GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978

Our Say

By Faisal Abdulhameed al-MudahkaEditor-in-Chief

TUESDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 10840

June 5, 2018Ramadan 20, 1439 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Qatar banks on solidfooting to withstandsevere shocks: IMF

BUSINESSBUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 8

‘I don’t feel old,’ saysbirthday boy Nadal

Prayer times

Fasting times

O Mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous (Qur’an 49:13)

Fajr....3.15 Zuhr....11.32 Asr....2.56 Maghrib.....6.25 Isha.....7.55

RAMADAN THOUGHT

Iftar today .................... ........6.25pmImsak tomorrow............... 3.04am

48-team World Cup unlikely in Qatar, says FIFA chiefReutersZurich

The 2022 World Cup is unlikely to be increased to 48 teams, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said

yesterday, although if it were enlarged, the possibility of co-hosting would have to be examined.

Infantino told reporters from news agencies that it was premature to talk of a 48-team tournament in Qatar. The World Cup will be increased from 32 to 48 teams from 2026 but the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) proposed in April that the change be introduced in 2022.

Infantino said the proposal would be put to the FIFA Congress in Moscow on June 10 and a decision would be needed within one year.

“For the moment, we have a World Cup with 32 teams which will be played in Qatar, that is the current situation,” said Infantino.

“CONMEBOL made an interesting request... so we will have to look into it.”

Infantino said that, if it were to be enlarged, “more teams means more stadiums, more venues, more hotels, more transportation. You need many people to agree on going down that road and I think it’s premature.

“It’s not likely it could change but I don’t think we should be worried of discussing proposals. Obviously Qatar will have to agree.

“We have a contract with the Qataris, they have been awarded the World Cup with 32 teams,” he said. “Contracts are there to be respected but there is noth-ing wrong in discussing.”

New system to link hotel inventory to tour operatorsDiscover Qatar, the destination

management subsidiary arm of Qatar Airways, has announced

that it has launched a digital transfor-mation project and will implement in-novative digital technology to enable the country’s growing inventory of ho-tel rooms and services to connect with global tour operators and travel provid-ers on one digital platform.

The system provided by technol-ogy company Illusions will allow global tour operators and passengers to have “an enhanced and seamless journey when searching for and booking their perfect Discover Qatar experience”, Qatar Airways has said in a statement. Additionally, as an inclusive project, it will empower all relevant and regulated suppliers and service providers in the Qatari market to off er their products globally via the Discover Qatar system.

Discover Qatar is the fi rst destina-tion management company to use this “unique exchange technology platform in the region, marking another mile-stone for Qatar Airways”. One of the major benefi ts of the new technology is that it off ers the destination of Qatar immediate connectivity to more than 140 global travel partners already con-nected to the Illusions IWTX exchange platform.

Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar al-Baker said: “At Qatar Air-ways, we continue to raise the bar and innovate across all areas of our business as part of our fi ve-star product off er-ing. Discover Qatar’s technology is one of the fi nest destination management company digital solutions in the world, and will provide our travel partners and our passengers with not only a fl exible, reliable and scalable platform, but also

access to the full range of services, ex-periences and accommodation that our beautiful country holds, in a seamless digital experience.

“As the national carrier of Qatar, we are very proud to be playing a key role in the growth of Qatar’s tourism in-dustry. Qatar Airways is connected to

more than 30,000 travel companies globally, and this new technology will make every process easier for those global travel operators wishing to off er Qatar as a destination of choice to their customers. Through this initiative, we are looking forward to welcoming more tourists to Qatar, to experience our unique culture, warm hospitality and spectacular landscapes.”

Illusions Online chief executive Faisal Memon said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Qatar Airways on this project. Discover Qatar and the destina-tion of Qatar itself are now able to con-nect their inventories to global partners, while also benefi ting from dynamic connectivity to 90% of the world’s ma-jor hotel chains global inventory. With just four years to go until Qatar 2022, the introduction of this platform now is a major enabler for Discover Qatar in the

provision of beds and ground services for that tournament to Qatar Airways customers globally.”

Customers can find out more about Discover Qatar, its services and offer-ings by visiting www.discoverqatar.biz

Earlier this year, Discover Qatar an-nounced its latest selection of pre-bookable city and desert tours for passengers transiting through Qatar, making it one of the world’s leading inbound tourism providers for transit passengers. Initially launched in 2015, the transit tours are aimed at passen-gers with a transfer time of between fi ve and 12 hours at Hamad International Airport. The latest selection of tours includes visiting key landmarks such as The Pearl-Qatar, Katara – the Cultural Village, Souq Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art.

Amir meets ambassadors of Ireland and Costa Rica

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met at Al Bahr Palace yesterday with Ireland’s ambassador to Qatar John Paul Kavanagh who called on him to greet him after the end of his term in off ice. The Amir wished the ambassador success in future tasks and bilateral relations between the two countries further progress and prosperity. For his part, the ambassador expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Amir and the State off icials for their co-operation that helped make his tenure a success.

‘QATAR — Indomitable Spirit, Sagacious Leadership’— General Pages 8, 9, 10, Business Pages 1, 14, 15, 16 and Sport Pages 1, 2, 3.

Special pages in today’s Gulf Times

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met at Al Bahr Palace yesterday evening with Costa Rica’s ambassador Luis Alberto Guillen Downing who called on him to greet His Highness after the end of his term in off ice. The Amir awarded the ambassador Al Wajba Medal in recognition of his role in contributing to enhancing bilateral relations and wished him success in his future missions.

Trump-Kim meeting set for June 12

The White House said yesterday that a fi rst meeting between President Donald Trump and

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place at 9am (0100 GMT) in Sin-gapore on June 12.

“We are actively preparing for the June 12th summit between the presi-dent and the North Korean leader,” spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in announcing the timing of the meet-ing.

“We feel like things are continuing to

move forward, and good progress has been made.”

Sanders said that the White House “advance team” – which features mili-tary, security, technical and medical staff – were already on the ground in the Southeast Asian state.

They are “fi nalising preparations and will remain in place until the sum-mit begins,” said Sanders.

She added that Trump is getting dai-ly briefi ngs on North Korea in the run-up to the landmark meeting. Page 16

One year has passed, and the Gulf crisis is still dragging on. On June 5, 2017 Saudi

Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced a siege on Qatar. But the international community has by now become fully aware how fl agrant the quartet has been towards Qatar. The same international community is also witnessing how Doha is slowly but surely harvesting the success of its diplomatic equanimity, prudence and wisdom. Proudly said, profi -cient Qatari diplomacy has managed to deter and overcome the bloc’s foul plan to literally destroy the country.

As all of us already know, the sce-nario was all played out in advance. The blockaders’ plan was fi rst to de-base the image of Qatar, to isolate it by imposing a full siege, to destroy its currency and eventually its econ-omy, and fi nally, as reported in many intelligence reports, to invade Qatar, all the while ignoring the cultural cohesion, kinship, GCC history, and even worse, regional stability.

However, since the beginning of the crisis, Qatari diplomacy acted with composure and strength. Ab-sorbing the siege’s initial shock, Qa-tar managed to professionally take control of the overall situation, ex-pediting the offi cial opening of Ha-mad Port and launching new mari-time routes, expanding the national carrier’s aviation fl eet and adding new destinations, and widening the scope of its friendly international relations.

It has truly been a tough year full of anti-Qatar campaigning that in-cluded defamation, incitement, lob-bying and bribery. Billions of dol-lars were wasted on public relations campaigns and arms deals. This money should have gone for social productivity through investments in technology, education, infrastruc-ture, construction and economic development. Yes, but that is how it was conducted. To Page 2

e-mail: falmudahka@gulf-times.com

Crisis management: Lessons to be learnt from Qatari diplomacy

NHRC will go onraising violationsof siege countriesBy Ayman Adly Staff Reporter

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) of Qa-tar will continue to document

violations of the blockading nations, lodge complaints and raise the issue of the suff ering of the victims at all international human rights platforms, chairman Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri announced yesterday.

“The steps initiated by the NHRC at all levels have had a signifi cant impact in reducing the escalation of human rights violations committed by the blockading countries against Qataris and residents of Qatar through the past year of the Gulf crisis,” he asserted at a press conference.

Dr al-Marri was reviewing the NHRC’s eff orts since the blockade was imposed on Qatar on June 5, 2017, by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

“The quick action of the NHRC at the local and international platforms,

in addition to engaging the regional and international organisations con-cerned have put the blockading coun-tries in an embarrassing situation,” he said.

Dr al-Marri pointed out that these countries started by denying any ex-istence of such violations, then as their actions were exposed, they started to contradict their former statements by promising to address and treat the in-volved violations.

“However, ultimately most of them

have so far failed to take any serious action to redress such violations. For instance, Saudi Arabia still creates hurdles against the right of Qataris and the residents of Qatar to practise the sacred religious rites of the Haj pil-grimage to Makkah, using it as a means to pressure civilians for immediate po-litical targets.

“The NHRC is working to prosecute Saudi Arabia locally, regionally and internationally for the psychological damage caused to pilgrims and mate-rial losses to the campaigns, due to the politicisation of religious rituals,” he declared.

The NHRC chief described the blockade as not only a challenge, but also a powerful opportunity for Qatar to promote the human rights situation by joining the Interna-tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Cov-enant on Economic, Social and Cul-tural Rights, in addition to a number of legislations this year. “We encour-age the state to move forward in this path,” he urged. To Page 4

NHRC chairman Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri addressing the press conference.

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 20182

Top rights lawyers to launch report on siege violationsRenowned interna-

tional human rights lawyers and experts,

Professors William Scha-bas and John Dugard, will launch in London today a report titled “The Qatar Blockade One Year On; Hu-man Rights Violations and Coercive Measures”.

The report, assessing the human rights eff ects of the blockade after one year, will be submitted to the United Nations and various gov-ernments for consideration, with recommendations for the way forward in the re-gion, according to a state-ment.

“Today will mark one year since Qatar had a strict blockade imposed on it by

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. Amongst the many negative eff ects of the blockade on Qatar has been the signifi cant impact on the Human Rights of per-sons living in Qatar as well as in the blockading coun-tries,” the statement said.

The report highlights the main Human Rights viola-tions that are occurring as a consequence of the block-ade, these are primarily: A violation on the freedom of movement, separation of families and violations on nationality and country of residence, a violation on the freedom of expression and association, a violation on the right to education,

a violation on the right to health, and a violation of economic rights and the right to property.

Professor Schabas said: “The blockade has been widely condemned as a vio-lation of international law. Human rights institutions have been increasingly con-cerned about the terrible consequences of blockades. They impact upon a range of fundamental rights, in-cluding the right to medical care, to education, to free-dom of movement, and to freedom of expression. The objective is to bring greater pressure to bear so as to end the blockade and its conse-quences in terms of the hu-man rights of the people not

only of Qatar but of all of the concerned states.”

Professor Dugard said: “This blockade has had many detrimental eff ects on the life and livelihood of nationals of all fi ve coun-tries as well as those who are resident in them, including migrant workers. We call on the special rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the negative impact of uni-lateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, to immediately as-sess the situation and de-cide on a way forward. The blockade is a clear violation of international law in gen-eral and of human rights law in particular. It must not be allowed to continue.”

Ministry hosts awareness events to mark World Environment Day

Crisis management: Lessons to be learnt from Qatari diplomacy

Qatar joins the world in celebrating the “World Environ-

ment Day” which falls on June 5 of every year. The theme for the year 2018 is “Beat Plastic Pollution”.

On this occasion, the Ministry of Municipality and the Environment or-ganises several awareness events, including compe-titions on damage caused by plastic bags, household agriculture, recycling and other agricultural activities for both adults and chil-dren in addition to an ini-

tiative for planting trees in the parking area of a shop-ping complex and honour-ing Qatari winners in the competition of drawings and environmental articles organised by the Kuwait-based Regional Organisa-tion for the Protection of the Marine Environment on the occasion of Regional Environment Day 2018.

Celebrating the World Environment Day, the min-istry aims to promote en-vironmental awareness among the diff erent sectors of the society, to focus at-

tention on environmental issues and problems and to activate positive participa-tion in protecting the envi-ronment and confronting its problems.

Meanwhile, the Friends of the Environment Centre said the UN data shows that 13mn tonnes of plastic are dumped in the seas every year to make 50% of the marine litter.

The Friends of the En-vironment Centre said in a statement on the occasion of the “World Environment Day”, that plastic recycling consumes 88% less energy

than new plastics, so 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of gasoline can be saved by recycling one tonne of plastic.

On the occasion, the Cen-tre also organised a number of environmental aware-ness events. President of the Friends of the Environment Centre Eng Farhoud al-Hajri said that the World Envi-ronment Day is an occasion for drawing the world’s at-tention to the eff orts of the Qatari government and civil society in the area of en-vironment preservation. - QNA

From Page 1I still really wonder what

exactly were the blockad-ers thinking of when they imposed the blatant block-ade on my country? I mean, what was their state of mind when they fi rst ordered the siege of tiny Qatar.

What is even worse, why would the quartet keep injecting the young gen-eration with the poison of hatred and resentment to-wards their families. Is it part of Big Brother’s totali-tarian tactics to buy some time in maintaining the sta-tus quo?

From my humble view-point, the quartet’s com-placency against Qatar was a direct strategic mistake. It was the outcome of some miscalculations of a back-ward, medieval and imperial way of thinking.

Personally, I feel sorry for some of the siege na-tions’ accomplices. I would just call them ‘the deluded’ who think that regional and international relations are managed like some video game or WhatsApp groups. May Allah guide them; this is my only prayer for them.

It is true that the crisis has taken a political, eco-nomic, and cultural toll on all of us. However, it also resulted in the moral decay of the blockaders. I am talk-ing of the blockaders’ moral rot not because I am Qatari or defending Qatar. It is a widespread thought adopt-ed by a good number of peo-ple living in the blockading countries. It is accepted by Saudis, Emiratis, Bahrainis, and even Egyptians. Why else do you think Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bah-

rain imprisoned and fi ned hundreds of their citizens for only sympathising with their second home, Qatar?

Surprisingly too, the blockaders’ politicians, the very ones who orches-trated the siege, are also fully aware of their moral decadence. Otherwise, why would they make contradic-tory public statements and why would they, especially the Saudis, insist on de-grading and downplaying the decisive importance of the Gulf crisis, while their media networks and plat-forms are working 24/7 on discrediting Qatar?

Speaking of the blockad-ers’ vain attempt to discred-it Qatar, social media sites, Twitter for example, have become nests to what is usually referred to as elec-tronic mosquitoes (or bots).

These mosquitoes are given the only task of constantly playing on people’s minds, or brainwashing them, by continuously spreading lies, slanders, defamation, libel, and rumours about Qatar.

The process is systemati-cally organised in Saudi Ara-bia and the UAE by spyware and hacking bullies. Mere puppets are keeping those social media campaigns sim-mering in siege countries.

Finally, a lot of us wish and pray to Allah for an im-minent solution to the cri-sis. Our trust in the Kuwaiti mediation has always been strong. Qatar welcomes any solution that would end the crisis, provided that its sov-ereignty is never compro-mised. State sovereignty is a red line that should never be crossed. Otherwise, let the siege be there forever.

‘Qatar Taxi’ off ers free rides tocoincide with siege anniversary

Qatar Taxi will be of-fering free rides un-til midnight today

to coincide with the fi rst anniversary of blockade against Qatar, the company announced yesterday.

Qatar Taxi is the fi rst Qa-tari application of its kind for booking cars at an aff ordable price. “To mark the occasion Qatar Taxi will pay tributes to the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the country’s residents for showing resilience and resolve to withstand this unjust blockade,” it was ex-plained in a statement.

“The siege has not only made the country strong but the government’s re-sponse to the crisis and Qa-tar’s world-class fi nancial and economic credentials, have only enabled business activity to remain as robust as ever,” Qatar Taxi said.

Qatar Taxi business de-velopment manager Mu-barak Salem said “the free ride on June 5 is a small step gesture to thank all the resi-dents of Qatar for showing their solidarity and solid resolve to overcome the on-going crisis. The strength, loyalty and patriotism dem-onstrated in response to the

tumult situation of the past months, has been inspiring for all of us. Today we are united by our pride in Qatar and its leadership and the fellowship we share is a tes-tament to the values upon which Qatar was founded.”

Salem added “We look forward to a bright and prosperous future under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and as always, we are re-newing our vow to continue our march of giving and exerting our eff orts to serve our beloved homeland and embark on the path of de-

velopment in all fi elds. At the same time, we strength-en our resolve to contribute towards the development of the private sector in Qatar”

Qatar Taxi said two months after the launch of its app, more than 6,000 us-ers have downloaded it and around 1,000 drivers (cars) have registered to work for it. It also clocks in a weekly growth rate of around 25%.

The startup currently focuses on catering to cus-tomers in and the surround-ing areas of Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah with a fu-ture plan to cover the entire country.

QATAR3Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Number of soldproperties rose by 47% in April

The number of sold proper-ties in Qatar increased by 47.2% in April 2018 com-

pared with March, while it rose by 53.5% in the same month of 2017, and the value of sold prop-erties during the month of April rose by 15.1% compared to the same month of 2017.

This came in the 52th issue of Qatar: Monthly Statistics bulle-tin; a series of statistical news-letters released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics on a monthly basis, in which the bulletin highlighted the most important statisti-cal changes that occurred in the country during April 2018 in ad-dition to extracts from the re-sults of the 2015 Census.

The demographic statistics in the bulletin showed that the total population of Qatar has increased from 2.68mn during April 2017 to almost 2.71mn at the end of April 2018, an annual increase of 1.0%.

With regard to vital statis-tics, a total number of 2,049 live births have been registered dur-ing April 2018, a 3.6% drop com-pared to March 2018.

However, this decrease was off set by a rise in the total Qatari live births by 4.8% compared to last month.

On the other hand, 205 deaths were recorded during the same

period, an increase of 5.1% com-pared to March 2017.

However, this increase was off set by a decrease of 4.7% in Qatari deaths.

April 2018 has experienced a decrease in marriage and divorce contracts, and the total number of marriage contracts was 330, whereas the total no of divorces has reached 95 cases; namely, one divorce for every 4 mar-riages.

As for social security state-ments, the month of April 2018 has witnessed a signifi cant de-cline in number of social se-curity benefi ciaries, reaching 13,584 individuals, whereas the total value of Social Security has exceeded QR77.9mn during the same month.

The bulletin showed that the total electricity utilisation dur-ing April 2018 was 2611.5 GWh attaining a monthly increase of 11.1% as compared with last month, while recording an an-nual drop of 18.2% compared to April 2017.

The bulletin also showed that the total water consumption during the same month recorded an increase of 2.5% as compared with last month, while recording an annual drop of 10.6% com-

pared to April 2017.As for the data of buildings

permits issued, the total number of permits has reached 662 per-mits during April 2018, record-ing a monthly decrease of 7.0%.

Concerning traffi c accidents cases, a total of 532 traffi c cases were recorded during April 2018, showing a monthly decrease of 8.7% compared to March 2018.

Light injuries are accounted for the vast majority of traf-fi c accidents in April 2018, with 89%, followed by severe injuries by 9%.

However, 11 deaths were re-corded, equivalent to only 2% of total traffi c accidents.

The bulletin also highlighted that the total number of regis-tered vehicles during April 2018 has reached 5283 new vehicles.

The fi gure showed a monthly decrease of 16.6% and an an-nual decline of 19.9%, and the number of licences for new driv-ers increased by 3.2% compared to April 2017.

Total Broad Money Supply (M2) recorded about QR585.9bn during April 2018, an annual in-crease of 11.6% compared with April 2017.

On the other hand, cash equivalents; including deposits, attained for QR794.3bn during April 2018.

The fi gure has recorded an annual increase of 1.7% com-pared to April 2017, when de-posits recorded approximately QR780.9bn.

QNADoha

A total number of 2,049 live births have been registered during April 2018, a 3.6% drop compared to March 2018

Daiso Japan has opened its fifth Qatar store in Ezdan Mall – Al Wakrah. The company’s general manager Ramesh Bulchandani inaugurated the store located on the first floor.

New Daiso store

QIC Insured launches Ramadan campaign

QIC Insured, the personal insurance division of Qatar Insurance Com-

pany (QIC), has launched a pro-motional, lucky draw campaign during the holy month of Ram-adan.

Customers can now get a 20.18% discount on compre-hensive car, home, travel, and personal accident insurances. In addition, 16 lucky customers can stand a chance to win attractive cash prizes.

Customers purchasing new or renewing comprehensive car, home, travel, and personal ac-cident insurance policies dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan are eligible to participate in the campaign.

The transaction, whether pur-chase or renewal, can be done directly at qic-insured.com, or

any of the branches, or by call-ing 8000742. The winners of the campaign will be selected

through a random draw, which will be held in the last week of June.

The fi rst prize winner will be awarded cash prize worth QR25,000. Five second prize winners will each be award-ed QR4,000, while 10 third prize winners will each receive QR1,000.

Ali Albuenain, assistant man-ager – Retail at QIC Insured, said: “We are pleased to off er customers a special discount and a chance to win attractive cash prizes during the holy month of Ramadan.

“It is a continuation of QIC Insured’s commitment to reward its customers and match their requirements, especially dur-ing a very important time of the year. Through this campaign, we want to ensure that we bring in innovative off ers to make eve-ryone feel special, blessed, and rewarded.”

QIC headquarters.

Advisory Council holds meeting

The Advisory Council held yesterday its regular weekly session under the chairmanship of HE the Deputy Speaker of the Advisory Council Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Sulaiti. At the outset of the session, the council discussed the report of the Services and Public Utilities Committee on the general debate request on the status of judicial seizure included in the Consumer Protection Law and other laws that grant some employees the status of law enforcement off icers, with a view to addressing the shortcomings of the judicial control works and enabling them to achieve their goals. The Council approved the Committee’s report and decided to refer its recommendations to the Cabinet. In addition, the Advisory Council postponed to the next session, the discussion of the report of the Services and Public Utilities Committee about the discussions between the Council members and each of the presidents of Kahramaa and Ashghal.

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 20184

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), in collaboration with Doha Marketing Services Company (Domasco), has announced the recall of Honda Odyssey models of 2014-2015 because the left second row seat recliner does not lock in a proper way.The MEC said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that automobile dealers follow up on vehicles’ defects and repair them.The MEC said that it will

co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the main-tenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The MEC has urged all customers to report any vio-lations to its Consumer Pro-tection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through the following channels: Call centre: 16001, e-mail: info@mec.gov.qa, Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar

Honda Odyssey models recalled

Samsung and Techno Blue off icials at the opening. PICTURES: Ram Chand.

Samsung opens third brand

store at City Center Doha

Samsung, along with its partner Elec-tronova, has opened

the third state-of-art brand shop in Qatar at City Center Doha.

The outlet showcases Samsung’s extensive prod-uct portfolio including smartphones, tablets, ac-cessories, wearables, smart TVs, home appliances, and monitors.

Combined with the re-ality (VR) zone and 4D motion chair, the outlet lets customers experience many virtual reality thrill rides.

Also on display are the latest Samsung Q LED TVs, which deliver the highest contrast ratio and feature an elegant design with narrow bezels.

The Q LED TVs also uses one connect with almost an invisible connectivity, avoiding the bundle of wires with just an optical cable.

The premium line of home appliances in the out-let showcases the very best

in technology and design. On inaugurating the out-

let Samsung Gulf Electron-ics –GCC president C L Lee commented, “Qatar is very important to us due to its buzzing consumer electron-ics and smartphone market. Our customer base here has also been among the most loyal. They are particularly keen to equip themselves with the latest technology innovations. Catering to their growing needs, with several dedicated spaces for product demonstrations, our new brand store will set

a new benchmark in retail experience.”

Samsung Gulf Electron-ics – Qatar president An-drew Shin said through the unique service ‘Samsung for Her’ customers can request a visit by a female professional to demonstrate at home the features available on latest Samsung appliances.

At the in-store service desk, customers can get their mobile devices up-graded to latest software and consultancy for level one service support.

Techno Blue chairman

Nabil A R Abu Issa, added, “Our long term partner-ship with Samsung has gone from strength to strength. We are delighted to be part of delivering the highest quality brand experience to consumers in Qatar in the specially created environ-ment. With the third brand store in Qatar, I am optimis-tic that customers in vari-ous areas of Qatar will have an easy access. We also have plans to expand this expe-rience to the other areas of Qatar through the upcom-ing malls.”

An interior view of the new Samsung brand shop at City Center Doha.

We are delighted to be part of delivering the highest quality brand experience to consumers in Qatar in the specially created environment”

Ashghal will remove a temporary roundabout on the Orbital Road between Umm Al Afaei and Umm Shahrain interchanges from tomorrow (June 6).The change is designed in collaboration with the General Directorate of Traff ic to facilitate the construction of Umm Al Afaei Interchange which intersects Dukhan Road with Al Khor-bound Orbital Road. Motorists can use Umm Shahrain Interchange in place of the temporary roundabout to access and exit Dukhan Road and Umm Al Afaei Petrol Station, (as shown on the map).There will be no impact on the traff ic on the Orbital Road carriageway and the speed limit will remain at 80km/h.Ashghal will install signage to advise road users and has requested motorists to abide by the speed limit and follow the newly installed traff ic signs for safety.

Temporary roundabout on Orbital Road to go

‘NHRC will continue to raise siege violations’

From Page 1Dr al-Marri pointed out

that prolonging of the situ-ation constitutes a serious threat to the stability and security of the region.

Throughout the past year of the blockade the NHRC was active in fi ve diff erent legal courses to maintain the rights of the victims and redress the violations. A to-tal of 4,105 complaints were received over the past one year of the blockade. They were submitted to the Unit-ed Nations Special Rappor-teurs each according to their mandate. While six Special Rapporteurs issued urgent appeals to Bahrain and the UAE, seven appealed to Saudi Arabia.

Regarding quasi-judicial proceedings, Dr al-Marri recalled that the NHRC and some organisations con-cerned have resorted to the treaty bodies, and special-ised international agencies.

“Due to the confi dential-ity of these procedures, we

cannot talk about the de-tails or make any statement about them,” he clarifi ed.

Answering reporters questions about the status of two Qatari citizens de-tained by the Saudi Author-ities, he said Nawaf Talal Rashid is still detained and there are intensive eff orts to know about his situation. The other Qatari, Muhssin al-Kerbi, was detained in Yemen by the coalition forces, the Saudi forces in particular, and the NHRC knew he was detained in Yemen by the legitimate government.

“Accordingly, the NHRC holds the Yemeni govern-ment and Saudi Arabia fully accountable for his safety and well being. Eff orts are going on to secure their safe return.”

Regarding the situation with the UAE, he said that some Qataris were detained when they were on visit but all of them were eventually released.

5Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 2018

QATAR

QCDC takes partin Beijing eventThe Qatar Career Development

Centre (QCDC), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), partici-

pated in the recent 2018 Asia Pacifi c Career Development Association’s (APCDA) conference, an international forum for sharing career development ideas and expertise in the Asia Pacifi c region.

The 2018 edition of the annual con-ference, entitled ‘Connecting Career, Family and Society,’ was hosted by Ts-inghua University last month in Chi-na’s capital Beijing.

QCDC was represented by direc-tor Abdulla al-Mansoori and senior career programmes and services of-fi cer Eff rosyni Dimitrios. During the conference, QCDC presented a paper on aligning career development ob-jectives with the needs of the Qatari market.

The paper, titled ‘Aligning the As-pirations and Skills of Qatar’s Youth with the Needs of the Qatari Economy,’ is based on a series of research activi-ties conducted from 2015 to 2017 in an attempt to document current career guidance practices in Qatar, identify opportunities and constraints, and off er recommendations for improve-ments to help align the aspirations and skills of Qatar’s youth with the needs of the Qatari economy.

On the sidelines of the conference, al-Mansoori and Dimitrios engaged in site visits to key career organisations in China and met with many internation-al experts to discuss global best prac-tices and exchange expertise on career development strategies.

Through its participation in the APCDA conference, QCDC seeks to ad-vance career development practices in

Qatar further, al-Mansoori explained. “By drawing on our international

engagement and collaborating with distinguished foreign experts, QCDC seeks to further promote Qatari ca-pacity-building and empower youth to better plan their career paths in line with their potential, the future needs of Qatar’s labour market and the require-ments of Qatar National Vision 2030,” al-Mansoori said.

APCDA, a non-profi t association incorporated for educational purposes in the state of Maryland, US, provides training to professionals engaged in facilitating career development in the Asia Pacifi c region by organising con-ferences, workshops, and networking events that bring together career de-velopment professionals to exchange expertise, share ideas, and collaborate on professional projects.

A QCDC representative with some other participants at the conference.

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 20186

Book explores mobile media disruption in Middle East

How mobile media are changing the communica-tion landscape in the Mid-

dle East is explored in a new book published under a research grant at Northwestern University in Qatar.

The book, Mobile Disruptions in the Middle East, co-authored by John V Pavlik, Everette E Den-nis, Rachel Davis Mersey and Justin Gengler and published by Routledge, off ers lessons from the Arabian Gulf, notably Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and draws on data collected as part of a $726,000 award from the Qatar National Research Fund.

Pavlik, a professor of journalism at Rutgers was formerly associate dean for research at NU-Q where Dennis is dean and CEO.

Mersey is an associate professor at NU’s Medill School while Gen-gler is assistant research professor at the Social and Economic Survey Research Centre at Qatar Univer-sity.

As the book was being written, a four-nation blockade of Qatar set off an information war be-tween the two states under study

in the volume (the UAE and Qa-tar) among others that challenges accurate and reliable information amid fake news and other deliber-ate distortions.

Data for the book was collected before the blockade occurred in June 2017, though interviews with key sources continued after that.

Pavlik states: “The Gulf states

are the perfect setting for a study that tests the impact of modern media disruption as the region rapidly adopts mobile media from laptops and smartphones to wear-able devices.”

Qatar and the UAE have the highest internet penetration in the world with 99% of the popula-tion covered, according to the 2018 Global Digital report.

The NU-Q based study notes, “ Mobility has long been an impor-tant aspect of life in the Middle East…(and) has a strong and deep sociological foundation in Qatar and Arabian Gulf with the move-ment of Bedouin tribes and their traditions shaping the lifestyle and values of the Gulf.”

This cultural and historical con-text for mobile communication, even before the digital age, set the stage for rapid development as these wealthy nations were able to engage with the internet and mobile devices early on, the book suggests.

In addition to the Al Jazeera Networks and beIN Sports, both based in Qatar, the UAE has a no-

table media city with scores of media companies and other digital enterprises.

Dennis notes that the study “benefi ts from the collaboration of scholars from four institutions and is aimed at analysing the advanced media scene of the Gulf States with lessons for the global community.

It has the advantage of connect-ing with the world-wide concern about media disruption in one of the most dynamic digital battle-grounds anywhere”.

The book looks at audience engagement with mobile media including internet use and such specifi c content as news—and how media organisations adapt and respond to mobile media while tracking trends in the develop-ment of innovative content aimed at attracting and serving individu-als and audiences.

Set in the context of the conver-gence of modern, digital media, the authors address the role of dis-ruption innovation and transfor-mation changes based on results from the large-scale study of mo-bile media disruption conducted

over three years by the authors.One goal is “to advance under-

standing of consumer preferences for diff erent types of content” ranging from news to entertain-ment, sports, music and games, among others.

Mobile Media Disruptions in the Middle East is the fi rst of sev-eral reports, this one involving a quantitative survey of consumers paired with interviews, with media industry leaders.

Future work includes qualitative testing of consumer engagement with specifi c mobile media con-tent innovations.

With heavy use of social and mobile media as a means of private and public communication in both Qatar and the UAE, the quantita-tive survey attested to great en-thusiasm for new internet content designed specifi cally for mobile media.

The Mobile Disruptions study is part of a multi-faceted insti-tutional research programme at NU-Q that includes a distinctive longitudinal study of Media Use in the Middle.

80,000 displaced to benefi t from QC Iftar inside SyriaQatar Charity’s (QC) Iftar

meals programme is ex-pected to benefi t 80,000

fasting persons during the holy month of Ramadan in northern Syria and Daraa.

Through four central kitchens, QC continuously prepares 2,600 complete Iftar meals daily to dis-tribute them to needy families or provide them to its Ramadan ta-bles organised for internally dis-placed persons in various areas and camps in the region.

Faisal al-Fuhaida, executive director of the QC’s operations department, said the Ramadan projects have been provided to the displaced and needy people in Syr-ia in response to their urgent need for assistance and food, especially in this holy month, as well as to cover the great shortage of food.

As Qatar Charity is keen to provide Iftar meals to the largest number of the aff ected people in-side the Syrian, it has set up four

Ramadan fi eld kitchens at the be-ginning of the holy month to pre-pare fresh Iftar meals, including rice, meat, chicken and yogurt.

The kitchens have been set up in various areas of northern Syria such as Idlib and Aleppo in addi-tion to Daraa.

Al-Fuhaida thanked the philan-thropists in Qatar for their con-tinuous support to aff ected Syr-ians, especially in the holy month of Ramadan.

He added that work is under-way to distribute food baskets to hundreds of aff ected families and internally displaced persons in a number of provinces and areas inside Syria at a cost of QR3mn in order to secure their food needs in the month of Ramadan, and is ex-pected to be distributed soon.

He pointed out that a “Feed a Fasting” project was implemented in Turkey in co-ordination with of-fi cial bodies and local partners. The project benefi ted 40,000 people. Iftar food packets.

Iftar packets being distributed. Iftar meals being prepared in a field kitchen.

Dreama celebrates GarangaoDreama Orphans Care Cen-

tre recently held a public event at Mall of Qatar cel-

ebrating Garangao night.Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser

al-Misnad, executive manager of Dreama, explained that the Ga-rangao celebration was in line with the vision and message of the Qatar Social Work Foundation to enhance knowledge and enlighten targeted segments of the Qatari society.

Al-Misnad stressed the impor-tance of Dreama’s contribution to the social event, which constitutes a platform for children to interact with the society.

Selecting Mall of Qatar as the venue was a good idea as it enabled members of the public to attend and participate in the event.

The celebration came in the context of holding a variety of events aimed at inculcating the values of the Qatari community in children.

Rana al-Asaad, head of Personal

Banking at Al Khalij Commercial Bank (Al Khaliji), in her capacity as sponsor of the event, hailed Drea-ma’s participation in the event and expressed happiness at the inter-action achieved between the chil-dren and the society on the occa-sion of Garangao.

She also highlighted the bank’s

commitment towards all segments of the Qatari society by providing support — such as the one pro-vided by Dreama to enhance chil-dren’s capabilities.

She added that Dreama and Al Khaliji succeeded in organising the event as part of its commitment to the Qatari society, which included

the ‘heroes’ of Dreama, who the bank is committed to support.

Al Khaliji and the Mall of Qatar management jointly sponsored the event.

The event also featured a play titled Garangao Bu Tafshan, which lasted for 90 minutes.

It focused on the preparations

of the Bu Tafshan family – which comprises the father, mother, two daughters and a son — to celebrate Garangao.

The play’s message was to com-municate the spirit of unity and collaboration between the family members towards creating a “core for the whole society”, Dreama said in a statement.

Activities of the special Ga-rangao event centred on shedding light on the need to provide psy-chological support to orphans and on highlighting the importance of the positive impact of enlightening the society on orphans’ problems, the statement noted.

