Volume 24 | Number 8052 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 22 October 2019 | 23 Safar 1441 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 10

Al Sadd hope for turnaround as Xavi vows to ‘fight until the end’ in Riyadh

Italy is Qatar’s strategic investment

partner: Al Kuwari

GROUP A: 10:00 PMClub Bruges vs Paris Saint Germain

Galatasaray vs Real Madrid

GROUP B: 10:00PMOlympiakos vs Bayern Munich

Tottenham Hotspur vs Red Star Belgrade

GROUP C: (a)7:55 (b)10:00a) Shakhtar Donetsk vs Dinamo Zagreb

b) Manchester City vs Atalanta

GROUP D (a)7:55 (b)10:00a) Atlético Madrid vs Bayer

b) Juventus vs Lokomotiv Moscow

TODAY'S FIXTURES All Qatar time

Catalyzing The Future: QSTP marks 10-year journey

THE PENINSULA DOHA

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foun-dation, last night attended the ‘Catalyzing The Future’ cele-bration of the 10th anniversary of Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP).

‘Catalyzing The Future’ was attended by Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, and Chairperson of the Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council, H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohamad Al Attiyah, alongside Ministers and dignitaries, and rep-resentatives from Qatar’s research, development, and innovation (RDI) ecosystem.

It marked Qatar Founda-tion’s (QF) achievements in the field of RDI and emphasised how a nationwide commitment to advancing innovation will create a “legacy” for Qatar, looking ahead to the next phase of the nation’s RDI journey.

QSTP, which hosted the event, has become a national and regional hub of technology inno-vation and development since its establishment by QF 10 years ago.

‘Catalyzing The Future’ high-lighted how the culture created by Qatar Foundation in edu-cation, research, development, and innovation has provided the platform to take RDI in Qatar to a new level – supporting the

nation’s economic and social development, and underpinning its self-sufficiency and sustain-ability. It also spotlighted the role that QSTP, part of Qatar F o u n d a t i o n R e s e a r c h ,

Development and Innovation, will play in accelerating Qatar’s business RDI sector and making it a global destination for tech-nology companies and talent. �P3

Amir arrives in Tokyo to attend royal enthronementQNA TOKYO

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived yesterday in Tokyo to partic-ipate in the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito of Japan.

Upon arrival at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), H H the Amir was received by Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Japan, Seiichi Otsuka, Secretary-General of Japan-Qatar Parliamentary Friendship Association, Tadahiko Ito, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Japan, Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi Al Emadi, and members of the Qatari Embassy.

To further affirm the strong friendship and distinguished relations between the State of Qatar and Japan and the keenness of the two countries to develop and strengthen these relations, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will participate in the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito of Japan, which will take place at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo today.

H H the Amir had paid an official visit to Japan in January as part of an Asian tour that also included South Korea and the Republic of China aiming to strengthen Qatari relations with the three Asian economic giants. �P8

Qatar region’s most stable, growing economyQNA WASHINGTON

Qatar has succeeded in strength-ening its abilities and consoli-dating its position as one of the region’s most stable, competitive and growing economies, said a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI).

Delivering speech at the second Gulf International Forum, held recently in Washington, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater pointed to the economic developments wit-nessed by the State during the past two years and said that Qatar is moving forward in the imple-mentation of its major devel-opment plans. This has consoli-dated its position as one of the most stable and competitive economies, he added.

He pointed to the report of the World Bank, which expects the Qatari economy to rise to 3.4 percent

by 2021 driven by higher service sector growth as the FIFA World Cup gets nearer, this compared with a growth rate of 1.43 percent in 2018, following the recovery of the economy from the effects of the illegal and unjust blockade imposed on Qatar since 2017.

He stressed that Qatar has succeeded in strengthening its

position more than ever, adding that the unjust blockade pro-vided the opportunity to make the Qatari economy more open to all countries of the world.

He added that the Qatari economy has witnessed a signif-icant recovery, with more than 823 Qatari companies opened in the fields of food processing,

services and manufacturing industries, as well as the expansion of industrial cities to provide about 769 industrial plots, completion of 337 projects in the manufac-turing sector, and creation of promising investment opportu-nities in the non-oil sectors.

He highlighted Qatar’s support to the private sector in line with its belief in the key role it plays in enhancing the competitiveness and diversity of the national economy. The State was keen to accelerate the implementation of measures to support this sector, through the launch of partnership projects with the public sector and the establishment of incentive programs to attract foreign direct investment, he added.

Al Khater pointed to the efforts of Qatar to facilitate pro-cedures for issuing commercial and industrial licenses, and to develop services and infra-structure to meet the expecta-tions of investors. �P4

Qatar wins membership to four offices of WIPOTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar has won membership to four offices of the World Intel-lectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) bodies and unions during the 59th session of the assemblies of the member states of WIPO, which was held at the organisa-tion’s headquarters in Geneva from September 30 to October 9.

The Qatari delegation was chaired by Permanent Repre-sentative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, Ali bin Khalfan Al Mansouri.

The Qatari delegation, which actively participated in all work sessions, secured consensus from the member states of the organ-isation to elect four members of

the Qatari delegation as members of WIPO bodies and unions for a two-year tenure until the end of the WIPO Assem-blies’ term in 2021.

Amna Al Kuwari, Director of the Intellectual Property Pro-tection Department at the Min-istry of Commerce and Industry, was elected President of the Union of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of

the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, while Saleh Al Mana, head of Qatar Office at the Geneva-based WTO, was elected Vice-President of the Assembly of the Union of the Paris Convention for the Pro-tection of Industrial Property, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, utility models, service marks, trade names, geo-graphical indications and the

repression of unfair competition.

Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Com-mercial Attaché in Geneva, was elected Vice- President of the Union of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Kassem Fakhro, Commercial Attaché in Geneva, was elected Vice-Chair of the WIPO Copyright Associ-ation. �P4

QA to be first airline to use GE360 Foam Wash for engine cleaningTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways Group Chief Exec-utive and Secretary-General of Qatar National Tourism Council, Akbar Al Baker, has announced the launch of a “revolutionary” new engine-cleaning system, developed in partnership with GE, one of QSTP’s international partner companies.

Akbar Al Baker made the announcement yesterday night while attending the ‘Catalyzing The Future’ celebration of the 10th anniversary of Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP). QSTP, which hosted the event, has become a national and regional hub of technology innovation and development

since its establishment by QF 10 years ago.

Qatar Airways will be the first airline in the world to use the GE360 Foam Wash, which will improve engine per-formance and fuel efficiency, reduce maintenance demands, and use 40 percent less water.

“QSTP’s role as an incubator of research and development, and a nourisher of an innovation ecosystem, has been at the core of our advancements,” he said.

“QSTP has paved the way and built an international hub that connected us with world-renowned high-tech businesses, supporting us as we strive toward revolutionising products in the aviation industry,” Al Baker added. �P3

Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and Prime Minister attend QSTP’s anniversary celebration

To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of @QSTP, we celebrate the outcomes of this distinguished scientific development which focuses on innovation, research & achievements to serve the needs of tomorrow, in Qatar and beyond.

A World Bank report expects the Qatari economy to rise to 3.4% by 2021

More than 823 new companies opened in the fields of food processing, services and manufacturing industries

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser joined the ‘Catalyzing The Future’ celebration of Qatar Science & Technology Park’s 10th anniversary. Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, also attended the celebration. PIC: AR AL BAKER

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Health Minister officially inducted into National Academy of Medicine THE PENINSULA DOHA

During a ceremony in Wash-ington, DC, last Saturday, the Minister of Public Health, H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, was officially inducted into the National Academy of Medicine.

Last year, H E Dr. Al Kuwari was among the ten new inter-national members elected to the National Academy of Medicine. With a current membership of over 2,000, the National Academy of Medicine elects no more than 70 national and 10 international members each year. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and recognises

individuals who have demon-strated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

The National Academy of Medicine confirmed Her Excel-lency’s election to the pres-tigious body for her outstanding contributions to the field of health. The President of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Victor Dzau, called H E Dr. Al Kuwari, one of the most impressive healthcare execu-tives in the world. “At a very young age she assumed overall leadership of Hamad Medical Corporation, which effectively serves as the national health system in Qatar, and she led it on an impressive transformation journey.”

The Minister of Public Health, H E Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, is officially inducted into the National Academy of Medicine during a ceremony in Washington, DC, last Saturday.

MoI launches public survey about traffic servicesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has started a field survey to review the opinion of the public on the services provided by the General Directorate of Traffic at its headquarters and external departments.

The survey, carried out by the Planning and Quality Department over a week, is a continuation of the series of field surveys conducted by the Ministry, to seek public opinion on its services in order to evaluate and develop them in a way that responds to the aspirations of citizens and res-idents. The survey focuses on the procedures carried out by the General Directorate of Traffic, regarding the reception of citizens and res-idents, the speed of com-pletion of their transactions and the response of their inquiries by staff and officers, and facilities provided by the Department.

QA to be first airline to use GE360 Foam Wash for engine cleaning

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“Moving forward, we antic-ipate working even more closely with QSTP and GE as we con-tinue to revolutionize tech-nology in the aviation industry, and setting a new benchmark for innovation within the upcoming decade. A new journey to the future of research and development has begun, and I am delighted that Qatar Airways is part of it,” he further said.David L. Joyce, Vice Chair

of GE and President and CEO of GE Aviation, described QSTP –home to GE’s Advanced Tech-nology & Research Center since 2011 – as having made “incredible progress in a decade”, saying: “It is visionary, setting a goal and inspiring others to join it on the journey; it is collaborative, working across boundaries to unlock col-lective intellect; and it is inno-vative, with forward-thinking, groundbreaking, and sustainable technology being developed.”

First meeting ofQU Board of Trustees held

THE PENINSULA/DOHA

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Qatar University (QU), chaired the first meeting of the QU Board of Trustees for the academic year (2019-2020), which was held at the Amiri Diwan yesterday.

The Board reviewed what has been implemented of its decisions and recommenda-tions taken during the fourth meeting of the academic year (2018-2019). It also discussed the topics on its agenda and took appropriate decisions, including the approval of the proposal of the Executive Mas-ter’s in Leadership. The Board also approved the proposal of the Master’s in Defence Studies.

The Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser; Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, during the ‘Catalyzing The Future’ celebration to mark the 10th anniversary of Qatar Science & Technology Park. PICS: A R Al Baker

The Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, at the venue.

The Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser; and Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, at the event.

Catalyzing The Future: QSTP marks 10-year journey

FROM PAGE 1H H Sheikha Moza bint

Nasser toured an exhibition high-lighting the achievements of technology ventures that have been incubated at QSTP in the fields of applied research, inno-vation, and entrepreneurship. She was accompanied by H E, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs.

‘Catalyzing The Future’ cul-minated with a speech by H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohamad Al Attiyah, who chairs the Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council, a national body charged with creating a nationwide strategy for research, devel-opment, and innovation, QRDI 2030, and the operating model for its successful execution. With its creation being mandated by Qatar’s second National Devel-opment Strategy, QRDI 2030 will contribute to the transformation of the nation’s social and eco-nomic future, and H E Dr. Khalid

bin Mohammad Al Attiyah said that Qatar’s goal is to rank among the world’s most advanced inno-vation economies.

Speaking about the impor-tance of the National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation 2030, he said: “With this strategy, we are honored to provide our country with a new national legacy towards 2030; a legacy that befits its ambition, protects its national interests, and reinforces its position and global leadership. A new legacy for an ambitious homeland, under the banner of our Amir, that is focused on research, development, and innovation.

“We will work tirelessly to realize Qatar’s vision of becoming a knowledge-based economy.”

H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah acknowl-edged the magnitude of the challenge ahead, but highlighted that an upcoming RDI roadmap for Qatar will create a new

legacy for the nation that pro-tects its national interests and reinforces its global leadership position.

Dr. Richard O’Kennedy, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation at Qatar Foundation, said QF has built a “world-class” RDI infrastructure, established science and technology-focused academic institutions, and sup-ported technology entrepre-neurs, innovators, and busi-nesses “to build market-driven innovations and to translate the outcomes of our research into solutions to challenges that Qatar and the world face.”

“QF, together with other RDI organizations in Qatar, has nurtured a vibrant, globally-recognized research culture – bringing together local, regional, and international researchers and innovators, and producing outcomes that place Qatar on the world map as a leader of discovery,” he said.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Secretary-General of Qatar National Tourism Council, Akbar Al Baker, announcing the launch of a “revolutionary” new engine-cleaning system, at QSTP’s 10th anniversary celebration.

MME finds 10 violations at food outletsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) has caught 10 violations at food outlets for storing or preparing foodstuffs

in unsanitary conditions in different areas in Doha city. The action was taken during inspection campaign carried out by the Doha Municipality’s Health Control Section.

The inspectors found a

cafeteria and a supermarket in Madinat Khalifa South and Bin Mahmoud areas storing food-stuffs inside the workers’ housing in unsanitary conditions and away from the eyes of the inspectors.

Qatar Population Day to be marked todayQNA/DOHA

Qatar will celebrate Qatar Population Day today. Under the theme, ‘Population Policy between Reality and Hope’, the event will be attended by a number of officials interested in population and development issues, and representatives of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The celebration, organised by the Permanent Population Committee, aims to highlight the most important achieve-ments achieved in the light of the implementation of the pop-ulation policy clauses since its launch last year to date, to raise awareness of the issues faced by the population.

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Labour Minister meets President of French Senate’s Friendship Group with Gulf States

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Yousuf bin Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo, met yesterday here with the President of the French Senate’s Friendship Group with Gulf States, Jean-Marie Bockel, and his accompanying delegation. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of joint cooperation between the two sides and ways to support and develop them.

Qatar, Bangladesh review parliamentary ties

The Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Sulaiti, met yesterday with the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Fazle Rabbi Miah. During the meeting, they reviewed cooperation relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them, especially in the parliamentary field, in addition to discussing issues of common interest.

Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities holds programmeQNA/DOHA

The Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities organises a specialised programme entitled “Governance and its Implemen-tation Mechanisms” in cooper-ation with Qatar Association of Certified Public Accountants (QCPA).

A group of charities are

participating in the programme. The four-day programme aims at introducing governance, high-lighting its importance, explaining its role in achieving the interests of all parties, clar-ifying its goals and their mech-anisms of implementation, and preparing governance reports with participants applying some practical models. The training

programme comes within the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Authority and the Qatar Association of Cer-tified Public Accountants. It is also a part of the specialised training programmes provided continuously by the Authority in line with the needs of charities to benefit from their services and their role in the society.

Ooredoo reaches new heights with in-flight roamingTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo yesterday announced an update to its popular roaming service, designed to enhance its customers’ digital lives by allowing them to use their plan allow-ances while flying.

Ooredoo has added the ONAIR mobile network to its list of roaming partners, meaning Ooredoo Passport, Ooredoo Passport Monthly, Shahry 250 and Qatarna customers can now use their plan roaming allowances for in-flight usage data and stay connected even at 36,000 feet in the air. Customers need simply connect to the ONAIR Mobile Network when it’s safe to do so, and use their data services as they would on the ground.

Usage will be deducted from their regular plan roaming allowances.

Yousuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi, Chief Operating Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said of the new launch: “We’re delighted to further extend the benefits of our Ooredoo Passport, Shahry 250 and Qatarna plans with the onAir mobile network. We know staying connected is of vital importance to our customers, even at 36,000 feet in the air, and Ooredoo roaming services will offer them a convenient, value-for-money way to make sure they don’t miss anything while they’re flying.”

In-Flight roaming is available for all prepaid and post-paid customers via Ooredoo Passport, and using roaming data allowance in Shahry 250 or Qatarna packs.

Dr. Al Maadheed selected as founding director of medical research centre at UCLTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The President of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), Dr. Mohamed bin Ghanem Al Ali Al Maadheed (pictured), has been selected as a founding director of a new medical research centre at the Division of Medicine, University College London (UCL).

Located at the Royal Free Hospital in northern London, the Center for Metabolism and Inflammation comprises a select group of scientists investigating the inflammatory and metabolic processes linked to chronic, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). It seeks to find more effective treatments for NCDs, which will be a breakthrough in the field.

In December 2017, Dr. Al

Maadheed was appointed as a Visitor Professor at UCL. This is a culmination of three decades of achievements made by Dr. Al-Maadheed in the medical and humanitarian arenas.

As a distinguished professor, Dr. Al Maadheed is recognised for his remarkable academic status both in Qatar and beyond.

MOCI: Qatar’s economy most stable in region

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The Free Zones Authority in Qatar, has sought to provide important opportunities and incentive benefits for com-panies seeking to expand globally.

He added that the free zones were designed according to the highest international standards adopted to meet all the needs of companies and enhance their success, pointing out the advantages that these zones provide to investors such as new infrastructure, facilities, tax incentives and investment funds.

The Undersecretary praised the level of the Qatari-American relations. He said that the United States of America is one of the largest and most important strategic partners of Qatar, adding that over the past five years, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to $26.7bn, while the bilateral trade balance achieved a surplus in favor of the United States by 84.5 percent, equivalent to $22.6bn.

He pointed out that the US is one of the most important sources of Qatari imports, stressing that in 2018, Qatar imported 19.43 percent of its imports from America.

The number of US com-panies operating in Qatar has reached 753 companies, including 118 wholly owned by Americans, in addition to more than 63 American companies licensed under the umbrella of Qatar Financial Center.

He pointed to several Qatari investment initiatives in the United States in various sectors that have created and provides thousands of jobs, and talked about the role of American companies in the Qatari market.

He added that Qatar pro-vides a range of development projects which in turn provide an opportunity for American companies to increase their contribution in diversifying the Qatari economy.

He announced the intention of Qatar to launch a second version of the eco-nomic tour in 2020 to include a number of major cities in the United States of America in order to build on what was achieved during the first version in 2018.

He pointed out that this initiative would consolidate the Qatari-US partnership and enhances bilateral efforts aimed at establishing suc-cessful investment projects that serve the interests of the two countries.

Qatar winsmembership to 4offices of WIPO

FROM PAGE 1The Copyright association

supervises the protection of works and the rights of their authors in the digital envi-ronment, and grants some eco-nomic rights to authors.

The WIPO Assembly is the main decision-making and pol-icy-making body of WIPO. The Assemblies and the 12 other bodies of Member States and of the Unions administered by WIPO meet in ordinary or extraordinary session, usually in the autumn. WIPO is one of the oldest UN specialised agencies and one of the largest international organizations in Geneva. The agency is a global forum for services, public policy and cooperation in the field of intellectual property, with 192 members.

Qatar, Georgia to enhance tiesQNA DOHA

The Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, met yesterday with the Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natela Turnava in Tbilisi. They discussed aspects of cooperation between the two friendly countries in the fields of transportation, ports and communications and means of further enhancing them, said a

statement. They also discussed potential investment opportu-nities in these fields, in addition to a number of topics of common interest. The meeting also addressed broadening the service of the Black Sea Express Service (BSX), which is Milaha’s first container shipping service in Europe. BSX is a direct container feeder route linking Greece, Turkey, Georgia and Russia — a service that has been resonating widely at the regional level since its launch.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, with the Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natela Turnava, in Tbilisi, yesterday.

