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Special pages onPakistan’s National Dayinside today’s edition

OIC meet: Qatar condemns NZ terror attack, Islamophobia

QNA ISTANBUL

The State of Qatar condemned yesterday the vicious terrorist crime that targeted worshipers in the mosques of New Zealand, stressing its strong and firm stance against terrorism in all its forms regardless of its motives and reasons, considering it an act contrary to human nature and all moral values.

This came in the speech by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, during the opening session of the emergency meeting of the OIC Executive Committee.

The State of Qatar expressed its deep concern regarding the rise of extremist ideologies that fuel hatred and religious and ethnic intolerance around the world. It expressed concern particularly on the spread of Islamophobia, com-bined with the ideology of racial superiority and racial extremism currently present in many of the societies, which in turn increased hate crimes against all those who embrace Islam and led to the cre-ation of a wave of hostility against those who advocate and defend the causes of Muslims.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs pointed out that these and other phe-nomena constitute a violation of human rights and require members of the OIC to not only condemn the acts, but also to counter the hate speech against Muslims

and to find ways to enact international laws to combat these phenomena effectively and seriously. He stressed on the importance of dialogue among civilizations and pro-moting a culture of tolerance and moder-ation among all religions, cultures and soci-eties as one of the most important tools in fighting racism. �P2

Rwandan President meets Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs

President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame met yesterday with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during the official visit of His Excellency to Rwanda. The Deputy PM conveyed the greetings of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the President of the Republic of Rwanda, and the wishes of His Highness for further progress and prosperity to the Rwandan people. The Rwandan President entrusted the Deputy PM to convey his greetings to the Amir, wishing His Highness health and happiness and the people of Qatar further progress, development, and prosperity. �P2

Technicians can now apply for driving licenceBY SIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

The General Directorate of Traffic has announced that the profession of technician is now eligible to apply for Qatar Driving licence.

“We have announced that profession of technician is eligible and allowed to apply for a driving licence but the new relaxation is only for this profession specific,” a senior official from the General Directorate of Traffic told The Peninsula when asked about the new relaxation in rules.

The driving schools said that they had been informed about it but not received any official letter. Mohamed Al Zain Ibrahim, Executive Manager, Gulf Driving School, said: “This news was in circulation for the last few days

and it is correct. But, the school has yet not received any official letter in this regard from the General Directorate of Traffic. The existence of a police section at every driving school may be the resaon behind non sending of an official letter.”

“Until now, our school has received one applicant from the same profession and we have allowed him to apply,” he added.

Another driving school director said that the school had received information from the General Directorate of Traffic that the profession of technician was now eligible to apply for driving school. In the end of 2017, some job categories had been declared ineligible for light-vehicle licences. This was done as part of a national strategy to address traffic congestion.

General Directorate of Traffic had said that the ban on some job categories to get licence was a temporary measure and would be lifted once infrastructure projects were completed.

Major General Muhammad Saad Al Kharji, Director of the General Directorate of Traffic, in an earlier interview said that once the construction of roads are completed, the banned pro-fessions will be allowed to apply for driving licences. The job cat-egories that are still barred from securing a driving licence include grocer, newspaper vendor, barber, servant, cosmetologist, security guard, porter, shepherd, butcher, tailor, goldsmith, agri-cultural worker, decoration tech-nician, mining technician, beau-tician and mechanic etc.

QPO to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto tonightRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra is all set for tonight’s concert at Katara Opera House featuring compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven, widely considered as the greatest composer who ever lived.

At the heart of the concert is Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major written during the most fecund phases of his creativity.

Music lovers will enjoy this masterpiece which represents one of the crowning achieve-ments of Beethoven’s exploration of the concerto demonstrating

his mastery of the distinctive formal and dramatic forces of the concerto form.

A n o t h e r B e e t h o v e n favourite, Symphony No. 1 in C Major will also be performed tonight. In four movements, this very first symphony written by the young Beethoven marks marked a new era in music.

One of the foremost figures in music history, Beethoven had been a tremendous influence across all genres of Western music extending for a long period of the 19th century.

Also in tonight’s concert rep-ertoire is Bela Bartok’s Diver-timento for String Orchestra written in three movements in

1939. A musical genre dating back to 18th century, diverti-mento is a lighthearted com-position for a smaller music ensemble meant as a sort of entertainment for the audience. Bartok was con-sidered as one of the most important composers of the 20th century . �P3

Qatar: Golan Heights an occupied Arab land and belongs to SyriaQNA & AGENCIES DOHA

The State of Qatar stressed yesterday its position that Golan Heights is an occupied Arab land, and strongly rejected any attempts to undermine international resolutions which confirm that Golan belongs to Syria and is occupied by Israel.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Qatar stresses that aiding Israeli occupation undermine international resolutions related to occupied Golan Heights, particularly UN Resolution No. 497

of 1981 and will not change the fact that the land belongs to an Arab country and is under occupation, pointing out that Israel’s imposition of its laws, jurisdiction and adminis-tration on Golan is void and without any legal effect.

The statement also said that Israeli occupation must abide by the UN resolutions and withdraw from all occupied Arab land, including Golan Heights. The statement also stressed that any unilateral measures recog-nising Israel’s sovereignty over the area represents a huge obstacle to peace.

From Syria to Turkey and

beyond, President Donald Trump’s abrupt declaration that Washington will recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights drew strong condemnation yesterday.

Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. The UN Security Council resolution 497, issued after the annexation, refers to Israel as “the occupying power” and says Israel’s attempt to “impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without interna-tional legal effect.” �P4

Al Wakrah Stadium pitch laid in record timeA view of the newly-laid pitch at Al Wakrah Stadium, one of the landmark venues which will host matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The pitch was laid in a world record time of just 9 hours and 15 minutes. The previous record was also held by Qatar, when Aspire Zone Foundation and Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy completed the pitch-laying process at the Khalifa International Stadium in 13.30 hours.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, speaking at the opening session of the Emergency Meeting of the OIC Executive Committee, in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, said that the time has come for the OIC to play its pivotal role in con-fronting the manifestations of Islamophobia and the rejection of terrorism and religious fanaticism.

On the auspicious occasion of the National Day of Pakistan, I wish to extend my heartfelt felicita-tions to our Pakistani brothers and sisters residing in the State of Qatar, and to the friends of Pakistan in the State of Qatar.

Seventy-nine years ago on this auspicious day in 1940, the Muslims of the Sub-Continent, under the dynamic

Message from the Ambassador of Pakistan

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan during the latter’s visit to Qatar in January.

Imran Khan Prime Minister

Dr. Arif AlviPresident

PAKISTANNATIONAL DAYMarch 23, 2019

02 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019HOME

Amir condoles

with Iraqi

President

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

held via telephone a conver-

sation with the President of

the Republic of Iraq, Dr

Barham Salih, expressing

condolences on the victims

of a ferry that sank in the

Tigris river in Mosul, wishing

the injured a speedy

recovery.

OFFICIAL NEWS

MME opens ‘fish section’ at Al Shahaniya farmers’ marketTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), represented by the Fish Wealth Department, opened yesterday a ‘fish section’ at Al Shahaniya farmers’ market, which offers fresh vegetables from Thursday to Saturday from 7am to 5pm.

The opening ceremony was attended by Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Dehaimi, Director of Fish Wealth Department at the Ministry.

According to the infor-mation provided by the offi-cials associated with the matter, the fish section is pre-pared to accommodate a number of outlets so the fish-ermen can display their products. The facility is equipped with the necessary things like refrigerators, sep-arate area for cleaning fish and veterinary doctors to check the fish offered for sale etc.

The agricultural strategy of Qatar aims at increasing local products like as vege-tables, dates, red meat, poultry, eggs, fish, milk and green fodder, taking into con-sideration the preservation of the natural resources in the country and work to make good use of them.

As per an available report, farmers’ markets have achieved record sales as they offer fresh local products such as vegetables, fish, birds, municipal eggs, dairy and live-stock on competitive prices to consumers.

According the officials concerned, the idea of farmers’ markets is to support farmers and fishers by reducing their marketing costs, stimulating local pro-duction, and encouraging small or non-productive farms to turn into productive

Qatar, Rwanda review boosting relations

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, Edouard Ngirente, met yesterday with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during his official visit to Rwanda. They discussed bilateral relations and means of boosting them, as well as matters of mutual interest. H E the Deputy Prime Minister also met with Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Richard Sezibera; Rwanda’s Minister of Information, Communications Technology and Innovation, Paula Ingabire; Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure, Claver Gatete; and a number of officials, during his visit.

Qatar discusses counter-terrorism efforts at Tampa meet

The Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces, H E Lieutenant-General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem, took part in the meeting of Central Command, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Jordan and Egypt, in the city of Tampa, Florida, at the invitation of Commander of US Central Command, General Joseph Votel. The meeting discussed the counter-terrorism efforts. H E the Chief of Staff also held a meeting with the General Votel, to discuss the close military ties between the two countries and means to further boost and promote them. On the other hand, H E Lieutenant General Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem visited Boeing Company, the manufacturer of F-15 aircraft for the Qatari Amiri Air Force in St. Louis, USA where he met with President of Boeing Military Aircraft, Shelly Lavender.

Erdogan meets Al Muraikhi at OIC Executive Committee QNA ISTANBUL

The President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

met yesterday with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, on the sidelines of the Emergency Meeting of the OIC Executive

Committee held in Istanbul. H E the Minister conveyed

the greetings of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the President of the Republic of

Turkey, and the wishes of His Highness for further progress and prosperity to the Turkish people. For his part, Erdogan entrusted H E the Minister to

convey his greetings to H H the Amir, wishing His Highness health and happiness and the people of Qatar further progress, development, and prosperity.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi with other leaders during a session of the emergency meeting of the OIC Executive Committee.

Qatar to mark World Tuberculosis DayQNA DOHA

The State of Qatar participates in the marking of World Tuber-culosis Day, which falls on March 24 each year.

The theme of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day is “It’s Time” which was taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the world to speed progress in ending tuberculosis and meeting the promises made by world leaders in the Political Declaration of the United Nations

(UN) high-level meeting on ending tuberculosis in New York in September 2018, in which Qatar participated actively. The elimination of tuberculosis is among the priorities of Qatar’s public health strategy in line with the UN sustainable development goals, which aim to eradicate tuberculosis by 2030.

The efforts of the Ministry of Public Health are based on raising the awareness of tuber-culosis and providing compre-hensive coverage of treatment and preventive services as well

as early detection with the highest quality standards for these services, which includes screening services for all appli-cants in Qatar, as well as the pro-vision of medicines, totally free for all patients. The anti-tuber-culosis drugs are given under direct medical supervision in all cases, in addition to raising awareness of tuberculosis and prevention methods among cit-izens and residents through lec-tures, meetings, distribution of publications in different lan-guages. The efforts of the

Ministry of Public Health in cooperation with Hamad Medical Cooperation and Primary Health Care Corporation, along with all sectors of the state, the private sector and civil society, have contributed to maintaining very low levels of tuberculosis in Qatar.

Furthermore, Qatar partici-pated in the successful minis-terial conference on ending tuberculosis in Moscow in November 2017. The ministers and leaders from 120 countries pledged high-level commitments

to accelerate the progress on ending tuberculosis.

The tuberculosis is the world’s leading killer of infec-tious diseases, with WHO reporting that every day 4,500 people die from the disease, and 30,000 people infected every day, despite significant progress over the past two decades in fighting this diseases.

The emergence of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major threat to global health security and may jeopardize gains in tuberculosis control.

Qatar condemns NZ terror attack,Islamophobia at OIC meeting

FROM PAGE 1Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,

H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, noted that the time has come for the OIC to play its pivotal role in confronting the manifestations of Islamophobia and the rejection of terrorism and religious fanaticism. He urged the Secretariat to update the work team formed by the coordinating committee for Islamic action, which is charged with moni-toring the implications of Islamophobia. He also called for activating the organ-ization’s observatory for Islamophobia and the voice of wisdom center to con-front this phenomenon.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs thanked the Government of the Republic of Turkey for its request to hold this emergency meeting to discuss the recent terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch. His Excel-lency declared the State of Qatar’s full solidarity with the Government and people of New Zealand, and praised the

measures taken to protect Muslim com-munities in the country. He called for holding accountable those responsible for the crime and for providing nec-essary protection for mosques and other religious centres. He worked to tackle the phenomenon of Islamo-phobia and to spread a culture of tol-erance and moderation in its societies.

He concluded his speech by reiter-ating Qatar’s commitment to the support of all the OIC’s efforts in pro-moting a culture of peace and peaceful coexistence guaranteed by the Islamic religion. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mavlut Cavusoglu, attended the opening of the meeting, which Pres-ident of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech at. The meeting saw a wide participation from delegations of OIC member states. New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister also attended the meeting.

Winners of 4th FameLab competition announcedTHE PENINSULA DOHA

For the fourth consecutive year, FameLab, one of the biggest science communication compe-titions in the world, took place in Qatar.

FameLab was initiated by Cheltenham Science Festivals in the UK, and brought to Qatar by the British Council in partnership with Qatar National Research Fund , a member of Qatar Foundation and supported by the Min-istry of Education and Higher Education.

Nearly 300 people took part in this year’s FameLab competition. The first three places from the student category were won respec-tively by Abdulla Al Nasr from Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School, Abdulla Al Aljanahi from Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School and Ahmed Adel Abdul Hafez from Ahmed bin Hanbal Independent School. Aya Aboulazm from the Pharmacy College won the first place in the adult cat-egory and will represent Qatar at the interna-tional finals at Cheltenham Science Festival in the United Kingdom. Dana Al Khalifa, college of Pharmacy from Qatar University, Medical Chemistry won second place in the finals.

Aya Aboulazm, said, “My dream is not to change the world, I just want to become the most inspired version of my own self.”

03SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 HOME

Qatar condoles with New Zealand

The Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, arrived yesterday in Christchurch, New Zealand, to convey the condolences of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the people of Qatar on the victims of the terrorist attack on two mosques in the city. H E the Shura Council Speaker and his accompanying delegation were welcomed at Christchurch International Airport by the Minister of Defence of New Zealand, Ron Mark, and the Ambassador of Qatar to New Zealand, Saad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud.

Qatar to open seven visa centres in IndiaQNA DOHA

The State of Qatar will open seven visa centres in India as part of its ‘Qatar Visa Centers (QVCs) Abroad Programme’, which was launched last year targeting eight labour-exporting countries.

During a seminar for the officials of various companies about QVCs, the Director of the Visa Support Services Department at the Ministry of Interior, Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, said that the QVCs will be opened in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, and Kolkata.

He pointed out that India is the fourth country, where QVCs have been established fol-lowing the opening of centres in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, which proved to be a great success in providing services more distinct, sim-plified and advanced.

“The QVCs will ease incon-veniences faced by expatriates from India, simplify the pro-ceedings and ensure the pro-tection of their rights,” Al Mohannadi said.

Al Mohannadi added that QVCs will cover eight countries through the establishment of 20 service centres, in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philip-pines, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

He stressed that all the steps to apply for recruitment through the QVCs are available on the Ministry of Interior website and Metrash 2 service. The recruitment procedures are the same as the previous pro-cedures, but have been

transferred from the State of Qatar to the expatriate coun-tries to facilitate the proce-dures, he explained.

He explained that all recruitment fees are paid by the employer in the State of Qatar to allow the expatriate to com-plete his recruitment proce-dures inside the QVCs abroad.

Al Mohannadi pointed out that the project is implemented in cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“An integrated recruitment system with QVC will help both

employers and employees complete proceedings easily,” Al Mohannadi stated.

Al Mohannadi explained that the recruitment proce-dures available at QVCs are to capture fingerprints for expa-triates, register vital data, conduct medical examinations, and sign the employment con-tract through a more trans-parent and responsible recruitment system.

Mohamed Al Meer, labor consultant at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, stressed that the establishment of QVCs in India comes to facil-itate the completion of proce-dures for bringing in expa-triates in their country of origin.

He emphasised that these centres operate with a precise electronic system to complete all recruitment procedures with ease, pointing out the impor-tance of these centres in guar-anteeing the rights of both expatriates and applicants.

QPO to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto tonight

FROM PAGE 1Bartok was also a pianist, educator and a pio-

neering ethnomusicologist hailed as one of the great architects of musical history whose style is characterised by a nationalistic inspiration paral-leled by the constant pursuit for new inspiration and experimentation.

Acclaimed German violinist Kolja Blacher (pic-tured) will conduct the concert as well as perform. Blacher studied at the Juilliard School of Music and has performed as a soloist all over the world, with orchestras such as Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, NDR Symphony and Gewandhaus Leipzig. His programmatic spectrum comprises works for solo violin from Bach to Berio, the clas-sical-romantic core repertoire, and contemporary music for violin and orchestra. Qatar Philhar-monic’s next concert is slated on April 6 at the Qatar

National Convention Center Auditorium 3 featuring compositions by Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann. Under the baton of Karl-Heinz Steffens, the show will feature Oh Joo Young on violin and Kirill Bogatyrev on cello.

The Director of the Visa Support Services Department at the Ministry of Interior, Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, said that the QVCs will be opened in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, and Kolkata.

Msheireb Museums hosts photo expo THE PENINSULA DOHA

A photography exhibition hosted by Msheireb Museums in collab-oration with Qatar Photographic Society opened on Wednesday at Mohammed Bin Jassim House, one of the four revived historic heritage houses in the heart of Msheireb Downtown Doha.

Titled “Reflections from Msheireb,” this community-led exhibition highlights the amazing results of a series of photography workshops conducted in Msheireb Museums earlier.

The exhibition unveils Msheireb from the standpoint of photographers who come from different backgrounds and cul-tures, and who have all

participated in the month-long workshop.

Abdulla Al Naama, Public Programs Manager, said: “We pride ourselves in being a social history museum. We observe, document and encourage social development. In that sense, we are always happy to support national community initiatives that enrich cultural dialogue.”

“Collaborating with the Qatar Photographic Society to conduct these workshops and host an exhibit of the partici-pants’ work is our way of nur-turing local talent. We invite eve-ryone to keep an eye on our cal-endar of events and activities, as we will always have more and more educational and exciting activities suitable for all ages,”

he concluded. Qatar Photo-graphic Society is a non-profit organisation that aims to support photographers in Qatar, provide them with guidance, promote their work, enhance their skills, and raise their awareness on how to protect it and showcase it. The management of the society takes it upon their shoulder to offer workshops and photography courses for its members.

Abdulrahman Obaidan Fakhro, Vice-President, said: “We wholeheartedly thank Msheireb Museums for their support. We have a shared vision and we do look forward for further collaborations, bringing more culturally enriching content to the people of Qatar.”

04 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Syria vows to recover Golan as Trump’s move draws criticismREUTERS BEIRUT

The Syrian government vowed to take back the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as its allies and enemies alike condemned US President Donald Trump yesterday for moving to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the territory seized in war.

Trump’s statement on Thursday marked a dramatic shift in US policy over the status of a disputed area that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East conflict and annexed in 1981 - a move not recognized internationally.

Against this backdrop of hos-tility towards the US move, Sec-retary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Beirut yesterday after visiting Israel. He is expected to raise pressure on the gov-ernment to curb the influence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Trump’s declaration is the latest US step to fuel anger in the region, both in states that are hostile to Israel and others that have relations with it and are allied to the United States.

It follows the US recognition in December 2017 of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — a decision that also drew international crit-icism as the city’s disputed status remains at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Russia, an ally of President Bashar Al Assad with forces in Syria, said Trump’s comments risked seriously destabilising the region, and it voiced hope the statement was just declaratory.

Iran, Assad’s main regional ally and which also has forces in

Syria, condemned the statement as illegal and unacceptable.

“The personal decisions of Trump...will lead to crisis in the region,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said.

Turkey, a US ally and an adversary of Damascus, also said the move had brought the Middle East to the edge of a new crisis and the legitimisation of the occupation of the Golan Heights could not be allowed. The Syrian government said the Golan was an “indivisible” part of Syrian territory and recovering it “via all means guaranteed by inter-national law is still a priority”.

It said United States with its “stupidity and arrogance” had no right to decide the fate of the area and any move to recognise Israeli sovereignty over it was “an illegal action with no impact”. After remaining calm for decades since a 1974 armi-stice monitored by UN peace-keepers, Golan re-emerged as a flashpoint for regional tensions during the Syrian war. Last May, Israel accused Iran’s Revolu-tionary Guards of launching a rocket salvo into its territory from the Syrian side of the truce line.

Israel, which has mounted numerous air strikes against

what it has called Iran-backed targets in Syria, has demanded Russia keep forces allied to Tehran away from the boundary.