Further, holding such events for Dreama children in public areas contribute towards familiarising the attendees with the functions of the centre and the services it off ers, while also helping acquaint the public, specifi cally those in-tending to help, with the appro-priate mechanisms to off er social support to Dreama orphans.

A scene from the Garangao Bu Tafshan play that was staged during the celebration.

QATAR7Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

MEC, MME crack down on violations at butcheriesFive penalties were imposed

on butcheries in the country during a surprise inspection

campaign carried out by the Min-istry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) in co-operation with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), it was an-nounced yesterday.

The campaign targeted a number of butcheries across the country to monitor the compli-ance of suppliers with their ob-ligations under applicable laws in Qatar and their commitments in line with the MEC’s initiative on subsidised sheep prices dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan, the ministry said in a statement. The inspection campaign, which

targeted 23 butcheries, resulted in the imposition of fi ve penalties for diff erent violations. These in-cluded the failure to comply with mandatory prices for Australian meat, which represents a viola-tion of the provisions of Article 1 of Law No 12 of 1972, while an-other butchery was penalised for forcing consumers to buy a speci-fi ed quantity of meat in violation of the provisions of Article 10 of Law No 8 of 2008 on Consumer Protection.

Spoiled fi sh in large quanti-ties were also found displayed by a supplier, which resulted in the seizure of the products and a pen-alty for violating Article 6 of Law No 8 of 2008 on Consumer Pro-

tection, the MEC said. Violations of Law No 8 of 2008 on Consumer Protection can result in adminis-trative closure and fi nancial pen-alties ranging from QR3,000 to QR1mn.

The inspection campaign came within the framework of the MEC’s Ramadan initiatives under the theme ‘#Aqal_Min_Al_Wa-jeb’. The ministry has stepped up its inspection campaigns throughout the year, focusing on commercial activities that become more in demand dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan as part of its eff orts to monitor markets and commercial activi-ties in order to uncover and crack down on violations and protect

consumer rights, the statement adds. The MEC has stressed that it will not tolerate any violations of the Consumer Protection Law and its regulations. It will refer those who violate laws and min-isterial decrees to the competent authorities, who will, in turn, take appropriate action against the perpetrators in order to protect consumer rights.

The ministry has urged all consumers to report violations or submit complaints and sug-gestions through the call centre: 16001, e-mail: info@mec.gov.qa, Twitter: MEC_QATAR, Insta-gram: MEC_QATAR and the min-istry’s app available on iPhone and Android devices: MEC_QATAR An inspection under way at a butchery.

QU faculty gives keynote speech at Tianjin meet

Prof Syed Javaid Zaidi, Qatar Fuel Additives Company chair professor at Qatar

University Center for Advanced Materials (QU-CAM), gave a keynote speech in the “One Belt One Road International Confer-ence on Advanced Membranes and Sustainable Technologies” recently held in Tianjin, China.

Prof Zaidi was invited based on his international recognition in the membrane fi eld for clean energy and clean water. In his presentation titled “Progress on

Membranes Developments in Clean Water and Clean Energy”, he highlighted the innovative work on the membranes devel-opment on reverse osmosis water desalination and clean energy fuel cells.

Prof Zaidi noted that the mem-brane technology has gained an important place in solving the challenging issues of water, en-ergy and environment.

“The membrane technol-ogy has progressed rapidly and made tremendous achievements

in recent years. It has brought great benefi ts to human life and also created numerous industrial applications. In the future, the huge potential membrane mar-ket requires new breakthroughs of developing cost-eff ective and environmental-friendly mem-branes and membrane processes by establishing collaboration with various research organisa-tions.”

The conference was co-or-ganised by the world-renowned National Center for International

Joint Research on Membrane Science and Technology, and the State Key Laboratory of Separa-tion Membranes and Membrane Processes, Tianjin Polytech-nic University in collaboration with Tianjin Motimo Membrane Technology Company.

It brought together top scien-tists and engineers from various countries to share their knowl-edge and expertise about the advanced developments in the state-of-the-art membranes and membrane processes.Prof Syed Javaid Zaidi receiving a commemorative plaque.

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 20188

QATAR - INDOMITABLE SPIRIT, SAGACIOUS LEADERSHIP

The country has made great strides in the healthcare sector despite the illegal

blockade that has been in place against the country since June 5, 2017.

All public and private health-care services across the country were delivered without inter-ruption and in fact, there were several areas that have seen huge improvements and innovation.

Qatar also witnessed the opening of several mega projects and the launch of the ambitious National Health Strategy (NHS) 2018-2022 during this period.

The NHS 2018-2022 focuses on the triple objective of “better health”, “better care”, and “better value”.

The Hamad Medical Corpora-tion, with the largest expansion in its history, has opened three new hospitals, providing some of the latest and innovative serv-ices and new care options for the residents of the country.

The new hospitals – the Am-bulatory Care Center, the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, and the Women’s Wellness and Research Center – are hallmarks of excel-lence and innovation in health-care.

Sidra Medicine – a beacon of healthcare excellence and an ul-tramodern, all-digital academic medical centre – opened its in-patient facility earlier this year.

It is all set to set new standards in patient care for women, chil-dren and young persons in Qatar, the Gulf region, and internation-ally.

At the 71st session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Ge-neva last month, HE the Minister of Public Health, Dr Hanan Mo-hamed al-Kuwari, highlighted that despite the blockade, Qa-tar has been providing the best healthcare for the citizens and the residents of the country.

“Although the blockade was sudden and unexpected, our country worked to overcome the situation through urgent plans with the aim of providing food and medicine through other al-ternatives.

“Qatar continued providing healthcare services to the en-tire population, including the citizens of the countries of the blockade, based on our absolute belief that health is a basic hu-man right, and human rights should not be aff ected by politi-cal diff erences,” she said at the WHA.

Dr al-Kuwari also pointed out that Qatar, under the wise lead-ership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is working on continuous development of the healthcare system, the good health and well-being of existing and future generations.

The NHS 2018-2022, launched under the theme “Our Health, Our Future” refl ects a shift in thinking by focusing on seven population groups, selected based on the current population and health needs of the Qatari society.

It aims to shape services around people, patients and their families and change the way the healthcare system works, mov-ing from focusing on treating the symptoms of disease to helping people stay healthy.

In addition, the strategy speci-fi es fi ve priorities at the health system level, ranging from en-hancing comprehensive care to health promotion in all policies to covering the basics of eff ec-tive healthcare as defi ned by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“There are specifi cally, 19 re-sult-oriented main indicators of

performance based on approved international standards to moni-tor the implementation of the strategy and guarantee that the principles of comprehensive healthcare are achieved through-out the system. This is supported by a sophisticated informa-tion system based on individual records to support the determi-nation of priorities and monitor and evaluate development,” Dr al-Kuwari highlighted during the launch of the NHS 2018-2022.

The HMC’s new Medical City complex represents the biggest healthcare facility expansion in the region.

Once fully operational, the three new hospitals will house 500 hospital beds and 3,000 clinical and support staff .

“This is a project of immense size and complexity,” said HMC’s chief of healthcare facilities Hamad al-Khalifa. “It is a sig-nifi cant improvement in space, environment, and infrastruc-ture compared to current HMC facilities – a state-of-the-art home for an increasing range of innovative services off ering new models of care.”

It is the size of 35 soccer pitch-es, and the facilities have unique features, including:

The Qatar Rehabilitation In-stitute, which is the largest reha-bilitation hospital in the region at 38,000sq m;

More than 2,000m of pneu-matic tubes crisscrossing the three hospitals and transporting medicine and lab specimens to various units within the hospitals in minutes; and,

The largest healthcare kitchen in the Middle East, able to deliver up to 4,000 meals a day to patients and catering to more than 65 diff erent diets.

The Women’s Wellness and Research Center, expected to de-liver more than 17,000 babies an-nually, will provide the best start in life for them, with more than 100 neonatal intensive care cots, seven operating theatres, 26 la-bour and delivery rooms, and 50 outpatient examination rooms.

The Ambulatory Care Center, which is delivering outpatient and day surgery services, is equipped with state-of-the-art theatres, an extensive radiol-ogy unit, examination suites and treatment rooms, and 12 exami-nation rooms for ENT (ear, nose and throat) and audiology.

Sidra Medicine, which had al-ready started the operations of its Outpatient Department, opened the doors for inpatients in Janu-ary this year, heralding a new era in healthcare in the country.

The main hospital will initially have 400 beds, with infrastruc-ture to enable expansion to 550 beds in a subsequent phase.

The Outpatient Clinics at Sidra Medicine operates nearly 50 clinics, welcoming more than 25,000 patients and performing 349 day surgeries in 2017.

The hospital is to launch a Poison Control Centre and an In-Vitro Fertilisation facility this year.

The specialist hospital for women and children, part of Qa-tar Foundation, will also launch the paediatric emergency de-partment by the end of summer.

The hospital has also been ag-gressively recruiting medical professionals all though the year.

“We have about 3,900 staff on board so far. By the end of this year we would expect to be around 4,800. We have been very successful in our international staff recruitment campaign,” said Sidra Medicine chief executive Peter Morris.

There has never any pub-lic health risk associated with a medication or medical supply shortage.

HMC’s executive director of pharmacy Dr Moza al-Hail noted that a number of local manufac-turers prospered as a result of the blockade, viewing it as an op-portunity to expand and increase their production.

“As part of its regular planning process, the HMC maintains a large stock of medication and medical supplies. At any given time, we have many months’ supply of medications and other vital items,” she said. “While some supply routes were inter-rupted, we successfully sourced new suppliers and explored do-mestic opportunities.”

“Today we have strong rela-tionships with several local com-panies and factories that provide various medications, including a number of the intravenous injec-tion drugs our patients rely on,” Dr al-Hail highlighted.

Overall, the healthcare serv-ices in the country remained unaff ected, and the blockade has in fact provided an opportunity to demonstrate innovation and self-suffi ciency.

Above all, since the blockade began, more than 13,800 patients from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt have been cared for by the HMC.

It shows the resilience of the country and the determination of the people to overcome the challenges.

Qatar makes great strides in healthcare despite the blockadeBy Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

Right: Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City hospitals.

Sidra Medicine Hospital.

“The only time you should ever look back, is to see how

far you have come,” said Mick Kremling, a noted author spe-cialising in fi nance, wealth man-agement, and investing.

Qatar continues to live up to this dictum.

We kept moving forward with-out being defi ned by how others expected conditions to emerge.

That is a huge victory by it-self irrespective of the impact on the economy that blockade had caused.

The blockade broadly raised risk-related concerns on:

Sustainability to provide es-sential items to people regarding physical availability and fi scal capability;

Safeguarding of national as-sets including from cyber-secu-rity threats; and

Honouring commitment to host mega sports event FIFA 2022 World Cup.

From a broader risk perspec-tive, these would translate into continuity, fi nancial and reputa-tional categories of risks.

Measurement, monitoring, and mitigation of these risks call for high calibre risk manage-ment.

A year later, as we objectively analyse, these risks are not on the horizon looming large as ma-jor threats.

The reason undoubtedly should be attributed to extraor-dinary and exemplary acts by leadership.

There has been deep-rooted and evident patriotism that pro-pelled inclusive intents with far-reaching results.

The blockade neither aff ected the fulfi lment of commitments to supply gas to Qatar’s custom-ers in the world nor harmed the stability of the national currency.

The Qatari economy is blessed with good resources, and newer policies permeated business di-versifi cations and infrastructure development.

The Qatar government took the role as an importer, and with commercial acumen attracted varied sources that helped to maintain the price of essential products.

There was a well-directed strategy for ensuring the expan-sion of storage capacities for food security and logistics.

Banking sector reports in-dicate buoyancy with the evi-dent rising of deposits, business credit expansion and improving liquidity.

The country’s Islamic-bank-ing sector that accounts for a quarter of total banking assets is stated to have grown in recent times.

That begs the question on the cliché statement by China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang, that “we live in a global village. No country can live in isolation of others like Robinson Crusoe”.

It is very tempting to think that, as the world is rapidly be-coming a global village.

Even the word “village” has implications for small, friendly, connected, and a place where “we are all one”.

But is this really so?“The process of changing a re-

lationship requires a willingness to change. It requires a sense of openness, a sense of reciprocity, a kind of vulnerability. You must be willing to be infl uenced by an-other person,” said educator Si-mon Goland.

The impact of “togetherness or separation” is more percep-tion oriented than driven by cost factors such as economies of scale, etc.

“We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness,” said peace activist and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

The success story set to unfold from Qatar will be something worth wait and watch.

Can an economy like Qatar aff ord to remain aloof at this juncture?By Sundaresan RajeswarGroup Internal AuditorTeyseer Group of Companies Doha, Qatar

Doha’s Hamad Port, one of the largest of its kind in the Middle East and North

Africa region, has witnessed a signifi cantly greater level of ac-tivities since the beginning of the economic blockade on Qatar by four countries on June 5, 2017.

Sources in the shipping indus-try said the port, which formally opened for operations with the arrival of a large 14,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) vessel belonging to the Medi-terranean Shipping Company (MSC) in December 2016, has witnessed steep growth in the volume of containers handled.

While it took the port almost 14 months since its start to reach the 1mn-TEU mark in February this year, it is expected that the facility is likely to hit the same mark in less than a year if volume handled from March until now is any indication.

Expectations are that the con-tainer volume handled at the port would be anywhere between 1.2mn and 1.3mn TEUs, from March 2018 and February 2019.

“The cargo volume at the port has been very encourag-ing throughout the past year, and there has been a remark-able growth in businesses as each month passes,” said a senior of-fi cial of a global shipping fi rm, whose company also has exten-sive operations in Qatar.

While the previous highest volume of containers handled at Doha port was 650,000 TEUs in 2016, the growth in the total vol-ume of containers handled these days has been enormous.

The businesses at the port averaged a throughput volume of 100,000 TEUs in the last two months and in December 2017 and April 2018, the number of containers exceeded even that number, including both the ex-

ports and imports, and also the transshipped containers.

Inquiries have found that the highest number of vessel arriv-als is from the Far East Asian re-gion, which accounted for almost 40% of the volume handled at the port.

Equally encouraging has been businesses from the European Union countries. Operations between South Asian ports and Doha have been impressive too.

The port has received a number of vessels of capacities exceeding 9,000 TEUs since June 2017, with the average number of arrivals every month reportedly between 80 and 90 vessels.

There has been substantial operations between the ports of Turkey and Greece, and Hamad Port.

Services between the two ports of Oman (Sohar and Salalah) and Doha are going strong, as a number of feeder services are operating between the three.

Hamad Port steadily growingBy Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

Cargo volume at the port has been very encouraging through-out the past year.

Mwani Qatar strengthened the nation’s growing maritime trade with the number of vessels coming to ports almost doubling in the past year, defying the blockade imposed on Qatar. The ports continue to witness a consistent rise in cargo movement.

9Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

QTA accelerated pace of expansionin the face of siege, says al-IbrahimQatar Tourism Authority

(QTA) acting chairman Hassan al-Ibrahim un-

derlined that the unjust siege imposed on Qatar almost a year ago represented a great oppor-tunity for QTA to accelerate the implementation of some plans that were considered long-term, foremost the opening of representative offi ces in the most important tourism source markets in the world.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), al-Ib-rahim said that new products will be launched in the Qatari market soon, noting that QTA, in co-operation with the Public Works Authority – Ashghal, has begun the development of Bin Ghannam Island in the north-ern part of the country, taking advantage of its picturesque nature, to become a new tourist attraction that enhances Qatar’s status as a leading tourist des-tination in the region and en-hancing the diversity of tourism products that attract tourists from all over the world.

Plans for development of Sealine and Al Odaid areas

In the same context, QTA, in co-operation with its partners in the public and private sec-tors, is currently working on fi nalising a plan for the devel-opment of the Sealine and Al Odaid areas, in accordance with the directives of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. The plan is based on four main points: visi-tor safety, wildlife protection, service upgrade, evaluation and performance improvement.

Al-Ibrahim noted that the acceleration of the authority’s plans in the face of the siege resulted in the opening of fi ve representative offi ces in China, India and Russia over the past six months. Three representa-tive offi ces were opened in Bei-jing, Shanghai and Guangzhou during the last quarter of 2017, where the Chinese market is considered as the largest tour-ism source market with more than 135mn Chinese tourists spending nearly $261bn in 2016.

That was followed by the opening of QTA representative offi ce in Russia in March 2018, and the representative offi ce in India in May 2018, he added.

Hassan al-Ibrahim (fourth, left) and Rashed al-Qurese (fifth, left) at the opening of QTA’s new representative off ice in Mumbai.

Rashed al-Qurese, Fahad bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and Hassan al-Ibrahim at the opening of QTA’s representative off ice in Moscow.

Al-Ibrahim noted that the au-thority succeeded in obtaining the status of an approved tour-ist destination under the agree-ment signed by QTA and China National Tourism Administra-tion. Qatar also worked on the rehabilitation and training of fa-cilities and tourism companies to receive Chinese tourists, where six destination management companies were accredited to host Chinese tourists after meet-ing the requirements of QTA. In addition, a total of 15 hotels received the “Welcome Chinese Certifi cation”.

Al-Ibrahim stressed that QTA representative offi ces around the world are supervising a variety of initiatives and promotional activities, including workshops, direct sales promotion and pro-viding tourist training required for travel agents in diff erent countries through the electronic training programme “Tawash”.

He said that QTA has contin-ued to implement its develop-ment plans as scheduled. In the year of imposition of the siege, the new phase of the national strategy for the tourism sec-tor was launched during Qatar’s hosting of World Tourism Day in September. The strategy out-lined the development features and objectives of the sector over the next fi ve years. In the same year, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior announced

the formation of the National Tourism Council, which will co-ordinate the eff orts of the partic-ipants and the main shareholders in the sector, in addition, a spe-cialised entity will be established to develop the business activities sector.

Impressive success in hosting exhibitions and festivals

He added that the author-ity has been able to make several achievements during the current year, as it continued to establish exhibitions and festivals, which have achieved impressive suc-cesses at all levels. The year 2018 was started with the launch of the second edition of “Shop Qa-tar 2018” which was held over a month with the participation of 13 commercial centres and pro-vided about one million square metres of shopping space. The festival witnessed high pub-lic turnout with the number of coupon distributed increased by more than 40%.

The 9th edition of Qatar Inter-national Food Festival achieved great success, al-Ibrahim added. The ninth edition is considered to be the largest version by participa-tion and space and public turnout. The festival was held on the entire area of the hotel’s garden, which is 80,000sq m, with the participa-tion of more than 180 participants. The 11-day event attracted more than 400,000 visitors. Al-Ibrahim expected Qatar Summer Festival

this year to be as successful and ef-fective as it was before.

Al-Ibrahim noted that the number of exhibitions and con-ferences hosted by Qatar has in-creased by 30% in 2017 from 2015 despite the exceptional circum-stances experienced by Qatar and the region.

He noted that in collabora-tion with its partners in Qatar and the world, and using the most important media and advertising platforms around the world, QTA has launched the country’s latest destina-tion promotion campaign, Qatar Welcomes the World, at the 37th World Travel Market (WTM) in London.

Maritime tourism registers a growth of 120%

QTA has also continued to de-velop the marine tourism sec-tor, and was able to achieve huge growth rates during the past two seasons where the tourist season 2016/2017 achieved a signifi cant growth of 120% in the number of cruise ships which visited Qa-tar during the period from Sep-tember 2016 to 2017, while the 2017/2018 season saw a growth of 39% in the number of visitors where fi ve cruise ships launched their fi rst trip to Qatar last season.

In this regard, al-Ibrahim said that the authority is currently working to sign several agree-ments and contracts to host more cruises during the next season,

it also aims to turn Doha into a point of departure for the region’s cruise lines, increasing tourism spending and contributing to the hospitality and aviation sector.

Moreover, al-Ibrahim said that the number of cruise trips during the next three seasons is expect-ed to grow to 44 trips in the com-ing season, 83 in the 2019/2020 season and 100 cruise trips dur-ing the 2020-2021 season.

Al-Ibrahim reaffi rmed that QTA’s eff orts to overcome the un-just siege were not limited to that but also included cooperation with partners such as the Minis-try of Interior, Hamad Interna-tional Airport, Qatar Airways and Mwani in order to activate visa waiving plans for citizens of more than 80 countries as well as tran-sit visa, in addition to developing the visa issue for tourism cruise.

The QTA acting chairman added that the authority con-tinues to develop the perform-ance of the sector by organising workshops and diff erent train-ing programmes to raise the raise the effi ciency of individuals and companies alike.

Over the past year, QTA, in collaboration with several lo-cal and international partners, has implemented training pro-grammes for tour guides and safari drivers, where 88 tour-ist guides were trained and 30 others are under training.

QTA also hosted a training

Quick ‘response blunted adverse eff ects of blockade’Qatar managed to over-

come the intended ad-verse eff ects of the un-

just blockade in less than 48 hours after it was imposed on June 5 last year, local Arabic daily Arrayah said in report citing academicians.

The country was also able to expedite development plans across various areas after the siege began, they felt.

A number of academicians, including university professors and researchers, stressed that various factors helped achieve such positive results, which eventually helped prevent any damage that the blockading countries – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt – may have wished for.

The government managed to quickly fi nd alternative sup-ply routes for various types of goods and enhanced partner-ships with friendly countries. Besides, all people living in the country – both Qataris and ex-patriates – expressed their full support for its wise leadership and rejected any attempt to undermine its sovereignty and

independence, according to the Arrayah report.

Dr Khalid al-Shamari, as-sistant professor at the Qatar University (QU) College of Law, said one of the main reasons why Qatar has been able to withstand the crisis is the wise leadership of the country and eff ective management of the situation. A lot of eff ort was put in to mitigate any negative political, social and economic impact on inhabitants. In ad-dition, the country’s diplomacy was a success regionally and in-ternationally – giving the world a true image of the Qatari stand and explained the justness of the Qatari cause.

On the other hand, the diplo-matic moves by the siege coun-tries failed to portray Qatar in negative light and their list of demands further exposed their wrong intentions against the country.

Dr Kamal Hamidou, assistant professor and department coor-dinator (mass communication), QU College of Arts and Sciences, noted that Qatar was success-ful in absorbing the initial shock

of the blockade after the siege countries sought to destabilise the national economy and also negatively impact its currency. Further, these countries wanted to cause a major interruption in the supply chain of goods.

However, the Qatari govern-ment succeeded in overcoming all these challenges by follow-ing smart fi scal policies and contained the situation quickly. Qatar also mobilised all its dip-lomatic and media capabilities to explain the real situation to the world, he felt.

Dr Salah Zain Eddine, asso-ciate professor, College of Law, stressed that the Qatari society showed a great level of solidari-ty and dealt with the situation in an ethical manner, not respond-ing to the poor conduct of oth-ers in the same manner. Mean-while, all eff orts were made to implement development plans that eventually helped en-hance local production across various fi elds.

The experts all agreed that the blockade helped bring out the best in the country and sped up its welfare and construction plans.

Diplomats laud Qatar’s eff orts to tackle economic challenges

Some of the top diplomats in Qatar have lauded the government’s eff orts to

tackle the challenges of the eco-nomic blockade by taking the higher ground to mitigate its im-pact on the people and national economy.

Portuguese ambassador An-tonio Tanger said Qatar has managed “quite well the diffi cult circumstances originated by the blockade” by fi nding new trade partners and developing internal production, mainly in the area of food sustainability.

“Although economic ties be-tween the Gulf countries were extremely important and inter-connected, this crisis shows that the political and economic ge-ometries can change not always for the worse,” Tanger told

Gulf Times.He added: “There is no doubt

that the public and private sec-tors had to readjust their activi-ties, cut some excessive spend-ing, and redirect the focus of some of their productions.

“On the other hand, it will be essential that both sectors will enhance their management skills and observe better busi-

ness practices, which, in the end, will be a very positive factor for the economic and social future of Qatar.”

While the economic blockade “came as a total surprise,” Swed-ish ambassador Ewa Polano said Qatar had handled the Gulf crisis “very well” and in a “balanced and wise way.”

“It has been impressive to fol-low the diplomatic, skilled way in which Qatar has managed the crisis. Qatari smart and skilled diplomacy is part of the Qatari success story during the last year and has impressed globally,”

Polano said in a statement. Also, Polano pointed out that

the economic blockade had acted as a catalyst to accelerate the country’s eff orts to diversify away from the hydrocarbon

industry.“The positive side of the crisis

is that it speeded up the already ongoing paradigm shift in Qatar away from its oil and gas econ-omy into a knowledge-based and diversifi ed economy, with focus on innovation and entre-preneurship. I believe fi rmly that Qatar, because of the blockade, developed into a much stronger nation than it was before the

crisis,” Polano stressed. Similarly, Turkish ambas-

sador Fikret Ozer emphasised

By Peter AlagosBusiness Reporter

Turkish ambassador Fikret Ozer Swedish ambassador Ewa Polano

that Qatar “has emerged much stronger” after the economic blockade was imposed on the country in June 2017.

He said Turkey will continue to support Qatar “across all sectors” similar to the backing it provided the country imme-diately after Saudi Arabia and its allies, Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt cut air, sea, and land links to Qatar last year.

Ozer said Turkey quickly mo-bilised its resources to send es-sential goods, particularly food products, to address the needs of the local market. “We were able to help fi ll the gap in the Qatari market, and Turkey will contin-ue to provide whatever support that Qatar needs,” he added.

Portuguese ambassador Antonio Tanger

programme for the development of international exhibitions, in which 25 local business event experts participated, in collabo-ration with British fi rm MBB Me-dia.

He noted that the results of QTA eff orts have been evident in fi gures and statistics, which showed that the fi rst quarter of 2018 has achieved growth rates in the number of visitors from some major markets.

The number of Russian visi-tors increased by 441%, the Chi-nese by 27% and Indians by 15%. The 2017-18 maritime tourism season was successfully con-cluded, with more than 65,000 visitors (crews and passengers) coming aboard 22 vessels, in-cluding 14 giant cruise liners.

The rate of hotel stay also rose to 3.9 nights during the fi rst quarter of 2018 compared to 3.6 in the same period of 2017, thanks to growing local demand and the lengthy stay of foreign visitors.

On his assessment of the tour-ism sector in 2018, al-Ibrahim said it has realised several im-portant achievements last year and until the moment. For exam-ple, he added, Qatar’s hospitality sector climbed from third to fi rst place on the guest experience in-dex in the Middle East, according to data by tourism and travel fi rm O’Leary.

Qatar becomes the most open country in the GCC

Moreover, Qatar has become the most open country in the GCC after abolishing visa re-quirements for citizens of more than 80 countries.

Al-Ibrahim said that among the achievements was the selec-tion of Doha to host the annual conference of the international association of hotel front of-fi ce managers (AICR) in 2021, and opening up to the Chinese market.

On plans to open more rep-resentation offi ces out of Qatar, al-Ibrahim said QTA is con-stantly studying the growth and development opportunities and presence in the world’s leading tourism exporting markets.

He added that QTA is cur-rently represented by 11 offi ces spread across Europe, America and Asia, expecting that number to grow in line with the develop-ment strategy that the authority seeks.

As for major upcoming QTA events, the QTA acting chairman said that Qatar Summer Festival will take place over more than two months starting from the fi rst day of Eid al-Fitr until the end of August, adding that this years edition will feature some additions, especially as the fes-tivals start coincides with the World Cup in Russia.

Al-Ibrahim said that QTA and its partners will announce the details of the festival soon. (QNA)

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 201810

Ashghal completes several major expressways

The Public Works Au-thority - Ashghal has been extremely busy

since June 5, 2017 when the il-legal blockade was announced against Qatar. The country has witnessed the opening of a number of major expressways and there has been a massive expansion in road connectivity in many areas.

While the second week of July last year saw the commis-sioning of the fi rst phase of the ambitious Orbital Highway and Truck route, in the next few weeks 125km out of the nearly 190km of the country’s most signifi cant road project opened for traffi c, connecting the south-ern and northern sides, through seven-lane express highways on

either side. The project cost-ing a whopping QR19bn is ex-pected to be fully commissioned by the last quarter of this year. When completed, it is hoped that a minimum of 8,000 vehi-cles would pass through the road every hour.

The vital expressway which bypasses all towns, cities and key locations such as Mesaieed, Wakrah, Doha, Rayyan, Indus-trial Area, Sheehaniya, Umm Slal and Al Khor is also ensur-ing fl awless connectivity to all these places, through equally good well-laid roads, the works of which are already completed.

Similarly, with the opening of the interchanges 5/6 on the eve of the Qatar National Day celebra-tions last year, the nearly QR2bn Lusail Expressway became fully operational. In the months pre-ceding the blockade, authorities had ensured the completion of

the two major four-lane a side world-class tunnel roads on the route near the erstwhile Doha Exhibitions Centre and the other leading to The Pearl-Qatar. Of the two, the fi rst tunnel is more than 600m long.

The Lusail Expressway also features the tallest concrete monument on a road in the country, standing close to 100m in height and 147m in length above the bridge, located near the place where the Rainbow roundabout used to be.

Similar road developments have also taken place in the southern areas as part of the Doha Expressway projects. Each of the newly laid roads has tre-mendously improved goods transportation between the Ha-mad Port and Doha industrial Area. Nearly 21 new interchanges providing connectivity to diff er-ent locations such as Mesaieed,

Wukair and Wakrah have also come into being during the period.

It is expected that the in-frastructure facilities for more than 32,000 land plots would be ready by the middle of 2020 as so many new road networks, drain-age networks, cycle and pedes-trian paths are being laid in more than a dozen locations across the country.

The numerically larger citi-zen residential schemes in north and south of Wukair and Bani Hajer and Ezghawa are witness-ing large scale infrastructural developmental work these days. Similar works are also taking place in Egdam, Al Froosh, Khar-tiyat, North of Nasseriya, Indus-trial Area and Al Shamal among other places.

In Al Wukair area alone, the works on more than 225km of roads are almost over. A total of

By Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

The ambitious Orbital Highway and Truck route opened to traff ic last year.

Economic tour of US cements relations Among the initiatives

launched by Qatar to con-solidate and further en-

hance its relations with foreign countries was the economic tour of the US undertaken in April this year.

Four US cities - Miami, Wash-ington, DC, Charleston and Raleigh - were covered during the fi rst leg of the tour that began in Miami on April 10.

As part of the tour, the Qatar-US Economic Forum was held at multiple locations along with an exhibition highlighting various aspects of the country.

The tour witnessed the sign-ing of a number of agreements and memorandums of under-standing between Qatari and US companies, while several meetings were held to expand co-operation between the two companies.

HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, who led the Qatari del-egation, later stressed that the fi rst phase of Qatar’s economic tour of the US was successful in strengthening co-operation in trade and investment, and expressed optimism about the positive results achieved through the initiative.

“We have seen the success of the tour through our meetings with offi cials, investors and cor-porate executives from the US, and through a meeting of Qatari businessmen and their Ameri-can counterparts, who expressed their desire to co-operate with Qatari entrepreneurs in forg-ing partnerships for investment projects in the two countries,” HE the Minister said.

He highlighted that the US is one of the largest and most important trading partners of Qatar, with the volume of trade exchange between the two coun-tries standing at about $6bn, and that the US with 16% is the fi rst source of Qatar’s imports in 2017.

Snapshots (below) from the economic tour of the US.

More than 650 US companies are also operating in Qatar.

During the tour, the minister held several meetings with sen-ior government offi cials, mem-bers of the US Congress, World Bank offi cials, the International Monetary Fund, businessmen and senior corporate executives to expand economic, commer-cial and investment co-opera-tion between Qatar and the US.

In addition, the minister at-tended a number of activities held on the sidelines of the eco-nomic tour.

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) organised four economic forums in Miami, Wash-ington, Charleston and Raleigh in co-operation with Qatar Cham-ber, the American Chamber of Commerce, Qatari Businessmen Association, US-Qatar Business Council and a number of US offi -cial bodies. These events provided opportunities for exchanging of views between businessmen of the two countries and contributed to enhancing co-operation be-tween the private sectors on both sides to establish joint investment projects.

More than 200 businessmen and Qatari offi cials as well as 200 businesspersons and CEOs of major US companies participated in the economic forum.

On the sidelines, a number of discussion sessions were held between business representa-tives of both sides with the aim of strengthening existing eco-nomic partnership and organ-ising dialogue on investment opportunities in fi elds like food security, tourism, logistics and infrastructure.

The event also featured an

exhibition that brought togeth-er representatives from major institutions in Qatar, including the MEC, Supreme Commit-tee for Delivery & Legacy, Qatar Airways, Doha Film Institute and Qatar Foundation along with a number of US compa-nies that have partnered in investment projects with Qa-tar, such as Occidental Petro-leum, Boeing, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.

The second leg of the econom-ic tour is expected later this year, according to reports.

Blockading countries failed to isolate QatarThe attempts of the block-

ading countries - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain

and Egypt - to isolate Qatar and portray it in a poor light have failed miserably thanks to the strong will shown by Qatar and its wise and calm diplomatic eff orts.

The terrorism-related ac-cusations against Qatar were proven false and baseless as the siege countries were not able to produce any evidence to support the claims.

On the other hand, Qatar en-hanced its diplomatic eff orts and co-ordination with the perma-nent members of the United Na-tions Security Council - the US, UK, France, Russia and China.

Qatar maintained excellent re-lations with the US despite the ef-forts of some of the siege nations to undermine this. Its diplomacy and international relations saw major and far-reaching eff orts being exerted to explain the coun-try’s stand to the world through facts and action rather than base-less allegations as was done by the blockading countries.

Qatar also called for open talks to resolve the situation and wel-come and highly appreciated the Kuwaiti mediation eff orts. How-

ever, the siege nations insisted on undermining the country’s sovereignty and independent decision-making through their demands, issued on June 23 last year, which were deemed unrea-sonable and unacceptable by al-most the entire world. They later brought down the 13 demands to six broad principles.

This climbdown by the four Arab siege countries was de-scribed as an “insincere face-saving” attempt.

In the meantime, Qatar man-aged to enhance its strategic partnership with many coun-tries and entered into key agree-ments in terms of defence, trade, supply of goods, security etc, which helped consolidate Qa-tar’s global position.

The country also managed to document the human rights violations that resulted from the blockade throughout the past year, which negatively infl uenced many Qataris as well as non-Qataris in the countries and the mixed GCC families in particular. The Compensation Claims Com-mittee was established shortly after the blockade began to han-dle related cases and take the necessary legal action to pursue

the rights of the victims. The Na-tional Human Rights Committee played a key role in highlight-ing the ill- eff ects of the unjust blockade and how rights were being trampled on by the actions of the siege nations.

Meanwhile, Qatar has made great strides in various fi elds over the past year. It has boosted its food production in various areas such as meat and poul-try, dairy products, vegetables, fi sh and others. Many experts stressed that the blockade was an incentive for speeding up the already scheduled development plans. For instance, Hamad Port was inaugurated and this opened various new international trade and supply routes, making Doha a new hub for direct shipments.

Besides, the government of-fered various initiatives to en-courage local and foreign invest-ment in various key areas, easing the procedures involved and opening up new opportunities for investors.

The country, according to experts and observers, has emerged much stronger and powerful from the ongoing crisis and maintained its sovereignty and welfare of its people.

more than QR12bn has been ear-marked to improve infrastruc-ture facilities in the above loca-

tions and also in the other places. As part of the projects being laid, nearly 1,507km of drainage net-

works, 695km of road networks and 1,830km of cycle paths have been laid.