Qatari artists to visit India for MIA’s ‘Ektashif’ programmeTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) announced a new initi-ative titled Ektashif that will see six Qatari artists visit India for a 10-day art trip.

After the trip, participants will produce four to five pieces inspired by their visit which will be displayed at an art exhibition at MIA in January 2020. The trip is generously sponsored by Sea-shore Qatar — a Qatari owned company and one of the largest multi-disciplined business enterprises in the State of Qatar.

The trip will include visits to sites of historic interest such as the Qutub Minar and the Red Fort in Delhi, Amber Palace and Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, and the Red Fort and Taj Mahal in Agra. Additionally, each day will include a workshop session whereby participants will dis-cover the intricate traditional arts of India including marble inlay, known as parchin kari, block printing, jewellery making, carpet weaving and more. The trip is open to Qatari, practicing artists, over the age of 18.

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French Senate’s Friendship Group briefed about NHRC’s role in promoting human rightsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A delegation from the French Senate’s Friendship Group with Gulf States was briefed on the experience and competencies of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and its role in protecting and promoting human rights, especially with regard to the rights of children and women.

This came during the reception of the NHRC at its headquarters yesterday, a dele-gation from the French Senate’s Friendship Group with Gulf States, where the delegation was met by the Vice-Chairman of the Committee Dr Mohamed bin Saif Al Kuwari, and a number of directors of departments and

legal experts.An introductory presentation

was made on NHRC, its compe-tencies and its role in protecting and promoting human rights, especially with regard to the rights of children and women, as well as tackling a number of human rights issues, including the efforts of the NHRC to protect and promote workers’ rights.

The NHRC officials responded to the delegation’s

queries about the role of the NHRC in spreading the culture of human rights in the country. It was highlighted that the Committee has a 5-year stra-tegic plan that includes organ-izing lectures and programs targeting workers and employers, and is organized in a number of places where workers are present, as well as the establishment of com-munity offices in the Committee

to facilitate the processing of complaints, and the hotline, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in addition to the role played by the reception and registration section of the Department of Legal Affairs, which provides free

legal advice in addition to receiving complaints and petitions.

The Committee officials also pointed out that, as part of its awareness-raising and educa-tional message, the NHRC dis-tributes brochures and

introductory brochures in vital institutions in the country, including a manual pocket book for workers, which contains sim-plified rights and duties of workers for all groups and has been translated into 10 languages.

The Vice-Chairman of the NHRC, Dr Mohamed bin Saif Al Kuwari, with the delegation from the French Senate’s Friendship Group with Gulf States, at NHRC headquarters yesterday.

An introductory presentation was made on NHRC, its competencies and its role in protecting and promoting human rights, especially with regard to the rights of children and women, as well as tackling a number of human rights issues, including the efforts of the NHRC to protect and promote workers’ rights.

Msheireb Properties to give details of Zulal Wellness Resort at Cityscape Qatar 2019THE PENINSULA DOHA

During the first day of Cityscape Qatar 2019, Msheireb Properties, Qatar’s national real estate developer and a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, will announce its latest new development, Zulal Wellness Resort, the new wellness destination in Qatar, that is slated to open in the second quarter of 2020, in collaboration with market-leading wellness brand, Chiva-Som International Health Resort.

Chiva-Som is known around the world for their flagship resort in Hua Hin, Thailand. The collaboration with Msheireb Properties is the first man-agement and operating contract they have undertaken, expanding their offerings to the Middle East region exclusively in Qatar.

Designed after Msheireb Properties’ philosophy for sus-tainable developments that are rooted in the past but geared for the future, Zulal Wellness Resort takes its name from the Arabic Classic word “Zulal”, referring to “purified water”.

Spread across 280,000 square metres, the resort is Qatar’s largest wellness desti-nation, the Middle East’s first full-immersion wellness resort, and the world’s first centre for Traditional Arabic Integrative Medicine (TAIM). It is located in Khasooma, a northern coastal village one-hour drive from Doha, featuring 120 elegant guestrooms and suites for fam-ilies, and 60 adults-only suites and villas, welcoming guests of all ages and needs.

Ali Al Kuwari, Acting CEO of

Msheireb Properties, said: “We are very excited to collaborate with Chiva-Som to operate Zulal Wellness Resort. Our mission as a national real estate developer is to build communities and develop-ments that enrich and enhance the way people live, work and thrive, while remaining true to our Qatari and Arabic cultural heritage. This partnership with Chiva-Som enables us to provide the best in ancient Arabic medicine, not just in Qatar, but in the entire region. Zulal Wellness Resort will no doubt contribute to the growth of wellness tourism in the country.”

Chairman and CEO of Chiva-Som International Health Resort, Krip Rojanastien, said of the launch: ‘We are delighted to announce the opening of this project, on which we have been collaborating with Msheireb Properties. This is the first time we have embarked on a man-agement and operating con-tract since the opening of our resort in Hua Hin, Thailand in 1995. We are excited and proud to have created some-thing completely new with Zulal Wellness Resort, which is the first in the world to showcase Traditional Arabic Integrative Medicine (TAIM), whilst retaining the Chiva-Som DNA at every touchpoint.”

A view of a restaurant in Zulal Wellness Resort.

Lulu Hypermarket, Qatar Cancer Society sign pactTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) and Lulu Hypermarket Qatar have signed a cooperation agreement to raise health awareness against cancer among the community and share guidelines on how to prevent it.

Under the agreement, Lulu Hypermarket will raise fund from the profit generated by selling selected products of local vendors as well as Lulu’s exclusive import products, and the same will be donated to QCS for the cause of charity in the respective sector. Lulu has taken initiative in this regard with the support of local vendors.

The agreement was signed by Mona Ashknani, Director of Support Services Department of QCS and Shaijan M.O., Regional Director of Lulu Hypermarket Qatar. The agreement will also include holding lectures and training courses for Lulu’s employees and introducing them to the types of tests required for each type of cancer and teaches

them about the importance of a healthy lifestyle to avoid cancer.

During “Blossom Campaign” that QCS has already launched to raise awareness of Breast cancer, Lulu’s staff in all branches were wearing pink ribbon that symbolizes breast cancer to encourage women for periodic diagnosis of the disease. In addition, Lulu supports QCS’ pro-grams that are organized from time to time, throughout the year.

Mona Ashknani congratulated

the initiative of Lulu Hypermarket and indicated that the partnership between two sides was to strengthen efforts to combat cancer and raise awareness about it. She added: “in order to fight cancer, we need to organize awareness programs all over Qatar in cooperation with all leading organizations, and we should do that continually and not to be restricted to a specific period.”

She emphasised the impor-tance of permanent cooperation

with all institutions in the State, pointing to the importance of community partnerships in fighting cancer and QCS can’t operate in isolation.

Speaking on the initiative, Shaijan said: “We are quite happy to sign the cooperation agreement and join hands with QCS in their continued effort towards combating Cancer. QCS deserves deep appreciation for their great effort towards this noble cause”.

QCS and Lulu Hypermarket Qatar officials during the partnership agreement signing ceremony.

Education Ministry holds meeting with new private schoolsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Department of Private Schools Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education held a meeting with the new private schools at the head-quarters of the Ministry to brief the function of the Department. The number of new private school reached 20 for the academic year 2019-20.

The representatives of the new schools were briefed about the educational plans, supervision and follow-up, and the policy of academic follow-up in private schools during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Rawdah Al Zaidan, Director of Schools Affairs Department at the

Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and private school education consultants; Hamian Kaabi; Intisar Al Muhannadi; Deborah Singh, and the directors, officials and owners of the new private schools to introduce the function of the Department.

Rawdah Al Zaidan stressed the need to maintain private schools to the safety and health of their students and the security and safety of their buildings in accordance with the laws of the State and the Ministry of Edu-cation and Higher Education, so it is necessary to cooperate all private schools immediately with the Ministry in the case of any emergency as the safety of stu-dents comes Ministry’s priorities

She also talked about the

compulsory subjects, and veri-fying teachers’ performance of the three compulsory subjects (Arabic, Islamic Studies and Qatar History), pointing to the need for private schools to talk with the school owner in some cases to discuss matters related to the school.

She pointed out the impor-tance of the ability of private schools to solve their problems with parents and reach with them positive solutions within the school without the need for the ministry’s intervention to preserve time and effort, where the role of the ministry in the large matters that require them to send gradual warnings, and it takes into account number of complaints received from parents on the school.

Deborah Singh reviewed the educational plans in private schools and how to document and activate them. If a school wishes to make some drastic changes in its educational plans, it should consult the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for approval.

Intisar Al-Mohannadi explained the policy of academic follow-up in private schools, and addressed the political com-mitment to the teaching hours adopted for the compulsory sub-jects, where the private school has the freedom to be distributed on the weekly class schedule, in addition to the quarterly plans, learning resources, and assessment of compulsory subjects.

French technology firms to showcase latest innovations at QITCOMSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

A number of large and startup French technology companies are gearing up to participate in the Qatar Information Tech-nology Conference & Exhibition (QITCOM) from October 29 to November 1 2019 under the theme “Safe Smart Cities”.

“The French Embassy in Doha and Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, are proud to announce a strong participation of French companies at this event that will focus on ‘Safe Smart Cities,’” said Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet.

He also said that Qatar

always strives to be a model of progress through the use of new innovations. “The innovations which French tech companies will showcase in the exhibition would certainly be important to Qatar and could be benefited from specially that these com-panies have an excellent expe-rience in this regard.”

The event is the largest Infor-mation and Communication Technology showcase in Qatar. Organised by the Ministry of Transport and Communication, it will be held at the Qatar National Convention Center.

In a press conference held yesterday at his residence, the Ambassador accompanied with some representatives of com-panies which are participating

in this event, said that French tech companies are at the

cutting-edge in fields such as e-government, cyber security, fintech, blockchain, smart cities, and e-commerce.

The exhibition features over 90 speakers, 300 technology exhibitors, 100 startups and 300 innovators and entrepreneur.

Among the most important French companies which will participate in this exhibition are Thales, the European leader in cybersecurity and will present innovative and smart solutions such as SOARIZON, a digital platform that will empower drone operation worldwide; unmanned traffic management solutions; intelligent multimodel system for smart and safe mobility with efficient transport and NAIA which is a big data

analytics platform aiming at reconstructing the commuters’ journeys.

Also, there is Atos company which will present its cloud solu-tions and services that customers can leverage upon, to ensure their organizations’ make right choices to support their business ambition.

Alstom, a world leader in integrated transport systems, will showcase a complete range of solutions from high-speed trains to metros, tramways and e-buses, passenger solutions.

Looking forward to the Qatar-France Year of Culture 2020, French SMEs, among them H4D, a fully connected and inter-active medical cabin system; Flowbird, a world leading

company for urban mobility; Onepoint, one of the major players in business and digital transformation; will showcase their innovations and will be delighted to share their latest technological solutions with the stakeholders present at this major event.

The Ambassador said: “It is a great honour to participate to QITCOM 2019 as a committed partner. It is an exciting year for La French Tech and we look forward to introduce our com-panies with revolutionary new ideas to potential investors vis-iting, while our highly regarded companies look to meet new partners as part of their business expansion,” said Franck Gellet.

Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet

07TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 HOME

QC signs MoU with Qatar Post to facilitate donationsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Charity (QC) has signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) with Qatar Postal Services Company (Qatar Post) to support Qatar Charity’s human-itarian projects and local activities in the areas of collection and joint adver-tising campaigns, within the framework of corporate social responsibility.

The pact was inked by Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Charity, and Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Chairperson and Managing Director of Qatar Post.

According to the deal, Qatar Post will provide a range of services, through its branches, to Qatar Charity, which will promote the collection of donations and marketing of Qatar Charity’s products, and support its campaigns through Qatar Post’s advertising medium.

In his speech, Yousuf bin Ahmed Al Kuwari expressed his delight at signing this pact, hoping that it would be an important opportunity to promote donations and support charity products.

He also affirmed Qatar Charity’s keenness to collaborate with all within

and outside the country in areas of humanitarian action, development

work, awareness, and volunteering to support its projects.

Al Kuwari highly appreciated Qatar Post for its previous cooperation with Qatar Charity and its willingness to develop current and future collaboration.

He hoped that efforts would con-tinue to cooperate with all ministries and governmental and the private bodies in Qatar, where people are best known with their love for doing good, helping those in need, and cooperating in righteousness.

Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Chairperson and Managing Director of Qatar Post, expressed his happiness and pride in this pact. “Within the framework of our corporate social responsibility strategy, this agreement comes as an important humanitarian step to strengthen our relationship with Qatari society and contribute to bringing about a positive change,’’ said Al Nuaimi.

“We will harness our potential through a network of our offices and a wide range of our services and products to serve the Qatari community, and utilize our capabilities for the benefit of our community,” Al Nuaimi added, calling for the contribution to this effort by making a donation at any Qatar Post branch to support Qatar Charity’s activ-ities and initiatives, including ‘Darahim’ and ‘Khair Card’.

Al-Naimi emphasized the continu-ation of this partnership with Qatar Charity, a leading humanitarian and charitable NGO, noting that it is only a preface to magnificent future partnerships.

Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwari (right), Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Charity, and Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Chairperson and Managing Director of Qatar Post, after signing the agreement.

MOTC accredits first center for specialised maritime trainingTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) has accredited the Qatar Interna-tional Safety Center (QISC) to be the first center of its kind to provide specialised maritime training in Qatar.

The move comes within the framework of MOTC’s com-pliance with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s International Convention on Standards of Training, Certifi-cation and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) Convention 1978.

The accreditation followed a full audit process conducted by MOTC, represented by its Mar-itime Transport Planning and Licensing Dept., verifying QISC’s compliance with all formalities

and requirements laid down in the Convention, in addition to reviewing and approving the training materials to ensure that training and qualifications meet the level and quality required by the Convention.

The ultimate objective is to emphasise Qatar’s compliance with all IMO conventions and standards, foremost of which are marine safety, marine envi-ronment protection, and pro-tecting lives and property at sea.

QISC will provide maritime sector’s workers in Qatar and from other countries with spe-cialized maritime training courses on the techniques of per-sonal survival, fire prevention, firefighting, elementary first aid, personal safety and social responsibilities.

Beneficiary trainees will obtain certificates that

are recognized by MOTC and internationally as they are issued in a country, Qatar, which is an IMO member state and a Con-vention party. QISC has been accredited in accordance with STCW Convention requirements and prerequisites. “Accrediting QISC for training seafarers in maritime courses that are clas-sified as mandatory by the Con-vention is unprecedented in Qatar. QISC is now the first accredited center in Qatar to meet IMO requirements,” said MOTC’s Assistant Undersecretary of Maritime Transport Affairs Dr. Saleh bin Fetais Al Marri.

Formerly, he explained, sea-farers used to enroll at accredited training centers in other coun-tries to take these courses.

Maritime Transport Quality Assurance Director Mohammed Al Mutawa said that accrediting

QISC came after verifying all quality criteria, which is a top-priority requirement of the STCW Convention. On that Con-vention, he said, there is an article stating that each Con-vention party should commit to continuously overseeing the

training, assessment and medical and technical certification pro-cedures in such a way that ensures the fulfillment of all quality standards.

Port State Control Officer at MOTC, Capt. Khalid Elagib said that the mandatory courses are

very important for meeting the requirements of the seafaring profession and are an integral part of mandatory certifications for captains, naval officers, naval engineers and all those who work on ships, in order to be licensed professionals.

Officials during the event.

According to the deal, Qatar Post will provide a range of services, through its branches, to Qatar Charity, which will promote the collection of donations and marketing of Qatar Charity’s products, and support its campaigns through Qatar Post’s advertising medium.

Sidra launches Medical Toxicology Fellowship programTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Sidra Medicine has launched a fellowship program in Medical Toxicology and has welcomed the program’s first international fellow from the State of Kuwait

Medical Toxicology is a medical subspecialty focusing on the diagnosis, management and prevention of poisoning, toxicity and other adverse health effects due to medications, chemicals, occupational and environmental toxins, and biological hazards.

Sidra Medicine’s Medical Toxicology services, which are under the Department of Emer-gency Medicine, includes the Qatar Poison Center – a free hel-pline for the public. The Department is also in charge of offering CME accredited annual workshops on topics related to clinical management of poisons; toxic terrorism and advanced hazmat life support.

The Medical Toxicology Fel-lowship curriculum at Sidra Medicine covers the core facets of toxicology with the goal of

training fellows to build their expertise for their future practice in medicine. In addition to learning and research, the fellows also receive hands-on clinical experience and provide phone-based consultations for the Qatar Poison Center.

Dr. Khalid Al Ansari, Chair of Emergency Medicine and founder of the Qatar Poison Center at Sidra Medicine said: “We are thrilled that more can-didates consider Qatar as a

viable option for fellowships in specialist fields. We have a long standing level of cooperation with healthcare partners in Kuwait and it gives me great pleasure to welcome our first international fellow for the medical toxicology program, Dr. Abdulatif Aloumi to Doha. We wish him all the best during his fellowship with us.”

Dr. Abdullatif Aloumi will work for two years with the Department of Emergency

Medicine. He will focus on medical toxicology which includes poisoning management services provided by Sidra Medicine’s Qatar Poison Center helpline.

Dr. Abdulatif Aloumi, the fellow said: “I am really pleased to join Sidra Medicine’s Toxi-cology fellowship. My goal is to apply my learning related to tox-icology back in Kuwait where we are seeking to replicate some of the advanced toxicology related measures Sidra Medicine has implemented here in Qatar.”

Prof. Ibrahim Al Janahi, Chair of Medical Education at Sidra Medicine said: “This is an exciting time for our medical education efforts as we expand our reach to attract talent from within the Gulf region. The fellows will train alongside some of the world leading specialists in their fields of expertise at Sidra Medicine with a multidisciplinary approach to learning. We wel-comed a fellow from Sudan last year to our pediatric urology division and look forward to wel-coming more fellows from the Arab region and beyond.”

Dr. Khalid Al Ansari (left) and Dr. Abdulatif Alyoumi

Build Your House 2020expo to begin on March 2 THE PENINSULA/DOHA

Under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the inau-gural edition of Build Your House 2020 will take place from March 2 to 4 at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC). The exhibition aims to enable local people to create their house, introducing them to the latest technologies and materials used in building, architecture, and interior designs.

Abdul Aziz Saad Al Kaabi (pic-tured), VP NeXTFairs said: “We are honoured by the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Min-ister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani. It reflects the interest of the Qatari Government towards events that support and boost Qatar’s economy. As Qatar endeavors to secure the welfare of its citizens, and supports their ambitions of building their houses.”

He said that event will gather key players within the con-struction industry under one roof and it will help visitors to gain new contacts, discover best practice, high quality materials, and find solutions that build solid foundations for their family.

Qatar government allocated the largest budget for the processing of lands for Qatar citizens worth QR10bn, to serve 2487 housing vouchers for Qataris in 2020. Build Your House 2020 showcases inno-vative, cost effective products, and plenty of options to design, build, and renovate houses. It is set to attract more than 200 exhibitors who will showcase the latest designs and innovations. The exhi-bition is divided into three sectors

to provide a holistic customer expe-rience. They will be able to discover design and consultancy, con-tracting, and suppliers.

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) will participate in the exhibition as Strategic Partner, with a pavilion designed as a sustainable house that educates visitors on best prac-tices and applications to rationalize the consumption of electricity and water, and also protect the envi-ronment to accomplish sustaina-bility, based on the pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030.