The Syrian side was held by rebel forces for years until pro-government forces recovered it in July.

Jason Greenblatt, a senior White House adviser, said “under any conceivable circum-stance, Israel could not give up the Golan”. “To do so would endanger Israel’s very existence,” he wrote on Twitter.

In the Golan itself, Druze vil-lager Sheikh Mahmoud Nazeeh, also rejected the move.

“Trump can make his state-ments and say he wants to make the Golan part of Israel. But we know this will stay Syrian land,” the 70-year-old said.

The European Union said its position on the status of the Golan Heights was unchanged and it did not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the area.

Germany said any change in borders should be “done through peaceful means between all those involved”, while France said it did not rec-ognise the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights and any rec-ognition was contrary to inter-national law.

The Arab League, which sus-pended Syria in 2011 after the start of its civil war, said Trump had paved “the way for official American recognition” of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan and called this “completely beyond international law”. Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979, said it still considers the Golan as occupied Syrian territory.

Israeli army shoot dead two Palestinians on Gaza borderAFP GAZA CITY

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in renewed clashes along the Gaza border yesterday, the health ministry in the enclave said.

The clashes took place a week before the first anniversary of the weekly protests, when organisers have pledged larger than usual demonstrations.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra, said the two men, aged 18 and 29, were shot in separate incidents along the fractious border.

The teenager was shot in

the head east of Gaza City, while the older man was hit in the chest near the Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Qudra said. He did not name them but said at least 55 other people were shot.

The Israeli army did not comment on the deaths but said “approximately 9,500 rioters and demonstrators” gathered in various locations, “hurling explosive devices, hard objects and rocks” at troops.

Troops were “firing in accordance with standard oper-ating procedures,” a spokes-woman said.

At least 257 Palestinians

have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since protests began on March 30 2018.

Most have been killed during protests, though others have died in airstrikes and by tank fire. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.

The often violent protests are demanding Palestinian refugees and their descendants be allowed to return to former homes now inside Israel.

Israeli officials say that amounts to calling for the Jewish state’s destruction, and accuse Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, of orchestrating the protests.

Palestinians flee from teargas during a protest east of Gaza City, yesterday.

UN rights body calls for halt to Israeli expansion in GolanREUTERS GENEVA

The UN Human Rights Council yesterday criticised Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights a day after US Pres-ident Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the disputed territory.

The UN rights forum adopted an annual resolution on the Syrian Golan,

brought by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Con-ference (OIC), with 26 states in favour, 16 against and 5 abstentions.

European members including Britain voted against it. The United States, which quit the Council last year accusing it of an anti-Israel bias, does not participate.

“Voting for such a resolution should send a clear message... to the occupying power and to all who

support Israel inside this Council and outside,” Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Hussam Edin Aala, told the talks.

“The United States is justifying the practices by the Israeli occupation and ignoring Security Council reso-lutions,” he said. “The occupied Syrian Golan was and shall remain Arab and Syrian.” Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East conflict and annexed the area in

1981 — a move not recognised inter-nationally. The resolution called on Israel to stop building settlements, to stop imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards on Syrian cit-izens in the Golan, and to cease repressive measures.

Israel’s ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter rejected the resolution, among five condemning it yesterday, including one on its killing of Pales-tinian protesters in Gaza.

Trump’s declaration is the latest US step to fuel anger in the region, both in states that are hostile to Israel and others that have relations with it and are allied to the United States.

Mozambique toll reaches 300 as rescue continuesBLOOMBERG/ GUARA GUARA, MOZAMBIQUE

The death toll from Mozambique’s worst flooding in almost two decades climbed to 293, as the government asked for international assistance a week after Cyclone Idai struck the southern African nation.

At least 139 others have died in neighboring Zimbabwe after the storm tore through the two southern African nations a week ago, according to the official count.

Floodwaters continued to linger over hun-dreds of square kilometers of central Mozam-bique, as rescuers used helicopters and boats to save people stranded in trees and on rooftops. Almost 90,000 people have been saved, the National Institute of Disaster Man-agement said in a statement.

Hezbollah has popular support, Lebanon’s Aoun tells PompeoAGENCIES BEIRUT

Lebanese President Michel Aoun told visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday that the Iran-backed Hezbol lah movement was a Lebanese party with popular support, the Lebanese presidency said.

“Preserving national unity and civil peace is a priority for us,” Aoun told Pompeo, the pres-idency said on its Twitter feed. The United States views the heavily armed Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Pompeo urged Lebanon to pick a side as he visited the country on a regional tour to build a united front against Iran.

He especially expressed concern over the role of Hez-bollah movement that is targeted

by US sanctions but holds three cabinet posts in Lebanon. Pompeo flew in from Israel a day after he became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall in annexed east Jeru-salem with an Israeli prime minister.

“Lebanon and the Lebanese people face a choice: bravely move forward as an independent and proud nation or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hez-bollah to dictate your future,” he said during a joint news con-ference with his Lebanese coun-terpart. “The US will continue to use all peaceful means, every-thing at our disposal to choke off the financing, the smuggling the criminal network and the misuse of government positions and influence,” by Hezbollah, he said.

US hits Iran with new sanctionsAP WASHINGTON

The Trump administration hit Iran with new sanctions yesterday while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was denouncing Iran’s growing influence on a visit to Lebanon.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions target 31 Iranian scientists, technicians and companies affiliated with Iran’s Organization for Defense Innovation and Research, which had been at the forefront of the country’s former nuclear weapons program. Officials said those targeted continue

to work in Iran’s defense sector and form a core of experts who could reconstitute that program. Fourteen people, including the head of the organization, and 17 subsidiary oper-ations are covered by the sanctions.

The sanctions freeze any assets that those targeted may have in US jurisdic-tions and bar Americans from any trans-actions with them. But, officials say the move will also make those targeted “radi-oactive internationally” by making people of any nationality who do business with them subject to U.S. penalties under so-called secondary sanctions.

U.S. secondary sanctions apply to

foreign businesses and individuals and can include fines, loss of presence in the American economy, asset freezes and travel bans. Officials said the threat of such sanctions will significantly limit the ability of those designated to travel outside of Iran, participate in research conferences or be hired for other jobs.

“Individuals working for Iran’s pro-liferation-related programs - including scientists, procurement agents, and technical experts - should be aware of the reputational and financial risk they expose themselves to by working for Iran’s nuclear program,” the State Department said in a statement.

Trump: IS ‘100 percent’ defeated in SyriaAFP/WEST PALM BEACH, UNITED STATES

US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the Islamic State group has been “100 percent” defeated in Syria. Trump made the comment as he showed reporters maps of the region -- one showing the large areas once held by the group and a second that showed the situation yesterday with no presence.

“There’s ISIS, and that’s what he have right now,” he said, pointing at the two maps. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said “the terri-torial caliphate has been eliminated in Syria.”

The White House declaration came after days of bombing and other attacks by Kurdish-led forces to clear the final tiny pockets of resistance by Islamic State fighters in the village of Baghouz, where they made a last stand.

12-year-old boy among six dead in Kashmir clashes

Voting begins on April 11 and will be spread over several phases until May 19 to cover the country involving more than 900 million voters, and the count will be made on May 23.

05SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 ASIA

Congress struggles to build alliance, giving Modi an edgeREUTERS NEW DELHI

India’s Congress party is struggling to forge an opposition alliance to fight a looming election having been rebuffed in the biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, regional party offi-cials say, improving Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi’s chances of a second term.

Voting begins on April 11 and will be spread over several phases until May 19 to cover the country involving more than 900 million voters, and the count will be made on May 23.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has been seeking an grand alliance with smaller regional parties for months to prevent a

split that would make it easier for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to come out on top.

Officials in regional parties and analysts said Gandhi’s strategy has been undermined by Congress leaders’ unwill-ingness to compromise or play second fiddle to regional politi-cians, some of whom have vaulting ambitions.

Mayawati, the powerful leader of a party championing the cause of the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy in the bat-tleground state of Uttar Pradesh, said earlier this week that she won’t tie up with Congress.

Her Bahujan Samaj Party, which possesses a large vote

bank in the state, has struck a deal to put up joint candidates with another regional party rep-resenting Muslims as well as other lower Hindu castes, she said in a tweet, predicting her alliance would win a majority of the parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh.

“BSP once again wants to make it very clear that in Uttar Pradesh and in the country as a whole we are not in any form of alliance or agreement with Con-gress,” Mayawati said.

A BSP official said that Con-gress had wanted to run in far too many seats rather than give way to regional parties even though its victory was not assured in those seats.

Gandhi had more success alliance building in the large eastern state of Bihar. Congress has agreed to run in nine seats out of the 40 at stake in the state, leaving 20 to the regional ally and the rest to be allotted among still smaller parties.

“In Bihar, this is an alliance

to save the constitution, if we are not together, we will lose,” said Manoj Jha, leader of the Rash-triya Janata Dal, a party that has helped put together the alliance.

In January, 23 regional groups had held a rally in the eastern city of Kolkata vowing a common platform to fight against Modi, blaming him for creating a climate of fear among India’s minority Muslims. Gandhi also promised his support.

Some Congress leaders have argued that the grand old party that led India for most of the first five decades since independence in 1947 needs to stand alone for its long term revival, rather than depend on regional partners’ support.

Congress suffered its worst showing in the 2014 election when Modi stormed to power with a commanding majority. And opinion polls show that while the BJP has lost ground since then, it is still the front-runner in the coming election.

Political commentators said failure to stitch together an opposition alliance would help Modi’s BJP win a second term to pursue a Hindu-first agenda that undermines the secular founda-tions of India’s constitution.

“The 2019 battle is not to save Gandhi family or Congress party, the battle is to save India and its future,” said Shahid Siddique, editor of Nai Dunya, a Urdu lan-guage weekly newspaper.

Kashmiri villagers look at the remains of a house destroyed during a gun battle between militants and Indian government forces at Hajin area, in Bandipora district of Kashmir, yesterday. A 12-year-old boy was among six people killed in three separate gun battles between rebels and security forces in Kashmir, the police and army said.

JeM terrorist Sajjad Khan heldIANS / NEW DELHI

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) ter-rorist Sajjad Khan, said to be a close associate of Pulwama suicide attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmed Khan, was arrested near the Red Fort while disguised as a shawl trader, police said yesterday.

Following a tip off, Khan was caught on Thursday night, the officer said, adding that he was in close contact with Ahmed Khan, who was eliminated by the Indian Army earlier this month. A Delhi court sent Khan to NIA custody till March 29.

Jet pilots say mortgaging jewellery to stay afloatIANS NEW DELHI/MUMBAI

Beleaguered Jet Airways’ pilots said yesteday that they are suf-fering from massive financial stress caused by non-payment of salaries for the last three months, which has even forced some to mortgage jewellery and take short-term loans.

The pilots said even EMI payments on car and home loans might become difficult in the present circumstance.

Pilots said that they along with engineers and other highly critical segment of employees have not been paid three-month salaries from January 1 and that only 12.5 percent of December pay has been given.

“Nearly all of us have financial responsibilities. We fear that a sudden collapse of the airline might be imminent. We need our dues to paid by March 31 and a clear road map for our company,” National Aviator’s Guild Vice President Captain Asim Valiani said in Mumbai.

“We have decided that either the management lets us know about the progress of the reso-lution plan and the future of the

company by March 31 or we will refrain from flying duties.”

A New Delhi-based pilot of the airline, who has already applied to other airlines for recruitment, said his financial position has become untenable since his children’s quarterly school fees are due in April. “I am afraid I will not be able to make the payment without mortgaging jewellery or my car,” said the pilot who holds the rank of a co-commander.

As per industry estimates, Jet’s total debt of Rs8,000 crore in addition to payables such as vendors’ dues worth Rs15,000 crore. Additionally, the airline has also lost ground in terms of market shares, even as its pilots and crew are said to be approaching other airlines for employment. On March 20, around 260 of Jet’s pilots applied to join SpiceJet. Jet currently has 1,900 pilots on its rolls.

Recently, aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that Jet Airways has only 41 aircraft in its fleet for operations out of around 120 planes and that there may be further attrition in the fleet size and flights ahead.

Indian rescuers carry a survivor recovered from the rubble of an under-construction building that collapsed three days earlier in Dharwad district of Karnataka, yesterday.

Three rescued after three days under collapsed Indian buildingAFP NEW DELHI

Indian emergency workers yes-terday rescued three people trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building for three days, officials said as the death toll rose to 17.

Emergency workers were searching for eight more people after the five-storey building in southern Karnataka state caved in on Tuesday, officials said.

A video shared by M N Reddi, Karnataka’s emergency services chief, showed a man and his wife being pulled out of the rubble after remaining trapped for about 70 hours.

While the woman was carried out on a stretcher, a rescue worker lifted her husband on his back up the ladder out of the debris amid claps and cheers.

“Two more survivors — Dilip and his wife Sangeetha, rescued by our Fire Force rescuers just now! This takes the total rescued so far to 59. Kudos to the Rescue team!,” Reddi said in a tweet.

Another man was rescued early yesterday morning after

being trapped for more than 62 hours. The man had no visible injuries and was hugged by the rescue team before he walked away from the debris and was taken to a nearby hospital.

As many as 54 people have been rescued alive by the team of around 400 who have been scouring through tonnes of con-crete and steel. “Those rescued have been shifted to the hospital and five persons have been arrested in the matter,” emer-gency official Srikant, who goes by one name, said.

Police have charged the owner of the construction company — one of the five

arrested — with manslaughter. Heavy earth-movers and res-cuers with specialised equipment and sniffer dogs were deployed in the increasingly des-perate operation.

The victims were mostly from northern Indian states who had come to the region for work.

Building collapses are fre-quent in India. Many firms use cheap materials and bribe officials to evade regulations, while on-site safety is lax. Many Indian cities have seen rapid growth in the last few decades with new buildings often built without proper quality supervision, and the older ones poorly maintained.

Geelani booked under FEMAIANS / NEW DELHI

Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani, who advo-cates Jammu and Kashmir’s merger with Pakistan, has been booked under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for illegally possessing foreign exchange of $10,000, the Enforcement Directorate said. Geelani had been fined Rs14.40 lakh following the con-fiscation of the unaccounted foreign exchange from his premises in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the agency said.

Child rescued from borewellIANS / HISAR

After a 48-hour-long rescue operation, a one-and-a-half-year-old boy, who fell into a 70-foot narrow borewell in Haryana’s Hisar district, was rescued yesterday.

The child is safe and kept under observation. His con-dition is stable, an official supervising the rescue oper-ation said. The rescue team had to dig a parallel well to create a passage to reach the child.

Rescuers in the Balsamand village provided oxygen and food items in the borehole. Also, a night-vision camera was planted to keep watch over the child. Nadeem Khan, son of a road con-struction worker, fell into the borewell on Wednesday. He is the youngest of five siblings. Earlier, an attempt was made to pull the child out with the help of a net. The hole was dug by a villager to install a tubewell.

JKLF banned for promoting terror, secessionismIANS NEW DELHI

The Indian government yes-terday outlawed the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) led by Muhammad Yasin Malik, alleging it was responsible for promoting terrorism and seces-sionism in the state.

Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba said that in pursuit of its strong action against terrorism, the government had declared the JKLF (Yasin faction), which sup-posedly advocates independence for Jammu and Kashmir, an

unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Malik is presently detained in Kot Balwal Jail in Jammu.

The JKLF has spearheaded the “separatist ideology in the (Kashmir) Valley and has been at the forefront of separatist activ-ities and violence since 1988”, Gauba told the media here.

“Yasin Malik was the mas-termind behind the purging of Kashmiri Pundits from the Kashmir Valley and is respon-sible for their genocide,” a Home Ministry notification said.

The JKLF was also blamed

for the murder of four Indian Air Force personnel and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who later became the Chief Min-ister of Jammu and Kashmir.

“The organisation, along side, is also responsible for illegal funnelling of funds for fomenting terrorism. JKFL is actively involved in raising of funds and its distribution to Hurriyat cadres and stone-pelters to fuel unrest in the Kashmir Valley as well as for subversive activities,” the notification said.

Report details ‘payoffs’ to BJP leaders, judgesIANS NEW DELHI

Former Karnataka Chief Min-ister B S Yeddyurappa made payouts of Rs1,800 crore to senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), judges and lawyers, claimed The Caravan in its report yesterday, further adding that the government did not act, though being aware of the matter since 2017.

The report, which later in the day drew an unusually long response from the Central Board of Direct Taxes, said, according to documents accessed by it, “the income-tax department is in possession of copies of diary entries in the handwriting of the prominent BJP leader and the former chief minister of Kar-nataka, BS Yeddyurappa that note payoffs amounting to over Rs1,800 crore to the BJP’s national leaders, its central committee, and judges and advocates.”

The report claimed, “Yeddy-urappa recorded these alleged payouts in a Karnataka state assembly legislator’s 2009 diary, in Kannada, in his own hand.” Yeddyurappa was chief minister in Karnataka from May 2008 to July 2011. The report is in some ways a reminder to the Jain Hawala diaries that had named senior BJP leader L K Advani. After his name figured in the Jain hawala scam, Advani quit as MP, deciding not to contest an election till his name had been cleared.

“The copies of the diary pages note that Yeddyurappa paid the BJP Central Committee Rs1,000 crore; that he paid the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

and the Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari Rs150 crore each; that he gave the home minister Rajnath Singh Rs100 crore; and that he paid the BJP stalwart LK Advani and the senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi Rs 50 crore each,” reads the report.

“Besides this, the entry notes, Yeddyurappa paid Rs10 crore for “Gadkari’s son’s mar-riage.” The diary entries also state that Yeddyurappa paid Rs250 crore to “judges” and Rs50 crore to “Advocates (fee paid for cases),” but does not mention any names.”

The entries regarding pay-ments to the BJP leaders, judges and advocates were written against rows dated 17 January 2009, while the entry regarding the BJP central committee was written against rows dated 18 January 2009, said the report, adding it was unclear whether the entries were made on these dates or written in the diary on a later date. The Caravan says that each copy of the pages accessed by it had Yeddy-urappa’s signature.

The report said that the IT department and the BJP gov-ernment at the centre have been sitting on copies of Yeddyurappa’s diary entries since August 2017. It said a senior IT official took the copies to Jaitley, along with an unsigned cover note.

The Caravan said the diary entries were made during a turf war between senior BJP leaders in the state and Yeddyurappa when he had broken away from the BJP and formed the Karnataka Janata APaksha, according to a noting by the senior IT official.

Gautam Gambhir joins Modi’s partyREUTERS / NEW DELHI

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party yesterday, leaving a panel to decide whether to field him as a candidate in the cricket-crazy country’s upcoming general election. With 9 million fol-lowers on Twitter, Gambhir could give Modi’s BJP some extra pulling-power in the cam-paign for an election which will run from April 11 till May 23.

In a live televised joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart in capital Islamabad, Imran Khan said there were only a few Muslim leaders who took stand on issues affecting Muslims across the world.

06 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019ASIA

Visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (left), with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at a ceremony in Islamabad, yesterday.

Imran hails stance of Erdogan, Mahathir on NZ attacksANATOLIA & INTERNEWS KARACHI

Pakistan’s Prime Minister yes-terday hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for taking a quick and clear stand on deadly terror attacks on mosques in New Zealand.

In a live televised joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart in capital Islamabad, Imran Khan said there were only a few Muslim leaders who took stand on issues affecting Muslims across the world.

Last Friday, at least 50 Muslims were killed and as many injured when a terrorist — iden-tified as 28-year-old Australian-born Brenton Tarrant — entered the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch and shot wor-shippers in cold blood, including four children younger than 18.

“Unfortunately, a very few Muslim leaders do take stands on the issues that affect the other Muslim world. One of them is Erdogan and the other is Mahathir Mohamad”, Khan said.

He was referring to Turkey’s timely steps, including an emer-gency meeting of the foreign ministers of Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) in Istanbul yesterday.

“We have seen transfor-mation of Turkey and devel-opment of its economy under his (Erdogan) leadership”, the Prime Minister went on to say.

Terming the rising Islamo-phobia in the West as the reason behind the Christchurch terror attacks, the Prime Minister

lamented that all the Muslims were blamed for any crime com-mitted by a Muslim individual in any part of the world.

“Any crime committed by a Muslim was immediately blamed on the whole 1.3 billion Muslims and this was reflected in the Christchurch killings where a man, a terrorist, brazenly filmed shooting innocent women and children and innocent people in a mosque and then he didn’t regretted. This was because of Islamophobia,” he added.