REGION11Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Iran ‘set to boost enrichment capacity if N-deal founders’Reuters Ankara

Iran’s top leader said yesterday he had or-dered preparations to increase uranium enrichment capacity if a nuclear deal with

world powers falls apart after the US with-drawal, and he vowed never to accept limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

Tensions between Iran and the West have resurged since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of world pow-ers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, calling it deeply fl awed.

European signatories are scrambling to save the accord, which they see as crucial to forestalling an Iranian nuclear weapon, by seeking to ring-fence trade with Iran against new US fi nancial sanctions to dissuade Te-hran from quitting the deal.

“Our enemies will never be able to halt our nuclear progress...It is their bad dream and will not happen,” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech.

In case European, Russian and Chinese signatories to the deal prove unable to pro-tect its economic benefi ts for Iran, Khamenei said, “I have ordered Iran’s atomic energy agency to be prepared to upgrade our (urani-um) enrichment capacity”. He appeared to be hardening a threat to restore Iran’s disputed enrichment drive fi rst made after Trump quit the nuclear deal.

One of Trump’s demands — which Eu-ropean allies support in principle — is new negotiations to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile programme, which was not covered by the nuclear deal.

Khamenei again ruled this out. “Some Eu-ropeans are talking about limiting our de-

fensive missile programme. I am telling the Europeans, ‘Limiting our missile work is a dream that will never come true,” he said.

Under the deal, the Islamic Republic curbed its capacity to enrich uranium for nu-clear fuel and in return won a lifting of most international sanctions that had hobbled its economy.

Trump also objected that the 2015 deal, reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, did not address Iran’s nuclear work beyond 2025 or its role in confl icts in Yemen and Syria. Though committed to the deal, European powers share Trump’s concerns and want broader talks with Iran to address the issues.

Khamenei rejected this as “economic and psychological...warfare against us, and new American sanctions are part of it”. For all of Iran’s fierce public riposte to US threats of

tougher sanctions, some senior Iranian of-ficials see the US position as a “bargaining strategy” and believe the door to a diplo-matic compromise should stay open.

Iran’s increasing capacity to enrich ura-nium to higher levels of fissile purity was one of the burning issues during years of negotiations with world powers, which wanted enrichment limited to research scale to minimise the risk of Iran being able to assemble a nuclear explosive at short notice.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking a nu-clear weapon from enrichment.

Major General Ali Jafari, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said last year that it had missiles with a 2,000km range that could hit arch-enemy Israel and “most American interests and forces” in the Mid-dle East.

After the US withdrawal on May 12, Iran said it would remain in the nuclear deal only if were protected from renewed US sanctions on key sectors of its economy such as oil, in co-operation with other sig-natories of the pact.

Options being considered by the EU to keep Tehran in the nuclear deal include new credit lines for Tehran, increased energy co-operation and implementing EU laws to block European companies from caving in to US sanctions. In his speech marking the 29th anniversary of the death of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah R Khomeini, Khamenei insisted on resisting US pressure and again warned of a harsh response if Iran came under attack.

“Tehran will attack 10 times more if at-tacked by enemies... The enemies don’t want an independent Iran in the region...We will continue our support for oppressed nations,” Khamenei said.

A handout picture provided by the off ice of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday shows him speaking during a ceremony on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic.

IAEA chief calls for ‘timely’ Tehran co-operation

The head of the UN’s nuclear

watchdog called yesterday on

Iran to ensure “timely and proac-

tive co-operation” with inspec-

tions mandated under the 2015

deal with world powers over its

nuclear programme.

Speaking at the first meeting of

the IAEA’s board of governors

since US President Donald

Trump threw the future of the

deal in doubt in May with his

decision to withdraw, Director

General Yukiya Amano said the

agency had had access to all

sites in Iran that it needed to visit

and that “Iran was implementing

its nuclear-related commit-

ments”.

However, echoing language

in the agency’s last report on

Iran in May, Amano said that “in

some cases, there existed room

for Iran to provide us with more

proactive and timely access, but

such cases are not uncommon

in safeguard implementation”.

While the IAEA itself has not

given any more detail on these

cases, it is understood that one

recent inspection at a research

facility was held up — but still

carried out within the necessary

time limits.

A senior diplomat in Vienna,

where the IAEA is based, said

recently that the agency’s

language was aimed at “encour-

aging (Iran) to go above and

beyond the requirements” of the

deal. Tehran could, for example,

invite inspectors to sites they

had not demanded access to,

the diplomat said.

Asked about the presentation

that the Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu made

in April on Iran’s nuclear pro-

gramme, Amano said that the

agency had “carefully” watched

Netanyahu’s press conference

on the topic and had “an initial

exchange of views as a follow-

up”. “We have just started to look

into the information,” Amano

said, adding he expected it will

take “a long time” to analyse.

Public health workers spray insecticide amid fears of a new cholera outbreak in Sanaa, Yemen yesterday.

Cholera precaution

UN aid boat attacked off Yemen portReutersGeneva

Unidentifi ed forces at-tacked a UN aid vessel off the main Yemeni

port of Hodeidah at the week-end and started a fi re in the engine room, port authorities said yesterday.

The United Nations aid chief, Mark Lowcock, con-fi rmed there had been an inci-dent but said it was now over and everyone was safe, with-out elaborating.

The vessel used by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) was attacked after delivering a shipment at Hodeidah, Yem-en’s Red Sea Ports Corp said.

The port is held by the

Houthi movement which has taken large parts of the coun-try in a three-year-old war.

A WFP spokeswoman said an unidentifi ed armed group “abroad a skiff had opened fi re and attempted to take over” the vessel that was some 60km off the coast of Hodeidah.

“Both the crew and the ves-sel are safe, with no injuries or obvious damage to the vessel,” spokeswoman Bettina Lue-scher said in a statement sent to Reuters.

The ship was waiting in anchorage for permission to leave from a Saudi-led mili-tary coalition, the Ports Corp added.

The coalition is fi ghting the Houthis and controls the nearby Zubair island. Page 12

12 Gulf TimesTuesday, June 5, 2018

RAMADAN/REGION/ARAB WORLDRAMADAN/REGION/ARAB WORLD12

Jordan’s king replaces PMReutersAmman/Dubai

Jordan’s King Abdullah replaced his prime minister yes-terday in a move to defuse the biggest protests in years, over IMF-backed reforms that have hit the poor.

Government plans to lift taxes have brought thousands of people onto the streets in the capital Amman and other parts of Jordan since last week.

King Abdullah appointed Omar al-Razzaz, a former World Bank economist, to form the new government after accept-ing Hani Mulki’s resignation, a ministerial source said.

Razzaz was education minister in Mulki’s government.In his letter accepting the resignation, the monarch

praised Mulki for his “bravery in taking diffi cult decisions that do not gain popularity”, and asked him to stay on in a caretaker role until the new government is formed.

While some celebrated the change of government, the head of the Professional Unions Association said a strike planned for tomorrow would go ahead unless the draft in-come tax law was withdrawn.

Police chief Major General Fadel al-Hamoud said security forces had detained 60 people for breaking the law in pro-tests so far, and 42 security force members had been injured, but protests remained under control.

“Rest assured, Jordan is a safe and secure country, and things are under control,” said Major General Hussein Ha-watmeh, head of the Gendarmerie security department, ap-pearing along with Hamoud at a news conference.

Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel, has navigated years of instability at its borders, including wars in Iraq and Syria and confl ict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

But the instability has hit the economy of a country that is poor in resources and hosts close to 700,000 Syrian refu-gees. Unemployment among Jordanians stands at 18.4%, ac-cording to Jordan’s department of statistics.

Public anger has grown over government policies since a steep general sales tax hike earlier this year and the abo-lition of bread subsidies, both measures driven by the In-ternational Monetary Fund. In a sign the tax hikes could be shelved, the offi cial Petra news agency, citing the speaker of parliament, said lawmakers were on course to ask the king’s permission to hold an exceptional session, with a majority demanding the changes be withdrawn.

“For us, our cause is the draft income tax law. The indi-viduals (in government) do not concern us if they change, we want to change the approach of the government,” said Ali al-Abous, head of the Professional Unions Association.

Demonstrators who have converged for nightly protests near the Cabinet offi ce have said they would disband only if the government rescinded the tax bill it sent to parliament last month.

Razzaz is a Harvard-educated economist who served with the World Bank in both Washington and the region.

Offi cials said he had been an opponent of reforms that

hurt the poor. His appointment nevertheless sends a posi-tive message to foreign donors that Jordan will press ahead with reforms, though in a gradual way, they said.

“I believe they have time to amend the law, to with-draw the law and make a new one that is more of a middle ground between the public demands and what the gov-ernment wants,” said Mufleh Aqel, a prominent Jordanian banker.

The IMF approved a three-year extended arrangement with Jordan in 2016 to support economic and fi nancial re-form to lower public debt and encourage structural reforms. Jordan has backed down on reforms in the past, fearing a so-cial backlash.

Until Mulki’s government, the lifting of bread subsidies and tax changes have been pushed back repeatedly.

Jordan was rocked by unrest in 2012 when the IMF told the government to lift gasoline prices.

Mulki, a business-friendly politician, was appointed in May 2016 and given the responsibility of reviving a sluggish economy and business sentiment.

The tax increases had caused his popularity to plummet.The protests widened on Saturday after Mulki refused to

scrap a bill increasing personal and corporate taxes, saying it was up to parliament to decide.

The government says it needs more funds for public serv-ices and argues that the tax changes reduce social disparities by placing a heavier burden on high earners.

Opponents say a tough IMF-imposed fi scal consolida-tion plan has worsened the plight of poorer Jordanians and squeezed the middle class.

Jordan’s King Abdullah has appointed Omar al-Razzaz, a former World Bank economist as the prime minister.

Libyan forces advanced into several neighbourhoods in Derna yesterday after stepping up a military campaign to oust rivals from the eastern city, a spokes-man and residents said. The advance followed heavy shelling and air strikes in recent weeks as the Libyan National Army (LNA), an eastern-based force loyal to Khalifa Haftar, launched a ground campaign around Derna. The LNA has long encircled the city of 125,000, the last in eastern Libya to elude its control. It is held by the Derna Protection Forces, formerly known as the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council, a coalition of hardliners and other anti-Haftar combatants. Early yesterday, LNA forces entered Derna from both the eastern and western coastal roads and took control of the Shiha and Bab Tobruk districts, advancing to within one kilometre of the port, one of the operation’s commanders, Salem al-Rafadi, told Reuters. Photos shared by a resident appeared to show soldiers and military vehicles advancing along largely deserted streets. Haftar says his men are fighting to rid Derna, a city around 266km from the border with Egypt, of “terrorists”.

Saudi Arabia yesterday began issuing its first driving licences to women in decades, authorities said, just weeks before the historic lifting of the kingdom’s ban on fe-male motorists. Ten Saudi women swapped their foreign licences for Saudi ones in multiple cities, including the capital Riyadh, as the kingdom prepares to end its ban on June 24. The move, which follows a government crackdown on women activists, is part of a much-publicised liberalisation drive launched by powerful Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman as he seeks to modernise the petro-state. “Ten Saudi women made history on Monday when they were issued driving licences,” said the information ministry’s Centre for International Communication (CIC).

Libyan forces advance into city of Derna

First Saudi women get driving licences

CONFLICT

RIGHTS

Army shoots dead Palestinian

AFPJerusalem

A Palestinian armed with an axe was shot dead trying to breach the Gaza-Israel border yesterday, the

Israeli army said. An army statement said troops

thwarted an “infi ltration attempt” by “two fi ghters who damaged the security fence and were armed with an axe.”

Soldiers “fi red towards the fi ghters, killing one of them,” it added, without saying what happened to the second suspect. There was no immediate con-fi rmation from the health ministry in Gaza. Al-Aqsa TV, affi liated with Gaza’s rulers Hamas, published a video of a group of young men at the border, some of them using wire cutters to breach the fence.

They then approach a military post

and hurl what appears to be a petrol bomb at it, before running back into Gaza. The video did not show anyone getting shot, but an eyewitness said one of the men was hit as he tried to fl ee, with the body taken by Israeli forces.

The video said the operation was re-venge for the death of Razan al-Najjar, a 21-year-old female medic shot dead in southern Gaza on Friday.

The death brings to 125 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fi re in Gaza since March 30.

The vast majority have been killed during weeks of protests along the bor-der, while a few were killed while carry-ing out attacks or in air strikes.

Protests peaked on May 14 when at least 61 people were killed as tens of thousands approached the heavily forti-fi ed border in a demonstration coincid-ing with the controversial opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Turkey, US agree roadmap to avert crisis in ManbijReuters Ankara

Turkey and the United States yes-terday endorsed a roadmap for the northern Syrian city of Manbij and

underlined their mutual commitment to its implementation following a meeting of their foreign ministers in Washington, according to a joint statement.

The move, long sought by Turkey, comes at a time of strain in bilateral ties over wider Syria policy and over Wash-ington’s decision in December to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Turkey has been infuriated by US sup-port for the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, which it views as a terrorist organisation, and has threatened to push its off ensive in the Afrin region of northern Syria fur-ther east to Manbij, risking confronta-

tion with US troops stationed there.Washington views the YPG as a key

ally in the fi ght against Islamic State.At their talks in Washington, Turkish

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also discussed co-operation in Syria, along with potential steps to improve security in Manbij, they said in a joint statement.

“They endorsed a road map to this end,” the statement said.

The Pentagon has long feared that Manbij could become a fl ashpoint in Syria, with US-backed forces who cleared the city of Islamic State fi ghters clashing with Turkish forces.

That would put Washington in the unenviable position of either fi ghting a Nato ally or abandoning its proxy forces in Syria.

The statement did not explicitly spell out how Turkey and the United States would resolve the Manbij issue or detail next steps in the so-called roadmap.

“The aim of this roadmap is the clear-ing of Manbij of all terror organisations and the permanent instatement of safety and stability,” Cavusoglu told a press conference in Washington.

“The aim of this roadmap is the clearing of Manbij of all terror organisations and the permanent instatement of safety and stability”

The Prophet’s practice in thelast 10 days of Ramadan

‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported: “When the last 10 days of Ramadan came, the

Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, would stay up all night, wake his fam-ily and gird his loins”. [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]. In the book of Imaam Mus-lim the narration read: “He strove hard and girded his loins”. Imaam Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “His staying all night was in worship and acts of obedience, and the reason he woke his family was for them to pray the optional night prayers, and girding his loins referred to him ab-staining from sleeping with his wives”

‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported: “The Prophet, sallallaa-hu ‘alaihi wa sallam, used to strive hard (in worship) during the last 10 days of Ramadan in a way that he did not strive at any other times.” [Muslim]

Zaynab Bint Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported: “Whenever the last 10 nights of Ra-madan came, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, would not leave any member of his family who could phys-ically pray the night prayers but would wake them up.” [At-Tirmithi]

The Way of the Prophet in I’tikaaf‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased

with her, reported: “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, used to do I’tikaaf (residing in the mosque with the intention of worship) dur-ing the last 10 days of Ramadan un-til he passed away, then his wives did I’tikaaf after him”

Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, used to do I’tikaaf during the last 10 days of Ramadan” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported: “When the Proph-et, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, want-ed to do I’tikaaf, he would pray Fajr, then enter the place where he was to do I’tikaaf” [Al-Bukhari & Muslims]

Once the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, wanted to do I’tikaaf in the last 10 nights of Ramadan, so he com-

manded a small tent be placed for him in the mosque. Zaynab, may Allah be pleased with her, also commanded a tent be placed for her for I’tikaaf, and af-ter that other wives of the Prophet, sal-lallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, commanded likewise. After he, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, prayed the Fajr prayer he noticed the tents and commanded his tent to be removed and did not resume I’tikaaf the remaining part of Ramadan, and instead he went into I’tikaaf in the fi rst 10 nights of the month of Shawwaal. This proves that he, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, had a special isolated area away from the people for I’tikaaf that was enough only for him.

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, used to perform I’tikaaf every year in the month of Ramadan for 10 days, and when it was the year of his death, he stayed in I’tikaaf for 20 days”. [Al-Bukhari]

Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Seek Laylatul-Qadr (i.e. the Night of Decree) in the last 10 days of Ram-adan” [Al-Bukhari]

Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Mes-senger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, did I’tikaaf during the fi rst 10 days of Ramadan, then he did I’tikaaf during the middle 10 days in a Turk-ish tent [a circular structure] in which a mat was placed. He said: “So he, sal-lallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, took the mat in his hand and put it at the side of the tent, then he raised his head to speak to the people, so they came closer to him. He, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sal-lam, said: “I did I’tikaaf during the fi rst 10 days, seeking this night, then I did I’tikaaf during the middle 10 days. Then someone came to me and told me that it is in the last 10 days, so whoever among you wants to do I’tikaaf, let him do so.” So the people did I’tikaaf with him. He, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “I was shown an odd-numbered night, in the morning of which I was prostrating in mud and water”. Then in the morning of the 21st, he, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, got up to pray the Fajr prayer and it was raining; the roof of the mosque leaked, and there was mud and water. He, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, came out when he had fi nished praying, and there was mud and water on his forehead and nose. That was the morning of the 21st, one of the last 10 days. [Muslim]

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Whoever stays up praying during Laylatul-Qadr (i.e. in prayer) out of faith and in the hope of Allah’s reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven.” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, reported: “When the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was in I’tikaaf, he inclined his head to-wards me and I combed his hair whilst I was on my menses inside my room (i.e. which overlooked the mosque), and he did not enter the house except for a need (i.e. relieving himself).” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] He, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, would walk his wives back home if any of them visited him in the mosque during I’tikaaf.

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Whenever the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was in I’tikaaf, a mat would be placed for him and a bed, and if he went out to use the bathroom, he would not talk to anyone, and his I’tikaaf area was small, unlike what some ignorant people do by making their area fi t 10 people so that they can receive visi-tors. This is contrary to the manner of the Prophet’s I’tikaaf”.

Article source: http://www.is-lamweb.net/emainpage/

153 mosques set for I’tikaaf during RamadanThe Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs has set 153 mosques in different regions of the country to revive I’tikaaf (residing in the mosque for worship) in the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan.In a statement, the ministry appealed to those interested in I’tikaaf to be keen to learn the jurisprudence of Islamic I’tikaaf, and to commit to I’tikaaf in specified mosques, which were selected according to geographical location and readiness

of facilities to serve worshippers.The ministry stressed the importance of maintaining personal hygiene and cleanliness of the place of I’tikaaf, and preserve the property of the mosque, taking care not to disturb worshippers with their conversations, and harm the people of the mosque in general.It warned worshippers not to hang clothes on the walls or columns and other furniture of the mosque, in order to preserve the sanctity of the mosques.

AFRICA13Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

US forces have carried out their second Horn of Africa air strike in three days, killing another 27 Shabaab extremists, the American military said yesterday. The latest strike occurred on Saturday in Somaliland, about 42km southwest of Bosasso port in Puntland, a semi-autonomous region. A statement from the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) gave no further details of the operation but said it was carried out in coordination with Somalia’s government. On Friday, AFRICOM said a US airstrike had killed 12 militants from the Shebaab, an Al Qaeda aff iliate, about 48km southwest of Mogadishu on Thursday.

Medical workers in Democratic Republic of Congo have given all the immediate contacts of Ebola patients in the city of Mbandaka an experimental vaccine as they try to thwart a disease that has killed around 25 people, the health ministry said. Ebola spreads easily through bodily fluids and the medical strategy involves vaccinating all the people a patient may have infected and then vaccinating a second “ring” of contacts around each of those potential suff erers. That would include family members. The VSV-EBOV vaccine, developed by Merck, has been administered to 1,112 people, including 567 in the northwestern city.

More than 180 inmates in a medium-security prison in central Nigeria were at large after unidentified gunmen opened fire on the facility, the government said yesterday. The attack happened late Sunday at the jail in the Tunga area of the Niger state capital, Minna. Guards were overpowered and inmates were able to escape. “Out of the 210 inmates that escaped from prison custody, 28 have been re-arrested while 182 are still at large,” Nigeria’s interior minister Abdurrahman Dambazau told reporters. “We have identified some lapses... part of it is that the prison personnel on duty yesterday were inadequate,” he said after touring the prison.

Kenya said yesterday it has suspended all state procurement and accounting chiefs for fresh vetting, including lie detector tests, in a bid to root out the endemic corruption dogging the country. The move comes amid a new flurry of corruption scandals, with some $80mn stolen from the national youth agency through fictitious payments and dodgy tenders, and similar scams at other state organisations in recent weeks. “Heads of procurement and accounting units in ministries, departments, agencies and state corporations have been instructed to step aside with immediate eff ect,” said government spokesman Mwenda Njoka in a statement.

An opposition coalition in Ivory Coast has rejected any prospect of a third term for President Alassane Ouattara, lashing it as “anti-constitutional, unacceptable and unattainable.” Ouattara came to power after a bloody five-month crisis in 2010-11 and is now in his second term, which ends in 2020. “The new constitution authorises me to do two terms from 2020. I will only make my final decision at that point,” Ouattara said last week in an interview with magazine Jeune Afrique. In a communique, a large opposition coalition, Together for Democracy and Sovereignty, blasted his statement as “pure provocation of the Ivorian people.”

US says air strike killed 27 Shebaab militants

DR Congo city vaccinates contacts of Ebola patients

182 inmates at large after Nigeria jailbreak: govt

Kenya suspends off icials over lie detector tests

I Coast opposition rejects third term for president

REMOTE HIT OUTBREAKATTACK GRAFT FIGHT CHARTER CHANGE

Ghanaians dream of migrating despite economic optimismBy Stacey Knott, AFP Dormaa-Ahenkro, Ghana

Ernest Owusu wants to get his hands dirty. “I have nothing to work on,” the

Ghanaian mechanic complains, looking around at his roadside garage which is littered with rusted cars and vans.

If he had the money, he said, he would spend it on trying to go to Libya, and from there to poten-tially seek a new life in Europe.

Owusu, who lives in Dormaa-Ahenkro in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region, is oblivious to the ac-claimed speech that the coun-try’s President Nana Akufo-Ad-do gave in December last year.

He told his visiting French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that he wanted to unshackle Ghanaians from a mentality de-pendent on overseas “aid and charity”.

Instead, he aims to harness the “resilience and ingenuity” of those who make the perilous journey across the Sahara Desert to help build a country for the future.

Owusu, 38, is one of those people.

But the fact he wants to go back to Libya is an indication that he

and many others feel there are precious few options at home.

Dormaa-Ahenkro, near the border with Ivory Coast and some 450km by road from the capital Accra, is a hotbed of irregular migration — travel-ling without proper documents

such as a passport and visa.Owusu, who has three chil-

dren, spent 20 years working as a mason in Libya until he was deported in 2011 when police in-tercepted the boat he was on in an attempt to get to Italy.

Ghana’s economy is expected

to grow by 8.3% this year — the fastest in the world.

But unemployment is still a major issue.

Two years ago, the World Bank said nearly half (48%) of people aged 15 to 24 were jobless.

The government is trying to

get 100,000 university graduates into work, but Owusu never fi n-ished school and doesn’t believe there are opportunities for the likes of him.

“It’s a lie,” he said about eco-nomic growth. “You can’t come here and say it’s good. Look at my hands, there are no cars.”

Farming tomatoes up the road is another Libya returnee, Kwame Amadu Haruna.

He also worked as a mason and is struggling to make ends meet in Ghana.

He tried to start a poultry farm but ran out of money.

The structure is built but there are no birds inside.

A friend calls him daily to try to convince him to return to Libya.

Unlike Owusu he has vowed never to go back after having a gun pulled on him and his wages withheld.

Haruna, 43, instead tries to tell people not to go.

Those he talks to are unaware of the harsh realities of the jour-ney and the often slave-like con-ditions that await.

He says he’s heard about Aku-fo-Addo’s plans and is optimistic for the future.

But he too says nothing will prevent the exodus if there are no jobs.

Discussions about bringing jobs to Ghana’s provinces are “just talk”.

“We didn’t see anything,” he added.

There are increased coordinat-ed eff orts to stem the fl ow of ir-regular migration, which refl ects a trend elsewhere in West Africa, particularly Nigeria.

On May 15, 148 Ghanaians were voluntarily brought back from Libya, taking the total number of returnees since July last year to 706.

As of March, the Internation-al Organization for Migration (IOM) identifi ed 62,422 Ghana-ians in Libya — the fi fth largest of 38 nationalities in the North African country.

The European Union has funded the construction of the Migrant Information Centre in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong-Ahafo region, which is run by the Ghana Immigration Service.

GIS chief superintendent James Hayford Boadi and his team educate local communi-ties about the risks and realities of irregular migration, and seek to promote regular migration in-stead.

He said that in 2012 about half of returnees from Libya came from Brong-Ahafo, escaping the

2011 uprising after the fall of Lib-yan leader Muammar Gaddafi .

Since then, the region has been over-represented in irregular mi-gration.

Nevertheless, Boadi says irreg-ular migration is “endemic” and people like 30-year-old Albert Oppong, who graduated from university in 2013, maintain it’s a risk worth dying for.

He’s lost count of the number of jobs he has applied for.

Many of his friends and schoolmates have died trying to get to Libya and beyond.

His older brother was killed there in 2016.

One thing united them: pov-erty. “You never see the worldly people’s sons or their wards leav-ing to those places. It’s about work,” he said.

He was also sceptical of talk about a brighter future in Ghana, accusing politicians of making promises but not delivering.

“If you know you are from a poor background, you know you can only make a change there (overseas) for your family if only you don’t die.”

He believes he will be one of the lucky ones and survive the trip: “Everything is determina-tion and perseverance. Through that, I can get there.”

Ernest Yaw Owusu works at his car workshop in Dormaa-Ahenkro in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region.

Political gangs under scrutiny in Nigeria after armed robberyBy Joel Olatunde Agoi, AFP Lagos

The use of political gangs has returned to the spotlight in Nigeria after suspects in a violent armed robbery claimed

they had been recruited by the leader of the country’s Senate.

Twenty-two young men were arrested af-ter heists on six banks killed 33 in the town of Off a, in the central state of Kwara, on April 5.

On Sunday, the police summoned Bukola Saraki, a former Kwara state governor and now head of the upper chamber of parlia-ment, for questioning.

Five of those held “admitted and con-fessed” they were “political thugs...spon-sored with fi rearms, money and operational vehicles” by Saraki and his successor as gov-ernor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, according to a po-lice statement.

The gang allegedly operated for Saraki as political enforcers under the name Youth Lib-eration Movement or “Good Boys” but used the weapons and vehicles to carry out the he-ists, it said.

Saraki has rejected the allegation as “base-less” and claimed he was being set up.

Political enforcers — free-wheeling gangs providing security for their boss at public meetings or intimidate opponents or more — have a long and sinister history in Nigeria.

But the latest incident has fuelled warnings the phenomenon could increase in the run-up to elections in February next year.

“Even in the 1960s during the First Re-public, we had ‘Operation Wetie’ in western Nigeria, where politicians used thugs to burn houses and kill their opponents,” said Don Okereke, a security expert.

Since then, ethnic militia emerged such as the Oodua People’s Congress in the south-west, the Bakassi Boys in the southeast and the Niger Delta Vigilante Service in the south.

Northern equivalents sponsored to do the bidding of political godfathers include Sara-Suka, Yan Daba and Kauraye operating in Go-mbe, Kano and Katsina states.

Okereke blamed the practice on a loss of values in society and widespread economic hardship as well as desperation on the part of politicians to acquire and cling to power.

“Our youths have lost their moral values for good behaviour. It’s also a question of poverty and unemployment,” he told AFP.

“The youths have become willing tools in the hands of desperate politicians who capi-talise on their poor condition to achieve their political ambition.”

Public aff airs commentator Chris Ngwodo agreed, saying: “Political thuggery is deeply entrenched in our politics because of the high stakes involved in the struggle for power. These thugs foment trouble, create tension and unleash violence on behalf of their pa-trons who are usually the big men, the senior government offi cials and politicians in soci-ety.”

Over time they can move from threats, in-timidation and ballot stuffi ng into organised crime — or worse.

“That explains why there is a direct link between political thuggery, violence and or-ganised crimes like armed robbery, kidnap-ping, cultism (gang membership) and assas-sinations,” said Ngwodo.

Former members of the ECOMOG gang recruited by the ex-Borno state governor Ali Modu Sheriff then dumped when he left offi ce have allegedly gone on to join Boko Haram.

The hardline Islamists, who funded their activities in their early days through bank robberies and extortion, have killed at least 20,000 people in northeast Nigeria since 2009.

Boko Haram has been repeatedly accused of having political sponsors, although no link has ever been established.

Lagos police recently warned parents about their children being recruited as political touts, given the risks of them falling into oth-er criminal activities, including kidnapping.

Buhari is hoping to secure a second, four-year term of offi ce at elections in February next year against a backdrop of worsening security from ethnic and religious tensions.

Eradicating the practice may not be easy given Nigeria’s system of patronage politics and the lure of ready cash and status to le-gions of disaff ected and jobless young men.

“The trend will continue as long as there are willing boys to do the bidding of politi-cians who have the resources to adequately reward them,” said Ngwodo.

“As we move towards the 2019 election, we are going to see more manifestation of this unwholesome practice.”

One way out is to make public offi ce less attractive to reduce access to slush funds that could be deployed to hire thugs to serve self-ish political interests, he argued.

Madagascar technocrat is new ‘consensus’ PMBy Tsiresena Manjakahery, AFP Antananarivo

Madagascar’s president yesterday named a senior UN offi cial to head a gov-

ernment of national unity in a bid to end a crisis sparked by electoral reforms.

The Indian Ocean nation has been rocked by protests that initially sought to oppose new laws the op-position said aimed at barring their candidates from taking part in elec-tions scheduled for later this year.

“I have named Christian Nt-say, an experienced man with the skills necessary for reconciliation, as prime minister,” said President Hery Rajaonarimampianina at a press conference, announcing the appointment of a career civil serv-ant who currently works at the UN’s International Labour Organi-sation (ILO).

The Constitutional Court had ordered President Hery Rajaonar-imampianina to form a government of national unity with a “consensus prime minister” to avert a full-blown crisis.

“The year 2018 is a year to re-inforce the principle of the demo-cratic transfer of power through the ballot box,” added Rajaonar-imampianina. “I call on political leaders to respect this political set-tlement.”

Ntsay, 57, is not a member of any political party.

He has a reputation as an inter-national expert in labour manage-ment and leadership, previously serving as Madagascar’s tourism minister between 2002 and 2003.

Former prime minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana an-nounced his resignation to the media earlier yesterday to avoid becoming “an obstacle to the life of the nation”.

“I will leave this magnifi cent palace, (but) I tell you this is not ‘goodbye’,” he added without giving details of his plans.

“I thank them for the work they have done in the past two years,” said Rajaonarimampianina follow-ing the former prime minister’s exit.

The island nation has a history of chronic instability since the fi nal years of former Marxist military

leader Didier Ratsiraka’s rule, who was voted out in 2001.

Since April 21, hundreds of op-position supporters have occupied the capital Antananarivo’s May 13 square, initially to protest the pres-ident’s proposed electoral reform package.

But after those proposals were overturned by the courts, the pro-tests became a full-blown move-ment to oust Rajaonarimampianina.

Violence has claimed two lives and left more than a dozen injured.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the composition of the new unity government should propor-tionately refl ect the outcome of the last legislative elections in 2013.

However, the ruling triggered fi erce debate between the govern-ment and the opposition over its interpretation.

Both sides say they hold the ma-jority in parliament, where many legislators have switched alle-giances since 2013.

“We are in the process of im-plementing the political deal,” said Rivo Rakotovao, the head of the ruling HVM party and senate leader.

There has been no announce-ment of who will join Ntsay’s gov-ernment as ministers.

Over the weekend, Rajaonar-imampianina rejected three oppo-sition nominations for the job of “unity” prime minister.

All three are members of the Mapar party led by former presi-dent Andry Rajoelina.

“We have compromised,” added Rakotovao.

Neither domestic nor interna-tional eff orts to resolve the crisis in the former French colony have yet borne fruit.

The most recent eff ort, a gather-ing of the National Reconciliation Council that included government and opposition delegates, fi nished inconclusively on Friday.

Defence Minister Beni Xavier Rasolofonirina threatened last Thursday to deploy security forces if political eff orts to resolve the cri-sis fail.

Opposition parties had called for a prime minister to be chosen from among their parliamentary caucus and it is unclear if they or the pro-test movement will accept Ntsay as the new head of government.

A recycler stands among tonnes of plastic rubbish at a sanitary landfill in the industrial city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The United Nations today celebrates World Environmental Day, dedicated this year to the theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. Plastic is burying the earth under a layer of non-biodegradable waste, also saturating oceans and soils with tiny plastic particles. Urban and rural areas are fighting the continuous battle against a scourge of plastic litter.

Plastic mountain

AMERICAS

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 201814

Trump says has the power to pardon himself; critics disagreeReutersWashington

US President Donald Trump said yesterday he had committed no wrongdoing but has the “abso-

lute” power to pardon himself, echoing an sweeping argument put forth by his lawyers amid the US special counsel’s investigation into alleged Russian med-dling in the 2016 US election.

In the memo to US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which was sent in Janu-ary and reported on by the New York Times on Saturday, Trump’s lawyers argued the president could not have obstructed the investigation, given the powers granted to him by the US Con-stitution.

One of Trump’s lawyers on Sunday also spoke of Trump’s broad claim to power, saying the president probably could pardon himself but was unlikely to do so.

“As has been stated by numerous le-gal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?” Trump said in a Twitter post yesterday, reiterating his claim that the Russia in-vestigation was a “witch hunt.”

“The appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITU-TIONAL,” Trump said in another post.

Several pardons already issued by Trump also have raised questions about his use of the presidential pardon power.

Last week he pardoned Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative convicted of campaign fi nance crimes, and last year he pardoned former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who campaigned for Trump be-fore being convicted in a case regarding racial profi ling.

Critics say Trump has undermined the rule of law with pardons based on political considerations.

The rebukes came again yesterday as several Democratic lawmakers pushed back against Trump’s claim and noted that Mueller’s investigation has already led to multiple indictments, including against several Trump aides who have pleaded guilty.

“You can’t pardon yourself,” Demo-cratic US Representative Ted Deutch said in response to Trump on Twitter.

“Let me remind you of something, we don’t live in a monarchy and you are not a king.”

Harvard Law School constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe called Trump’s position “ludicrous” and “le-gal fantasy.”

Trump fi rst opened the door to what he said was his “complete power to par-don” last July in a series of tweets that appeared to be in response to a report that Trump and his legal team had ex-

amined presidential powers to pardon Trump aides, family members and pos-sibly even himself.

On Sunday, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani told on ABC’s This Week pro-gramme it was an “open question” as to whether the president could pardon himself but that Trump “has no inten-tion” of doing so.

Giuliani said the US Constitution, which gives a president the authority to issue pardons, “doesn’t say he can’t.”

The 20-page letter from Trump’s lawyers to Mueller in January came in response to repeated requests by the special counsel’s offi ce asking to inter-view Trump, according to the Times.

Russia has denied US intelligence agencies’ assessment that Moscow sought to interfere with the 2016 US election to boost Donald Trump’s pros-pects of becoming president.

Trump has also said there was no col-lusion by his campaign.

Some of Mueller’s actions remain under seal but so far fi ve people have pleaded guilty, including former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and longtime Manafort business part-ner Rick Gates.