Raed Halawa, General Manager at Tadmur Trading, Founding Partner of the exhibition said: “Participating in Build Your House is the best way to reach out to the Qatari audience to showcase our new products. Tadmur Trading is taking part as Founding Partner and will be showcasing new tech in various products.”

In addition to the exhibition, ‘Build Your House 2020’ exhibition organizes seminars and workshops that educate Qataris on the proce-dures and stages of building their houses, including getting the nec-essary permits, documents, infor-mation about the building area of the house, the government role of distributing lands on the citizens, and safety and security measures.

QU to host Open Day for postgraduate studentsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar University (QU) will hold its annual Open Day for post-graduate programs this week, with the aim of providing potential postgraduate students with necessary information. This year, a number of stake-holders will attend the event to inform students on what is required to study and thrive in QU.

A number of new entrants

join the event this year including the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Testing Center and the Scholarship Department of QU. In addition, permanent participants include the QU Library, the Department of Admission and nine QU col-leges, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS); Business and Economics (CBE); Education (CED); Engineering (CENG); Health Sciences (CHS); Law (LAWC); Medicine (CMED); Pharmacy (CPH); and Sharia and

Islamic Studies (CSIS).The event will be held on

October 23-24, 2019 from 9 am - 2 pm in Qatar University, Research Building (H10).

A series of lectures will also take place on the sidelines of the event to provide students with the skills needed to pass the admission process such as a per-sonal interview. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the QU Scholarship Department will also give lec-tures on the application process

and explain the required docu-ments and conditions for admission.

It is worth mentioning that one of the conditions for admission is to achieve the cumulative average required for each level such as 2.8/4 for master sand 3/4 for the doctorate level.

The graduate certificate requires a rate of 2/4 and higher except for legal studies, 2.3 / 4. In addition, other requirements vary by program.

The Qatari-Japanese relations are characterised by their historical depth and development year after year, as well as being based on strong friendship, mutual cooperation, respect and trust between the two countries. Over the years, these relations have been characterized by close and fruitful cooperation, and economic exchanges have become the backbone of these relations for more than four decades.

Japan is an important trading partner for Qatar, as it is one of the largest energy importers, while Qatar is currently the fourth in the world as Japan’s largest supplier of energy resources, especially natural gas. In 2017, Qatari exports to Japan amounted to about QR42.12bn, while imports amounted to about QR5.75bn.

08 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019VIEWS

Affirming strong Qatar-Japan ties, Amir toattend Emperor’s enthronement today

To further affirm the strong friendship and distinguished relations between the State of Qatar and Japan and the

keenness of the two countries to develop and strengthen these rela-tions, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will participate in the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito of Japan, which will take place at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo today.

H H the Amir had paid an official visit to Japan in January as part of an Asian tour that also included South Korea and the Republic of China, aiming to strengthen Qatari relations with the three Asian economic giants, and to enhance these relations into advanced stages of long-term strategic partnerships, which would serve the interests of Qatar and the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030, as well as the aspirations of its people for progress and prosperity.

The Qatari-Japanese relations are characterised by their historical depth and development year after year, as well as being based on strong friendship, mutual cooperation, respect and trust between the two countries. Over the years, these rela-tions have been characterized by close and fruitful cooperation, and eco-nomic exchanges have become the backbone of these relations for more than four decades.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries was established in 1972 with the focus on the economic field since its inception, however, over the following years the fields varied to include more sectors. The mutual senior level official visits of the two

countries have also contributed to the devel-opment and expansion of bilateral relations.

Japan is an important trading partner for Qatar, as it is one of the largest energy importers, while Qatar is currently the fourth in the world as Japan’s largest sup-plier of energy resources, especially natural gas. In 2017, Qatari exports to Japan amounted to about QR42.12bn, while imports amounted to

about QR5.75bn.Giant Japanese companies are

contributing to Qatar’s vital infra-structure projects, particularly those related to Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and projects such as Hamad International Airport, Qatar Metro, power generation and water desalination facilities.

On April 30, Japan entered a new era that has not been seen in 200 years, after Japanese Emperor Akihito ended his reign by abdicating his throne to his eldest son, Prince Naruhito, who is now the country’s 126th emperor. Emperor Akihito ended a three-decade term in which he sought to ease the painful mem-ories of World War II and bring the imperial family closer to the Japanese people.

Japan has completed its prepara-tions to celebrate this unprecedented historic occasion, especially as it is not mourning the former emperor, as was the case in 1989 when Emperor Hirohito died, as well as in 1926 after the death of Emperor Taisho, and in 1912 after the death of Emperor Meiji. This occasion would be the first time in two centuries that a Japanese emperor abdicated under the rule of law.

The enthronement of Emperor Naruhito will be attended by kings, princes, heads of state and prominent guests from more than 190 countries and international organizations, as well as about 2,500 local and foreign dignitaries, Japanese parliamen-tarians, conservatives and prominent representatives from other fields.

The new Emperor, dressed in a formal imperial attire, will take up a luxurious platform called the Taka-mikura, the name of the throne, where he will cast his oath of office. The new Empress Masako, who will wear a dis-tinctive dress with many layers, will enter a smaller platform called Michodai, which is next to the Emperor’s platform.

Adult members of the imperial family will also attend the ceremony wearing elaborate traditional clothes, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will then congratulate the Emperor on his accession to the throne, while the Ground Self-Defense Forces will fire artillery shots from a garden in the Imperial Palace.

On September 18, a government committee responsible for deter-mining the details of the enthronement ceremony finalized the timetable and details of the events to be held on this occasion. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed that his government is keen to welcome guests from all over the world and ensure that the ceremony is held smoothly.

On this occasion, Japan granted an amnesty to some 600,000 people convicted of minor offences, but made it clear that the amnesty would not include those sentenced to prison or the death penalty due to the severity of the committed crimes.

In his first speech after ascending to the throne, Naruhito said, “I swear that I will act according to the Consti-tution and fulfill my responsibility as the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people of Japan, while always turning my thoughts to the people and standing with them.”

The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered his “heartfelt con-gratulations” on behalf of the Japanese people. “We are determined to create a bright future for a proud Japan filled with peace and hope at a time when the international situation is changing dramatically,” he said.

Last February, Emperor Naruhito held a press conference in which he addressed many questions about his life and his next role as emperor, speaking candidly about how he felt regarding the future and that what he had learned from his parents and their

approach to performing their duties as that would be an important guide for him, and expressing his conviction that new winds are blowing with each era, and that the role of the imperial family is changing, stressing that he will continue to pursue the ideal role that the imperial family in Japan must play in the future.

The Japanese Emperor who was educated at Oxford, faces a special challenge to balance his father’s legacy of bringing the monarchy closer to the people while upholding the centuries-old traditions of the Throne.

Naruhito ascends Japan’s throne in a very different Japan to the one his father took over when he became emperor in 1989, as Japan at that time ruled the world economically, it was technologically very advanced com-pared to other industrial countries, and the Japanese stock market was at its peak, however Japan is now in a battle against economic downturn and slow growth as its population ages rapidly.

The Japanese Imperial family is the oldest hereditary monarchy in the world. The family’s lineage dates back to the sixth century BC.

Japan has a parliamentary consti-tutional monarchy, whereby the emperor is the head of state, a symbol of the state and the unity of the people, and the highest authority and carries out several different actions, namely the issuance of constitutional amend-ments, laws and treaties, and the appointment of the prime minister, all of which were in the hands of Emperor before 1945, before the end of World War II.

QNA DOHA

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We are at war against a powerful, implacable enemy,

who does not respect anything or anyone and is willing to use violence and crime without any limits.

Sebastian Pinera Chile President

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

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

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

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Booming property market

With the right strategy in place, trade shows can be one of the most cost-effective sources of leads and sales. Bringing new opportunities for homebuyers,

investors, developers and other real estate industry profes-sionals, the eighth edition of Cityscape Qatar is set begin today at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center.

To be held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the three-day event will host exhibitors from a number of countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe. Cityscape Qatar will run alongside INDEX Qatar, the only trade fair exclusively dedicated to the coun-try’s interior design sector.

Over the previous years, Cityscape Qatar has offered unparalleled investment opportunities for the local and inter-national real estate market. The event enables investors, homebuyers and industry professionals to engage in a dynamic environment that also offers insight into the future of Qatar’s real estate sector. Aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030, the event aims to showcase a wide range of real estate projects from across the property spectrum.

Cityscape Qatar 2019 is set against a backdrop of pro-active public and finance sector initia-tives taken recently to spur the market. These include the recently released freehold zones law, which increased the number of freehold zones, allowing non-Qataris to own freehold property, enabling 100 percent foreign ownership and allowing 100 percent repatriation of profits across all sectors.

Qatari exhibitors include show partners: Qatari Diar as Gold Exhibition Sponsor, Barwa Real Estate as the Official Stra-tegic Sponsor, and Qetaifan Projects as Platinum Exhibition

Sponsor. The event opens the doors for exhibitors with the true opportunity to meet and build relationships with a large number of homebuyers, investors and senior executives involved in the design and construction of public and private real estate developments in Qatar and internationally.

The event is renowned for being the barometer of the property sector, responsible for fostering partnerships and creating opportunities that drive development and investment across the country through its exhibition, conference and other content features. Exhibitors and participants can dis-cover new exciting project launches from Qetaifan Projects, stay updated with the latest trends and hear from industry experts on a wide range of topics at Cityscape Talks.

A special feature of this year’s event is that Hamad Inter-national Airport will reveal its plans for the second phase of the airport expansion to an international audience of real estate developers and investors. At HIA’s exhibition booth at Cityscape Qatar, attendees will experience the awe-inspiring look and feel of the expanded airport which has set a new standard in the traveller experience globally. Cit-yscape and ELAN Events, the organisers, are anticipating a high visitor turnout following promising exhibitor and visitor feedback from last year’s show which attracted over 9,000 participants and more than 40 exhibitors.

The three-day Cityscape Qatar will host exhibitors from a number of countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe.

09TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 HOME

CIS participates in Third International Conference on the Muslim Ummah

THE PENINSULA DOHA

In line with its efforts to inform intel-lectual debates on Islam at home and abroad, members of the College of Islamic Studies (CIS) recently partici-pated in the Third International Conference on the Muslim Ummah.

Held in Istanbul on October 14 and 15, The Quest for Democracy: Examining Civil-Military Relations in Muslim Soci-eties brought together leading aca-demics to analyse the role of the mil-itary in different Muslim societies. This was illuminated through a series of case studies which examined the armed forces’ impact on a state’s economy and political system. Consideration was also given to the influence of regional and great powers alongside the state of

civil-military relations in other parts of the world.

The Quest for Democracy was organized by Istanbul Sabahttin Zaim University (IZU) and its affiliate the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). Alongside HBKU, the conference attracted the Al Jazeera Centre for

Studies, University of Denver, and Egyptian Institute for Studies as aca-demic partners and co-sponsors.

For its part, CIS’ Dr. Louay Safi co-delivered the event’s opening remarks and participated in ‘Civil-Military Rela-tions: The Way Forward’. The session provided the ideal opportunity for Dr.

Louay to present his research project, entitled ‘The Military, Politics, and Democracy: Drawing Red Lines’.

In his presentation, Dr. Safi argued that the states that emerged from the struggle for independence in many Muslim countries were not national states but postcolonial states, whose

governance shared many of the ele-ments of colonial rule. Postcolonial states are ruled by civil-military elites who have acquired many of the atti-tudes and styles of former colonial masters, particularly their disdain for the larger population and their pater-nalistic and unaccommodating approach to dealing with popular demands. Changing the political dynamics in these societies requires deep changes in cultural outlook and social behavior, including a new-founded civic awareness and moral commitment to improving the public space and the scope of citizen participation.

Speaking after the event, Dr. Louay said: “It was a privilege to offer my per-spectives and represent CIS and HBKU at the 3rd International Conference on the Muslim Ummah. We’re determined to build partnerships with likeminded academic institutes around the world, and Turkey is no exception. Often con-troversial and consistently misunder-stood issues, such as civil-military rela-tions, are an important feature of the global political and security landscape. The organizers of this conference are to be commended for their determination to unpack the issues surrounding this often-emotive topic.”

The Quest for Democracy was organised by Istanbul Sabahttin Zaim University and its affiliate the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).

Held in Istanbul on October 14 and 15, The Quest for Democracy: Examining Civil-Military Relations in Muslim Societies brought together leading academics to analyse the role of the military in different Muslim societies.

QU workshop educates community on vaccine coverage and protectionTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Continuing Professional Devel-opment (CPD-HP) at Qatar University (QU) organised a workshop in collab-oration with the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP) on the use of vaccines to protect the community.

The workshop aimed to explain the principles of vaccines and immuniza-tions, which save lives and reduce the burden of infectious diseases. Hence, vaccines are the most cost-effective intervention in public health.

The workshop attracted around 80 health care practitioners, scientists, and researchers from various health care institutions across Qatar, including

pharmacists, physicians, and nurses.This workshop on vaccine cov-

erage and community protection will update physicians, nurses, allied health professionals on best practices for vaccine use and maintaining high cov-erage. The discussion will strengthen perspectives towards the role of vac-cines in preventing infectious diseases and protecting the community, partic-ularly as the population grows and in preparation for the influx of visitors due to 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

This awareness is essential for fighting misconceptions about vaccines that are being widely spread across many platforms, without scientific evi-dence. This awareness will also provide insights into educating vaccine hesitancy.

The CPD-HP program of QU Health reflects the commitment of the four QU colleges (College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences and College of Dental Med-icine) to the Continuing Professional Development of health professionals in the country. The goal of the program is to support the lifelong learning of all practicing care providers to ensure

optimal patient care. The CPD-HP program achieves its

mandate, in part, through the provision of educational programs that will improve and expand the competency of health professionals, researchers, physicians, dieticians, nutritionists, sci-entists, nurses, pharmacists and allied professionals involved in healthcare practice.

QU workshop educates community on vaccine coverage and protection

Le Petit Chef coming to Qatar for first timeTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ritz-Carlton, Doha is honoured to announce the launch of Le Petit Chef, an inter-active dining experience with the world’s smallest chef, starting on October 26, 2019 at STK Doha, the premium steak-house in Qatar.

The 2-hour immersive dining adventure tells the story of a small animated chef who is projected using 3D project mapping tech-nology onto the diners’ plates and proceeds to ‘cook’ their food in front of them.

Similar to theatre perform-ances, music and props will also be used to complete the visual delight and set the right mood for Le Petit Chef as diners embark on the next chapter and dish.

“This new experience is the first of its kind in Qatar. The 4 exclusive set menus prepared by Chef de Cuisine Cesar Leon de Torres and his brigade will delight every palate. The

experience combines food with cinema, theater and technology, making it a must try experience for everyone.

Le Petit Chef has received a huge success around the world, it is an honor to offer this unique culinary experience to our guests dining with us,” said Sack, General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Doha

Sitting a maximum capacity of only 20 people per session to maintain exclusivity, tickets sales are now open and are priced at QR690 for Chef de Partie Menu, QR990 per person for Sous Chef Menu and QR1,390 for Grand Chef Menu. Children between 6 to 12 years old are charged at QR390.

Operating from Saturday to Thursday with 2 sessions per day, at 6pm and 9pm in the main dining room and at 7pm and 9pm in the VIP dining room, Le Petit Chef also provides custom-ization for private events and celebrations, and special cor-porate arrangements.

WCM-Q and ACGME hold workshop for medical educatorsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) and the Chicago-based Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) teamed up to run a two-and-a-half-day training course on competency-based medical education for healthcare leaders and educators.

The workshop, developed by WCM-Q’s Division of Continuing Professional Development in association with Innovations in Global Health Professions Edu-cation (IGHPE), helped the 42 physicians and educators in attendance develop enhanced assessment skills, with sessions on key concepts and theories in professional development and learning, advanced assessment and feedback tools, identifying and remediating struggling learners, apply techniques to improve direct observation.

The course was coordinated jointly by WCM-Q’s Division of Continuing Professional Devel-opment, ACGME and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) of Nashville, Tennessee, and was facilitated by IGHPE, a global forum for the presentation and discussion of innovative con-cepts in health professions edu-cation. The visiting expert speakers were Dr. Eric Holmboe, Chief, Research, Milestones Development and Evaluation Officer at the ACGME, Dr. Sandra A. Moutsios, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Pedi-atrics, and Director of the Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program at VUMC.

WCM-Q speakers at the event included Dr. Thurayya Arayssi,

Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Continuing Pro-fessional Development. She said: “Learners rely very heavily on feedback and assessment to attain the competencies they need to eventually provide high-quality care to their patients, so these are very important skills for anyone involved in providing competency-based medical edu-cation. We are delighted that our colleagues from the ACGME and Vanderbilt University contributed their wonderful expertise to this highly successful course.”

The other WCM-Q staff and faculty who also spoke at the event were Ms. Deema Al-Sheikhly, Director, Continuing Professional Development, Dr. Amal Khidir, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Dr. Amine Rakab, Assistant Professor of Clinical

Medicine and Assistant Dean for Clinical Learning, and Dr. Sumeja Zahirovic, Assistant Professor of Medicine.

The course was facilitated by a regional Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) training hub established in Qatar as part of a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) between WCM-Q and the ACGME, which is the body responsible for accrediting the majority of graduate medical training pro-grams for physicians in the United States. Through the MoU, the ACGME and WCM-Q, in alignment with the mission of IGHPE, intend to advance health professions education programs in Qatar and the wider region in order to improve healthcare pro-vision and population health. Members of WCM-Q’s Division

of Continuing Professional Devel-opment visited the ACGME’s headquarters Chicago earlier this year to undergo training to enable them to establish the ACGME training hub in Qatar.

The course was particularly aimed at residency and fel-lowship program directors, asso-ciate program directors, and faculty members with responsi-bility for the assessment of resi-dents and/or fellows.

The event, titled ‘Assessment in Competency Based Medical Education: A Faculty Devel-opment Program was accredited locally by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners-Accreditation Department (QCHP-AD) and internationally by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

FROM LEFT: Dr. Amal Khidir, Dr. Stella Major, Dr. Amine Rakab, Deema Al Sheikhly, Dr. Sumeja Zahirovic, Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, Dr. Sandra A Moutsios and Dr. Eric Holmboe during the workshop.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in cooperation with Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co W.L.L, dealer of Toyota in Qatar, has announced the recall of Toyota Forklift - model: 8FD50N, model year: 2015-2016 due to possible defect in the rear lifting cylinder.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s continuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the mainte-nance and repair works and will commu-nicate with customers to ensure that the nec-essary repairs are carried out.

The Ministry has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Pro-tection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, inquires and suggestions.

MoCI recalls Toyota Forklift model: 8FD50N

The Ritz-Carlton, Doha announced the launch of Le Petit Chef, an interactive dining experience with the world’s smallest chef, starting on October 26 at STK Doha, the premium steakhouse in Qatar.

10 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019HOME

11TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Lebanese President Michel Aoun (centre), heading a ministerial council at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut, yesterday.

Lebanon approves economic reforms; protests continueREUTERS/BEIRUT

Lebanon approved an emer-gency package of economic reforms yesterday in response to countrywide protests against economic mismanagement, but demonstrators stayed in the streets and foreign investors said the moves did not go far enough.

Hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the streets since Thursday, furious at a political class they accuse of pushing the economy to the point of collapse. People blocked roads for a fifth day across the country.

Schools, banks and busi-nesses were closed. Banks would remain shut today.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, addressing the protesters in a tel-evised speech, said the measures agreed might not meet their demands but were a start towards achieving some of them. The government must work to recover the people’s trust, he said. “You are the compass and... your movement frankly is what led us to this decision today,” added Hariri, who said big steps had been taken towards fighting corruption and waste.

But despite the reforms package, Lebanon’s dollar-denominated sovereign bounds

suffered hefty losses on Monday following sharp drops on Friday. Some sank to record lows.

Investors said the political turmoil showed that the country was running out of time to sort out its economic problems.

“It is just a mess - and it looks like it is more and more unsustainable. I don’t think it is a final nail in the coffin - but it is looking ominous,” said Kevin Daly, Senior Investment Manager, Emerging Market Debt at Aberdeen Standard Invest-ments. “There has been fiscal adjustment, but it has not been enough.”

The reforms included the symbolic halving of the salaries of government ministers and

lawmakers, as well as moves towards implementing long-delayed measures seen as vital to putting Lebanon’s public finances on a sustainable path.

Maya Mhana, a teacher lis-tening to the speech in central Beirut with other protesters, was not convinced. “We are remaining in the streets, we don’t believe a single word he said,” she said. Protesters sang the national anthem into the night in Beirut and continued to demon-strate in other parts of the country, including the northern city of Tripoli and Sidon in the south.

“We don’t believe that they can change in two days,” said Fadi Abou Dargham, a 55-year-old jeweller.

The protests have been extraordinary because of their size and geographic reach in a country where political move-ments are normally divided on sectarian lines and struggle to draw nationwide appeal.

Lebanon has one of the world’s highest levels of gov-ernment debt as a share of eco-nomic output. The government includes most major parties, run by politicians widely perceived to have mobilised state resources and influence for their own gain.

The economy has been hit by

political paralysis and regional conflicts, compounded by strains in the financial system that have risen as capital flows into the country have slowed down. Unemployment among the under 35s runs at 37%.

International donors last year pledged $11bn to help Lebanon finance a major pro-gramme of capital investment

aimed at reviving the economy, conditional on reforms. Hariri said the decisions taken yes-terday would satisfy donors and the government would approve within three weeks the first phase of the capital investment programme.

The government approved a 2020 budget with no new taxes and a deficit of around 0.6% of

national output, Hariri said, describing this as a historic achievement. The deficit for 2019 is around 7% of GDP.

Lebanon’s large banking sector would contribute 5.1 trillion Lebanese pounds ($3.4 billion) to deficit reduction, including through an increase in the tax on bank profits, Hariri said.

REUTERS/MOSCOW

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss Turkey’s operation in Syria during their meeting today, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow yesterday.

Russia believes that long-term regional stability can only be achieved by restoring Syrian unity and that the interests of all ethnic and religious Syrian groups should be taken into account, Ushakov said.

Safe zone in N Syria to allow 2 million refugees return homeANATOLIA/ISTANBUL

Turkish vice-president said yesterday that safe zone in northern Syria will allow nearly two million Syrian refugees to return to their homes.

Speaking at Yildiz Teknik University in Istanbul, Fuat Oktay said Turkey cleared 65 settlements including Syria’s Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn city centers of terrorists.

He noted that his country provides all basic services such as health, education, housing, road, electricity and water to Syrian people in safe zone without any discrimination and with no expectation in return.

Turkey on Oct. 9 launched Operation Peace Spring to elim-inate terrorists from northern Syria in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

On October 17, Turkey agreed to pause the operation east of the Euphrates River in

Syria for 120 hours to allow the withdrawal of YPG/PKK ter-rorists from the planned safe zone.

Iran sends US list of names for its proposed prisoner swapAP/TEHRAN

Iran’s foreign ministry said it has sent the United States a list of names it is demanding in a proposed prisoner swap, opening a potential new channel with Washington amid recent growing tensions.

Iran did not detail the names it relayed, but Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he hoped to hear soon “good news” about the release of Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani. US federal authorities arrested Soleimani last year on charges that he had violated trade sanctions by trying to have biological

material brought to Iran. Zarif said he raised the issue last month in his visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the Islamic Republic has relayed which Iranians should be included in the suggested swap with the United States and other Western nations. Iran holds several American nationals and did not detail whom it would consider freeing.

“We have handed over a list of names (to the United States) who must be freed,” Mousavi said, in a briefing with reporters.

“We hope that these efforts, if paired with good will, would pay off soon and we would see freedom of Dr. Soleimani and other Iranians from the Americans’ captivity.”

Iran contends Soleimani and others were detained over what they called “baseless” accusations of bypassing uni-lateral American sanctions on Iran. It’s not clear how many other Iranians the US has detained, and there was no imme-diate American reaction.

Tensions between Iran and the United States have steadily escalated since Pres-ident Donald Trump pulled the United

States out of the 2015 nuclear deal last May and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. Prosecutors in Atlanta got an indictment the following month against Soleimani, who works in stem cell research, hema-tology and regenerative medicine. US officials revoked his visa and arrested him in October when he landed in Chicago.

The US blames Iran for a series of mysterious oil tanker attacks this year and alleges it carried out last month’s attack on the world’s largest oil processor, which caused oil prices to spike by the biggest percentage since the 1991 Gulf War.

Putin, Erdogan to discuss Turkey’s operation today

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (second right), and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Head of the Sudan Transitional Military Council (left) with other officials, holding the agreement on peace and ceasefire during the signing ceremony in Juba, South Sudan, yesterday.

Sudan agrees to aid, ceasefire in peace talks with rebelsAFP/JUBA

Sudan’s government agreed yesterday to allow humanitarian relief to war-torn parts of the country and renewed a ceasefire pact with major rebel groups at peace talks in South Sudan.

Officials from all sides said the new administration in Khartoum and the two umbrella groups of rebels had signed a declaration to keep the doors open to dialogue.

“The political declaration will pave the way for political negotiations and is a step towards a just, comprehensive and final peace in Sudan,” said General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a key figure in Sudan’s transitional government.

Talks have been underway in Juba since last week between the new government in Khartoum and rebels who fought now-ousted president Omar Al

Bashir’s forces in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

The new transitional author-ities, tasked with leading the way to civilian rule after the ouster of Bashir, have vowed to bring peace to these conflict zones.

The peace talks have been held in the capital of South Sudan after its President, Salva Kiir, volunteered to mediate. Sudan’s neighbour and former foe is struggling to end its own war.

One of the rebel movements involved in the talks, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), said the agreement reached in Juba was a good step. “Peace is a very strategic goal for us. The transfor-mation of Sudan is anchored on peace,” said Hedi Idriss Yahia, who signed the agreement in Juba on behalf of the SRF.

Khartoum agreed to let aid into marginalised, conflict-wracked areas of Sudan long cut

off from humanitarian groups during Bashir’s rule. They include Darfur, the Nuba Moun-tains and Blue Nile regions.

The talks were almost derailed last week after one rebel group threatened to pull out unless the government withdrew from an area in the Nuba Mountains where it said government attacks were ongoing. Hours later, Khartoum announced a “permanent ceasefire” in the three conflict zones.

An unofficial ceasefire had been in place since Bashir was ousted by the army in April, a palace coup that followed nationwide protests against his decades-old rule.

Bashir is currently on trial in Khartoum on charges of cor-ruption after being overthrown following months of nationwide protests against his ironfisted rule.

5.6 magnitudeearthquake strikessouthern IranAP/TEHRAN

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook southern Iran yesterday, though there were no imme-diate reports of damage or injuries.

Officials said the earth-quake struck near Kukherd, a city in Iran’s Hormozgan province. Kukherd is a farming community some 1,000 kilom-eters (620 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran, with a popu-lation of some 4,000 people.

State TV described the depth of the temblor at 10km. It offered no other immediate information. The country’s emergency department said there were no was known damage or injuries, though local authorities in southern province of Hormozgan said rescue team were still investigating.

Earthquakes with a mag-nitude of more than five can damage old buildings.

Trump: Small number of US troops to remain in SyriaAFP/WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said yesterday a small number of US troops will remain in Syria, some near the border with Jordan and others deployed to secure oil fields.

Trump’s comments followed a US pullout from northeastern Syria, leaving the Kurds, America’s staunchest allies in the fight against Islamic State, to face invading Turkish forces.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Trump said the “small number” of US troops staying behind were in an entirely different part of Syria, near its border with Jordan and Israel. He said another group still in Syria “secured the oil,” a reference to oil fields that the US hopes to keep from falling into the hands of jihadist fighters. “I always said if you’re going in, keep the oil,” Trump said, suggesting that the US would “maybe get one of our big oil companies in to do it properly.”

Trump said that otherwise US troops are “moving out nicely.” US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said earlier in Kabul, however,

that the US withdrawal would take “weeks not days.”

Thousands call for dissolving Bashir’s partyAFP/KHARTOUM

Thousands of Sudanese rallied in several cities including the capital Khartoum yesterday, urging the country’s new authorities to dissolve the former ruling party of ousted Islamist leader Omar Hassan Al Bashir.

Crowds of men and women rallied in Khartoum, its twin city of Omdurman, Madani, Al-Obeid, Port Sudan and in the town of Zalinge in war-torn Darfur, expressing their support for the new authorities who are tasked with the country’s tran-sition to a civilian rule. Yester-day’s gatherings also marked the October 21, 1964 uprising that had ousted the then mil-itary leader Ibrahim Abboud.

The demonstrators carried banners saying “Dissolve the National Congress Party”, a cor-respondent reported.

The rallies, organised by the umbrella protest movement Forces of Freedom and Change, was also meant to demand “justice for the martyrs” killed during the months-long uprising that led to Bashir’s ouster in April. Some Islamist groups had also called for similar gatherings on Monday in Khartoum but no major rally was reported, witnesses said.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, addressing the protesters in a televised speech, said the measures agreed might not meet their demands but were a start towards achieving some of them. The government must work to recover the people’s trust, he said.

12 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019ASIA

A voter (centre) is welcomed by officials before casting her vote at a polling station during the state assembly election in Mumbai, yesterday.

Kerala voters beat rain to cast ballotsIANS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Despite heavy rains lashing most places in Kerala, where five by-elections were due yesterday, people came out in good numbers to cast their votes, enthusing three key rival political fronts which feared poll post-ponement.

The counting will take place on Thursday.

Even the worst affected con-stituency, Ernakulam, which in the first few hours registered only single digit percentage of votes polled, people came out braving rains and water-logging. Those who made it to the polling sta-tions before 6pm were given tokens to cast their votes.

The Congress demand to extend the voting time by two hours at Ernakulam was turned down by chief electoral officer Tika Ram Meena.

While the Congress and BJP appeared much concerned about the poor turnout in the afternoon, their faces lit up as the day wore on. The final polling figures are expected to come later, as in many booths, presiding officers are yet to give data on poll percentage.

The final figures are expected tomorrow morning, officials said.

“Our demand to extend the voting time at Ernakulam was not accepted, though it was a genuine demand as many people

were unable to get out of their homes because of flooding. However, the present voting figure is good enough,” said senior Congress legislator VD Sateeshan.

Of the five constituencies which went to the polls, four are represented by the Congress-led UDF while the Aroor seat is with the CPI-M.

According to the latest polling figures, Aroor recorded the highest turnout with 79.24 percent, Manjeswaram 75.65, Konni 70, Vatiyoorkavu 62.30 per cent and Ernakulam 56.88 percent.

The CPI-M led by Chief Min-ister Pinarayi Vijayan is deter-mined to not only retain Aroor, but also expects a fair chance at Konni as well as Vatiyoorkavu.

The Congress expects its winning streak would not be altered and Ramachandran has said the party would wrest the Aroor seat even, giving it a clean sweep.

Meanwhile at Manjeswaram, a women, Nabeesa, was arrested and later released on bail for alleged impersonation, a charge she and her family denied.

A total of 9,57,509 voters, including 4,91,455 women, 4,66,047 men and seven trans-genders will decide the fate of 35 candidates at 846 polling s tat ions in the f ive constituencies.

India to build solar, wind farms along borderAFP MUMBAI

India plans to build a string of renewable energy projects along its sun-baked, wind-whipped western border, offi-cials said yesterday, as New Delhi continues an ambitious programme to reduce the coun-try’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Mired in an economic slowdown, the government has tripled spending over the last three years as part of its push to cut down the use of oil and coal.

“We are studying land fea-sibility and have identified projects worth 30 gigawatt capacity for Gujarat and 25 gigawatt capacity for Rajasthan,” Anand Kumar, new and renewable energy sec-retary, said

The government had zeroed in on barren desert areas in a bid to avoid using agricultural land, he said, adding the sunny and windy region was ideally suited to renewable energy facilities.

Work on the projects would begin roughly 18 months after approval from the defence min-istry and following land feasi-bility studies, he said.

“These projects will help reduce India’s carbon footprint and adhere to promises made at the 2015 Paris agreement,” Kumar said.

India currently harnesses 23 percent of its total power from renewable sources, including solar and wind.

India building world’s biggest face recognition systemIANS NEW DELHI

With the tender submission date to procure the National Auto-mated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) just 20 days away, India is closer to install worlds largest facial recognition system to track and nab criminals.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), under Home Ministry, asked for the bids on July 8 which will be closed on November 8. The winner to provide AFRS will be announced on November 8.

“This is an effort in the direction of modernising the

police force, information gath-ering, criminal identification, verification and its dissemination among various police organiza-tions and units across the country,” said NCRB in its 172-page document.

The beneficiaries will be Ministry of Home Affairs, NCRB and state police forces.

The benefits will be “a robust system for identifying criminals, missing children /persons, uni-dentified dead bodies and unknown traced children/persons all over the country; a repository of photographs of criminals in the country; enhanced ability to detect crime

patterns and modus operandi across the states and commu-nicate to the state police depart-ments for aiding in crime prevention”.

With the help of the software, the state police personnel can check the suspect with the hotlist of criminals.

Currently, the leading face recognition software are: Amazon Rekognition; Face Rec-ognition and Face Detection by Lambda Labs, Microsoft Face API; Google Cloud Vision and IBM Watson Visual Recognition, among others.

In China, startup Megvii and AI unicorns like SenseTime,

CloudWalk and Yitu have made facial recognition commonplace in China.

In April last year, Delhi Police identified almost 3,000 missing children in just four days during a trial of a facial recognition system. However, there are concerns that the technology can be misused.

According to Pavan Duggal, one of the nation’s top cyber law experts, the Information Tech-nology Act, 2000 does not spe-cially deal with misuse of this technology.

“The first casualty of the absence of regulatory framework for facial recognition technology is people’s right to privacy,”

Duggal told IANS recently.“In India, there is not even

any framework to regulate the storage of facial recognition data,” he added.

Some of the major tech-nology giants including Microsoft and Amazon also agree that there is a need for governments to reg-ulate this technology.

Microsoft and its President Brad Smith have urged govern-ments to enact legislation regarding the technology.

The tech industry needs to step up and do more to address challenges related to regulation, said Smith in his new book titled “Tools and Weapons”.

Paying homage to martyred comradesPolicemen from Telangana state pay homage to police martyrs during a parade on the occasion of National Police Commemoration Day in Hyderabad, yesterday.

Resistance to common antibiotic rising among Indian patientsIANS NEW DELHI

Resistance to commonly-used antibiotic clarithromycin is rising among Indian patients and that too at quite a fast pace, health experts have warned.

Clarithromycin is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. This medication can also be used in combination with anti-ulcer medications to treat certain types of stomach ulcers.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today.

Sunil Sofat, Additional Director, Department of Inter-ventional Cardiology (Adult) at Jaypee Hospital in Noida, said that every antibiotic medicine has its own mechanism to treat diseases.

“Yes, this is true that the resistance to clarithromycin is rising among the Indian patients and that too at quite a fast pace. There are multiple factors for the same but one of the major reasons behind it is self-medi-cation,” Sofat said.

“In India, a huge population prefers to consume over-the-counter (OTC) drugs without

even consulting a doctor. In the long run, this may make them resistant to most of the antibi-otics including clarithromycin,” Sofat added.

In a recent study presented at United European Gastroen-terology (UEG) Week Barcelona 2019, researchers have found that resistance to clarithro-mycin, one of the most estab-lished antimicrobials used to eradicate Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), had increased from 9.9 percent in 1998 to 21.6 percent last year, with increases in resistance also seen for levofloxacin and metronidazole.

The study, which analysed 1,232 patients from 18 countries across Europe, investigated resistance to antibiotics regu-larly taken for Helicobacter pylori infection, a harmful bac-terium associated with gastric ulcers, lymphoma and gastric cancer.

According to Gaurav Jain, Senior Consultant, Internal Med-icine at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, New Delhi, antibiotic resistance is a major concern.

“In India the consumption of antibiotics without consulting a qualified physician is quite common which is leading to its resistance,” Jain said.

AIMPLB challenges law on instant divorceIANS NEW DELHI

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act which criminalise practice of triple talaq.

In a petition filed by members of the Executive Committee of AIMPLB, Kamal Faruqui, said the

Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 is unconstitutional as it violates Articles 14, 15, 20, 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution and has been enacted, criminalising mere pro-nouncement of triple talaq.

The petitioners said the Act is arbitrary and unwarranted and wrongfully interferes in the Muslim Personal Law.

“It invades the privacy of a

citizen and allows the pro-nouncement of ‘talaq-e-biddat’ to be reported by anybody related to the wife by blood or marriage without the consent of the wife or husband. It brings into the public sphere intimate details of the mar-riage and as such is a violation of the right to dignity and privacy”.

The petitioners also said that ‘desertion’ which plagues all the communities in the Indian Society

is not a crime at all. “In such cir-cumstances to enact a law to declare talaq as void and impose criminal consequences on such pronouncement is excessive and disproportionate. Furthermore, the fact that ‘desertion’ has not been criminalized yet, only fur-thers the assertion of the peti-tioners that the impugned act is violative of Article 14 of the Con-stitution,” the petitioner said.

BJP set to sweep polls in two states

ANATOLIA NEW DELHI

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to sweep two state polls in Maharashtra and Haryana, as voting came to close yesterday.

The exit polls conducted by various TV channels have given a comfortable majority to the BJP, leaving the main opposition Congress party and its allies trailing. The results are expected to be announced on Thursday.

The polls are believed to be the first test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and a vote for his economic policies, since he won parliamentary elections with a thumping majority five months ago. The party was facing stiff challenge to retain the western state of Maharashtra that houses the metropolis of Mumbai.

An average of most of the exit polls shows that the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena combine will win 215 seats in the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly. In

Haryana, which borders capital New Delhi, the BJP is predicted to win 63 seats, out of the total of 90 seats.

Polling was also held for 51 assembly seats and two parlia-mentary constituencies spread across 18 states, which had fallen vacant due to the death or res-ignation of candidates.

According to the Election Commission of India, 60.5 percent voters exercised their franchise in Maharashtra. Haryana recorded a turnout of over 65 percent. Many Indian

film stars and corporate captains came out to vote in Mumbai.