Khan also appreciated Mahathir’s war against cor-ruption and vowed to learn from Malaysia’s anti-corruption drive.

“We also admire you for your stand against corruption. Your comeback was one of the most remarkable comebacks and Pakistan has always looked upon the Malaysian prime minister as a Muslim statesman who changed his country,” the Premier told his Malaysian counterpart.

“Corruption is a big hurdle in the path of human devel-opment. Corruption can make any country poor and weak,” he

lamented. “Corruption is what destroys institutions and takes away money that should be spent on human beings and on human development,” he added.

“Pakistan is facing economic challenges right now and other countries, including Japan, are models for us. I spoke to Mahathir Mohamad regarding how Malaysia moved forward and we discussed bilateral rela-tions,” he added. “Mahathir Mohamad’s visit to Pakistan is an honour for us,” the Premier further said.

The Malaysian Prime Min-ister, for his part, said Pakistan and Malaysia understand the i s s u e o f c o m b a t i n g

Islamophobia. He said: “There is fear, enmity towards Muslims and the example of that is Christchurch [attacks]. We need to find other ways of combating Islamophobia and I think Pakistan and Malaysia under-stand this issue. Fighting back doesn’t always mean killing each other. There are other things we can do to reduce this atmosphere of fear, anger towards Muslims.”

Regarding his talks with Pakistan Premier, Mahathir Mohamad said: “We are giving importance to trade with Pakistan and had bilateral discussions on issues affecting the region and the world. If we increase our trade

with each other, we will benefit. Today, everyone is focused on growing their economy and it is necessary that we have some wealth of our own in order to function as nations.”

The Malaysian Premier regretted that there is not a single Muslim country that can be con-sidered as developed. “Malaysia planned to become developed by 2030 but unfortunately due to changes in the government it became an impossible target to achieve,” he stated. He further said: “I think we can exchange information on how to combat corruption in our countries. I am honoured to be attending Pakistan Day,” he added.

US President foresees meeting with Pakistan leadersINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

US President Donald Trump hopes to meet Pakistani leaders soon as he acknowledges that relations between the two countries are “now very good”.

President Trump made this surprise announcement at the end of a White House press talk on Wednesday afternoon when a journalist asked him to comment on the current situation between India and Pakistan.

“Pakistan - we’ll be meeting with Pakistan [lead-ership]. I think our rela-tionship right now is very good with Pakistan,” he said.

Trump made these com-ments hours after a senior administration official warned at a news briefing in Washington that the United States remained concerned about India-Pakistan tensions as their militaries were still on alert nearly three weeks after their most dangerous con-frontation in decades.

The official also warned that another terrorist attack in India could “be extremely problematic for Pakistan and it would cause a re-escalation in tensions”.

The briefing followed media reports that both India and Pakistan had deployed additional forces on the Line of Control (LoC) and had also put their air forces on high alert.

Several news outlets claimed that India had not only deployed missiles along the LoC but the Indian Air Force has also asked its government to “urgently pur-chase” more missiles.

India “has continued to maintain a high level of “oper-ational alert” since last month’s clashes and the Indian Army also has moved up emergency purchases of stock-up ammu-nition, the reports added.

The reports noted that Pakistan has responded by deploying its fighter jets close to the disputed border in Kashmir and has scattered its aircraft across the country. The PAF was also conducting night flights and other exercises and had put its air defence network on alert, the reports added.

The Bloomberg news agency reported that India also sent nuclear submarines, an aircraft carrier battle group and dozens of other navy ships to the Arabian Sea after a tense military stand-off with Pakistan.

Diplomatic observers in Washington linked China’s strong message of support for Pakistan this week with these developments.

Security personnel and onlookers gather around the car of leading religious scholar Muhammad Taqi Usmani after an attack by unidentified gunmen in Karachi yesterday, that left at least two people dead.

Islamic scholar survives assassination attemptANATOLIA KARACHI

A renowned Islamic scholar yes-terday survived an assassination attempt in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, police said.

Mufti Taqi Usmani, who is considered the pioneer of Islamic banking in the country, was on his way to offer Friday prayers when motorbike-riding gunmen sprayed his vehicle with bullets on a busy road in the city’s eastern district.

Usmani remained unhurt, however, his guard was killed in the attack, provincial police chief Kaleem Imam told reporters. Gunmen also targeted another vehicle carrying the scholar’s associates killing another police guard and injuring two others — one of

them critically, he added.He said that same group was

involved in both attacks.City police chief Ameer

Shaikh said that Usmani had received death threats from Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, adding that the Afghan and Indian spy agencies could have a hand in the attack.

Speaking to Geo News, Usmani said the assailants fired at his vehicle from two sides. He said his wife and two grandsons were also in the vehicle at time of attack. “Thanks to Allah, we all remained safe,” he said.

Imran Ismail, governor of Sindh province of which Karachi is capital, told local broadcaster Geo News that Usmani had informed him of security threats a few weeks ago.

‘Afghan American Idol’ won by woman for the first timeAFP KABUL

An Afghan woman has become the first to win a popular singing compe-tition, with her victory coming as fears grow that women could lose hard-won rights if the US does a peace deal with the Taliban.

Zahra Elham, in her 20s and from Afghanistan’s Hazara ethnic minority, snatched first place from her male runner-up on Afghan Star — a local version of American Idol — in which hundreds of men and women have competed for 14 seasons.

“I popped the hearts of men out of their chests today,” a happy Elham told the audience during the contest’s finale late Thursday.

“I am so so happy, I cannot even find words to express my feelings... Today, I represent all the girls of Afghanistan. Today not only Zahra Elham but all the girls in Afghanistan have won,” she said amid cheers, applause and even tears from the admiring audience.

Known for her high pitch and raspy voice, she had previously said she wanted to break the grasp of male winners on the competition, first launched in 2005 and one of

Afghanistan’s most popular television shows. “Your win is a slap in the face of jealous Afghan men,” Sonita Rasa wrote on Zahra’s Facebook page.

“Hope you don’t disappear after this big win and hope the situation allows you to continue to get to your dreams,” Tanin, another user, wrote.

As talks between Washington and the Taliban aimed at ending the long war progress, many Afghans fear a premature US withdrawal could see the Taliban return to some semblance of power.

Young women, keenly aware of how their gender was banished behind doors and beneath burkas under Taliban rule, are among the most vocal in warning they will not compromise their hard-won rights if the insurgents return.

The Taliban have given few details of what they want in Afghanistan, and it is unclear what a post-conflict gov-ernment would look like — but under their strict interpretation of Islam the militants have never been in favour of women, or shows like Afghan Star.

“Peace is on its way, hope the future peace has the Afghan Star contest in it,” Mustafa Azizyar, the show’s presenter said, after presenting the trophy.

UN official welcomes Rohingya refugee relocation planAFP DHAKA

A senior UN official has welcomed Bang-ladesh’s plan to move Rohingya refugees out of the country’s congested camps, but said any move to transfer some 100,000 of them to a flood-prone island should be voluntary.

Volker Turk, an assistant high commis-sioner at the UN’s refugee agency, said that the southeast Kutupalong camp, the world’s largest and now home to some 600,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled neigh-bouring Myanmar, is highly overcrowded.

“If you have been in Kutupalong or various camps in Cox’s Bazar area, it is clear that there is huge congestion,” the UNHCR official told reporters in Dhaka after con-cluding a five-day visit to the country.

“So we welcome the fact that the gov-ernment of Bangladesh has taken very active steps to identify alternative set-tlement (for the Rohingya refugees).” He added that the UN was still in “discussion” with the Bangladeshi authorities about the relocation of refugees to the island of Bhashan Char, in the Bay of Bengal, but said refugees must be willing to move and be able to continue their “livelihood” there.

International aid agencies have raised con-cerns about the island’s ability to withstand violent storms during the monsoon.

Pakistani finds fame as ‘Game of Thrones’ doppelgangerAFP RAWALPINDI

Pakistani waiter Rozi Khan had never heard of the Game of Thrones — or its hugely popular character Tyrion Lan-nister — until his striking resemblance to the dwarf anti-hero got heads turning at home.

The 25-year-old so resembles actor Peter Dinklage — who has played the witty and wily nobleman since the hit series’ first season in 2010 — that he gets regularly stopped by strangers desperate for a picture. “I don’t mind. A lot of my pictures have been taken, that’s why I have become very famous everywhere,” he said.

Not only are Khan and Dinklage’s faces strikingly similar, they are also the same height at around 135cm (4 ft 5in). Photographs of the pair have unsurprisingly made their way onto social media showing the doppel-gangers side-by-side.

“Wherever I go, someone says to me: ‘Sir, who is this man with you on Facebook’, I say that he is my friend. ‘He looks like you’. I tell them he is my brother. It’s not a bad thing,” said Khan.

The television series has won 47 Emmys — more than any other fic-tional show in history — along with a Golden Globe for Dinklage, 49, for best

supporting actor in 2012. A much anticipated final series is set to pre-miere on April 17.

Khan works at a small Kashmiri restaurant down a narrow line in Rawalpindi, serving customers hearty dishes such as mutton and spinach curries. Owner Malik Aslam Pervez described him as a hard-worker — and also a drawcard for the eatery.

“When he takes a day off or gets sick, people look for him and ask where did he go? They get upset. They love him. There is always a crowd here but it has boomed because of him,” he said.

Born in Mansehra in northern Pakistan, Khan says he would love to meet Dinklage, describing him as a friend and brother.

“I love him very much, he is my friend... he is my height so I like him a lot,” said Khan.

For customers, seeing Tyrion Lan-nister in the flesh is also a thrill.

“When I saw him, I’m happy, I feel that I met with Lannister in real [life],” said Zain Hadri, 20.

“Game of Thrones” tells the story of noble families vying for control of the Iron Throne, all the while keeping one eye on the “White Walkers” leading hordes of the undead toward an invasion from the North.

07SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 ASIA

NZ prays a week after attack on mosquesAFP CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

The Muslim call to prayer rang out across New Zealand yesterday followed by two minutes of nationwide silence to mark a week since a white supremacist gunned down 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands — including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wounded survivors — stood in a park opposite the mosque where the killing began, as the nation of 4.5 million came to a standstill.

New Zealand is still in shock following the killings by alleged shooter Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian national who had hoped to foment an ethnic war with his attacks. But horrified Kiwis have responded with outpourings of love, with

many embracing their Muslim neighbours yesterday in moving scenes across the country.

A muezzin in white skullcap issued the call to regular Friday prayers at 1.30pm with chants of “Allahu Akhbar” (God is greatest) as thousands listened in Christchurch’s Hagley Park, across from the Al Noor Mosque.

The country then fell silent for two minutes, with public gatherings in Auckland, Wel-lington and other cities.

In neighbouring Australia, people stopped in the streets and in shops to mark the moment.

But after Friday’s prayers, the

sombre mood outside lightened markedly as non-Muslims approached the mosque to lay flowers or embrace and take selfies with Muslims.

Koro Tini, a 46-year-old Maori man with elaborate tradi-tional facial tattoos and cere-monial native cloak, embraced and touched noses with a man who was among a group of Muslim worshippers.

“We weren’t meaning to pose for pictures but people wanted to do it after the prayers. There’s a sense of joy and rejoicing,” Tini said. Many women across the country wore headscarves in

solidarity with Muslims. “I can take my scarf off if I feel afraid. They cannot,” said Kirsty Wilkinson, who came to Hagley

Park with two friends, all in make-shift hijabs. Major New Zealand newspapers published special tributes yesterday, with

the front page of Christchurch daily The Press bearing the Arabic word “Salam” (Peace) and the names of the 50 killed.

Local residents gather for the call to prayer at the Masjid Umar Mosque in Auckland yesterday.

Gunman faces life in prison in isolationAP ISTANBUL

New Zealand’s deputy prime minister said the gunman accused of killing 50 people in two mosques in the South Pacific nation would spend the rest of his life in isolation in prison and called for soli-darity to eradicate “hate-filled ideologies.” Winston Peters was speaking at an emergency session of the 57-member Organisation

of Islamic Cooperation’s executive committee called by Turkey to combat prej-udice against Muslims in the wake of the attack.

Peters’ attendance comes amid controversy sparked by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who, at election campaign rallies, has been screening video clips of the attack, despite efforts by New Zealand to prevent the video’s spread.

Erdogan also drew

Australia’s ire for comments suggesting that Australians and New Zealanders with anti-Muslim sentiments would be sent back in coffins like their ancestors who fought against Turks in the World War I Battle of Gallipoli.

Speaking at the emer-gency session, Peters told representatives of Muslim nations: “no punishment can match the depravity of his crime but the families of the

fallen will have justice.” He also screened moving photo-graphs of New Zealanders mourning the victims.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, was arrested and charged with murder in the New Zealand mosque attacks.

Harrison Tarrant lives-treamed the attack and released a manifesto descr ib ing his whi te supremacist views and how he planned the shootings.

Hundreds of Kiwis call police to turn in weapons after banAFP CHRISTCHURCH

Hundreds of New Zealanders contacted authorities to hand in their guns within hours of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announcing a ban on military-style weapons following the Christchurch mosque massacres, police said yesterday.

But police also said that some people were trolling their

website with “fake” applications to hand in weapons covered by the ban, which took effect at 3pm Thursday. In the first 20 hours after the ban took effect, nearly 500 people had called a special hotline set up by police for people to arrange the gun hand-ins, Assistant Police Com-missioner Tusha Penny said. More than 1,000 people also notified police online that they wanted to give up their guns.

N Korea pulls out of inter-Korean liaison officeAFP SEOUL

North Korea pulled its staff out of an inter-Korean liaison office yesterday, Seoul said, weeks after leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with US President Donald Trump ended without agreement.

The office in the Northern city of Kaesong was opened in

September as the two Koreas knitted closer ties, but the South’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung told reporters Pyongyang had “notified the South they are pulling out of the liaison office”.

The decision had been taken “in accordance with an order from an upper command”, he said, adding: “They said they didn’t care whether we stayed

at the liaison office or not.” The South’s President Moon Jae-in was instrumental in brokering talks between the nuclear-armed, sanctions-hit North and Washington, Seoul’s key security ally.

Moon has long backed engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table, and has been pushing the carrot of inter-Korean development

projects, among them the restarting of an industrial zone also in Kaesong and lucrative cross-border tourist visits by Southerners to the North’s pic-turesque Mount Kumgang.

But the sanctions currently in place effectively block their resumption, while a preliminary study for a plan to renovate the North’s decrepit rail system was repeatedly delayed.

Bali police shoot dead Russian after robberyAFP DENPASAR, INDONESIA

Bali police shot dead a Russian man after a violent robbery at a money exchange office, officials said yesterday, with two more accomplices arrested and several others on the run.

The killing happened on Tuesday on the Indonesian holiday island after police responded to calls about a robbery and confronted the armed trio, officials said.

Three men, including the man who was later killed, broke into a currency exchange office and beat several employees inside, knocking them unconscious.

When they woke up, they were tied with their mouths taped, police said, adding that the employees eventually freed themselves and called the authorities.

The police managed to locate the suspects who had fled, but when they wanted to arrest the men one of the suspects wanted to attack the officers.

“Our unarmed officer tried to fight back, but because the sit-uation was very dangerous to our members, another officer who was armed took strict measures against the suspect... he then died,” Denpasar police

chief Ruddi Setiawan told reporters. The Russian embassy confirmed one of its citizens was shot dead in Bali.

“During a fight with police who were trying to arrest them, one Russian citizen was shot dead,” it said on its Facebook account. “Two others — one Ukrainian and one Russian — were detained.” The arrested Russian was also wounded, the embassy said, adding that four others linked to the crime are still on the run, but “their nation-ality is unclear”.

The embassy said the gang was suspected of robbing another money changer in December and, separately, stealing weapons. It did not elaborate. Nearly $70,000 in Indonesian rupiah and US cur-rency were reportedly stolen, according to police, who named the dead man as 45-year-old Alexei Korotkikh.

Foreigners are often arrested for drugs offences in Bali, which attracts millions of visitors to its palm-fringed beaches every year.

But arrests for violent crime are more rare. In January, Bali police apprehended four Bul-garians accused of skimming bank card data at several ATM machines in the capital Denpasar.

China probes factory blast after 47 deadAFP YANCHENG, CHINA

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered local governments yesterday to prevent any more industrial disasters after a chemical plant blast left 47 people dead, injured hundreds and flattened an industrial park in the latest such catastrophe to hit the country.

Thursday’s explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng, Jiangsu province was one of the worst industrial disasters to hit China, with Xi acknowledging that the country has seen a rash of major accidents in recent years.

Xi — who is on a state visit to Italy — urged “all-out efforts” to rescue those trapped and to identify the cause of the accident “as early as possible”, according to the official news agency Xinhua.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, has established a team to investigate the explosion, with State Councilor Wang Yong headed to the scene to lead rescue and

response efforts, state media said. The explosion toppled several buildings in the industrial park and caused a huge fire that raged through the night, while rescuers

scrambled to find survivors in the wreckage of the plant owned by a company with a chequered past. The windows of homes a few kilometers away were shattered.

An aerial view shows damaged buildings after an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China’s eastern Jiangsu province yesterday.

Two powerful cyclones spinning towards north Australian coastAP CANBERRA

Two powerful cyclones are blowing towards Australia’s sparsely populated north where around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the east coast of the Northern Territory ahead of strong winds, mountainous waves and flooding rain that are forecast.

Cyclones are frequent in Australia’s tropical north and rarely claim lives. But two such large storms as Cyclones Trevor and Veronica crossing land on

the same weekend is rare. Bureau of Meteorology manager Todd Smith said that Trevor is expected to cross the east shore of the Northern Territory today morning as a Category 4 storm. It had sustained winds of 130km per hour with gusts to 185kph yesterday afternoon. Gusts of 275kph are expected around the eye when the cyclone makes landfall. The Northern Territory communities nearest the expected landfall were evac-uated, with most of the 2,000 or so residents going to the pro-vincial capital, Darwin.

Moro leader pushes for federal structureANATOLIA ANKARA

Philippines’s Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) sought action by country’s president to ensure that promises made on federalism are fulfilled, local media reported.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said if ongoing efforts towards a federal structure were to fail and fighting were to ensue, he and Nur Misuari — the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) — would die fighting each other. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said

the two leaders held a meeting last on Tuesday where Nur Misuari pressed for the feder-alism initiative, the daily Manila Bulletin reported.

The newspaper said Misuari hoped to retrieve the lands seized from the Moros by the central government.

“President Duterte recently revealed that Misuari threatened to ‘go to war’ if the shift to fed-eralism will not be pursued,” Panelo said.

Quoting Duterte’s remarks that the country would celebrate if the transition came to fruition, he said the president also

underlined that the government would “fight back” if the MNLF were to clash with the gov-ernment. Panelo said both sides “want peace” and would soon start discussions on federalism.

“The President has proposed the two parties to create their respective five-member panels to tackle the proposed shift to federalism,” he added.

Panelo noted that Duterte had told Misuari that the final proposal for federalism was still subject to congressional ratifi-cation. “I am confident that there will be an agreement, a modus vivendi between the two sides

and we will have peace in Mindanao,” he said. Mindanao forms a large island of Mindanao with smaller islands in the southern Philippines dominated by Moro Muslims.

Autonomous government A historic referendum was held on January 21 and February 6 in southern Mindanao granting autonomy to Moro Muslims.

On February 26, Prime Min-ister Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim of the newly formed autonomous region took his post from the central government’s regional governor in an official ceremony.

As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands — including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wounded survivors — stood in a park opposite the mosque where the killing began, as the nation of 4.5 million came to a standstill.

“Not thoughts. Not prayers. Action,” urged Ted Deutch, a Democratic congressman from Florida where a deadly school shooting last year galvanized a youth gun control movement, but produced no tangible change to federal laws.

JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI

08 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019VIEWS

New Zealand banned assault weapons. In US, it’s more complicated

New Zealand’s swift ban on semi-automatic weapons after the Christchurch mas-sacre showed how political

courage can spur change, but in gun-obsessed America, lawmakers and activists desperate to curb firearm vio-lence looked on with both admiration — and bitterness.

“Not thoughts. Not prayers. Action,” urged Ted Deutch, a Demo-cratic congressman from Florida where a deadly school shooting last year galvanized a youth gun control movement, but produced no tangible change to federal laws. The speed of New Zealand’s response — days after a white supremacist slaughtered 50 people at two mosques — stood in stark contrast to the congressional inaction that has followed a string of horrific mass shootings in the United States in recent years.