Mueller’s team has also charged 13 Russians and three Russian companies as well as Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has not pleaded guilty.

Florida school massacre survivors ready voter registration push for gun reformReutersNew York

Survivors of this year’s deadly Florida high school shooting are kicking off a 75-stop bus tour this

month intended to register people to vote with the aim of building electoral support for reforms to US gun laws, or-ganisers said yesterday.

The tour is the latest step in a youth-led campaign sparked by the February massacre of 17 students and educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that stirred the nation’s long-running debate on gun rights, which are protected by the Second Amendment of the US Consti-tution.

It will focus on districts where elect-ed offi cials have received signifi cant contributions from the National Rifl e Association lobbying group, which has long organised voting eff orts by gun-rights supporters to pressure lawmak-ers not to pass stricter gun laws, tour organisers said.

“We can march, we can bring our pol-iticians into a new light and make sure they are being held accountable, but at the end of the day, real change is brought from voting,” said Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, dur-ing a news conference in Parkland.

“Too often voting is shrugged off as nothing in our country.”

Kasky was one of the students who organised rallies and lobbying eff orts in Florida’s capital Tallahassee and Wash-ington following the shooting.

The tour will begin June 15 in Chicago

and continue through August, making stops in more than 20 states, including Iowa, Texas, California, South Carolina and Connecticut, as well as every con-gressional district in Florida, organisers said.

US gun control advocates argue that restricting gun purchases would be an

eff ective way to reduce the frequency of deadly shootings in schools and else-where around the United States.

Gun rights advocates argue that bet-ter enforcement of existing laws, as well as in some cases arming teachers and school offi cials, would be a more eff ec-tive strategy.

A graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School heads home after attending the graduation ceremony at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida on Sunday.

Rains fail to quench western US wildfi resReuters Atlanta

Rains fell on two massive wild-fi res in the US southwest but it was not enough to quench

the fi res that were burning through thousands of acres in New Mexico and Colorado early yesterday, offi -cials said.

“The rains came and we’re glad of it,” said Judith Dyess, a spokeswoman for the joint agency, South West In-cident Management Team in New Mexico. “But it didn’t do it. We’re still burning out of control.”

“Overnight the fi res calm down some, with the lower humidity,” Dye-ss said, adding: “But we’re working around the clock.”

Progress was made, she said.The fi res were 23% contained by

yesterday morning in the larger of the two fi res, the so-called Ute Park Fire in Colfax County, New Mexico.

That was a big improvement from

the fi re being 0% contained on Sun-day before the rains came, Dyess said.

It has already scorched some 30,000 acres near Cimarron, a town of about 1,100 people northeast of Santa Fe, according to a bulletin on the New Mexico Fire Information website.

Ten fi re crews, totalling 510 people, 32 fi re engines, eight helicopters and eight bulldozers, were deployed, offi -cials said. About 300 structures were threatened in Cimarron, where offi -cials issued a mandatory evacuation order on Friday.

The town lies just northeast of the Santa Fe National Forest, which was closed to the public indefi nitely on Friday in a rare measure prompted by the heightened fi re risk from pro-longed drought.

About a dozen outbuildings went up in fl ames on an adjacent ranch, fi re offi cials said.

The cause of the fi re, which began on Thursday and has been burning through grassland and pine forest, is not known.

A second wildfi re started on Fri-day about 10 miles north of Durango, Colorado, raging across more than 2,255 acres late Sunday and forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people near the southern border of the San Juan National Forest, the US Forest Service said.

Air tankers dropped a red fi re re-tardant slurry at the weekend on land near the fi re 15km north of Durango along Highway 550, according to the Denver Post.

Six helicopters dropped large buckets of water on the fl ames.

The fi re was 10% contained, ac-cording to a fi re bulletin from the Na-tional Weather Service (NWS) early yesterday.

“Unfortunately there’s no more rain in sight,” said Brian Roth, a me-teorologist with the NWS’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

“That’s it, what they got,” he said. “One and done. The rains have moved west into Arizona.”

3 trapped by lava airlifted to safety near Hawaii volcanoReutersPahoa

Three people were airlifted to safety on Sunday as lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano

threatened an isolated area where they had become trapped, the Na-tional Guard said.

The two men and a woman became the latest in a series of evacuations on Hawaii’s Big Island forced by the vol-cano, which has been erupting since May 3.

On Saturday, National Guard troops, police and fi refi ghters ush-ered evacuees from homes on the eastern tip of the island, hours before lava cut off road access to the area, of-fi cials said.

A stream of lava as wide as three football fields flowed over a high-

way near a junction at Kapoho, a seaside community rebuilt after a destructive eruption of Kilauea in 1960.

About a dozen people remain in the area, but it is not clear whether they are in neighborhoods that are imme-diately threatened by lava, offi cials said.

The lava fl ow left Kapoho and the adjacent development of Vacation-land cut off from the rest of the is-land by road, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defense agency.

Lava also destroyed a freshwater lake, boiling away all of the water in it, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported late on Saturday.

Authorities since Wednesday had been urging residents of the area to leave before lava spewing from a vol-canic fi ssure at the eastern foot of Ki-lauea reached the area.

The fi nal phase of the evacuation was carried out late on Friday and early on Saturday by fi re and police department personnel, with help from the Hawaii National Guard and public works teams, county civil de-fence spokeswoman Janet Snyder told Reuters by email.

An estimated 500 people live in the Kapoho area, but Snyder said it was not immediately clear how many residents, if any, had chosen to stay behind.

Another 2,000 people have already been evacuated from Leilani Estates, an area further west where dozens of homes have been devoured or cut off by rivers of lava streaming over the landscape since May 3.

For those whose homes have been unscathed, the prolonged strain of uncertainty has grown increasingly diffi cult.

Lava illuminates the sky above Leilani Estates during ongoing eruptions of the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii.

With maple syrup tariff , Canada-US trade dispute spills beyond metalsBy Allison Martell, Reuters Toronto

Canada’s retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariff s includes

proposed duties on maple syrup, a nod to a national symbol and a powerful in-dustry in the French-speaking province of Quebec that could hurt producers in Maine.

While small in dollar value, the tar-iff shows how Canada’s retaliation has turned a dispute over metals into a broader confl ict, touching many sec-tors.

Quebec, Canada’s second-largest province by population, accounted for

about 72% of the world’s production in 2017, but US producers were eating into Canada’s market share.

Vermont is the biggest syrup pro-ducer in the United States, but most of Canada’s imports come from Maine, according to data from Statistics Can-ada.

“The government here is trying to have maximum political impact, so that members of Congress, whether sena-tors or congress-people, put pressure on Trump to say look, this is hurting us,” said Patrick Leblond, a trade expert at the University of Ottawa.

Canada last week proposed tariff s on goods ranging from ball point pens, to mattresses to toilet paper, after the United States said it would impose 25%

and 10% duties on Canadian steel and aluminium.

The list also includes a 10% duty on maple sugar and syrup.

In 2017, Canada imported C$16.9mn (US$13.1mn) worth of those goods, three-quarters of which came from Maine.

Because Canadian trade data com-bines sugar and syrup, it is not clear what proportion of Maine’s syrup was exported.

The state produced about 3.5mn kg of syrup in 2017, according to the US De-partment of Agriculture.

A Canadian government source, speaking broadly about how targets were chosen, said the government sought products that could be found

easily outside the United States, and fo-cused on fi nal goods to avoid distorting supply chains.

With only four electoral votes, Maine does not have the political clout of large swing states targeted by the tariff s, like Florida.

But one of the state’s senators is Su-san Collins, a Republican, who has re-peatedly criticized Trump.

Lyle Merrifi eld, president of the Maine Maple Producers Association, said he does not expect the tariff to have a huge impact, but he criticized Trump’s tariff s.

“I think it’s unfortunate,” he said.“I think it’s a little ridiculous, really. I

don’t blame Canada for doing it back.”The Federation of Quebec Maple

Syrup Producers controls the market, issuing quotas and maintaining a Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve, which stockpiles syrup to stabilise prices.

The industry directly supports about 10,000 full-time jobs in Quebec, which has a provincial election scheduled lat-er this year.

Alexandre Moreau, who wrote a critical report about the quota system for the conservative institute earlier this year, said the tariff will help the Federation amid growing imports from the United States, where prices have dropped.

“It becomes cheaper and cheaper to import US maple syrup,” he said. “In the long run, it’s kind of worrisome for Quebec producers.”

Apple’s new phone soft ware speeds up older devices

Apple Inc yesterday unveiled the

latest version of its operating

system for the iPhone and iPad,

iOS 12, saying it would make older

devices such as the iPhone 6

work better.

At its annual developers confer-

ence in San Jose, Apple said that

iOS 12 could carry out simple tasks,

such as opening apps, up to twice

as fast as its predecessor, iOS 11.

The company said the operat-

ing system would work on the

same devices as iOS 11, a range of

products that date back to 2013.

Apple also rolled out group

video chat sessions with up to 32

users, putting it in direct competi-

tion with companies, including

Microsoft’s Skype.

ASIA15

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Vietnam upholds sentence for human rights activistsA Vietnamese court yes-

terday upheld prison sentences against four

human rights campaigners con-victed of attempting to over-throw the state, a lawyer said.

The Hanoi People’s High Court rejected the appeals by the four against an April trial verdict that charged them with activities “aimed

at overthrowing the people’s administration”.

Nguyen Trung Ton and Truong Minh Duc were sen-tenced to 12 years in prison dur-ing the April trial, while Nguyen Bac Truyen received a 11-year prison sentence and Pham Van Troi a seven-year sentence.

“The jury upheld the sen-tences, arguing that the con-victed didn’t have any new evidence to show they are in-nocent,” Troi’s lawyer, Ngo Anh Tuan, said.

“The sentences given to them are too heavy given that their activities haven’t left any ad-verse impacts on the society,” Tuan said.

The four were part of a group who in 2013 formed “Brother-hood for Democracy”, which conducted “anti-government activities” to “build multi-par-ty democracy” in Vietnam, ac-cording to a copy of the offi cial indictment.

Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness

to social change, Vietnam’s rul-ing Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism.

The country has been step-ping up the sentencing and ar-rest of activists and handing them longer jail terms amid a crackdown on dissent.

“Vietnam must end its sys-tematic repression against human rights defenders who simply seek to reform the gov-ernment in the country where they live,” Phil Robertson,

deputy director for Asia of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said on Sunday.

Brotherhood for Democracy founder Nguyen Van Dai, who was handed a 15-year prison sentence at the April trial, did not appeal the verdict, along with a group member Le Thu Ha, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in April.

In April, Dai’s wife Vu Minh Khanh had said she was disap-pointed with the outcome of the trial and strongly protested it.

Dai will “continue to fi ght and will appeal the verdict,” she said at the time.

Khanh declined to comment yesterday as to why Dai had de-cided not to appeal.

After April’s trial, Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said “there is no such thing as a ‘prisoner of conscience’,” in Vietnam.

“There’s no such thing as people being arrested for ‘free-ly expressing opinion,” Hang added.

ReutersHanoi

70 killed by storms, lightning in Cambodia

Almost 70 people have died amid heavy storms in Cambodia this year in-

cluding 65 who were struck by lightning, local media reported yesterday.

The fi rst fi ve months of the year have seen 68 people killed during storms, National Com-mittee for Disaster Management spokesman Keo Vy told English-language newspaper Khmer Times.

Vy said that the current number of deaths by lightning has already surpassed last year’s toll for the same period.

“Lightning deaths this year are worse than last year. So far, 65 people were killed by lightning this year, while 46 were injured and 69 cattle were killed,” he told the Times.

Cambodia is prone to lightning storms, especially during the rainy season from May through October, with some experts as-serting the country’s violent weather patterns are exacerbated by climate change.

DPAPhnom Penh

Lanka to attract more tourists

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minis-ter John Amaratunga has held talks with China’s

tourism and airline offi cials to encourage more Chinese visitors to the island nation, it was re-ported yesterday.

The talks were held during the minister’s visit to Shanghai to promote Sri Lankan Tourism at the Shanghai World Travel Fair, Xinhua news agency quoted the tourism ministry as saying in a statement.

China has emerged as one of the leading markets for Sri Lan-ka’s tourism in recent years, with Colombo aiming for at least 1mn Chinese tourists per year by 2020.

According to Sri Lanka Tour-ism Promotion Bureau, nearly 100,000 Chinese tourists have visited Sri Lanka till April this year, making China among the three top source countries of in-ternational tourists to the island country.

IANSColombo

Nasheed vows to renegotiate China loans if opposition wins Sept poll

China has dragged the Maldives into a debt trap and any future govern-

ment formed by the opposition will be unable to repay the loans unless a review cuts them to real value, exiled former presi-dent Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday.

The Maldives, home to 400,000 people and best known as a tropical paradise for tourists, has experienced political unrest since Nasheed, its fi rst democratically-elected leader, was forced to quit amid a mutiny by police in 2012.

Nasheed, now living in Sri Lanka, said President Abdulla Yameen’s government had given China a contract to build

a 1.4km (0.9-mile) bridge in Male, the capital, at a cost of $300mn, or about four times the government estimate.

“This is just one example,” Nasheed, the leader of the op-position Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said. “So we have to deal with this.”

Total loans to build infra-structure, provided by China’s Exim bank, should be “eas-ily more than $2.5bn,” Nasheed said, or roughly equivalent to the Indian Ocean archipelago’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“They have done this through creating a debt trap and then using debt as a disciplining agent,” he said in an interview in a suburb of the Sri Lankan capi-tal, from where he is battling to defeat Yameen in the latter’s bid for re-election in September.

The government debt repay-

ment to China alone in 2020 will be $750mn, about half of that year’s total revenue, he said.

“There is no way whatsoever we would be able to do that in 2020 and no one is going to give us the money,” Nasheed added.

“None of the Chinese projects have been tendered. We do not know the amount, we do not know the terms, we do not know who is taking it and we do not know the government’s obligation on it.”

He said, “We would have to renegotiate. It is a big cheat. We can’t agree to pay this amount. But we will pay the real amount.”

The government did not im-mediately respond to telephone calls and text messages from Reuters to seek comment.

Nasheed was convicted on terrorism charges in 2015 and sentenced to 13 years in prison

after a controversial and widely criticised trial. But he was al-lowed to go on medical leave to Britain, where he received political asylum.

Since last year he has been working to unite opposition parties to defeat Yameen.

The opposition has accused the government of locking up most of its leaders who could challenge Yameen’s bid for a second fi ve-year term, thus disqualifying them from con-testing, but the government denies this.

Nasheed campaigned from Sri Lanka to win last week’s pri-mary election, but the Elections Commission declined to accept the result and vowed to take action against the MDP.

The opposition is likely to agree on a common candidate if Nasheed is not allowed to

By Shihar Aneez, ReutersColombo

Maldives’ former president Mohamed Nasheed speaks during an interview with Reuters in Colombo yesterday.

contest, but the candidate will be revealed only after authori-ties call for nominations, since a challenger to Yameen also could end up in jail, Nasheed added.

The Maldives has suff ered upheavals since February, when Yameen imposed a state of emergency to annul a Supreme Court ruling that quashed the

convictions of nine opposition leaders, including Nasheed.

During the 45-day emer-gency, Yameen’s administration arrested former president Mau-moon Abdul Gayoom, the chief justice, another Supreme Court judge and a Supreme Court ad-ministrator on charges of trying to overthrow the government.

Bangladesh remittances touch $1.5bn in May

Ahead of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Islamic holy fast-

ing month of Ramadan, mil-lions of Bangladeshis remitted home nearly $1.5bn in May, the second highest monthly amount thus far, a central bank offi cial said yesterday.

Quoting provisional data, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) of-fi cial said the amount of re-mittance from over 10mn Bangladeshi migrants, who are

mostly employed in the Mid-dle East, stood at $1.49bn last month, up 17.32% from that of the same period a year earlier.

According to the offi cial, previous monthly highest re-mittance for Bangladesh was $1.5bn which the country re-ceived in July 2014.

The offi cial, who declined to be named, said the fl ow of in-ward remittances surged about 18% year-on-year to $13.58bn in July-May period of the cur-rent 2017-18 fi scal year (July 2017-June 2018), which are also higher than last fi scal year.

The fl ow of inward remit-

tances in the last fi scal year 2016-17 (July 2016-June 2017) fell about 14.47% to $12.77bn from the previous fi scal year.

The offi cial reported that like past years Eid has come as a big boon for Bangladesh as the country has been receiving huge remittances from Bang-ladeshi migrants who send home Eid bonuses too.

The Muslim-majority Bang-ladesh will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiest and biggest religious festival among the world’s Mus-lims, on or around June 15.

“We hope that remittance boom will continue until the

Eid day,” said the offi cial.Apart from Eid, offi cials said

the government’s eff orts to send more Bangladeshis abroad with overseas employment have also contributed to the growth in infl ow of remittances.

Bangladeshi Minister of Ex-patriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam said the country plans to send some 1.2mn Bangladeshis abroad with overseas employment this year.

The expectation comes after over 1mn Bangladeshis found overseas jobs in 2017.

Remittances account for around 11% of the country’s GDP.

IANSDhaka

Thai police sargent Tanit Bussabong directs traff ic wearing a costume where he appears to ride a T-rex dinosaur outside a school in Nakhon Nayok yesterday.

Thai ‘T-Rex’ cop gives traffi c safety lessons

A high-fi ving Thai traffi c cop who shrugs off the heat – and the bemused

glances of passers-by – to wear a T-rex costume to work says his prehistoric uniform is teaching kids road safety and convincing parents to obey traffi c laws.

Sargent Tanit Bussabong has around 20 diff erent outfi ts he reserves for traffi c duty outside a kindergarten in Nakhon Nayok, a few hours outside Bangkok,

including Minnie Mouse and a bear.

But he says the green, furry dinosaur outfi t – complete with tiny arms – is “the most popu-lar” with children and their parents.

A year after he fi rst donned the costume, which makes him look as though he is riding a T-rex, Tanit says amused children are learning to trust authority and wait before crossing the road.

“They are happy, so am I,” he said, adding that their “parents are also developing more respect for traffi c laws.”

AFPNakhon Nayok

IDP camps likely to be closed

The Myanmar government is considering the closure of the remaining internal-

ly displaced persons (IDP) camps in the country under a strategic plan, authorities said yesterday.

There has been more than 140 IDP camps in Myanmar, with a total population of more than 160,000 located across four states, reports Xinhua news agency.

Three IDP camps in Rakhine

state, set up in 2012, have been closed and three others will be shut down soon.

The camps in three other states will be closed as eff orts are being made to ensure the IDP’s access to education and health-care, free movement under law and their participation in the nation’s economic development.

The Myanmar government has worked to close the IDP camps since May 2016, with a Central Committee for Implementation of Peace, Stability and Develop-ment supervising the process.

IANSYangon

Vietnam beach awash with tide of blue waste

There’s almost more plas-tic than sand on this long, tree-lined beach: Plastic

helmets, plastic furniture and the plastic leg of a shop man-nequin all jut out of an ocean of blue plastic bags.

Just south of the capital Hanoi, the once-peaceful and clean beach of Da Loc in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province, has been slowly suff o-cating under the weight of plastic waste for decades.

“Plastic bags have been waste here since the fi rst day we started using them,” said Pham Thi Lai, 60, a local seafood processor.

“They put everything in a plastic bag. If they’re preserv-ing shrimp or preserving fi sh, they put it in a plastic bag,” Lai said of local fi shermen, many of whom shuck clam shells and dry shrimp between the mounds of plastic waste on the beach.

“When they fi nish they just throw the bags into the ocean. The trash fl oats to wherever the sea level rises,” she said.

Vietnam is the fourth-largest contributor to marine plastic pollution globally, a 2015 study by the University of Georgia showed.

Globally, 8mn tonnes of plas-tic is dumped into the ocean every year, killing marine life and entering the human

food chain, according to the UNEnvironment Programme.

The latest example was a pi-lot whale that died in Thailand with some 80 pieces of plastic rubbish found in its stomach.

The theme of World Envi-ronment Day today is beating plastic pollution, with a call for citizens, companies and civil society groups to organise the “biggest-ever worldwide cleanup”.

Yesterday, 41 embassies and international organisations in Vietnam signed a pledge to combat plastic pollution in the country.

“As international partners, we have the privilege to work in Vietnam, and have a collec-

ReutersThanh Hoa

A woman walks at the beach covered with plastic waste in Thanh Hoa province of Vietnam yesterday.

tive responsibility to reduce our plastic footprint in this beauti-ful country,” Canadian ambas-sador Ping Kitnikone said in a statement.

The problem in Vietnam has become so bad that some peo-ple in tourist areas have started handing out reusable bags made from rattan, and use newspapers to wrap market produce.

Offi cials in charge of the beach at Da Loc have struggled to keep up with the rising tide of waste.

“Water rises and falls everyday, how can we clean it all?” said Ngo Ngoc Dinh, head of Da Loc People’s Committee. “We can’t escape it, we have to solve it ourselves”.

“But we hope proper cam-paigns can help reduce environmental waste”.

Cambodia to monitor online news ahead of July election

Cambodia will moni-tor and control online news content intended

to cause “instability”, an offi -cial notice said yesterday, the government’s latest move to

control information ahead of a general election in July.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party and its allies have cracked down on perceived government critics, includ-ing independent media, human rights advocates and opposition lawmakers, in the run-up to the July 29 vote.

Staff from three govern-ment ministries would aim to “control news content, writing, audio, pictures, videos, and in other forms which have inten-tion to cause instability,” the government said in its notice.

It also required Internet serv-ice providers to have software and equipment to fi lter or block

websites, accounts or social media pages that “broadcast in violation of the law”.

Lao Mong Hay, a political analyst based in Cambodia, said the articles in the notice were “loosely termed” and capable of being interpreted liberally to charge authors.

“This inter-ministerial order

will further severely restrict our right to freedom of expression,” he added.

The government said it aimed to control content “which leads to the destruction of national de-fence, security and relationships with other countries, public or-der, discrimination and culture, and national tradition”.

ReutersPhnom Penh

16 Gulf TimesTuesday, June 5, 2018

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA

Kim loyalists shuffl ed to key posts before summitReutersSeoul

North Korea’s new top three military offi cers are known for their un-

questioning support of leader Kim Jong-un and are fl exible enough to accept the massive changes that may come from any deal with US President Donald Trump, people who follow the secretive country say.

They replaced older, more conservative offi cers who have been recently sacked, accord-ing to a senior US offi cial and North Korea leadership analysts in Seoul.

As Washington pursues a ne-gotiated end to Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, US offi cials believe there was some dissent in the military about Kim’s ne-gotiations with South Korea and the United States, a complete reversal of the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and historic hostility. It was not clear if the sacked offi cers were responsible.

Citing an unidentifi ed intel-ligence offi cial, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said No Kwang-chol, fi rst vice minister in the defence ministry, had re-placed Pak Yong-sik as the de-fence chief, while Ri Yong-gil had returned as the army’s chief of general staff in place of Ri Myong-su. The appointments could not be immediately con-fi rmed.

North Korean media had ear-lier reported that Army General Kim Su-gil had succeeded Kim Jong-gak as director of the army’s powerful General Political Bu-reau, one of the most senior posi-tions in the country. The changes are a shock because they take place so close to each other and come just ahead of the scheduled

June 12 summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore.

Some analysts said Kim was replacing older offi cers who were wedded to the country’s nu-clear doctrine with loyalists who would follow any changes he may make following the summit.

“There would be a denucleari-sation roadmap coming out of the summit with Trump, and it would be burdensome for Kim to have hawks who could be agi-tated by any desertion of the nu-clear programme,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.

Trump wants North Korea to “denuclearise” in return for re-lief from economic sanctions. Pyongyang sees its nuclear weapons as vital to its survival

but Kim has said he plans to focus on economic development. The moves are also in line with Kim’s years-long eff orts to consolidate power by purging senior offi cers and promoting trusted younger advisers to the politburo and other core positions. The new offi cers could also provide some insurance against any attempt to seize power while Kim is away at the summit, experts say.

“All these guys are Kim Jong-un people,” said Michael Mad-den, a North Korea leadership expert at Johns Hopkins Univer-sity’s 38 North website.

“Kim Jong-un is going to put people in place he can trust, who are loyal to him.” In addition to being hardcore loyalists, Mad-den said the three offi cers were

experienced in dealing with for-eigners, which was seen as a plus point. But it was not immediately clear whether any of them would accompany Kim to Singapore. Kim Su-gil, 68, is a four-star Army general who is one of Kim Jong-un’s most trusted aides, accompanying him on various military inspections and public events.

He was among those involved in the purge and execution of Kim Jong-un’s powerful uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in December 2013. Then he was tapped to lead the party’s Pyongyang chamber in early 2014, a job which Madden said was meant for “houseclean-ing” the administration of Jang’s confi dants. Kim’s appointment to the General Political Bureau

is part of Kim Jong-un’s drive to expand the party’s control over the military, said Ken Gause, di-rector of the International Aff airs Group at CNA, a non-profi t re-search and analysis organisation based in Arlington, Virginia.

All of the newly promoted offi -

cials are younger than their pred-ecessors, even though they are all in their 60s. The three were also named in May 2016 as alternate members of the ruling Workers’ Party politburo – the opaque, all-powerful governing body where top state aff airs are de-cided.Ri Yong-gil served as chief of staff from 2013 to 2016 until he reportedly fell from grace for a brief period, the analysts said.

In the early 2000s, Ri was commander of an Army unit that defends the perimeter around Pyongyang, a sensitive position that Gause said is tradition-ally “personally selected” by the leader of the country. In March 2013, he was seen attending a late night meeting convened by Kim to order missile units on “stand-by” to strike US and South Ko-rean military installations after a US strategic bomber fl ew over South Korea.

In February 2016, he was

briefl y demoted to deputy chief and three stars from four for an unspecifi ed reason. South Ko-rean intelligence offi cials said he had been executed for corruption and abuse of power, only to see him appear at a major party as-sembly as a politburo candidate three months later. No Kwang-chol, the 62-year-old relatively less known new defence chief, previously headed the Second Economic Committee, which oversees defence production in-cluding the nuclear and missile programmes.

“This is where you would send someone you could trust,” said Hong Min, head of North Korea research at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unifi cation in Seoul. “No is a person who has come to the fore in the Kim Jong-un era, as a up-and-coming and trusted aide. It is not strange at all if he becomes defence minis-ter.”

Kim Jong-un with top off icials in a file picture. All of the newly promoted off icials are younger than their predecessors, even though they are all in their 60s.

Anti-nuclear group offers to foot summit bill

A Nobel Prize-winning anti-nuclear group off ered yesterday to pay for next week’s historic summit between the US and North Korea – including the delicate issue of Kim Jong-un’s hotel bill. Who will cough up for lodgings at the five-star Fullerton Hotel, believed to be the North Korean leader’s preferred option, is one of many reported logistical and protocol headaches surrounding this month’s meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump. The United States is prepared to pay but fears off ending cash-poor but pride-rich North Korea, the Washington Post wrote last week. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) said it was willing to help resolve the impasse by bankrolling Kim’s delegation, using part of the $1.1mn cash prize it received for winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize. “We are ready to shoulder the cost of the summit, naturally including expenses for accommodation and conference venues,” Akira Kawasaki, an ICAN representative in Japan, told AFP. “If holding the summit is in danger because of financial problems, we are ready to

shoulder the cost as it is an important, historic meeting,” he added. Kawasaki declined to say how much ICAN could stump up but said part of the Nobel Prize award would be put to the summit “in order to support peace in the Korean peninsula and a nuclear weapon-free world”. The sum would be negotiated if North Korea accepted the off er, he said. The presidential suite at the Fullerton boasts, according to its website, a baby grand piano and claims to be “the most exclusive hotel suite in Singapore.” With a private elevator off ering exclusive access, the suite is 201 sq m (2,164 sq ft) and reportedly costs more than $6,000 for one night. Reporters camped outside the hotel last week to catch a glimpse of Kim Chang-son, Kim’s de facto chief of staff , who travelled to Singapore to lay the groundwork for the June 12 summit. The Singapore dialogue will be the first time a sitting US president has met a North Korean leader. Talks are expected to focus on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and improving relations between Washington and Pyongyang.

Singapore designates special zone for Trump-Kim summit

Singapore has designated a

central region of the wealthy

city state as a “special event

area” from June 10 to 14 for

a planned summit between

US President Donald Trump

and North Korean leader Kim

Jong-un, the government said

yesterday. The area compris-

ing the districts of Tanglin,

Newton and Orchard is where

the foreign ministry, the US

embassy, and several large

hotels are located, including the

Shangri-La hotel, mentioned as

a possible venue for the June

12 summit. The announcement

was made in the government’s

online gazette. There will be a

series of meetings between the

two countries over the five days

that include “lead-in activities”

and social events connected

with the summit, it added.

Police will make stricter checks

of people and personal prop-

erty and items such as public

address systems and remotely

piloted aircraft systems will

be prohibited, the notice said.

There has been no confirmation

of the venue for the summit

to discuss ending the North’s

nuclear weapons programme

in return for diplomatic and

economic incentives, although

several Singapore hotels have

figured as candidates.

Pigeons take to the air as Merapi volcano continues to emit smoke from its crater yesterday after spewing volcanic ash for days, as seen from Karanganyar in Indonesia’s Central Java province. Merapi previously erupted in 2010, killing more than 300 people and forcing 280,000 to flee, in what is considered its most powerful eruption since 1930.

Something’s in the air

Airlines to step up fight against human traffickingAirlines are set to step up the fight against human traff icking, global industry body IATA said yesterday as it released guidelines on how crews can act as “eyes and ears” to identify and report suspected cases. Human traff icking is the world’s fastest-growing criminal industry and the second-largest after the drug trade, according to the US State Department, and there is an increasing push for the aviation industry to take action. “Many individual airlines are already involved and have launched anti-human traff icking initiatives,” IATA’s assistant director for external aff airs Tim

Colehan told reporters at the group’s annual meeting in Sydney. “But until recently there has been no industry-wide initiative.” Some 60 percent of human traff icking involves crossing an international border, according to the United Nations Off ice on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The new guidelines will include checklists on how to identify suspected cases and handle victims after landing. “Cabin crew are in a unique position as they travel with passengers sometimes for many hours and are able to spot even the smallest signals and behaviours,” the

IATA said. The approach also involves co-ordination with airports and law enforcement agencies such as border and customs agents. Colehan added that while the extent of human traff icking within the aviation sector was not known, new and emerging legislation around the world required airlines to provide specific training to cabin crew. The clear link between human traff ic and international terrorism, according to recent research, meant that airlines’ eff orts to reduce the criminal activity could deter terrorism within the aviation industry, he said.

Crowds gather for Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil

AFPHong Kong

Crowds assembled in Hong Kong yesterday in memory of the victims

of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown but young activists are increasingly questioning the annual vigil’s relevance.

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has seen tens of thou-sands gather at the candlelit vigil in Victoria Park since 1990, while any mention of Beijing’s brutal crackdown on students calling for democracy on June 4, 1989, remains strictly censored in the mainland.

Those who streamed in to the park yesterday held candles aloft and shouted “End one-party dictatorship!” as well as calling for the release of activ-ists jailed in China. Organised by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democrat-ic Movements in China, a group of veteran campaigners, the vigil has always had the democ-ratisation of China as its central message.

However, since mass stu-dent-led Umbrella Movement rallies failed to win political reform for Hong Kong in 2014, more young activists and stu-dents have turned to “localism”, which focuses on local identity and autonomy and tends to re-ject any associations with Chi-na. Some pro-independence

activists call for a complete split from the mainland. As a result, student unions in Hong Kong have boycotted the Tiananmen vigil for the past three years. “China’s progress for democ-racy is really slow, and rather hopeless. If (the democracy movements of China and Hong Kong) are interlinked, wouldn’t that in turn negate Hong Kong’s progress?” the president of the University of Hong Kong’s stu-dent union, Wong Ching-fung, told local media last week.

A public opinion poll by the University of Hong Kong found that the proportion of people who think Hong Kongers have “a responsibility to instigate the development of democracy in

China” has dropped from 58% to 56% this year. The propor-tion of those who believe Hong Kongers do not have a respon-sibility to do so has climbed steadily since 2014 to 31 percent this year.

Although major crowds still turn up to the park – organisers put the fi gure at 115,000 yes-terday, slightly up on last year – small alternative events are popping up around the city and numbers are lower than in the past. However, those who at-tended said they still felt a duty to pay tribute to the demonstra-tors who had died when Chi-nese authorities sent in tanks to crush a peaceful seven-week sit-in to demand democratic

reforms. Hundreds – by some estimates more than a thousand – were killed.

Leading Hong Kong democ-racy campaigner Joshua Wong, 21, said people should care about what happens in China because “China has been con-tinuously suppressing Hong Kong”. “June 4 is the best ex-ample to let the international community know the Chinese communist regime’s inhumane, brutal nature,” Wong told AFP. Offi ce worker Vincent Chow, 25, said he felt the Hong Kong gov-ernment no longer listened to citizens’ voices and wanted to make sure his was heard.

“Young people now might feel too removed from the de-mocracy movement and fi ght for freedom, so I hope to keep this spirit alive,” he told AFP. Retiree Sammy Au, 71, added he did not feel the vigil was about democratising China but was a tribute to the “selfl ess” acts of the students who died. “If I were the last person remaining, I would still come out,” he told AFP.

The vigil came as two pro-in-dependence former lawmakers were given four-week jail sen-tences Monday for participat-ing in a fracas in the legislature in 2016. A number of activists have been prosecuted on pro-test-related charges since the 2014 rallies as concerns grow that Hong Kong’s freedoms are under threat from Beijing.

A man holds a candle during a vigil in Hong Kong yesterday.

Japan finance minister returns year’s salary over scandalJapan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso said yesterday he was returning a year’s salary after his ministry scrubbed public documents related to a cronyism scandal that has dogged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But he ruled out resigning after it emerged ministry off icials had removed hundreds of references to Abe, his wife, and Aso from documents related to the sale of state land at below-market prices. “I am voluntarily returning 12 months of my salary as a cabinet minister, as this problem has hurt public confidence in the finance ministry and the administration as a whole,” Taro Aso told reporters. But

he added, “I am not thinking about stepping down”, as he announced the findings of the ministry’s in-house probe. Aso is the richest minister in Abe’s cabinet because of his family’s massive fortune made in the mining business. He also earns some 30mn yen ($274,000) a year as a cabinet minister. Aso said the ministry had penalised around 20 off icials, imposing pay cuts in some cases and issuing verbal reprimands to others. “Off icially approved administrative documents should never have been altered and submitted to parliament. I find this extremely regrettable,” he said. Abe told reporters he wanted Aso to stay on to

ensure lessons were learned from the scandal. “We should conduct a through review of how to keep public documents and take measures to prevent a recurrence,” he said, adding that he wanted Aso “to take leadership in this and fulfil his responsibility.” The scandal revolves around the 2016 cut-price sale of state-owned land to a nationalist school operator who claims ties to Abe and his wife Akie. The penalised off icials include Nobuhisa Sagawa, whose off ice helped alter key documents related to the controversial land sale. He has since resigned. Giving sworn testimony in parliament soon after he quit the ministry

in March, Sagawa denied any involvement by Abe or the prime minister’s off ice in falsifying the documents. But the senior bureaucrat declined to answer detailed questioning about how and when documents were altered, saying he was under criminal investigation. Prosecutors last week decided not to press charges against him. Abe also faces a second cronyism scandal in which the opposition alleges he used his influence to help an old friend open a school in a special economic zone, bypassing cumbersome government regulations.