The exit poll results have proven many analysts wrong, who were expecting a voter backlash, in the wake of eco-nomic recession and a slump in GDP growth rate. India wit-nessed five percent growth rate in the last quarter — the lowest in six years. The opposition Con-gress has rejected the exit poll outcome, saying it will await actual results.

During the campaign, oppo-sition parties used economic

slowdown and unemployment to corner the ruling BJP. Besides housing large corporate houses, Maharashtra also hosts over three million small and medium enterprises, considered the backbone of the economy.

“The indifference of the gov-ernment was affecting the ambi-tions and future of the people of the country, particularly Mahar-ashtra. Business sentiments have deteriorated. Many factories are facing closure in Maharashtra,” said former prime minister Man-mohan Singh.

The exit polls conducted by various TV channels have given a comfortable majority to the BJP, leaving the main opposition Congress party and its allies trailing. Results will be announced on Thursday.

13TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 ASIA

IMF advises Pakistan to carry out structural reformsINTERNEWS WASHINGTON

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the Imran Khan government to address its long-standing issues through struc-tural reforms and strengthening of institutions through legal framework to help economy be competitive.

The Pakistan government was also advised to strengthen cooperation at the federal and provincial levels for greater fiscal and economic calibration, says IMF’s Middle East and Central

Asia Region Director, Jihad Azour.

An important track for the country was “the structural reforms that will allow Pakistan economy to be more competitive by addressing some of the long-standing issues related to the weaknesses”, he said. Azour did

not directly respond to a question on the timing of the bond launch. He was asked if in his view the current zero-interest rate envi-ronment in the capital markets provided an opportunity to Pakistan to go for $3 billion to $4bn bonds, both Islamic and Eurobond. He said Pakistan

should “address some of the leg-acies of the past like, for example, in the energy sector and also strengthen institutions providing the right legal framework for the Central Bank for the power sector as well as other entities”.

Azour said the reform agenda currently in place in Pakistan, supported by the IMF pro-gramme, was the right recipe for the country to improve macr-oeconomic stability, address some of the imbalances that the country saw in the past few years, allow the economy to be

more competitive, and improve its creditworthiness.

He said an IMF mission would go to Islamabad by the end of the month for the first review. “So far, the progress that has been achieved goes in the right direction. It’s too early to give a full assessment. We need to wait for the mission to go there and do due diligence work on the ground,” he remarked.

“We have now a couple of months three months almost since the beginning of the pro-gramme it looks like things are moving in the right direction.”

The IMF director said the reform journey under this programme had two important tracks.

“One is Macro-stabilisation for which there are a number of steps taken by the central bank on financial and monetary side and also by finance ministry on the fiscal side. The other and more important is the Structural Reforms to allow economy to be more competitive.” Azour said this reform agenda was important for Pakistan as this would help accelerate growth and provide the right framework for the private sector to operate.

The Pakistan government was also advised to strengthen cooperation at the federal and provincial levels for greater fiscal and economic calibration, says IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Region Director Jihad Azour.

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi (right), meets Chief Executive of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah (second left), in Kabul yesterday.

Nancy Pelosi meets top officials in KabulAP KABUL

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has met with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of American lawmakers in an unannounced visit to the country. The Afghan govern-ment’s statement says that Ghani thanked on Sunday the dele-

gation for the US’s continued financial and political support for Afghanistan over the past 18 years. The delegation met with Ghani and Chief Executive Abdallah Abdallah. Pelosi on her twitter account said her visit to Afghanistan focused on security, governance and economic development.

The US Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo said yesterday that the US is committed to achieving peace and stability in Afghan-istan following the violent attack on a mosque in eastern Afghan-istan. “The United States remains committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan, and will continue to fight against terrorism,” US Secretary of State said in a statement.

Esper: No Syria-typepullout plannedfor Afghanistan AFP KABUL

Afghans should not misconstrue America’s sudden, contentious and near-total withdrawal from parts of Syria as a precursor to a similar move in Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said yesterday.

Speaking at Nato’s Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, Esper said America maintains a “longstanding com-mitment” to Afghanistan, which it invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban, and noted US policy direction for the country is com-pletely different. “All these things should reassure our Afghan allies and others that they should not misinterpret our actions in the recent week or so with regard to Syria and contrast that with Afghanistan,” he said. Underscoring America’s will to stay in Afghanistan, Esper said, was that it still faces a “virulent terrorist threat that originated in the form of Al Qaeda and now finds itself in the Taliban and ISIS-K and other groups”.

ISIS-K is the abbreviation for the Afghan Islamic State affiliate.

The US and the Taliban were last month on the brink of signing a deal that would have seen some American forces begin to withdraw from Afghan-istan in return for various insurgent security commit-ments. But negotiations col-lapsed at the last minute when Trump declared talks “dead” fol-lowing Taliban attacks including one that killed a US soldier.

General Scott Miller, who leads US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, said over the past year the US has reduced its mil-itary footprint by about 2,000 troops. “As we work in Afghan-istan with our partners, we are always looking to optimise the force,” Miller said, speaking at the same press conference as Esper.

“Unbeknownst to the public, as part of our optimisation over the last year we have reduced our authorised strength by 2,000 here.” That force reduction is unrelated to any prospective deal with the Taliban. US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett said the US has around 13,000 troops in the country.

Oppn plans to mobilise public for march against Imran govtINTERNEWS RAWALPINDI

Opposition parties Jamiat Ulema Islam-F of Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan People’s Party of Bilawal Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-N of Nawaz Sharif have finalised their public mobilisation plan to join the Azadi March in Islamabad and the Rawalpindi division against the Imran Khan government.

The parties have decided on

a combined campaign for the mobilisation of the public in dif-ferent parts of the Rawalpindi division to participate in the march. Rehman reveals that the Rawalpindi chapters of all three parties last week held a joint meeting to discuss strategies to mobilise the public for the march. Party leaders decided they would bring their workers to the march prepared for a sit-in, he said. They have also made plans for how to bring people to the march if the

government places shipping con-tainers to intercept them.

Rehman said PML-N leaders assured that the party would con-tinue to work with the JUI-F until the prime minister resigns.

They will continue to hold meetings over the next few days to continue planning according to their requirements, he said.

Rallies from Lahore and Peshawar, among other parts of the country, will enter Rawalpindi from Rawat and the Attock Bridge,

Rehman said.However, this is an initial plan

and could be changed on October 29 or October 30; the march is scheduled to enter the capital on October 31. “There are enough people in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to fill Jinnah Avenue,” Rehman claimed.

He said the Punjab police has not yet arrested JUI-F leaders but is pressuring party leaders using various means. “Some prominent leaders were booked in cases of

collecting sacrificial animal hides in the past, and these cases were renewed now,” he said.

Former PML-N legislator Shakil Awan says the party has made a plan to welcome the Azadi March in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and four teams have been formed to protect party workers. Local leaders and legis-lators have been allocated points where they are to bring workers to protest in case of police action against the main rally.

Imran says Prince William learnt how much Diana was loved in PakistanINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The last time he met UK Prince William, Imran Khan was a sporting hero who told the young royal about his hope of winning political office.

Twenty-three years on, the former cricket star-turned-prime minister has made good on his promise, welcoming the Duke of Cambridge to his official resi-dence in Islamabad during a royal tour of Pakistan last week. While the official five-day visit was designed to bolster UK-Pakistan relations, the meeting over lunch inevitably triggered memories of William’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

“The last time I met him he was a boy, along with Prince Harry, and they came with their mother to my ex-mother-in-law’s house,” Khan told CNN in an interview. Diana was close to the family of Khan’s ex-wife, Jemima Goldsmith. Diana often

took her young sons to play in the garden at the Goldsmith family home in leafy Richmond Park, southwest London. Jemima’s mother, Annabel Goldsmith, was something of a mother-figure to Diana. The late princess visited Pakistan on several occasions in the years before her death - even teaming up with her friends in 1996 to help raise funds for a hos-pital project Imran Khan was working on.

In the decades since, that venture has become the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hos-pital and Research Centre - which became another stop on the Pakistan royal tour last Thursday.

Khan told CNN that during their lunch meeting he wanted to ensure William understood the impact of his mother’s work in the country. When asked how William responded, the Prime Minister said: “I think it was important for him to learn how much she was loved in this country.”

Protest against Bangladesh police after shootingsAFP DHAKA

Thousands protested against police across Bangladesh yesterday, a day after at least four people died when officers fired on a crowd in one of the country’s deadliest religious riots to date.

Some 20,000 people called for the execution of a young man on Bhola island on Sunday for hurting religious sentiments, with police saying they opened fire after rocks were thrown at officers.

Four people died and nearly 50 were injured, with at least seven in a critical condition in hospital.

Mob attacks over online posts perceived to be blas-phemous have emerged as a major headache for security forces in Bangladesh, where Muslims make up some 90 percent of the country’s 168 million people.

The deaths sparked a new round of protests late on Sunday and yesterday as thousands of Muslims across several cities

shouted slogans and called for the officers involved to be put on trial.

“This is not acceptable. Police have illegally and uncon-stitutionally opened fire on the protesters,” 22-year-old madrasa student Mahmudul Hasan said at a rally in the capital Dhaka. “It is an

extrajudicial killing. We seek justice.” The Hindu man whose Facebook account hosted the original messages and is from Bhola, was charged with inciting religious tension.

But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called for calm Sunday and said the man’s Facebook account was hacked by a Muslim

person and used to “spread lies”. Thousands of protesters who took part in the Bhola protest were being investigated, local police chief Enamul Haque said, adding a police officer was also “fighting for his life” after he was shot by demonstrators.

No arrests have yet been made, he added.

Activists shout slogans as they take part in a protest in Dhaka, yesterday.

21 Afghan forces dead in Taliban onslaughtANATOLIA KABUL

At least 20 Afghan security personnel were killed in a flared-up fighting with the Taliban insurgents in the central Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, local media reported yesterday.

According to the local Tolo News, the battle in Gizab dis-trict of Uruzgan has claimed the lives of 20 Afghan troops and at least 18 Taliban fighters. Police Chief Khetab Khanjari confirmed death of seven army commandos, who were deployed in the area on Sunday.

The dead also included eight regular troops and five policemen.

In a social media post, the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, claimed that a security base and a check post was overrun by the insurgents, killing scores of security forces, including 14 commandos.

China to give $21m to NepalREUTERS KATHMANDU

Nepal said yesterday that China will give its army about $21m in unspecified “disaster relief materials” over the next three years, as Beijing strengthens its ties with Kathmandu.

Xi Jinping visited the Hima-layan nation, which has tradi-tionally leaned on neighbouring India for help, on October 12 in the first such trip by a Chinese president in more than two decades.

Nepal and China signed several agreements during Xi’s visit, including two connectivity projects that the Nepali gov-ernment hopes will eventually reduce its dependence on India.

14 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019ASIA

AFP/BANGKOK

Thailand’s King Maha Vaji-ralongkorn has stripped his 34-year-old consort of all titles for “disloyalty” and apparent “ambition” to match the Queen’s position, a royal command issued yesterday said, less than three months after she was bestowed with the honour.

Former royal bodyguard Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi —known by her nickname “Koi” — was gifted the title on the King’s 67th birthday on July 28, the first time in nearly a century a Thai monarch has taken a consort.

A few days later the palace released images of the short-haired Sineenat in combat fatigues shooting weapons, flying a jet and preparing to parachute from a plane, as well as holding the King’s hand. It was an intimate and rare glimpse into the private life of Thailand’s powerful, ultra-wealthy and inscrutable monarch, known as Rama X of the Chakri dynasty. But yesterday Sineenat’s swift and public downfall was relayed on

national television.She was dismissed from the

rank of Chao Khun Phra — or noble consort — for “disloyalty to the king” according to the command, as well as “acting against the appointment of the Queen (Suthida)... for her own ambi-tions”. Suthida — the former deputy head of the royal bodyguard — was made Queen in May, becoming King Vajiralongkorn’s fourth wife. The Thai monarchy is protected by a harsh defamation law, making open discussion on the institution for the public and media based inside the country all but impossible. Rama X has dramatically bolstered his authority since his 2016 ascension to the throne, pulling the immense

wealth of the crown under his direct control and restructuring key army units to his command. Koi, a qualified pilot and former army nurse, was the first woman to receive the consort title in nearly a century — fitting a pattern of assertive moves by the king.

Her actions show “she does not give any honour to the king and does not understand royal tradition... her actions are to benefit herself”, the statement said, adding she was attempting to elevate her position to the same as Queen Suthida.

Her behaviour is “deemed dis-respectful to His Majesty’s grace... and caused divisions among courtiers and misunderstanding among the people”, the statement added. She was stripped of all mil-itary ranks, decorations and royal titles, it said. Born in the northern province of Nan on January 26, 1985, Sineenat, graduated from the Royal Thai Army Nursing College at the age of 23. She has also trained as a pilot in Thailand and abroad, served in the King’s royal bodyguard unit, and in May was awarded the rank of a major-general.

Thai King strips ‘disloyal’consort of all titles

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn poses with royal noble consort Sineenat Bilaskalayani, also known as Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi.

Australian man arrested for two deathsAP/MANILA

An Australian national has been arrested for allegedly killing another Australian man and a Filipino woman in a city northwest of Manila, Philippine police said. Michael McLaren was identified by police as the gunman behind the shooting of Anthony George Wilson and Mila Bailey in Olongapo in Zambales province. He was arrested on Friday, about three hours after the attack. CCTV footage shows Bailey’s Australian husband, Wayne Bailey, exiting the car from the driver’s seat, before collapsing nearby. He was rushed to a hospital and is currently recovering from a gunshot wound also allegedly inflicted by McLaren, police said. Another man seen in the footage is also seen rushing to exit the vehicle, carrying a bag. Police said they were looking into a property selling dispute as a possible motive for the crime.

Indonesia’s losing candidate to join CabinetAP/JAKARTA

Indonesia’s opposition leader and losing presidential candidate said yesterday that he will join his election rival’s Cabinet to help strengthen the country’s defence, signaling a calming of political tensions in the world’s third-largest democracy.

Former special forces general Prabowo Subianto said he was asked by President Joko Widodo to join the Cabinet, which will be announced

tomorrow. Widodo, who was sworn in for his second term on Sunday, said Indonesians should unite after the bitter election campaign.

Subianto, who is also the founder and leader of the Ger-indra party, had been negotiating with Widodo’s governing coa-lition for Cabinet positions fol-lowing the divisive April election.

“We have been asked to strengthen the Cabinet in the defence area and we are ready to help,” Subianto told reporters

after meeting with Widodo at the presidential palace in the capital, Jakarta. “I will work hard to meet his goals and expectations.”

Subianto declined to say if he had been asked to become defence minister as widely spec-ulated by local media. Subianto had initially refused to accept the election results. He alleged massive and systematic fraud, but his legal challenge was rejected by the country’s top court last month.

Subianto, linked to human

rights abuses during the author-itarian rule of longtime Pres-ident Suharto, also unsuccess-fully challenged his presidential election loss to Widodo in 2014 and has now made four unsuc-cessful b ids for the presidency.

Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Subianto’s entry into the Cabinet was a conservative backlash against Widodo’s efforts to address Indonesia’s poor human rights record.

Philippine policerecommenddrug chargesagainst AlbayaldeAFP/MANILA

Philippine police recommended graft and drug charges against its former chief yesterday over a new scandal that has put President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics crackdown under the spotlight.

The police face allegations some officers are involved in the illegal drugs trade and that they had the protection of former chief Oscar Albayalde.

It is the latest controversy to engulf the Philippine police force, which is waging a drug war launched by President Duterte in 2016. It says it has killed over 5,500 drug suspects but human rights groups say the real number is four times higher.

Allegations of police graft and abuse are not rare in the Philippines, with Duterte twice ordering police to stop its anti-narcotics campaign because of allegations of corruption and murder by officers.

The latest controversy however goes right to the top of the force. The police’s own investigation unit called on the justice department to charge General Albayalde and 13 others for graft and violating the nation’s anti-drugs laws.

The charges echo the rec-ommendations made by two Senate committees, which also investigated police involvement in the illegal drug trade and found Albayalde was implicated.

The police complaint stemmed from Albayalde’s role as commander of police unit near Manila in 2013 where officers under his supervision allegedly seized and sold a huge haul of narcotics and received bribes to release a drug suspect.

He was accused by a former police official of intervening to protect his officers from sanc-tions. Another retired official alleged Albayalde received money from the drug sale. Albayalde resigned last week ahead of his November 8 retirement after serving as police chief for more than a year. He has yet to issue a statement but has repeatedly denied allegations of wrong-doing. State prosecutors will now decide whether to file criminal charges or dismiss them outright.

AP/HONG KONG

Hong Kong officials apologised to Muslim leaders yesterday after riot police sprayed a mosque and bystanders with a water cannon while trying to contain turbulent weekend pro-democracy demonstrations in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

The city’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and the police chief visited the Kowloon Mosque to apologise to the chief imam and Muslim community leaders. Officials were scram bling to minimize the fallout from Sunday’s incident at one of the city’s most well-known religious sites.

The government said in a statement that Lam “extended

an apology for the inadvertent spraying.” Authorities called it an accident, but a bystander’s account disputed that. Muslim leaders told reporters they were satisfied with the apology.

“Our mosque is not

damaged, nothing is done wrong. Only thing is that they should have not done it. For that they apologised so we accept it,” said Saeed Uddin, honorary secretary of the Islamic Com-munity Fund of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong police fire tear gas, chase protestersREUTERS/HONG KONG

Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas yesterday to disperse pro-democracy demonstrators gathered to commemorate the three-month anniversary of an assault by more than 100 men on protesters, commuters and journalists.

The clashes in the Yuen Long neighbourhood came a day after widespread violence in which tens of thousands marched through Kowloon district and hardcore activists threw petrol bombs at police, torched metro entrances and trashed hundreds of shops.

Hong Kong has been bat-tered by five months of huge and often violent protests over fears Beijing is tightening its grip on the territory, the worst political crisis since colonial ruler Britain handed it back to China in 1997.

Under a policy that deems marches illegal unless they have a police permit, riot police stopped around 100 protesters reaching the Yuen Long metro station in Hong Kong’s northwest, which was closed five hours early amid tight security.

Police ordered protesters to disperse, at one stage rushing

them and detaining one person. S c u f f l e s b r o k e o u t

between pro-Beijing supporters a n d p r o t e s t e r s a n d

angry residents emerged from apartments to jeer officers, calling them “black police”.

A police statement said police resorted to tear gas after some protesters hurled “hard objects” at them and vandalised bank facilities in the vicinity. It urged residents to stay indoors, keep windows closed and avoid local streets. After a few hours most protesters had scattered but police remained on the streets in force, occasionally firing tear gas at small groups and chasing down individuals. Elsewhere in the city, protesters staged peaceful sit-ins at five metro stations.

Protesters are angry that police did not act quickly enough to protect pro-democracy activists and commuters from the July 21 gang assault at the Yeun Long metro, and at what they say is a slow investigation into the incident. After two weeks of rel-ative calm, Sunday’s massive rally showed there was still widespread support for the pro-democracy movement and no end in sight to the unrest in the Asian financial hub, which is facing its first recession in a decade.

