completion of the Emergency Exercise, Ian Metso-vitis, Vice President of Operations at Hamad International Airport stated: “The accomplishment of the ‘Oryx Golf 2019’ exercise is a testament to our continued endeavour for operational

excellence, ensuring the airport’s safety preparedness and con-tinued coordination between our stakeholders remain at its best. With passengers at the heart of the HIA’s strategy, safety and security are central pillars for our airport operations”.

Officials work at the Hamad International Airport during a full-scale emergency exercise.

QCDC’s exclusive program graduates new cohortTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Forty-five participants have graduated from the regionally exclusive Career Advisor Training Course held by Qatar Career Development Center, representing the 8th and 9th batches of the program.

Qatar Career Development Centre (QCDC) — a member of Qatar Foundation — awarded certificates to all the graduates who completed the program, which was delivered separately in both Arabic and English, at Education City. The Arabic ses-sions were attended by 25 par-ticipants, while the English edition had 20 participants.

“Today marks a new mile-stone with the graduation of these batches, bringing the total number of graduates to 155 pro-fessionals, who have acquired the knowledge and skills to offer career guidance to students and youth across Qatar,” said Abdulla Al Mansoori, Director, QCDC.

“We are committed to sup-porting and guiding youth into choosing the most appropriate career paths. We will continue our efforts to advance our objec-tives by working hand in hand with our students, who will carry the torch of Qatar’s

development.”The program was offered in

collaboration with Kuder Inc., a world leader in career planning services and brought together public and private sector employees, as well as represent-atives from educational institu-tions in Qatar.

Musaad Saeed Al Hajjaji, a human development consultant and media advisor at Alafdalia Training & Consulting Center, was one of the participants in the program.

“I participated in the program to expand my expe-rience and exchange expertise with those interested in this field,” he said. “The program is accredited and the lecture delivered by Mr. Khalifa Al Yafei, was one of the best I have attended. Additionally, the organization of the event was outstanding.”

Alongside Al Yafei, a certified career counselor with extensive experience in the field of higher education, lecturers also included Mrs. Anita Abraham, a Profes-sional Development Specialist of Science at the National Center for Educational Development, College of Education, Qatar Uni-versity, with more than 25 years of experience in the field of edu-cation; and Mrs. Susanna Mascar-enhas, a Professional

Development Specialist at the National Center for Educational Development, College of Edu-cation, Qatar University.

Al Yafei said the program offered participants high-quality training and the opportunity to gain insight into the theoretical and practical aspects of career guidance.

Ahmed Al Malki, a partic-ipant in the program working at Qatar National Library, said he joined the CATC to develop his

skills in the career guidance field to be able to better assist students.

“Due to the nature of my work, I am highly engaged with the youth,” Al Malki said. “I intend to apply what I have learned in this program to young people who need to choose their career paths. The program pro-vided us with extensive infor-mation about identifying the appropriate careers and spe-cialties for these students.”

A participant receives a certificate at the conclusion of the Career Advisor Training Course at Qatar Career Development Center.

QRCS inaugurates new world-class disaster management centerTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has inaugu-rated its new disaster management center, which responds immediately to natural or human-made disasters in any part of the world.

The opening ceremony was attended by Dr. Mohamed bin Ghanem Al Ali Al Maadheed, Pres-ident of QRCS; Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Under-Sec-retary-General for Partnerships at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Soci-eties (IFRC); Ali bin Hassan Al Hammadi, Secretary-General of QRCS; and Eng. Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Maliki, Chief Executive Director of QRCS;

Ivana Mrdja, Manager of National Society and Government Partnerships at IFRC; and Mohamed El-Habib Ansari, Head of Alternative Development Finance, Department of Strategy and Transfor-mation at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), QRCS directors, heads of department, staff, medical workers, and volunteers were also present at the event.

Prior to the ceremony, QRCS top management held discussions with the guests about the host organization’s relief, development, and humani-tarian diplomatic operations, as well as the support from IDB to IFRC’s humanitarian efforts worldwide.

The participants looked forward to stronger partnership between IFRC and QRCS, as Qatar’s humanitarian arm, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This, they hoped, would give a further boost to the existing collaborative relations among National Societies, IFRC, and the United Nations. It was agreed to appoint a point of contact to coor-dinate communications between the three parties.

MIA to host talk by the State Hermitage MuseumTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) is set to host a talk titled ‘The Hermitage Days’ on November 27 at 6pm in MIA Auditorium. The talk will be hosted in collaboration with one of Russia’s most prestigious museums, the State Hermitage Museum of St Petersburg, and will introduce attendees to the history of the museum and its conser-vation center.

In addition to the public talk, and part of the larger collabo-ration between MIA and the Her-mitage, a series of talks and hands-on-workshops delivered by the State Hermitage team tar-geting conservation specialists, will be from January 26 to 28. The series of talks will cover conser-vation practices of the Hermitage as well as provide an insight into the history, departments and the materials present in the museum.

The State Hermitage Museum is the world’s second largest museum after the Louvre, Paris. Its collection is a must see for all art enthusiasts and contains in excess of 3 million items, spread over six historic buildings. The session will be delivered by the General Director of the museum, Prof. Mikhail Piotrovskiy, and Ms. Irena Guruleva, Research Officer

in the Department of Scientific Restoration and Conservation.

Prof. Dr. Mikhail Piotrovskiy has been the General Director of the Hermitage since 1992. He is a prominent Arabist and Archaeol-ogist and the author of more than 250 publications including cata-logues of Arabic manuscripts, medieval monuments and ancient inscriptions as well as works on Islamic political history and Arabic culture and archaeology.

Irena Guruleva is a Research Officer of the Department of the Scientific Restoration and Con-servation in the State Hermitage museum. She oversees the administrative work and docu-mentation of the department, as well as all exhibition and pub-lishing activities related to con-servation and research within the field of restoration.

The initiative is a testament to the legacy of the Year of Culture programme which aims to build lasting relationships between Qatar and partner countries. Last year, key Qatari and Russian cul-tural organizations, prestigious institutions and individuals came together to deliver a rich pro-gramme of major exhibitions, activities and community outreach events to introduce the two nations to each other’s rich cultures.

The exercise involved air traffic control, aircraft crew, public health emergency responders, Airport Security, HMC Ambulance Service, Civil Defence, Emergency Operations Centre amongst others to test HIA’s crisis readiness and effectiveness of communications and response during an emergency.

Ambassadors’ group to bolster ties between Qatar, SADC countriesFROM PAGE 1

She said that the SADC states were trying to introduce one visa regime for all 16 member states for people from Qatar and other countries. She said that Qatari citizens were availing on-arrival visa facility to visit Tanzania.

For residents of Qatar, she said, online visa system was available that usually took only three days for issuance of visa. “Also, a good thing is the fact that Qatar Airways has direct flights to majority of the SADC countries.”

To a question, she said that currently Qatari investors were exploring options to invest in mining sector especially gold exploration in Tanzania. “We also want to increase our agricultural exports to Qatar. At present, Tanzania is exporting some vegetables and fruits to Qatar through non-direct channels like Kenya or Uganda.”

She noted that efforts were underway to expand trade between Tanzania and Qatar. “Qatari busi-nessmen are going directly to the SADC countries to form new business partnerships.”

She said that Qatar had bilateral pacts on trade, education, transport etc. with some of the SADC coun-tries. “There is a possibility for Qatar to have an agreement with the SADC as the organisation has partnerships with many countries like China and Russia.”

Fatma said that the SADC Ambassadors’ Group was planning to organize a trade and investment exhi-bition in Doha to showcase services and products the SADC countries could offer to Qatari businessmen.

Faizel Moosa, Ambassador of South Africa, said that the SADC countries’ trade with the Middle East was very important. “The SADC region largely depends

on the Middle East for its energy needs. As African countries are moving away from coal-powered energy production to greener energy like gas or renewable sources, Qatar’s importance is increasing in the region.”

He said that after Africa free trade agreement which had already been signed by 54 countries, Qatar could benefit from the opportunity by positioning itself as a re-export hub to increase its trade with the African countries.

Moosa said that another important sector for bilateral cooperation was tourism which was going through tremendous growth in the SADC countries creating more investment opportunities for foreign investors.

Sicelo V. Dlamini, Counsellor of the Kingdom of Eswatini, said that the formation of the SADC Ambas-sadors’ Group was meant to have a meaningful impact on existing ties between Qatar and the SADC coun-tries. “The SADC member states have a lot of potential when they work together; the prospects of doing any-thing are enormous.”

Dlamini said that there was safe and stable envi-ronment in the SADC countries which was very con-ducive for foreign investments. “There are a lot of opportunities especially in the mining and agriculture sector,” he added.

The Ambassadors also reiterated call for the removal of all forms of sanctions imposed on Zim-babwe to pave way for socio-economic transfor-mation and economic development of Zimbabwe. “The removal of sanctions will benefit Zimbabweans and the SADC region, as well as, enhance cooperation of the SADC with the European Union (EU) and the United States,” they added.

06 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019HOME

CCQ, QFBA ink MoU to empower humancadres & create educational opportunitiesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Community College of Qatar (CCQ) yesterday signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA), as part of its relentless efforts to empower human cadres and create opportunities for its students.

In line with the MoU, both organisations will introduce new educational and training pro-grammes, exchange teachers and researchers, organise specialised seminars and conferences, and take advantage of shared assets.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Al Naemi, President of CCQ; and Dr. Khalid Mohammed Al Horr, CEO of the QFBA, during a ceremony held

at the College’s headquarters.Dr. Al Naemi said: “We are

pleased to have inked this MoU with the QFBA, which will result in a fruitful cooperation in the higher education and profes-sional development fields. QFBA has extensive experience in edu-cation and training in finance and business, providing our stu-dents and staff with unparalleled opportunities to develop their skills and enhance their expertise in this vital field.

He said that CCQ is looking forward to capitalising on the opportunities that this MoU

offers to contribute to the achievement of the human development objectives outlined in the National Vision 2030, and empower intellectual talents across Qatari markets to con-tribute to the promotion of a knowledge-based economy.

Dr. Khalid Mohammed Al Horr said: “We are delighted to sign this agreement with CCQ, a pioneering educational facility which provides a highly valued learning experience to youth in Qatar. QFBA offers educational and training services for students and professionals interested in

pursuing a higher education or professional development in the field of finance and business.”

He said that the signing of this agreement is a testament to the concerted efforts of educa-tional institutions and their determination to offer the best education for Qatari youth through the development of an interactive educational eco-system that benefits all parties.

CCQ is committed to expanding the range of educa-tional opportunities available to its students and staff through the ratification of several agree-ments with leading universities and institutes in Qatar and around the world, creating a unique educational experience and favorable climate to foster personal, academic, and profes-sional growth.

Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Al Naemi, President of CCQ, and Dr. Khalid Mohammed Al Horr, CEO of the QFBA, exchanging the documents after the signing of the MoU during a ceremony held at college’s headquarters.

In line with the MoU, both organisations will introduce new educational and training programmes, exchange teachers and researchers, organise specialised seminars and conferences, and take advantage of shared assets.

5G-enabled Huawei Mate 20X available at OoredooTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Ooredoo announced customers will be able to access its revolu-tionary 5G network with the latest Huawei Mate smartphone wherever the network is commercially available, and customers will be able to benefit from a special promotion to celebrate.

The Huawei Mate 20X fea-tures an impressive 7.2-inch OLED screen, a 256 GB memory, upgraded triple Leica cameras, the world’s first 7nm mobile AI Chipset and extended battery life, and of course is 5G-enabled. It runs on an Android Pie 9.0 and EMUI 9.1.1 operating system and offers seamless, reliable connectivity.

Ooredoo was the first to launch a commercially available 5G network, and has made incredible progress towards rolling it out across Qatar. A large number of network towers has already been installed across Doha and is only increasing to provide full 5G network access across the entire country.

To celebrate access to the 5G network with the device, cus-tomers purchasing the Huawei Mate 20X can expect to receive 50 GB data absolutely free for

five months, meaning an amazing 250 GB data in total. Free data will be valid for 10 days for Hala customers, and 30 days for customers with postpaid accounts.

Purchases of the device will also attract Nojoom points. Members will earn one Nojoom point for every QR1 spent on their device, adding even more value.

Manar Khalifa Al-Muraikhi, Director PR and Corporate Com-munications at Ooredoo, said: “We’re immensely proud to be at the forefront of 5G devel-opment in Qatar, and delighted with our progress towards full commercial availability of our 5G network. Alongside devel-oping the network, we’ve been awaiting official confirmation of 5G-enablement on various smartphone devices and we’re pleased to announce customers will be able to connect to the 5G network with the Huawei Mate 20X. We’re incredibly excited about the life-changing capa-bilities of 5G, and look forward to confirming more 5G-enabled devices as soon as possible.”

Huawei Mate 20X is available for QR3,699. Visit Ooredoo e-Shop (http://ore.do/huawei-mate-20-x) for more details.

Qatar Charity marks World Diabetes DayTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Charity Centers for Community Development held various activities and awareness programmes across the country to mark World Diabetes Day which falls on November 14.

The activities included lec-tures and educational and awareness workshops on dia-betes and its causes and how to prevent it, in addition to partic-ipating in the march of World Diabetes Day.