BRITAIN17Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

May ‘not seen easing capon highly skilled visas’London Evening StandardLondon

Downing Street may resist demands from Cabinet ministers to

ease the visa cap for highly skilled workers from aboard, despite signalling a softer ap-proach for doctors filling posts in the NHS.

The stance could trigger a battle with ministers like Business Secretary Greg Clark and Chancellor Philip Ham-mond who are sympathetic to industry pleas for more flex-ibility.

A government source has told the Evening Standard that No 10 is looking careful-ly at options for ensuring the health service gets all the doc-tors from abroad that it needs.

However, the source said this was “a specific issue for the NHS” and No 10 was not considering scrapping the current cap on so-called Tier 2 visas that allow 20,700 skilled people from non-EU countries

to enter Britain each year, pro-viding they are filling vacan-cies that cannot be met with domestic jobseekers.

The cap has been hit since the end of 2017, causing short-ages of recruits in some sec-tors of the economy as well as the health system.

No 10’s plan would involve asking the NHS to show how many doctor visas it needs on top of the current numbers, with special arrangements. However, this would maintain the current squeeze on visas for the private sector, which will dismay business groups.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants all doctors and nurses exempted from the cap until the government’s planned 25% increase in training places starts to feed through, resulting in British-trained doctors and nurses flooding into the NHS.

The Evening Standard re-vealed last month that the prime minister had “abso-lutely refused to budge” when a plea for a relaxation in visa

rules was made by Javid’s predecessor, Amber Rudd, plus Hunt and Clark. Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Sun-day confirmed he is looking at the rules afresh.

Pressure for a rethink in-creased last week when NHS trusts warned of 93,000 va-cancies in the NHS and the Royal Colleges of Physicians said “serious consequences” included lengthening wait-ing lists and wasted money on temporary staff.

Javid used a weekend in-terview to signal a softer im-migration approach under his leadership at the Home Of-fice. He said May’s “hostile environment” policy towards immigrants will be reviewed in the wake of the Windrush scandal and declined to en-dorse personally her target of a 100,000 cap on net immi-gration.

He also said he would look again at the inclusion of for-eign students in net immigra-tion figures, something May has resisted.

UK-Europe securitydeal vital, says JavidGuardian News and MediaLondon

The EU is split on post-Brexit security co-opera-tion, the UK home secre-

tary has said, as he introduced a new government counter-ter-rorism strategy with an appeal for Brussels to focus on main-taining strong links.

Sajid Javid, outlining the ap-proach, called Contest, in a speech in London, said it would be “wrong and reckless” for ei-ther side to seek a reduction in security and terror co-operation after Brexit.

After the speech, Javid said the European commission was seeking to treat the UK as a third country, and that interior minis-ters he was meeting took a very diff erent view.

Security links have been one of the more contested areas of Brexit talks, with Theresa May facing re-sistance from some in the EU over her desire for a new treaty on co-operation. Offi cials have also said the UK should play no future part in the joint Galileo global satellite positioning project.

After a speech that focused on what he said was a growing threat from terrorists, Javid said the UK had made it very clear it wanted to replicate current se-curity ties after Brexit. But he said of the European commis-sion: “I don’t think they’ve really focused on it yet.”

“Actually the European Union is not speaking with one voice on this – (though) there’s nothing unusual about that. The commis-sion’s got its own hard line at the moment on so many things, and it’s negotiating – we’d expect that.

“But one thing that is abso-lutely clear is that, although this is only my fi fth week in the role, I’ve met with a number of Euro-pean interior ministers, who are my equivalents … and every sin-gle one that I’ve met, they abso-lutely agree – they not only want the co-operation to continue as it is, but they are also open to how we can make it even deeper.”

Javid said the European interi-or ministers were all clear about the value of UK intelligence in cross-Europe security.

If a better deal was not reached, the UK and EU nations would “all lose out”, he said.

Expert listsserious safetybreaches atGrenfell TowerGuardian News and MediaLondon

Serious fi re safety breaches at Grenfell Tower included more than 100 non-com-

pliant fi re doors, a fi refi ghting lift that did not work and a “stay put” policy that failed, the in-quiry into the disaster has been told.

A report by Dr Barbara Lane, a leading fi re safety engineer who was commissioned by the inquiry to investigate fi re pro-tection measures and the spread of fl ames and smoke, concluded there was “a culture of non-compliance” at the tower.

Her report amounted to a litany of failings including the revelation that the pipe system to get water up the 24-storey block to fi ght the fi re could not cope and was overloaded, leaving the upper fl oors, where most people died, vulnerable.

Fire doors to fl ats, which should have resisted fi re for 60 minutes, only lasted as little as 20 minutes and their closers did not work in some cases.

The cladding system was “substantially to blame for the tragedy” and produced toxic smoke that slowed the fi refi ght-ers because they had to wear breathing apparatus and “the ultimate consequence was a dis-proportionately high loss of life”, she said.

Fifteen people living on the 18th to 22nd fl oors went up to the 23rd fl oor, she found, and 47 of those who died were found on level 18 and above. No one died from any of the fl ats on level 10 or below.

“It would appear that people moved upwards because of the spread of smoke and fi re,” she said.

Her interim conclusions were among fi ve expert reports re-leased on the eighth day of the inquiry – and the fi rst to hear de-tailed expert evidence.

Lane said: “There was a total failing of the principle of stay put,” the strategy that resulted in residents being told to remain in their fl ats. She said this had be-come ineff ective by 1.26am. Yet the policy remained in place for another hour and seven minutes.

A major incident was declared at 2.06am and yet the stay put strategy remained in place until 2.47am, by which time the lob-bies were fi lled with thick and “boiling hot” smoke allowing very low and sometimes zero visibility.

She said there needed to be “serious and urgent” considera-tion to changing the current ap-proach in buildings enveloped in similar material to Grenfell.

“I am particularly concerned by the delay from 2.06am, when a major incident was declared, to 2.47am,” she said.

The fi refi ghting lift did not work because the fi refi ghting “switch” function – a kind of override allowing fi refi ghters to use the lift – failed.

The failure of the fi re lift sys-tem delayed fi refi ghters getting to the fl at where the fi re started. “This might have increased the chances of extinguishing the fi re before it spread externally,” she said.

Its failure also prevented the fi refi ghters getting equipment higher up the building.

“All operations by the fi re service within the 23 storeys were therefore required to be by means of walking up and down the stair only.”

The building had a system for removing smoke from the lob-

bies, but this was a “bespoke” design and was not compliant with building regulations, she said. It did not operate as intend-ed, and attempts by fi refi ghters to take control of it failed.

Lane was damning about the cladding, which she said was “non-compliant with the func-tional requirement of the build-ing regulations”.

She said: “I have found no evidence yet that any member of the design team or the con-struction ascertained the fire performance of the rainscreen cladding system materials, nor understood how the assembly performed in fire. I have found no evidence that building con-trol were either informed or understood how the assembly would perform in a fire.

“Further, I have found no evidence that the (tenant man-agement organisation) risk as-sessment recorded the fi re performance of the rainscreen cladding system, nor have I found evidence that the LFB (London fi re brigade) risk assess-ment recorded the fi re perform-ance of the rainscreen cladding.”

She found that all of the fi re doors between the fourth and 24th fl oors were “not compli-ant with fi re test evidence relied upon at the time of installation”, and that this would have con-tributed to the spread of smoke and fi re into the lobbies.

The doors allowed smoke and fl ames to spread between the doors and the door frames, mul-tiple untested components in the doors allowed fi re cross them and an unknown number of self-closers failed.

Some fi re doors were also held open by the fi refi ghters’ hoses rising up the building and, in one case, a dead body.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid arrives at 10 Downing Street in central London yesterday.

Scotland Yard has ordered 132 football hooligans to surrender their passports to prevent them travelling to the World Cup in Russia. The Londoners with football-related convictions are subject to banning orders which prevent them from travelling to watch England abroad. The Met warned them that if they do not surrender their passports they will be pursued by police and face arrest. Of-ficers will be at police stations across London to collect passports from people on the banned list. Police will also be at Heathrow to watch for known troublemakers trying to travel to the tournament.

Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her deep disappointment at “unjustified” US steel and aluminium tariff s in a phone call with President Donald Trump yesterday, her off ice said. In a 30-minute call that Downing Street described as “constructive”, the two leaders agreed to discuss the issue further at the G7 summit in Canada later this week. “The prime minister raised the US deci-sion to apply tariff s to EU steel and aluminium im-ports, which she said was unjustified and deeply disappointing,” her off ice said in a statement. “The prime minister also underlined the need to safeguard jobs that would potentially be aff ected by the decision.”

MPs will hold a string of key votes on Brexit during a single day next week, the govern-ment revealed yesterday, warning rebels not to use the opportunity to challenge its EU strategy. In what promises to be a day of drama lasting well into the evening, the House of Commons will decide on June 12 whether to retain or reject 15 amendments made by the House of Lords to a landmark Brexit bill. Among the changes the govern-ment will be seeking to overturn include one giving parliament the right to decide what happens if Britain fails to agree terms of its withdrawal with the European Union.

A man who sent racist and threatening e-mails to six MPs has been given a nine-week suspended jail term. David William Hall, 72, of Wolverhampton, admitted six counts of sending grossly offensive messages, including one to David Lammy urging him to “remember what happened to Jo Cox”. E-mails were also sent to MPs Dominic Grieve, Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan and Heidi Allen. Former education secretary Morgan said the “threats of violence or death” crossed a line. Ukip supporter Hall sent the e-mails last December, in the wake of a Brexit debate in Parliament, Walsall Magistrates’ Court heard.

A Russian tycoon’s wife who lives on London’s Billionaires Row is facing jail for stealing a £250 statue from a Chelsea auction house. Margarita Sofianova, 55, slipped the bronze figurine of a half-dressed woman into her handbag while wan-dering around the Lots Road Auction Galleries last February. With the stolen statue sticking out of her handbag, she was caught on CCTV calmly walking out to her hired Range Rover parked outside to drop off the loot. She then returned to continue browsing through lots on sale, Isleworth crown court heard. She denied theft but was found guilty on Friday and could be jailed when she is sentenced later this month.

Football hooligans bannedfrom World Cup travel

PM tells Trump steeltariff s are unjustified

Parliament set for Brexitday of drama on June 12

Man admits sending racistand abusive e-mails to MPs

Tycoon’s wife faces jailfor stealing £250 statue

DECISIONOPINIONGOVERNANCE CRIME LAW AND ORDER

Lampard testifi es against stalker

Christine Lampard shields her face with a black leather organiser as she arrives in court yesterday to give evidence against a stalker who left her living in fear. The pregnant TV presenter, 39, was accompanied by her husband, the former Chelsea footballer Frank Lampard. Christof King, also 39, has admitted one charge of stalking but denies part of the allegation.

Driverhunted ascyclist diesin car crash

London Evening StandardLondon

Police were yesterday hunt-ing a suspected hit-and-run driver after a cyclist

was killed on World Bicycle Day.The victim, believed to be in

his 50s, suff ered fatal injuries in the crash at the junction between Childers Street and Rolt Street in Deptford just before 4.15pm on Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Horrifi ed witnesses described seeing his bike caught on the car and dragged 200 metres up the road, leaving a trail of tyre marks.

They claimed the driver then abandoned his silver B Class Mercedes at the junction of Ab-inger Grove and Childers Street. A black bicycle was seen lying mangled beside it.

It is the third cyclist death in London this year. Edgaras Ce-puras, 37, and Oliver Speke, 46, were killed in the same week on the same road in nearby Green-wich last month.

Childers Street was sealed off as police forensic offi cers exam-ined the area for evidence.

Abigail O’Neill Bruce, 34, said residents in the road rushed out-side to the cyclist’s aid after the crash.

She told the Standard: “I took a blanket to put over him. It was quite horrible to see.” Two men and a woman, one of whom was said to be an off -duty paramedic living nearby, attempted CPR on the victim before an air ambulance and other paramedics arrived.

Bruce added: “It was unbe-lievable. Everyone was quite amazing. People were stopping the traffi c from coming, a lot of people were trying to help.”

The fatal crash took place on what the United Nations’ fi rst ever World Bicycle Day, to en-courage member states to “im-prove road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure”.

An eyewitness said the colli-sion happened at the junction of a one-way street and a new cycle lane with segregated cycle-path on Childers Street, built two months ago.

Payout, inquiryover Northern,GTR rail chaosannouncedGuardian News and MediaLondon

The operators of Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern rail could be

banned from bidding for future franchises if they are found to be at fault for the chaos infl icted on passengers over the past two weeks, the transport secretary has said.

Chris Grayling also announced an inquiry into the timetable fi -asco that has left passengers in northern and south-east England facing widespread cancellations and delays.

In the face of calls for him to re-sign, Grayling told the Commons he had been personally assured by GTR that it was ready to deliver the new timetable, “as little as three weeks before”.

He repeated criticism of Net-work Rail, for overrunning engi-neering work and delays in ap-proving the new timetables. But he said it was now “clear that GTR and Northern were not suf-fi ciently prepared to manage a timetable change of this scale”.

He blamed the Thameslink Readiness Board, an expert in-dustry group set up to advise him, for not raising the apparent risks.

Grayling said he had commis-sioned an independent inquiry under Prof Stephen Glaister, chair of the Offi ce of Rail and Road, while his department would as-sess whether GTR and Arriva Rail North had met their contractual obligations.

He said there would be in-creased compensation paid to Northern passengers, the details of which would be announced by the rail industry.

The shadow transport secre-tary, Andy McDonald, said the episode was another example of the lack of responsibility in Brit-ain’s rail industry, adding: “He (Grayling) is the man in charge,

allegedly. He may want to blame Network Rail but it is him who oversees it, the buck stops with him.

“Arriva and GTR have had years to prepare for these changes … Neither has trained enough driv-ers, but the department has failed to hold them to account. Were the prime minister not so enfeebled, she would sack him. He should resign.”

The chair of the transport com-mittee, Lilian Greenwood, said Grayling’s department had signed off GTR’s unworkable timetable and demanded cuts in spending on planning, and he should take responsibility. Grayling said he had followed the advice of the in-dustry readiness board.

Earlier, the prime minister’s offi cial spokesman said Theresa May had full confi dence in her transport secretary, adding: “We have tremendous sympathy with everyone who has had their rail journey delayed or disrupted. What we have seen has been to-tally unacceptable.”

The department for transport (DfT) was unable to schedule enough ministerial meetings for all the MPs whose constituents have been aff ected by the fallout from a botched timetable.

MPs have demanded to know why DfT did not defer the intro-duction of new timetables, which came into eff ect two weeks ago, when it had become clear that there was insuffi cient time to make them work.

Twenty MPs representing constituencies served by GTR met Grayling yesterday. In a let-ter outlining the disruption and hardship it was causing commut-ers, they asked for confi rmation that DfT was aware of the reduced three-week period to change schedules instead of the expected 12. They wrote: “If so, could you clarify why (DfT) did not encour-age GTR to delay implementing the new timetable?”

Teenage girl found guiltyof plotting terror attackGuardian News and MediaLondon

A teenager has been found guilty of plotting a ter-rorist attack in London,

making her one of the youngest females to be charged and con-victed of terrorism off ences in the UK.

Safaa Boular, 18, who was ac-cused of discussing a grenade and gun attack on the British Mu-seum in central London with her Islamic State militant partner, Naweed Hussain, was also found guilty over an earlier attempt to travel to Syria for terrorism.

When she was detained on charges of attempting to travel to Isis-controlled territory in Syria, she passed the plot on to her older sister, Rizlaine Bou-lar, 22.

Safaa Boular, who lived at home with her mother, Mina Dich, 44, in Vauxhall, south-west London, had denied two counts of preparing acts of ter-rorism.

Her sister had already pleaded guilty to planning a knife attack in London. Dich admitted assist-ing her, and their family friend Khawla Barghouthi, 21, pleaded guilty to failing to disclose infor-mation about an attack.

It is the fi rst all-female terror-ist cell linked to Isis in the UK.

The court heard that Bou-lar met Hussain, from Coventry, who was aged 30 and a known Isis recruiter, online when she was 16. They were in contact for three months before they de-clared their love for each other.

Duncan Atkinson QC, prose-cuting, told jurors Boular wanted to marry Hussain and carry out a suicide attack in Syria. When she was stopped by police from join-ing him in the war-torn country, messages on her phone revealed repeated conversations about a potential attack in the UK.

Boular claimed she never

agreed to any attack. Her defence lawyer, Joel Bennathan QC, said she was a child when Hussain “groomed” her. “Around No-vember (2016) he proposed to me about an attack at Christ-mas,” Boular told the court. “He asked me if I was scared of being in an attack and I told him yes I am. Then he went back to the same usual lovey-dovey topics.”

She said after Hussain real-ised the pair would never meet he proposed an attack in the UK and “said even if I need a car or a knife that’s what I should do”.

When Boular rebuff ed the idea, she told the court he “just went back to the same conversa-

tion we had before – romantic, sweet.”

She said Hussain raised the prospect again in early 2017, suggesting she could carry out an attack on Valentine’s Day. “Again I refused. I assumed it was the usual stuff he talked about before, like car or knife at-tacks,” she said, adding that she did not drive.

In messages after her birthday in March, Hussain mentioned an attack for the third time. He talked about “Tokarev” and “pineapples” – meaning guns and grenades – in relation to a proposed attack on the British Museum, the court heard.

Learner drivers allowedlessons on motorwaysGuardian News and MediaLondon

Learner drivers are now al-lowed to have lessons on Britain’s motorways fol-

lowing a change in the law.The new policy came into

place yesterday and is hoped it will teach new drivers how to use the motorway correctly.

Previously drivers were only allowed on motorways after passing their test.

Learners are now allowed to have lessons on the 70mph roads if accompanied by an approved instructor and driving a car fi t-ted with dual controls

Road Safety Minister Jesse Norman said: “Britain’s roads are among the safest in the world, but road collisions re-main the second biggest killer of young people.

“Allowing learner drivers to have motorway lessons with a qualified road safety expert will help more young drivers to gain the skills and experience they need to drive

safely on motorways.”One in 12 (8%) current licence

holders avoid motorways for at least six months after passing their test, according to an AA poll of more than 20,000 mo-torists.

More than a quarter (27%) said they felt scared when they did venture on to a motorway for the fi rst time.

A fi fth (20%) of all fatalities on Britain’s roads in 2016 involved crashes where a driver was aged 17-24, despite that age category making up just 7% of all licence holders, department for trans-port fi gures show.

The law change has been wel-comed by motoring groups.

Edmund King, director of the AA Charitable Trust, said: “Young drivers are drastically over-represented in crashes. This change, which will help broaden the opportunities they have while learning, is very posi-tive.

“It is somewhat perverse that fi ve minutes after passing the driving test a new driver could venture alone on to a motorway

without having had any motor-way tuition.”

Motorways driving is not be-ing added to the test and lessons are voluntary. It will be up to instructors to decide whether a learner is ready for them.

Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “If learn-ing to drive is preparing for whatever the road network can throw at you, then this change is a logical step.

“It will help keep our motor-ways the safest routes we have.”

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at charity IAM RoadSmart, said: “It has nev-er made sense to us that new drivers on our most important roads learned how to use them by trial and potentially fatal error.”

Road safety charity Brake wants the government to go further and introduce a gradu-ated driver licensing system which includes restrictions for a certain period after passing the test such as a late-might driving curfew.

Minister reopensrow over TroublesGuardian News and MediaLondon

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood has reopened the row in government

about investigations into kill-ings carried out by members of the armed forces during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, calling for a statute of limita-tions to apply.

Ellwood’s boss – the Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson – was overruled by Number 10 last month, after signalling he would like to see a line drawn under in-vestigations of the historic kill-ings.

A consultation was subse-quently published by the North-ern Ireland Secretary, Karen Bradley, which omitted any mention of a statute of limita-tions.

But speaking to John Pienaar on Radio 5 Live, Ellwood, who himself served in the armed forces in Northern Ireland, said: “It does make sense to draw a line at some point to say that investigations have taken place to their conclusion and unless

there’s compelling evidence put forward to a very high court we close the books on that particu-lar matter.”

“There is a consultation taking place, these arguments I think will be put into that consultation and I hope common sense will then prevail because at the moment you are hearing of the historic al-legations team, this Northern Ire-land operation, you know, knock-ing on doors of people who are now in their 80s asking questions. That cannot be how we should look after our veterans.”

Asked about the fact that his remarks appeared to be in con-fl ict with the approach set out in the government’s own consulta-tion, he said: “I can submit my own thoughts into the consul-tation as can others and I think parliament is also doing so.”

As part of the Stormont House agreement in 2014, the govern-ment established a historical investigations unit to look into unsolved murders.

But with the power-sharing government at Stormont sus-pended, discussions about how it should operate have been deadlocked.

Field Day fest

18 Gulf TimesTuesday, June 5, 2018

BRITAIN/IRELAND

British-French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg performs on The Quietus Stage during the Field Day Festival at Brockwell Park in London.

Anti-fur protest

Labour MP Sue Hayman (left) and Labour Party shadow chancellor John McDonnell ( right) hold a placard as they pose for a photograph with anti-fur demonstrators against the fur farming trade, outside the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday.

Skripals poisoning has cost Wiltshire police more than £7mnGuardian News and MediaLondon

The response to the nerve agent attack against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salis-

bury cost Wiltshire police alone more than £7mn, it has been re-vealed.

Describing the incident as “un-precedented” the crime commis-sioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Angus Macpherson, said he be-lieved the bill would be picked up by central government.

The total cost of the attack on the former Russian spy and his daughter will clearly run into many tens of millions of pounds.

A few hours after the attack, the investigation was handed to the national counter-terrorism net-work and with several hundreds of its offi cers having worked on the case, it is bound to have spent many millions.

Home Offi ce offi cials are also currently working out how much the attempted murder has cost the economy in Wiltshire and in Salisbury itself. In the immediate

aftermath of the attack, which the government has blamed on Rus-sia, 2,000 fewer visitors were ar-riving in Salisbury every day and Wiltshire council has accepted that the city will not be back to normal until next summer.

Macpherson said: “The nerve agent attack in Salisbury three months ago has been an unprec-edented incident for our force, which has meant signifi cant costs have been incurred because of the scale of the investigation.

“At this stage we are estimat-ing that the total cost of Wiltshire

police’s response is expected to be £7.5mn. I want to reassure the public that I am asking the Home Offi ce to cover all our costs.

“The government has already agreed to an initial special grant funding of £1.6mn covering our costs in the last fi nancial year, and the Policing Minister Nick Hurd MP has recognised the on-going costs to Wiltshire police. I expect the additional costs in-curred to be met in this fi nancial year as well.”

The crime commissioner praised police, staff and volun-

teers, as well as partner agencies for their commitment in sup-porting the operation. “Also, the resilience of the community in Salisbury has been incredible and they, along with the business community, should be applauded for their attitude whilst the inves-tigation has continued.”

It also emerged that the offi cer injured in the attack, detective superintendent Nick Bailey, had been into police headquarters in Devizes to speak to colleagues and was recovering well.

A second site contaminated in

the attack, Salisbury ambulance station, has been declared safe and handed back to the NHS.

A Defra spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing clean-up op-erations in Salisbury, decontami-nation work is now complete at the Salisbury ambulance station. The site has been handed back to Wiltshire council, that has re-leased it back to the NHS trust.”

Alistair Cunningham, chair of the Salisbury Recovery Co-ordi-nating Group, said: “This is good news for Salisbury and is another positive step in the recovery pro-

gramme. The city is returning to normal and the release of this site following the Maltings reopening last weekend is encouraging and reassuring that Salisbury is safe for visitors and local residents.”

A South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: “South West-ern Ambulance Service has been operating as normal, with para-medics providing care to those who need it, and the move back to the station will be carefully planned to ensure continuity of normal services.”

EUROPE19Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Italy will no longer be “Eu-rope’s refugee camp”, newly installed interior minister

Matteo Salvini said yesterday as he promised tough action to re-duce migrant arrivals and send back those who have already come.

Salvini, head of the right-wing League and a deputy prime min-ister in the eurosceptic coalition, has made curbing immigration a clarion call of his party whose

popularity is rising fast in opin-ion polls.

Two days after the government was sworn in on Friday, Salvini headed for Sicily, the main port of call for more than 600,000 migrants who have arrived on Italy’s shores from north Africa since 2014.

The League says the vast ma-jority of them have no right to refugee status, Italy cannot af-ford to help them, and by ac-cepting low pay they worsen the working conditions of Italians.

Salvini kept up the pressure yesterday, saying in a radio inter-

view that Italy “can’t be trans-formed into a refugee camp”, and vowing to lobby Italy’s partners to obtain more EU assistance to handle the problem.

“It’s clear and obvious that Italy has been abandoned, now we have to see facts,” Salvini said, when asked about comments from German chancellor Angela Merkel that Europe needs a new approach on immigration.

Salvini, who wants to open a migrant detention and deporta-tion centre in every Italian re-gion, later tweeted: “Either Eu-rope gives us a hand in making

our country secure, or we will choose other methods.”

Italy has become the main route into Europe for economic migrants and asylum-seekers, with hundreds of thousands making the perilous crossing from North Africa each year and thousands dying at sea.

The other main route, from Turkey to Greece, was largely shut after more than 1mn people arrived in 2015.

After at least 48 migrants were killed at the weekend when their boat sank off Tunisia’s coast, Salvini said there is no reason for

people to be fl eeing Tunisia.He also accused Tunisia of

“exporting its convicts” to Italy.The foreign ministry in Tunis

called in Italy’s ambassador to complain, releasing a statement afterwards to express its “sur-prise” at Salvini’s comments.

An opinion poll by the Ipsos agency published on Saturday in daily Corriere della Sera showed support for the League had risen to 28.5% from 17% at the March 4 election.

It now stands just 1.6 points behind its coalition partner, the more left-leaning 5-Star Move-

ment (M5S), whose support has slipped slightly since it took 32.7% at the election.

Western Europe’s fi rst anti-establishment government, which faces its fi rst confi dence vote in the upper house Senate today, seems determined to hit the ground running.

M5S leader Luigi Di Maio, also a deputy prime minister as well as labour and industry minister, pledged on Saturday to overhaul the signature labour reform, known as the “Jobs Act”, of the previous centre-left govern-ment.

Minister: Italy won’t be ‘Europe’s refugee camp’ReutersRome

Bosnia, one of Europe’s poorest countries, is so ill-equipped to cope with

a surging infl ux of refugees that aid workers here fear the tiny nation could be on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.

The impoverished Balkan country has seen a sharp rise in the number of arrivals, particu-larly young men hoping to cross over into the European Union via neighbouring Croatia.

However, with next to no cash, decrepit infrastructure and frag-ile institutions that are divided along ethnic lines, Bosnia is in no position to cope with this.

And aid workers say they are already at breaking point.

“It’s exhausting. We will do our best, but we have our lim-its,” said Red Cross offi cial Se-lam Midzic, who reckons he sees around a hundred migrants ar-riving here every day on buses from Sarajevo.

According to Bosnia’s Minis-ter for Security, Dragan Mektic, 5,100 illegal entries were regis-tered in 2018.

And an additional 3,300 peo-ple have been “turned back at the border” with Serbia and Mon-tenegro.

Mektic has asked the Coun-cil of Europe Development Bank (CEB) for €1mn ($1.2mn) to han-dle the crisis.

But one aid worker, who asked not to be named, said the EU cash could come too late to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

Red Cross offi cial Midzic agreed.

“The state simply cannot wait any longer to get involved” and handle the situation “in an or-ganised way”, he said.

For the past month, around 100 volunteers have been tak-ing care of the migrants in the northwestern town of Bihac, dis-tributing food in the dilapidated university campus where many of them are squatting.

Two weeks ago, the number of meals the volunteers prepared was 200.

That number has since grown to 550. Among the migrants are families with children.

But most of them are young men, stopping here before trying to cross over into Croatia.

Nawab, a 26-year-old Paki-stani who did not want to give his last name, said he had been on the road for two years.

“I will try to cross the border tonight. I will fi rst go to Italy, once I’m there I will go to my un-cle who is in Spain, in Barcelona.”

According to Peter Van Der Auweraert, head of the Bosnian mission of the International Or-ganisation for Migrations (IOM), around 2,500 migrants were cur-rently in Bosnia, which meant that many managed to cross over into the EU.

Another Pakistani, 27-year-old Hamid, said he had tried three times to reach the EU, but failed.

He accuses the Croatian police – an allegation frequently made by others, including NGOs – of violence. “They take our money, our telephones, or wreck them by submerging them in water.”

A Bosnian police offi cer ex-plained that refugees who suc-ceeded in getting across the bor-der used the telephones to text the details of the route to their friends following them.

“The humanitarian situation is getting worse. People are ex-hausted when they arrive,” said IOM’s Van Der Auweraert. “It is important for the state to set up and run the accommodation.”

A reception centre has been set up near Mostar in the south of the country.

But the migrants are reluctant to go there because it is too far off their route for the EU.

Two more reception centres are planned, near Sarajevo and between Bihac and Velika Kladu-sa.

Nevertheless, minister Mektic is concerned that smuggling net-works will quickly spring up.

“Once these centres have been set up, they are surrounded by criminal groups after only two days,” he said.

The smugglers demanded €1,000 for every person they drove to Croatia, the minister said.

While the border between Bosnia and Croatia is more dif-fi cult to surveil than the one between Bosnia and Serbia, it is also more perilous, with rivers and mountainous terrain.

Ihsan Udin, a 21-year-old Af-ghan, drowned in the Korana, the river than runs between Bosnia and Croatia, in mid-May.

He was buried in Bihac on Fri-day.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 80 migrants were killed on the “Balkans route” be-tween Turkey and Slovenia, ac-cording to a tally made by the Doctors without Borders NGO.

Bosnia struggling to cope with infl ux of immigrantsBy Rusmir Smajilhodzic, AFPBihac, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Children gesture at the camera at a makeshift migrant centre in Bihac.

Paris police began yesterday to evacuate around 1,000 migrants from two make-

shift camps in the city, fi ve days after another 1,000 were taken to temporary lodgings.

The operation began at dawn at a camp along the Canal St Martin northeast of the city cen-tre where an estimated 550 main-ly Afghan migrants were staying, an AFP reporter said.

Another 450 people were be-ing evacuated from a camp to the north at Porte de la Chapelle, po-lice and city authorities said in a joint statement.

The St Martin Canal is near the site of a sprawling former camp by the Stalingrad Metro stop, which was cleared only to spring up again several times last year.

Claims for refugee status will be given a “complete and in-depth examination”, the state-ment said.

Yesterday’s operation comes less than a week after the dis-mantling of a camp along the Ca-nal St Denis, north of the St Mar-tin canal, where around 1,000 migrants, mainly from Eritrea and Sudan, had sheltered.

Concerns had grown in recent weeks over the conditions at the makeshift camps.

One migrant drowned in the St Martin canal last month, while a brawl left a migrant seriously in-jured at the St Denis camp.

“They say we can stay in shel-

ters for not very long, that we’ll have three meals a day. That’s good,” said a migrant who gave his name only as Souleimane, wearing a rasta cap over his dreadlocks, adding: “Life here was very, very diffi cult.”

Many migrants hope for refu-

gee status but may be facing ex-pulsion under centrist President Emmanuel Macron’s tougher ap-proach to immigration.

Some have arrived in Paris from the northern port of Cal-ais, where migrants have fl ocked for years hoping to stow away on

trucks to Britain.France received a record

100,000 asylum applications last year and off ered refugee status to around 30,000 people, offi cial fi gures show.

Forced expulsions numbered 14,900.

Paris police clear two more migrant campsAFPParis

French CRS anti-riot police off icers watch migrants and refugees queuing during the clearing of their makeshift camp along the St Martin canal in Paris.

Germany’sFDP wants inquiry on migrant policy

ReutersBerlin

Germany’s opposition Free Democrats (FDP) have called for a parliamentary

inquiry into Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migrant policy and the country’s migration agency af-ter one of its branches wrongly granted asylum to some new-comers.

The FDP move came after the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is gen-erally shunned by mainstream parties, fi led a motion on Thurs-day to create a parliamentary committee to look into migrant policy and the scandal over ir-regular asylum rulings.

The AfD had called for such a committee to be set up during last year’s election campaign, during which it benefi ted from disgruntlement over the arrival of more than 1.6mn migrants since mid-2014.

The infl ux helped AfD secure its fi rst seats in the national par-liament.

Christian Lindner, leader of the pro-business FDP, told a news conference that the AfD motion lacked substance and aimed to increase confl ict rather than clarify what happened.

He said that the FDP’s motion is aimed at “clear and complete clarifi cation” and helping satisfy society.

Asked if he would speak to the AfD on the issue, Lindner said no.

The FDP would rather work with other parties like the Greens on setting up the committee.

Merkel faces widespread criti-cism for her migrant policy, es-pecially after an internal review of 4,568 asylum rulings from the Federal Offi ce for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) found that its Bremen branch had knowingly and regularly disregarded legal regulations and internal rules.

“We think it’s necessary to get to the bottom of what happened, including the political responsi-bility – right up to the chancel-lery,” Lindner said.

He said Merkel as well as the responsible interior minister and Economy Minister Peter Alt-maier, who was previously re-sponsible for co-ordinating the government’s response to the refugee crisis, should testify be-fore such a committee.

Lindner added that it was necessary to clarify how and un-der what conditions the BAMF had worked.

The AfD and FDP would not have enough votes together to launch a parliamentary inquiry and the other parties are scepti-cal or reject the idea, but Lindner said he was prepared to talk.

Konstantin von Notz, a law-maker from the opposition Greens, said on Twitter that his party did not exclude supporting a parliamentary inquiry if ques-tions about the BAMF’s actions were not quickly addressed.

AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland has said that he hoped the conservative CSU ally of Merkel’s Christian Democrats would back the creation of an inquiry committee as its leader Horst Seehofer had shown he wanted to tackle the BAMF scan-dal.

Seehofer, a member of the Bavarian conservatives known as the Christian Social Union (CSU), said last month that he would welcome a parliamentary investigation into the BAMF.

The Bundestag (lower house of parliament) is due to discuss the motion on Thursday.

Poland’s construction in-dustry needs an extra 100,000 workers to handle

a surge in public sector projects and save more companies from bankruptcy, the head of the country’s biggest builder told Reuters.

Dariusz Blocher, chief execu-tive of Budimex, which is owned

by Spain’s Ferrovial, called on the Polish government to increase visas for construction workers from non-EU countries in east-ern Europe, such as Ukraine or Georgia, to three years, from just 6-9 months at present.

Poland has started more pub-lic infrastructure projects in the past two years to build roads and railways in particular, as it uses up funds received from the Euro-pean Union under the current EU budget which ends in 2020.

Blocher said that construction companies are struggling to take advantage of the new business as they are not able to hire enough workers.

Together with rising material costs, that is pressuring profi ts and could see a repeat of prob-lems seen in 2011 when many construction fi rms in Poland ran into trouble as a series of con-tracts linked to the Euro 2012 soccer tournament went sour due to a surge in costs.

“This year, 2019 and 2020 will be crazy for the construction in-dustry. In 2020 we will see the biggest accumulation of work,” Blocher told Reuters in an inter-view. “Some companies cannot withstand this, the bankruptcy ratio is growing.”

“The industry is overheated and we are observing exactly what we faced in 2011. The only diff erence is that now we also have lack of workers,” Blocher said.

Sixty-eight construction companies in Poland became in-solvent in January-April 2018, up 31% from a year earlier, accord-ing to a report by debt collection and insurance company Euler Hermes.

Blocher said that construc-tion companies have lobbied the government to ease regulations to make it easier to employ for-eigners.

Budimex employs mostly Poles, but last year started hir-

ing foreign workers, mostly from Ukraine as Poland cannot com-pete with other EU countries like Germany or Britain in attracting EU workers.

Budimex’s net profi t fell 26% in the fi rst quarter to 63.3mn zlo-tys ($17mn), while its gross mar-gin fell by fi ve percentage points to 10.5%, it reported in April, but some smaller rivals are doing much worse.

Budimex has switched focus to road building, where it can use

more machines, and cut back on home building, which requires more labour.

“Even though profi tability in the construction sector fell in the fi rst quarter and is likely to de-crease further, I assume that we will be having higher profi tability than the industry,” Blocher said.

“However, we cannot con-tinue to swim against the cur-rent because we are running out of methods to fi ght rising costs,” he added.

Poland’s biggest builder calls on government to address labour shortageReutersWarsaw

EUROPE

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 201820

French anti-corruption prosecutors said yesterday that they have opened an

investigation into President Em-manuel Macron’s chief of staff Alexis Kohler over his links to Italian shipping giant MSC.

The probe will look into Koh-ler’s career as a senior civil serv-ant in France’s economy minis-try, where he served as cabinet director to Macron during Ma-cron’s time as minister from 2014 to 2016.

The fi nancial crimes’ pros-ecutor offi ce said it would check whether Kohler respected con-fl ict of interest rules for civil servants since he “could have dealt with issues of interest” to MSC.

Kohler’s mother is a cousin of billionaire Rafaela Aponte, who founded the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) with her husband Gianlugi in 1970.

The group is now a global leader in container shipping and cruise holidays, and by far the biggest client of a major French shipyard on the Atlantic coast.

Yesterday Macron’s offi ce dis-missed the allegations of wrong-doing, fi rst revealed by inves-tigative website Mediapart, as “completely unfounded”.

“Alexis Kohler will willingly send to prosecutors all of the documents that prove his respect of the law during his professional life,” the presidency said in a statement.

The case is an unwelcome de-velopment for the 40-year-old French leader who has been la-belled the “president of the rich” by leftist opponents accusing him of being too close to com-pany owners and entrepreneurs.

It also adds to a list of legal in-vestigations targeting political allies which have the potential to cause problems if any of the alle-gations are proven in court.

Labour Minister Muriel Peni-caud, who also worked with Ma-cron while he was economy min-ister, is being investigated over an evening she organised in Las Vegas to promote French tech-nology companies in 2016.

The contract to organise the event, which initially cost nearly €400,000 ($468,000) and fea-tured Macron as guest of honour, was not put out to tender, leading to accusations of favouritism.

She also denies wrongdoing.Soon after his election last

May, Macron’s close ally Rich-ard Ferrand stepped down from his job as minister for social co-hesion after being probed over a property deal involving a public heath fund he headed.

And several other ministers

from the centrist MoDem party, which backed Macron as presi-dent, also withdrew from the government over an investiga-tion into alleged misuse of EU funds for political parties.

The media-shy Kohler, 45, is known for his close personal re-lationship with the president and was once described as “the last person Macron talks to at night and the fi rst one in the morning” by an aide who knows both men.

Kohler left the economy min-istry in 2016 to join Swiss-based MSC as fi nance director but he continued to work on Macron’s bid for the French presidency in his spare time, providing advice

on policy and strategy.A graduate of Sciences Po uni-

versity and the elite ENA school for civil servants, like Macron, Kohler was rewarded with the chief of staff position in May 2017.

His links to the Aponte fam-ily were unknown publicly until they were revealed by investiga-tive website Mediapart, whose reports formed the basis of a legal complaint by transparency cam-paign group Anticor last Friday.

The allegations against Kohler relate to his time in the economy ministry when he was involved in decisions aff ecting the French shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, the

last gem in the country’s once-thriving shipbuilding industry.

MSC is one of the most impor-tant clients of the strategically important industrial site, which was part-owned by the Korean group STX until 2017 when it sold its shares to Italian group Fincantieri.

Le Monde newspaper reported that Kohler sat on the board of STX France as a representative of the state from 2010 to 2012 and later dealt with the company while serving as a deputy cabinet director and then cabinet direc-tor from 2012 to 2016.

In its fi ling, seen by AFP, An-ticor said Kohler “could not have been unaware of a confl ict of in-terest” given his ties to MSC.

In a statement to Le Monde, the president’s offi ce said that Kohler always declared his family links and recused himself from deci-sions directly linked to MSC and STX.

In 2014, Kohler attempted to leave the ministry for MSC but was prevented from doing so by an ethics watchdog.

He fi nally left for the company two years later in 2016 as Macron was launching his bid for the presidency.

Anticor has lodged a series of complaints against high-ranking offi cials in recent years, though not all have led to inquiries or convictions.

Top Macron offi cial under investigationAFPParis

This picture taken late last month shows Macron and Kohler during a Defence Council meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The German government has condemned an ap-parent attempt by the

co-leader of the anti-immigrant AfD party to play down the sig-nifi cance of the Nazis in Germa-ny’s history, and it stressed the unique nature of the Holocaust.

On Sunday politicians rebuked Alexander Gauland, one of the leaders of the far-right Alter-native for Germany (AfD), after he told a party gathering: “Hit-ler and the National Socialists are just bird (expletive) in 1,000 years of successful German his-tory.”

Yesterday Gauland denied that he had intended to trivialise the Nazis and their crimes, but Steff en Seibert, spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said it

is shameful that a member of the German national parliament had made such comments.

“The Nazi regime and the crime of the Holocaust conceived by the Nazi regime are unique, a real crime against humanity, and immeasurable suff ering was the result in many countries, includ-ing here in Germany,” Seibert said.

“It’s only because we Germans proclaim the perpetual responsi-bility that comes from that – and all German governments since the fi rst government of the Fed-eral Republic of Germany have done that, including this one – that Germany was able to be-come a respected country again and good partner for other coun-tries and peoples in the world,”

the spokesman pointed out.The Nazi dictatorship remains

a highly sensitive issue in Ger-many more than seven decades after its defeat.

Germany has built its post-World War II identity on the principle of keeping alive the memory of the 6mn Jews mur-dered by the Nazis and a com-mitment to Israel’s right to exist.

Gauland said his comments had been misunderstood or mis-interpreted and added that he had expressed his “deepest con-tempt” for National Socialism in the speech he made to the AfD’s youth wing on June 2.

“For me, ‘bird (expletive)’ is and remains the lowest piece of fi lth – animal excrement that I compared National Socialism with,” he said in a statement. “It was never my intention to trivi-alise or even deride the victims of this criminal system.”

AfD co-leader Joerg Meuthen told Zeit Online that Gauland’s choice of words was “inappro-priate” but added it is clear from the whole speech that Gauland was not playing down or trivial-ising Nazi atrocities.

The AfD’s federal board said in a statement that it is dismayed by the youth wing singing stanzas that are no longer part of the na-tional anthem at the event where Gauland spoke.

The fi rst stanza, with its words “Germany, Germany above all else” – which stemmed from ef-forts to unify Germany in the 19th century – was offi cially dropped from the anthem in 1991 following reunifi cation, as was the second stanza.

Gauland prompted contro-versy last year when he said Ger-mans should be proud of what their soldiers achieved during World War I and II.

Germany accuses AfD of playing down Nazi eraReutersBerlin

Gauland: It was never my intention to trivialise or even deride the victims of this criminal (Nazi) system.

A Russian court sentenced a Ukrainian journalist, Roman Sushchenko, to

12 years in a maximum security prison yesterday after convict-ing him of spying in a case that his lawyer and Ukraine said was fabricated for political reasons.

Relations between Moscow and Kyiv have been tense since 2014 when a popular uprising drove a pro-Russian president from power.

Russia went on to annex Cri-mea from Ukraine and backed a pro-Russian separatist insur-gency in the country’s east.

Russia’s FSB state security service detained Sushchenko, 49, in 2016 after he fl ew into Moscow from Paris where he worked as a correspondent for Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform.

The FSB accused Sush-chenko of working for Ukrain-ian military intelligence and of gathering classifi ed informa-tion about Russia’s military, charges he denied.

Mark Feygin, a lawyer for Sushchenko, said yesterday that a Moscow court had sen-tenced his client to 12 years in a maximum security prison after fi nding him guilty.

He said he would appeal.“We consider Roman Sush-

chenko innocent, but in such cases only political results are possible,” Feygin told reporters after the verdict.

Feygin himself was stripped of his status as a lawyer dur-ing the trial, a move he believes was linked to his work defend-ing Sushchenko.

Harlem Desir, media repre-sentative of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said he de-plored yesterday’s verdict and called on Russia to release Su-shchenko.

“Journalism is not a crime,”

Desir said in a statement.The New York-based Com-

mittee to Protect Journalists said Russian authorities failed to back up their allegations with “a shred of evidence”.

“Roman came here on a private visit, but got compla-cent and fell into a trap set by Russia’s special services,” said Feygin, his lawyer.

He said Sushchenko had only ever sought information for journalistic purposes, but had been set up by someone in the Russian military whom he had known for 25 years.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the court, saying that it had con-victed Sushchenko on trumped up charges.

“The unprecedented cyni-cism of the Russian court ... proves that the Kremlin regime will stop at nothing in its at-tempts to break Ukrainians’ spirit,” Poroshenko wrote on social media.

Feygin, the lawyer, called for Russia to swap his client with Ukraine in exchange for Kirill Vyshinsky, a Russian journalist being held by Kyiv.

Ukraine’s SBU state security service detained Vyshinsky, the head of Russia’s state-backed RIA Novosti news agency in Ukraine, last month and accused him of supporting pro-Russian separatists.

Vyshinsky faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the charges.

A Ukrainian fi lm director, Oleg Sentsov, could also be part of any prisoner swap.

Sentsov is serving 20 years in jail in Russia for planning “terrorist attacks” in Crimea after what Amnesty Interna-tional called a show trial.

Western journalists have asked President Vladimir Pu-tin to agree to an amnesty for Sentsov or to release him as part of a prisoner exchange in the run-up to the soccer World Cup which starts later this month.

Russia sentences Ukrainian journalist to 12 years in prisonReutersMoscow

Sushchenko is seen in the court in Moscow, where he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

Elections would not fi x Spain’s problems, a top aide to new Prime Minis-

ter Pedro Sanchez said yester-day, rejecting opposition calls for a snap vote as the minority government prepares to tackle a budget vote and the Catalonia crisis.

Sanchez, whose Socialist party holds just 84 of 350 par-liamentary seats, was propelled into offi ce on Friday after an un-likely alliance of anti-austerity and nationalist parties backed his bid to oust Mariano Rajoy’s conservatives.

“It’s clearly unusual to gov-ern with 84 lawmakers but the political situation remains very fragmented and everything sug-gests a new election wouldn’t fi x that,” Jose Luis Abalos, often described as Sanchez’s right-hand man, told COPE radio.

The current legislature is due to end in mid-2020.

However, the lack of anything approaching a majority as well as a series of tricky political hurdles – including the Catalan crisis, a still to-be-approved 2018 budget and expectations of stiff opposition from Rajoy’s People’s Party (PP) and the cen-tre-right Ciudadanos – make it unclear how long his adminis-tration can last.

“The new government is go-ing to be very weak,” analysts from French investment bank

Natixis said.”(Its) life expect-ancy (...) might be very short.”

A Socialist lawmaker ac-knowledged that situation, say-ing that while Sanchez was now working on putting together a cabinet that wanted to push through social-minded meas-ures, it would likely not last quite till mid-2020.

“We’re not going to exhaust this legislature,” Adriana Lastra told RTVE.

Sanchez can at least count on healthy growth momen-tum in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy, emphasised on Monday with data showing registered unemployment fell in May to its lowest level since the fi nancial crisis erupted in 2008.

Financial markets also wel-comed the relatively smooth handover of power in Madrid, with Spanish stocks posting gains and the yield spread on the country’s bonds over bench-mark German debt falling.

Moody’s rating agency said yesterday that it would leave its Baa1 rating of Spain unchanged.

“The change in government brings a period of heightened political uncertainty, but is un-likely to have any material im-pact on Spain’s credit profi le given the new government’s limited ability to either embark on major policy initiatives or re-verse earlier reforms,” it said.

Catalan nationalist parties supported Sanchez in Friday’s vote, but Abalos told COPE that there had been no quid-pro-quo negotiations between the camps, or discussions over the fate of politicians jailed for their roles in the north eastern region’s secessionist campaign.

Nationalists regained control of the Catalan government on Saturday, and said they wanted talks with Sanchez and would pursue independence.

Sanchez has also said he wants to talk, though he and his

party are opposed to any inde-pendence referendum or seces-sion.

The new premier also faces a potential early challenge from the PP, after lawmakers in the party said they did not rule out tabling amendments to the 2018 budget in the upper parliamen-tary house, where they have a majority.

Any attempt to block the budget – drafted by the PP while in government and voted through the lower house last month after delays – risks cre-ating legislative delays that Sanchez can ill aff ord.

Over the next few days, Sanchez is expected to unveil a cabinet.

But a spokeswoman for Sanchez said at the weekend that it would not include mem-bers of the anti-austerity Po-demos party which, with 67 lawmakers, was a key ally in helping him topple Rajoy.

That decision seems unlikely to make it any easier for Sanchez to push bills through a frag-mented parliament.

However, fast-track decrees and control of the budget, once passed, should allow it to make some legislation, including on pensions, said Pablo Simon, a political science professor at Madrid’s Carlos III university.

“He has some room for ma-noeuvre,” Simon said, adding that he expected Sanchez’s gov-ernment to survive at least until after municipal, regional and European ballots due next May.

No early polls in Spain, aide to new PM saysReutersMadrid

Sanchez arrives to welcome Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at La Moncloa palace in Madrid.

Slovenia looked set yester-day for a period of political uncertainty after an incon-

clusive parliamentary election in which the anti-immigrant Slov-enian Democratic Party (SDS) won most seats but fell well short of a majority.

The lack of a clear outcome from Sunday’s election dented Slovenian bond prices and the country’s main business forum urged speedy coalition talks to avert any damage to the booming economy.

Slovenian President Borut Pa-hor will later this week meet SDS leader Janez Jansa, presidential spokeswoman Spela Vovk said, without elaborating.

The president has previously said he would nominate the lead-er of the biggest party as prime minister in the next couple of

weeks but Jansa may struggle to win suffi cient parliamentary support to lead the next govern-ment.

The centre-right SDS, which has the support of neighbour-ing Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, won 25 of the 90 parliamentary seats but most of the other eight parties have said they will not join a coa-lition with the SDS.

“We hope that a broad coali-tion can be formed which would include centre-right and centre-left parties and would have a pro-gramme that would enable fur-ther economic growth,” said the head of the Chamber of Com-merce and Industry, Sonja Smuc.

“Political instability or a weak government without a clear de-velopment programme could mean troubles for the economy and lower economic growth,” she told Reuters.

Jansa, a two-times former prime minister, said on Sunday

that the SDS would invite all other parliamentary parties to coalition talks.

Parliament must hold its fi rst session within 20 days and the president then has 30 days to nominate a candidate for prime minister.

Jansa, who led the government in 2004-08 and in 2012-13, has said he wants to abolish migrant quotas, strengthen the security forces, cut taxes and speed up privatisation.

Hungary’s Orban has also strongly opposed the European Commission’s attempts to im-pose quotas on all EU member states to take in migrants follow-ing the infl ux of mostly Muslim refugees since 2015.

Only the conservative New Slovenia and right-wing Slov-enian Nationalist Party have indicated a willingness to join a coalition with the SDS, but to-gether the three would hold only 36 parliamentary seats.

Political uncertainty in SloveniaReutersLjubljana

Serbian raspberry growers block road to MontenegroHundreds of Serbian raspberry producers blocked a main road to Montenegro for a third straight day yesterday to press for higher wholesale prices.Farmers stood in the road just outside the western town of Prijepolje, bringing traff ic from Montenegro to a virtual standstill and prompting many drivers to take long detours to avoid the blockade.Serbia is a major producer of fresh and frozen raspberries, behind Russia, the United States, Poland and Mexico.The protesters want the state to intervene against wholesale buyers which also own refrigerating facilities, and impose a price rise from around 160

dinars ($1.60) per kg to 180 dinars.Last year’s average wholesale price was around 145 dinars.“Owners of refrigerators and insurers are plotting behind our backs ... we are slaves in our own plantations, we are working 16 hours every day,” said Radenko Maric, a raspberry grower.According to off icial statistics, total production of raspberries was 109,000 tonnes last year and Serbia exported 99,664 tonnes worth €241.1mn ($283mn).Veljko Jovanovic, the head of the Chamber of Commerce’s Agriculture Department noted the price was set by the market, both foreign and domestic.

INDIA21Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Schools shut as Shimla faces acute water crisis

Pre-monsoon rains lash Mumbai again, fl ights hit

Governors have a keyrole to play,says Modi

ReutersShimla

Shimla, a popular hill sta-tion retreat in Himachal Pradesh, is reeling under

a severe water crisis, forcing the state authorities to temporarily shut schools and suspend an of-fi cer for negligence.

Residents blame the Himachal Pradesh state’s mismanagement for the worst-ever shortage, as water resources dry up in the drought-hit region.

“The situation was critical a couple of days back, but it has improved now,” Shimla Munici-pal Corporation mayor Kusum Sadrate said.

The supplies were around 35mn litres per day (MLD) yesterday,

which she said was suffi cient to meet the town’s demand.

“Tankers are being sent to places where water cannot reach via the pipeline distribution sys-tem,” she added.

Some residents, however, said they were still short of water.

“We have had water last Mon-day after eight days and now there is no supply again. Crisis still looms and has not been dealt with eff ectively,” Sparsh Makhaik, a resident of the town famous for its colonial architecture and pic-turesque views of snow-capped Himalayan peaks, said.

Supply shortages for more than a week in this town of near-ly 200,000 people have stoked protests, with residents march-ing to the state chief minister’s home last week and taking to

social media with “Stop visiting Shimla” posts that went viral.

Once the summer capital of British colonial administrators, Shimla remains popular with visitors who fl ock to escape the scorching heat of India’s north-ern plains in May and June.

Around 3.5mn tourists vis-ited Shimla last year, data from the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation of Himachal Pradesh showed.

“The situation has forced tourists to buy water at exor-bitant prices. A Rs20 bottle of water is being charged Rs100,” said Harish Janartha, a former deputy mayor of Shimla.

Against a daily water require-ment of around 44 MLD, Shim-la’s supplies fell as low as 18 MLD last week, offi cials said.

While some accused the au-thorities of mismanagement, less snowfall last winter, fol-lowed by minimal rainfall and higher-than-normal tempera-tures have dried up the town’s water channels.

“Depletion of water is 50% this year due to lower snowfall and rainfall,” said Vijay Gupta, a municipal engineer.

Jai Ram Thakur, the state chief minister, briefed Prime Min-ister’s Offi ce over the weekend about the water crisis in the state, ruled by Narendra Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party.

The state suspended a senior municipal offi cer for negligence and ordered government schools to re-main shut for a week starting today.

The high court ordered the state to disconnect supplies to hoteliers

with overdue water bills.The crippling shortage has

forced the state to postpone the annual International Shimla Summer Festival, usually held in June, Amit Kashyap, deputy commissioner of Shimla, said.

An expanding population, growing demand for water from agriculture and industry, and poor management of supplies have sent India’s groundwater to ever lower levels.

That, combined with rising temperatures, threatens wors-ening scarcity, experts say.

Nearly 163mn people among India’s population of 1.3bn – or more than one in 10 – lack ac-cess to clean water close to their home, the most of any country, according to a 2018 report by British-based charity WaterAid.

IANSBengaluru

Tamil actor-turned-pol-itician Kamal Haasan yesterday met Karnataka

Chief Minister H D Kumaras-wamy and discussed the issue of Cauvery river water sharing with neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

“We discussed the issue of the (Cauvery) Water Manage-ment Board. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu maintain a cordial relationship over the Cauvery is-sue and it will be solved through mutual understanding,” Kumar-aswamy told reporters.

The central government on June 1 notifi ed the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to implement the shar-ing of water between the south-ern states.

“Farmers of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are equally im-portant,” the chief minister said after meeting the Makkal Needhi

Maiam party chief at his offi ce.Haasan said the water sharing

issue can be resolved if the states come together for dialogue.

“Courts should be the last re-sort. If the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka come together, the issue can be resolved,” he said.

Tamil Nadu would like to see the setting up of the CWMA ex-pedited, he added.

Haasan’s visit to Karnataka comes after the state’s fi lm distributors voluntarily de-cided to not screen Tamil actor Rajinikanth’s Kaala in thea-tres across the state protesting against the superstar’s stand on the river row.

Asked about the Tamil fi lm not being screened in Karnataka, Haasan said the discussion with the chief minister did not in-clude the subject.

“This discussion was not about fi lms. There is a fi lm chamber to look into the issue. This issue (of Cauvery water) is more important,” he added.

Kamal meets Karnataka CM on Cauvery issue

IANSMumbai

For the second time in two days, heavy pre-monsoon rains, accompanied by

thunder and lightning, lashed Mumbai last night, disrupting fl ights and trains, offi cials said.

South Mumbai, eastern and western suburbs and many ar-eas of adjoining Raigad, Thane, Ratnagiri and Palghar districts received heavy rains.

Waterlogging was reported in some parts of the city and suburbs, leading to huge traffi c snarls on two key highways and other roads in the city and sub-urbs.

At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maha-raj International Airport, at least nine incoming fl ights of diff erent airlines were diverted to other airports like Ahmedabad due to congestion in Mumbai and the

inclement weather conditions.Local train services were hit

owing to some technical glitches on the Harbour Line of Central Railway.

Power outages were reported in some parts of Thane besides trees falling due to strong winds lashing adjoining areas like Am-bernath and Thane.

Meanwhile at least 13 peo-ple died in diff erent incidents, mostly by drowning, in the fi rst monsoon weekend in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra in the past 72 hours.

Five people, including four of a family, from Borivali drowned during a beach picnic in Ratna-giri on Sunday afternoon.

The accident occurred at the small Aare-Ware Beach near Devrukh in Ratnagiri.

Offi cials said the victims ig-nored warnings and ventured into the choppy waters and were trapped in a sudden whirlpool

that built up at an intersection in the Arabian Sea and a creek along the beach.

Two cousins from Thane drowned when they accidentally walked into a ditch full of water, which was dug up to lay a sewage pipeline, on Sunday.

There were no warning signs near the ditch.

In another weekend tragedy, three men drowned in two sepa-rate incidents at the Bhuigaon beach in Palghar district on Sat-urday evening.

Three people were electrocut-ed in two separate incidents in Bhandup after the city and sur-roundings were lashed by sud-den thunderstorms on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, the much-await-ed southwest monsoon has fi -nally set in Karnataka, with widespread rains in the state’s coastal region and southern area, offi cials said.

IANSNew Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday state governors had a crucial

role to play within the consti-tutional framework and they could ensure better imple-mentation of central schemes for the benefi t of a larger sec-tion of the population.

Addressing the opening ses-sion of the 49th Conference of Governors at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi said the gover-nors could leverage their expe-rience in diff erent walks of life to ensure people get the maxi-mum benefi t of various central development schemes and ini-tiatives.

The institution of gover-nor had a “pivotal role to play within the federal structure and constitutional framework of our country”, Modi said.

The prime minister said governors of states with sig-nifi cant tribal population can help in ensuring fi nancial in-clusion of the tribal commu-nities as well as in facilitating various government initiatives in fi elds such as education, sports and others to reach them.

This was in consonance with the message given by Presi-dent Ram Nath Kovind ear-lier who asked the governors to use their position in bringing about changes in the lives of the marginalised and enhanc-ing higher education standards in the country.

The prime minister men-tioned some key themes of development such as the Na-tional Nutrition Mission, electrifi cation of villages and development parameters in the aspirational districts. He suggested that the governors could visit a few recently elec-trifi ed villages to witness fi rst-

hand the benefi ts of electrifi -cation.

Noting that the governors were also the chancellors of state universities, he said they could help ensure that admis-sions, appointments, exami-nations and convocations were on time.

He said that International Yoga Day on June 21 could be utilised as an opportunity to generate greater awareness about yoga among the youth and the universities could also become the focal point for the celebrations for Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th anniversary.

Modi suggested that planning for the 50th Governors’ Confer-ence next year should begin im-mediately. This eff ort should fo-cus on making the annual event even more productive.

Earlier, in his inaugural ad-dress at the conference, Ko-vind observed that the gover-nor was “a mentor and guide to the state and an important link in the federal structure”.

“As per the Constitution, the post of the governor has an exalted place in the scheme of governance. The governor is a mentor and guide to the state and an important link in the federal structure.

“The people of the state view the offi ce of the governor and the Raj Bhavan as a fount of ideals and values,” he told the governors and Lt Gover-nors.

He said the governors could help in shaping the roadmap for the betterment of lives of the citizens who have not ben-efi ted “as much as expected from our development jour-ney”.

The central focus for this year’s conference is to sensitise the attending state heads to the programmes being imple-mented for citizens who have been left behind in the coun-try’s developmental journey.

A family shelters under a tree amid heavy rain in Kolkata yesterday.

Residents gather to collect drinking water in buckets from an army water tanker in Shimla. Police were deployed to guard water tankers in the historic Himalayan town. Shimla’s water shortage has been worsening for years but reached crisis point when supplies ran out last month.

Indian cities struggling to cope with plastic wasteAFPNew Delhi

A sea of plastic spreads through the New Delhi slum of Taimur Nagar, a

symbol of the grime and waste that makes the Indian capital one of the world’s most polluted cities.

The plastic bottles, bags, food wrappers and other detri-tus have gushed out of a drain that ends in the shanty, leaving stinking sewer water clogging the roads.

Stray dogs, goats and cows

munch the plastic waste as tod-dlers run around trying to re-trieve footballs and water bot-tles.

India is to be the focus of World Environment Day today, but it is far from the minds of the long-suff ering inhabitants of Taimur Nagar.

“You can see how bad the con-ditions are here. It’s completely choked with plastic,” said Bhola Ram, shaking his head.

Taimur Nagar is one of many slums in Delhi and countless other Indian cities struggling to cope with waste, particularly the plastic pollution that is the

main theme of World Environ-ment Day.

India is to organise beach cleanups, an exhibition of green technology and art installations – symbols of its growing eco-nomic clout.

One engineer, Rajagopalan Vasudevan, has developed a process where plastic waste is shredded up and used in new roads.

But a sweeping look over Taimur Nagar underlines the challenges the country faces with its waste.

India generates around 5.6mn tonnes of plastic waste annually,

according to government fi gures, with Delhi among the worst cit-ies for plastic consumption.

The city banned plastic bags in 2009 and later expanded it to all plastic packaging and single-use disposable plastic.

But the ban is rarely enforced.Plastic bags are still the staple

for carrying vegetables, fruit, meat and restaurant takeaways.

Taimur Nagar’s residents know little of the hazards of non-biodegradable plastic to the water supply and the animals around.

Used to the fi lth, residents say they are resigned to their fate.

“It’s like living in hell. You can see there is plastic garbage everywhere. We are poor and we have no choice but to live and die here,” said Shreepal Singh, a waste dealer.

Conditions were not always so bad.

“When I came here 40 years ago the drain had clean water. The area was not so dirty. But as more and more people started living here, things have gone worse,” said Saroj Sharma, a mother of three.

In the rainy season, grimy wa-ter from sewers enters homes with families having to cope

with the sludge and stench.“My granddaughter keeps

falling sick. All the children here frequently miss school because they are down with diarrhoea or malaria,” said housewife Biram-bati Devi.

Taimur Nagar is sandwiched between upper scale residential developments lined with swanky houses, the underbelly of Delhi that remains hidden from main roads.

Its insidious conditions tell a sorry tale of India’s lopsided economic growth as well as decades of negligence, despite a pledge by Prime Minister Naren-

dra Modi to clean up the coun-try by the time his term ends in 2019.

India had 14 of the world’s 15 worst cities for dirty air in a re-cent World Health Organisation survey.

Delhi improved its ranking to sixth from the most polluted city in 2014.

“I don’t think the city will ever get cleaned. The conditions will never improve,” said Sallu Chowdhary, who wore a black mask as he set out for college.

“No one is serious about this problem, not even the locals who have to suff er every day.”

Civil services aspirant commits suicide in Delhi

Forensic team probesFerrari car after accident

Patnaik orders probe into missing temple keys

Security agencies were put on alert in and around the Sikh holy city of Amritsar yesterday in view of the 34th anniversary of Operation Blue Star carried out by the army on the Golden Temple complex in June 1984. Police, paramilitary forces and intelligence personnel were stationed at diff erent locations across Amritsar, particularly in the congested walled city area where the Golden Temple complex is located. Religious prayers started at the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion, yesterday. The prayers will end tomorrow, marked as the anniversary of the army operation launched to flush out heavily armed terrorists from inside the shrine complex. Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora reviewed security arrangements in Amritsar on Saturday.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley returned home yesterday after being discharged from a hospital where he underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery last month. “Delighted to be back at home. My gratitude to the doctors, nursing off icers and the paramedics who looked after me for over the past three weeks. I wish to thank all well-wishers, colleagues and friends who were very concerned and continued to wish me for my recovery,” he said in a tweet. Listed as “minister without portfolio” in the prime minister’s off icial website, Jaitley is expected to resume work after he fully recovers. In the meantime, Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal has been given the additional charge of the Finance and Corporate Aff airs ministries. Jaitley underwent a kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on May 14.

Security tightened ahead of ‘Op Blue Star’ anniversary

Jaitley back home after kidney transplant

ALERTPEOPLE

A 28-year-old civil services aspirant committed suicide after he was denied entry to the examination hall for the preliminary test yesterday as he came late, police said yesterday. Varun Chandran committed suicide on Sunday evening by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in his rented room in Rajendra Nagar area of central Delhi, a senior police off icer said. “The suicide note revealed that he reached the examination centre after the scheduled time. Being late, he was refused entry. That is why he committed suicide,” the off icial said. Chandran had gone to appear for the exam at Sarvodya Bal Vidyalaya at Kaseruwalan in Paharganj. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted this year’s Civil Services Preliminary Exam on Sunday at various test centres across the country.

TRAGEDY INVESTIGATION MYSTERY

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday ordered a judicial probe after keys of the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of Jagannath temple in Puri went missing. At a meeting of the Sri Jagannath Temple Managing Committee on April 4, it was recorded that the keys of the inner chambers of the treasury had gone missing. As per norms, the keys are handed over to the district collector after locking the treasury. The keys are then deposited in the district treasury. However, there was no mention of receiving the keys either in the government treasury or with the collector, sources said. A 16-member team on April 4 entered the bhandar after 34 years to inspect its physical conditions following an order of the Orissa High Court. However, they could not enter the inner chambers as they did not have the keys.

A day after a person was killed and another injured in a car crash in West Bengal’s Howrah district, a team of forensic experts yesterday examined the wrecked convertible Ferrari and inspected the accident scene. Several broken parts as well as electronic devices of the car were collected and sent for testing. On Sunday morning, the red Ferrari California T with two men rammed the guardrails of the Pakuria flyover on NH-6 and crashed into an iron rail of the bridge that pierced the engine. Ashibaji Ray, 43, who was driving the car, died while his friend’s daughter was seriously injured and is currently being treated at a hospital. According to primary investigation, the Ferrari was part of a seven-car motorcade that had started from Kolkata early on Sunday for a long drive along NH-6 and was returning to the city.

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 2018

INDIA22

Vegetableprices jumpas farmers go on strikeAgenciesMumbai

Vegetable prices jumped as much as 10% in major cit-ies, including Mumbai and

Delhi, as a four-day-old strike by millions of farmers curtailed sup-plies.

Farmers began their 10-day protest on Friday to press de-mands such as farm loan waiv-ers and higher prices for produce such as cereals, oilseeds and milk.

“Wholesale prices of some veg-etables like tomatoes and french beans have risen due to lower supplies,” said a Mumbai-based vegetable vendor Mahesh Gupta.

Outbreaks of rural discontent poses a challenge to Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi, who promised when he came to power in 2014 to double farm incomes in fi ve years.

Farmers in eight states, mostly ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, have restricted supplies of vegetable and milk to the cities’ markets.

“We are distributing milk and vegetables to the poor and needy, but we’ve decided not sell. The basic idea is to highlight the plight of farmers who have been over-looked by the government,” said Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farmer in Punjab.

Prices for many crops have fallen sharply, while the price of diesel has gone up, squeezing mil-lions of India’s mostly small-scale farmers.

Last year six farmers were killed in similar protests that became violent in Mandsaur, in the cen-

tral state of Madhya Pradesh.Senior Bharatiya Janata Party

leader Sartaj Singh, who was a minister in prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s fi rst govern-ment, condemned his own party and government, saying the farmers are tense and increasingly committing suicide.

To mark the fi rst anniversary of the Mandsaur killings, the farm-ers have organised the “Gaon Bandh Andolan” in which they have stopped supplies to cities and are not buying any products from there.

Kedar Sirohi, president of Aam Kisan Union, another farmers’ or-ganisation, said the “farmers are getting people’s support for the protest. Farmers in large numbers are not leaving their villages. The government is trying to pressure the farmers to supply milk and vegetable to the cities but the farmers are adamantly asking for the fulfi lment of their demands.”

The authorities are taking strict action in Mandsaur and adjoin-ing villages with travellers under special surveillance and security forces deployed to keep the situ-ation in check.

Addressing a press conference, Sartaj Singh said the farmers are not committing suicide at the be-hest of the opposition Congress Party, and called on his party to implement the Swaminathan Commission report which had recommended that farmers get one-and-half times of their cost for their produce.

In Punjab, tension prevailed in some parts.

In recent days, farmers blocked

highways in some places and poured milk onto roads.

The protests have been peace-ful so far, although organisers are planning to increase the intensity in coming days.

“The government hasn’t ful-fi lled promises it had given last year. We have no option but to intensify our protests,” said Ajit Nawale, state general secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, one of the farmers’ union participating in the strike.

Two-thirds of India’s 1.3bn people depend directly or indi-rectly on farming for their liveli-hood, but farm incomes only ac-count for 14% of gross domestic product, refl ecting a growing di-vide between the countryside and wealthier cities.

“I am stocking up vegetables for the entire week,” said Anjali Salunkhe, a housewife in Mum-bai, fearing prices could double as they did during protests last year.

Meanwhile, a Maharashtra farm panel has criticised federal Agriculture Minister Radha Mo-han Singh for his recent ‘anti-farmer jibe’.

Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swava-lamban Mission (VNSSM) chair-man Kishore Tiwari termed the minister’s remarks that the farm-ers protest was “a media stunt” as “unfortunate and rubbing salt on the wounds of the dying agrarian community”.

“Instead of making such state-ments, the minister should im-mediately look into the status of the government’s agrarian pro-grammes and resolve the farmers’ distress,” he said.

Congress questions govtsilence on ICICI ‘fraud’IANSNew Delhi

The Congress Party yester-day questioned the gov-ernment’s “silence” and

“non-interference” over allega-tions of ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar’s role in fraud loans.

“Instead of oversight, au-dit, regulations and protection of interests of account holder’s depositors, stakeholders and shareholders, the Modi govern-ment is busy protecting its crony friends,” Congress spokesman Pawan Khera said at a press con-ference here.

“Why did the government not order a thorough probe when news reports and whistleblow-er’s letters to the prime minister emerged as early in March this year,” he asked.

“What explains the complete silence and the declared non-interference of the Modi govern-ment in this saga of ICICI Bank frauds?”

Khera also asked if acting Fi-

nance Minister Piyush Goyal, who himself has been accused of confl ict of interest and impropri-ety, would order an investigation.

Noting that the government itself has admitted that non-performing assets have risen by 230% - from Rs2,51,054 crore in March 2014 to Rs8,31,141 crore in December 2017, he said that lack of oversight and regulatory mechanisms have precipitated into massive bank loot scams worth Rs61,036 crore and have eroded the trust of the common people in banks.

“The Rs2,849 crore expo-sure of the ICICI Bank and the behind-the-scenes murky deals questions the role of its CEO in one such saga of banking fraud,” Khera added.

“Media reports and whistle-blowers alike have alleged that the ICCI Bank CEO and her fam-ily have invested Rs325 crore in the subsidiary of a large consor-tium - which on record has a loan default and a large NPA.

“After much delay, Sebi has given a show cause notice to the

ICICI Bank’s CEO and said that it didn’t adhere to its code of con-duct, which required the disclo-sure of any confl ict of interest in the case involving Videocon Group and NuPower Renewa-bles, a fi rm owned by her hus-band,” he said.

Noting every bank goes through four stages of audit - statutory, internal, and concurrent audits and RBI inspection, he said that despite this, the entire fraud es-caped everybody’s attention and sought to know why the audits had not uncovered it.

Meanwhile, members of the Parliamentary Standing Com-mittee on Finance yesterday asked banks to come out with a roadmap to deal with NPAs and suggested their redefi ning and classifi cation of bad loans.

At a meeting of the commit-tee, the members also asked top bank offi cials and members of Indian Banks’ Association about the “banking scams” including the multi-crore bank fraud in the Punjab National Bank involving jeweller Nirav Modi.

Kerala to foot medical bills of Nipah victimsIANSThiruvananthapuram

Kerala Chief Minister Pi-narayi Vijayan yesterday said the government would

foot the medical bills of all those being treated for the deadly Nipah virus in Kozhikode and Malap-puram.

He said the work done by the state’s health professionals in containing the spread of the dis-ease was really encouraging and showed their commitment and dedication. This quick contain-ment has not happened in other countries aff ected by the virus, he added.

“What we have found out is that it is due to the eff ective in-tervention and the work of these health professionals that the spread of Nipah virus has been contained. Now there need be no fear or panic. The state govern-ment will bear all the expenses of these patients who underwent treatment for Nipah,” Vijayan said at an all-party conference.

The Kerala government also decided to distribute special food kits as Kozhikode turned out to

be the worst-aff ected with 13 deaths, while three deaths were reported in Malappuram.

Vijayan criticised those spread-ing rumours on social media.

Sixteen patients have so far died and two are recovering at the Kozhikode hospital while around 2,000 people who have reported to have come in contact with the aff ected, are being monitored.

Earlier yesterday, on the open-ing day of the assembly session, opposition legislator P Abdullah from Kozhikode walked into the fl oor of the house wearing a mask and gloves, which invited imme-diate criticism from Vijayan and Health Minister K K Shailaja, who both termed his show an insult to the eff orts of the state govern-ment.

But intervening in the issue, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said this was done as Abdullah just wanted to express his solidarity with the people of Kozhikode and it was not an insult.

Meanwhile the Veterinary As-sociation has said that they will approach the central government seeking permission to carry out an epidemiological study on the outbreak of Nipah in Kozhikode.

Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty and yoga guru Baba Ramdev speak to media during a promotional event in New Delhi yesterday. Ramdev is starting a countrywide fitness campaign.

Fitness campaign

A vendor speaks on his mobile phone as he maintains his ledger book at a stall selling vegetables in Mumbai yesterday. Vegetable prices jumped as much as 10% in major cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, as a four-day-old strike by millions of farmers curtailed supplies.

Constitutionin danger, says Goa’sArchbishop

IANSPanaji

The Indian Constitution is in danger, Goa’s Arch-bishop Filipe Neri Fer-

rao has said, adding that a “new trend” of mono-culturalism, which demands uniformity in what and how one eats, dress-es, lives and even worships, is putting human rights at risk.

In the latest annual pastoral letter to Catholics in Goa, Fer-rao also exhorted agencies of the Church in Goa to actively par-ticipate in social movements and urged lay Catholics to play an active part in politics.

“At the time of elections, the candidates confuse the minds of many people by making false promises. And the people, on their part, often sell their pre-cious vote for selfi sh, petty gain.

“Today, our Constitution is in danger, (it is a) reason why most of the people live in insecurity,” Ferrao said in his pastoral letter for 2018-19 which was formally released on Sunday but circu-lated only yesterday.

“In this context, particularly as the general elections are fast approaching, we must strive to know our Constitution better and work harder to protect it.”

In the letter, which comes two weeks after Delhi Arch-bishop Anil Couto warned about an emerging threat to India’s “democratic and secular fabric”, Ferrao also alleged that human rights were being trampled in the name of development and mono-culturalism.

“In recent times, we see a new trend emerging in our country, which demands uniformity in what and how we eat, dress, live and even worship: a kind of mo-no-culturalism. Human rights are under attack and democracy appears to be in peril.

“The various minorities fear for their safety. In short, respect for law is frankly on the decline in this country,” said Ferrao, who is the spiritual and religious leader of Catholics in Goa who account for 26% of the state’s population of 1.5mn.

23Gulf TimesTuesday, June 5, 2018

LATIN AMERICA

Pompeo calls on OAS to suspend VenezuelaReutersWashington

The US yesterday called on members of the Or-ganisation of American

States (OAS) to suspend Ven-ezuela from the group and ramp up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government with new sanctions.

Maduro won re-election in a May vote that the Venezuelan opposition, along with the US and other Latin American na-tions, have decried as a sham cementing a dictatorship which has devastated a once-prosper-ous economy.

“Suspension...would show that OAS backs up its words with action and would send a power-ful signal to the Maduro regime: Only real elections will allow your government to be included in the family of nations,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

“We seek only what all the nations of the OAS want for our people: A return to the con-stitutional order, free and fair elections with international observation, and the release of political prisoners,” he told the 34-member OAS’s general as-sembly in Washington.

Pompeo said OAS member states should apply new sanc-tions on Venezuela to further isolate it diplomatically after the May 20 election, in which Ma-duro’s two most popular rivals were barred from standing.

After Pompeo’s comments, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza accused the US of violating international law.

“The aggression against Ven-ezuela is brutal, it’s economic, it’s fi nancial, it’s commercial, it’s political, it’s media, and we are going to press on and we will triumph,” Arreaza told the as-sembly.

Maduro calls the OAS a pawn of US foreign policy and last year said he would pull Venezuela out of the organisation.

Nicaraguan cardinalObando dies aged 92AFPManagua

Cardinal emeritus Miguel Obando y Bravo, an infl u-ential mediator in Nica-

ragua’s many confl icts and in recent years an ally of President Daniel Ortega, has died aged 92, the Catholic Church announced.

His death came with his coun-try once again in the throes of crisis, with more than 100 dead after weeks of protests calling for Ortega’s resignation.

Acting as a politically savvy peacemaker in such confl icts was a hallmark of Obando’s six decades as a priest, many of them as archbishop of Managua.

He was a sharp critic of the dictator Anastasio Somoza, who was ousted by Ortega’s Sandini-sta guerrilla army in 1979.

He later turned his criticism on the newly installed Sandinista junta led by Ortega, criticising its communist ideology, alleged hu-man rights violations and vision of a “people’s church” based on left-ist liberation theology. Ortega lost the presidency in a 1990 election.

But as he charted his even-

tual return to power in 2007, he went out of his way to court the cardinal’s favour with a mix of progressive social policy and support for a total abortion ban.

Obando even presided over Ortega’s 2005 wedding to Ro-sario Murillo, the current vice president.

Obando was born on February 2, 1926, into a farmworkers family in the mining town of La Liber-tad, also Ortega’s birthplace. Or-dained in 1958, he was designated archbishop of Managua in 1970.

He was elevated to cardinal in 1985 by Pope John Paul II, be-coming the fi rst Central Ameri-can cardinal ever. The promotion gave him added clout at a time when priests were being perse-cuted by the Sandinista revolu-tionary government.

Ortega earlier this year ac-knowledged Obando’s role in forging a peace agreement that ended the war between the Sandinistas and the US-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s.

But the two men were often at odds. Obando is remembered in Nicaragua for a parable that ap-peared to allude to Ortega as a treacherous viper.

Soccer-mad Brazilians buyTVs as World Cup nearsReutersSao Paulo

While still more than a week away, the World Cup has already had

a major impact on retailers in the self-described “Country of Soccer,” as football-mad Bra-zilians feverishly scoop up new televisions.

Brazilian TV production — much of it by international companies like Panasonic and LG in a tax-free zone in Ama-zonas state — has risen 25% by some measures, while the country’s leading electronics retailers are reporting a spike in sales in recent months.

Stores are also coming up with novel methods to get Bra-zilians to pull the trigger on new TV sets, with many off ering major discounts.

Electronics and appliance chain and local e-commerce standout Magazine Luiza SA, for instance, is allowing cus-tomers to pay for new TVs in part by trading in their old sets.

“We’re seeing sales get

stronger week after week as we get closer to the Cup,” said commercial director Fabio Gabaldo.

The boost is not unique to Brazil, which is the only coun-try to have appeared in every tournament in history.

In neighbouring Peru, which will make its fi rst World Cup appearance in 36 years, fi rst-quarter TV sales rose 25% from a year earlier, according to poll-ster GfK.

That nation’s congress came under fi re recently for planning to buy 60 TVs and a number of mini-fridges, purchases that many Peruvians suspect are re-lated to the World Cup, a charge legislators have denied.

The rise in sales in Brazil shows how enthusiasm for the Cup shows no signs of fad-ing even after an embarrassing exit from the 2014 tournament, which was played at home and sparked a number of major cor-ruption investigations.

Various other sectors, in-cluding food retail are set for a major boost during the Cup itself, potentially providing a

small shot of adrenaline for an economy that has struggled to recover from a deep recession and most recently has been roiled by a truckers strike.

January-to-March industrial production for the electronics category, which includes TVs, rose more than 26% from the same period a year before, ac-cording to government statis-tics.

In the interior of impover-ished Amazonas, a state domi-nated by lush rain forest but also a major producer of TVs because of tax incentives, pro-duction jumped some 47%.

In a conference call ear-lier in the month, Carrefour Brasil’s chief executive of re-tail, Jose Luis Gutierrez, said electronics sales were show-ing a pick-up in May and are set to be “very strong” in the second quarter because of the tournament.

Major electronics retailer Via Varejo SA has boosted inven-tories to deal with the event, the company’s newly installed CEO, Peter Paul Estermann, told investors in late April.

Toll from Guatemalavolcano rises to 33AgenciesEscuintla, Guatemala

The death toll from the eruption of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano rose to 33

yesterday after rescue workers recovered more bodies.

David de Leon, spokesman for Guatemala’s disaster manage-ment agency, said several more bodies had been recovered in the rubble of villages on the volca-no’s southern fl ank, which bore the brunt of the disaster. The previous toll was 25.

Authorities had warned the death toll could rise as a number of people had been reported missing.

“There are missing persons, but we do not know how many,” said Serio Cabanas of Guate-mala’s disaster management agency.

A roll call of communities on the slopes of the volcano was under way, he said.

Cabanas said those who were killed had been overrun by fast moving burning material dis-charged by the volcano on Sunday.

Communities located on its southern slope were the worst hit. Several of the dead were children.

A journalist saw at least three bodies burned in the rubble of the village of San Miguel Los Lotes, where rescue workers, soldiers and police were desper-ately searching for survivors.

Dead dogs, chickens and ducks also lay among the mud and ash, much of it still smoking.

“I do not want to leave, but go

back, and there is nothing I can do to save my family,” a weeping Eufemia Garcia, 48, said.

She was searching for her three children, her mother, nephews and siblings.

Garcia, from Los Lotes, said she escaped with the help of her husband.

Forty-six people were injured and more than 3,200 people evacuated from their homes, disaster agency spokesman Dav-id De Leon said early yesterday.

More than 1,000 people were being housed in temporary shel-ters.

President Jimmy Morales, who has declared three days of national mourning, was due to visit the disaster zone.

Hundreds of personnel from the police, Red Cross and mili-tary have been dispatched to support emergency operations, Morales said.

Search and rescue operations had been suspended late Sunday

due to fading light and danger-ous conditions.

“The volcano has erupted before, but never like this,” said Gustavo Larius, a 27-year-old bricklayer searching the streets of his village for missing fam-ily and friends, a handkerchief pressed over his mouth and nose.

The eruption of the 12,346-foot volcano sent ash billowing over the surrounding area, turning plants and trees gray and blanket-ing streets, cars and people.

Farmers covered in ash fl ed for their lives as civil defence workers tried to relocate them to shelters.

“This time we were saved; in another (eruption) no,” said Efrain Gonzalez, 52, sitting on the fl oor of a shelter in the city of Escuintla, where he arrived with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

Gonzalez was overwhelmed with despair, as two more of his children, aged 10 and four, are missing.

A photographer runs away from a new pyroclastic flow spewed by the Fuego volcano in the community of San Miguel Los Lotes in Escuintla, Guatemala, yesterday.

I am fortunate to have escaped, says backpacker

A British backpacker who climbed a neighbouring peak the day before the volcano erupted said he was “fortunate” to have escaped harm. Richard Fitz-Hugh, 24, from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, trekked to the base camp of Acatenango, about two miles from Volcan de Fuego, on Saturday. Speaking from ash-covered Antigua, around 11 miles from the erupting volcano, he said: “It was fine then, erupting as normal with lava flows but it

was a lot worse now. We knew it was active. It’s all part of the experience. You go up and see the lava, that’s the point of climbing Acatenango,” Fitz-Hugh said. “Obviously it wouldn’t be completely safe being up high today — I’m sort of fortunate that I did it before,” he added. Despite its relative proximity to the deadly volcano and ash covering cars, roads and buildings, life appeared to be continuing as normal in Antigua, he said.

Ortega wants armed confl ict in Nicaragua: ex-comradeAFPManagua

The anti-government pro-tests sweeping Nicaragua began in what might seem

a relatively harmless way: with elderly demonstrators marching against a since-abandoned pen-sion reform that slashed their benefi ts.

So why have they been met with a brutal crackdown that has

left more than 100 people dead and fuelled increasingly vehe-ment calls for President Daniel Ortega to quit?

Retired major Roberto Sam-cam fought along with Ortega in the Sandinista guerrilla army that ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, then served in his military during a decade-long war with the US-funded Contra rebels.

After leaving the army, he co-founded the Patriotic Group of

Retired Soldiers, and is today an outspoken Ortega critic.

In an interview with AFP, Samcam analysed the presi-dent’s response to the crisis — the result, he said, of a lifetime at war.

Q: The president denies gov-ernment security forces have killed civilians. But rights groups accuse pro-government paramil-itaries of opening fi re on protest-ers. Who are they?

“Daniel Ortega is lying, be-

cause these paramilitary and para-police forces have been organised and armed by the gov-ernment. We have identifi ed (the paramilitaries) as plainclothes police, former soldiers, members of the now-extinct Small Special Forces Units, which were the army’s elite troops in the 80s. Also individuals who were in the Pablo Ubeda troops, which were interior ministry troops with special training.

Q: Some protesters appear to

have been killed with Dragunov sniper rifl es, which some say are only available to the police and army. Where are these guns com-ing from?

“In its most recent state-ment, the army said it had strict control over its arsenal, which I don’t doubt. I don’t think the army is involved in the sniper phenomenon. Those rifles could have easily come from Venezuela. In 2013, they created a new sniper unit in

their second infantry division. They have 3,500 rifles pur-chased from Russia.

“And neither (late Venezue-lan president Hugo) Chavez nor (his successor, Nicolas) Maduro would be bothered in the least about sending fi ve, six, 10, 12 sniper rifl es as a favour to Daniel Ortega.

Q: Do you think the other side could arm itself too?

“That will be their biggest temptation. But as long as these

are civic protests, and the people aren’t armed, the army won’t in-tervene, and Ortega won’t have the pretext he wants of facing an armed rebellion. Let’s be clear: Ortega has waged war his entire life. And now he doesn’t know what to do, because he’s facing protesters who haven’t fi red a single shot...He’s out of his ele-ment. That’s why he’s pushing. He’s going to repress (the pro-tests), to make every day blood-ier than the last.”

Leftist front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) delivers a speech to supporters during his campaign rally in Mexico City, Mexico.

Campaign rally

PAKISTAN

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 201824

Ahead of the general elec-tions, both the major political parties – the

Pakistan Muslim League – Na-waz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – are fac-ing apparent internal rifts over the distribution of tickets for Islamabad.

There is no division in the Pa-kistan Peoples Party (PPP) as the party has hardly found suitable candidates for Islamabad’s three National Assembly (NA) seats.

After the recent delimitation, the number of NA seats in Is-lamabad rose from two to three – NA-52, NA-53, and NA-54.

Due to the internal issues, ac-cording to former member of the National Assembly (MNA) Anjum Aqeel Khan, PML-N

supreme leader Nawaz Sharif addressed a party workers’ con-vention in E-11 yesterday.

This is considered the start of the election campaign in the capital city.

Sources said the PML-N cen-tral leadership had taken note of the rifts and directed local lead-ers to attend the convention.

In this regard, a meeting was held yesterday between Anjum Aqeel and deputy mayor Syed Zeeshan Naqvi.

Sources said that the PML-N central leadership wants to award a ticket to Anjum Aqeeel for NA-54 as they believe that he would present a tough time to PTI’s Asad Umar.

However, the PML-N is facing internal rifts over the award of tickets in NA-53 and NA-54.

Two deputy mayors – Syed Zeeshan Naqvi, who himself is a candidate, and Azam Khan – are

openly opposing the expected decision of the party.

At a press conference recently, the PML-N local leadership, un-der the supervision of the two deputy mayors and a number of Union Council (UC) chairmen, demanded that the NA-54 tick-et be allotted to Syed Zeeshan Naqvi and UC chairman (elected on reserved seat) Sajid Abbasi be fi elded from NA-53.

For NA-54, Anjum Aqeel is likely to face Asad Umar while in NA-53, both the PML-N and PTI are seeing divisions over the al-location of tickets.

The sources said that for NA-53, the PTI chief wanted to award ticket to his old compan-ion Amir Kiani.

Kiani is PTI Punjab north president and his family has been living in Islamabad even before it became the federal capital.

However, the local PTI lead-ership thinks that the ticket should be given to Chaudhry Il-yas Mehrban, who in 2013 elec-tions bagged over 57,000 votes against PML-N’s Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry.

Another option, according to them, should be opposition leader in the Metropolitan Cor-poration Islamabad (MCI), Ali Awan.

Former PPP senator Babar Awan is also in the race for a NA-53 party ticket.

On the other hand, the PML-N remains undecided on the NA-53 ticket as the local chap-ter of the party and a majority of elected chairmen support PML-N city general secretary Sajid Abbasi.

Former Capital Administra-tion and Development Division (CADD) minister Dr Chaudhry, who will be contesting from his

home constituency of NA-52, is also an aspirant from NA-53 while former MNA Farhana Qamar and UC chairman Phul-grhan Raja Waqar Mumtaz are also interested in contesting the election from NA-53.

For NA-52, there is no serious clash among the ticket aspirants as the PML-N has almost de-cided to fi eld Dr Chaudhry while the PTI leadership is consider-ing giving ticket to Raja Khur-ram Nawaz, the UC chairman of Tamar.

PPP leader Syed Nayyar Hus-sain Bokhari won NA-49 in 2002 and in the last elections Mus-tafa Nawaz Khokhar got almost 45,000 votes from the constitu-ency (now NA-53).

The party has now decided to fi eld Syed Sibtul Hassan Bokhari.

From NA-52, Afzal Khokhar will contest the elections while

from NA-54 Raja Imran Ashraf will be the PPP candidate.

Jamaat-e-Islami is also fac-ing divisions over the allocation of tickets as its former candidate from NA-49, Zubair Farooq, is seriously considering contest-ing as an independent candidate from NA-54 while former MNA Mian Aslam is likely to contest from both NA-54 and NA-53.

PML-N deputy mayor Syed Zeeshan Naqvi has said that there is a diff erence of opinion amongst party workers on the award of tickets, but insisted that the party is united under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, and that the workers would follow whatever decision the leadership would take.

The PTI’s Asad Umar said that although there are a number of candidates, there is no rift among the party workers.

PML-N, PTI see rifts over Islamabad poll ticketsInternewsIslamabad

While almost all po-litical parties are still in discussions to

fi nalise constituencies of can-didates, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided on the constituencies of former pres-ident Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari.

Aseefa is set to contest the National Assembly (NA) elec-tion from one of the Karachi seats while her brother, Bilaw-al, and father Asif Zardari have already announced that they would go to the polls from Lar-kana and Nawabshah, respec-tively, party sources confi rmed yesterday.

They said that meetings of the PPP’s central elec-tion board at Bilawal House, chaired jointly by Bilawal and Asif Zardari, have decided that Aseefa would contest for the NA from one of the seats in Ka-rachi.

“Aseefa will defi nitely con-test from Karachi,” said a par-ty source in a brief reply to a

question about the key leaders who were likely to become can-didates from the metropolis.

“She can contest from more than one constituencies but she will surely be contesting from Karachi,” he added.

The source, however, did not mention the exact constitu-ency.

Political pundits, however, believe that the 25-year-old graduate of the University Col-lege London in global health and development would be-come a candidate from the PPP’s stronghold of Lyari from where her mother, Bena-zir Bhutto, and father, Asif Ali Zardari, had emerged victori-ous in the general elections of 1988 and 1990, respectively.

“The PPP will contest from all seats of Karachi and the names of candidates are being fi nalised in this regard,” replied the source to a query about the party’s plan for Karachi in the upcoming general elections. “Other than senior work-ers and leaders, the party will defi nitely consider young and fresh blood to become part of the electoral politics through this election.”

Zardari, Bilawal and Aseefa to contest seats from KarachiInternewsKarachi

Cooling off

Pakistanis cool off in the Kabul river, in the outskirts of Peshawar, during a hot summer day.

Religious terrorism tops the list of four terrorism types pointed out in the National

Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2018-2023 of Pakistan by the in-terior ministry.

The other terrorism types are sectarian terrorism, ethno-political terrorism, and sub-na-tional terrorism.

The security policy was re-leased by the outgoing govern-ment on May 31, the last day of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) government’s tenure.

According to the policy, several of the active terrorist groups in the country espoused the stated aim of imposing their interpreta-tion of religion, besides wanting to establish a global caliphate by discrediting democratically-elected governments and term-ing all civilian and military insti-

tutions as un-Islamic.Most such terrorist outfi ts

have already been proscribed or eliminated, but comprehensive action is needed to choke their sources of fi nancing.

Several sectarian outfi ts origi-nated in Pakistan and continue to maintain a presence, the NISP admitted.

They often use violent means to target prominent personali-ties, festivals, and places of wor-ship belonging to other sects.

The NISP states that the con-fl uence of ethnic identity and politics resulted in violence along racial lines to achieve political and economic gains.

Karachi, it stated, being the country’s largest and most eth-nically-diverse city, suff ered immensely because of such turf battles.

According to the policy, such clashes are often linked with confl icts over real estate, terri-torial control, and constituency gerrymandering.

The policy recognises that sub-national terrorism – such as the one experienced in Balu-chistan – remained a persistent challenge for peace and stability in Pakistan.

Pakistan, the policy main-tained, suff ered a loss of $123bn over the past 15 years because of terrorism.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) suff ered the worst losses in the country since Paki-stan initiated war against terror-ism.

Between the 2005-2012 pe-riod, the country suff ered 11,862 casualties involving civilians, personnel of security forces and militants, primarily as a result of terrorist activities.

Sindh was rated as the second most violent region in terms of casualties on a per capita basis, although in absolute numbers, the province has been confl ict-prone since mid-1980s.

Punjab has seen the least vio-

lence in the country in terms of overall fatalities.

However, the average death toll per terrorist attack in Punjab re-mains the highest in the nation.

Some sectarian organisations were founded and maintain pres-ence in the province, the docu-ment admitted.

Baluchistan ranked fourth as far as extremism and violence are concerned. It has tradition-ally seen violent ethnic confl ict, threatening the state.

Gilgit-Baltistan remained largely peaceful, but there has seen some sectarian violence.

Azad Kashmir mostly wit-nessed violence because of cross-border fi ring along the Line of Control (LoC). Other-wise, the region remained rela-tively peaceful.

The NISP stresses on the need to reform the criminal justice system, but this largely remained untended during the tenure of the PML-N government.

Criminal justice reforms, the

policy stated, are essential for es-tablishing rule of law, but short-coming in this regard necessi-tated establishment of military courts as a short-term solution.

The NISP states that it is es-sential to overhaul the criminal justice system so that the ac-cused could be prosecuted under civilian dispensation.

It also called for putting into place comprehensive measures to combat terrorism fi nancing through an eff ective regime.

The NISP also discussed build-ing a national narrative against terrorism, which was largely ig-nored over the past fi ve years.

It also talked about ensuring registration and regularisation of madrassas in a uniform manner.

It stated that provinces would develop legislation for undertak-ing madrassa reforms.

Despite much propaganda, the federal and provincial govern-ments took fewer steps for reg-istration and reforms in religious seminaries.

National security policy aims to end religious terrorismInternewsIslamabad

Pakistan’s military hit back yesterday at mounting criticism of its long cam-

paign against militancy and stressed its support for upcom-ing elections in a major public relations off ensive.

The push comes one day af-ter a rights group clashed with Taliban-linked militants in the country’s northwest, sparking fresh claims that the military is backing proxy forces based in Pakistan that are fi ghting in Af-ghanistan.

Sunday’s fi ght between activ-ists from the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) and militants

during a rally on Sunday left at least two dead and dozens in-jured on the Afghan border, ac-cording to a local offi cial.

The PTM has been calling for investigations into disappear-ances and suspected extrajudicial killings by Pakistan’s security es-tablishment, while also echo-ing accusations that the military allowed extremists a safe haven from which to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

However, in a wide-ranging press conference, chief military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor slammed accusations that the country was harbouring militants and accused the PTM of being manipulated by “enemies of Pakistan”.

He went on to defend the con-

duct of Pakistan’s fi ght against insurgents, noting that thou-sands had lost their lives in the country’s battle against extrem-ism.

“War is a cruel action and not a fair game, more than 70,000 Pa-kistanis and 16,000 soldiers have been killed and wounded in this war,” said Ghafoor during a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Ghafoor was also at pains to emphasise the military’s support for elections due to take place in July, as tensions mount follow-ing the ousting of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court on corruption charges last year.

Since being removed from power Sharif has become in-

creasingly confrontational with the military, repeatedly accusing them of unfairly targeting him and his Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz party.

Ghafoor said that the military stands by Pakistan’s political de-velopment ahead of what is likely to be only the second democratic transfer of power in the nation’s 70-year history.

“There is nobody else happier than the army over the comple-tion of parliament and govern-ment’s tenure,” Ghafoor said.

Pakistan has been under direct military rule for almost half of its existence, with at least 15 heads of states deposed before com-pleting their term, often at the behest of the country’s powerful armed forces.

Army hits back at criticism as elections loomAFPIslamabad

A number of Pashtun rights activists were killed and at least 25 were

wounded in a Pakistan tribal re-gion on Sunday, when Taliban militants attacked their gather-ing and security forces opened fi re on protesters during distur-bances that followed.

The violence took place in Wana, the main administrative centre for South Waziristan, one of the most volatile of the tribal lands on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

Local tribesmen and one se-curity offi cial, speaking on con-dition of anonymity, said that

two people were killed and 25 wounded.

However, Manzoor Pashteen, the head of the Pashtun Protec-tion Movement (PTM), said in a posting on social media that at least 10 people died and 30 were wounded during Sunday’s violence.

In his Twitter post, Pashteen described how Taliban fi ght-ers had fi rst attacked the PTM gathering.

Later, angry protesters threw stones, prompting “indiscrimi-nate” fi ring by security forces, he said.

The PTM became prominent after the killing of a Pashtun youth by police in Karachi in January.

Since then the PTM has held

rallies across many towns and cities.

Ali Wazir, a PTM leader who was wounded in the attack, told Reuters that the militants want-ed the PTM to leave the area and were “dictating an end to PTM activities in Wana”.

Some PTM members said that they suspected the gunmen who attacked them belonged to a Taliban faction that has covert support from Pakistan’s power-ful military.

The military, which denies fostering proxy groups, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The military has been en-gaged in talks with PTM mem-bers to address some of their grievances.

Militants kill Pashtun activistsReutersDera Ismail Khan

Peshawar judge elevated to apex courtInternewsIslamabad

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has ap-proved the elevation of

Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to the Supreme Court, sources re-vealed.

A meeting of the commission was held under the chairman-ship of Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar this week to consider the promotion of Afridi as well as nomination of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth as his suc-cessor as the top judge of the PHC.

Seth may work as PHC chief justice until March 15, 2023.

After the elevation of Afridi, Supreme Court will regain its full strength.

Presently, 16 judges are work-ing in the top court, with one seat lying vacant.

Afridi will work as Supreme Court judge till January 22, 2030, and be in line to become the chief justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Justice Muneeb Akhtar.

According to the Supreme Court’s seniority list, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will be the next chief justice of Pakistan, fol-lowed by Justice Gulzar Ahmad, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and Akhtar.

At present, only one judge be-longing to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is working in the Supreme Court – Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Mi-ankhel, who will be joined by Af-ridi following his elevation.

Incidentally, no judge has been promoted from Baluchistan since 2014, when Isa was ap-pointed as Supreme Court judge.

Eight judges, including Nisar himself, are from Punjab while six belong to Sindh.

Since the establishment of Islamabad High Court in 2010, only one judge – Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman – has been elevated to the Supreme Court.

Police aid centres help 4,754 citizensThe Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police Assistance Lines centres have helped 4,754 citizens in police-related issues throughout the province in the first five months of the current year.KP police established centres called “Police Assistance Lines” to help people with issues including that of first information reporting (FIR), Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs), registration of vehicles, security clearance certificates, and other issues.

Eid likely to fall on June 16The meteorological department has said that there is a high chance that Eid al-Fitr will fall on June 16 in Pakistan.A Met off ice off icial said that as per scientific calculations, there is a slim chance of the Shawwaal moon being sighted on the evening of June 14.Therefore, there is a high chance that the month of Ramadan will last 30 days, with the Eid falling on June 16 across Pakistan.

PHILIPPINES25Gulf Times

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Duterte and Moon reaffi rm strong tiesBy Catherine S ValenteManila Times

President Rodrigo Duterte reaffi rmed yesterday the Philippines’ commitment

for better relations and friend-ship with South Korea after his meeting with its President Moon Jae-in.

Duterte met Moon dur-ing a bilateral meeting at the presidential Blue House, which would be capped by the signing of agreements concerning trade and industry, transportation, and science and a loan agree-ment for the Cebu International Container port project.

In his opening remarks dur-ing his meeting with Moon, Du-terte stressed the importance between Philippines and South Korea relations, strengthened by “long and deep” bilateral ties for the past seven decades.

“Our restricted meeting has shown us that ours is a special relationship that can only grow stronger with political commit-ment. With the advancement that we have achieved together, there is still room for healthy growth. I am pleased to discuss ways to move our relations fur-ther forward,” he said.

The Philippines, according to Duterte, welcomed the Re-public of Korea’s “New South-ern Policy,” which aims to bet-ter connect South Korea to the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) grouping. “As I said before, the Philippines’ destiny is in Asia. We need to work with friends and part-ners like South Korea to achieve shared aspirations for our peo-ple and regions,” the president said.

“A deeper engagement with South Korea, our long-standing partner and true friend, is es-sential to further strengthen individual and collective eff orts for greater peace, progress, and prosperity,” he added.

Duterte also said the Philip-pines’ independent foreign pol-icy recognised the importance of friends like South Korea “in building the environment needed for us to grow together.”

“We recognise long and deep ties between our two countries and people,” the Filipino leader said.

“During the Korean War, we fought side by side in defence of freedom and democracy. That is a legacy that must be remem-bered and continuously reaf-fi rm,” he added.

Moon, for his part, reiter-ated his country’s commitment “to elevate our long-standing friendly relations to an even higher level in a future-oriented way and to establish regional peace together.”

“I fi nd it very meaningful that we were able to have such discussions and reaffi rm the

friendship and trust between the two of us,” Moon said.

“The Republic of Korea and the Philippines laid the foun-dations for solid friendship through the Korean War. On this platform, we have been making remarkable progress for the past 70 years, in every fi eld

including politics, economy, culture, and people-to-people exchanges,” he added. Accord-ing to Moon, Korea is the fi fth largest trade partner for the Philippines and their bilateral trade volume reached $14.3bn last year.

“People-to-people exchang-

es continue to expand as well, so much so that nowadays Koreans are the most frequent visitors to the Philippines. Nevertheless, I believe there is still enough po-tential to signifi cantly develop our trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte speaks besides South Korean President Moon Jae-in after a meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul yesterday.

President’s gesture sparks anger and jokesA kiss by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on a Filipino woman’s lips while on an off icial visit in South Korea sparked anger and jokes yesterday, as feminists denounced what they called his “perverted way” of taunting his female critics.Many Filipinos, however, thought it was a harm-less kiss intended to be fun. The 73-year-old Duterte, whose critics have labelled him a misogynist and say his comments are derogatory and demeaning towards women, dismissed the kiss as just a “gimmick” to entertain supporters at a meet-and-greet event in Seoul. Social media was abuzz with photos and videos of Duterte on stage before a crowd of Filipinos on Sunday night, when he asked an unidentified audience member to kiss him in exchange for a book he was handing out. The woman, who admitted she is married and ap-peared excited to see Duterte in person, agreed.Duterte then told the cheering crowd of about 3,000: “Don’t take it seriously. It’s just for fun, a gimmick.” State-run Philippine News Agency identified the woman as Bea Kim and posted a brief video interview with her on its Facebook page. “There wasn’t malice in it,” she said.”For me, for him, it didn’t mean anything.” Duterte’s controversial

remarks about women include numerous jokes about rape and have incensed activists and foreigners, most notably, Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former US President Bill Clinton. But none have dented the hugely popular leader’s domestic support. Women’s rights advocates in the Philippines recently launched an online #BabaeAko (I Am A Woman) campaign to send a message that they were not taking Duterte’s “sexist” statements sitting down. “You don’t have to kiss that woman if you want to entertain people,” said Joms Salvador, secretary-general of Gabriela Women’s Party.Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said that even though the kiss was consensual, it was a “grave abuse of authority”. Anna Pinili, a church-goer who considers herself a devout Catholic, said Duterte had good intentions, but could have handled it better. Father of two Raymond Pascual said people were making too much of a deal of it, and he thought it was just a “simple kiss”. Making the rounds also on social media was a spoof photo of the same kiss, but with the woman replaced by superimposed image of China’s President Xi Jinping, in an attempt to poke fun at Duterte’s high regard for his Chinese counterpart.

Teachers seek pay increase as schools reopenBy Neil AlcoberManila Times

Classes opened yesterday amid the usual com-plaints of classroom

shortage and inadequate facili-ties and the demand for salary hike by public school teachers.

The Department of Education said the opening of classes was “generally smooth and orderly.”

“It’s very pleasant and very exciting. It was more exciting in Marawi City because this is a big event,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones told reporters in a press briefi ng at Quezon High School in Quezon City.

“We have simultaneously opened classes in Marawi City so that the students can catch up even if it’s Ramadan, even if some classrooms need repair. The students were very excited,” she added.

A teachers’ group took the opening of schools as an op-portunity to air its demand for a wage increase.

“We are ready for the resump-tion of classes and we are as ex-cited as our students who antici-pate that we will provide their learning needs today and the rest of the school year. However, we are still asking the DepEd and

the entire government to pro-vide the needs of our teachers as well,” Benjo Basas, a Caloocan City teacher and national chair-person of the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), said.

“We believe that we deserve a better compensation than what we are receiving. Also, we have laws that guarantee the benefi ts and incentives for teachers to give life to the provision of the constitution which mandates

the state to ensure that teaching will attract the best available tal-ent through adequate remunera-tion and other incentives that will make our teachers satisfi ed and fulfi lled,” Basas added.

The TDC recently launched its signature campaign for P10,000 across-the-Board sal-ary increase. The group intends to gather 500,000 signatures from public school teachers and DepEd employees nationwide

and present them to President Rodrigo Duterte before congress reopens next month.

The teachers also took swipe at the DepEd for its failure to implement the provisions of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers that was passed in 1966. “The DepEd is tasked to implement the law and ask con-gress for its budgetary require-ments. Yet for some 52 years, the agency has failed to fully imple-

ment the provisions of the law,” Basas said.

Addressing complaints of in-adequate classrooms, Briones said there is always a shortage in classrooms because the number of students increases every school year.

“The shortage is not com-pletely DepEd’s fault. We have two huge government agencies that are in charge of this pro-gramme,” he DepEd chief said,

referring to her agency and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“We can no longer build more classrooms in urban areas like Metro Manila due to lack of buildable space. We go as high as four-storeys in crowded schools,” Briones added.

She said DepEd will build an additional 85,000 classrooms this year. The ideal student to classroom ratio for kindergarten

is 1:35, and 1:45 for elementary and high school.

DepEd National Capital Re-gion Regional Director Wilfredo Cabral said 80% of schools in Metro Manila are implementing the double shift.

The most congested schools in Metro Manila are the Batasan National High School in Quezon City, Rizal High School in Pasig City, and Paranaque National High School.

Pupils recite “Panatang Makabayan”, an oath of allegiance to the country, during the opening of classes at a Baclaran Elementary School Unit 1 in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, yesterday.

A man holds onto a rope as he transports students and residents on a makeshift raft across a river in Paranaque city, south of Manila.

Agency wants Binays to return 2.3bn pesos spent on projectBy Ma. Reina Leanne TolentinoManila Times

The Commission on Au-dit (COA) issued Notices of Disallowance involv-

ing the disbursements totalling P2.29bn in connection with the construction of, as well as the architectural and engineering services for the Makati City Hall Parking Building II (MCHPB2).

Fifty-seven individuals, in-cluding former Makati Mayors Jejomar Binay and Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Sr were named as persons liable in a Notice of Disallowance dated March 15and issued by COA’s Fraud Audit Of-fi ce. A Notice of Disallowance means the money the Binays allegedly spent on the project would have to be returned to the government.

“It must be emphasised that these projects were previously subjected to COA audit and there were no adverse fi ndings. The COA only started singing a diff erent tune — in eff ect ques-tioning the competence of its own people — when the previous administration began its politi-cal demolition work on former VP (vice president) Binay and his family,” said Joey Salgado, Binay’s former spokesperson, in a text message when sought for comment.

“Former VP Binay and former mayor Junjun intend to appeal COA’s fi ndings, even if belated but not surprising,” Salgado said.

The others named as persons liable were: former Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, Marjorie de

Veyra, Mario Hechanova, Ulyss-es Orienza, Gerardo San Gabriel, Pio Kenneth Dasal, Lorenza Amores, Ernesto Aspillaga, Maria Theresa de Lara, Virgilio Hilario, Angelito Gatchalian, Henry Jacome, Arnold Magpan-tay, Luis Javier Jr., Salvador Pan-gilinan, Armando Padilla, Tosca Camille Puno, Vincent Sese, Elias Tolentino Jr., Constancia Lichauco, Christine Mercado, Israel Cruzado, Erlinda Gonzal-es, Romulo Pena Jr., Monique Lagdameo, Merlina Pangani-ban, Norman Flores, Giovanni Condes, Manolito Uyaco, Ralph Liberato, Rodel Nayve, Carmel-ita Morales, Febronia Ambrosio, Rowena Carpio, Nelia Barlis, Leonila Querijero, Cecilio Lim, Raydes Pestano, Vissia Marie Al-don, Eleno Mendoza Jr, Line dela Pena, Rosemarie Yumul, Arnel Cadangan, Patrick Carullo, Jane Cano, Alden Albano, Emerito Magat, Elueterio Tamayo, Ro-naldo Garcia, Connie Consulta, Abraham Pastor, Ronelio Tan, Mario Badillo, then-President Efren Canlas of Hilmarc’s Con-struction Corporation, and a de-ceased person.

“The disbursements of the MCHPB2 construction amount-ing to P2,280,089,780.94, which showed irregularities from budgeting to procure-ment to execution, including P1,301,520,330.05 in total dis-crepancies between the ac-tual accomplishments and the reported accomplishments, were disallowed in audit for the following reasons,” state auditors said in the Notice of Disallowance.

PhilHealth chief sacked over fund misuse charge

By Catherine S ValenteManila Times

President Rodrigo Duterte has removed Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth) interim chief Celes-tina Ma. de la Serna amid inves-tigation into her alleged costly trips and accommodations.

Duterte named PhilHealth board member Roy Ferrer as de la Serna’s replacement, accord-ing to the appointment paper dated June 1 but released by Ma-lacanang only yesterday.

Ferrer, a member of the Phil-Health board of directors rep-resenting the employers sector, said he would do his “best to be an eff ective public servant and to

carry out the mandate (of Phil-Health and President Duterte).”

A Davao City native, Ferrer is the president of the Davao chapter of the Philippine Society of Medi-cal Specialists in Government Service, an affi liate society of the Philippine Medical Association.

He had also served as board member of the Stroke Society of the Philippines-Davao Chapter.

Duterte appointed Ferrer a month after the Commission on Audit questioned de la Serna’s P627,000 travel expenses to and from Tagbilaran and Manila since she assumed the post as Phil-Health offi cer in charge on April 10, 2017. De la Serna said Phil-Health did not have an apartment for its offi cers in Manila, so she had to be billeted in a hotel.

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 2018

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Time for siege countries to do some introspection

June 5, 2017 will always be remembered as a black day for the region. It was on this day that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt decided to impose a senseless diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar, thereby writing one of the most sordid chapters not only in their own history but also that of the larger Arab and Muslim world.

It came without a portent. Four supposedly brotherly states decided, just out of the blue, to cut off ties with a country that had been a bastion of progressive thought and enterprise in the region. It took the world by surprise, shocked Qatar and sent age-old ties into a tailspin.

All sorts of allegations – unmatched for their brazenness – were thrown at Qatar. They were conjured from thin air and brandished before the world like a crazed individual waving a weapon at unsuspecting people. The calm of the Arabian Gulf, where political rivalry and one-upmanship usually played out like a family quarrel, was suddenly shattered.

As the days went by Qatar’s leaders, led by none other than His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, tried their best to resolve the situation. Hate speech emanating from Saudi Arabia and its allies in the siege was matched by politeness. The crass cacophony of their diabolical politics was met with diplomatic nous.

The world took notice and laughed at their silly demands: stop supporting terrorism, close down Al Jazeera, shut down

the Turkish military base, give up the FIFA World Cup. Tsk, tsk. Do even children quarrel in this manner?

Social media was used to fan the fl ames and lies were peddled

to push Qatar into a corner. Baseless reports of people in Qatar queuing up for food, of Turkish and Iranian soldiers patrolling the streets to maintain security showed up on news sites of dubious origins. Much vitriol was poured on Qatar’s leaders and its population in a major break from the polite traditions of the region where getting personal was considered taboo.

One year down the line, however, Qatar’s resolve has only grown stronger. If the objective of the siege states was to bring Qatar to its knees, it has only boomeranged on them to such an extent that they have lost their moral standing on the global stage. The world now sees them as nothing more than comic-strip bullies hungry for power and infl uence which they don’t deserve.

On the other hand, Qatar’s stocks have only gone up in the eyes of the global community. Only a few days ago the European Parliament said the unjust siege on Qatar has resulted in countless human rights violations, with many Qataris not even able to go for the Haj or Umrah pilgrimage, among other things. Last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had echoed the same views.

On the economic front too, the siege states’ intention to cripple Qatar has fallen fl at.

Last month it emerged that Qatar has been ranked fi rst in the world index of countries that have achieved record economic growth in 20 years from 1997, according to a report carried by CNBC Arabia.

Five days ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that that Qatar remains resilient despite the siege with the outlook broadly positive. The banking sector remains healthy, refl ecting high quality of its assets and strong capitalisation, the IMF report pointed out.

It’s up to the siege countries to fi gure out whether their immature actions have yielded them anything apart from the massive loss of face and honour. It’s time for them to do some introspection.

One year down the line, Qatar’s resolve has only grown stronger

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

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One-year anniversary of unjust siege

By Kristian Coates UlrichsenGulf International Forum

A year has passed since the Qatar News Agency was hacked and implanted with ‘fake news’. Ten days later this

hacking was followed by the diplomatic and economic embargo of Qatar by four regional states – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt. The element of surprise strategy applied by the quartet was intended to shock the Qatari government into acceding to their demands. Now, one year later this approach is misplaced as Qatar proved more resilient than anticipated.

Rather than isolating Qatar regionally and internationally, the crisis has widened the cracks in the Gulf into a chasm and has generated unintended consequences that risk infl icting generational damage on its political and social fabric. As with the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990, the blockade of Qatar is an era-rupturing event that will reverberate through the regional politics and international relations of the Gulf for years to come.

Evolving Threat PerceptionsThe Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)

was formed in 1981 largely in response to regional security threats triggered by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. The six states that came together in Abu Dhabi to form the GCC often diff ered in their foreign policy outlook. The fi ve smallest Gulf States shared varying degrees of wariness toward Saudi Arabia, refl ecting in part a history of border disputes. Simmering unease in smaller Gulf capitals at the prospect of Saudi domination of GCC structures hampered attempts to construct collective military and security policies such as the Peninsula Shield Force or a common internal security agreement.

And yet, throughout the three major wars in the Gulf – the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), the Gulf War (1991), and the war and subsequent US-led occupation of Iraq (2003-11), the GCC remained a bastion of relative stability in a region gripped by confl ict and insecurity. During this tumultuous period, all six GCC states retained a common threat perception enabling them to overcome instances of intra-GCC friction. Indeed, GCC states have always worked best together in the face of external threats.

The two iterations of the Qatar dispute – the nine-month withdrawal of the Saudi, Bahraini, and Emirati ambassadors from Doha in 2014 and the blockade that began in 2017 – have shredded any lingering illusions of a common threat perception in Gulf security. Saudi Arabia and the UAE designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in March 2014 and, with Bahrain, withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar in the name of regional security and stability.

For the Gulf States as well as the institutions of the GCC, the legacy of the 2014 and 2017 disputes are as profound as they are polarising. Ties of trust and confi dence have been shattered on both

sides of the divide as positions have hardened and a ‘zero-sum’ mentality has taken root. Qataris ask themselves if they should ever trust their immediate neighbours again. Kuwaiti and Omani offi cials watch on, uneasily aware that they too could be vulnerable to regionally-assertive Saudi and Emirati pressure when they undergo eventual leadership transitions of their own. Equally concerning, these two observing nations do not necessarily welcome the way the Crown Princes of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are redefi ning Gulf politics around a hyper-hawkish axis that appears to have little tolerance for the autonomy that for years has characterised Kuwaiti and Omani (and Qatari) foreign policy. As for the GCC, twice in three years it has been unable to prevent three of its members from turning on a fourth and has been bypassed at every stage of the crisis – from the formulation of grievances to mediation.

Social and Economic ImplicationsThe ways the Qatar crisis has

played out have had two overarching implications for social and economic relations in the Gulf, which historically have been inextricably linked through tribal, marriage, and commercial ties, crossing national boundaries and binding together the peoples of the region. The fi rst is the anti-Qatar Quartet’s attempts to meddle in and manipulate tribal and ruling family dynamics to undermine social and political cohesion and drive a wedge into state-society relations in Qatar. The second is the blockade’s eff ect on local trade routes and, in response, Qatar’s accelerated diversifi cation of economic partnerships. Both developments have targeted the heart of Gulf society’s social and economic fabric, and reversed the GCC’s most impressive and tangible economic achievements in its 36-year history.

From the beginning of the crisis media outlets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have promoted various Qatari ‘opposition’ fi gures, both imagined and real, and attempted to play the ‘tribal card’ by off ering incentives and inducements to powerful tribes. Several days before the diplomatic rupture with Qatar on June 5, 2017, Saudi and Emirati newspapers ran excerpts from an ‘interview’ with Saud bin Nasser al-Thani, almost certainly a fi ctitious character whom they claimed was planning to set up an opposition political party based in London. Three months later, the UAE heavily promoted Khalid al-Hail, another ‘opposition leader’ who did in fact exist and put on a one-day conference in London that was followed soon after by another in Washington, DC.

While the sponsored opposition events were at best a distraction, the eff orts to promote two pretenders to Qatari leadership did not go anywhere. The fact that Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani and Sultan bin Suhaim al-Thani have not lived in Qatar for years further delegitimised them in many eyes. The ham-fi sted attempts to interfere in ruling family matters had the paradoxical eff ect of strengthening and unifying the ruling family against such external meddling.

The blockade has also created human hardships in a region where many enjoyed extended cross-border familial ties and

have since faced restrictions on visitation that have been criticised by international human rights groups such as Amnesty International. Collective memories are being formed on both sides of the divide that will be hard to dislodge or overcome due to the sheer intensity of the campaign of vilifi cation against each other.

Aside from the human impact of the political standoff between governments, the blockade has struck a dagger at the heart of the freedom of movement for citizens and goods that until 2017 was one of the hallmarks of the GCC’s decades-long move toward a common market which became operational in 2008. Here again, the Quartet appears to have miscalculated the impact of its blockade on Qatar which – rather than yielding to pressure – instead accelerated existing plans to localise production and diversify economic and trading routes. Prior to the blockade Qatar imported around four-fi fths of its food across its only land border (with Saudi Arabia) or by ships that called fi rst at ports in the UAE, but acted very quickly to put new logistical arrangements in place. Trade volumes between Qatar and Oman surged by 144% in 2017 as Qatari-bound shipping was rerouted through Omani ports while bilateral trade with Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan also increased signifi cantly in the aftermath of the blockade.

Changing Regional DynamicsThe strengthening of bilateral relations

with extra-regional partners is, on the surface, nothing new, as it has long been a feature of individual GCC states’ decision-making, especially when it came to trade and defence agreements. There were, nevertheless, signs that the GCC was getting its act together and moving toward a collective position on key issues during, ironically, the Obama presidency which several Gulf leaders came to despise.

In December 2014, the GCC Summit – held in Doha shortly after the resolution of the fi rst round of the Qatar diplomatic row – laid out plans to create a GCC police force (GCC-Pol) to be based in Abu Dhabi, a joint naval force to operate from Bahrain, and a joint military command. None of these plans had come to fruition before 2017 but every GCC state except Oman committed troops to the Saudi-led coalition that launched military operations in Yemen in April 2015. This included Qatar, whose armed forces incurred casualties defending the Saudi border from attacks by Houthi militants operating from Yemen, but were expelled from the Saudi-led coalition in the wake of the June 2017 blockade.

As with the Yemen war there is a sense that Saudi and Emirati decision-makers triggered the blockade of Qatar without having a clear idea of a Plan B if the initial ‘shock and awe’ failed to yield a decisive outcome. Although President Donald Trump has swung round to support a resolution of the Gulf crisis, the White House is discovering that it does not have the leverage over its partners in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to get them to even sit at the table with Doha. Having pushed heavily for a diplomatic process that would have culminated in a GCC-US meeting at Camp David in May, the plan fell apart when Mohamed bin Salman

told Trump that the Qatar issue would be resolved within the GCC and Mohamed bin Zayed cancelled his visit to the White House altogether.

A year in and the crisis is stuck, with little prospect of a breakthrough if none of the parties are willing to consider how and where they might make concessions to result in a compromise agreement. The impasse in the Gulf has become the fi rst international crisis of the era of ‘alternative facts’ in which the distinction between real and fake news has become more blurred than ever before. A stream of allegations – derived, ironically, from a hacked email account – has documented how intermediaries associated with Saudi and Emirati interests seemingly targeted the incoming Trump administration as it took offi ce in early-2017. The political naivete of some of the neophyte advisers to the president fed a perception that the administration could be nudged to pursue policies favourable to Saudi Arabia and the UAE and detrimental to Qatar. The challenge now for US policymakers is that having facilitated, however unwittingly, some of the forces that culminated in the attempt to isolate Qatar, they are fi nding it far harder to row them back.

President Trump may have fl ipped back in support of the US-Qatar strategic partnership but his sudden hostility in June 2017 shocked offi cials in Doha and other Gulf capitals who had come to view the US partnership as a bedrock of their defence and security arrangements. The president’s (temporary) willingness to throw Qatar under the bus, coupled with other aspects of his mercurial style of decision-making, have raised questions about the reliability of the United States as a long-term partner. Trump’s unpredictability has highlighted the utility of diversifying security and defence relationships and ensuring that states are no longer over-dependent on any one partner. Although the UAE began to broaden its defence relationships in the 2000s, the events of the past year are likely to accelerate and expand this process moving beyond Western participants to encompass Turkey and Russia as well.

Thickening strategic relationships with Turkey and European states such as Britain, which is expanding its military presence in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman are one manifestation of these changing dynamics, as is the expansion of Russia’s presence in the region. Russian commercial and security interests in the Gulf have grown considerably in recent years, despite international sanctions on Russian entities and individuals close to President Putin. This would certainly align with Russia’s apparent objective of weakening Western political and security partnerships if the hitherto rock-solid web of US partnerships in the Gulf weakened or fragmented. While the Gulf crisis does not signify the end of US interests in the region, moving forward there will be a greater proliferation of participants and agendas coexisting and inevitably competing in a more crowded and potentially more antagonistic arena.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, PhD, is Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Changing regionaldynamics in the Gulf

COMMENT

Gulf Times Tuesday, June 5, 2018 27

Antifungal drug eliminates bowel cancer

Stop fi ghting, start resolving!

A climate-friendly response to Trump’s protectionismBy Barbara Unmüßig and Michael KellnerBerlin

As US President Donald Trump translates his “America First” strategy into import tariff s, and the European Union

prepares to adopt countermeasures moving the global economy toward a trade standoff , the real challenge facing the two economies – indeed, the entire world – is being ignored.

That challenge is to shape the global economy, including trade, so that it fi nally respects the planet’s natural boundaries.

Trump’s trade agenda is putting progressives into a paradoxical position.

For many years, they have been denouncing the current trade system as both unjust and ecologically destructive.

But in the face of Trump’s nationalist protectionism, with its echoes of the fatal mistakes of the 1930s, some feel obliged to defend the current system.

Neoliberal defenders of the status quo now see a political opportunity.

Lumping progressives together with Trump as “protectionists,” they are denouncing the justified wide-ranging protests of civil society against mega-regional deals like the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the United States.

In order for progressive politics to succeed, its proponents need to go beyond defending the existing trade system against Trump.

They need to go on the off ensive, which means pressing for reforms intended to create a just, equitable, and rules-based international trade order.

Otherwise, Trump-style economic

nationalism will continue to resonate with a large share of the population, in the US and elsewhere.

For starters, with the EU debating countermeasures to US tariff s of 10% on aluminium and 25% on steel, it is worth looking beyond the economic signifi cance of the dispute, to the ecological aspects of the commodities in question.

For example, steel production, which uses metallurgical or “coking” coal, accounts for roughly 5% of global CO2 emissions.

This is not inevitable.Steel can be replaced by less

emissions-intensive alternative materials.

It can also be produced with much lower emissions.

Swedish producers are researching virtually CO2-free steel production using electricity and hydrogen acquired from renewable energy sources.

And the German multinational thyssenkrupp is developing a process using exhaust fumes from steel production as a feedstock for chemical products and synthetic natural gas, lowering carbon pollution.

But these alternatives will not be viable as long as the established steel industry is permitted to use the atmosphere as a free dump for CO2 emissions.

Economists across the political spectrum agree that one key to limiting greenhouse-gas emissions is to make it more expensive for companies to produce them – so expensive that climate-friendly options become cheaper in comparison, and thus competitive.

That is why the German Green party is calling for a fl oor price on CO2 emissions to be established as part of the EU’s Emissions Trading System.

The state of California has already done so in its trading scheme.

We want to lead the way, together with France, in Europe.

Such proposals have met with strong resistance.

Many argue that a high price for emissions in Europe would give foreign producers a competitive edge in the EU market.

Moreover, because production would simply move abroad, the logic goes, the environment would ultimately be no better off overall.

Despite its weaknesses, this argument has impressed European policymakers.

But there is an obvious workaround: a duty could be imposed on emissions-intensive imports – like steel, cement, and aluminium – at the EU border.

This would be an important step toward a just, climate-responsive trading system.

The duty would be fair, because environmental rules would apply equally to European and foreign products.

And as long as the same levies were imposed on locally produced goods, such “border carbon adjustment”

would not violate World Trade Organisation rules.

By enabling countries committed to environmental protection to push back against those that are not, this strategy would help align the global trading system more closely with ecological imperatives.

Policies such as border carbon adjustment are not narrow-minded national protectionism, but a necessary reaction by countries committed to climate protection.

Nor is it a new idea: every climate bill that failed in the US Congress in 2009 included such a mechanism.

Rather than allowing itself to be dragged into Trump’s destructive trade games, the EU should introduce border carbon adjustment in order to foster a climate-friendly system.

French President Emmanuel Macron is already a vocal supporter.

A group of researchers representing MIT, the German Institute for International and Security Aff airs, and other leading institutions, has already developed a set of concrete proposals regarding how to implement such a programme.

By doing so, the EU would make the case for fairer and cleaner trade.

By demonstrating that a lack of commitment to climate protection comes with a price, such a response could spur change elsewhere, including the US.

For example, it might encourage the Trump administration to reconsider its withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, particularly if European actors reached out to likeminded progressives in, say, California or New York.

Even if Trump remains unmoved, a CO2 levy might deter his potential imitators elsewhere.

With such a calibrated and forward-thinking response to Trump’s narrow-minded protectionism, the EU would cement its role as a trailblazer in the quest for a fairer, more sustainable trading system.

In doing so, it would not only help protect the environment on which we all depend, but also boost its own international clout.

That, not a trade war, is what the world needs now. - Project Syndicate,

Barbara Unmüßig is president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Michael Kellner is Secretary-General of the German Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen).

Live issues

QNALondon

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute have shown in laboratory studies, that

Iitraconazole eff ectively halts the growth and progression of certain types of bowel cancer.

The next step will be to see if

this holds true in patients with the disease.

Dr Simon Buczacki, co-lead author and Cancer Research UK clinician scientist, said: “One of the biggest challenges in treating any cancer is the diversity of diff erent cells within the same tumour. We’ve targeted a type of cell that lies asleep within bowel tumours, remaining unresponsive to treatment and putting the patient at risk of their cancer coming back”.

“What’s interesting is that this drug seems to kick both dormant and non-dormant cells into action,” added Dr Simon Buczacki. “It forces cells back into a short cycle of growth before slamming on an irreversible ‘stop’ button, entering a permanent standstill that’s known as senescence.”

Professor Greg Hannon, director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said: “This innovative study

has taken a step toward addressing one of the biggest challenges in cancer research. Tumours are made up of many diff erent types of cancer cells, which can evolve separately and respond to treatments diff erently. They found that itraconazole closed signals from a path called Wnt, which involved the growth and spread of many cancers. With treatment, dormant cells disappeared and the tumour stopped growing”.

By S Zuhair NaqviDoha

What comes to mind when you think of the word “confl ict”? I’d venture a guess that

it’s not happy thoughts! Confl ict resolution is one of the most talked-about subjects in management, and if you google “confl ict resolution”, you see countless articles and research papers on strategies, techniques, “do’s and don’ts”. Why then, if we are such experts in resolving our disagreements, do we see people fi ghting it out all around us, be it at home, on the road, in conference rooms and court rooms, and of-course in battlefi elds?

Well, I think it’s because – unfortunately – two of the major ingredients for confl ict resolution are missing in 99% of confl ict situations:

(1) A sincere will to resolve the confl ict

(2) A sense of fairness, rather than selfi shness

As human beings, our ancient forefathers have been very unkind to us by passing on their instincts of fi ght, fl ight or freeze. They used such instincts in dealing with life-threatening situations while hunting or protecting themselves from predators. Unfortunately, while humans have evolved dramatically as a civilization, on an individual basis, we still carry these instincts in us, and act on them without meaning too!

So, the question is, what do we do? Can we deny these stress-response instincts? Well – in my opinion – we can’t and we shouldn’t deny them, but we can and should control them. But how? It’s actually not very diff erent to controlling our other instincts, be they hunger, thirst or what have you. We make a decision to do so, and then we implement certain plans and techniques to help us keep in line.

So, I’d like to share a few of the most

down-to-earth and basic techniques that I have seen to help resolve confl icts:

First, separate facts from fi ction. When in a disagreement, all parties should fi rst write down the facts that led to the contentious situation, and then agree on them, without letting emotions come into it. These facts can include anything and everything that has occurred, be they external realities or actions by the other party. If a fact is not agreed on by all parties, then it cannot be included, as that will prevent any resolution from being reached!

Second, write down how these facts have aff ected you practically or emotionally. Exclude anything that is not directly related to the current confl ict – stick to the point at hand. Once written down, take turns to read these out to the other party. Key point: listen, listen, listen – both to yourself and to your opponent. At the end, do

a round of clarifying questions and answers.

Third, in clear and simple terms, tell each other the specifi c actions that you require the other party to take to resolve this confl ict for you. These can include anything from fi nancial reparations to a simple: “I’m sorry – I won’t do it again”!

If you fi nd yourselves interrupting each other, use a prop e.g. a pen to manage conversations. Only the person holding the pen is allowed to speak. This ensures that you don’t interrupt each other.

In the case of very emotional situations, two “out-of-the-box” techniques that I found very helpful are:

1: Discussing the situation from a third-party perspective. Instead of “I” and “you”, make two fi ctional characters, and do the above steps for those characters instead of yourselves. You will be amazed at how much

easier objectivity comes to us when we remove the sounds “you” and “I” from a conversation.

2: Taking opposite roles, and making the case for the OTHER party. Doing so sincerely will force you to think from the other party’s point of view, which will not only help you understand their case, but also automatically soften your stance towards them.

Provided that both parties sincerely intend to resolve the issue amicably, and both have a semblance of fairness, you will most likely kiss and make-up. If not, chances are that the parties don’t have a confl ict issue, but a much deeper relationship issue – and that’s a story for another day!

S Zuhair Naqvi is the Managing Director of DicoTech Qatar W.L.L. and an EMBA Alumnus of HEC Paris, Class of 2016. Twitter: #zuhairnaqvi LinkedIn: zuhair-naqvi-dicotechqatar

One key to limiting greenhouse-gas emissions is to make it more expensive for companies to produce them – so expensive that climate-friendly options become cheaper in comparison.

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28 Gulf TimesTuesday, June 5, 2018

QATAR

QF leads the way to promote sustainable food productionQur’anic Botanic Gar-

den (QBG), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF),

has successfully established an ambitious programme for high school students designed to promote the value of food sus-tainability.

The initiative is part of a na-tion-wide eff ort to boost food security, in the light of the on-going unjust economic blockade declared against Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

QBG recalled in a statement yesterday that over a year ago, more than 90% of Qatar’s food was imported, with produce coming from countries includ-ing the UAE and Saudi Ara-bia. When, on June 5, 2017, the blockade was announced, it had the potential to aff ect the day-to-day lives of Qatar’s residents severely.

But within weeks, new inter-national partnerships and chan-nels of distribution were formed to address the country’s imme-diate needs.

By August 2017, His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was calling for

greater food self-suffi ciency for Qatar’s long-term sustainability and independence. In a nation-wide eff ort to help the country, a number of organisations, in-cluding the QBG, answered the call, launching innovative food security programmes.

Students attend workshops at QBG and learn from experts from the Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment and the private sector.

Participants are also given the opportunity to meet with local entrepreneurs who work within the food industry to learn about the challenges and obstacles they face on a day-to-day basis.

Additionally, QBG houses a small-scale farm on-site at Edu-cation City, growing a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, in-cluding tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, and dill – enabling stu-dents to learn fi rst-hand how to cultivate produce.

“We discovered that many young people, and high school students in particular, don’t know much about agriculture, and their knowledge of the im-portance of food security is lim-

ited. Therefore, the main aim of this programme is to provide ba-sic information to students and equip them with the practical skills to help grow the domestic agriculture industry. Ultimately,

through this initiative, we are investing in the future of Qatar,” said Fatima Saleh al-Khulaifi , project manager, QBG. Explain-ing plans to expand the initia-tive, al-Khulaifi added, “This is

the fi rst year of the programme, and our goal is to increase the number of schools and partici-pants. We’d like this initiative to grow and gain traction across the nation.”

Weill Cornell Medicine – Qa-tar (WCM-Q), a QF partner uni-versity, is another entity work-ing towards food sustainability. ‘Project: Greenhouse’, part of WCM-Q’s ‘Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First’ campaign, aims to teach children about the environment, sustainabil-ity, how to grow fruits and veg-etables, and the importance of adopting a healthy diet.

So far, WCM-Q has provid-ed greenhouses to more than 130 public elementary schools across Qatar, as well as seeds, soil, and instructions on how to cultivate plants.

In February 2018, Project: Greenhouse expanded to include a brand-new initiative, ‘Khayr Qatarna’, which is helping pro-mote food security and self-suffi ciency in Qatar by installing three large-scale, climate-con-trolled greenhouses at select schools.

These greenhouses, run by professional gardeners, are be-ing used to grow fruits and veg-etables for distribution through local supermarkets under the Khayr Qatarna brand, with all proceeds being reinvested into

the project. As the project con-tinues to develop, WCM-Q aims to include additional schools and build more greenhouses, with the possibility of increasing the range of fruits and vegeta-bles that are grown.

Nesreen M al-Rifai, chief communications offi cer, WCM-Q, said: “The concept of food sustainability and food security is vital for Qatar. If there is one positive aspect of the blockade, it has provided Qatar with the impetus to take responsibility for its own food production.

Khayr Qatarna wants to com-plement this, providing the community with fresh, locally-grown food sold under the Khayr Qatarna brand and also allowing our children to take a role in the nation’s food security.

In November 2017, QF also launched Torba Farmers Market in Education City. The market is a Qatari-founded initiative that provides access to organic, locally-grown food, and home-made products, and supports agricultural and other food pro-ducers around the country. The market runs throughout the winter months.

A Khayr Qatarna greenhouse, part of Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar’s ‘Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First’ programme.

Students harvesting Khayr Qatarna produce.

Students learn about agriculture through the Qur’anic Botanic Garden’s food security programme.

Ooredoo volunteers visit Hamad General Hospital Children’s Ward

Ooredoo has lauded the employees of Hamad General Hospital Chil-

dren’s Ward for their hard work and dedication. Ooredoo vol-unteers recently visited Hamad General Hospital Children’s Ward to distribute gifts and spend time with the children as part of the company’s #Ram-adanWithOoredoo CSR activi-ties.

During the visit, Ooredoo vol-

unteers played and interacted with the children and their par-ents, as well as spoke to a team of nurses and senior staff from Hamad General Hospital’s Chil-dren’s Ward.

Ooredoo Qatar director PR and Corporate Communications Manar Khalifa al-Muraikhi said, “Every year, Ooredoo visits Ha-mad General Hospital Children’s Ward during Ramadan, and eve-ry year I am proud of the profes-

sionalism and dedication of the employees.

The love and care they provide for Qatar’s children is incredible and, this holy month, we wanted to say thank you to them, as well as bring a smile to the children’s faces.”

For more details on Ooredoo’s Ramadan off ers and CSR events, follow the #RamadanWithOo-redoo on Ooredoo’s social media platform.

Ooredoo Qatar director PR and Corporate Communications Manar Khalifa al-Muraikhi with a group of Ooredoo volunteers at the Hamad General Hospital Children’s Ward.

QF science show transcends barriers

Qatar Foundation’s (QF’s) Stars of Science, the Arab world’s leading

innovation ‘edutainment real-ity’ TV programme, has proven that building better science can break down political barriers. Stars of Science brings together aspiring young entrepreneurs from around the region to cre-ate tangible solutions to some of the world’s most pressing chal-lenges.

The 2017 edition not only represented the ninth anni-versary of the overwhelmingly popular programme, but it was also the fi rst to air following the unexpected announcement of the blockade last June. And the successful conclusion of season nine – saw participants origi-nating from countries across the region, including Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Mohamed al-Jefairi, from Qatar, was placed fourth last year with his innovative project, ‘Deaf Interactive Robotic Teacher.’ The invention uses a robotic hand to communicate in Arabic sign language, with the goal of further developing the programme to speak and recog-nise multiple sign languages.

“My season – season nine – featured participants from the blockading countries, includ-ing Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt,” al-Jefairi explained. “It was diffi cult to accept what was happening at the time. But, I believe, we can leave politics behind, and that science and re-search —or any activity, such as

sports or education – can cross borders.

“Qatar Foundation, in par-ticular Stars of Science, has given me – as well as all of the contestants on the show – the opportunity to fulfi l my goals and to unlock my potential as an innovator. And I want to help give back to this country, to help make Qatar great,” noted al-Jefairi.

Following the conclusion of Stars of Science, al-Jefairi launched Creativity Qatar, a training platform designed to

help young people across the nation become successful en-trepreneurs.

The season fi nale of Stars of Science was fi lmed in Oman, in collaboration with the Oman Technology Fund, which forms part of a wider partnership with QF, and featured fi nalists from Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. “At Qatar Foundation, we are committed to the development of human capital, to nurture, through our unique ecosystem, a culture of creativity and innovation that

enables researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and academics to address both local and glo-bal research and development challenges,” Khalifa al-Kubaisi, media relations manager, QF, explained.

“A year on since the block-ade began, we remain steadfast in this belief. And Stars of Sci-ence is just one example of our lasting dedication to empow-ering aspiring innovators, and helping young men and women across the region achieve their goals,” he added.

Mohamed al-Jefairi showcasing his Deaf Robotic Teacher innovation to the Stars of Science jury.