HK officialsapologise forwater cannonuse at mosque

REUTERS/SYDNEY

Australia’s biggest newspapers ran front pages on Monday made up to appear heavily redacted, in a protest against legislation that restricts press freedoms, a rare show of unity by the usually partisan media industry. Australia has no constitutional safeguards for free speech, although the government added a provision to protect whistleblowers when it strengthened counter-espionage laws in 2018. Media groups say press freedoms remain restricted.

Mastheads from the domestic unit of Rupert Murdoch’s con-servative News Corp and fierce newspaper rivals at Nine Enter-tainment ran front pages with most of the words blacked out, giving the impression the copy had been censored, in the manner of a classified government document.

Parliament has long been passing laws in the guise of national security that impeded the public’s right to know what the gov-ernment did in its name, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said. “Journalism is a fundamental pillar of our democracy,”

said Paul Murphy, the chief executive of the industry union. “It exists to scrutinise the powerful, shine a light on wrong-

doing and hold governments to account, but the Australian public is being kept in the dark,” he said in a statement.

Australian newspapers redact front pages to protest media curbs

Front pages of The Australian, Herald Sun and The Age newspapers are seen in Melbourne, yesterday.

Thais, Frenchman could face firing squad in Bali drug casesAFP/DENPASAR, INDONESIA

Two Thai women and a Frenchman could face the death penalty after they were caught smuggling drugs into Bali, the Indonesian holiday island’s customs agency said yesterday. The Thai nationals — identified as Kasarin Khamkhao and Sanicha Maneetes — arrived last week on a flight from Bangkok and suspicious airport officials found nearly a kilogram of methamphetamine hidden under their clothes, authorities said. “A lab test confirmed all the packages contained methamphetamine weighing 958 grammes in total,” Himawan Indarjono, head of immigration at Bali’s international airport, told reporters. The pair — a janitor and an operator of a motorcycle rental shop in Thailand — could face a firing squad if convicted in the Muslim majority nation, which has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Separately, Frenchman Olivier Jover was arrested in Bali after a package sent from his home country containing some 22.5 grammes of cocaine arrived at the airport with his address on it, according to authorities. He faces a long jail term or the death penalty, authorities said. More than 150 people are currently on death row, mostly for drug crimes. About one-third of them are foreigners.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam (centre), visits the Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui to meet with representatives of the Trustees, yesterday.

Former royal bodyguard Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi — known by her nickname “Koi” — was gifted the title on the King’s 67th birthday on July 28, the first time in nearly a century a Thai monarch has taken a consort.

15TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 EUROPE

Czech police, intelligencebust Russian spy networkAFP PRAGUE

Czech police and intelligence services said that they had busted a Russian espionage network operating through its Prague embassy.

It was allegedly set up to attack Czech and foreign targets through computer servers.

“The network was com-pletely destroyed and deci-mated,” Michal Koudelka, head of the Czech Republic’s BIS intel-ligence service, said in par-liament, quoted by the Czech CTK news agency.

He said it was part of another chain created by Russia in other European countries, without naming them.

“It was created by people with links to Russian intelligence services and financed from Russia and Russian embassy.”

The National Organised

Crime Centre (NCOZ), which helped bust the network, refused comment when contacted, citing ongoing criminal proceedings in the matter.

In September, the Czech intelligence agency NUKIB said Russia and China posed the biggest threat to cybersecurity in the Czech Republic, an ex-communist country that joined Nato in 1999.

It added that China was behind a major cyber attack on a key government institution in the Czech Republic last year.

In August, the Denik N daily said Russian military intelli-gence (GRU) was most probably behind the latest attack on the foreign ministry which took place in June.

In its report for 2017, the NUKIB warned Russian and Chinese diplomats had stepped up their spying activities on Czech soil.

Johnson denied new vote on Brexit dealAFP LONDON

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was dealt another blow yesterday when the speaker of parliament denied him a second shot at winning MPs’ approval for his EU divorce deal, with Brexit looming in just 10 days time.

House of Commons speaker John Bercow — a colourful figure who has played a starring role in the Brexit drama — said Johnson was not allowed to push for the same measures twice in the same parliamentary sitting.

Lawmakers, meeting on a Saturday for the first time in 37 years, had voted to demand that the Conservative prime minister delay Brexit while they further consider his newly-agreed EU divorce agreement.

“The motion will not be debated today because it would be repetitive and disorderly to do so,” Bercow said.

“Today’s motion is in sub-stance the same as Saturday’s motion and the House has decided the matter.”

Johnson is trying to secure an October 31 break from Brussels that severs many of the island nation’s economic rela-tions with Europe after 46 years of EU membership.

But lawmakers refused on Saturday to give their backing to his revised settlement plan until all the domestic legislation needed to ratify it has passed.

They also mandated the British leader to send a letter to Brussels asking to postpone the Brexit deadline until January 31 next year.

Johnson’s foes are now forging new alliances and trying to attach amendments that could either force him to push for closer trade ties with the EU —or abandon the deal and accept a third delay this year.

The option of extending Brexit past the latest October 31 deadline is now in the hands of the 27 remaining EU member states.

Britain has been struggling to agree on how to leave the EU ever

since narrowly backing Brexit in a 2016 referendum that did little to end old arguments about the country’s place in the world.

Johnson has built his entire Brexit strategy on the premise of using the pressures of time to force everyone to stop bickering and agree an exit plan by the end of the month.

He ended up sending three letters to Brussels on Saturday night — including an unsigned one to seek another extension.

The only one he actually signed said an “extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners” and that he was firmly against a delay.

The manoeuvre is designed to minimise the political damage of Johnson going back on his word and seeking an extension ahead of an early general

election most expect in the coming months.

The top civil court in Scotland is due to hear a chal-lenge Monday on whether John-son’s half-hearted request broke the law.

But officials in Brussels said Johnson’s request was valid.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he “would not rule out a short technical extension” if one was needed to get all UK legislation approved.

The focus now switches on the government’s attempt to get lawmakers to support domestic legislation in the accompanying Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

Success or failure then would set the course for the coming week and largely determine whether Johnson’s will get his October 31 divorce.

Up for auctionA man taking pictures of a 364kg and 60,000-years-old Siderite meteorite (left) and a 157kg and 55,000-years-old Siderite Octaedrite meteorite displayed before auction at the Drouot auction house, in Paris yesterday.

Merkel’s ally under police protection after death threatREUTERS BERLIN

German police said yesterday that they were protecting the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in the eastern state of Thuringia, which holds an election in six days, after he received a death threat that ended “Heil Hitler!”.

Mike Mohring said suspected neo-Nazi extremists threatened to stab him in the neck or attack

one of his rallies with a car bomb if he did not stop campaigning for the October 27 regional election.

The message, in an email sent on Saturday, concluded with the greeting “Sieg Heil and Heil Hitler”! It was signed by the “Musicians of the State Coup Orchestra”, who described them-selves as “group of globally con-nected right-wing extremists”.

Police and intelligence agencies are under pressure to

take action against right-wing extremists after an anti-Semitic neo-Nazi militant killed two people earlier this month in attacks on a synagogue and a kebab restaurant in the eastern city Halle.

A police spokeswoman said the serious crime unit in Thur-ingia was investigating the death threat against Mohring.

Merkel’s Christian Demo-crats (CDU) are vying for second place with the far-right

Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Thuringia election, where polls also show the ruling far-left Linke party will come first.

The AfD in Thuringia is led by Bjoern Hoecke, an anti-immi-grant former history teacher who has drawn criticism for calling Berlin’s Holocaust memorial a “monument of shame” and demanding that schools highlight German suffering in World War II.

Jewish leaders and

politicians said that after the attacks in Halle the AfD’s anti-immigrant rhetoric was contrib-uting to an atmosphere of hate that encouraged political violence.

The Halle attacks and the deadly shooting of pro-immi-gration CDU politician Walter Luebcke in June by a far-right extremist have exposed the need for more security and judicial measures against individuals plotting political violence.

Spain to exhume Franco’s remains on October 24, says governmentAFP MADRID

Spain will remove the remains of dictator Francisco Franco from a grandiose state mausoleum northwest of Madrid on October 24, the government announced yesterday.

The long-awaited date was announced after Spain’s Supreme Court last month overruled a string of objections from his family, who had tried to halt the exhumation.

On Thursday, the remains will be relocated to Mingor-rubio El Pardo, a state cem-etery 20km north of the capital, and placed next to those of his wife.

“The exhumation and reburial (of his remains) will be done in an intimate manner with his family present,” Justice Minister Dolores Delgado said in a statement.

Franco, who ruled with an iron fist following the end of the 1936 to 1939 civil war, is buried in an imposing basilica carved into a mountain in the Valley of the Fallen, 50km (30 miles) outside Madrid.

Moving the former leader’s remains has been a priority for the Socialist gov-ernment of Pedro Sanchez, which has said Spain should not “continue to glorify” the dictator, whose hillside mau-soleum is topped by a 150-metre cross and has attracted both tourists and rightwing sympathisers.

The move has divided opinion in Spain, which is still conflicted over the dictatorship that ended with Franco’s death in 1975.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said Johnson was not allowed to push for the same measures twice in the same parliamentary sitting.

Harry admits he and PrinceWilliam ‘on different paths’AFP LONDON

Britain’s Prince Harry said he and his brother Prince William were on “different paths” and admitted occasional tension in their relationship.

The Duke of Sussex, 35, has been plagued by rumours of a growing rift between him and 37-year-old William, and he acknowledged that “inevitably stuff happens” given their high-profile roles in the royal family.

In an interview during his recent tour of southern Africa with his wife Meghan, Harry said: “We are brothers. We will always be brothers.

“We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me.

“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly.

“The majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”

William and Harry’s close bond was cemented in the aftermath of their mother Diana,

princess of Wales’s shock death aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash during a paparazzi pursuit.

But while William is one day destined for the throne, Harry — sixth in line and now with his own wife and baby — has begun to strike out on his own.

This year the brothers split their joint offices and charitable foundation and no longer live in close proximity.

Meghan, who has also been rumoured to have feuded with William’s wife Kate, said her British friends had warned her not to marry Harry.

“The British tabloids will destroy your life,” she said they told her.

Former US actress Meghan, 38, has faced an increasingly hostile press, with the tabloids luxuriating in stories about her fractured family and rumoured palace rifts.

The couple launched legal action this month against British tabloid The Mail on Sunday for alleged invasion of privacy over a letter to her father. It came with a stinging statement from Harry about general tabloid coverage.

Malta cops injured in migrant centre riotAFP VALLETTA

Two policemen in Malta were injured and several cars torched in a riot by more than 100 migrants at an open centre near the capital Valletta early yesterday, officials said.

The riot started when an

allegedly drunk migrant was refused entry overnight to the centre in Hal Far, close to the airport, Interior Minister Michael Farrugia said.

The Nigerian migrant allegedly tried to assault a security officer and then called to friends inside the migrant centre.

The rioters torched five cars belonging to workers, damaged a police car and set fire to at least two of the centre’s adminis-trative buildings.

Malta’s migrant reception and detention centres are under pressure with several hundred migrants having arrived in Malta over the summer.

Burning vehicles are seen during riots at Hal Far Open Centre migrant camp in Hal Far, Malta, yesterday.

Woman on trialfor slaying and dismemberingwork rivalAFP TOULOUSE

A French woman went on trial yesterday charged with k i l l ing a work r ival , chopping up the corpse and dumping the body parts in a canal.

S o p h i e M a s a l a , a 55-year-old mother of two, appeared in the dock in Tou-louse in a black suit and light-coloured blouse, occa-sionally shaking her head in d i s a g r e e m e n t a s t h e indictment was read.

She admits to having killed Maryline Planche, 52, but insists it was not intentional.

Planche was killed at her apartment in central Toulouse in the south of France in May 2016, her head smashed with a bottle.

A few days later, a metal hacksaw was used to cut up her body.

From the apartment to the Canal du Midi, some 500 metres away, the body parts were transported in a super-market trolley, and her head in a backpack.

The parts were found later, washed up along the banks of the canal.

A few days after the murder, Masala was arrested in her hometown of Montpellier about 250km away.

“This is an unusual trial... We hope that we will be able to understand by the end of it,” a lawyer for Planche’s family, Georges Catala, said yesterday.

The two women had worked at an association for handi-capped people, where their dislike for each other was well known.

Judgment is expected on Friday, and Masala risks life imprisonment.

16 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019EUROPE

Russian nuclear submarine aborts missile testREUTERS MOSCOW

A Russian nuclear submarine aborted the test firing of an inter-continental ballistic missile during a military exercise overseen by President Vladimir Putin last week, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.

The nuclear submarine, K-44 Ryazan, part of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, was meant to launch two R-29R ballistic missiles from the

Sea of Okhotsk on October 17, but fired only one successfully with the other remaining in its tube onboard the submarine, according to the Vedomosti daily report.

The incident occurred on the same day as Putin oversaw the

drills from a command centre at the Defence Ministry in Moscow.

The aborted drill was part of wider war games for Russia’s armed forces, known as ‘Thunder 2019,’ which were designed to test the readiness of the

country’s strategic forces for a nuclear conflict.

The Defence Ministry yes-terday confirmed the incident with the ballistic missile, but rejected an assertion by Vedo-mosti that the failure to launch the second missile had led to an “emergency situation”, Russian news agencies reported.

“Having assessed the infor-mation received just before the launch about the technical con-dition of one of the missiles on

the Ryazan submarine, the decision was taken to not use it in a training strike,” the defence ministry was cited as saying.

The exercises took place in Russia’s Far East and Far North from October 15 to 17 and involved about 12,000 military personnel, more than 100 air-craft and five submarines, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The naval part of the exercise

covered the Barents, Baltic, Black, Caspian and Okhotsk seas.

The K-44 Ryazan was first brought into service during the 1980s, but has undergone mod-ernisation since then.

The launch of the R-29R mis-siles during the training exercise was necessary to keep them operational, a person close to the Navy’s general staff told Vedo-mosti, saying that they were nearing the end of their service life.

Fire rips through royal stables in TurinREUTERS TURIN

A fire broke out in Turin’s 18th century royal stables and riding school the Cavallerizza Reale yesterday, destroying part of the roof of the Unesco world heritage site.

The blaze began at about 0745 local time, firefighters said. Six teams were deployed and the flames were extinguished after about two hours, but not before

a significant part of the roof had collapsed.

The cause of the fire is unknown and nobody was injured, authorities said.

The building in Turin’s his-toric centre had also been damaged by an arson attack in 2014. It was not open to the public at the time of yesterday’s fire.

The Cavallerizza Reale, the construction of which began in 1740, is among the best known buildings erected for the Savoy

family that ruled in the Piedmont region around Turin during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Cavallerizza Reale is the latest of several historic Italian buildings to suffer serious damage in recent decades.

The Fenice theatre in Venice was burned down in 1996 and has since been rebuilt. The following year St Francis’ Basilica in Assisi, another Unesco site, was hit by a violent earthquake, killing four people inside the building.

A firefighter uses a thermal imaging device after a blaze occurred at the Unesco World Heritage Site “Cavallerizza Reale” in Turin, yesterday.

Dutch farmhouse case father to remain in custodyAFP THE HAGUE

A Dutch judge ordered yesterday that the father of a family kept for nearly a decade in a secluded farmhouse remain behind bars for another two weeks, as police continued their investigation.

Identified in the Dutch media as “Gerrit Jan van D” was arrested on Thursday after police last week discovered the family

of seven living in a secret room on a property in the northern Dutch village of Ruinerwold.

Police suspect Gerrit Jan van D of depriving people of their liberty, harming the health of others and money laundering following the discovery that made headlines in the Netherlands.

“The examining magistrate has extended the custody of the 67-year-old suspect from Ruin-

erwold by 14 days,” Dutch pros-ecutors said.

He is also being held with “limitations”, which means he is only allowed contact with his lawyer.

Gerrit Jan van D is the second person to be arrested. The 58-year-old tenant of the farm-house, an Austrian man iden-tified as Josef B, appeared before an examining judge on Thursday on similar charges and was

ordered to be detained for two weeks.

The family was found last week when the oldest son walked into a local club in a con-fused state and raised concerns about the welfare of the others.

Police said the group “claims to form a family” with Gerrit Jan van D arrested on Thursday as the father and the six young people supposedly being his children.

Catalan crisis looms large over Spain’s November electionAFP BARCELONA

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the opposition leader visited Barcelona yesterday to meet police strug-gling with Catalan separatist violence in a crisis that could be a game-changer in next month’s general election.

The visit came as Sanchez faces mounting criticism over his handling of the crisis, which erupted a week ago when the Supreme Court sentenced nine separatist leaders to long jail terms over an abortive 2017 independence bid.

Over the past week, nearly 600 have been people hurt, two of whom remain critical, as pro-testers have torched cars, burnt barricades and lobbed rocks at police who have hit back with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The nightly violence has dominated the news in Spain and made headlines around the world, but so far, Madrid has shown little appetite for direct intervention, despite repeated

calls for regional president Quim Torra to condemn the unrest.

And it has done little to help the ruling Socialists, with a string of surveys on Monday showing rising support for the conserv-ative opposition Popular Party.

If an election was to be held today, the Socialists would win 117 seats in the 350-member par-liament, down from 123 in tha April elections, while the PP, would take 103 up from 66 in April, according to a poll in eldiario.es

In an address at the police headquarters, Sanchez acknowl-edged the crisis was not yet over but warned the government would not back down.

“It is evident that the radicals who engage in violence have decided that Barcelona will be their theatre of operation to broadcast their grievance to those at home and abroad,” he said before meeting wounded officers in hospital.

“While it’s true that the crisis isn’t over, we have to keep trying. They want to make it worse but we are much more persistent,

much more determined.”PP head Pablo Casado used

his visit to Barcelona to demand the government “intensify its operations” against the trouble-makers, urging it to ensure the “immediate return of security... to the streets of Catalonia”.

Sanchez has repeatedly come under fire from his oppo-nents for taking a soft line on the separatists, with the resolutely anti-separatist Ciudadanos on

Sunday demanding Madrid oust Torra and suspend Catalonia’s autonomy, as it did in 2017.

So far, Sanchez has refused to speak to Torra despite his call for “unconditional” talks, an apparent attempt to secure agreement for a legal referendum on independence — a non-starter for Madrid, which claims the Con-stitution does not allow it.

Speaking to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Sanchez’s

deputy Carmen Calvo said Torra should “stop telling impossible lies.”

“The independence move-ment’s biggest problem politi-cally is that they’ve lied to the Catalan people,” she said.

Sanchez government denies the current unrest is political in nature, with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska yes-terday describing it as “basically a crisis of public order.”

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (centre) during his visit at the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona, yesterday.

Julian Assange loses bid to delay court hearingAP LONDON

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared in a UK court yesterday to fight extradition to the United States on espionage charges, and he lost a bid to delay proceedings so that his legal team would have more time to prepare his case.

Assange defiantly raised a fist to supporters who jammed the public gallery in Westminster Magistrates Court for a rare view of their hero. He appears to have lost weight but looked healthy, although he spoke very softly and at times seemed despondent and confused.

Assange and his legal team failed to convince District Judge Vanessa Baraitser that a delay in the already slow-moving case was justified. The full extradition is still set for a five-day hearing in late February, with brief interim hearings in November and December.