Nearly 40,000 people were killed by firearms in the United States in 2017 — two thirds of them suicides -- the highest annual toll in five decades, according to government figures.

The numbers suggest Americans should be scrambling to clear the hurdles to combatting gun violence.

Why aren’t they? It’s complicated. “The role of guns in our society is

very, very different. It goes way back as part of our culture, unfortunately,” Democratic congressman John Yar-

mouth told CNN Thursday.

The United States has more firearms than people. Frontier culture and a form of rugged indi-vidualism, forged in the 19th century American settlement westward, persist. Cit-izens can legally carry firearms in some state capitols.

Gun control efforts have

always proved divisive, and Repub-lican lawmakers have been highly successful at preventing what they describe as an assault on their right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

Little has been done at the federal level to rein in gun sales, broaden background checks, or prevent people who may pose a threat from acquiring guns.

Incremental action can take years,

and even the most shocking of mas-sacres can fail to move the needle, partly due to the high threshold in the 100-member US Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance legis-lation. After a gunman slaughtered 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, congres-sional Democrats introduced an expansion of background checks. It failed in the Senate.

Today, a similar background checks bill has passed the Democrat-led House, in the wake of several recent mass shootings including last year’s killing of 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue. But it lan-guishes in the Senate despite an over-whelming majority of Americans sup-porting tightening such checks.

Democratic congressman David Cicilline offered a bleak rationale for why New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern could act so decisively, while Americans appear unable to reduce gun violence.

“Their politicians aren’t bought and paid for by the gun lobby,” Cicilline tweeted. US civilian gun ownership has been a hotly debated, constitutionally protected right for more than two centuries.

Leading the charge to preserve gun rights is the National Rifle Association lobbying group beloved and reviled by opposing cultural forces. NRA spokes-woman Dana Loesch appeared to dismiss Ardern’s action as antithetical to America. “The US isn’t NZ. While they do not have an inalienable right to bear arms and to self defense, we do,” Loesch wrote.

Gun control advocates say the NRA exerts powerful influence on US lawmakers by donating millions to their campaigns and giving letter-

grade ratings on gun issues. “The @NRA is already exploiting

the New Zealand tragedy and subse-quent legislative actions to try and juice gun sales in the US,” warned Shannon Watts, founder of gun safety group Moms Demand Action.

Senator Bernie Sanders — one of several 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls who spoke out in praise of Ardern — called for Americans to stand up to the gun lobby.

“We must follow New Zealand’s lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States,” Sanders tweeted.

President Bill Clinton signed an assault weapons ban in 1994, but it came with a 10-year sunset, and renewal efforts failed.

Republican Donald Trump had initially appeared ready to challenge the NRA after the Parkland shooting claimed 17 lives in Florida last year, supporting a rise in the minimum age to buy assault rifles from 18 to 21, and more expansive background checks.

But the president -- who cham-pioned gun rights during his campaign -- subsequently backed away from federal action on either front, and three months later appeared on stage before a cheering crowd at the NRA’s annual conference.

Still, advocates believe progress is possible. The March for Our Lives movement that emerged after Parkland is galvanizing youths and changing American attitudes.

Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said she and others are inspired by New Zealand’s response.

“Most Americans are looking at New Zealand and saying ‘Why can’t we do this in the US as well?’” she said,

JEROME TAYLOR AFP

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Just as humanity fought against anti-

Semitism after the Holocaust disaster, it should fight against

rising Islamophobia in the same determined

fashion.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkish President

Pay careful attention to the risk of changes in global economy

Won’t this situation cause the risk of an economic slowdown? Now is the time for careful

discernment.The government has revised down

its assessment of the economy for the first time in three years in its monthly economic report for March.

It has changed its statement assessing the overall economy from “mildly recovering” to “mildly recov-ering although weakness is seen recently in exports and some parts of production.”

This seems to have stemmed mainly from the economic slowdown in China, which is a major trading partner of Japan. Exports of electronic parts and other products are sluggish, thus putting a brake on companies’ production.

If this slowdown in exports con-tinues, it could cool corporate capital investment. The government states it is highly likely that the economic

expansion period marked in January is the longest in postwar history. Yet doubt about that view is growing stronger. The government and the Bank of Japan should levelheadedly analyze the economic circumstances while avoiding prejudgment.

Uncertainty over the situation abroad, such as the trade friction between the United States and China and issues related to Britain’s exit from the European Union, could also weigh on the economy.

BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has presented a view that the Chinese and European economies will improve in the latter half of this year. In contrast, no optimism is warranted about the future of the U.S. economy due to the nation’s political turmoil. It is nec-essary to pay the utmost attention to changes in the world economy.

The key is how to vitalize domestic demand.

Consumer spending, which accounts for the greater part of Japan’s gross domestic product, lacks strength. Substantial pay raises were realized in

such industries as logistics and retail, which are suffering from serious labor shortages, but it is a cause of anxiety that moves to raise wages are slow in the manufacturing industry in particular.

Companies with ample financial resources are steadily increasing wages. They also keep making future-oriented investments to increase pro-ductivity. The government backs the creation of new industries through deregulation and priority budgetary allocation. It is hoped the government and the private sector will coordinate with each other to shore up the economy.

The consumption tax rate is scheduled to undergo a hike in October. In order to ease consequent financial burdens on households, the government is planning to take such measures as introducing a reduced tax rate system and a reward-point program. It is necessary to implement these measures smoothly to minimize possible adverse impacts on consumer spending

Among hundreds of business-to-business meetings between Qatari and foreign farm-based companies, an important project to plant one million trees in Qatar as part of the efforts to support the global initiative on climate change and sustainable environment was also unveiled at the AgriteQ 2019.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

A productive exercise

With a number of new initiatives launched and new business deals matured, 7th International Agricul-tural Exhibition (AgriteQ) and Qatar’s First Inter-

national Environmental Exhibition (EnviroteQ) has concluded. As many as 51 countries participated in AgriteQ, an annual event, which is very important for local market and Qatari farmers where famous international companies showcase their agricultural products and latest farming technologies.

Among hundreds of business-to-business meetings between Qatari and foreign farm-based companies, an important project to plant one million trees in Qatar as part of the efforts to support the global initiative on climate change and sus-tainable environment was also unveiled at the AgriteQ 2019.

The one million trees project aims at utilising treated sewage water for irrigation, reducing the wastage of water, enhancing biological diversity, improving air quality, increasing greenery to reduce carbon footprint.

The Minister of Municipality and Environment H E Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Subaie said that in recent years Qatar had paid great attention to the development of the

country’s wealth, including agri-cultural sector.

The Minister pointed out that the Ministry had provided all means to support agricultural producers by distributing agri-cultural support materials, green-houses, honey bee cells, and agri-cultural production requirements such as seeds, fertilizers, pesti-cides, marketing packages and others, while livestock breeders were supported by concentrated feeds and animal production requirements such as milk and sheep wool cutting machine among many more.

During four-day exhibition, the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment (MME) also revealed its ambitious ‘Strategic Food Security Projects 2019-2023’ to increase food production including fish, veg-etables, red meat, eggs and shrimps aimed at reaching a level of suffi-ciency by 2023.

The projects will help increase the production of fish from the current 74 percent to 90 percent and vegetables from 24 percent

to 70 percent by 2023. The production of red meat will go up from the current 18 percent to 30 percent and eggs will increase from 28 percent to 70 percent. Qatar will become self-sufficient in shrimp production by 2023 and green fodder production will increase from 56 percent to 63 percent.

A day before conclusion of the exhibition, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and Qatar Development Bank (QDB) launched an initiative to encourage the production of table eggs in Qatari farms. Director of Animal Wealth Department at the MME, Engineer Abdulaziz Al Zeyara, said that the aim of the joint initiative was to achieve food security in Qatar, pointing out that the idea was aimed at allowing Qatari farmers to set up table egg production projects within registered farms, financed by QDB, and contributing to an increase in egg production and achieving food security.

People gather to form a “ring of peace” around a mosque to show solidarity with the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand, in Toronto, Canada, yesterday.

The election is the latest step in a long game laid out by the coup-makers, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which overthrew the elected government in May of 2014.

09SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 OPINION

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Ghana journalists fear ‘rule of jungle’after attacks

Thailand’s vote of tomorrow will not matter

STACEY KNOTT AFP

DAVID STRECKFUSS AL JAZEERA

Ghana’s reputation as a beacon of media freedom in an otherwise turbulent region has come under

threat following a spate of attacks on journalists.

Earlier this month, reporter Raissa Sambou was rushed to hospital after allegedly being assaulted by

police in the capital Accra. Two of her colleagues were also attacked.

This came just two months after unknown gunmen shot dead an undercover reporter.

Ghana prides itself as being one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.

The West African nation is ranked 23rd in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index -- first place in Africa, and higher than Spain, France, Britain and the United States.

But that high ranking is now in jeopardy.

Muheeb Saeed, a programme officer with the Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA), said they were “deeply concerned” about the latest attacks.

“It has the potential to induce self censorship amongst journalists and thereby kill the fight against cor-ruption,” he said.

The most notorious case involves the January murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale. He worked for Tiger

Eye, which exposed deep-seated cor-ruption in West African football and Ghana’s judiciary.

Other attacks include the 2015 murder of a radio reporter and another alleged assault by police in 2018, which left photographer Latif Iddrisu with a fractured skull.

The Ghanaian Times reporters said they were attacked for filming an altercation with the police over a traffic offence in the capital on March 14. One of them said he was beaten and left injured in a cell, before even-tually being taken to hospital.

Sambou, who is recovering from a Caesarean section, was allegedly hit in the stomach and required medical treatment.

The editor of the Ghanaian Times, David Agbenu, said he had never seen such a level of violence against the media in his 26 years’ experience.

The Ghana Journalists Association said it considered the assault “bar-baric in an era of rule of law when the police are supposed to be law enforcers rather than law breakers”.

“This incident must not be added to the list of unresolved cases of assault against journalists by police officers. This culture of impunity must end now!” it added.

“Twenty-seven years (since the end of military rule), it is important for the police to appreciate that we live under the rule of law and not the rule of the jungle.”

On Wednesday, the police said three officers accused of involvement in the attack had been suspended. The publication wants police to bring criminal charges.

But lawyer Samson Anyenini said securing a criminal prosecution against the police was rare in Ghana.

“Oftentimes we do not have so much trust in the criminal process,” he said, adding that civil cases seemed a more reliable way to secure justice

in attacks on the media. “The state is not interested in pur-

suing its own people,” said Anyenini, who has represented the media in civil cases against the state.

He is planning to sue the police on behalf of photographer Iddrisu and his company. The Ghanaian Times is also looking to bring a civil case.

According to local media, there have been no criminal prosecutions in more than 20 attacks against the press by police and the military since 2006. Many of the incidents appeared to be around journalists filming or photographing security personnel on the job.

Ghana Police spokesman David Eklu said these reports were “a major issue of concern” but pointed out that there were often no complaints filed.

While there is no law preventing the filming of police on duty in Ghana, Eklu said this was a “grey area” with concern about privacy and fears videos would be doctored.

The Committee to Protect Jour-nalists (CPJ) Africa researcher Jonathan Rozen said it was investi-gating reports of the latest “violent altercation”.

“Press freedom in Ghana cannot flourish when journalists are repeatedly attacked and impunity prevails,” he added.

Hussein-Suale’s boss, Anas Are-meyaw Anas said he had become dis-illusioned with the hunt for his slain colleague’s killer that he had started his own probe into the shooting.

The distinctive undercover reporter, who never appears in public without his face covered, accused the police of “apathy”.

“People are not forceful enough,” he said in an interview with the Inter-national Press Institute, suggesting powerful figures in football were “making sure that we don’t find the killer”.

The people of northeast Thailand have learned to be resilient. More than a century ago, local power was lost to

Bangkok which viewed their eth-nicity, language, and culture as bar-barian. They have been accused of being socialists and communists, and suspected of harbouring republican sentiments. The region is the poorest economically and Northeasterners have long been characterised in popular culture as backwards, buf-foonish, uneducated, and gullible.

And yet, over the last two decades, the people of this region have been the strongest advocates of democracy and human rights. The political parties they have supported have won every national election since 2001. They are resilient because in the same period three times the party they sup-ported was dissolved by the courts. Twice their prime ministers have been removed by court order. And twice they have been overthrown by military coups.

This region, with a third of the Thai population, has another chance to direct the country’s future through

the general election scheduled for March 24. Campaign rallies, many with tens of thousands attending, are now commonplace in the region.

But behind all the cheering and flag waving at rallies in the Northeast, also known as “Isaan”, there is also a grim acceptance that the election laws and the new constitution are designed to frustrate the will of the majority. If these legal obstructions prove inade-quate, the military government has other tricks up its sleeve if the vote goes terribly wrong.

The election is the latest step in a long game laid out by the coup-makers, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which over-threw the elected government in May of 2014.

The first step in the plan was to bring into effect a constitution that would weaken larger parties and create conditions for unstable coa-lition governments to be elected.

The 2017 constitutional amend-ments allow the Thai military to appoint the 250-seat senate in its entirety, which, along with the 500-seat House of Representatives, votes

on the appointment of prime minister. This means that the army-backed NCPO can give the premiership to anyone of their liking (such as current prime minister and coup leader, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha) if they win just a quarter of the House seats.

The amendments also linked the constitution to a 20-year strategic plan that would make any policy that is not in line with it unconstitutional and create a supra-government body over any government until 2038.

The second step was for the mil-itary government to use its absolute power to pursue popular policies that could win the hearts and minds of the majority, with the help of a loyal media sector.

The third step was to set out restrictive election laws that could be used to remove opposition figures or parties. At present, one democratic party has been dissolved, the lead-ership of another party could be jailed, and the Pheu Thai party, the largest of the parties aligned with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra, is under investigation for allegedly having Shinawatra control its affairs from abroad.

All the democratic parties in the meantime are tiptoeing around, trying to avoid violating any election laws.

The NCPO succeeded in passing a largely undemocratic constitution but with a weak economy and limp pol-icies to address rural problems, the military government has failed to win much support, especially in the Isaan, where the latest poll for the region indicates its Palang Pracharat Party is projected to get only 11 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, the same poll showed that an overwhelming majority will vote for democratic, anti-military parties.

Political “revenge” seems to be on the mind of many voters in the northeast. Despite the playing field skewed against them, it is expected they would come out en masse to inflict a humiliating blow to the NCPO.

At the same time, insiders of pro-democracy camp say in a matter-of-fact way that they expect their parties to be dissolved or otherwise crippled in some way. They have no illusions about this election. At best, the pro-democracy parties will be able to cobble together enough of a majority in the House and form a government that will find itself restricted by the 20-year plan, various constitutional provisions, and a senate poised to defeat any

The West African nation is ranked 23rd in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index -- first place in Africa, and higher than Spain, France, Britain and the United States. But that high ranking is now in jeopardy.

attempts to amend the constitution.

A less ideal scenario is a demo-cratic coalition winning the elec-tions but failing to secure enough seats in the House to prevent Prayuth from becoming prime min-ister. The majority in that case would strangely become the majority opposition against a minority government. One potential chink in NCPO’s plan is the consti-tutional provision on no-confidence vote: they are left entirely in the hands of the House, which means the so-called majority opposition could vote the prime minister and his cabinet out of power.

The worst outcome, perhaps most expected by Northeasterners, is that in desperation, the NCPO elects the nuclear option: to use the constitutional court to eliminate as many opposition leaders or parties as possible, eventually, maybe, giving its candidates and other pro-military parties a majority in the house.

Whichever way this election goes, it is clear that its outcome will likely be an unworkable government.

But this does not necessarily bother the Northeastern political leaders. After all, they have learned patience and perseverance.

The military government will likely take extreme measures to prevail in the upcoming election. Let them, Isaan people say. Every action they take in this direction will only serve to further delegit-imise the military government and pave the way for a free and fair election.

It is that one that will really count and that the northeast will surely dominate.

Future Forward Party’s secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul gestures during the party’s final major campaign rally in Bangkok, yesterday.

10 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019EUROPE

EU leaders grant UKBrexit extensionREUTERS BRUSSELS

European Union leaders warned Britain yesterday that it had a final opportunity to leave the bloc in an orderly fashion after giving Prime Minister Theresa May two weeks’ reprieve until April 12 before Britain could tumble out without a deal.

Arriving for a second day of a summit dominated by talks over Britain’s departure, Bel-gium’s prime minister said he hoped for a “rational” decision by British lawmakers to back the withdrawal treaty that May con-cluded with Brussels.

Preparations for a no-deal, in which Britain would face sudden trade barriers and restrictions on business, still were underway, however, Charles Michel said.

“This is perhaps the last chance for Britain to say what it wants for the future. More than ever, this is in the hands of the British parliament,” he said, adding that the 27 EU leaders were not blind to the risks of a no-deal.

Seven hours of summit brain-storming on Thursday kept a host of options open for leaders, who said they regret Britain’s decision to leave but are eager to move on from what they increasingly see as a distraction.

A first-ever leaders dinner debate over the EU’s China policy at the summit was delayed until Friday, for example.

May, who met leaders at the summit but missed out on the dinner because the 27 were forced to focus on Brexit rather than China, originally wanted to be able to delay Britain’s departure until June 30 to tie up legislative loose ends.

But now, a May 22 departure date will apply if parliament

rallies behind the British prime minister next week. If it does not, Britain will have until April 12 to offer a new plan or choose to quit the bloc without a treaty.

That date corresponds to the six weeks’ legal notice required for the EU election — which the bloc would insist Britain hold on May 23 if it remains a member. If it does not hold the election, leaders said, the very last date Britain must leave would be June 30, before the new EU par-

liament convenes. “We wanted to support May

and we showed that,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. “It was an intensive, but successful evening.”

A senior EU official said the key achievement was to shift the focus of responsibility to London from Brussels.

May did not attend the

second day of the summit but returned to London to seek support for the withdrawal agreement.

French President Emmanuel Macron argued at the summit that if the leaders left their decision until late next week, they would be seen as either pushing Britain out or blinking at their own deadline.

Instead, they have pushed the trigger back to Britain, which will be confronted by a choice by April 12 on whether to hold an EU election as part of a long-term rethink or prepare to quit by May 22, or possibly in June, without a deal.

“Everything is now in the hands of the House of Commons. That’s the message,” a senior EU official said.

The details of exactly how

and when Britain would leave on or after April 12 are still somewhat vague.

It might leave abruptly at midnight (2200 GMT) on that Friday night. But EU officials said it could also agree a date with the EU to leave later, deal or no deal.

That could give some weeks to make a no-deal exit somewhat less chaotic, though the EU will refuse attempts to try and emulate the smoothness of the withdrawal treaty.

It would also try to insist on Britain being out by May 22 to avoid any problems over the EU election on May 23-26, but some leaders indicated that they could cope with Britain leaving any time until June 30 — before the new European Parliament con-venes on July 2.

European leaders posing for a family photo at the end of an EU summit focused on Brexit, in Brussels, yesterday.

Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel said that the 27 EU leaders were not blind to the risks of a no-deal.

Petition to cancel Brexit passes 3 million signaturesANATOLIA LONDON

In the two days since it was posted on parliament’s official petition website, more than 3 million people have signed a petition asking the British government to cancel Brexit.

The number climbed dra-matically in the less than 36 hours it was opened for signing, leading the Petitions Com-mittee to tweet: “The rate of signing is the highest the site has ever had to deal with.”

The petition received more than a quarter of a million sig-natures shortly after it was put

online Wednesday, and caused parliament’s petition webpages to crash more than once.

The petition reads: “The government repeatedly claims ‘exiting the EU is the will of people.’ We need to put a stop to this claim by proving the strength of public support now for remaining in the EU. A peo-ple’s vote may not happen - so vote now.”

The European Court of Justice previously ruled that UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — the section of the treaty Britain invoked to leave — and stop Brexit to remain in the bloc.

Utrecht attack suspect claims he acted alone: ProsecutorsAP UTRECHT

The main suspect in a deadly shooting in a tram in the central Dutch city of Utrecht has confessed to the attack and said he acted alone, prosecutors announced yesterday.

The shooting is being inves-tigated as a possible extremist attack, but prosecutors would not say if the suspect, Gokmen Tanis, has said anything about his motive.

“The 37-year-old suspect this

morning confessed the criminal acts he is charged with” at a hearing before an investigating judge, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Prosecutors did not elaborate on the confession and said the motive for Monday’s attack, which left three people dead and three more seriously wounded, remains under investigation.