These events come as part of the keenness of Qatar Charity to educate and protect people from diabetes, raise awareness about the impact of the disease on the family members, provide support to those living with dia-betes, and strengthen the role of the family in the treatment and prevention of diabetes.

The Women’s Branch of Qatar Charity Center for Com-munity Development in Al Rayyan organised an awareness workshop, in cooperation with the Qatar Diabetes Association and the Primary Health Care Corporation, with the partici-pation of 40 girls.

The workshop aimed at high-lighting the main concepts of dia-betes and its types, and how to

prevent it. The workshop also focused on healthy food through a range of cultural and compet-itive competitions among girls. On the other hand, an awareness lecture on practicing exercise was held for women at Gharafa Al-Rayyan Health Center. The lecture was attended by 20 female employees of the center.

A lecture was about raising the awareness among women about diabetes, health problems, and serious diseases caused by diabetes. During the lecture, he also emphasised the importance of daily exercise, as it is one of the main factors of glycoregu-

lation in the body.The Women’s Branch of the

Qatar Charity Centre For Com-munity Development in Al Khor, organized a lecture on diabetes and its causes, in cooperation with Al Khor Health Center. Also, an awareness workshop on the possible health alternatives was held. Some 30 female employees of the center and 63 students from Al Khor Preparatory School for Girls attended the lecture and participated in the workshop.

The lecture included the awareness of diabetes, its types and symptoms, the factors leading to diabetes, and how to

prevent it, focusing on healthy food, stress relief and exercise on a daily basis.

During the event, an educa-tional video on how to detect diabetes and its symptoms and how to prevent it, was played, in addition to measuring sugar level in women.

The Qatar Charity Center for Community Development for expatriate Asian communities, Friends Cultural Center (FCC) along with Aster Volunteers, a healthcare and wellness initi-ative, observed the World Dia-betes Day at Edison International Academy, Aspire.

Children taking part in an event to mark World Diabetes Day organised by Qatar Charity, recently.

HBKU’s CSE professor named Distinguished Scientist by ACMTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Dr. Roberto Di Pietro, a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Science and Engineering (CSE), has been named the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Distinguished Scientist for his outstanding scientific contributions to computing. Dr. Roberto is among only other 50 scientists, and the only one in the Middle East and North Africa region, to be selected for the honour by the world’s largest educational and scien-tific computing society in 2019.

“In everything we do, our overarching goal is to build a community wherein computing professionals can grow profes-sionally and, in turn, contribute to the field and the broader society,” said ACM President Cherri M. Pancake.

Dr .Roberto joined HBKU in the summer of 2017, and his past professional experience includes an academic appointment at University of Padova in Italy. He also served as Global Head of Cybersecurity Research for Nokia Bell Labs.

“I am honoured and thankful for this recognition, which clearly reflects HBKU’s role as a leading computing research hub in the region,” he said.

07SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

Modern narratives created from urban data showcased at QNLTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar National Library, in collab-oration with the British Council, presented a series of talks and art installations as part of the Qatar-British Festival, which reflects on the evolving nature of art and the public realm.

Irini Papadimitriou, Creative Director of FutureEverything, hosted a panel talk, “Edifice // Artifice: Redefining Art in the Public Realm,” as part of the Fes-tival’s “Reading the City” pro-gramme. Current developments in culture, architecture and cre-ative technology today set the context for the panel to revisit the evolving nature of art and the public realm in fast-developing cities.

The panel included the artist Naho Matsuda; Layla Bacha, Art Specialist at Qatar Foundation; and Abdulrahman Al Ishaq, Head of the Public Art Department at Qatar Museums. The speakers

explored different perspectives on public art and its relevance today.

Making its debut in the Middle East and North Africa region, Naho Matsuda’s “Every Thing Every Time,” a public artwork also pre-sented in collaboration with the British Council.

Naho Matsuda, said, “Every day, a vast amount of data is gen-erated by us and about us. It is proc-essed by technologies and technol-ogists alike, but who collects and controls this information? How is it captured and stored, and how is it used to shape our future cities? I am excited to show my installation in this exciting, new context. I am looking forward to the new narra-tives of Doha that Every Thing Every Time will be producing and how these stories will be read and shared by the citizens, visitors and workers in cities.”

Matsuda’s artwork draws on data streams generated by the technologies, devices and events that happen each day in the city to create poetry. Waseem Kotoub,

Senior Program Manager, Culture and Sport Program, Gulf, at the British Council, said: “The com-mission in Qatar was a perfect fit for this year’s program, in which we explore the growing role of Public Realm Art in our cities under the theme of people and places. For Qatar, with so many amazing public artworks, sculp-tural and architectural, we felt it great to bring a digital work in 2019. We believe that this work will create opportunities for young people to learn more about UK contemporary art and create new links between Qatar and the UK.”

Visitors to the artwork at the Library can see poetry written in real-time and revealed on a mes-merizing mechanical display.

Attending the event, Lubna Ali, said, “The discussion was very informative and I learned a lot on the issue of public art. I enjoyed it very much because it also high-lighted the importance of art in encouraging creative conversa-tions in the society.”

The visitors at Qatar National Library taking a look at the art installations, which were presented as part of the Qatar-British Festival, yesterday.

QatarDebate hosts workshop for trainersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Training of Interna-tional Trainers (TOT) Academy is being organised by QatarDebate Center (QD), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), at s t u d e n t c e n t r e , Education City until November 28.

The workshop will precede the prestigious fifth International Schools Arabic Debating Championship which takes place in March 2020 in Doha.

During this five-day event, around 10 international trainers from nine Arabic-speaking and non-Arabic speaking coun-tries, come together to attend a compre-hensive training in the debate skills, public speaking, crit ical thinking, argumen-tation, motion analysis, and case building.

The Academy fea-tures participants from Turkey, Kosovo, Czech Republ ic , L ibya, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman and Britain.

TOT academy is an i n i t i a t i v e o f QatarDebate Center to prepare coaches and judges who have high abilities and fully pre-pared to receive this training and deliver it to the participating teams from their country.

Aisha Al-Nesf, Head of Educational Pro-grams, QatarDebate, said,“This workshop is customized specifically for the new educational institution that are

HMC’s multidisciplinaryhomecare teams serve over 1,850 elderly patients THE PENINSULA DOHA

Private Nursing Service and Home Health Care Service at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) provide multidisci-plinary homecare focusing on improving mobility, physical, and mental health of elderly patients.

Nadya Al Anzi, Executive Director of Nursing for Private Nursing Service and Home Health Care Service, said that homecare team works with patients, their families, and caregivers to provide individ-ualised care to more than 1,850 elderly patients each month.

“Each month, our multidis-ciplinary care teams conduct home visits to more than 1,850 elderly patients. During each visit, our teams perform all required clinical examinations and also review each patient’s care plan. A priority for our teams is enhancing the quality of life of our elderly patients by helping them to improve their mobility and live more inde-pendently, where possible,” said Al Anzi.

“Our teams provide health education to patients and educate their families and car-egivers about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and remaining integrated into the community. Our staff is also able to refer patients to other specialised HMC services and clinics, including the memory clinic, falls prevention clinic, physiotherapy, and occupa-tional therapy, as required,” added Al Anzi.

She also said that an

important part of the home care service involves helping family members and other car-egivers to provide the best pos-sible care for elderly residents, which she says often involves providing health education and training for primary caregivers. She said her team can make recommendations that can make an elderly person’s home safer and more accessible. She says as the activities of daily living become more chal-lenging, assistive devices such as grab bars, adaptive clothing and shoes, and adjustable beds c a n h e l p e x t e n d independence.

“The large majority of our patients are housebound, tem-porarily or permanently and we work with patients as well as their family and other car-egivers, to ensure they receive the care required. We also serve elderly patients with more stable health conditions who require ongoing support but do not require care that is

delivered in a hospital setting,” said Al Anzi.

HMC’s Home Health Care Service has significantly expanded since officially launching in 2003. The service was initially accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) in 2009 and recorded an increase of 11.7% in activity in 2018 compared to 2017; in 2017 the service recorded 64,545 home visits compared to 72,088 home visits in 2018.

According to Al Anzi, the elder care team includes phy-sicians, nurses, wound care specialists, occupational ther-apists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, dietitians, social workers, health educators, pharmacists, and respiratory therapists. She says once a patient is referred to the service, the team conducts an initial assessment and develops an individualized care plan.

Nadya Al Anzi

participating for the first time in the 5th International Arabic Schools Debating Championship 2020, or the new trainers that never attended trainings in the art of debate”.

“The workshop is aiming to empowering the trainers with the required skills and infor-mation in the art of debating and its rules and adjudicating and enhancing their abilities to offer the necessary training to the participating students,” she added.

Aisha Al Nesf

Nadya Al Anzi, Executive Director of Nursing for Private Nursing Service and Home Health Care Service, said that homecare team works with patients, their families, and caregivers to provide individualized care to more than 1,850 elderly patients each month.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, said that the decision “contradicts totally with international law” and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat called it “a threat to global stability, security and peace”.

THE WASHINGTON POST

08 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019VIEWS

It is time to stop lecturing Palestinians and to start listening

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced a reversal in decades of US policy towards Israel’s illegal

settlements in the West Bank, stating that: “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with inter-national law.” Within hours of Pom-peo’s statement, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, released a statement asserting that the EU position on the illegality of Israeli settlements in the 1967 territories remained “clear and unchanged” affirming that “all set-tlement activity is illegal under inter-national law”.

A spokesperson for the Pales-tinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, said that the decision “contra-dicts totally with international law” and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb

Erekat called it “a threat to global sta-bility, security and peace”. Simi-larly, human rights organ-isations, including Human Rights Watch and BT’selem, have con-demned the move.

Many pundits are describing this as yet another “gift” to Israeli Prime Min-ister Ben-jamin

Netanyahu from the Trump Adminis-tration. In 2017, Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced that he will be moving the US embassy there. A year later, he announced that the US was cutting its contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. In March this year, just before the first Israeli elections, Trump recognised Israel’s 1981 annexation of the occupied Golan Heights.

The timing of his latest “gift” is also perfect for Netanyahu, as he is facing not only the possibility of a third parliamentary poll in less than a year but also serious corruption charges. While Washington’s gifts undoubtedly serve to bolster him and his party - Likud-, it would be a mistake to think that this aggressive expansionism would die with him should he fail to make it into the next government.

Benny Gantz, the leader of the opposition party Kahol Lavan, also welcomed the US move, tweeting that he applauded the US’s “firm stance with Israel”. Lest we forget that before Israel’s second parliamentary poll in September, when Netanyahu announced his plan to annex the Jordan Valley, Gantz rushed to claim that it had been plagiarised from him.

These days, the Trump adminis-tration and Netanyahu easily provide many liberals with a point of blame for the failure to secure peace in Pal-estine. Yet, it would be another mistake to place responsibility solely in the hands of President Trump. In a Twitter thread, Director for the US Campaigns for Palestinian Rights Youssef Munayyer, explained how the “Obama administration paved the way for this moment” by vetoing a UNSC resolution declaring settle-ments illegal in 2011 and consistently avoiding using legal language when talking about the issue. The rationale was that international law does not advance peace or diplomatic efforts. The then US ambassador to the UN,

Susan Rice, explained their veto position by stating that the “reso-lution would not have advanced the goal of getting the parties closer to negotiations and agreement. On the contrary, it would have hardened the positions of one or both sides.” In other words, they

considered international law as merely something to pick and choose from according to what suits their diplomatic needs.

While it is clear that the diplo-matic foundations for continued Israeli expansionism and colonialism were laid a long time ago, under the Trump administration we have seen it accelerate. This latest US declaration will give the green light for an increase in the violent takeover of Palestinian land and displacement of Palestinian people.

The US policy reversal appears to have come as a shock to the interna-tional community. But as Palestinians, we saw this coming long ago and we said as much. It is constantly demanded of us that when we speak of our reality we do not only speak of doom and gloom. It is demanded of us that we speak with positivity and hope. Over 70 years in, and in light of Trump’s latest “gift” to Israel, it is high time for the international community to stop lecturing us on how to com-municate our own story and start lis-tening to us.

It is time for the world to listen to the Palestinians who have been saying from day one that the State of Israel is an apartheid one, bent on keeping indigenous Palestinians per-manently contained and oppressed. It is time to listen to the Palestinians who have been saying for decades that Israel has no intention of allowing the establishment of a Pales-tinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. And it is time to listen to Pales-tinians when they say there is worse yet to come.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not nec-essarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Have settlements killed a two-state solution?

YARA HAWARI AL JAZEERA

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The EU recalls that all parties to the

Syrian conflict are bound to respect and uphold international

humanitarian law and international human

rights law.

Federica Mogherini EU Foreign Policy Chief

A credible charge of bribery

Did US President Donald Trump commit bribery? When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leveled this accusa-

tionthis month, some may have heard hyperbole - or even a public-relations stunt. Messaging concerns persuaded Democrats to abandon the term “quid pro quo” for “bribery.” But it is not phony messaging. The Democrats’ charge is grounded in the Constitution’s language - and it is credible.

The Constitution specifically lists bribery as an impeachable offense, before “high crimes and misde-meanors.” If the president is guilty of bribery, there is no need to wonder what “high crimes and misdemeanors” means.