Assange hadn’t been seen in public for several months and his supporters had raised concerns about his well-being. He wore a blue sweater and a blue sports suit for the hearing, and had his silvery-gray hair slicked back.

After the judge turned down

his bid for a three-month delay, Assange said in halting tones he didn’t understand the events in court.

He said the case is not “equi-table” because the US gov-ernment has “unlimited resources” while he doesn’t have easy access to his lawyers or to documents needed to prepare his battle against extradition while he is confined to Belmarsh Prison.

“They have all the advan-tages,” Assange said.

US authorities accuse Assange of scheming with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to break a password for a classified gov-ernment computer.

Lawyer Mark Summers, rep-resenting Assange, told the judge that more time was needed to prepare Assange’s defence because the case has many facets, including the very rare use of espionage charges against a journalist, and will require a “mammoth” amount of planning and preparation He also accused the US of illegally spying on Assange while he was inside the Ecuadorian Embassy seeking refuge and taking other illegal actions against the WikiLeaks founder.

The Defence Ministry rejected an assertion by Vedomosti that the failure to launch the second missile had led to an “emergency situation”, Russian news agencies reported.

Four charged with murder of Slovak journalistREUTERS BRATISLAVA

Slovak authorities charged a high profile businessman and three others yesterday with murder over the killing of a journalist and his fiancee last year, a case that still roils politics more than a year after it brought down prime minister Robert Fico.

Politically connected entre-preneur Marian Kocner and two alleged accomplices have pleaded not guilty in the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova. The fourth suspect has confessed to the shooting.

A fifth man has confessed to facilitating the killing and has made a plea deal with prose-cutors to act as a witness in the trial of the other four.

A spokeswoman for the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the four suspects could face life in prison on six charges including pre-meditated murder. The announcement completes the investigative phase of the case, which has been watched as a test of police and judicial independence.

The murder of Kuciak prompted mass demonstrations against corruption last year and forced the resignation of Fico.

Revelations of links between Kocner and security officials that were exposed during the investigation have led to more resignations in recent weeks.

Kuciak, 27, and Kusnirova were gunned down in their house outside the capital Brati-slava in February 2018. Prose-cutors say Kocner, a subject of Kuciak’s reporting on corruption, had contracted out the killing. ‘Kiev sending

conflicting signalson peace planwith Moscow’REUTERS MOSCOW

The Kremlin said yesterday that the Kiev had sent Russia mixed signals about the war in eastern Ukraine despite agreeing to a peace plan and that no progress had been made on organising an international summit aimed at finding a resolution.

In a breakthrough last month, Ukrainian, Russian and separatist negotiators had agreed that Kiev would grant the territory controlled by the separatists autonomy and hold local elections, prompting pro-tests at home by critics who accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of yielding to Moscow.

The breakthrough appeared to open the way to a possible summit between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany known as the Normandy Four.

“There’s a lot that isn’t clear at the moment,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov (pictured) told reporters at a briefing.

On October 1, Zeklenskiy announced that he had signed the Steinmeier Formula, a road map to ending the war with Russian-backed separa-tists in the eastern part of his country.

17TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 AMERICAS

Facebook suspends Instagram accounts targeting US votersREUTERS LONDON

Facebook Inc said it has suspended a network of Instagram accounts operated from Russia that targeted Amer-icans with divisive political messages ahead of next year’s US presidential election, with operators posing as people within the United States.

Facebook said it also had suspended three separate

networks operated from Iran. The Russian network “showed some links” to Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA), Facebook said, an organization Wash-ington has said was used by Moscow to meddle in the 2016 US election.

“We see this operation tar-geting largely US public debate and engaging in the sort of political issues that are chal-lenging and sometimes divisive in the US right now,” said

Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy.

“Whenever you do that, a piece of what you engage on are topics that are going to matter for the election. But I can’t say exactly what their goal was.”

Facebook also announced new steps to fight foreign inter-ference and misinformation ahead of the November 2020 election, including labeling state-controlled media outlets and adding greater protections for

elected officials and candidates who may be vulnerable targets for hacking.

US security officials have warned that Russia, Iran and other countries could attempt to sway the result of next year’s presidential vote. Officials say they are on high alert for signs of foreign influence campaigns on social media. Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly denied the allegations.

Gleicher said the IRA-linked

network used 50 Instagram accounts and one Facebook account to gather 246,000 fol-lowers, about 60% of which were in the United States.

The earliest accounts dated to January this year and the operation appeared to be “fairly immature in its development,” he said.

“They were pretty focused on audience-building, which is the thing you do first as you’re sort of trying to set up an operation.”

Bolivia urged to ensure vote transparency ‘immediately’AFP WASHINGTON

The United States yesterday urged Bolivia to act immediately to ensure election transparency, after a halt in results in a race where populist Evo Morales is facing a strong challenge.

The top US diplomat for Latin America said that the US was closely watching the election including the abrupt stop in vote tabulation.

“Electoral authorities should immediately restore credibility and transparency to the process so that the will of the Bolivian people is respected,” Michael Kozak, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, wrote on Twitter.

Official results remained inexplicably stuck overnight at

84 percent of ballots counted, leading an observer mission of the Organization of American States to ask for clarification.

Morales, a former coca farmer and leftist union leader who has championed the impoverished nation’s indig-enous people, has had a rocky relationship with the United States, especially over Washing-ton’s bids to stop the drug trade. Morales is seeking a contro-versial fourth mandate that would keep him in power until 2025, having earlier secured court approval despite the con-stitution’s restriction to two terms.

But the Bolivian leader is facing a runoff against former president Carlos Mesa, with partial results showing that Morales had a modest lead.

Mexico will arrest kingpin’s son provided public not at risk REUTERS MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s President said his government still intends to arrest Ovidio Guzman, son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, once it can do so safely after the suspected traf-ficker’s forces waged gun battles with authorities in the northwestern city of Culiacan.

The younger Guzman was briefly detained on Thursday in Culiacan, in the state of Sinaloa. He was released after officials r ea l ized they were outmatched.

Lopez Obrador said the decision to free Ovidio Guzman halted the shootings and saved lives, and he would order another apprehension provided there is an arrest warrant for the operation and that the public is not put in danger.

“People’s lives must be looked after,” he said.

Mexicans were divided over the decision to free Guzman and widely skeptical over the government’s ability to contain escalating violence, according to an October 18-20 phone survey of 400 adults published yesterday by Reforma.

It found that 49% of respondents disagreed with the decision to release Guzman, while 45% agreed with it.

REUTERS WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump yesterday exhorted fellow Republicans to get tougher and fight for him, saying the Demo-cratic-led US House of Repre-sentatives wants to impeach him “as quick as possible” over his request that Ukraine investigate a domestic political rival.

Trump made his comments during a White House Cabinet meeting as Democrats sought to build public support for their fast-moving impeachment inquiry and the administration pressed its efforts to stonewall a probe that threatens his presidency.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a video and “fact sheet” that may give hints about articles of impeachment — formal charges — Democrats may pursue against Republican Trump, accusing him of abuse of power, a “shakedown” involving Ukraine and a cover-up.

Few Republican lawmakers have shown an inclination to remove Trump from office even as Democrats focus on his pushing a vulnerable foreign ally to interfere to his benefit in the

2020 US election by providing political dirt on Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Dem-ocratic presidential nomination to run against Trump in the November 2020 election.

But Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, has come under sharp criticism from Republican Senator Mitt Romney.

And other Republicans have expressed misgivings about Trump policies, including crit-icism by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Lindsey Graham of his with-drawal of US troops in north-eastern Syria, exposing US-allied Kurdish fighters to a Turkish cross-border offensive.

Approval of articles of impeachment in the House would prompt a trial in the Republican-led Senate on whether to remove Trump from office.

“The Republicans have to get tougher and fight. We have some that are great fighters, but they have to get tougher and fight, because the Democrats are trying to hurt the Republican Party before the election,” Trump said.

Trump said the Democrats are “vicious and they stick together.”

“They don’t have Mitt Romney in their midst. They don’t have people like that. They stick together,” Trump added.

In an interview aired with “Axios on HBO,” Romney denounced Trump’s requests to Ukraine and China to investigate Biden, questioned Trump’s char-acter, criticized his decision to

“abandon” Kurdish allies in the Syria war and deplored his hush money payment to an adult film star. Romney was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

Trump also labeled as “phony” an anti-corruption clause in the US Constitution that Democrats have accused him of violating through the operation of his businesses including a hotel in downtown Washington. The so-called emoluments clause bars a president from receiving any gifts, payment or other things of value from a foreign country.

An accusation of violating the emoluments clause could figure into the articles of

impeachment against Trump.Asked if it is a foregone con-

clusion that House Democrats will vote to impeach him, Trump said that “they’re not going to beat me in the election, so of course they want to impeach.”

“They want to impeach. And they want to do it as quick as possible,” Trump added.

Trump, a wealthy real estate developer, also said serving as president has personally cost him $2bn to $5bn dollars. Trump also expressed annoyance at having to reverse his decision to stage the Group of Seven summit in June at his Trump National Doral golf resort in the Miami area.

Trump exhorts Republicans to fight for him

Approval of articles of impeachment in the House would prompt a trial in the Republican-led Senate on whether to remove Trump from office.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Bolivian President and presidential candidate for the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) Evo Morales speaks during a press conference at Quemado Presidential Palace in La Paz, yesterday.

US proposes collecting DNA samples from detained migrantsREUTERS WASHINGTON

The Trump administration yesterday proposed taking DNA samples from immigrants detained by US authorities, raising privacy concerns espe-cially for asylum seekers and minor offenders whose genetic information would go into an FBI database.

The Justice Department said the proposed rule would be offi-cially published today and subject to 20 days of public comment.

It represents the latest initi-ative by President Donald

Trump’s administration to reduce legal and illegal immi-gration, an issue central to his 2020 re-election campaign.

The rule proposes collecting DNA samples from any immi-grant “detained under the authority of the US,” which could include first-time border crossers whose offense is a misdemeanor.

Trump administration offi-cials have argued that the rule simply restores authority that had been suspended by the Department of Homeland Security under former President Barack Obama and that is authorized under a law passed

by Congress in 2005.In addition, DNA collection

could help detect fraud and solve cold criminal cases, Trump immigration aide Stephen Miller has said. Trump has long linked his hardline anti-immigration policies to crime-fighting, even though multiple studies show immigrants commit less crime than native-born Americans.

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have raised privacy and civil liberties con-cerns, including that DNA samples can reveal information about relatives of the detained. The ACLU also said the rule changes the purpose of

DNA collection from criminal investigation to surveillance of the population.

“This proposed change in policy is extraordinary in its breadth and transparent with its xenophobic goals,” Naureen Shah, the ACLU’s senior advocacy and policy counsel, said in a statement. “It seeks to miscast these individuals, many of whom are seeking a better life or safety, as threats to the coun-try’s security. And it turns immi-gration detention, which is sup-posed to be civil and not punitive, into a proxy to strip these individuals of their privacy rights,” Shah said.

Wildfire burns near hilltop homes in LAAP LOS ANGELES

A furious firefighting air and ground attack beat back a wildfire yesterday as it raced up canyon walls toward multi-million-dollar ocean-view

homes on a ridge in Los Angeles.The blaze broke out around

10:30 a.m. in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood and flames churned uphill through large green trees and dry brush.

Helicopters made strategic water drops as the fire burned

fences and lawn furniture behind large houses at the top of a bluff.

Some residents evacuated from the hillside community west of downtown Los Angeles, while others stayed behind and used backyard garden hoses to try and protect their homes.

Crew saved at least a half dozen houses, said city fire spokesman Brian Humphrey.

The Fire Department attributed the lack of significant damage to the lack of wind and strong compliance with strict brush clearance regulations.

Predicted weak to moderate Santa Ana winds did not mate-rialize in the area and instead remained confined to the northwest on the Central Coast.

Nonetheless, an evacuation order was issued for the area due to potential fire behavior and smoke as well as expected arrival of large airplanes to drop fire retardant.

Smoke can be seen as a wildfire breaks out on the hills of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California, yesterday.

Brazil President’sson assumes key party postAP/RIO DE JANEIRO

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, apparently has assumed lead-ership of their political party in Congress’ lower house.

The change is shown on the chamber’s website.

It reflects a bout of turbu-lence within Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party (SLB) that has included a police search of the party president’s home and a leaked recording of the party’s lower house chief criticizing Bolsonaro.

A revolt last week aimed at replacing that congressional leader with Bolsonaro’s son fell short of the required number of lawmaker signatures.

It’s not clear when or how he was finally replaced.

A party spokesperson declined to comment yesterday. It’s also unclear whether Bol-sonaro still intends to nominate Eduardo for ambassador to the United States. The Foreign Min-istry didn’t immediately respond to request for comment. Eduardo has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2015.

In 2018, he was re-elected to a second term as Federal Deputy, being the most voted lawmaker in Brazil’s history after he received 1.8 million votes.

18 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019AMERICAS

Chile President extendsemergency; toll rises to 11AFP SANTIAGO

Chile’s death toll has risen to 11, authorities said yesterday, after three days of violent demonstra-tions and looting that saw Pres-ident Sebastian Pinera claim the country was “at war.”

Almost 1,500 people were detained in the worst outbreak of social unrest in decades while the capital Santiago was placed under curfew for two nights running.

“We are at war against a powerful, implacable enemy, who does not respect anything or anyone and is willing to use violence and crime without any limits,” Pinera told reporters yes-terday after an emergency meeting with army general Javier Iturriaga, who has been placed in charge of order and security in the capital.

Karla Rubilar, the governor of the Santiago region, said eight people had died on Sunday and three on Saturday — all in the Santiago metropolitan area.

Santiago and nine more of Chile’s 16 regions were under a state of emergency, Pinera con-firmed late on Sunday, with troops deployed onto the streets for the first time since Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship between 1973-1990.

The clashes, which have seen some 9,500 police and mil-itary fire tear gas and water cannon against protesters who have set fire to buses, smashed up metro stations and ransacked

shops, were initially sparked by anger over metro fare hikes and wider social inequality.

Long queues formed at shops, service stations and bus stops while the Santiago metro service, suspended on Friday as protesters burned and van-dalized stations, was partially running again yesterday as some people returned to work.

In Santiago, many employers canceled the working day, while most schools and universities remained closed.

Iturriaga told reporters the capital was “peaceful and calm,” adding that 17 supermarkets were open as well as service sta-tions and pharmacies.

He took a different line to the

president, though, and added: “I feel happy, I’m not at war with anyone.”

Soldiers, though, patrolled outside metro stations and mil-itary vehicles were parked in streets near the presidential palace as tensions remained high.

Despite a growth rate that should reach 2.5 percent of GDP this year, several social indi-cators — such as health, edu-cation and pensions — show very high inequalities.

Anger boiled over earlier in the week as a protest against a rise in metro fares escalated dra-matically on Friday.

“You could see this coming. The government hasn’t done

anything. It’s not just the metro fare that triggered this and ended in vandalism,” sandwich seller Carlos Lucero, 30, said.

He said the government needed to take concrete measures “to improve salaries, health, pensions.”

On Sunday, five people died when a garment factory was torched by rioters in a Santiago

suburb, despite right-wing Pin-era’s Saturday announcement that he was suspending the fare increase.

Interior and Security Minister Andres Chadwick said two women burned to death after a store owned by US retail chain Walmart was set alight in the early hours of Sunday.

Almost all public transport was paralyzed in Santiago on Sunday, with shops shuttered and many flights canceled at the international airport, leaving thousands of people stranded due to a curfew imposed from 7:00 pm until dawn.

Authorities reported 103 serious incidents throughout the country with 1,462 people detained — 614 in Santiago and

848 in the rest of the country. In some neighborhoods, res-

idents donned the yellow vests made popular by French pro-testers earlier this year, and wielded sticks vowing to protect their homes, local shops and supermarkets.

Several international Chilean footballers have also asked leaders in their country to “listen to the people” and to find solutions.

Among the buildings torched and damaged in the violence were the headquarters of the ENEL Chile power company and a Banco Chile branch — both in the center of Santiago — and Chile’s oldest newspaper, El Mer-curio, in Valparaiso.

Demonstrators clash with soldiers during a protest against Chile’s state economic model in Valparaiso, Chile, yesterday.

Three dead as small plane crashes on Brazilian streetREUTERS SAO PAULO

A small plane crashed on a street shortly after takeoff in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte yesterday, killing at least three people, a firefighter on the scene said.

The single-engine airplane hit three cars which caught fire in a residential area of the city, which is the capital of Minas

Gerais state, local media reported.Leandro Gomes, a Minas

Gerais firefighter, said that the accident happened soon after takeoff from the Carlos Prates airport. It is the second plane crash in that street this year.

He added that one of the fatalities was on the street and another was in one of the vehicles hit by the small airplane. “The third person died inside the aircraft.”

Another three victims with burns were taken to hospital, according to the firefighter.

The Cirrus Aircraft airplane was manufactured in 2007 and has capacity to carry three people.

The Estado de Minas news-paper reported there were four people on board the aircraft, including the pilot and three pas-sengers. Gomes confirmed there had been four people on board.

Police experts working at the site where a small plane crashed on a residential street in Belo Horizonte, in Brazil, yesterday.

Canadians vote in tight election as Trudeau hopes to cling to powerAFP OTTAWA

Canadians began voting in a general election yesterday, with surveys predicting a minority government as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party risks losing its majority or even being kicked out of office.

The Liberals and the Con-servatives, led by Andrew Scheer, could be set for a near dead heat with pundits calling it one Canada’s closest elections ever.

Polls opened at 1100 GMT in the provinces of Labrador and Newfoundland, in eastern Canada, the first of the country’s six time zones. Polls will remain open in far western British Columbia until 0200 GMT Tuesday, although the first results are expected starting at 2300 GMT.

Some 27.4 million Canadians are eligible to elect 338 members of parliament after a tense and sometimes bitter election campaign.

Campaigning ended as it began some 40 days earlier, with polls showing a near perfect equilibrium.

Neither the Liberals nor the

Conservatives — the parties that have led Canada since Confed-eration in 1867 — is forecast to win enough support to secure an absolute majority of seats in parliament.

At final campaign stops in westernmost British Columbia on Sunday, former golden boy Trudeau made an emotional appeal to voters to enable him to build on the achievements of his first term.

He warned against Scheer’s pledged rollback of environ-mental protections including a federal carbon tax that dis-courages the use of large amounts of fossil fuels.

“We need a strong, pro-gressive government that will unite Canadians and fight climate change — not a pro-gressive opposition,” Trudeau told a rally in a suburb of Van-couver after whistle-stops in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta.

“We need to unite as cit-izens. We need to unite as a planet.”

After winning in a 2015 landslide — in a repeat of the wave of support that in 1968 carried his late father Pierre to power — Trudeau’s star has dimmed while in office.

NYC approves first Central Park monument honouring womenAP NEW YORK

New York City has approved a Central Park monument featuring - for the first time — accomplished women.

A city commission voted yesterday to erect the tribute to three civil rights pioneers: Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth.

The famous park currently has 23 statues of men who left their mark on history. There’s not a single female — unless you count fic-tional characters like Mother Goose and Alice in Wonderland.