Tanis, a Utrecht resident of Turkish descent, was arrested hours after the shooting and is being held on charges including multiple murder or man-

slaughter with terrorist intent.Prosecutors have said that

the suspect, who has a long criminal record, did not know any of those who were shot on the tram, according to their investigations so far.

They said the nature of the shooting and a note found in a getaway car led to strong suspi-cions of an extremist motive.

In a statement on Thursday, the local prosecution office said investigations also are con-tinuing into whether the sus-pect’s actions “flowed from

personal problems combined with a radicalised ideology.”

The team investigating the shooting has asked a forensic psychiatry and psychology institute to carry out a person-ality test on the suspect.

At yesterday’s behind-closed-doors hearing, an inves-tigating judge extended Tanis’ detention by two weeks so that investigations can continue. In a statement, the court said the judge ruled that “the suspicion is strong enough to detain the man for longer.”

A 40-year-old man who was detained a day after the shooting has been released without charge after no evidence was found that the man helped Tanis in the shooting, prosecutors said.

Later yesterday, a silent march was held from Utrecht’s main railway station to the inter-section where the shooting hap-pened in a show of solidarity with the victims.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the mayors of the Netherlands’ four biggest cities took part.

‘Bus hijacker wanted kids as human shields for escape’AFP ROME

The driver of a school bus who torched the vehicle to protest Mediterranean migrant deaths planned to use his young passengers as human shields and escape to Africa, Italian media yesterday quoted him as saying.

“I wanted to get to the runway at (Milan’s) Linate airport using the children as human shields and from there head to Africa by plane,” Cor-riere della Sera daily quoted

Ousseynou Sy as telling investigators.

“I didn’t want to harm anybody,” insisted the 47-year-old of Senegalese origin, who hijacked the bus Wednesday while taking 12-13 year-olds from a gym to school in Crema, east of Milan.

Armed with two petrol can-isters and a cigarette lighter, Sy threatened the youngsters, took their telephones and told the adults to tie them up with electric cable.

Their 40-minute ordeal

ended when police managed to smash windows open and get those on board out just as Sy set fire to the vehicle.

Sy now faces having his Italian citizenship, obtained through marriage in 2004, revoked.

According to the Corriere della Sera, Sy has told investi-gators he hates white people for having “invaded and colonised” Africa, forcing Africans to emi-grate and “die in the Mediterranean”.

Alberto Nobili, head of

Milan’s counter terrorism police, said Sy had posted a video on Youtube with the message: “Africa, rise up.”

Media reports quoted him as saying he had no regrets as “it was something I had to do and would do again, 100 times. Why did I do it? To send a signal to Africa”.

He reportedly said that Italy’s impounding Tuesday of migrant rescue ship “Mare Jonio” off the Italian island of Lampedusa with 48 people aboard had been a tipping point for him.

German police foil terror plot, 11 arrestedAFP BERLIN

German police arrested 11 people yesterday accused of having planned an “IS terrorist attack” using guns and a vehicle, prosecutors said.

The suspects, whose nationalities were not specified, had plotted to “kill as many ‘non-believers’ as possible,” Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement.

Some 200 police com-mandos carried out raids in Hesse and Rhineland-Palat-inate states.

The main suspects were two brothers aged 31 from the city of Wiesbaden and a 21-year-old from Offenbach.

They had allegedly made contact with various arms dealers, rented a large vehicle and amassed cash to cover the expenses.

Police were investigating 10 of those detained for terror-financing and criminal con-spiracy. They were aged between 20 and 42.

During the raids, police con-fiscated several knives, more than $22,000 in cash, small amounts of drugs and written and electronic documents.

Germany is on the alert fol-lowing several jihadist attacks in recent years. The most deadly was committed in 2016 by Tunisian Anis Amri, who killed 12 people when he stole a truck and ploughed it through a Berlin Christmas market.

Catalan govt backs down over pro-independence bannersAP SPAIN

Catalonia’s regional government yesterday removed eye-catching pro-independence banners from its head-quarters in Barcelona, hours before police were due to take them down on orders from the country’s electoral board.

Workers removed a large banner from a balcony on the front of the cen-turies-old palace, which said in Catalan and English “Free political prisoners and exiles.”

That referred to the prosecution and self-imposed exile of Catalan separatist leaders for their role in a failed attempt to declare independence in 2017.

Elected officials and public institu-tions are prohibited from expressing support for one particular party or ide-ological position during a campaign period.

Spain’s general election is on April

28.On Thursday, the regional gov-

ernment removed a different banner which displayed a yellow ribbon symbol used to express support for the prisoners.

The electoral board deemed the ribbons to be an unacceptable “tool of political propaganda” and ordered their removal earlier this month.

But Quim Torra, Catalonia’s regional president who always wears a small yellow ribbon in his lapel, asked for more time to do so and argued that it was an issue of free speech.

Meanwhile, opposition parties chided the socialist government for not taking a harder line with the secessionists.

The public prosecutor’s office announced Friday it is opening an inves-tigation into Torra’s conduct for pos-sible disobedience.

Torra has said he will challenge the electoral board’s order in court.

A banner reading “Free political prisoners and those exiled” bearing a white ribbon with a red brush stroke replaces an older one bearing a yellow ribbon on the balcony of the Generalitat, in Barcelona, yesterday.

Spain plans to bring back worker who left during crisis AFP MADRID

Spain’s Socialist cabinet approved a plan to persuade some of the roughly one million workers who left the country during its 2008-2013 economic slump to return home.

Among the 50 measures included in the two-year plan are scholarships and grants for scientific researchers and lower social security payments for selected workers, the gov-ernment said in a statement.

The plan also calls for the creation of an online search engine for job opportunities in Spain and a web-site which will make it easier to complete the bureaucracy related to moving back to the country.

The plan will cost $27.5m and the government hopes it will lead 23,000 Spanish workers to move back to Spain, government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa said. “These people left, with their talent and training which Spain gave them, most of them seeking opportunities that they could not find in their own country.”

11SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 EUROPE/ AMERICAS

Man pleads guilty to mailing bombs to DemocratsAFP NEW YORK

A supporter of President Donald Trump pleaded guilty to mailing crude bombs to prominent Democrats including former president Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Cesar Sayoc, 57, who was arrested in Florida in October, pleaded guilty to 65 counts and could face life imprisonment at his sentencing in September.

Appearing in court in a blue prison jumpsuit, and with his hair pulled into a gray ponytail,

he apologised for his actions during an appearance in a US District Court in New York.

Reading a statement pre-pared with his lawyers, he admitted he fashioned the

homemade devices from mate-rials including plastic piping, a digital alarm clock with electric wiring attached, fireworks and glass fragments.

“I know these actions were wrong and I am sorry,” he told the court.

The slew of charges relates to 16 package bombs Sayoc sent from a Florida post office to leading Democrats as well as the Manhattan offices of CNN.

Besides Obama and Clinton, those targeted included bil-lionaire George Soros, former president Bill Clinton, former vice president Joe Biden, actor

Robert De Niro and several Dem-ocratic lawmakers, including 2020 presidential hopefuls Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.

None of the packages exploded and most did not come anywhere near their intended recipients.

“Our democracy will simply not survive if our political dis-course includes sending bombs to those we disagree with,” said General John C Demers, Assistant Attorney for the National Security Division. “I applaud the efforts of so many in our law enforcement community whose alertness and tirelessness led to

the prompt arrest of defendant.”Sayoc had initially been

charged with 30 counts, already putting him at risk of life in prison. His guilty plea does not guarantee a more lenient sentence — but Judge Jed Rakoff stressed he did not have to hand down a life sen-tence in September.

A former club manager and bodybuilder and martial arts practitioner, Sayoc was an ardent supporter of Trump, who has rejected accusations that his rhetoric fuels extremism.

Sayoc, who lived in a white truck plastered with pro-Trump and anti-Democrat stickers, was

arrested in Florida five days after the first device was discovered in Soros’s upstate New York mailbox.

The episode heightened political tensions in the lead-up to the November 6 US midterm elections, which saw Democrats gain control of the House of Rep-resentatives while Republicans retained control of the Senate.

Police found Sayoc’s finger-prints and DNA on the packages.

Sayoc has a criminal record dating back to 1991, peppered with convictions for theft, fraud, violence and a threat to blow up his electric utility company.

Trump intensifies effort to discredit Mueller reportAP WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump yesterday intensified his attacks on special counsel Robert Muel-ler’s Russia investigation in his latest effort to undermine the findings in Mueller’s highly antic-ipated report, saying “people will not stand for it.”

The probe is widely expected to end in the coming weeks, but Trump was focused on its begin-nings rather than its conclusion, complaining about Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosen-stein’s appointment of Mueller in May 2017. Rosenstein appointed the special counsel after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“I have a deputy, appoints a man to write a report on me, to make a determination on my presidency,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network. “People will not stand for it.”

Trump bemoaned that the

special counsel was “best friend” to Comey, who succeeded Mueller as FBI director. There’s no evidence the two are close friends.

Mueller was appointed fol-lowing the recusal two months earlier of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That action entangled Rosenstein, whose memo castigating Comey was cited by the White House as jus-tification for his firing. In addition, Rosenstein didn’t appoint Mueller to write a report — that’s simply the ordinary course of action laid out in the special counsel regulations.

The president, speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before leaving for meetings at his Florida estate, again repeated his claim that “There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. Everybody knows it. It’s all a big hoax. It’s all a witch hunt.”

Guessing when Mueller’s report will be turned over to the Department of Justice has become a popular Washington parlor game, though the special counsel has not officially

indicated that his probe is in its final stages. Justice Department regulations require only that Mueller give the attorney general a confidential report that explains the decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. That could be as simple as a bullet point list or as fulsome as a report running hun-dreds of pages.

Attorney-General William Barr is required only to say the investigation has concluded and describe or explain any times

when he or Rosenstein decided an action Mueller proposed “was so inappropriate or unwar-ranted” that it should not be pursued. After Mueller turns in his report, Barr has said he will draft a second one for congres-sional and public consumption.

Trump and his allies have spent nearly two years trying to discredit Mueller. But the pres-ident has grown increasingly confident the report will produce what he has insisted all along: no

clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his 2016 campaign. And Trump and his advisers are considering how to weaponise those possible findings for the 2020 race, painting the probe as a failed coup while railing against inves-tigations launched by House Democrats.

Even if Mueller’s final report does not implicate the president in criminal conduct, the investi-gation was far from fruitless.

Cesar Sayoc’s guilty plea does not guarantee a more lenient sentence — but Judge Jed Rakoff stressed he did not have to hand down a life sentence in September.

Grenade thrown at Russian Consulate in AthensAP ATHENS

Assailants suspected of belonging to a left-wing militant group threw a hand grenade at the Russian Consulate in Athens yesterday, causing minor damage and no injuries, Greek authorities said.

Police sent a bomb disposal team to the consulate after cameras showed two people on

a motorbike throwing a small object in the early hours of the morning at the fence beside the consulate’s security guard post, reportedly causing minor damage. No security guard was at the post at the time.

Police cordoned off the area around the consulate, located in a suburb north of the city centre. Greece’s counter-terrorism police were investigating the attack.

The foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the attack, which it said would not affect “the traditional and inher-ently long-term friendly rela-tions ... with Russia.” it said a thorough investigation would be carried out to catch the perpetrators.

Authorities were examining a motorbike found partially burned in a central Athens neighbourhood.

Police searching the area outside the Russian Consulate, in Athens, yesterday.

German minister urges sanctions on EU states flouting principlesREUTERS BERLIN

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the European Union should cut funding and impose sanctions on members which pass laws that contravene

core EU principles such having an independent judiciary and freedom of the press.

Maas told German broad-caster ZDF that countries like Romania, Hungary and Poland received more EU funding than they provided, so curtailing that

could provide important leverage.

“There are basic core prin-ciples that all must respect,” Maas said on a ZDF programme. With members that breach them, “we’ll have to investigate if that should have financial conse-

quences,” he added.Cutting funding “is the only

language that is understood there,” he said of countries which pass laws to restrict freedom of the press, for instance.

The European Parliament’s main centre-right bloc voted on

Wednesday to suspend the Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban amid con-cerns it had violated EU prin-ciples on the rule of law.

Orban, who took power in 2010, has tightened controls over Hungarian public life, including

the courts, the media and the economy, as well as education and now scientific research.

The EU is also at odds with Poland and Romania over legal steps that critics say undermine the rule of law and other core European values.

Hurricane, border mission strain US Marines’ budgetAP WASHINGTON

A number of unexpected costs, including major hurricane damage repairs and unplanned deployments to the US-Mexico border, are forcing the Marine Corps to cancel training exer-cises and will degrade combat readiness, the top Marine general warned.

Gen Robert Neller said in a memo this week to the Navy secretary that the Marines have pulled out of three military exer-cises and cut equipment main-tenance. And he warned that Marine participation in more than a dozen other exercises will also be cancelled or reduced and other cuts will be needed if the service doesn’t get budget help.

The problem, said Neller, is “imposing unacceptable risk” to Marine Corps combat readiness.

“Marines rely on the hard, realistic training provided by these events to develop the indi-vidual and collective skills nec-essary to prepare for high-end combat,” Neller said in the memo sent to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer. “Although some effects can be mitigated, the experience lost by these units at a critical

time in their preparation cannot be recouped.”

In the memo, Neller asks Spencer for help getting funding freed up for Marine priorities.

Neller lists nine unplanned factors that led to the problem, but the Marine Corps said that, by far, the most significant issue forcing the training cuts is the widespread hurricane damage.

About $3.5bn in damages was done to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and surrounding facilities by Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

Neller said that earlier hopes that Congress might approve requests to move larger amounts of money around in the budget now appear unlikely. He called the situation in North Carolina critical, noting that hurricane season begins in June and Marines and sailors are working in “compromised structures” that must be repaired quickly.

The Defense Department is seeking more than $2bn in funding for hurricane damage in the 2020 fiscal year budget. But Neller said Marine Corps needs more than $600m in this current fiscal year to do those needed repairs and address other shortfalls.

Members of the press wait outside one of the office buildings used by independent prosecutor and former FBI director Robert Mueller, in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Two Indiana cops charged in beating of handcuffed manAP ELKHART

Two Indiana police officers who are seen on video repeatedly punching a handcuffed man were charged with a federal civil rights crime.

Cory Newland and Joshua Titus of the Elkhart Police Department were indicted by a grand jury on a charge of depriving Mario Ledesma of his rights through excessive force. Police video shows them punching Ledesma after he spat at Newland while sitting hand-cuffed in a chair at the police station in January 2018.

Newland and Titus have been on leave since November and have pleaded not guilty to separate state charges. A message seeking comment was left with Elkhart police yesterday.

“The FBI won’t tolerate the abuse of power or victimization of citizens by anyone in law enforcement,” said Grant Mendenhall, who heads the FBI in Indianapolis. “The alleged actions by these individuals went against everything in the oath they took to serve and protect.”

AP ORLANDO

It turns out there’s a “Florida Man” in all of us.

A social media challenge is encouraging people to look up what version of Florida Man they are based on their birthdays.

Florida Man has become shorthand for a unique brand of news story mined from the Sunshine State that usually involves guns, drugs, booze or reptiles — often in startling combination.

The challenge asks people to run their birthday and “Florida Man” through a search engine to find out which Florida Man headline pops up. Then, like all good things, they must post the result on social media.

The challenge has become a social media sensation, which isn’t surprising given that the Florida Man concept crept into the nation’s consciousness with the @_FloridaMan Twitter account in 2013.

The Twitter account, with the tagline “Real-life stories of the world’s worst superhero,” has been home to recent head-lines such as “Florida Man Fire Bombs Garage That Impounded His Car, Hits His Own Vehicle.”

‘Florida man’ social media challenge becomes viral

12 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019AMERICAS / CLASSIFIEDS

South America nations form new regional blocREUTERS SANTIAGO

A group of South American leaders signed a declaration yesterday to create a bloc they say is open to any country, regardless of ideology, to collab-orate on solving regional problems.

Presidents from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru attended the summit in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

Chile and Colombia had led the push for the new ‘Prosur’ political grouping after criticism that a previous bloc, Unasur, failed to take action on crisis-stricken Venezuela.

“This will be a forum with a

firm and clear commitment to democracy, freedom and a respect for human rights,” said Chilean President Sebastian Pinera fol-lowing the signing ceremony.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was not among the leaders invited to meet in Santiago yesterday.

Some leaders have criticised the organisers for leaving out Maduro and instead inviting Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, recognized by many countries as head of state after he assumed the interim

presidency in January. Guaido did not send a representative to the summit.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close ally of Maduro, and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez also did not attend.

Unasur was created in 2008 when leftist populism advocated by Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez was at its strongest in South America. But in recent years, the bloc has been para-lysed by divisions as center-right governments have risen to power.

Ecuador President Lenin Moreno, Chile President Sebastian Pinera, Argentina President Mauricio Macri, Peru President Martin Vizcarra and Colombia President Ivan Duque during the Prosur summit, at the Presidential Palace La Moneda, in Santiago, Chile, yesterday.

Chile and Colombia had led the push for the new ‘Prosur’ political grouping after criticism that a previous bloc, Unasur, failed to take action on crisis-stricken Venezuela.

Driver in Canada hockey bus crash jailed for 8 yearsREUTERS OTTAWA

The driver who caused the deaths of 16 people on a rural Canadian road in Saskatchewan after crashing his truck into a bus transporting a junior hockey team was sentenced yesterday to eight years in prison, Canadian media reported.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 30, pleaded guilty in January to 29 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death or bodily harm, saying he did not want to make things worse by proceeding with trial.

The prosecution had asked for 10 years. The defence had made no recommendation but cited cases whose sentences ranged from 18 months to four years, according to CBC News.

The Humboldt Broncos hockey team was on its way to a playoff game before the crash last April, which killed players, staff, a radio announcer and the bus driver.

Yesterday, at the hearing, Judge Inez Cardinal read out nearly 100 victim impact state-ments, a reporter Jason Warick posted on Twitter.

Along with the sentence, Sidhu’s driver’s licence was also suspended.

US adds $3.7bn in support to finish new N-reactorsAP SAVANNAH

Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced that the Trump administration has finalised $3.7bn in new loan guarantees to support completion of the first new US commercial nuclear reactors in a generation, calling the expansion of nuclear energy “the real” Green New Deal.

The expansion of Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia has

fallen years behind schedule while its price tag has nearly doubled since the government approved two new reactors at the plant in 2012. But Perry said the administration is determined to see the project finished despite the setbacks.

“The message that gets sent on this plant: America is back in the nuclear energy industry, folks,” Perry told workers in hardhats. “We are back. We’re going to be leading the world.”

President Donald Trump has singled out both the country’s nuclear and coal industries for support from his administration, although the more politically influential coal sector has gotten most of the regulatory breaks so far.

The Green New Deal pushed by some Democrats has served to boost interest in nuclear power, which doesn’t emit greenhouse gasses that con-tribute to global warming.

US announces new Venezuela sanctionsAP PALM BEACH

The Trump administration announced additional sanc-tions for Venezuela in response to what it describes as the illegal arrest of opposition leader Juan Guaido’s chief of staff.

The Treasury Department announcement came while the President Donald Trump met with leaders from five Car-ibbean nations, where Vene-zuela was at the top of the agenda. The region has been far from united in joining the US call for the ouster of Pres-ident Nicolas Maduro.

The department is specifi-cally targeting Venezuela’s national development bank, BANDES, and four additional subsidiaries that BANDES owns or controls.

“The regime’s continued use of kidnapping, torture, and murder of Venezuelan citizens will not be tolerated by the US or the international coalition that is united behind President Guaido,” said Treasury Sec-retary Steven Mnuchin. “Roberto Marrero and other political prisoners must be released immediately.”

The US had already sanc-tioned scores of top Vene-zuelan officials and has blocked US banks from doing business with that country, imposing a financial strangle-hold on the cash-strapped nation. The sanctions announced yesterday also came as members of Con-gress from both parties con-demned Marrero’s arrest.

“The international com-munity is closely watching Maduro’s actions and will respond accordingly to any that threaten the safety of the oppo-sition and Interim President Juan Guaido,” said Rep Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

Trump is hosting the leaders of Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic and St. Lucia at his Mar-a-Lago club to show his support for Caribbean countries that back democratic transition in Venezuela. The five have either denounced Maduro or joined more than 50 countries in recognising Guaido as the rightful interim leader of the nation.

Trump told the leaders as the meeting kicked off that he would be “discussing ways that we can be beneficial to you and you can be beneficial to us.”

13SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 CLASSIFIEDS

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Saturday 23 March 2019

PAGE | 15 PAGE | 15Pound up,but still faces pressure

Chinese President in RomeChinese President Xi Jinping and Italian President Sergio Mattarella shake hands after addressing a forum of businessmen, at the Quirinal Palace, in Rome, Italy, yesterday.

China trade deal likely,says TrumpREUTERS WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said trade negotiations with China were progressing and a final agreement “will probably happen,” adding that his call for tariffs to remain on Chinese imported goods for some time did not mean talks were in trouble.

Trump, in a television interview aired yesterday, also said he expected to keep a 25 percent tariff on European light trucks amid separate ongoing trade talks with the European Union, but that companies could avoid it by building factories in the United States.

The Trump administration is engaged in ongoing trade talks with both the European Union and China as part of the Repub-lican president’s “America First” agenda. Top US officials are headed to Beijing in coming days, with a summit possible between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to seal any final deal.

“The European Union ... frankly, treats us as badly as China,” Trump told Fox Business Network.

“Our deal is coming along very well. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said regarding China. “I think the deal will probably happen. I think they need it very badly.”

Asked about his remarks earlier this week about US tariffs on Chinese goods staying in place for a period of time and whether that meant there was a snag in the nego-tiations, Trump said, “No, not at all.”

Trump then segued to the European auto sector, including trucks. “We get a 25 percent tariff on that segment - that’s our

best segment by far. And yes, we will absolutely be able to keep it - not only keep it going, I really think we have tremendous potential,” he told the network in the interview, which was taped on Thursday.

“I’ll tell you what the end game is. They’ll build their plants in the United States and they have no tariffs,” Trump added. Then, asked if he would agree to zero tariffs, he said: “I would do it for certain products, but I wouldn’t do it for cars.”

Shares of German auto-maker Daimler jumped briefly after the interview.

The United States in July agreed not to hit EU car imports with extra tariffs while the Washington and Brussels sought to improve economic ties, but the U.S. ambassador to the EU on Thursday said Europe was falling short in trade talks.

Additionally, the US Com-merce Department has given the White House a report regarding the legal basis to impose steep tariffs on cars on national security grounds.

Asked if autos and auto parts posed a security risk, Trump said: “well, no.”

“What poses a national security risk is our balance sheet. We have to have -- we need a strong balance sheet. Otherwise you don’t have national security,” Trump added. “We’re straightening it out.”

GM plans $1.8bn US investment after Trump criticism

German bond yield crashes below zero for first time since 2016 on bleak dataREUTERS LONDON

Germany’s 10-year government bond yield yesterday turned negative for the first time since October 2016, as a survey showing German manufac-turing contracted for a third straight month fuelled concern about a widespread European slowdown.

Germany’s 10-year bond yield fell almost five basis points to -0.014 percent.

It has tumbled around ten basis points this week alone amid uncertainty regarding Brexit and as the Federal Reserve ruled out raising interest rates this year. The weak German purchasing man-agers survey data only added to the gloomy outlook for global growth, giving bond yields a fresh push lower on Friday.

IHS Markit’s flash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index measuring activity in German services and manufacturing,

which together account for more than two-thirds of the economy, fell to 51.5 in March, its lowest reading since June 2013.

The broader euro zone PMI showed that businesses across the entire euro zone have per-formed much worse than expected this month with factory data contracting at its fastest pace in nearly six years, hit by a big drop in demand.

The euro extended its losses tumbling more than half a percent to below $1.13 on the day, while Europe’s STOXX 600 index fell to a session low and was on track for a weekly drop of 0.7 percent.

Other euro zone bond yields also fell sharply, with French 10-year bond yields also at their lowest since October 2016, and down around five basis points. The move was more pronounced at the long-end however, with German and French 30-year bonds down eight basis points to 0.60 percent and 1.35

percent, putting both on track for their largest one-day fall since December 2016.

Other 30-year bond yields were down around five basis points, as investors looked for yield further down the curve.

“The narrative behind it isn’t a big surprise... But the size of the surprise is fairly material. These things happen very rarely, and the surprise is what matters the most for market activity,” said Antoine Bouvet, rates strategist at Mizuho.

Germany’s 10-bond yield last hit zero percent on October 21, 2016, when Mario Draghi dispelled market concerns about tapering and said the ECB remained committed to its asset purchase programme.

“We think Bund yields can now certainly revisit the minus 0.15 percent area which refo-cuses investor concerns about the growth trajectory,” said Rabbani Wahhab, senior fixed income fund manager at London and Capital.

Palladium’s hot rally may be coming to an endBLOOMBERG LONDON

Palladium has been one of the hottest commodities for a while now, but analysts think this year may be the time to book profits.

Prices have rallied to fresh records on tighter supplies of the material mainly used in gasoline vehicle autocatalysts. But analysts surveyed by Bloomberg see the metal ending the year 15 percent lower than now, partly as shortages are priced in and car sales in key markets slow.

Prices have jumped in recent years as autocatalyst manufacturers scrambled to get hold of the metal to meet more stringent emissions controls, particularly in China. That’s also helped fuel even bigger gains in lesser known sister metal, rhodium. For palladium, scarce supplies have created a lucrative business where investors lease out metal from exchange-traded funds to meet demand.

“Palladium is the most overrated precious metal,” said Georgette Boele, co-coordi-nator of FX and precious metals strategy at ABN Amro Bank NV. “First, the shortage is more than reflected in the price. Second, prices don’t yet reflect the weaker outlook on the global car sector.”

Palladium may fall to about $1,350 an ounce by year-end, down from $1,583 now, according to the average estimate of nine analysts sur-veyed by Bloomberg. That would wipe out much of the 25 percent rally so far this year. Three analysts expect prices to end the year higher than now.

Demand for autocatalyst metals has been even more supportive for rhodium, which is much less liquid and not traded on an exchange. Prices are up 34 percent this year to $3,300 an ounce, according to Johnson Matthey Plc.

Top US officials are headed to Beijing in coming days, with a summit possible between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to seal any final deal.

BLOOMBERG MICHIGAN General Motors Co. committed to investing $1.8bn at plants in six states and to creating 700 new jobs, as the largest US auto-maker looks to ward off months of criticism by President Donald Trump.

The bulk of the new jobs will go to a factory in Michigan where GM plans to add pro-duction of another fully electric vehicle. The carmaker will spend $300m and add 400 workers at the plant in Orion Township, north of Detroit, where the Chevrolet EV will be built alongside the Bolt model. Factories in states including Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas will also boost their

workforce. “This is an industry that is under just dramatic transformation,” Chief Exec-utive Officer Mary Barra (pic-tured) said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “So we’re taking the steps and

being responsible to make sure that we can continue to grow in these areas, and continue to have a strong US manufacturing base that creates a lot of good paying jobs.” The moves may help assuage Trump, who’s

attacked GM over its decisions announced in November to idle an Ohio plant and four other underutilized factories in the US and Canada. As part of a broader restructuring that’s also affecting salaried employees, the company is cutting or displacing upwards of 14,000 jobs.

“No one wants Trump tweeting negatively about them, but General Motors has demon-strated that it is going to run its business,” said Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst at car-shopping researcher AutoTrader. “This is a significant investment in GM’s e lectr i f icat ion future .” Addressing Ohio Barra addressed Trump’s barbs about GM ending production in Lord-stown, Ohio, by talking about

how many people continue to work for the company outside of that plant.

“We still have 4,000 jobs and 4,000 employees in four additional Ohio plants,” Barra told reporters. “We spend more than $6bn in Ohio every year. GM is committed to supporting manufacturing, including in Michigan and Ohio.” The United Auto Workers won’t be pacified easily. Terry Dittes, the vice president who oversees the union’s GM department, said he will still fight to save factories in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland that face uncertain futures due to a lack of future product to build.

“There is hardship among four of our locations and we’ve made it clear that we disagree

with that,” Dittes said when he took the podium after Barra spoke. “These four plants will not be forgotten.” Dittes said that even the sedan plant in Detroit-Hamtramck that GM has com-mitted to keep open only until the end of 2019 has a shaky future. The challenge for the UAW is that even if the auto-maker closes all four of the plants that have no product allo-cated for the future, several other plants aren’t busy enough right now to warrant adding more workers.

“We’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen with other GM plants, like Detroit-Hamtramck,” AutoTrader’s Krebs said. “There are still some plants that are underutilized. What will they do with those?”

We’re taking the steps and being responsible to make sure that we can continue to grow in these areas, and con-tinue to have a strong US manufacturing base that creates a lot of good paying jobs.”

Deutsche Bank chief paid $8m as top bosses

gain first bonuses for four years

15SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 BUSINESS

REUTERS FRANKFURT

Deutsche Bank paid its management board members their first bonuses in four years in 2018, with Christian Sewing’s (pictured) €7m ($8m) total package making him one of the best paid chief executives in European banking.

Deutsche Bank’s politically sensitive pay disclosures, which were revealed in its annual report yesterday, come as it contem-plates a merger with Com-merzbank, which unions fear could lead to up to 30,000 job cuts.

Sewing, who became CEO in April last year, led Deutsche Bank to its first profit in four years and is heading the talks with Com-merzbank. He earned €2.9m for 2017.

His 2018 pay was higher than that of CEOs at several other major European investment banks, including HSBC’s John Flint and Barclays boss Jes Staley.

However, the Deutsche Bank CEO received less than his Credit Suisse counterpart Tidjane Thiam, who received 12.65 million Swiss francs ($12.7 million).

Deutsche Bank’s annual report also revealed that its man-agement board received total pay, including bonuses, of €55.7m in 2018, up from €29.8m a year earlier.

The overall bonus pool for 2018 was €1.9bn, down 14 percent from €2.3bn a year earlier, partly as a result of a reduction in headcount, Deutsche Bank said.

Bonuses are a sensitive issue

in Germany, where many politi-cians and public opinion are critical of high pay and Anglo-Saxon style capitalism.

Fabio De Masi, a prominent leftist lawmaker in the German parliament, said that anyone who can pay 1.9 billion in bonuses does not need to cuts jobs.

“The board doesn’t have all their wits about them,” De Masi said.

Gerhard Schick, finance activist at Finanzwende and a former member of the German parliament, questioned Deutsche Bank’s bonuses if they were meant as incentives for good performance.

“It adds to the negative overall picture of the bank, which is reeling from scandals and now

apparently wants to plunge into a bad merger,” Schick said.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Deutsche Bank has paid large fines for past misdeeds, including a $7.2bn US penalty in 2017, spooking clients.

Last year it was ensnared in a money laundering scandal involving Danske Bank and its offices were raided over two days in November in relation to a sep-arate inquiry.

Litigation costs are expected to be “significantly higher” in 2019 than in 2018, Deutsche Bank said in the report.

John Cryan, Sewing’s prede-cessor, received €8.7m in sev-erance pay and a €2.2m payment to compensate him for what he could earn with a competitor.

Last year’s management reshuffle, which involved Cryan and three other board members, was costly for Deutsche Bank, which paid a combined€ 25.8m in severance and restraint on competition fees for the four executives, figures in the annual report and provided by the bank revealed. Garth Ritchie, head of Deutsche’s investment bank, was the highest paid board member with earnings of €8.6m last year.

Deutsche Bank pared down the investment bank last year, particularly in the United States, as part of efforts to cut costs.

An executive with Blackrock, a major investor in both Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, said that a merger between the two lenders “will not work” if the “objective in this operation is to try yet again to create a large, US-inspired investment bank operation”.

Pound up,but still faces pressure AFP HONG KONG

The pound rose yesterday but was struggling to claw back its latest losses after the EU gave Britain a Brexit deadline extension, while equity markets were boosted by a positive lead from Wall Street.

At a summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Theresa May was given until April 12 to push her divorce agreement through a fractious par-liament next week. If she manages to get it passed, the exit date will be pushed back until May 22.

The sterling has come under pressure owing to the uncertainty in the past few days, falling to as low as $1.3004 Thursday, though it has recovered slightly and is still main-taining its position, helped by this week’s dovish outlook on interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

However, OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley (pictured) remained wary. “The investor com-munity continues to price the pound as if a no-deal Brexit is not possible, looking for excuses to buy rather than sell,” he said in a note.

“A close look at the text of the EU announcement suggests this is not a guaranteed outcome.” The Bank of England on Thursday expressed concern that further “uncertainties” over a “cliff-edge” no-deal Brexit “could have a significant effect on spending” by businesses.

Deutsche Bank chief paid $8m as top bosses gain first bonuses for four years

Sewing, who be-came CEO in April last year, led Deut-sche Bank to its first profit in four years and is heading the talks with Commerz-bank. He earned €2.9m for 2017.

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

CROSSWORD

Manou the Swift features Kate Winslet, Willem Dafoe as the seagull ... Known for their visual effects for films as Wes Anderson’s The Grand.

MANOU THE SWIFT

Captain Marvel (2D/Action) 11:15am, 1:45, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15 & 11:45pm;Wonder Park (2D/Animation) 10:30am, 12:30, 2:30 & 4:30pm; Hotel Mumbai (2D/Thriller) 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pm; Ottam (2D/Malayalam) 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30pm; US (2D) 1:30, 6:30 & 11:30pm

AL KHOR

ROXY

ASIAN TOWN

Captain Marvel (2D/Action) 11:30am, 3:30, 6:20, 8:30 & 11:30pm; Kesari (2D/Hindi) 10:30am, 1:45, 5:00, 6:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm; Ottam (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 1:00, 3:40, 8:50 & 11:30pm; US (2D) 10:30am, 1:00, 2:00, 3:30, 6:00, 9:00 & 11:30pm; Wonder Park (2D) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:15 & 5:30pm

Ottam (2D/Malayalam) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00pm; Mr & Ms Rowdy (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm; An International Local Story (2D/Malayalam) 5:00, 11:00pm; June (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 8:00pm; Kumbalangi Nights (2D/Malayalam) 8:00pm; Koda-thisamaksham Balan Vakkeel (2D/Malayalam) 2:30, 5:00 & 11:00pm; Mard Ko Nahin Hota (2D/Hindi) 6:00pm; Tolet (2D/Tamil) 8:30pm; Ispade Rajavum Idhaya Raniyum (2D/Tamil) 11:00pm

Ottam (2D/Malayalam) 2:15pm; Mard Ko Nahin Hota (2D/Hindi) 4:45 & 9:15pm; Ulan (2D/Tagalog) 7:15pm; Hotel Mumbai (2D/Thriller) 9:15pm; Badla (2D/Hindi) 11:30pm; Manou The Swift (2D/Animation) 2:00 & 5:15pm; Five Feet Apart (2D/Romance) 7:00pm;US (2D/Horror) 9:15pm; Wonder Park (2D/Ani-mation) 3:45pm; Captain Marvel (2D/Action) 11:30pm; Badla (2D/Hindi) 2:30pm; The Brand New Adventures Of Aladdin (2D/Comedy) 5:00pm; Damascus Aleppo (2D/Arabic) 7:00pm; Tolet (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm.

Ottam (2D/Malayalam) 2:30pm; Manou The Swift (2D/Animation) 5:00pm; Five Feet Apart (2D/Romance) 6:45pm; Damascus Aleppo (2D/Arabic) 9:00pm; June (2D/Malayalam) 11:15pm; Wonder Park (2D/Animation) 3:00pm; The Brand New Adventures Of Aladdin (2D/Comedy) 5:00pm; Mard Ko Nahin Hota (2D/Hindi) 9:15 & 11:30pm; Badla (2D/Hindi) 2:30pm; Tolet (2D/Tamil) 5:00 & 11:30pm; Hotel Mumbai (2D/Thriller) 9:15pm; US (2D/Horror) 7:00pm; Captain Marvel (2D/Action) 7:00pm.

Captain Marvel (Action) 2D 11:50, 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50pm 3D 2:20, 7:20pm & 0:20am; Five Feet Apart 11:40am, 4:20, 8:50 & 11:10pm;Greta (2D/Thriller) 11:25am, 1:35, 6:15, 8:25, 11:35, 10:20pm & 0:30am; Hotel Mumbai (2D/Thriller) 11:10am; 1:40, 4:10, 6:40, 9:10 & 11:40pm; Kesari 12:20, 3:30, 6:35, 9:40pm & 0:45am; Ulan 10:40am, 12:45, 2:50, 4:55, 7:00, 9;10 & 11:25pm; US (2D) 2:00, 3:30, 7:50, 10;10pm & 0:30am;Wonder Park (2D/Animation) 10:15am, 12:10, 2:05, 4:00, 5:55 & 6:50pm

MALL

LANDMARK

FLIK Mirqab Mall

Ottam (2D/Malayalam) 2:30pm; Manou The Swift (2D/Animation) 3:00pm; Mirai (2D/Animation) 5:00pm; US (2D/Horror) 7:00 & 11:30pm; Captain Marvel (2D/Action) 5:00 & 9:15pm; The Brand New Adventures Of Aladdin (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm; Badla (2D/Hindi) 4:30 & 11:30pm; Hotel Mumbai (2D/Thriller) 7:00pm; Damascus Aleppo (2D/Arabic) 9:15pm; Five Feet Apart (2D/Romance) 7:15pm; Ulan (2D/Tagalog) 9:30pm; Tolet (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm.

ROYAL PLAZA

Yesterday’s answer

FIG WORLD CUP: TODAY’S FINALS

SPORTSaturday 23 March 2019

PAGE | 17 PAGE | 19Osaka

advances; Nishikori falls

in Miami

Kohli vs Dhoni as RCB meet CSK in IPL opener

My preparation

for this event was

not good enough

which is why I am

very happy to win

a gold. I had some

little injuries that

prevented me

from doing other

competitions. But

now I am really

happy to be back

on the podium.

I wasn’t really

anxious as I was

comfortable out

there and I knew

I could do it. I just

did what I usually

do in training:

Nina Derwael

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Derwael, Carey strike gold in DohaFAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Nina Derwael and Jade Carey yesterday stole limelight on the first day of finals at FIG ART Indi-vidual Apparatus World Cup in Doha, winning gold medals to consolidate their chances of qual-ifying for Tokyo Olympics.

Five gold medals were decided at the Aspire Dome yes-terday, which saw a full house of fans backing their favourite gym-nasts. Secretary-General of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, Qatar Gymnastics Federation President, Ali Al Hitmi and Qatar Swimming Association President, Khaleel Al Jabir were among the spectators.

Belgium’s Derwael, as expected, won gold medal in uneven bars after claiming 15.033 points. It was a typical Derwael performance as she kept things dangerous and doing them com-fortably. The gold medal helped the Belgian leapfrog to third position in overall rankings of uneven bars with 60 points.

She is now behind Chinese pair of Lyu Jiaqi (75) and Fan Yilin (65) in race to getting Olympic berth in the discipline.

Derwael, who will turn 18 on Tuesday, was delighted with her third triumph of her career in Doha.

“My preparation for this event was not good enough which is why I am very happy to win a gold,” Derwael, who also won a gold at World Championships in Doha last year, said.

“I had some little injuries that prevented me from doing other competitions. But now I am really happy to be back on the podium. I wasn’t really anxious as I was comfortable out there and I knew I could do it. I just did what I usually do in training,” she said.

The teenager hailed Doha as one of her favourite venues, saying she will return from the Qatari capital with m o r e g o o d memories.

“I am really happy to be back here, I have won gold thrice now in Doha. I am going to prepare for the European champi-onship now,” said Derwael.

“I am very excited a b o u t T o k y o Olympics. The Belgian team

still needs to qualify as a team so we are going to do try and do that at the World Championship in Stuttgart this year,” she added.

Yilin (14.933) took the silver medal while Russia’s Anastasiia Iliankova (14.700) secured bronze medal in the event.

Meanwhile, American star Carey clinched gold to make it a brace of victories in vault within a week. Carey, who had won both vault and floor gold at the Baku World Cup last week, maintained her top form to complete her hat-trick of gold medals.

The 18-year-old controlled her landing perfectly to top score with 14.833 points, finishing ahead of Russian Maria Paseka (14.766) and Frenchwoman Coline Dev-illard (14.549).

Yesterday’s win boosted Carey’s World Cup series ranking points to 85, putting her first in the vault race for Olympics qualifications.

“I think it was a really good performance”, the ever smiling Carey said.

“It is cool to be in Doha, after missing last year’s World Cham-pionships. I am happy that I made both vaults, especially the first one, because it is the first time I have tried it in competition. I am looking forward to final on the floor”.

The 43-year-old Oksana Chusovitina finished fifth with 13.866 points. The Uzbek, who has competed in seven Olympic Games, is gunning for her eighth appearance as she looks to book her place at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Chih-Kai claims gold; heartbreak for China’s

Ruoteng

In men’s pommel horse final yesterday, world bronze medallist

Lee Chih-Kai of Chinese Taipei pipped former world

champion Kohei Kam-eyama of Japan on

basis of superior difficulty scores, after both earned 15.400 points apiece. Kameyama’s

countryman Kaito Ima-

bayashi took bronze after

tallying 15.333 points.

China’s Zou Jingyuan, the reigning Asian Games gold med-allist, missed out on a medal after he missed his hand placement and came off early on. He also tumbled for a second time to finish seventh 12.866.

However, China also received a gold medal, yesterday when Xingyu Lan emerged as the undisputed winner with 15.100 points. The Armenian duo of Artur Tovmasyan and Vahagn Davtyan were second and third respectively.

Earlier, Alexander Shatilov of Israel was the first winner of the day, earning first place on the floor with 14.633 points with Spain’s Rayderley Zapata coming on second place with 14.333 points.

The World Championships bronze medalist, Philippine’s Carlos Yulo was only third (14.266), after his impressive p e r f o r m a n c e i n t h e qualification.

The Chinese star Xiao Ruoteng disappointed his fans, since he managed only seventh place in the

competition after a fall and a couple of mistakes on his programme.

Derwael, Carey eye brace of gold in Doha

Today five more finals will be played bringing an end to the four-day event, which is being held for the 12th consecutive year

in Doha. Epke Zonderland will be seen in action on horizontal bar as the Dutch star hopes to repeat his gold medal-winning per-formance in Doha after his triumph in World Championships last November.

Derwael will vie for second gold as she will compete in balance beam while Carey will feature in the floor exercise final.

MEN

PARALLEL BARS

Ferhat Arican (Turkey) Mitchell Morgans (Australia) Vasili Mikhalitsyn (Belarus) Matteo Levantesi (Italy) Jingyuan Zou (China) Vladislav Poliashov (Russia) Andrei Likhovitskiy (Belarus)

Phuong Thanh Dinh (Vietnam)

HORIZONTAL BAR

Alexey Rostov (Russia) Randy Leru (Cuba)Hidetaka Miyachi (Japan) Milad Karimi (Kazakhstan) Epke Zonderland (Netherlands) Shudi Deng (China) Carlo Macchini (Italy) Tin Srbic (Croatia)

VAULT

Jorge Vega Lopez (Guatemala) Christopher Remkes (Australia) Wei-Sheng Tseng (ChineseTaipei)Giarnni Regini-Moran (Great Britain) Hakseon Yang (Korea) Artur Davtyan (Armenia) Igor Radilov (Ukraine) Marian Dragulescu (Romania)

WOMEN

BALANCE BEAM

Nina Derwael (Belgium) Marine Boyer (France) Adela Sajn (Slovenia) Hua-Tien Ting (Chinese Taipei) Yumika Nakamura (Japan) Qui Li (China) SoyFinalska Hanawa (Japan) Aneta Holasova (Czech Republic)

FLOOR Coline Devillard (France) Vanessa Ferrari (Italy) Kim Bui (Germany) Varvara Zubova (Russia) Marta Pihan-Kulesza (Poland) Lara Mori (Italy) Jade Carey (USA) Marine Boyer (France)

MEN’S FINALS

FLOOR EXERCISE

1.Alexander Shatilov (Israel) 14.6332.Rayderley Zapata (Spain) 14.4333.Carlos Yulo (Philippines) 14.266

POMMEL HORSE

1.Chih Kai Lee (Chinese Taipei) 15.4002.Kohei Kameyama (Japan) 15.4003.Kaito Imabayashi (Japan) 15.333

STILL RINGS

1.Xingyu Lan (China) 15.1002.Artur Tovmasyan (Armenia) 14.8333.Vahagn Davtyan (Armenia) 14.825

WOMEN’S FINALS

VAULT

1.Jade Carey (USA) 14.8832.Maria Paseka (Russia) 14.7663.Coline Devillard (France) 14.549

UNEVEN BARS

1.Nina Derwael (Belgium) 15.0332.Yilin Fan (China) 14.9333.Anastasia Iliankova (Russia) 14.700

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Gold medallist Jade Carey (centre) poses along with silver medallist Maria Paseka (left) and bronze medallist Coline Devillard after the medals ceremony for women’s vault event, yesterday.

4

Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali Al Hitmi (centre, front), along with QGF officials poses with medal-winning gymnasts of men’s still rings event.

Nina Derwael celebrates with her gold medal.

Lee Chih-Kai of Chinese Taipei (centre), Kohei Kameyama (left) of Japan and his compatriot Kaito Imabayashi pose with their medals.

17SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 SPORT

Qatargas Chess: Gowtham clinches Rapid title as Indian players shineTHE PENINSULA DOHA

India’s Gowtham Ramamoorthy yesterday clinched the Qatargas Rapid Chess Tournament title, scoring a brilliant score of nine points from as many rounds at Al Mirqab Mall in Doha.

Building on his overnight lead, which the U-10 chess star shared with his compatriot Anupama Sumith Aman after three rounds on the opening day of the event, Gowtham went on to sweep all five of his games yesterday to top the standings.

Rayyan Firdaus of Malaysia collected eight points out of eight games to win the second place ahead of Indian U-12 player Chris Mathews, who bagged seven points to finish third.

India’s Gireesh Shivapriya secured fourth spot ahead of De Joya Yuri Evgeni from the Phili-phines who booked the fifth place.

Jayachandran R. Madhav, Benov Anith, Allen Tom, Biju Adithya and Sharvesh Balagi com-pleted the top 10 standings as India accounted for eight out of the 10 best players of the tournament.

Ali Al Saadi, Abdulla Al Homaid and Taleb Saeed Dahman were adjudged the Best Qatari Boys of the tournament while

Rawda Qassabi, Layan Qassabi and Aisha Al Khelaidi were named Best Qatari Girls.

The Rapid Chess Tournament for youth (U-16) was part of the 6th Qatargas Chess Championship, organised by the Qatar Chess Association.

Today, the Qatargas Open Blitz Tournament will take place at the same venue, starting at 10.30am and will be carried out over nine rounds.

The Blitz Open Tournament will be conducted according to the Swiss System, same as the junior event, consisting of nine rounds.

The closing ceremony and the award presentation will begin at 6.30pm.

QATARGAS RAPID CHESS TOURNAMENT

FINAL RANKING 1: Ramamoorthy Gowtham (IND)2: Firdaus Rayyan (MAS)3: Mathews Chris (IND)4: Gireesh Shivapriya (IND)5: De Joya Yuri Evgeni (PHI)6: Jayachandran R. Madhav (IND)7: Benov Anith (IND)8: Allen Tom (IND)9: Biju Adithya (IND)10: Sharvesh Balagi (IND)

Qatar down Afghanistan in opener THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar got off to a flying start at the AFC U-23 Championship Thailand 2020 qualifying, defeating Afghanistan 2-0 in their opening game in Doha, yesterday.

The Qatari players looked in good form at the Aspire pitch as they led their opponents right from the start to claim win, which took Al Annabi on top of Group A.

Two goals in the opening 35 minutes proved insurmountable for Afghanistan, as the Qataris made a successful first step in their bid to return to the Finals, where they finished third in 2018.

Boasting a strong line-up featuring AFC Asian Cup-winning stars Bassam Al Rawi and Tarek Salman, Qatar were in the ascendancy from the beginning, and they took lead after a marauding run from Abdurahman Moustafa set up Hassan Ahmad Palang for a close range finish in the 13th minute.

Albert Caballeria’s men con-tinued to pile on the pressure, and they doubled their lead when Al Duhail’s Abdullah Al Ahrak converted a penalty kick

10 minutes before half-time.Afghanistan fought valiantly

after the break, but they were unable to make any inroads on the scoresheet, and they suffered

a late blow when captain Aman-ullah Sardari was shown a second yellow card in the third minute of stoppage time.

Qatar will look to continue

their strong start against Nepal tomorrow, while Afghanistan need a result against Oman to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Earlier, Oman got their qual-ifying campaign up and running, securing three points with a 1-0 win over Nepal in their opening Group A clash in Doha,

yesterday. While an early goal from Yousuf Al Malki proved decisive, Oman squandered a number of chances to extend their lead, particularly in a dom-inant second half display.

The Omanis came into the tie as warm favourites, and took the lead when an overlapping Al Malki found space on the left hand side before beating Nepal goalkeeper Arpan Karki with an accurate low finish on 13 minutes.

Nepal held their own in the minutes that followed, although Oman came closest to finding the net before half-time, with Zahir Al Aghbari hitting the upright in the 34th minute. After the break Oman assumed full control of the tie, but they were persistently thwarted in their search for a second goal, with Karki making a save to deny Muhsen Al Ghassani and then Al Aghbari, while Al Malki sent a thunderous long-range effort into the crossbar.

Qadhafi Al Mahruqi wasted another opportunity when he missed a free header in the dying minutes, but it had no impact on the end result, as Oman ensured they will go into Sunday’s meeting with Afghanistan with three points under their belt.

Qatar U-23 players celebrate a goal against Afghanistan yesterday.

Two goals in

the opening 35

minutes proved

insurmountable

for Afghanistan,

as the Qataris made a successful

first step in their

bid to return to

the Finals, where

they finished

third in 2018.

Osaka advances; Nishikori falls in MiamiAFP MIAMI

World number one Naomi Osaka of Japan opened her campaign at the WTA and ATP Miami Open yesterday by outlasting Yanina Wickmayer 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1.

Since winning her second consecutive Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open, Osaka has failed to go deep in Dubai or Indian Wells.

But she appeared in sold form against 141st-ranked Wickmayer, digging deep after the Belgian forced a third set.

“I had to work hard out there,” Osaka said.

“In the second set, I got really emotional, so in the third, I just tried to shut off my feelings,” she added.

Osaka advanced to a third-round matchup against Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei, who defeated American Alison Riske 6-2, 7-5.

Osaka broke twice for a 3-0 lead in the first set and blitzed through the final set as well to capture her first match in two hours and nine minutes after an opening-round bye.

On the men’s side, there was

disappointment for her compa-triot Kei Nishikori. The fifth seed lost to Serbian Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic take the court in later matches.

Meanwhile, Canadian teenage sensation Bianca Andreescu pulled off a Miami Open great escape by fighting back from a set and match point down to beat a dazed Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in the first round on Thursday.

The 18-year-old who stunned the Tennis world last week by winning her first career title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells raised eyebrows again with a gritty and spirited comeback that underscored her status as a rising star.

“The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory,” Andreescu told reporters.

“I have gained a lot of expe-rience from today, but hopefully I don’t have to actually be down match point to win matches.

“Maybe I needed to almost lose to wake up. That’s obviously what happened today. I’m really grateful how I managed.”

Naomi Osaka of Japan in action against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium (not pictured), yesterday.

PAKISTANImam-ul-Haq c and b Lyon ........................ 17Shan Masood b Coulter-Nile ......................40Haris Sohail not out ...................................101Umar Akmal c Finch b Coulter-Nile .........49Shoaib Malik b Maxwell ................................11Faheem Ashraf c Stoinis b Maxwell ........ 28Imad Wasim not out .................................. 28Extras: (lb1, w 5) ..........................................6Total: (for five wkts; 50 overs) 280

Did not bat: Mohammad Rizwan, Moham-mad Amir, Yasir Shah, Mohammad AbbasFall of wickets: 1-35 (Imam), 2-78 (Masood), 3-176 (Umar), 4-190 (Malik), 5-239 (Ashraf)Bowling: Richardson 8-1-65-1 (1w), Coul-ter-Nile 10-0-61-2 (1w), Lyon 10-0-38-1,

Maxwell 10-0-57-1 (2w), Zampa 10-0-44-0, Stoinis 2-0-14-0 (1w)AUSTRALIA

Usman Khawaja c Malik b Ashraf ............ 24A. Finch c Rizwan b Abbas ....................... 116S. Marsh not out ............................................91P. Handscomb not out ................................ 30Extras: (b4, lb8, w8) ...............................20Total: (for two wkts; 49 overs) .281

Did not bat: P. Handscomb, G. Maxwell, M. Stoinis, A. Carey, N. Coulter-Nile, J. Richard-son, N. Lyon, A. ZampaFall of wickets: 1-63 (Khawaja), 2-235 (Finch)Bowling: Amir 9-0-59-0, Abbas 10-0-44-1, Imad 10-1-50-0 (7w), Ashraf 9-0-50-1 (1w), Yasir 10-0-56-0, Malik 1-0-10-0

SCOREBOARD

Finch century leads Australia to comfortable victory over PakistanAFP SHARJAH

Aaron Finch’s fine century drove Australia to a convincing eight-wicket win over a new-look Pakistan in the first one-day interna-tional yesterday.

The Austraian skipper scored 116 off 135 balls for his 12th one-day international century that helped his team overhaul the 281-run target in 49 overs on a flat Sharjah stadium pitch.

The win gives Australia the lead in the five-match series and has come on the back of their 3-2 series win in India earlier this month.

Finch’s match-winning knock overshadowed Haris Sohail’s maiden one-day hundred (101 not out) which helped Pakistan to 280-5 in their 50 overs.

The 32-year-old smashed Shoaib Malik for a huge six towards deep mid-wicket to complete his century -- his first since June last year against England at Chester-Le-Street -- off 120 balls.

Finch, who knocked four sixes and eight boundaries, added an innings-building 172 runs for the second wicket with Shaun Marsh who scored an unbeaten 91 off 102 balls with four bound-aries and two sixes.

With 46 needed Finch became Mohammad Abbas’s maiden wicket but Peter Handscomb hit 30 not out to help Marsh cross the line.

Finch and Marsh came together after opener Usman Khawaja fell for 24 to medium pacer Faheem

Ashraf, the only other success Pakistan’s new-look bowling attack could achieve.

Pakistan rested six of their key players including regular skipper Sarfraz Ahmed in order to keep them fresh for the World Cup starting in UK from May 30.

But the young and inex-perienced Pakistan led by Malik proved no match for Australia, who are on a roll after their win in India earlier this month.

Left-hander Sohail, who reached 1,000 runs in his 27th one-day international when on 40, anchored Paki-stan’s innings, adding 98 for the third wicket with Umar Akmal who made a 50-ball 48 in his first international match for two years.

Sohail took a single to complete his hundred in the last over, finishing with six boundaries and a six.

Pakistan had handed one-day debuts to opener Shan Masood and Abbas -- who have played 15 and 14 Tests respectively.

Masood put on 35 in an opening stand with Imam-ul-Haq (17) before off-spinner Nathan Lyon dis-missed Imam in the seventh over, caught and bowled.

Masood, who hit five boundaries in his 62-ball 40, was then bowled by paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile who finished with 1-38 in his 10 overs.

Umar smashed three sixes in one Jhye Richardson over but fell one short of his half century.

Malik fell for 11 and Ashraf and Imad Wasim scored 28 each.

The players taking part in Youth U-16 event at Qatargas Chess Championship at Al Mirqab Mall yesterday

Liverpool as champions the stuff of nightmares for RooneyNEW YORK REUTERS

Former Manchester United and Everton forward Wayne R o o n e y ( p i c t u r e d ) has said he cannot b e a r t h e

thought that old foes Liverpool might win the Premier

League title this season.Rooney, who began

his career with Liver-pool’s Merseyside rivals Everton before moving

to Manchester U n i t e d ,

said he

would rather defending cham-pions Manchester City won the league instead.

Liverpool are top of the table with two points more than second-placed City, who have a game in hand.

“It’s a great reason to be out the country when those two are going head-to-head for the title,” Rooney, who now plays for Major League Soccer side DC United, told talkSPORT.

“I hope Man City get over the line before Liverpool. I couldn’t

bear to see them win it, it would be a nightmare for any Evertonian.

“I remember in 2005 (Liv-erpool) won the Champions League and they’re still talking about it now so it would be another 10 or 15 years of that,” he said.

Liverpool have not won a league title in 29 years and ending that drought this season would allow them to move to 19 title wins in the English top flight, one behind United’s record.

18 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019SPORT

Els in the hunt for Maybank Championship titleAFP KUALA LUMPUR

South African Ernie Els surged into contention at the halfway stage of the Maybank Championship yesterday after he posted a 70 to sit two shots behind leader Thomas Pieters.

Joint overnight leader Nacho Elvira lies one shot away from Pieters, with Spaniard Elvira sharing tied second with rank outsider Indonesian Danny Masrin.

But it was Els who got the crowd’s

attention at the Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur with a consistent display under sweltering conditions to sit tied fourth at six-under par 138.

Els, a four-time Major winner, was happy with his position despite the testy conditions.

“It is quite difficult because the winds are swirling a bit. But I happy with my game. Hopefully it’s not too far away tomorrow,” he told reporters.

“Even if you are three or four shots

by Sunday, you have a chance so I am looking forward,” Els added.

Pieters, who started the day in sixth, finished with a three-under par 69 for the slim advantage courtesy of four birdies. Despite the lead, big-hitting Pieters said it was not his best day.

“I struggled off the tee early on, at the end it was a lot better. It didn’t feel like a good day to me, I made the best of what I had,” he said.

Indonesian underdog Masrin, ranked 1,000 on the world rankings, refused to get carried away despite

finishing the day with a 68. “I don’t want to think too much about the scale of the event. I was able to stay focused and my game plan and I did that well.”

American David Lipsky also put himself in the running by ending on tied fourth alongside compatriot Paul Peterson.

Malaysian favourite Gavin Green did well to make the cut after he fin-ished tied-55.

The US$3m event is co-sanctioned by the Asian and European tours.

136 - Thomas Pieters (BEL) 67-69 137 - Nacho Elvira (ESP) 65-72, Danny Masrin (INA)

69-68 138 - David Lipsky (USA) 72-66, Dean Burmester (RSA) 68-70, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 66-72, Ernie Els (RSA) 68-70, Paul Peterson (USA) 70-68, Lucas Herbert (AUS) 69-69, Maximilian Kieffer (GER)71-67

139 - Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 71-68, Scott Hend(AUS) 69-70, Prom Meesawat (THA) 68-71, Zach Mur-ray (AUS) 68-71, Masahiro Kawamura (JPN) 69-70

MAYBANK CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES

F1: Mick Schumacher happy to be compared to his fatherREUTERS BERLIN

Mick Schumacher (pic-tured, above) says he has no problem with people comparing him to father Michael as he prepares for a Formula Two debut in Bahrain next week.

The 19-year-old German is already part of the seven-times world champion’s old Formula One team Ferrari, having joined their driver academy in January.

One rung below Formula One, he won the European F3 title last year.

“Being compared to my father was never a problem for me. It is pretty simple,” he said in a video released by his Prema team, who won the 2017 F2 title with current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

“Being compared to the best driver in F1 history is the goal you want to achieve and to have that as my idol and my father is something very special,” he added.

“I feel honoured to be compared to him because I can just learn and try to improve.”

Michael Schumacher, now 50, has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious head injury in a skiing accident in France in 2013.

The German won five of his titles with Ferrari, the sport’s most glamorous team, between 2000 and 2004 and still holds the record of 91 race wins.

“I can learn so much from Ferrari because they have so much experience,” said Mick.

Being compared to the best driver in F1 history is the goal you want to achieve and to have that as my idol and my father is something very special: Mick Schumacher

I hope Man City get over the line before Liverpool. I couldn’t bear to see them win it, it would be a nightmare for any Evertonian: Wayne Rooney

Belgium and Croatia battle to wins as 2020 qualifying startsAP LONDON

The stars of last year’s World Cup had to dig deep as European Championship qualifying began on Thursday.

World Cup finalist Croatia nearly dropped points against Azerbaijan, only to be saved by a fine curling shot from Andrej Kramaric for a 2-1 win. Belgium needed two goals from Eden Hazard to defeat Russia 3-1 after a costly Thibaut Courtois error allowed the Russians back into the game.

The Netherlands failed to qualify for the last two major tournaments but showed no sign of nerves in a 4-0 win against Belarus. Memphis Depay gave the Dutch an early lead and fin-ished with two goals and two assists.

Even with Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne missing through injury, Belgium took a big step toward qualifying by beating Russia, its main rival in Group I.

Youri Tielemans’ early goal for Belgium was cancelled out when a Courtois gave away the ball in a rare blunder which allowed Russia’s Denis Cheryshev to score.

A new-look Russia team struggled to track Hazard and when defender Yuri Zhirkov tried, he ended up tripping the Belgian and giving away a

penalty which Hazard converted. Belgium could have scored more but for Michy Batshuayi hitting the post and having another shot cleared off the line.

Far away in Central Asia, perennial outsider Kazakhstan celebrated a rare win over an established football nation, beating Scotland 3-0.

Cyprus routed San Marino 5-0 in the third Group I fixture.

Ever since losing to France in the World Cup final, Croatia has struggled to replicate the form of its greatest ever tour-nament showing.

Relegation in the Nations League last year was followed on Thursday by a come-from-behind win over lowly Azerbaijan in Group E.

Azerbaijan - by far the lowest-ranked of all next year’s 12 European Championship hosts - took the lead with a fine solo goal. Ramil Sheydaev sprinted down the right flank in the 19th before striking the ball over the goalkeeper.

Azerbaijan then sat back to defend, frustrating Croatia, who came close with headers from Andrej Kramaric and Luka Modric.

Croatia finally leveled in the 44th thanks to Borna Barisic’s quick reactions to jab the ball in on a rebound.

A moment of skill from Kra-maric finally cracked the tena-cious Azerbaijan defense as he cut in from the left flank and curled the ball in at the far post.

“It was difficult, more than we expected,” coach Zlatko Dalic said.

“We were patient, persistent and deserved this win.”

There was violence ahead of the other Group E game as vis-iting Hungarian fans clashed with Slovakian supporters and police. Slovakia beat Hungary 2-0.

Memphis Depay needed just 50 seconds to score as the Neth-erlands continued its fine form from the Nations League with a straightforward win over Belarus in Group C.

The Dutch failed to qualify for the 2016 European Champi-onship and 2018 World Cup, but are now unbeaten in five games including Nations League wins over the last two World Cup champions, Germany and France.

Depay backheeled a pass from Denzel Dumfries for Georginio Wijnaldum to score in the 21st, then converted a penalty in the 55th. His cross for Virgil van Dijk to make it 4-0 in the final minutes capped a dominant display.

The defender has now scored three goals in his last four games for the Netherlands.

Northern Ireland ended a four-game winless run by beating Estonia 2-0 in the other Group C game. That helps its chances of reaching the European Championship for the second time ever, following a run to the last 16 in 2016.

After a poor 2018 for Poland, its first game of 2019 offered fresh hope in a tight 1-0 win over Austria in Group G.

Poland arrived at last year’s World Cup fresh off a dominant qualifying campaign, but went on to finish bottom of both its World Cup and Nations League groups.

Krzysztof Piatek scored the winner in the 69th minute as Austria failed to clear the ball from its penalty area. That ended a six-game winless streak for Poland, including friendlies.

Also in Group G, Israel drew 1-1 with Slovenia and North Mac-edonia beat Latvia 3-1.

There are a few key differ-ences to European Champi-onship qualifying this time. The top two teams in each group qualify automatically, but third place no longer means a shot at qualifying through the play-offs.

That safety net is now for the 16 teams who performed best in their Nations League tiers last year but who don’t end up with automatic spots.

That means Scotland is assured of a second chance to qualify in March 2020 even though a top-two finish now seems unlikely following its sur-prise opening-day loss to Kazakhstan.

Group C In Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Netherlands 4 (Depay 1, 55, Wijnaldum 21, Van Dijk 86) Belarus 0

In Belfast

Northern Ireland 2 (McGinn 56, Davis 75-pen) Estonia 0

Group E In Zagreb

Croatia 2 (Barisic 44, Kramaric 79) Azerbaijan 1 (Sheydaev 19)

In Trnava, Slovakia

Slovakia 2 (Duda 42, Rusnak 85) Hungary 0

Group G In Vienna

Austria 0 Poland 1 (Piatek 69)

In Skopje

North Macedonia 3 (Alioski 11, Elmas 29, 90+3) Latvia 1 (Isajevs 87)

Group I In Nicosia

Cyprus 5 (Sotiriou 19-pen, 23-pen, Kousoulos 26, Efrem 31, Laifis 56)

San Marino 0

In Nursultan

Kazakhstan 3 (Pertsukh 6, Vorogovskiy 10, Zainutdinov 51) Scotland 0

In Brussels

Belgium 3 (Tielemans 14, Hazard 45-pen, 88) Russia 1 (Cheryshev 16)

EURO 2020 QUALIFYING RESULTS

NEW YORK REUTERS

Former Manchester United and Everton forward WayneR o o n e y( p i c t u r e d )has said he cannot b e a r t h e

thought that old foes Liverpool might win the Premier

League title this season.Rooney, who began

his career with Liver-pool’s Merseyside rivals Everton before moving

to Manchester U n i t e d ,

said he

Belgium’s forward Eden Hazard (rear centre) scores a penalty kick past Russia’s goalkeeper Guilherme during their Euro 2020 qualifying match at the Roi Baudouin Stadium, in Brussels on Thursday.

IANS NEW DELHI

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is back and the 12th edition of the cash-rich league couldn’t have hoped for a better start as defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are all set to take on the star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.

Cricket might be a team game, but today, it will be all about CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni versus Virat Kohli, captain of the RCB.

He might be the former skipper of the Indian team, but for his legion of fans, Dhoni is no less than god. Add to that the home factor, and there are no points for guessing that Chennai will be all yellow on the night of the opening game.

Kohli, on the other hand, might be a demi-god himself for his fans, but when it comes to fighting it out against Dhoni, he might just come out second best.

For the record, RCB have lost six of the seven games they have played so far at the Chidambaram Stadium and the numbers are again pitted heavily in favour of CSK. Overall, in 22 meetings between

CSK and RCB, the Bengaluru outfit have managed only seven victories.

In fact, the last time these two teams met -- in Pune last season -- Chennai were all over Bengaluru and it was a cakewalk for Dhoni’s boys. But a lot has changed since then and the senior most team in the IPL -- CSK -- have grown a year older.

The positive for RCB is the fact that AB de Villiers is fit and

raring to go after resting his back during the last stretch of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They also have a young power hitter in Shimron Hetmyer of the West Indies to add to the arsenal. But CSK have the experience to tackle the swashbuckling batsmen in the RCB ranks.

If Harbhajan Singh was the stand-out bowler for CSK last season, Deepak Chahar too showed great maturity to earn

an India cap on the basis of his IPL performance. Not to forget the tactical acumen of part-time spinner Suresh Raina and Kedar Jadhav.

In the batting department too, if RCB have a run-machine in Kohli, Dhoni too is coming on the back of an outstanding pre-vious season when he showed why he is still one of the best in the business.

In fact, Dhoni has scored 710

runs against the RCB, the most by any batsman against the franchise.

The IPL might not have an opening ceremony this time around as the fund budgeted for the same is being handed over to the families of the Pulwama martyrs, but one couldn’t have asked for a more blockbuster start to the 12th edition of one of the most followed domestic T20 leagues in the world.

19SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019 SPORT

This August 30, 2018 file photo shows a freeze

frame from the fourth Test

between England and India at

the Ageas Bowl in West End,

Britain.

ICC gives green light to nameand jersey number in TestsIANS NEW DELHI

In a bid to further popularise Test cricket the International Cricket Council (ICC) has allowed players to have their names and numbers on the back of their shirts starting with the World Test Champi-onship from August 1.

The Ashes series between England and Australia will be the first instance when the players will sport these jerseys.

“They will come into force on August 1 as part of the World Test Championship,” ICC General

Manager Claire Furlong said.The ICC in recent times has

already taken major strides in the direction to highlight Test format -- the introduction of the World Test Championship was in this line.

The championship will start from July 15 and go on till April 30, 2021, with the final being played in June 2021.

With an aim to attract more fans to the game, the ICC has approved the idea of having players’ names and numbers on their shirts even in the longest format of the gentleman’s game.

The World Test Championship,

whose calender was released in June 2018, is being seen as a tool to make bilateral ties more contextual.

The move to introduce jerseys with the name of players and their numbers will only make it more exciting for the fans who seem to be more interested to follow the shorter formats of the game.

Commenting on the fixtures of the Test championship, ICC CEO David Richardson had said: “The agreement of this FTP (Future Tours Programme) means we have clarity, certainty and most importantly context around

bilateral cricket over the next five years.

“The World Test Champi-onship will get underway next year with the ODI league kicking off in 2020 as part of the quali-fication towards the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

“Bringing context to bilateral cricket is not a new challenge, but with the release of this FTP, our members have found a genuine solution that gives fans around the world the chance to engage reg-ularly with international cricket that has meaning and the possi-bility of a global title at the end.”

Kenyans lament Diamond League scrapping 5,000mAFP NAIROBI

Kenya’s Commonwealth and world junior 5,000m champion Edward Zakayo expressed concern yesterday over the future of distance runners following the axing of the event from the Diamond League.

Last week the International Association of Athletics Feder-ation (IAAF) announced the over-hauling of its lucrative track and field series by dropping the 5,000m, reducing the number of events from 32 to 24 and leaving the 3,000m as the longest race in the Diamond League programme.

“I took great offence with the announcement to remove all the distance races from the Diamond League, since the decision means most of the distance athletes like me will not get the chance to make a smooth progress from one event to another,” said the

talented 17-year-old high school student Zakayo, who is also the reigning African 5,000m champion.

“Since the Diamond League is not offering the 10,000m, and both events having been dropped from the World U-20 athletics championships, we have no alternative but to drop to the road races and the marathon, which will very hard for the younger runners like me.”

Both Kenya and Ethiopia have criticised the decision as “illegitimate” and even accused it of being made to “target African nations” which have dominated the distance events.

Olympic and world mar-athon record holder Eliud Kip-choge has also voiced his disap-proval, saying the 5,000m had been crucial to his career, and helped him to be runner that he is.

“I believe in long term careers where track and field can

result into a great marathon career,” said Kipchoge, who stormed the 5,000m field when he defeated Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele and Moroccan great Hicham El Guerrouj to win the

world championships title in Paris in 2003.

Described as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era, Kipchoge set a new a world record time of 2:01:39 at the 2018

Berlin Marathon, and breaking the previous record by 1 minute and 18 seconds.

While the 5,000m will no longer be an official event on the Diamond League programme,

individual meetings will still, however, have the opportunity to stage a 5,000m race outside of the 90-minute international broadcast window.

“The decision to reduce the Diamond League international broadcast window from 120 minutes to 90 minutes came after consultation with both current and prospective Diamond League broadcasters, the majority of whom requested a faster, sharper and slightly more concentrated product,” said IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon.

“In addition to the 90-minute international window, please be aware that the Diamond League meetings will also offer a further 30 minutes of additional cov-erage to their own domestic broadcaster, which will include extra events. If deemed to be of sufficient quality, this additional coverage will also be offered to t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l broadcasters.”

Kohli vs Dhoni as RCB meet CSK in IPL opener

Chennai Super kings batsmen take part in a practice session ahead of their opening match of the IPL against Royal Challengers Bangalore, which will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.

Athletes compete in the men’s 5,000m event during the IAAF Athletics Diamond League meeting at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland in this file photo.

Choi fires 65 in return to LPGA tourAFP PHOENIX

For Choi Na-yeon a boozy round of practise golf may not be what the doctor recom-mended, but it served its purpose at the time given the pressures involved in returning from a back injury.

“I tried to drink some beer and get a little tipsy and playing golf,” Choi said of an early round in her slow and steady comeback from the injury. “Because we always play golf in serious mode. I just like to play with more fun.”

That’s something the 31-year-old South Korean would never have thought of when she stopped playing on the LPGA Tour in April 2018 because of nagging back problems.

“I just kept playing golf and my swing got worse and worse and hitting my ball going left and right,” said Choi, who fired an opening round 65 in her first round in 11 months on Thursday at the LPGA Tour’s Founders Cup.

“My mentally was like totally broken, so I just needed my body get ready first.”

After she stopped, the first part of her recovery was to take a two week vacation to Europe, forget about golf for a while and get a fresh per-spective on life.

“I didn’t think about golf,” Choi said. “I didn’t set the alarm every day. I just wake up whenever I wanted and I just ate whatever I want.

“It was a different life. I was kind of a robot when I was growing up and then playing golf well in LPGA Tour. I was living in the box. I couldn’t do anything besides golf. Only golf, only golf. Like 100 percent focused on golf.”

The 2012 US Women’s Open champ is one shot behind leader Celine Boutier of France -- which is a big surprise con-sidering her lack of tour-nament action over the past year.

“Golf is really funny game. I didn’t expect any good scores today because this is first day,” said Choi.

Boutier finished her round of 64 with a four-foot birdie putt on the par-four ninth hole. She captured the Vic Open last month in Australia for her first LPGA Tour title.

Alana Uriell, Charlotte Thomas, Ko Jin-young and Nanna Koerstz Madsen joined Choi at 65.

Top-ranked Park Sung-hyun, Jenny Shin, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum and Cheyenne Knight shot 66.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli (left) and Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

20 SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019MORNING BREAK

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 19 AM

05. 35 AM

11. 41 AM

03. 08 PM

05. 48 PM

07. 18 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum22oC 26oC

HIGH TIDE 05:48 – 18:21 LOW TIDE 00:50 – 13:27

Moderate temperature daytime with scat-

tered clouds and chance of scattered rain at

first and slight dust to blowing dust at places.

A R Rahman mesmerises audience at Khalifa International StadiumTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Indian music legend A R Rahman rocked Doha last night in front of packed crowd at Khalifa International Stadium.

He showcased some of his biggest hits from his Bollywood and interna-tional movies in the biggest musical show held in Qatar. The 35,000 plus crowd was on their feet throughout the show enjoying the peppy numbers by the music maestro.

He kicked of the spectacular event on a huge stage lit with gigantic graphics with song Naadan Parinday Ghar Aja from the movie Rockstar.

The Indian music legend was accompanied by a long-list of popular artists like playback singer and King of Melody Udit Narayan Jha, award-winning singer Shweta Mohan, Car-natic vocalist, playback singer and musician Haricharan Seshadri, A R Rahman’s sisters and popular singers from the South Indian film industry Reihana and Isshrathquadhre, playback singer from the Malayalam film industry Alphons Joseph, Bol-lywood playback singer Javed Ali, singer-actor Benny Dayal, Indian film score composer Ranjit Barot, Rahman’s troupe singer Dilshad Shabbir Ahmed Shaikh and Indian-born Canadian singer Jonita Gandhi.

Qatari composer and musician Dana Al Fardan presented some of her compositions as an opening act. She also presented a song composed in

honour of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The concert, organised by Katara Studios, was held as part of the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture 2019.

A two-time winner and five-time nominee of the Academy Awards (Oscar), Rahman is popularly known as the man who has redefined con-temporary Indian music. He shot to international fame with his compo-sition for the 2009 Hollywood

production Slumdog Millionaire. In addition to the two Oscars, Rahman also boasts of two Grammy awards, a Bafta, a Golden Globe, as well as a slew of awards in India, including six National Film Awards, 15 Filmfare Awards and 17 Filmfare Awards South.

For the show, the Khalifa Interna-tional Stadium pitch was converted into a giant 90-metre-long stage with 80 artists performing live. Large LED screens around the stage ensured that

the entire audience could get a mem-orable up-close and personal expe-rience with the singer.

The musical fest in Doha was organised in association with Qatar Airways and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) as part of the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture, that is intended to promote mutual understanding, recognition and appreciation between the two countries.

First large scale exhibition of M. F. Hussain’s works on show at MathafRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

The first large scale exhibition of India’s most celebrated 20th century artist of international acclaim M. F. Husain never fails to take the breath away of every art lover that visits Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

The quintessential show of the late artist dubbed by Forbes as the ‘Picasso of India’ features an stunning assortment of over 100 works spanning more than 60 years and showcasing his versatility and fluency in art, with pieces ranging from oil and watercolour painting to lithog-raphy and serigraphy to instal-lation and film.

Launched on Wednesday, the exhibition titled M. F. Husain: Horses of the Sun will impress art connoisseurs and enthusiasts until end of July through its three sections namely Bait, Manzil and Dar teeming with works repre-senting the artist’s varying concept of home. In many of his works, the artist had always had penchant in depicting the lively and free spirit of horses and had considered himself a global nomad.

“Each of the three exhibition spaces was conceived based on the concept of home as defined by Husain. He saw himself as a global nomad so his idea of home is different from the normal idea of what we define as home,” Mumbai-based poet, art critic, and cultural theorist, Ranjit Hoskote,

curator of the exhibition, told reporters at a media preview.

In the first section, Bait (house) the pieces on display relate to Husain’s childhood memory and his ancestral country which is Yemen, among others. One of the more interesting pieces here is a 1950 oil painting titled “Doll’s Wedding,” one of his early works which celebrates childhood play and traditional Indian weddings.

The second section, Manzil (goal or destination) explores the artist’s curiosity on religion, science, culture and knowledge, specifically Islamic and Indian civilization. Among the works showcased here are paintings he did during his stay in Doha in the later part of his life. In one of the paintings “The Last Supper of the Desert in Red” created in 2008, Husain looks at the iconic Leonardo da Vinci painting as

heavily coded with symbols that needed to be broken down and he un-codes it in Arabian per-spective, said the curator.

Dar (door, gateway or court), the final section, delves into Husain’s quest for understanding the concept of ‘belonging,’ hence the collection comprises a tapestry of diverse artworks depicting his experimentation of different media and disciplines such as collage, textiles, sculpture, archi-tecture and film. Shown here is his award-winning short film “Through the Eyes of a Painter,” a 17-minute documentary which was not reportage or investi-gative but a cinematic poem, Hoskote explained. The exhi-bition concludes with a quote from Husain which says: “Take life with you, take creation with you. If you have to keep moving, take the whole world with you.”

Mumbai-based poet, art critic, and cultural theorist, Ranjit Hoskote, curator of M. F. Husain: Horses of the Sun, explains some of the woks on display at Mathaf. PIC: RAYNALD C RIVERA / THE PENINSULA

New Liam Gillick sculpture at MIA ParkTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A new 10-piece sculptural work by Liam Gillick called Folded Extracted Personified is on display at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park.

Now accessible for public viewing—and interaction—Gil-lick’s work is the latest instal-lation in QM’s Public Art Program, which brings engaging, large-scale artworks into dia-logue with people in the civic landscape of Doha.

The installation comprises a series of ten irregularly shaped panel sculptures—each a flat surface folded into a zigzag—which bear images abstracted from works in MIA and the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ). These sources from the extensive museum collections range from C12thIraqi illustra-tions to Turkish armor circa 1475-1525 to Iranian portraiture of the early C19thperiod and examples of pearl jewelry.

There are two images on each two-meter-forty-high sculpture. Circular holes, cut into the surface enable people to peer through, after the fashion of “head-in-the-hole” attractions at carnivals and fairs. Distributed at carefully chosen sites throughout MIA Park, the sculp-tures serve as invitations to the public to interact with one another, performing for observers and being photo-graphed. The multi-part instal-lation also invites playful inter-action with the deep collections of Qatar museums by the many

thousands of MIA Park users and was commissioned on occasion of the opening of the Jean Nou-vel-designed NMoQ.

Other major works in the Public Art Program that are now on view include “Desert Horse” by Qatari artist Ali Hassan, “Shift to Light” by Qatari artist Yousef Ahmad, Richard Serra’s East/West, West/East and 7, Louise Bourgeois’sMaman, Damien Hirst’s The Miraculous Journey, Urs Fischer’s Lamp Bear, Tony Smith’s Smoke, Dia Azzawi’s Flying Man, and Sarah Lucas’sPerceval. Temporary installations by Qatari ARToon-istGhada Al Khater are also on view through the program, as is Martin Creed’s Everything is Going to be Alright, which was commissioned to commemorate the anniversary of the blockade imposed on Qatar by neigh-boring countries.

Taking advantage of the intergenerational nature of MIA Park, Gillick’s sculptures are

installed in the vicinity of the MIA playground, which offers areas suitable for people of dif-ferent ages.

Abdulrahman Al Ishaq, Head of Public Art at Qatar Museums (QM), said, “Through displaying various forms of art in public space, we aim to inspire local talent and establish an organic connection between art and the local community. We hope these works speak to people who may envision themselves as cultural producers, creative practitioners, and museum professionals in years to come.”

Liam Gillick said, “Public art adds a new conversation about our context - both cultural and personal. This work is intended to celebrate the spirit of a diverse cultural landscape and provide an opportunity for spectators from all different backgrounds to playfully intersect. It is a tribute to the immense historical traditions of art and craft in the region.”

New sculpture by Liam Gillick on display at MIA Park.

The packed crowd at Khalifa International Stadium.

Indian music legend A R Rahman performs in front of a packed crowd at Khalifa International Stadium, yesterday. PICS: SALIM MATRAMKOT / THE PENINSULA