Of course, the Constitution does not define “bribery,” either. But federal law does: It is the act of giving, offering or promising anything of value - not just money or tangible items - to a public official to influence an official act. Likewise, the law bars public officials from soliciting anything of value in return for influencing the performance of an official act. In Trump’s case, two weeks of testimony have uncovered evi-dence that he solicited something of value from the Ukrainian government (besmirching a political opponent) in exchange for official acts (a White House meeting, the delivery of military aid).

The first piece of evidence came from Trump himself, who released the rough transcript of a July 25phone call he had with Ukrainian President Volo-dymyr Zelensky.

As Zelensky asked for an Oval Office visit and to buy more antitank missiles from the United States, Trump requested “a favor”: launching investi-gations into supposed 2016 election interference on the part of Ukraine and into natural gas company Burisma. The former is part of an effort by Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to discredit and distract from the fact that Russia meddled in the 2016 race to help Trump.

The latter is an attempt to smear former vice president Joe Biden, whose son Hunter sat on Burisma’s board. According to the transcript, only after Zelensky promised investi-gations did Trump offer a White House meeting.

Testimony over the past two weeks solidified the link between Trump’s demand for political assistance and his willingness to grant an Oval Office meeting and deliver military aid.

US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified that the president ordered him to work with Giuliani on Ukraine matters, and that Giuliani insisted that no Oval Office meeting would happen until the Ukrainians publicly pledged to conduct the investigations.Former National

Security Council official Fiona Hilltes-tified that Sondland made clear in a White House meeting “that he had an agreement with [acting White House chief of staff Mick] Mulvaney that in return for investigations, this meeting would get scheduled.” Sondland added that he came to believe that US military aid was also contingent on announcing investigations.

US diplomat David Holmes testi-fiedthat he overheard a phone call between Sondland and the president, in which Trump asked the EU ambassador whether Zelensky was “going to do the investigation.” According to Holmes, Sondland remarked to him that Trump cared only about “big stuff that benefits the president” such as the “Biden investigation.”

What gaps remain in this already compelling story exist largely because administration officials and former offi-cials with direct knowledge refuse to testify or turn over documents. If that knowledge or those documents tended to exonerate the president, one assumes they would be provided.

That Trump abandoned his scheme when it began to emerge publicly does not clear him; if anything, it suggests he understood he was acting improperly.

The charge of bribery at first sounded shocking. What is truly shocking is how much evidence has emerged to support such a charge.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIALSettlements hinder peace

The State of Qatar expressed last Tuesday its rejection of the US declaration that considered the establishment of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank incon-

sistent with international law. The statement termed the step taken by the US administration “as an obstacle to the desired peace”.

A week ago the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that his country abandoned the position that settlements in Israeli-occupied territory were “inconsistent with interna-tional law”, abandoning a stand taken by the administration of the President Jimmy Carter in 1978.

The announcement triggered strong rejections from coun-tries all over the world, including wider Arab and Muslim countries condemned the statement warning of its negative impact on peace and stability in the region.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar said the “declaration would hinder the efforts of peace as well as hopes for a two-state solution, and deepen tensions in the region”.

The statement reiterated “Qatar’s firm stance in supporting the Palestinian cause and the steadfastness of the brotherly Palestinian people derived from the resolutions of interna-

tional legitimacy and the two-state solution in a way that ensures the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jeru-salem as its capital”.

The US decision not only boosts Israel’s position and gives green-light to Israelis to take further steps towards annexation of Palestinian territory but also discourages the parties from engaging in a series peace process. The reason that made the previous US administrations to oppose settlement construction was the fact that it was an obstacle to peace. The leader of the Israel’s right-wing Netanyahu is getting endless support from the US administration through its envoy in Israel David Friedman

who is known for his absolute support to Israelis aggressions and occupational practices.

The current US administration support to the Israeli right-wing started with cuts in US aid to Palestinians government and closing its office in Washington, and then extended to recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, moving the US embassy to the city in 2018.

In March 2019, President Trump recognised Israel’s annex-ation of the Golan Heights, which occupied by Israel in 1967. During the recent election, Netanyahu has made election promises to annex parts of the West Bank, and what has been announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is to show him as fulfilling his promise and help him to stay in office in order to avoid prosecution for cases related to corruption.

The US announcement is simply demolishing UN Security Council Resolution 242, which is the foundation of half a century of Arab-Israeli negotiations and basis of all agreement made between the Palestinian and Israel, and peace treaties made with Egypt and Jordan. Such stance should come from a body responsible of making the international law not from the administration set to serve for a certain term in office.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar said the “declaration would hinder the efforts of peace as well as hopes for a two-state solution, and deepen tensions in the region”.

Demonstrators in the Federal Building Plaza protest the deaths of more than 30 Palestinians last week from Israeli air strikes in Gaza, in Chicago, Illinois.

Discussing the issue of Zimbabwe’s sanctions is a challenging task as it is an emotional and polarizing matter. Within Zimbabwe itself, views about sanctions are so divisive that it is difficult to speak about this as a Zimbabwean issue.

09SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 OPINION

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Germany’s cities aren’tready for the future

Zimbabwe’s anti-sanctions march: Much ado about nothing?CRINGE GERALD ANATOLIA

LEONID BERSHIDSKY BLOOMBERG

Now that Germany has dodged a recession, political decisions on fiscal stimulus have been post-

poned. Yet the country’s employers and labor unions are still demanding an infrastructure investment program worth at least 450 billion euros ($498 billion) over 10 years, not to give an immediate boost to growth but to keep the country competitive in the future.

The 450 billion euro figure comes from a new report jointly drafted by the German Economic Institute in Cologne, which is close to two big employers’ lobby groups, and the Macroeconomic Policy Institute, part

of a labor union-linked foundation. Presenting the study on Monday, Dieter Kempf, president of the Fed-eration of German Industries, the country’s main industrial lobby, said Germany had turned into “snoreland” in a stupor of self-satis-faction; it’s time to wake up.

The World Economic Forum ranks Germany as the world’s seventh-most-competitive economy this year, down from third in 2018. According to WEF, its greatest weakness is in information and com-munication technology adoption, where it’s ranked 36th in the world; only one German out of 100 has a fiber optic broadband subscription, compared with one out of 32 in South Korea.

In an embarrassing episode on

Monday, a state TV broadcast about a special government session on improving mobile coverage was broken off because of a bad connection.

But, surprisingly for outsiders, the authors of the report suggest only that the government spend about 20 billion euros over the next decade on improving the telecom-munications infrastructure, mainly to plug coverage holes where private investment can’t pay off. The rest of the money is needed elsewhere.

The WEF describes physical infrastructure as one of Germany’s strengths, but Germans love to com-plain about it, mentioning, for example, that the average age of railroad bridges in their country is 60 years and that some 10,000 of them were built before World War I. Yet it’s not roads and public transport that require the most investment, either: The two insti-tutes put those needs at 100 billion euros between 2020 and 2030.

The biggest single investment need comes from Germany’s municipalities. As the federal

government and the states have consolidated their finances under Chancellor Angela Merkel’s gov-ernment, introducing debt brakes and deficit-free budgets, not enough money has trickled down to the local level. Even though the federal government has recognized the problem and taken over the full funding of some social programs, such as old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, munici-palities’ current social obligations have been increasing, forcing them to put off investment in the mainte-nance of schools, streets and water-supply systems. They - especially the industrial towns that lost out from globalization - built up a com-bined investment gap of 138.4 billion euros, according to a nationwide survey of communities cited in the two institutes’ report.

Even when the money is there in town and district budgets, many municipalities don’t have the staff and expertise to plan investment projects properly, and businesses that could take on the jobs have been wary of expanding lest municipal orders be cut back again.

Zimbabwe has been under European Union (EU) and United States (US) sanctions since 2002 and 2003

respectively, for “undermining democratic institutions”, “gross human rights violations”, and “threatening regional stability”. This remains a contentious issue as Zim-babwean government rejects both the justification and rationale of these sanctions. On Oct. 25, 2019, Zimbabwe held a march against the sanctions following a “solidarity” declaration by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This march deserves a closer exam-ination in terms of its implications, especially for Zimbabwe’s foreign policy.

In the context of the post-Mugabe regime, the anti-sanction march raises critical concerns in foreign policy circles. Following the overthrew Mugabe in November 2017, his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, first abandoned the anti-sanctions rhetoric that had characterized Mugabe’s leadership. The new leader launched a vigorous campaign with the motto “Zim-babwe is open for business”, inviting the EU and the US for re-engagement. Zimbabwe’s new pres-ident urged Zimbabweans to rise above the sanctions blame-game. While acknowledging the existence

of sanctions, he urged citizens to stop talking about sanctions and find solutions: “we must have solu-tions, and already, we have solu-tions in agriculture.” It is the same sanctions mantra that made Mnan-gagwa’s strong ally, Christopher Mutsvangwa, the then leader of the National Liberation War Veterans Association, to challenge Mugabe to resign as the country’s president if he had failed to rise above blaming sanctions for the economic chal-lenges in the country.

Discussing the issue of Zimba-bwe’s sanctions is a challenging task as it is an emotional and polarizing matter. Within Zimbabwe itself, views about sanctions are so divisive that it is difficult to speak about this as a Zimbabwean issue. The poor attendance in the anti-sanctions march held in the capital city, even though many sections of the society had been forced to attend, attests to the grave chal-lenge Zimbabwean leaders face in galvanizing a truly national view on sanctions. So far, debates on this issue center on questions about the impact and justification of the sanc-tions. The government, the SADC, which is supported by the African Union (AU), and the general public within the anti-sanctions camp have been arguing that sanctions have been crippling the economy and taken a serious toll on Zimba-bweans. In his address to the 74th UN General Assembly in September, Mnangagwa blamed “illegal eco-nomic sanctions” for Zimbabwe’s “collapsed economy.” At the anti-sanctions march, he called sanc-tions a “cancer that has affected all sectors of the economy”. Zimba-bweans are familiar with such rhetoric from the time of Mugabe. Thus, within the anti-sanctions camp, some reason that Western countries should remove the sanc-tions to eliminate the government’s excuses about being constrained by sanctions. So, “remove the sanc-tions and lay bare all their failures,” these groups argue.

The other side of the debate calls on Western countries to

maintain the sanctions until the government implements reforms. They question whether the gov-ernment is genuine about restoring the rule of law, human rights, and repealing draconian laws that crim-inalize civil liberties, among other conditions laid by the EU and the US Nelson Chamisa, the country’s main opposition party leader, has strongly dismissed the anti-sanc-tions march as “mere propaganda, and a hopeless waste of time, effort and money”. He blames the govern-ment’s failed leadership, corruption, bad governance and rigged elec-tions for the suffering of Zimba-bweans, challenging the gov-ernment to implement reforms and restore democracy.

To better understand Zimbabwe’s contemporary foreign policy in relation to sanctions, readers need to be reminded about Mugabe’s “Look East” policy. The Look East policy was born out of Mugabe’s fallout with Western countries in the early 2000s, following a violent land repossession program and widespread violence against opposition supporters and labor unionists. In response to the state’s brutal reaction, the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Mugabe’s administration and business com-panies that were linked to his regime. Realizing that he was facing interna-tional isolation,

Mugabe turned to the East, mainly courting political allies from Southeast Asia, the Far East and Pacific countries. Mugabe saw hope in the East as he once said, “we have turned East where the sun rises, and given our backs on the West where it sets.”

This rhetoric re-defined Zimba-bwe’s foreign relations as the country sought to align itself with countries that were opposed to the “hegemonic and imperialist powers” of the West. Mugabe was arguably taking a strategic step by revitalizing historical ties with China and Russia, permanent members of the Security Council, which had also contributed immensely to Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. These two “big” friends later proved to be crucial in blocking further sanctions by the Security

Council. The Look East policy seems to have worked well for the ruling elite and strengthened Mugabe’s international image as a “pan-Africanist”.

Mnangagwa has at best given unclear signals about his foreign policy. Upon taking over from Mugabe, he distanced himself from the Look East policy, declaring that “Zimbabwe cannot just belong to the East or the West”. It seems he wanted to develop a policy of “opening up to everyone” as evident in his efforts to try to lure states and potential private partners in Europe, the US and East Asia, up to his trips to Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Clearly, the march has not transformed the Western position concerning the sanctions. If anything, the anti-sanctions march brought Zimbabwe back into the geopolitical clashes of “big” powers in Africa.

The EU and the US have accused the Zimbabwean government of deliberate misinformation. The EU’s Twitter page started the hashtag #DidYouKnow, to run counter-narra-tives, strongly emphasizing that its sanctions against Zimbabwe are tar-geting a few ruling party officials and companies that are complicit in human rights violations.

The US embassy has been even more direct. It posted a series of tweets and informational short videos translated into Zimbabwe’s three main languages, presenting “facts about the targeted sanctions”. US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols stated that his country’s “targeted” sanctions are not respon-sible for the “catastrophic misman-agement by those in power and the government’s abuse of its own cit-izens.” He continued, “The biggest sanctions on Zimbabwe are the lim-itations it puts on itself.”

However, China and Russia came to Zimbabwe’s support again. The Russian embassy showed support by sending representatives to the march. China also declared its solidarity with Zimbabwe against sanctions in a detailed statement a month before the anticipated march. A statement by Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochum further expresses Chinese support for Zimbabwe’s efforts to protect its “sovereignty, national security and development interests”. China therefore commits to stand with Zimbabwe to “fend off foreign interference into its domestic affairs.”

- A “cunning state”? Mnangagwa’s speech on the

anti-sanctions march fell short of clearly declaring which side Zim-babwe will fall to. Although he con-demned sanctions, he did not directly declare an anti-Western position, nor divorce the country from the West, like his predecessor Mugabe did. He only went so far as to say “enough is enough, the sanc-tions must go”.

Whatever choice Mnangagwa makes, he should also think about how a foreign policy may in turn exacerbate internal threats to his leadership especially considering the dwindling hope and support

from the general population due to the economic crisis. Some are now citing how Ian Smith’s regime (before Zimbabwe’s independence), managed to survive under interna-tional sanctions and maintain a functioning economy. Cuba has been under American sanctions for a long time, but still has a func-tioning economy. So, it seems cit-izens are not convinced by Mnan-gagwa’s sanctions excuse.

This brings to mind the question as to whether the SADC and AU member states will do any-thing tangible to force Western countries to lift the sanctions. Giving solidarity statements is different from taking concrete action. Outside regional or continental bodies, each African country has different interests pursued through inde-pendent bilateral relations with the EU and the US As Senator Risch’s veiled warning to “regional” organi-zations indicates, the West is ready to isolate Zimbabwe by warning other African leaders to stay out of the sanctions issue or face conse-quences. Perhaps the anti-sanctions march was an ill-advised move that came too soon and could likely jeopardize re-engagement with the West. Zimbabwe desperately needs Western support to revive its economy. Mnangagwa’s adminis-tration is spending huge sums of money on American public relations companies to lobby Western coun-tries to lift sanctions yet confronts the same countries that it seeks to engage with anti-sanctions marches. At home, the state is also considering introducing a law to prosecute Zimbabweans who support sanctions against their country.

Zimbabwean opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, arrives at his party headquarters, the Morgan Tsvangirai House, in Harare.

10 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Pence visits US troops in Iraq, discusses unrest with PMREUTERS ERBIL, IRAQ

US Vice-President Mike Pence (pictured) visited Iraq yesterday to reassure Iraqi Kurds of US support after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies there.

His trip included a visit with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, and also a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to discuss the unrest and pro-tests over corruption that have rocked the country.

Pence made two stops during his short trip, which was previously unannounced for security reasons. Travelling on a military cargo plane, he landed first at Al Asad Air Base northwest of Baghdad and talked by phone with Abdul Mahdi.

“We spoke about the unrest that’s been taking place in recent weeks here in Iraq,” Pence told reporters. “He assured me that they were working to avoid vio-lence or the kind of oppression we see taking place even as we speak in Iran.”

“He pledged to me that they would work to protect and respect peaceful protesters as... part of the democratic process here in Iraq.”

Hundreds have been killed since early October when mass protests began in Baghdad and

southern Iraq. Protesters want to dislodge a political class they view as corrupt and beholden to foreign powers at the expense of Iraqis who suffer from poverty and poor health care.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday the United States was prepared to impose sanctions on any Iraqi officials found to be corrupt as well as those responsible for the deaths and wounding of peaceful protesters.

The trip gave the Trump administration a chance to show it is working on foreign policy even as impeachment hearings led by Democrats consume Washington.

Pence said he reiterated Trump’s commitment to an independent and sovereign Iraq. “We continue to be concerned about the malign influence of Iran across Iraq,” he said.

The vice president went on to Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, seeking to show US appreciation for

Kurdish sacrifices and affirm a message of US support and part-nership with Kurdish fighters.

Pence told Barzani at the beginning of their meeting at Erbil airport that he wanted on Trump’s behalf to “reiterate the strong bonds forged in the fires of war between the people of the United States and the Kurdish people across this region”.

Last month Turkey launched an offensive into northeastern Syria after Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw all 1,000 US troops there. Pence brokered a pause with Ankara to allow time for Kurdish fighters to withdraw.

Asked whether he had to smooth over any sense of betrayal from the Kurds, Pence said: “I don’t think there was any confusion now among the lead-ership here in the Kurdish region that President Trump’s com-mitment to our allies here in Iraq as well as to those in the Syrian Defence Forces, the Kurdish forces who fought alongside us, is unchanging.”

Iraqi demonstrators throw fireworks towards Iraqi security forces during the ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday.

Another protester dead in clashesAP BAGHDAD

Iraqi security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters yesterday, killing one person, in a third day of fierce clashes in central Baghdad, security and hospital officials said.

A protester was struck with a rubber bullet and died instantly and 12 others were wounded in the fighting on Rasheed Street,

a famous avenue known for its old crumbling architecture and now littered with rubble from days of violence. Fifteen people have died and over 100 wounded in the renewed clashes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

At least 341 protesters have died in Iraq’s massive protests, which started on October 1 when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to decry corruption and

lack of services despite Iraq’s oil wealth.

Separately, Iraq’s Parliament failed to hold a session yesterday due to lack of a quorum. Law-makers were supposed to read reform bills introduced to placate protesters. The next session was postponed to Monday.

The fighting started on Thursday when protesters tried to dismantle a security forces barricade on the street.

Iran says Army, Guards helped quell unrestREUTERS TEHRAN

Iranian troops and members of the elite Revolutionary Guards helped police quell violent unrest in Kermanshah province this week, Iranian officials said yesterday, accusing “US agents” of being among the armed protesters.

Rights group Amnesty Inter-national said at least 30 people were killed in the western province, making it the worst-hit by days of protests over gasoline prices rises in which more than 100 people were killed nationwide. Iran rejected the death toll figures as “speculative”.

“All the forces of the Revo-lutionary Guards, the (paramil-itary) Basij, the Intelligence Min-istry, police, and the army took part actively in controlling the situation,” Parviz Tavassoli-zadeh, the head of the judiciary

in Kermanshah, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

“Tavassolizadeh said the rioters were armed,” Fars reported. “They confronted agents... and burned public property.” Bahman Reyhani, the Revolutionary Guards com-mander in Kermanshah, said “the rioters belonged to anti-revolutionary (exiled opposition) groups and America’s intelli-gence services,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Reyhani did not name the groups. Armed Iranian Kurdish militants have long operated near the province’s border with Iraq.

Officials have previously blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and foreign foes for stirring up the unrest, which led to the detention of about 1,000 dem-onstrators. The Guards said calm had returned across Iran on Thursday.

Car bomb leaves 10 dead near Syria’s border with Turkey

REUTERS/AFP BEIRUT

At least 10 people were killed and 25 wounded when a car bomb exploded yesterday in a Syrian border town seized by Turkish-backed forces last month, witnesses and a rescuer said.

Tell Abyad was one of two border towns

that saw some of the heaviest fighting when Ankara launched its cross-border offensive on October 9 targeting Kurdish YPG forces in northeast Syria.

The YPG — which Ankara considers a terrorist group because of its ties to PKK Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey — had for years been allied to the United States in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey began

the incursion after President Donald Trump pulled US troops out of the area.

The blast caused extensive damage to a main street in Tel Abyad, sending thick smoke into the air above the wreckage, videos posted on social media showed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said four civilians from the same family were among those killed by the explosion, which the local council said residents blamed on the YPG and PKK.

Turkey’s Defence Ministry also accused the YPG of carrying out the attack, which it said had killed three people and wounded 20. Similar car blasts frequently hit crowded civilian areas in the mainly Arab populated towns near the border with Turkey, which are under the control of Turkish-backed forces.

The Kurdish-led forces say its fighters are engaged in a guerrilla campaign against Turkish forces but denies targeting civilians.

On November 10, Turkey blamed Kurdish fighters for another bombing that took the lives of eight people in the village of Suluk southeast of Tal Abyad. A week earlier, another car bomb killed 13 people in Tal Abyad, according to the Observatory.

Kurdish-led Syrian forces expelled IS from its last patch of land in March, but the militants have continued to claim deadly attacks.

The aftermath of a car bomb explosion at the industrial zone in the northern Syrian town of Tell Abyad, on the border with Turkey, yesterday.

Turkey, Russiaend 10th jointpatrol in SyriaANATOLIA ANKARA

Turkey announced yesterday that Turkish troops in northern Syria completed the 10th round of joint patrols with Russia as part of a deal reached in October.

“Turkish and Russian units have completed their tenth joint land patrol according to plan in the Ras Al-Ayn — Qamishli sector east of the Euphrates, with four vehicles each and a c c o m p a n y i n g U A V s [unmanned aerial vehicles],” the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said on Twitter.

The first joint ground patrols, on November 1, took place near the Ras al-Ayn and Qamishli regions. On October 22, Ankara and Moscow reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists would pull back 30km south of Turkey’s border with Syria, and security forces from Turkey and Russia will mount joint patrols there.

Heavy rains and landslides inKenya and Tanzania, 39 deadAFP NAIROBI

Heavy rains lashing East Africa have caused of dozens of deaths, with 29 buried by landslides in Kenya, and 10 people drowned in a river in Tanzania, officials said yesterday.

The landslides and floods come amid weeks of destructive rains and flooding across the wider East African region.

At least 29 people were killed in Kenya when their homes were swept away in land-slides during ferocious overnight rainstorms. Their homes were hit in the early hours of Saturday amid torrential rains in the Pokot region, 350km northwest of the capital Nairobi.

“We are saddened to confirm that 12 people from Tapach and Parua in Pokot South, and 17 from Tamkal in Pokot Central lost their lives,” Kenya’s Interior

Minister Fred Matiang’i said in a statement.

“Our profound sympathies go to the families and friends of those who have been affected.” Army and police helicopters have been sent, Matiang’i said, with efforts delayed because roads had been cut and bridges closed after streams turned into raging torrents.

Two children were pulled out alive from the smashed wreckage of their mud-covered homes, and rescue efforts to dig bodies out of the dirt continued. “Massive landslides reported in various areas of West Pokot County following heavy downpour,” Kenya Red Cross said in a message, adding its emergency response teams had deployed to help.

In Tanzania, at least 10 people drowned when they were swept away by a torrential river in the far west, in the Sengerema

district of Mwanza. “We think there is a possibility to find more bodies,” said Tanzanian Red Cross official Revocatus Kayanda, part of the team who recovered the victims.

Violent downpours have also displaced tens of thousands in Somalia, submerged whole towns in South Sudan and killed dozens in flash floods and land-slides in Ethiopia.

Close to a million people in South Sudan alone are affected with growing fears of disease and starvation.

Floods hit East Africa regu-larly, but scientists say that it has been exacerbated by a powerful climate phenomenon in the Indian Ocean stronger than any seen in years. The extreme weather is blamed on the Indian Ocean Dipole — a climate system defined by the difference in sea surface temperature between western and eastern areas of the ocean.

Ethiopian vote backs new federal regionAFP HAWASSA, ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia’s Sidama people have voted overwhelmingly for a new federal region, with 98 percent choosing autonomous rule, the electoral board said yesterday.

The result means a major shakeup in Ethiopia, with ana-lysts saying it could inspire other groups to push for autonomy to redraw bound-aries in Africa’s second most populous country, with more than 100 million people.

The official results were released by Wubshet Ayele, deputy head of the National Electoral Board, in the regional capital Hawassa, roughly 200km south of Addis Ababa.

“The November 20 polls was peaceful and didn’t have major logistical challenges, although in some places there were larger than projected queues of voters,” Ayele said.

Less than two percent of the 2.27 million people who voted in the referendum chose to remain in the existing federal region, one of nine currently in Ethiopia, Ayele said.

The poll paves the way for Sidama to become a 10th state — but also acts as inspiration for others keen to carve out their own ethnic region.

With more than 10 other ethnic groups potentially inter-ested in holding their own ref-erendum on autonomy, the Sidama result will have an impact far beyond the local region itself. The referendum on autonomy sprang from a federal system designed to provide widespread ethnic self-rule in a hugely diverse country.

The Sidama — who number more than three million — have agitated for years to leave the diverse Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region.

The Sidama autonomy push gained fresh momentum after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, took office last year and enacted a series of reforms that have encouraged more freedoms.

“[Iraqi PM] pledged to me that they would work to protect and respect peaceful protesters as ... part of the democratic process here in Iraq,” Pence said.

11SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 ASIA

SC to hear plea on Maharashtra floor test todayIANS/AFP NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition by Shiv Sena-Congress-National Congress Party seeking a floor test within 24 hours to avoid horse-trading and “illegal manoeuvres” in Maharashtra at 11.30am today.

The petitioners moved the Apex Court last evening seeking an urgent hearing following which the court authorities con-firmed a hearing on the petition at 11:30am today.

The petition sought quashing of Maharasthra Governor B S Koshyari’s decision to invite BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis to form the government yesterday morning as unconstitutional, arbitrary, illegal, void-ab-initio and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

“The petitioners are praying for an immediate floor test within 24 hours so as to avoid further horse-trading and illegal manoeuvres to somehow cobble up a majority from the Maha Vikas Aghadi,” said the petition.

Terming the Governor’s decision as a “brazen action”, the petition sought the Apex Court’s direction to Koshyari to invite the alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena, the

Congress and the NCP “which has the support of more than 144 MLAs to form the government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray”.

The Sena insisted that the Governor has installed a minority BJP government which was illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of the well-settled law laid down by the top court.

It said its political alliance con-stitutes a clear majority in the House. “It is submitted that such manoeuvring, at the behest of the BJP through the Governor to suit their political agenda, actually amounts to a death knell on democracy which is a basic feature of our Constitution,” said the petition.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made an unexpected comeback to power yesterday in Maharashtra after prolonged

backroom negotiations saw pres-idential rule lifted after days of uncertainty.

In the end though the BJP pulled off a major upset by joining hands with a top NCP leader to form a coalition, announcing the deal yesterday.

“This bolsters the BJP and Modi’s image in the state and the country,” political commentator Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay said.

The sudden swearing-in of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister and Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy yesterday morning had been scripted by BJP chief Amit Shah a day earlier. While Sharad Pawar had taken the initiative for a Con-gress-NCP-Shiv Sena government, the actual plot was laid by Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis with Amit Shah being regularly updated on their negotiations, facilitated by party General Secretary Bhu-pendra Yadav.

According to BJP sources, as soon as hopes of a government led by Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray grew bright after talks between the Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party ended Friday night, Amit Shah prepared himself to deliver a masterstroke and deputed Yadav, a party trouble-shooter and trusted election manager, for the purpose.

Yadav was asked to proceed to Mumbai on Friday afternoon, and on reaching the country’s com-mercial capital, he began to lay the groundwork for the stunning turn-around, sources said.

BJP sources told IANS that Amit Shah had been reassured by Ajit Pawar, the NCP’s legislature party chief, that he commanded allegiance of two-thirds of his party’s 54 MLAs and this strength

was enough to escape the ambit of the anti-defection law.

Ajit Pawar also said, according to the sources, that keeping in view their pre-poll alliance, the NCP chief would be seen standing with the Congress, but with a big chunk of 29-30 MLAs with him (Ajit Pawar), it would not be dif-ficult for the BJP-led government to prove its majority. The BJP had already claimed the support of

around one-and-a-half dozen Independents and MLAs from smaller parties.

After being fully convinced, Shah deputed the trusted Yadav to Mumbai for the final round of talks. Sending him had two major reasons - one, he had been the party in-charge for the Mahar-ashtra elections, and secondly, he was adroit at keeping the media away from his tracks.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis (centre), speaks during a victory rally outside the party headquarters in Mumbai yesterday.

Anti-defection law to emerge as a crucial forceIANS NEW DELHI

The anti-defection law will emerge as a crucial force in the unfolding political drama in Maharashtra, after the BJP in a successful coup formed the government in the state yesterday.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has already warned the party MLAs about the conse-quences of the application of the law.

In 1985, the anti-defection law

was introduced as a deterrent to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from switching parties, in the backdrop of political opportu-nities, as per their convenience.

In the political situation prior to 1985, there were no rules to prevent the lawmakers from changing parties. In the absence of the law, the post-poll situation was conducive for lawmakers, who would want to embrace political prospective at the cost of their parent political party.

In 1967, Gaya Lal, MLA from Haryana, quit the United Front

to join the Congress. Same day, he resigned and went back to his parent political party, all in about nine hours.

The Tenth Schedule was added to the Constitution in 1985. The law was considered suc-cessful in applying brakes on this political opportunism where the movement of MLAs and MPs from one party to another was at their whims and fancies.

The law prescribes grounds for the disqualification of a law-maker for defection.

According to the law,

voluntary decision to give up party membership or defying the party direction/whip is deemed as defection by a legislator.

There is an exception in the anti-defection law — if two-thirds or more legislators of a party come to a decision seeking merger with any other party, then under these circumstances, the they cannot be disqualified for defection.

In Maharashtra, 54 MLAs are with NCP. In order to shield the legislators from the anti-defection law, Ajit Pawar would have to get support of at least 36 MLAs. And

then, in the emerging political sit-uation, the MLAs will not face adverse action under the law.

However, the next phase of the test can be on the floor of the House. In a situation, if these MLAs, who are supporting Pawar, vote for the BJP during the trust vote, then Pawar and these MLAs are likely to face action under the law.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has criticised Ajit Pawar’s decision and called it an anti-party move in breach of party discipline.

Jaishankar attends G20 Foreign Ministers’ meetingJapan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (right) greets India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, before a bilateral working dinner at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Nagoya, Japan, yesterday.

SC decision on Ayodhyacase not final: SunniWaqf Board lawyer IANS LUCKNOW

Even as the Supreme Court has delivered its verdict on the Ayodhya case, senior Sunni Waqf Board lawyer Zafaryab Jilani is not satisfied with the decision and is planning to file a review petition. He said that this decision of the five judges of the Supreme Court is not final.

“The Supreme Court has already overruled more than a dozen decisions of these five judges,” Jilani said in an interview.

“A bench of 13 judges has been formed. The Supreme Court never says that the decision of the five judges is final and has to be accepted. Those who do not know the history of the law must be surprised to file a review petition.”

In response to a question, he said: “My written statement is we will accept the final decision of the Supreme Court. Whatever has come, is not the final decision. Article 137 allows that one who is not satisfied with the verdict can file a review petition.”

Jilani, referring to the two parties of the case — the Sunni Waqf Board and the Muslim Per-sonal Board and the Muslims of Ayodhya, said: “Others do not need to give their opinion on the matter. The proposal to replace five acres of land for the mosque is against the Sharia... Islamic Sharia does not allow this. The Waqf Act also says the same. The Supreme Court cannot change the mosque land. According to Article 142, it cannot go against

any institution.” Referring to the Sunni Waqf

Board not filing a reconsider-ation petition, Jilani said: “Whether or not it can file a reconsideration petition, doesn’t matter in our case. The Muslim community does not approve this decision. If the Sunni Waqf Board has to go against the reconsideration petition, go. A party cannot do anything in it.”

It was mentioned that most of the Muslims were satisfied with the decision on November 9. Those people have expressed their views in favour of the decision on social media. On this, Jilani said: “There are 200 million Muslims in this country. If two lakhs are satisfied then it doesn’t matter.”

Noting that some members of the Muslim Personal Law Board are also not in favour of filing a reconsideration petition, Jilani said that there is some dif-ference of opinion in every dem-ocratic system.

Some educated Muslims say that this matter would not have taken so long if it had been settled earlier, to which Jilani said: “Such people can only give advice by sitting in the drawing room. We are doing our work honestly. We have been fighting this battle since 1986. The father of Owaisi (Asaduddin Owaisi) has also supported us in this fight.”

He said: “A review petition on Ayodhya will be filed before December 9. We will choose the legal option of the Indian Con-stitution. In this case, our struggle will continue till we get ready.”

Forces hunt 7 Pakistan-based terrorists who entered via Nepal

IANS NEW DELHI

Seven Pakistan-based terrorists have managed to enter India through the porous India-Nepal border and are currently holed up in Uttar Pradesh’s Gora-khpur and Ayodhya districts, sources said yesterday.

These terrorists are making attempts to enter Jammu and Kashmir and also trying to get in touch with their local contact in the Valley.

Intelligence and security agencies are making all possible attempts to trace these ter-rorists, but they have gone out of radar as of now. Sources said as security cover across the Line of Control has become vir-tually impenetrable with heavy deployment of forces, Pakistan is pushing terrorists through the porous Nepal border.

Out of seven, five terrorists have been identified as Mohammad Yakub, Abu Hamza, Mohammad Shahbaz, Nisar Ahmad and Mohammad Qaumi Chaudhary. They are still untraceable.

“These terrorists are getting logistic s upport from local con-tacts and are also in possession of heavy arms,” said a source, adding it is still not clear where they would carry out attacks.

“Pakistan is so desperate to carry out terror attacks that they have now started sending ter-rorists through Nepal border,” said a source, adding the security agencies are on high alert.

After abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan has increased ceasefire violations across the LoC to push terrorists. Indian security forces, at many instances, have foiled their infiltration attempts in which many terrorists have been killed.

The forces have also spotted terrorists across forward locations of the border. Indian security forces, on the other hand, have also kept an eye on developments along forward border posts to foil any possible terror attacks.

There have been 950 inci-dents of ceasefire violations and 79 such violations along Inter-national Border in Jammu region during the last three months — August to October, 2019.

Military Literature Festival on December 13IANS CHANDIGARH

The stage is all set for the three-day Military Literature Festival-2019 with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh slated to inau-gurate it on December 13 at the Lake Club here.

Punjab Chief Minister Ama-rinder Singh will preside over the closing ceremony and honour the descendants and units of Victoria Cross winners of the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.

The event to be held from December 13 to 15 will present an international-level forum to foster and preserve exchange of knowledge related to military lit-erature and associated works,

besides acquainting the youth with glorious military heritage, Chief Minister’s Senior Advisor Lieutenant General (retd) TS Shergill told the media here.

The Military Literature Fes-tival has earned a brand presence in the region by successfully encompassing all aspects of defence literary works, arts, crafts, music and displays welded around the central theme to encourage youngsters to take up defence forces as career.

Over 50,000 visitors wit-nessed the literature fest last year registering a 500 per cent increase in attendance.

General Shergill said the Chief Minister would head a gathering of media experts, intellectuals and defence

strategists, including Mark Tully, Ravish Kumar, former Army Chief General VP Malik, former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Nandini Sundar, besides Oliver Everett, Kishwar Desai, Vivek Katju and Irfan Habib.

The Balakot strikes, Revocation of Article 370 and Taliban resur-gence make up an engaging starting point for triggering deliberations enough to bring the stage alive.

More than 10 books of noted defence and literary authors would also be released on the occasion, he added.

This time a dedicated army information corner would be setup for facilitating aspiring youth about various army exam-inations and entry procedures, he added.

Dawn surprise: Fadnavis sworn in as Chief MinisterThe sudden swearing-in of BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister and Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar as his deputy yesterday morning had been scripted by BJP chief Amit Shah a day earlier.

12 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019ASIA

PM Imran’s approval sought for next CJP appointmentINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

As the incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan, Asif Saeed Khosa, is set to doff his robes on December 21, the law ministry has moved a summary, seeking Prime Minister Imran Khan’s (pictured) approval for the elevation of senior puisne judge, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, as the top adjudicator of the country.

When he is sworn into the prestigious office, Justice Ahmed, who enjoys the rep-utation of being one of the most honest and courteous judges in the judiciary, will be the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan to serve till February 21, 2022.

The law ministry’s move to send the summary for the premier’s approval has laid to rest the swirling speculation that the federal government intends to enhance the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from the existing 65 to 68 years.

The speculation gained traction in bar rooms and gatherings as part of the recent electioneering of the Supreme Court Bar Association after two parliamentarians of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

— Fakhar Imam and Amjad Khan Niazi — moved a private bill before the National Assembly seeking to increase the retirement age of SC judges to 68 years.

The bill, which was later referred to the relevant NA standing committee for a threadbare discussion on it but is still pending with it, was aimed at SC judges’ retirement age and not that of the high court judges.

The idea set alarm bells ringing for superior court judges, while some senior lawyers feared that the attempt was in fact a bait and others questioned its pos-sibility without first amending Article 179 of the Constitution for which the help of at least two major opposition parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz

and the Pakistan Peoples Party, would be needed.

Pakistan Bar Council vice chairman Syed Amjad Shah said: “We are opposed to the concept of extensions, be it for the army chief or for the judges.” He said the bar councils believed that this concept negated the rule of law and the strength-ening of the democratic institutions.

The legal fraternity believes that the next chief justice will steer the superior

judiciary out of controversies and add to the prestige of the institution.

Justice Ahmed, who was part of the five-judge bench that disqualified former premier Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case, is also a member of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.

He is known for strict actions during suo motu proceedings regarding Karachi as a result of which massive anti-encroachment and cleanliness drive was launched by the metropolitan authorities though it also created some consternation among the people.

Under Article 184(3) of the Consti-tution, the Supreme Court enjoys the inherent jurisdiction to directly entertain public interest litigation for the enforcement of fundamental rights if breached or by taking suo motu notice whenever certain important issues are brought to its notice.

After Justice Ahmed, Justice Umar Ata Bandial will be next to become chief justice with 19 months of service till Aug 16, 2023. Justice Qazi Faez Isa will replace Justice Bandial to serve for more than a year till October 25, 2024.

Pakistani students protest over the incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in the Norwegian city of Kristiansand, in Lahore yesterday.

Pakistan protests against desecrationof Holy Quran in Norwegian cityANATOLIA ISLAMABAD

Pakistan yesterday summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Islamabad to convey the coun-try’s concern over the incident of desecration of the Holy Quran, in Norwegian city of Kris-tiansand.

“Pakistan’s condemnation of this action was reiterated. It was underscored that such actions hurt the sentiments of 1.3 billion Muslims around the world,

including those in Pakistan. Fur-thermore, such actions could not be justified in the name of freedom of expression,” said a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.

“The Norwegian authorities were urged to bring those responsible to justice and to prevent the recurrence of any such incident in the future,” the statement added.

According to the foreign ministry, Pakistan’s ambassador in Oslo has also been instructed

to convey Pakistan’s protest to the Norwegian authorities, The extreme right-wing group, Stop the Islamization of Norway (SION), in Norway held a protest against Islam last week and attempted to burn a copy of the Holy Quran.

SION members were pre-vented from burning a copy of the Quran by police. However, the group’s leader insulted the scripture held sacred by Muslims by throwing it in a waste container.

Court forms panel to probe rights violations in Pakistani prisonsINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has formed a commission to investigate the serious human rights violations in prisons across the country.

The IHC issued the orders in its judgment, authored by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, in a complaint turned petition filed by a prisoner in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

The commission, to be headed by Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, includes former chairman of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Zohra Yousaf, jour-nalist Ghazi Shahabuuddin, Supreme Court advocate Zia Awan, former director general Federal Investigation Agency Tariq Khosa, the interior sec-retary, the federal health sec-retary, and chief secretaries of the four provinces.

The secretary of the Ministry of Human Rights will serve as the secretary of the commission.

The judgment said that the commission has been formed in view of the “alarming state of affairs regarding the serious vio-lation of human rights and civil liabilities of prisoners incar-cerated in prisons across the country.” According to the terms of reference set by the court, the commission will investigate human rights violations in the

prisons across the country.The court has also directed

the body to probe the lack of medical assistance and obstacles in access to a court of law for prisoners who do not have the means or assistance in this regard.

The body will also probe the federal and provincial govern-ments’ failure to fulfil their obli-gations and enforce the Prisons Rules and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The com-mission will also review the prison rules and other relevant laws.

The commission has also been asked to provide solutions to deal with human right viola-tions in prisons and amend-ments in any law, rules or reg-ulation. It would also send pro-posals regarding appropriate governance and management systems.

The commission will also investigate how individuals and institutions can be held accountable.

The court further directed the secretary of the human rights ministry to call a meeting of the commission within seven days, and submit a report to the court after the first meeting.

The high court also ordered the federal health secretary to constitute medical boards, in consultation with the chief sec-retaries, in each province to examine the health conditions of prisoners.

Nearly 100 Bangladeshi ‘pirates’ surrenderAFP COX’S BAZAR

Nearly 100 alleged pirates surrendered to police at a formal ceremony in southeastern Bang-ladesh yesterday, vowing to quit a life of ocean larceny for a quieter one ashore.

Officials said the 96 pirates also handed in some 155 home-made guns, 300 shotgun rounds and machinery for making weapons and ammunition at Maheshkhali town at a ceremony watched by thousands of locals.

“We gave them 50,000 taka ($590) each as part of the reha-bilitation deal to start a new life,” local police chief Masud Hossain said.

The pirates have been blamed for a reign of terror in the waters off the southeastern coast, and accused of murders, rape, abductions, hijackings and theft, one police official said.

They were not granted amnesty for their offences, but their surrender will be con-sidered favourably in any trial, he added.

The pirates said they were tired of living on the run and wanted to try a quieter life.

“I hope you will never return to the old profession and

memorise the oath you took today,” home minister Asaduz-zaman Khan told the pirates.

“God willing, things will get better,” said Mohammad Ishaq,

a fisherman who watched the surrender programme.

“They frequently kidnapped us, often took away our catch and beat us for no reason.”

Bangladeshi ‘pirates’ lay down their weapons to Bangladesh Home Minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, as they surrender, in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.

Chinese envoy rejects US statement on CPECINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Chinese envoy to Pakistan, Yao Jing, has rejected US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Alice Wells’ recent statement regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying that Beijing will never force Islamabad to make timely payments of its debt, unlike the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“If Pakistan is in need, China would never ask it to repay its loans in time,” while on the other hand the International Monetary Fund, mainly gov-erned by the West, is strict in its repayment system,” said Jing, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, during his address to the 5th CPEC Media Forum in Islamabad.

He asked where was Wash-ington in 2013 when Pakistan was facing a shortfall of energy, and why it did not invest in Paki-stan’s power sector despite

knowing the country’s dire need for electricity.

Jing said that it were the Chinese companies that estab-lished power plants in Pakistan to meet the country’s needs, while the US, he said, did nothing.

The Chinese ambassador said that Pak-China relations are based on “win-win cooperation and are mutually beneficial”.

He rejected US concerns that power plants established under the CPEC have high tariff rates.

Jing further said that China has always come forward to assist Pakistan in need without any political or government-level differences.

Court extends Khursheed Shah’s remand for 15 daysINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

An accountability court in Sukkur district of Sindh province yesterday extended the judicial remand of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah by 15 days.

The court extended the remand after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) requested the court for an extension to the remand by 15 days in the assets beyond means case against the PPP leader.

During the hearing yes-terday, the NAB prosecutor informed the court that Shah’s mobile has been sent for a forensic analysis and will be returned once the process is completed.

The PPP leader, during the hearing, told the court that his health had improved and that his treatment was underway at a hospital.

The judge also asked the PPP leader if he was facing any problems. To this, Shah told the court that he was not facing any problems.

Subsequently, the court extended the judicial remand and ordered the accountability watchdog to present the PPP leader before the court on December 7.

Bangladesharrests 15militant suspectsAFP/CHITTAGONG

Bangladesh police arrested 15 suspected members of a banned extremist group from the coun-try’s second-largest city, offi-cials said yesterday.

Chittagong police con-ducted multiple arrests across the port city, including the regional commander and activists of the outlawed Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) group, police spokesman Shah Abdur Rouf said.

“The militants were being reorganised in the city,” he said, adding police recovered laptops, mobile phones, books, and cash to be used for “sub-versive activities”.

The group was banned in the South Asian nation in 2009 for carrying out “anti-state and anti-democratic” activities.

The London-based HT has been operating for decades around the world.

The law ministry’s move lays to rest the swirling speculation that the government intends to enhance the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from the existing 65 to 68 years.

Chinese ambassador says Pakistan-China relations are based on “win-win cooperation and are mutually beneficial”.

13SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 ASIA

Japan, South Korea tohold talks next monthREUTERS NAGOYA, JAPAN

Japan and South Korea agreed yesterday to hold formal talks next month, taking a step towards improving relations strained by decades of bitterness over their wartime past and now exacerbated by a simmering trade dispute.

The decision to return to the table came a day after Seoul made a last-minute move to stick to an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan. Seoul yesterday hailed its own move as a “breakthrough” after months of worsening relations.

Yet neither side gave any sign of a fun-damental shift in stance, meaning that their feud will likely remain as intractable as it has been for the half century since the two US allies normalised ties.

The feud is rooted in a decades-old disagreement over compensation for South Korean labourers forced to work at Japanese firms during World War Two. Seoul has seized local assets of Japanese companies and Tokyo this year curbed exports of materials used to make semiconductors.

“We bought time for intense discus-sions, but there’s not much time left for us,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha, told reporters.

She was speaking after meeting her Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, at a gathering of the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers in the central Japanese city of Nagoya. Motegi had earlier said that he wanted to discuss the issue frankly. “I

aim to hold a candid exchange of views on the matter of labourers from the Korean peninsula, which is the core problem, and other bilateral issues,” Motegi told reporters in Nagoya.

Tokyo has been frustrated by what it calls a lack of action by Seoul after a top South Korean court ordered Japanese company Nippon Steel to compensate former forced labourers. Japan says the issue of forced labour was fully settled in 1965 when the two countries restored dip-lomatic ties.

South Korea’s Kang acknowledged that “the gap was very big” between the two countries over the issue of forced labour. Japan’s Motegi told Kang that bilateral ties would further worsen if Korea decided to liquidate previously seized assets of some Japanese companies, a Japanese official said.

In her meeting with Motegi, Kang also repeatedly stressed the need for Japan to withdraw the export curbs. South Korea’s chip industry is heavily reliant on spe-cialised chemicals produced by Japan and now impacted by tighter trade restrictions. South Korea made a last-minute decision on Friday to stick with its General Security

of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) intelligence-sharing pact with Japan. The agreement was set to expire at midnight on Friday and South Korea had earlier indicated it would let it lapse.

The decision was welcomed by Wash-ington, which had pressured its two allies to set aside their feud and maintain the pact, seen as linchpin of trilateral security cooperation.

It was not immediately clear how much of a role Washington played in bringing the sides together. When asked

if Washington had helped push South Korea toward its last-minute reversal on the intelligence-sharing pact, a senior official at South Korea’s foreign ministry said that it was a result of the three coun-tries’ close discussions, without elabo-rating further.

At a bilateral meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan yesterday, South Korea’s Kang asked Washington to play a “constructive role” in resolving issues with Japan, according to the South Korean foreign ministry.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (right) shakes hands with South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha before a bilateral meeting at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Nagoya, Japan, yesterday.

Hong Kongto hold localpolls todayREUTERS HONG KONG

An uneasy calm settled over Hong Kong yesterday as the city prepared to go to the polls for local elections seen as a refer-endum on months of anti-government protests, after weeks of especially violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

On the grounds of the besieged Polytechnic University on the Kowloon peninsula, a dwindling number of protesters desperately sought a way out and others vowed not to sur-render, days after some of the worst violence since anti-gov-ernment demonstrations esca-lated in June.

The city is under tight security as a record 1,104 people gear up to run for 452 district council seats in the elections today (Sunday).

A record 4.1 million Hong Kong people, from a population of 7.4 million, have enrolled to vote, spurred in part by regis-tration campaigns during months of protests.

For the first time, riot police will guard all polling stations in the city and almost all officers in the 31,000-strong force will be on duty, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, citing a senior police source.

Young pro-democracy activists are running in some of the seats that were once uncon-tested and dominated by pro-Beijing candidates.

One pro-democracy can-didate for the Wan Chai district council, Chris Chan, said the election would reflect public opinion after the upheaval of recent months.

Few protesters were still visible on the campus, and a vis-iting lawmaker said their number was so small that there is no need for the police to enter the campus.

A makeshift barricade wall (bottom) is seen on the campus of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where dozens of pro-democracy protesters remain holed up, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia; no tsunami alertAP JAKARTA

A strong and shallow earth-quake hit Indonesia’s east-ernmost Papua region yesterday, but the epicentre was far from populated areas and there was no risk of a tsunami, officials said.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.1 quake struck at a depth of just 10km. Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones.

Rahmat Triyono, who heads the earthquake and tsunami centre at Indonesia’s Meteor-ology, Climatology and Geo-physics Agency, said there was no risk of a tsunami from the quake and there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

He said most residents in the West Papua provincial capital of Manokwari did not feel the quake.

With a population of around 877,000, West Papua is one of Indonesia’s least populous provinces.

Indonesia, home to more than 260 million people, is prone to earthquakes and vol-canic eruptions due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.” A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia.

Chinese spy seeks asylum in Australia, claims paper REUTERS MELBOURNE

An apparent Chinese intelli-gence service agent is seeking asylum in Australia, the Age newspaper said yesterday.

The defector, identified as Wang “William” Liqiang, is reported to have provided the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, or ASIO, with the identities of China’s senior mil-itary intelligence officers in Hong Kong, the paper said.

Wang also provided details of how China funds and con-ducts political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia, the daily said.

“I have personally been involved and participated in a series of espionage activities,” the Age cited Wang as saying in a statement to the agency.

The ASIO declined to comment, saying only that it does not comment on opera-tional matters or individuals.

Australia’s department of home affairs said it did not comment on individual cases.

“The purpose of protection visas is to safeguard people who cannot return to their home

country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or risk of harm,” a representative said, however, adding in a statement that each case was assessed on its merits. China’s Foreign Min-istry did not immediately return requests for a comment.

Wang may have “a legit-imate claim” for asylum, said the head of Australia’s opposition Labor party, Anthony Albanese.

“But we will have appro-priate briefings next week,” he was cited in a statement as saying. In Taipei, a spokes-woman for Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party said Wang’s information, as reported in the Australian media, was a reminder that China was getting involved in the self-ruled island’s presi-dential election next year.

The Age said Wang had revealed how Beijing covertly controlled listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including surveillance and pro-filing of dissidents and the co-opting of media organisations.

He also provided the Aus-tralian government with details of the kidnapping of a Hong Kong bookseller, the paper added.

Journalists take part in a protest outside the Presidential Palace in Manila yesterday, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 2009 killing of 58 people, including 32 media workers.

Philippines marks massacre anniversary with calls for justiceAFP AMPATUAN, PHILIPPINES

Relatives of 58 people slain in the Philippines’ worst political massacre held a tearful vigil yesterday to mark a decade since the killings, voicing anger at the slow pace of justice.

Tearful family members lit candles and released white bal-loons as children sang a chorus calling for justice at a southern Philippine town where 58 people, including 32 media workers, were slaughtered and dumped in roadside pits in November 2009.

“We have known for a long time who the guilty parties are. They must come out with the rightful decision now,” Jergin Malabanan, whose mother was among the journalists killed in one of the world’s deadliest ever attacks on media workers, said.

Malabanan, who was 15 at the time, became the sole bread-winner for herself and four younger siblings with the death

of her mother Gina de la Cruz, who was separated from her husband.

Ampatuan family dynasty leaders, who ruled the impover-ished southern province of Maguindanao, are charged with organising the killing in a bid to quash an election challenge from l o c a l r i v a l E s m a e l Mangudadatu.

The case has dragged on for years, with allegations of bribery and delay tactics against the defence, which once included Salvador Panelo, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman.

The trial ended in July, but the Supreme Court gave the lower court judge until December 20 to go over the evi-dence on which her verdict on some 100 defendants will be based.

A low-flying military heli-copter dropped a shower of flowers yesterday as about a thousand relatives, journalists, friends and local officials gathered around a hilltop

concrete marker where the 58 victims’ names were inscribed.

“Let us keep our guard up,” Mangudadatu, now a member of

the House of Representatives, told the relatives.

Independence vote held in BougainvilleREUTERS BUKA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Amid singing, dancing and the beat of drums, John Momis, the president of Papua New Guinea’s region of Bougainville, was one of the first to cast his ballot early yesterday in a refer-endum on whether to become the world’s newest nation.

Voters in the island cluster at the heart of the Pacific are expected to overwhelmingly back independence, Sydney’s Lowy Institute think-tank says, at a time when Australia, China and the United States are jos-tling to step up regional influence.

Momis voted at a polling station in Bel Isi Park in the interim regional capital of Buka. “Bougainville has come a long way,” said Momis, raising his voting paper before putting it in the ballot-box. He thanked government officials in PNG and Bougainville for their resil-ience in arriving peacefully at the moment of the vote.

The non-binding refer-endum, which runs until December 7, is a key part of a peace agreement reached in the aftermath of a decade-long war between Bougainville’s rebel fighters and PNG forces that took about 20,000 lives.

The fighting was triggered by disputes over the now shut-tered Panguna gold and copper mine, run at the time by a fore-runner of giant miner Rio Tinto, set off by anger over land roy-alties and rivers polluted by mining.

Queues formed at polling stations yesterday across the South Pacific archipelago, where more than 200,000 people have registered to vote, with many people holding the region’s predominantly blue flag.

The result of the refer-endum, which offers voters the choice of independence or more autonomy, will go before the PNG parliament in its capital, Port Moresby, and be subject to negotiation.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister yesterday repeatedly stressed the need for Japan to withdraw the curbs on exports to South Korea.

14 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019EUROPE

Top Malta tycoon seekspardon in return formurder informationREUTERS VALLETTA

Prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech, arrested by Malta police as a person of interest in the murder of an anti-corruption journalist, has asked for a pardon in return for information about the case, police sources said yesterday.

He is the second man to seek a pardon after Melvin Theuma, under arrest on suspicion of having been a middleman in the murder, made a similar request earlier in the week.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has already agreed to give a pardon to Theuma if he gives full information that could be used in court.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb on October 16, 2017 and three men are awaiting trial accused of having set off the bomb, but police have yet to identify who commis-sioned the murder.

Fenech was intercepted on his yacht as he tried to leave Malta on November 20, shortly after news of Theuma’s arrest was made public.

Maltese Economy Minister Christian Cardona was briefly questioned yesterday in con-nection with the murder inves-tigation, an official source close to the minister said.

The Economy Ministry later said in a statement, “Chris Cardona was asked to provide

some clarifications, including on speculations that were made about him in the past.”

It made no comment on the nature of the speculations.

Cardona had been a frequent target of Caruana Galizia’s blog posts, and had sued her after she accused him of visiting a brothel while on official business abroad. He has always denied the accusation.

Maltese media reported that Theuma had incriminating recordings about the murder in his possession and that these had now been handed to a magis-trate. The police have not con-firmed the reports.

Lawyers for Melvin Theuma and Fenech have not yet made any official comment on the case.

Caruana Galizia’s family have asked Muscat to distance himself from the investigation due to a potential conflict of interest in view of Fenech’s links to the prime minister’s

chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi.

Muscat rejected suggestions on Friday that he should not be the person who decides on pardons in the case.

“It is obvious I do not shelter anyone, I will do whatever is necessary, when it is necessary,” Muscat said.

A Reuters investigations last year revealed that Fenech was the owner of a mystery Dubai company called 17 Black which emails named as one of two sources of income for secret Panama companies set up for Schembri and Mizzi.

Mizzi had been energy min-ister when a power station con-tract was awarded to a group led by Fenech. It is not known whether any funds actually changed hands.

Mizzi and Schembri have always denied wrongdoing and Muscat has repeatedly resisted calls for their dismissal.

“The prime minister has no place anywhere near the inves-tigation and we trust that he will now distance himself from it” Caruana Galizia’s family said in a statement released on Friday.

“Too many people have worked too hard for too long for justice. The prime minister should not derail, in one final attempt, full justice for our wife and mother,” the family’s statement added.

Maltese media reported that Melvin Theuma had incriminating recordings about the murder in his possession and that these had now been handed to a magistrate.

Corbyn would be ‘neutral’ in new Brexit voteAFP LONDON

British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn revealed for the first time that he will remain neutral in the second Brexit referendum that he has vowed to hold if he becomes prime minister next month.

“I will adopt a neutral stance so I can credibly carry out the result,” he told a special edition of the BBC’s Question Time programme.

Labour plans to renegotiate the deal agreed between the current Conservative gov-ernment and the European Union, and then put it to another vote, with remaining in the EU being the other option.

“This will be a trade deal with Europe, or remaining in the EU,” he added. “That will be the choice that we put before the British public within six months.”

Some Labour MPs have said they will vote against their own party’s deal and in favour of staying in the EU.

It is the first time that Corbyn, a veteran eurosceptic who has not revealed how he would vote in another referendum, has stated how he will campaign.

The Brexit issue is threat-ening to hurt Labour in its tra-ditional working class heart-lands, which mostly voted to leave the EU.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hoping to pick up stray Labour leave voters, but suffered a dif-

ficult night in front of an unfor-giving crowd.

Johnson came under fire for alleged racism in his previous news articles and also for not releasing a report into Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum, which he dismissed as “Bermuda Triangle stuff”.

Corbyn’s route to power in the December 12 election could depend on support from the Scottish National Party (SNP) in some form of coalition.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said i that another referendum on Scottish independence from the UK would be the price of her support. “I would ask for, and expect, Jeremy Corbyn to respect the right of Scottish people to decide their own future.”

Britain’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn poses with people holding a banner outside Amazon’s depot in Sheffield, yesterday.

Coldplay no-tour plan highlights growing climate awarenessAFP LONDON

British band Coldplay won plaudits for shelving a new album tour over environmental concerns, in the latest sign of climate change activism in the music industry.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) praised the move, as the group released its latest album — “Everyday Life” — with only two gigs, both in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The performances, staged at sunrise and sunset without an audience, were broadcast free on YouTube.

“It is fantastic to see world

famous artists stepping up to protect the planet,” said the head of climate change at WWF, Gareth Redmond-King. “We all have a responsibility to lead by example in the face of this climate and nature crisis —inaction is not an option if we are to preserve our planet for future generations.”

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told the BBC they would not tour until they had figured out how concerts could be more “sustainable”.

He listed the amount of flying required and the use of items such as plastic water bottles as the band’s primary concerns over touring.

Activists said international music tours impact heavily on the environment, with concern about the amount of electricity used to power stadiums to waste generated by concert-goers.

Coldplay played 122 shows around the world across eight legs as part of the tour for their last album, “A Head Full of Dreams”.

Martin said if the band do eventually hit the road for the new release, they hope the tour could be entirely carbon neutral.

The band is set to perform another one-off concert next Monday at London’s Natural History Museum, with the pro-ceeds donated to an environ-mental charity.

Coldplay’s decision is the latest example of bands and the wider entertainment industry responding to growing concern about the climate crisis.

US teenage sensation Billie Eilish revealed last month that she had tried to make her world tour “as green as possible” with the help of a non-profit consultancy.

The singer told chat-show host Jimmy Fallon she had banned plastic straws and urged fans to bring their own refillable water bottles and to utilise recy-cling bins at venues.

Meanwhile The 1975, another British band, which this year col-laborated with Swedish climate

change icon Greta Thunberg, are also trying to move towards carbon-neutral touring.

It pledged in September to plant a tree for every ticket sold ahead of their upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.

Teenage activist Thunberg refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions involved. In September, she travelled to a UN climate conference in New York by boat. She is currently sailing back to Europe.

In Britain, live music events account for 405,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions, according to the campaign group Global Citizen, which stages its own zero-waste festivals.

Dutch police detain two teens in train shooting probeAP THE HAGUE

Dutch police said they have detained two 15-year-old boys in an investigation into the possible shooting of two trains.

Police in the southern city of Breda tweeted late Friday that the boys had BB pistols with them when they were detained on suspicion of dam-aging the trains.

Authorities launched an investigation after windows were damaged on a passenger train traveling from the city of Tilburg to nearby Breda, close to the border with Belgium, and on another train that arrived in Eindhoven.

Police also tweeted that both trains “could possibly have been shot.”

Nobody on either train was injured.

French zoo finds runaway red pandaAFP/LYON

A zoo in central France said it found a runaway red panda yesterday, a week after it escaped by scaling branches broken by snowfall.

The zoological park in Saint-Martin-la-Plaine said a man dis-covered the endangered furry mammal in his garden.

“We were called this morning around 8:15 am by a resident. He saw the red panda on a shrub in his garden,” said park vet Dr Jean-Christophe Gerard in a statement.

A team headed to the site and recovered the red panda.

“The little panda appears to be in good health and has not suffered from his stay outside the park, even if he is a bit thinner,” Gerard said.

The three-year-old male escaped from the park last Thursday, taking advantage of heavy snowfall that brought down trees.

Stirring speech by CSU’sSoeder reignites Merkel’s succession debateREUTERS LEIPZIG

Less than 24 hours after Angela Merkel’s protege won her party’s backing to be the next conserv-ative German chancellor, Bavarian conservative leader Markus Soeder gave a barn-storming speech to the Christian Democrats (CDU) that reignited the debate.

Annegret Kramp-Karren-bauer, Merkel’s heir apparent, had appeared to end months of leadership speculation with a ‘back me or sack me’ appeal to delegates at the CDU congress on Friday — which they answered by standing to applaud her.

But in the conference hall yesterday, Soeder had other ideas.

The burly leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s CDU, entered to pumping dance music, like a champion boxer, before delivering a speech full of power and punch.

Urging the CDU and CSU to show unity, he took aim at the smaller parties that have eroded

support for their alliance — the ‘Union’ — and fractured the political landscape.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) “doesn’t want to go back to the ‘70s but the ‘30s!” he told some 1,000 delegates gathered in Leipzig, Saxony - an eastern state where the AfD sucked away CDU votes in a regional election three months ago.

He then turned his fire on the Greens, accusing them of double standards for opposing airports and air travel but taking flights to spread their pro-environment message.

Soeder, whose state is home to BMW and Volkswagen luxury brand Audi, said he supported electric cars. “But the car is not the enemy in Germany. Some people think an SUV is worse than a nuclear power station!” he said, to roars of laughter.

The speech impressed dele-gates, who are desperate to see a revival of the Union’s fading fortunes before Merkel, 65, steps down.

The chancellor, in power since 2005, has said she will not seek office again at the next

national election, due in 2021, and helped Kramp-Karrenbauer, 57, to become CDU leader with an eye on next year, when the Union will decide on its chan-cellor candidate.

But “AKK” has made several gaffes since taking over as CDU leader last December that have dented her popularity and raised questions about her suitability to be the next chancellor.

Soeder, who replaced the lacklustre leader Horst Seehofer as CSU leader, may have had his mind on the same prize with his 40-minute speech, which received rapturous applause.

“He certainly belongs to the shortlist,” said Wolfgang Reinhart, chairman of the CDU group in the Baden-Wuert-temberg regional assembly.

A more senior CDU official,

speaking on condition of ano-nymity, said Soeder was “worth thinking about”, adding: “He made every sentence count.”

No chancellor has ever come from the CSU, although Franz Josef Strauss and Edmund Stoiber of the CSU were the Union candidates in the 1980 and 2002 federal elections, respec-tively, which were both won by the Social Democrats.

Bavarian State Prime Minister and Christian Social Union (CSU) party leader Markus Soeder gestures as he receives standing ovations after speaking at the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party congress in Leipzig, Germany, yesterday.

15SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019 EUROPE / AMERICAS

Thousands protest in Paris against domestic violence AP PARIS

Several thousand protesters marched through Paris yesterday to demand a national wake-up call and more government investment to prevent deadly domestic violence against women, a problem that President Emmanuel Macron calls “France’s shame.”

A wave of purple flags and signs snaked from the Place de la Republique through eastern Paris amid an unprecedented public campaign to decry vio-lence against women — and honour the 130 women that activists say have been killed in France this year by a current or former partner. That’s about one every two or three days.

While France has a pro-gressive reputation and pushes for women’s rights around the world, it has among the highest rates in Europe of domestic vio-lence, in part because of poor police response to reports of abuse. Many of the women killed this year had previously sought help from police.

At yesterday’s march, French film and TV stars joined abuse

victims and activists calling for an end to “femicide.” Many held banners reading “Sick of Rape.”

The protest came on the UN’s International Day for the Elimi-nation of Violence Against Women and is aimed at pres-suring the French government before it unveils new measures Monday to tackle the problem.

The measures are expected to include seizing firearms from people suspected of domestic violence and prioritising police training so they won’t brush off women’s complaints as a private affair.

Some of the marchers want 1 billion euros in government investment, though the funding is expected to fall far short of that.

French activists have stepped up efforts this year to call attention to the problem, with an

unusual campaign of gluing posters around Paris and other cities every time another woman

is killed. The posters honor the women, and call for action. They also hold protests, lying down on

the pavement to represent the slain women.

A 2014 EU survey of 42,000 women across all 28 member states found that 26% of French respondents said they been abused by a partner since age 15, either physically or sexually.

That’s below the global average of 30%, according to UN Women. But it’s above the EU average and the sixth highest among EU countries.

Half that number reported experiencing such abuse in Spain, which implemented a series of legal and educational measures in 2004 that slashed its domestic violence rates.

Conversations about domestic violence have also ratcheted up in neighbouring Germany, where activists are demanding that the term “femicide” be used to describe such killings.

In France, lawyers and victims’ advocates say they’re encouraged by the new national conversation, which they say marks a departure from decades of denial. Women aren’t the only victims of domestic violence, but French officials say they make up the vast majority.

French activist holding up a placard reading “Stop crimes against the women” as he takes part in a protest during the International day for elimination of violence against women in Paris, yesterday.

UN Security Council reaffirms ban on chemical weaponsAFP UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations Security Council reaffirmed its opposition to chemical weapons in the face of high-profile instances of their use worldwide.

The 15-member body unan-imously passed a declaration proposed by Britain expressing support for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Devel-opment, Production, Stockpiling

and Use of Chemical Weapons.“The Security Council

expresses its strong conviction that those responsible for the use of chemical weapons should be held accountable,” it said in a statement following the declaration.

Yet the Security Council has in recent years seen squabbles between western powers and Russia over the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war, with Moscow scuppering

attempts to hold Damascus to account.

Meanwhile in 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s estranged half-brother died after having his face smeared with the outlawed VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The UN was also divided over its response to the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Soviet-era nerve agent in the English

city of Salisbury in March last year.

In its resolution, the Security Council urged countries to ratify the Convention on the Prohi-bition of the Development, Pro-duction, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction.

The 1993 convention came into force in 1997. North Korea, Egypt and South Sudan have not signed it, while Israel has signed but not ratified the pact.

Vietnamese truck victim was at Dutch migrant centre: ReportAFP THE HAGUE

One of the 39 Vietnamese victims found dead in a refrig-erated truck in Britain last month is a minor who disap-peared from a Dutch asylum shelter previously, a newspaper report said.

The boy, whose name and age was not released, was among the bodies found near the south-east English port of Pur-fleet on October 23, the Algemeen Dagblad daily reported.

“The teenaged boy absconded from an extra-secure facility for vulnerable asylum seekers,” the paper said, quoting a source at the COA, the Dutch

government organisation han-dling refugees.

The COA declined to give the victim’s name, but the news-paper said investigations showed the teen went missing from an asylum-seeker’s centre in southern Limburg province.

Six Vietnamese teens also disappeared from the centre in August, sparking a massive police search involving heli-copters, the paper said.

The COA however declined to link the disappearance of the six teens to the dead victim in Britain. The bodies of eight women and 31 men were found in a trailer on an industrial estate east of London, with one of the youngest a 15-year-old boy named Nguyen Huy Hung.

France has among the highest rates in Europe of domestic violence, in part because of poor police response to reports of abuse. Many of the women killed this year had previously sought help from police.

Singer Iggy Azalea reports jewellery worth $366,000 stolen in burglaryREUTERS/ATLANTA

“Fancy” singer Iggy Azalea and her rapper boyfriend Playboi Carti reported a burglar stole over $366,000 in jewellery from their Atlanta home, police said.

Iggy, 29, whose legal name is Amethyst Kelly, told police a thief carried off items ranging from diamond eternity band rings valued at $70,000 to a $57,000 Audemars Piquet diamond-encrusted gold watch and a diamond engagement ring, a police report said.

Kelly, who grew up in Aus-tralia and rose to fame after moving to the United States at age 16, told police she was alone in the basement of the rented

Atlanta home on November 15 when she heard footsteps in the second floor dining room.

It was a rainy night and she thought it was Playboi, 23, whose legal name is Jordan Carter, after she left the back door unlocked for him to come in.

On Novemebr 17 she and Carter called police after they realised a blue Goyard bag where they kept all their jew-ellery was gone.

Kelly told officers they reviewed video surveillance footage and saw a man came into the house through the back door two nights earlier at 9.51 pm and leave eight minutes later with a bag in his hand.

Cuba launches programme to fight racismREUTERS HAVANA

Cuba’s government has launched a programme to combat racism, acknowledging that a problem that Fidel Castro tried to elim-inate after the 1959 leftist revo-lution remains unresolved.

The programme aims to identify steps to fight discrimi-nation, broaden education on Cuba’s African legacy and start a public debate on racial issues, Culture Vice Minister Fernando Rojas told a cabinet meeting, according to state-run media.

“Everyone recognises our revolution has been the social and political process that has possibly done most to eliminate racial discrimination,” state-run media quoted President Miguel

Diaz-Canel as saying.“But there are still some ves-

tiges that are not in our society because of policy but that are rather anchored in the culture of a group of people.”

Activists welcomed the move by Diaz-Canel, who replaced Fidel’s younger brother Raul Castro as president last year, but said it remained to be seen how well the program would be implemented.

Cuba has long hailed its elimination of racial segregation as one of the revolution’s greatest achievements.

Before 1959, education was largely off limits to blacks and mestizos and they were shut out of universities and jobs that involved interacting with cus-tomers. Whites had their own

social clubs, beaches and private parties.

When he took power, Fidel Castro abolished segregation and gave all Cubans access to free education and health care.

But Diaz-Canel acknowl-edged that some Cubans still make racist jokes and some private sector businesses adver-tised jobs only to people of a certain skin colour.

“This is a real step forwards, after we have fought for so many years,” said Deyni Terri, a lawyer and founder of Alianza Unidad Racial. “It’s a good start, partic-ularly that the president is taking this on personally.”

Racial discrimination was also a problem in state institu-tions, with police more likely to arrest black citizens, Terri said.

Greta Thunberg to guest-edit BBC radio programmeAFP/LONDON

Teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg will guest-edit BBC radio’s main daily current affairs programme in December, the broadcaster announced.

“The 16-year-old climate change campaigner will be one of five prominent personalities invited to take over the “Today” programme between Christmas and New Year.”

Thunberg will speak to the world’s leading climate change figures and hear from frontline activists, said the BBC.

She has also commissioned reports from the Antarctic and Zambia and an interview with Bank of England governor Mark Carney. The other four guest editors on the daily programme on BBC Radio 4 will be Supreme Court president Brenda Hale, Grayson Perry, poet performer George the Poet and Charles Moore, the former editor of The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Curfew imposed in Bogota amid protests

BLOOMBERG BOGOTA

Colombia’s capital was placed under curfew following wide-spread unrest as anti-government protesters returned to the streets a day after a nationwide strike.

The mayor’s office instituted a city-wide curfew starting 9pm. Earlier, crowds gathered outside congress for a second day as protest organisers called on people to keep up pressure on the unpopular president.

Student demonstrators marched past the Bogota stock exchange chanting “Down with Duque!” and “Long live the national strike!”

“We don’t want this to end after just one day, which would only be a mild warning for the government,” said Santiago Malagon, an advertising student.

“We know that yesterday’s march was big, but we want to have greater repercussions.”

Unions said they’d convene another national demonstration today, and urged Colombians to bang pots and pans, a common form of protest in Latin America.

The government is hoping that the protests die down, while the organisers are trying to keep the momentum going. Groups are protesting a range of issues, including inequality, the govern-ment’s education and labor pol-icies and unsolved murders of social leaders.

Elsewhere in the Andes, huge anti-government protests forced the governments of Ecuador and Chile to roll back austerity measures, while in Bolivia weeks of demonstrations helped force President Evo Morales to step down.

On Friday, masked youths

fought with police in parts of Bogota, as well as in Cali, Colom-bia’s third-largest city. There were renewed outbreaks of looting and vandalism.

Thieves hijacked a city bus and used it to batter down the doors of a shuttered shop in the south of Bogota, allowing a mob of looters to enter, according to footage shown by El Espectador.

On Thursday, more than quarter of a million Colombians took part in the nation’s biggest protests in years. The demon-strations started out peacefully, but degenerated into violence as protesters clashed with armoured anti-riot units, broke into businesses, and blocked roads. Three protesters died in the Valle del Cauca department, and at least 170 police and civilians were injured, the Defense Ministry said.

Soldiers stand guard at Bolivar Square following mass demonstrations against President Ivan Duque’s right-wing government, in downtown Bogota, yesterday.

16 SUNDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2019AMERICAS

Documents show contacts between Giuliani, PompeoAP WASHINGTON

Documents released late on Friday show Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in contact with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the months before the US ambas-sador to Ukraine was abruptly recalled.

The State Department released the documents to the group American Oversight in response to a Freedom of Infor-mation Act lawsuit. They show that Pompeo talked with Giuliani on March 26 and March 29.

Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, said the documents reveal “a clear paper trail from Rudy Giuliani to the Oval Office to Sec-retary Pompeo to facilitate Giuliani’s smear campaign against a US ambassador.”

Last week, former Ambas-sador Marie Yovanovitch told H o u s e i m p e a c h m e n t

investigators she felt “knee-capped” by a “smear campaign” Giuliani led against her. She was withdrawn from her post in Ukraine in May.

The documents also include a report, that appears with Trump hotel stationery, that appears to summarise a January 23, 2019, interview with Ukraine’s former prosecutor general, Victor Shokin.

The summary said Giuliani and two business associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were present.

Parnas and Fruman were arrested last month on a

four-count indictment that includes charges of conspiracy, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsification of records.

The men had key roles in Giuliani’s efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investi-gation against Democratic pres-idential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter. In the document, Shokin claims he was removed

from his position under pressure from Biden.

A second memo appears to be a summary of an interview with Yuri Lutsenko, also a former prosecutor general of Ukraine, conducted in the presence of Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman. Lutsenko is quoted raising ques-tions about compensation that Hunter Biden received from the Ukrainian oil company Burisma.

Boy arrested in Los Angeles-area school shooting threatAP LOS ANGELES

A 13-year-old boy was arrested and a rifle was seized after the teen threatened to shoot other students and staff at his Los Angeles-area middle school, authorities said.

Deputies serving a search warrant at the boy’s home dis-covered an AR-15-style gun, 100 rounds of ammunition, a list of names and a drawing of the school, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

The boy said he would carry out the shooting on Friday at Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School in Willowbrook, Villanueva said.

The boy was arrested without incident at his home on

suspicion of making criminal threats, the sheriff said.

Investigators were trying to determine where he got the gun. In an earlier tweet, Undersheriff Tim Murakami made reference to a “ghost gun” being seized but Villanueva clarified the weapon in the threat case has a serial number. Multiple students over-heard the alleged threats and alerted teachers. School officials immediately notified the sher-iff’s department.

Villanueva also disclosed another arrest of a juvenile had taken place in a separate case in Palmdale, north of Los Angeles. He said a high school student was taken into custody after making threats on social media after a campus fight that led to school suspensions.

Austin Evers said the documents reveal “a clear paper trail from Rudy Giuliani to Mike Pompeo to facilitate Giuliani’s smear campaign against a US ambassador”.

Trump nods toward Mike Pompeo’s Senate runAP TOPEKA

President Donald Trump appeared to open the door for the top US diplomat, Mike Pompeo, to leave his post to run for an open Senate seat in his home state of Kansas. Talk about a Senate run has picked up as Pompeo has come under crit-icism for not defending US diplomats who have testified in the Trump impeachment inquiry, but it is still unclear whether he will run.

Washington has been awash in speculation about Pompeo’s possible departure amid growing strain in his relationship with Trump.

The president appeared to give his blessing to a Pompeo candidacy.

“He came to me and said ‘Look, I’d rather stay where I am,’ but he loves Kansas, he loves the people of Kansas,” Trump said. “If he thought there was a chance of losing that seat, I think he would do that, and he would win in a landslide because they love him in Kansas.”

Pompeo has said he’ll remain secretary of state as long as Trump will have him. Asked if he will push Pompeo to run, Trump was noncommittal:

“Mike has done an incredible job. ... Mike graduated No. 1 at Harvard Law, No. 1 at West Point. He’s an incredible guy, doing a great job in a very complicated world. Doing a great job as sec-retary of state. Mike would win easily in Kansas. Great state, and it’s a Trump state. He’d win easily.

The entrance to the Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School, in Los Angeles, yesterday.

Mike Pompeo (left) and Rudy Giuliani

Anti-IS operations to pick up in coming days, weeks: OfficialREUTERS/MANAMA

US Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie said about 500 US personnel in east Syria are expected to resume operations against IS militants in coming days and weeks.

IS group has lost nearly all its territory in Syria and US forces killed its former leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi last month, but the group that once controlled a third of Syria and neighboring Iraq is still seen as a threat.

The administration of Pres-ident Donald Trump shocked US allies last December by saying Washington was pulling out all

its troops from Syria.It said later it decided to

keep a residual force in the northeastern part of the country, focusing on preventing Islamic State from staging a comeback and attacking the oilfields there.

“Now I’ve got about 500 US personnel generally east of the Euphrates river east of Deir al Zor up to Hasaka, northeast all the way up into extreme northeast Syria,” McKenzie told reporters. “It is our intention to remain in that position working with our SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) partners to continue operations against ISIS down the Euphrates river valley where those targets present themselves.”