Artist Meredith Bergmann’s work is to be dedicated next August, marking the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States.The sculpture will break what some have dubbed the “bronze ceiling” in the 166-year-old urban oasis.

The final approval came from the Public Design Commission, an agency that reviews artworks on city-owned property.

We are at war against a powerful, implacable enemy, who does not respect anything or anyone and is willing to use violence and crime without any limits: Sebastian Pinera

Michelle Bachelet calls for probes into protest deathsREUTERS GENEVA

UN human rights boss Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, called yesterday for inde-pendent investigations into deaths in weekend protests there, citing “disturbing allega-tions” of excessive use of force by security forces.

Bachelet made no explicit reference to her successor President Sebastian Pinera in her statement calling for immediate dialogue and a halt to “inflammatory rhetoric” which she warned could

aggravate the situation.“The authorities must act in

strict accordance with interna-tional human rights standards, and any application of the state of emergency must be excep-tional and rooted in law,” Bachelet said.

At least eight people had died and possibly up to 13, with 44 injured, nine of them seri-ously, and 283 detained, Bachelet said, citing figures from the National Human Rights Institution. Dozens of members of the security force had also been reported as injured, she said.

US tightens Cuba’s tourism with tighter airline sanctions

AFP WASHINGTON

The US moved to further hurt Cuba’s vital tourism industry by tightening the ability of the coun-try’s airlines to lease aircraft.

The US Department of Commerce said it was revoking existing licences for US com-panies leasing aircraft to Cuban carriers, and will deny future applications for aircraft leases.

The move could make it harder for Cuba to service its rapidly growing tourism sector, a key source of foreign revenue for the poor country.

Washington has stepped up pressure on Havana due to its support for the embattled regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“This action by the Com-merce Department sends another clear message to the Cuban regime — that they must immediately cease their destructive behavior at home and abroad,” Secretary of Com-merce Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how many aircraft the move would impact.

Cuba’s cash-poor carriers depend on aircraft rented from leasing companies or other air-lines, which are often very old.

Authorities charge officer who opened fire on couple’s carAP HARTFORD

A Connecticut police officer who opened fire on an unarmed couple’s car and wounded a 22-year-old woman was charged yesterday with felony assault and reckless endangerment.

State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin determined the April 16 use of force in New Haven was not justified and filed charges against Hamden officer Devin Eaton, officials announced.

The shooting sparked several protests in New Haven and neighbouring Hamden and

prompted calls from area clergy and activists for both officers to be fired.

Police initially said Eaton and Yale University officer Ter-rance Pollack opened fire on the car when the driver, Paul With-erspoon III, got out abruptly. Witherspoon’s girlfriend, Stephanie Washington, was wounded but recovered. The shooting was recorded by Eaton’s body camera and sur-veillance cameras.

Griffin determined that Pol-lack’s use of force was justified.

Officials say Eaton posted

$100,000 bail and was ordered to appear in court October 28 to face one count of first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

Authorities said Eaton and Pollack stopped the car while investigating a reported attempted armed robbery in Hamden. The car matched the description of the one involved in the attempted robbery.

Eaton told investigators he believed Witherspoon had a gun. He did not.

“Under circumstances evincing an extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly

engaged in conduct which created a risk of death, and thereby caused serious physical injury to Washington,” Griffin said in his report. “Additionally, the reckless manner in which the shots were discharged placed those in the immediate vicinity, including Paul Witherspoon and Officer Pollock, at risk for serious physical injury.”

Pollock fired three shots, but Griffin said that use of force was justified because he believed Eaton and Witherspoon were exchanging gunfire. Pollock was wounded by a shot fired by Eaton but recovered.

19TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019 HOME

CROSSWORD

A support group of killers is held regularly. The participants sit in a circle of trust and share their transgressions.

KILLER ANONYMOUS

MALL ROYAL PLAZA

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 2:15, 4:30, 6:45 & 9:00pmAbominable (2D/Animation) 2:30pmAdhya Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:00pm; Joker (2D/Crime) 5:00, 7:15 & 11:15pm; Zombieland: Double Tap (2D/Action) 9:30pmGanagandharvan (2D/Malayalam) 11:15pmJallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 5:00 & 9:00pm; Abduction (2D/Action) 7:00pm

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 11:15am, 1:45, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15 & 11:45pmJallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 10;45, 4:00 & 9:15pmJoker (2D/Crime) 12:15 & 9:00pmLaal Kaptaan (2D/Hindi) 1:00, 3:00, 6:15 & 11:30pmWar (2D/Hindi) 6:00 & 11:45pm

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Laal Kaptaan (2D/Hindi) 12:45, 5:30 & 10;15pmJallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 & 11:00pmAsuran (2D/Tamil) 1:00pm; War (2D/Hindi) 5:30pmAdhya Rathri (2D/Malayalam) 10:30pm

ASIAN TOWN

FLIK Mirqab Mall

ROXY

Abominable (2D/Animation) 10:30am, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 4:40 Gemini Man (2D/Action) 10:30am, 12:30, 3:30, 5:30 & 10:30pm Jallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 3:20, 5:30, 8:30, 12:30& 10:30pmLaal Kaptaan (2D/Hindi) 12:30, 5:40, 2:40, 7:40 & 11:00pmMaleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 10:30am, 11:00am, 12:30,1:00, 1:30, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00,5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 10:40, 11:00, & 11:30pmZombieland: Double Tap (2D/Action) 9:20, 9:30 & 11:30 & 11:40pm; Joker (2D/Crime) 1:00, 3:00, 6:00, 8:00 & 8:30pm

Abduction (2D/Action) 10:20am, 2:15, 6:10 & 8:10pmAbominable (2D/Animation) 11:50am, 1:50 & 5:20pmGemini Man (2D/Action) 10:20am, 11:20am, 1:40, 3:00, 4:00, 6:20, 8:40, 9:40, 11:00pm & 0:20am; Jallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 10:10pmJoker (2D/Crime) 1:10, 3:35, 6:00, 8:25 & 10:50pmKiller Anonymous (2D/Action) 12:20 & 4:45pmMaleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 10:40, 11:40, 12:40, 1:00, 2:00, 3:20, 4:20, 5:40, 6:40, 8:00, 10;20, 7:20, 9:00, 11:20pm & 12:00 midnight.Zombieland: Double Tap (2D/Action) 3:50, 5:50, 7:50, 9:50 & 11:55pm

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 2:15, 4:30, 5:15, 7:00

& 9:15pm, War (2D/Hindi) 2:15pm;

Jallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:30pm;

Zombieland: Double Tap (2D/Action) 7:30 & 9:30pm

Laal Kaptaan (2D/Hindi) 11:15pm;

Joker (2D/Crime) 5:00, 9:00 & 11:30pm

Abduction (2D/Action) 7:15pm

War (2D/Hindi) 2:00, 4:45 & 8:45pm Jallikattu (2D/Malayalam) 2:30, 5:00 & 11:30pmMaleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 2:30, 4:45, 7:30 & 9:30pm; Laal Kaptaan (2D/Hindi) 11:30pm; Zombieland: Double Tap (2D/Action) 7:00pmJoker (2D/Crime) 7:00, 9:15 & 11:30pm

Digital media experts offer innovative courses at NU-QTHE PENINSULADOHA

The digital revolution is the source of new knowledge generated by research and field experience, the Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) community was told at a panel discussion titled: “Doing Digital: The Knowledge Component,” which featured new faculty in digital media studies. The session is in line with the university’s strategy to enhance its academic offerings and introduce cutting-edge courses to keep pace with massive societal and technological change.

In convening the panel NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette E Dennis said: “Digital is more than devices; it is theory and knowledge that creates a conceptual roadmap and enhances understanding. The beneficiaries are our students who transmit what they learn far and wide.”

For several years, the school has moved to strengthen its offerings by attracting world-class faculty including recent hires in digital media studies, digital design, and digital journalism.

“These new colleagues rep-resent an important development in the history of our school with deep experience in Europe, Asia, and the US – all centred around digital advances. With their help our school is poised to navigate change and cope with the com-plexity of a dynamic information society,” Dennis added.

The session was led by Internet expert, Banu Akdinzili, associate professor of communi-cation at NU-Q, who appraised the importance of digital literacy and

noted its value in understanding the current and future landscape of media and communication.

It was noted that the new faculty who joined Akdenzili augment extensive technological assets by bringing teaching capacity in areas of new development.

NU-Q’s new faculty members who participated in the dis-cussion were Eddy Borges-Rey, S Venus Jin, and Spencer Striker, engaged the audience with com-ments about the definition and importance of the digital media economy and ecosystem. Drawing on their work on data journalism, video games, and technological entrepreneurship, they discussed current and future research projects and demonstrations.

The three drew on their back-ground at a number of prestigious institutions including the USC Annenberg School for Communi-cation, the University of Wis-consin, and other institutions where they have taught such as Scotland’s University of Stirling,

Korea’s Sejong University Business School, and Spain’s Uni-versity of Malaga.

While Jin offers theoretical courses on understanding the psy-chological effect of digital media marketing through interaction and personal branding, Borges-Ray teaches students about the trans-formation of journalism in the digital era, and Striker focuses on the elements of effective media product design and building inter-active content, focused on user experience.

Throughout the session, the professors shared their thoughts on the implications of digitization on media creation and con-sumption. Borges-Rey noted that journalists and newsrooms have been significantly affected by these developments, which have “affected day-to-day operations and jobs, especially when it comes to data analytics and content creation.”

At one point in the discussion, an audience member asked: “Why is digital important?” to which Akdenezili, an expert on digital

diplomacy, responded, “the Blockade,” noting that the siege of Qatar was set off by a hacked website.

Striker added that people’s increased reliance on smart-phones and technology for eve-ryday tasks means that profes-sionals should focus on “inter-disciplinarity and learning multiple forms of digital literacy… especially when it comes to deci-sions on how things should be structured or designed to enhance a user’s navigation experience.”

Students at NU-Q earn degrees in journalism and stra-tegic communication, or media and technology. In addition to learning to use the most advanced equipment, students enhance their understanding of digital media by taking courses on digital innovation and consumer mar-keting, animation, interactive media, sound design, game design, mobile journalism, and Internet and society politics in the digital world, among other options.

NU-Q faculty members, (from left ) S Venus Jin, Eddy Borges-Rey, and Spencer Striker,discuss new digital media course offerings.

In convening the panel NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette E Dennis said: “Digital is more than devices; it is theory and knowledge that creates a conceptual roadmap and enhances understanding. The beneficiaries are our students who transmit what they learn far and wide.”

20 TUESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2019MORNING BREAK

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum28oC 37oC

HIGH TIDE 11:21 – 22:13 LOW TIDE 02:47 – 19:33

Misty at places at first becomes relatively

hot daytime with slight dust at times and

some clouds.

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 19 AM05. 36 AM

11. 18 AM02.35 PM

05. 03 PM06. 33 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

AFP/WASHINGTON

Deep in the Amazon, a white-plumed suitor weighing no more than half a pound turns to face his paramour before belting out a deafening, klaxon-like call, reaching decibel levels equal to a pile driver..

Meet the white bellbird, which has just beaten out its rainforest neighbour, the screaming piha, for the title of the world’s loudest bird, according to a paper published in the journal Current Biology yesterday.

Biologist Jeff Podos at the Uni-versity of Massachusetts Amherst and Mario Cohn-Haft of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Brazil wrote that its calls are so loud, they wondered how white bellbird females listen at close range without damaging their hearing.

The feat is all the more impressive given the species’ diminutive size: they’re about as big as doves, and the

males are distinguished by a fleshy black wattle adorned with white specks that falls from the beak.

Podos said he was lucky enough to witness females join males on their perches as they sang.

“In these cases, we saw that the males sing only their loudest songs,” he said. “Not only that, they swivel dramatically during these songs, so as to blast the song’s final note directly at the females.”

It’s not clear why the females vol-untarily expose themselves to the noise at such proximity, which reaches peak levels of 113 decibels — above the human pain threshold and equivalent to a loud rock concert or a turbo-prop plane 200 feet (60 meters) away achieving liftoff power.

“Maybe they are trying to assess males up close, though at the risk of some damage to their hearing systems,” Podos added.

The pair used high-quality sound

recorders and high-speed video to slow the action enough to study how the bird uses its anatomy to achieve such high levels of noise.

“We don’t know how small animals manage to get so loud. We are truly at the early stages of under-standing this biodiversity,” he said.

Amazon’s white bellbirds set new record for loudest bird call

A male white bellbird (Procnias albus)is seen deep in the Amazon.

55 elephants starved to death in Zimbabwe in two months

AP/HARARE

At least 55 elephants have starved to death in the past two months in Zimbabwe’s biggest national park as a serious drought forces animals to stray into nearby communities in search of food and water, authorities said yesterday.

“The problem is real, the situation is dire,” said National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo. Other animals such as lions at Hwange National Park have been affected. This is the worst drought in years in the southern African nation that also suffers from a collapsing economy. Massive food and water shortages have resulted.

As animals stray from Zimbabwe’s wildlife parks they destroy crops and sometimes kill people, Farawo said, adding that more than 20 people have been killed this year alone. Overcrowding in Hwange contributes to the destruction of vegetation. The park can handle 15,000 elephants but currently has about 53,000, Farawo said.

Meanwhile the drought is drying up water sources. The wildlife agency has been drilling wells as deep as 400 meters (yards) to find water for the animals. “The single biggest threat to our animals now is loss of habitat,” Farawo said. “We have managed to significantly reduce poaching... we were losing hundreds of elephants in past years, but last year we only lost not more than 20 to poaching.”

Around 60,000 people from Qatar visit Germany a year: EnvoySANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Ambassador of Germany to Qatar, Hans-Udo Muzel, has said that about 60,000 people from Qatar visit Germany in a year and according to the figure of visas issued by European Union countries this year, there is huge influx of tourists from Qatar.

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a roadshow organised by the Embassy in collaboration with German National Tourist Office (GNTO) at Msheireb Properties on Sunday, the Ambassador said the event aimed at showing German travel agents the potential of tourism in Qatar.

“A huge cruise ship from Germany will dock at Doha Port by the beginning of next month to increase the tourism in both ways. If you travel Germany, you can travel freely to many European countries. We are heart of Europe. Germany is a well-known destination for business trip, tour, travel, trade fair and congress,” said Muzel.

He said that Germany is one of the main exporting countries worldwide. “Qatar is very much interlinked with Germany because of huge investment from Qatar which is about ¤30bn,” said the Ambassador. Speaking about the attraction of Germany for tourists from Qatar, Muzel said: “We have well-developed beautiful hotels, cities, shops, historic city center, world class medical services, best tourism destinations, sport training, horse riding and among many more.”

Attended by over 120 travel trade professionals and media representa-tives, the GNTO held a successful roadshow event in partnership with

premium airline partner Qatar Airways in Doha, with the aim to promote Germany as a year-round travel desti-nation and to share the country’s latest inbound tourism figures and forecast of the Gulf region.

The well-attended B2B event, which targeted key travel trade, media and key opinion leaders, was hosted at Msheireb Properties, Jelmood House, where the German Ambassador, Hans-Udo Muzel inaugurated the event with a welcome speech confirming the com-mitment to the local travel market.

Underscoring the relevance of Qatar and the Gulf region to ‘Destination Germany’, Nicole Zaspel, Sales & Mar-keting Manager for the Gulf countries at German National Tourist Office (GNTO), an affiliate of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), explained that

travellers from the region are among the country’s highest spenders.

“Being Germany’s third-largest non-European source market after China and the USA, the Gulf region is an extremely important market for us, where its travellers currently stay an average of 11 nights and spend, on average, $5,300 per person per trip, sig-nificantly more than other international travellers,” said Zaspel

According to the latest forecast from the GNTB, Gulf region travelers visiting Germany are expected to grow to 3.6 million overnight stays by 2030, com-pared with 1.8 million guest nights recorded in 2018 with focused promo-tions of the country’s high-end resorts, shopping complexes, tour operating partners, medical tourism providers as well as excellent connectivity provided

through direct flights to various German cities.

Qatar Airways Vice President of Doha Sales, Martha Paulos said: “Germany is one of Qatar Airways’ most important markets for both business and leisure travellers alike. As premium airline partner of the GNTO, we are committed to strengthening our stra-tegic and commercial links with Germany and this roadshow has pro-vided the perfect platform to engage in a fruitful trade and knowledge exchange between our two nations.

“Through our 35 flights per week from Doha to Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart, we have incredible connectivity to Germany and offer travellers an unrivalled experience with our renowned five-star customer service.”

The Ambassador of Germany to Qatar, Hans-Udo Muzel, speaking at the roadshow organised by the Embassy in collaboration with German National Tourist Office (GNTO) at Msheireb Properties on Sunday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

Italian Language Week beginsRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

With the theme “The Italian Language on Stage,” the 19th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World kicked off yesterday at the Qatar Qatar National Library (QNL) with a lecture on the evolution of Italian opera by prominent Italian conductor and concert performer Maestro Adriano Bassi.

Maestro Adriano Bassi, who is also a known musicol-ogist and journalist, took the audience on a journey through the history of Italian opera focusing on celebrated Italian opera composers including Giulio Caccini, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Claudio Monteverdi, Vincenzo Bellini, Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini.

While tracing the devel-opment of Italian opera, he touched on key elements of Italian opera tradition such as the operatic singing style of bel canto, opera genres including opera buffa and opera seria, and verismo –a post-Romantic operatic tradition. To cap his

lecture, he regaled the crowd performing his own compo-sition on piano.

Speaking on the theme for this year’s week-long celebra-tions, Filippo Perzola, Second Secretary and Head of the Cul-tural Section at the Italian Embassy said it was “aimed at exploring how the Italian lan-guage has contributed to the development of performing arts such as music and drama, but also the new “emerging stages” where the Italian culture can find expression nowadays.”

“Many activities are focused for instance on the Italian cuisine and chefs who are more and more frequently the protagonists of live cooking shows. Other initiatives will be dedicated to our breathtaking monuments and landscapes – sorts of theaters created either by nature or human genius, which can offer a unique “stage” for artistic perform-ances. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive programme to allow people to approach our language in an interactive way,” added Perzola.

He underlined the

indispensable role culture plays in further bolstering the ties between Italy in Qatar through the years.

“Cultural exchange con-tributes to build a fertile ground to strengthen the relations between Italy and Qatar. Our Countries are engaged in important bilateral projects, united by the common wish to explore new fields of cooperation and d e e p e n o u r m u t u a l knowledge. In this process, culture represents an important tool to make our friendship even more solid and enduring,” stressed Perzola.

He also thanked and wel-comed Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and the talents of the “Young Artist Program” including soprano Erika Beretti, mezzo-soprano Irida Dragoti and pianist Edina Bak who will be performing tonight at Katara Opera House a selection of arias composed by Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni and Bellini.

The Italian Embassy in cooperation with QNL and Società Dante Alighieri has lined up events and activities

throughout the week at QNL for adults, children and fam-ilies interested in learning the

basics of the Italian Language and discovering the Italian culture.

Italian pianist, conductor, musicologist and journalist, Maestro Adriano Bassi, during his lecture on “The Evolution of Italian Opera between 1800 and 1900: Convergences and Contrasts” held at Qatar National Library yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA