Volume 23 | Number 7664 | 2 RiyalsSaturday 29 September 2018 | 19 Moharram I 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

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QFFD to fund water and sanitation sector in YemenTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Upon the directives of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and in accordance with His Highness’ speech before the UN General Assembly at its 73rd session, the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has signed a memo-randum of understanding (MoU) to support the water and sani-

tation sector in Yemen, in coop-eration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

The grant focuses on the rehabilitation of water networks, distribution and drainage net-works in Yemen and water supply stations to prepare them for civilian use, and reduce the spread of contaminated water-related diseases such as cholera and others, and improve access

to safe drinking water for women and children.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Board Chairman of the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani said that the grant aims to support the brotherly people of Yemen, who are going through very difficult circumstances.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that sanitation and water are among the biggest challenges facing Yemen’s current crisis, in addition to the shortage of fuel suffered by Yemen’s local water companies and the high cost of trans-porting water by commercial trucks, the main source of water for many.

“Today, more than 19.3

million Yemenis have no access to clean water and sanitation. Of these, 50 percent were directly separated from the basics of life because of the conflict.

The devastating impact was the outbreak of cholera in the capital, Sanaa, and other parts of the country,” he added.

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Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, met with Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, on the sidelines of Qatar’s participation in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. They discussed bilateral cooperation and partnership between Qatar and the WEF, as well as joint projects and developments relating to Qatar’s participation in the Informal Gathering of the World Economic Leaders in preparation for the World Economic Forum in Davos next year.

Economy Minister meets WEF President

Workers' consent not needed for 5% exit permitSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has affirmed that the employer has the complete right of determining five percent of their employees who will need exit permit.

It said that the employer does not need any consent or approval by the employees while making lists of those five percent employees who will require exit permit for leaving the country.

“The workers’ approval for placing five percent employees on exit permit lists is not required as it is the right of the employers,” Mohammed Ali Al Meer, Director of Labour Inspection Department at the Ministry of Administrative Devel-opment, Labour and Social Affairs said.

He said this during an awareness workshop held at Qatar Chamber head-quarters and attended by a representative from the Ministry of Interior and p r i v a t e c o m p a n y representatives.

The workshop is part of a series of awareness pro-grammes organised by Min-istry of Interior, MADLSA and Qatar Chamber to shed light on the recent amendments in the law regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residency.

On a question about the new mechanism of how to apply for exit permit for the five percent employees, Al Meer said that it would be like the same procedures as prac-ticed before, through Metrash2.

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QP-ExxonMobil wins exploration rights for offshore block in BrazilTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Petroleum (QP) has won exploration rights for an offshore block in Brazil, in partnership with ExxonMobil.

The winning bid was announced by Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) at a public bidding session held yesterday in Rio de Janeiro. Competing bids were submitted to the ANP and the winners were announced throughout the course of the public session.

The exploration blocks were offered as part of the Brazil Exploration PSC5 Bid Round, which covered four blocks in the prolific Santos/Campos basins.

Qatar Petroleum won the explo-ration rights for the Tita block as part of a consortium with its long-term partner ExxonMobil, who will be the operator with a 64 percent participating interest,

while Qatar Petroleum will hold the remaining 36 percent interest.

Eng Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, the Pres-ident & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: “This is Qatar Petroleum’s third success in Brazil in less than a year, which expands of our footprint in one of the most prospective basins in the world. This winning bid constitutes another milestone on the road of achieving our strategy of creating a large scale, value-adding international portfolio, while pursuing Latin America as an important core area for Qatar Petroleum.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Brazilian authorities for promoting a transparent and efficient process, and our trusted partner Exx-onMobil for their excellent collaboration on this opportunity."

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MoI stresses on transparent mechanism for workers recruitmentTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) affirmed its keenness to facilitate recruitment procedures for expatriate workers in accordance with a unified mech-anism that is transparent and responsible.

The MoI said that it will ensure the facilitation and speed

of procedures and the protection of the rights of applicants.

This came during a seminar organised by the Department of Visa Support Services Department in the General Directorate of Passports on the project of fingerprinting and vital data, conducting medical exam-ination and signing employment contracts for expatriates. The

seminar was attended by offi-cials of a number of companies providing Sri Lankan manpower.

The Director of Visa Support Services Department at MoI, Major Abdullah Al Muhannadi, said that the project aims to facil-itate recruitment procedures in general, protect the rights of expatriates, ensure their safety

and facilitate all procedures for their entry into the country, in addition to auditing and docu-menting their recruitment process, and accelerating their work under simplified, smooth and effective procedures.

“The project targets employment through 20 service centres in eight countries: Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Tunisia,

Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines,” he added.

“The opening of the first project centre in Sri Lanka is scheduled for October 12 and Sri Lankan companies should recruit workers through the center and the new electronic mechanism,” Al Muhannadi said.

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Real test of regional alliance is solution to Gulf crisis: FMTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani participated yesterday in a meeting held by the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Middle East Strategic Alliance meeting tackled the most important security and regional challenges facing the Middle East region and how best to deal with them.

H E Sheikh Mohamed stressed the importance of the meeting and unifying the visions of collective security in the Middle East, in addition to the need for any new

alliance to build on existing insti-tutions and reactivate their role.

He added that successful alli-ances are based on common values

such as respect for the sovereignty of nations and the aspirations of their peoples, as well as on con-structive goals that benefit all par-ticipating countries on the basis of fair standards applied to all.

He also touched on the Gulf crisis as it paralysed one of the most important regional blocs that has contributed to main-taining balance and security in the Middle East for decades.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said, in this context, that the real test of this alliance is to resolve the Gulf crisis, a matter which will demonstrate the credibility and effectiveness of this alliance.

The Minister also praised the distinguished relationship between the State of Qatar and the United States of America and the fruitful cooperation between the two coun-tries in various economic, military, educational and counterterrorism

efforts and the expansion of this strategic partnership between the United States and the countries par-ticipating in the meeting.

“Washington expressed its desire to see the GCC countries united,” the Minister said.

He said that the blockading countries must withdraw illegal

measures taken against Qatar.Addressing a press conference

separately at the sidelines of 73rd United National General Assembly, The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that there are no developments in the frozen Gulf crisis.

“I prefer to discuss the chal-lenges between countries. Gulf

crisis fabricated multiple flimsy reasons which led to paralysis of the GCC system. We have raised the need to address the root causes of violent extremism during the General Assembly meeting,” he added.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, participating in a meeting held by the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in New York, yesterday.

“I prefer to discuss the

challenges between

countries. Gulf crisis

fabricated multiple

flimsy reasons which

led to paralysis of

the GCC system. We

have raised the need

to address the root

causes of violent

extremism during the

General Assembly

meeting,” Deputy

Prime Minister and

Minister of Foreign

Affairs said.

02 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018HOME

Deputy Premier meets officials on sidelines of UN General AssemblyQNA

DOHA: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani, met with Secretary- General of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liber-ation Organization, Dr Saeb Erekat.

Separately, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammad-yarov; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Teodor Melescanu; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, Erlan Abdyldayev; Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Salahuddin Rabbani; Minister of State for the Middle East at the For-eign and Commonwealth Office,

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, meeting with Secretary- General of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Dr Saeb Erekat, in New York, yesterday. RIGHT: H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani with Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda.

QP-ExxonMobil wins exploration rights for offshore block in BrazilCONTINUED

FROM PAGE 1

“We look forward to working with our partner to create long-term, sus-tainable eco-nomic value for the project stakeholders,” A l - K a a b i concluded.

The rel-evant legal agreements, including the c o n c e s s i o n agreements, are expected to be s igned between the Brazilian authorities and the consortium members by the end of this year.

This is the third winning bid by Qatar Petroleum in Brazil. In October 2017, and as part of Brazil’s PSC3round, Qatar Petroleum was part of a winning consortium with Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corporation for exploration in the Alto de Cabo Frio-Oeste block in the Santos basin.

In March 2018, Qatar Petroleum was part of two consortia winning four blocks in the 15th concession bidding round in Brazil; two blocks with Petrobras and ExxonMobil in the Campos Basin and two blocks with ExxonMobil in the Santos basin.

Eng Saad Sherida Al Kaabi

Qatar takes over Presidency of Asian Cooperation Dialogue for 2019

DOHA/NEW YORK: The State of Qatar has taken over the presidency of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) for 2019.

Qatar affirmed that it will work on the objective of Asian consensus and cooperation and the development of the inter-Asian working mechanisms as a priority during its presidency of the dia-logue, adding that it will encourage efforts to deepen trade and economic partnerships and promote the economic competitiveness of the countries of Asia.

This came in a speech delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, at the ACD ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“The State of Qatar attaches great importance to the ACD as the largest bloc within the framework of the Asian continent,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, adding that the State of Qatar’s presidency for 2019 asserts its commitment to support the joint work of the ACD and its commitment to achieving integration through expanding the existing cooperation in different fields between the countries of the con-tinent and forging partnerships with

other regional blocs and organizations.

“Since its inception in 2002, the ACD has played a vital role in promoting cooperation and interrelationships among Asian countries in all fields and has contributed to the joint efforts to address the common challenges facing the continent, especially in the devel-opment field and improving the quality of life and aspirations of the Asian peoples together with regional and international groups and blocs so as to achieve the common objectives of the international community in the area of development, the promotion of human rights and the maintenance of interna-

tional peace and security,” he said.The Deputy Prime Minister and Min-

ister of Foreign Affairs said that the expansion of the ACD membership to 34 member countries underscores the importance of the Asian continent as a platform for cooperation and coordination.

He pointed out that the rapid changes in our planet call for intensi-fying cooperation to achieve the desired bilateral and multilateral integration, adding: “We are confident that the pro-motion of mutual understanding and regional economic integration in all aspects of vital relations will strengthen our joint work and raise the level of

cooperation and take them to greater horizons.”

The Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the State of Qatar encourages deepening trade and economic partnerships and enhancing the economic competi-tiveness of the countries of Asia in world markets, especially as the Asian con-tinent has all the potential to push the development of human resources and economic wealth.

He said that the State of Qatar believes that education and culture are essential pillars for the development and growth of peoples to build a bright future for future generations, therefore it pays

great attention to them, noting that the State of Qatar will host, on the sidelines of its presidency of ACD, a workshop for education and another for culture next year.

He added that Qatar will also host a forum for businessmen, which will be an important platform for presenting expertise, visions, ideas and distin-guished experiences among investors, entrepreneurs and experts in the fields of economy and trade.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed sincere thanks and appreci-ation to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its successful presidency of the ACD in 2018.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, attending the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Alistair Burt; and United Nations Children’s Fund’s (Unicef) Exec-utive Director Henrietta Fore.

The meetings discussed the bilateral relations between the

State of Qatar and these coun-tries and ways of boosting them, as well as a number of regional and international issues of com-mon concern. Deputy Prime

Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, yesterday met with Prime Min-ister of the Republic of Uganda,

Ruhakana Rugunda on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The meeting discussed bilateral relations and means of

boosting them, in addition to a range of regional and interna-tional issues of common concern.

“The State of Qatar

attaches great importance

to the ACD as the largest

bloc within the framework

of the Asian continent,” the

Minister of Foreign Affairs

said.

Al Marri calls for Arab mechanism to prevent conflictsDOHA: Dr Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, Chairman of National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), has called for the establishment of an Arab mechanism for the prevention of conflicts with an early warning system in this regard.

He also called for the importance of establishment specialist centers to solve con-flicts and ways to prevent them.

This came during his inaugural speech at an international conference on “Issues of Peace” in Tunisian capital which began yes-terday. The conference is the first of its kind organized by NHRC in Tunis in cooperation with the Arab Institute for Human Rights, and the United Nations Educational, Scien-tific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

More than 60 non-governmental organ-izations, and 350 participants and observers are participating in the symposium.

On behalf of Dr Al Marri, Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari, member of the NHRC, in his speech said that the United Nations con-sidered the right to peace to be a “sacred right” and stressed that building a peaceful world requires steps to achieve the economic and social development of all peoples of the earth everywhere. “A peaceful society is a society in which justice and equality are enjoyed. Peace can be achieved through a sustainable environment that will help to promote peace.”

He also proposed a meeting between The Arab Network for National Human Rights

Institutions, Unesco and the Arab Institute for Human Rights and NHRC to discuss ways to activate the outcomes of the Tunis Con-ference on “Protecting Civilians During Con-flict and Beyond”.

“There are many things and challenges that call for us to double effort for the benefit of all mankind, in view of conflicts that threaten human rights specially in the Arab region. The work to combat poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, and to promote security, stability and peace throughout the world is a duty of all of us, either international and regional organizations, national human

rights institutions, human rights organiza-tions and civil society.”

Al Marri praised the strong partnership between National Human Rights Committee and the Arab Institute for Human Rights to serve the human rights issues in the Arab world and promote the concepts of peace in the Arab region.

He explained that the protection of human rights is the basis for achieving inter-national peace, stressing at the same time that there are many people in this world whose rights are violated especially in armed conflicts.

Mohammed Said Al Kuwari, Member of National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), speaking at the international conference on “Issues of Peace” in Tunis, yesterday.

03SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 HOME

ILO’s International Training Centre to organise series of workshopsTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), Ministry of Admin-istrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA) and the International Labour Organ-ization (ILO) will collaborate on a series of capacity building workshops on subjects from the world of work for private sector professionals and government officials.

At a ceremony held in Doha, representatives of ADLSA, QFC and ILO signed an agreement for this programme which will see a series of workshops and events take place until 2022.

The initiative forms part of the technical cooperation framework between ILO and ADLSA. Training will be carried out by the ILO’s International Training Centre (ILO-ITC) which has over 50 years’ expe-rience in providing training and

services to governments, employers and workers relating to decent work and sustainable development.

Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Financial Centre Authority said, “QFC is committed to ensuring high employment standards and supports its members in this regard. We are therefore honoured to

collaborate with both the ILO and the Ministry of Adminis-trative Development, Labour and Social Affairs to boost the capacity of staff working in this important field.”

Training carried out under the agreement will build the capacity of key personnel within the QFC, QFC member com-panies as well as the MADLSA relating to human-resources and workplace issues. Areas of focus will include negotiation skills, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), labour inspection, work-place relations and staff development.

Participants will also include employment standards officers, HR managers, OSH managers, compliance managers as well as labour inspectors from MADLSA.

Speaking at the signing cer-emony H EDr Issa Al Jafali Al Nuaimi, Minister of Adminis-trative Development, Labour and

Social Affairs said: “This pro-gramme forms an important part of our collaboration with ILO in Qatar. It provides an excellent opportunity for labour inspectors to learn international best prac-tices while sharing experiences with counterparts from the private sector.”

The partnership will kick off with a three-day workshop on

negotiation skills held in Doha from October 1-3, 2018. During the event participants will learn and practice approaches to dispute resolution, problem solving models and various negotiation techniques.

Houtan Homayounpour, Head of ILO’s Project Office for the State of Qatar highlighted the importance of the initiative.

“It is important to build a culture of workplace cooper-ation that prevents disputes arising, yet if they do arise to also know how to handle them fairly and effectively. This series of training programmes will build skills within institu-tions which will ultimately benefit the government, employers and workers alike.”

H E Dr Issa Al Jafali Al Nuaimi (second right), Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Houtan Homayounpour (right), Head of ILO’s Project Office for Qatar and Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, CEO of QFC, signing the agreement in Doha.

The Qatar Financial

Centre (QFC), Ministry

of Administrative

Development, Labour

and Social Affairs

(ADLSA) and the

International Labour

Organization (ILO)

signed an agreement

for a series of capacity

building workshops.

Brookings Doha Center holds roundtable with Mandla MandelaTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Brookings Doha Center held a roundtable with Mandla Mandela, chief of the Mvezo Tradi-tional Council and grandson of former South African president, the late Nelson Mandela.

The discussion of the round-table, which took place on Sep-tember 20, focused on current policy challenges facing South Africa; the evolving role of South Africa in the international system; and political and eco-nomic relations between Africa and the Middle East.

Participants of the round-table discussed the South African perspective on the peace process in the Middle

East, the reform of the African Union, the challenges facing land reform in South Africa and the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

The 90-minute discussion was attended by members of Doha’s diplomatic and academic communities.

The roundtable discussions focused on South Afric and Middle East.

Regency Group Holding helps flood-hit KeralaQatar-based Regency Group Holding has handed over a cheque of Rs1.5m to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund to provide a helping hand to rebuild the flood-hit southern Indian State of Kerala. On behalf of Regency Group Holding, Chief Financial Officer Sree Kumar, handed over the cheque to Kerala Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac.

QFFD to fund water and sanitation sector in YemenCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“In collaboration with partners, Unicef and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) will expand their response in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene, disease prevention and control,” he noted.

“The recent conflict has exacerbated weaknesses in infra-structure and unpaid salaries for civil servants, so that almost the entire water and sanitation system is nearing collapse,” he said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the State of Qatar, through this grant, affirms that the right to access and clean water properly is necessary for the full enjoyment of good life and all human rights, especially at a time when one of the world’s most water-scarce countries is going through a humanitarian disaster where conflict has worsened, particularly for children who depend on clean drinking water and adequate sanitation for good health and survival.

For her part, Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said: “This generous contribution from the Qatar Fund for Development is very important for the Unicef’s efforts to help children in Yemen, allowing Unicef to increase access to clean water and improve water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities”. Henrietta Fore expressed her deep thanks and full gratitude to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for his good endeavors in supporting the people of Yemen, who are experiencing difficult situation.

Workers’ consent not needed for 5% exit permitCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

He also asked the companies to respect new amendment and know that the workers now do not need exit permit but “they should also develop their work systems to avoid any problems by workers”. “In case, any worker commits any violation of law and is not in the list of employees who need prior approval of exit permit, the employers must report about him to authorities concerned to ban him from traveling,” he said. Representatives of the companies expressed their understanding of the legal amendments, appreciating the government efforts to improve the rights of workers. The MADLSA will start tomorrow (Sunday) receiving requests from private companies seeking exit permit requirement for five percent of their employees under the new law.

MoI stresses on transparent mechanism for workers recruitmentCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

He pointed out that the services provided by the project are fingerprinting for the expatriate worker, regis-tration of vital data, con-ducting medical examinations, signing the employment con-tract through a unified channel and a more trans-parent and responsible recruitment system.

He pointed out that the project has many advantages such as facilitating the pro-cedures of bringing in the expatriate worker, protecting his rights, documenting the employment contract in his country, avoiding returning him to his country in case of incapacity, and speeding up his work immediately upon entering Qatar, providing integrated, efficient and high-quality electronic services.

Al Muhannadi pointed out that the success of the

recruitment mechanism through Qatar’s foreign visa centers depends on the com-pletion of the role of both the employer and the foreign worker.

He explained that the role of the employer is to register the worker through the Min-istry of Interior website, where the ministry assesses the registration process and then the employer pays the service costs through the min-istry’s website followed by the approval and extraction of the reference number to determine his role in the service center.

On the role of the worker, Al Muhannadi explained that his role is to go to the State of Qatar visa center in his country and register his entry and then receive the contract of employment and sign it and then go to the fingerprinting and registration of vital data and medical examination in

order to reach the final approval and issuance of the visa.

Al Muhannadi said that these procedures within the center takes one hour but the results of the tests require approximately 48 hours.

He pointed out that all the steps to apply for recruitment of Sri Lankan workers from the Qatar visa center abroad are available on the website of the Ministry of the Interior and Metrash 2 service, stressing that the recruitment procedures are the same as the old procedures, but they were transferred from Qatar to the worker country to facil-itate the procedures.

This project is imple-mented in cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

and is implemented in several stages stressing that the Min-istry will add new services in the next stages of the project, which may include documen-tation of scientific and profes-sional certificates at visa service centers.

He said the Interior Min-istry was seeking to expand the scope of the project in the future, to include all proce-dures for other visa cate-gories, and any visa applicant will have to undergo medical examinations, fingerprinting and all other tests before entering the country.

Al Muhannadi called on all companies operating in the country and providing Sri Lankan manpower to learn more about the new recruitment mechanism through the Ministry of the Interior website and Metrash 2 service, which will be imple-mented on the 12th of next October.

Training on road safety audits heldTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center (QTTSC) at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU-CENG) recently hosted a training workshop on road safety audits.

The workshop aimed at pro-viding information on the nec-essary approaches and tools to develop and evaluate traffic safety audits. This workshop is one of the initiatives under the National Traffic Safety Action Plan.

The engineering faculty and staff along with representatives from local and international institutions attended the workshop, which was delivered by Rolf Lövkvist, an expert rep-resenting the Swedish National

Road Consulting AB (SWEROAD).Commenting on the

workshop, QTTSC Director Prof Dr Faris Tarlochan said: “Road safety is a major concern glo-bally especially with the alarming rate of increase in fatalities amongst young drivers.

Therefore, this workshop is with the objectives to ensure the con-tinuous efforts for providing safe roads for all. Beside conducting research at the national and global level, hosting these work-shops is one of the core activ-ities of QTTSC to raise public

awareness and responsibility towards common cooperation for enhancing road safety from an academic perspective.”

QTTSC workshop coordi-nator Assistant Professor Dr. Wael Alhajyaseen said: “Pre-ventive risk assessment tools, such as road safety audits and inspections, are effective and essential measures to help road authorities to ensure safe traffic operations on along the different elements of the road network including construction sites and development areas for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.”

Dr Alhajyaseen added that this course will be followed by others specialized training courses in this year targeting those working in the field of road safety locally and regionally.

Participants at a workshop organised by Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center (QTTSC) at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU-CENG).

Real test of regional alliance is solution to Gulf crisis CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“If we look at things superficially, we will say that we do not need the blockading countries. The coalition will not succeed if the dispute over fun-damental security concepts is not resolved,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, adding, “There are no developments in the frozen Gulf crisis”.

Immediately after the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Sheikh Muhammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Al Jazeera the talks were “productive”. “[The meeting was] about the Middle East strategic alliance and the GCC relations with the US, plus Egypt and Jordan,” he said. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir had said at the UN General Assembly earlier this week the blockading nations could wait decades for Doha to meet their controversial list of demands. When asked by Al Jazeera for Qatar’s response to the remarks, H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani replied: “We have to address the challenges in our region first.”

04 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

UN rights council renews Yemen war crimes probeAFP

GENEVA: The United Nations Human Rights Council voted to extend an international probe of alleged war crimes committed in Yemen despite strong opposition from Saudi Arabia and several of its allies.

Nations voted 21 to 8, with 18 abstentions, in favour of a resolution that renewed the UN-backed investigation for a year. Last month, investigators detailed evidence of possible war crimes committed in Yemen by both the Saudi-led coalition and the Huthi rebels supported by Iran.

The coalition and the Yemeni government, which together are battling the Houthis, strongly criticised the probe’s initial report, arguing that it underplayed rebel vio-lations and Iran’s role.

The Arab group in the rights council had backed a rival text that called on Yemen’s national human rights commission to take charge of future investi-gations of the conflict.

That proposal was a non-starter for many states, given a widespread lack of confidence in the Yemeni commission.

The approved resolution led by a group of European states and Canada calls on investi-gators to deliver another report next September.

In what may have been a consolation to the Arab group, the council passed a second Yemen resolution calling for support to the national com-mission, but its impact is largely

meaningless with the interna-tional probe continuing its work.

Probe members said they needed more time to fully doc-ument the range of violations in Yemen’s conflict, which has killed nearly 10,000 people since March 2015 and triggered what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Twenty-two million people in the country need aid, many of whom are at risk of famine.

Britain’s UN ambassador Julian Braithwaite had said his government was particularly “disappointed” that consensus could not be reached with the Arab group, as happened when the probe was set up a year ago.

“It is clear that many instances, alleged violations committed by all parties have not yet been fully documented, particularly those committed by the Houthis,” Braithwaite told the council.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the vote “sent a clear message that it stands with Yemeni civilians”.

“States at the UN Human Rights Council stood firm today, in the face of shameful efforts by the Saudi-led coalition to quash a UN expert inquiry,” HRW’s Geneva director, John Fisher, said in a statement.

Iran city mayor apologises over billboard showing Israeli troopsAFP

TEHRAN: An Iranian mayor has apologised for a billboard which mistakenly featured Israeli soldiers although it was meant to mark the Iran-Iraq war, the online conserv-ative news agency Tasnim reported yesterday.

“The billboard was installed in Shiraz showing three male soldiers standing on a rocky outcrop” next to a quote from an epic Persian poem, Tasnim wrote.

But the shot was actually a photoshopped picture of Israel Defence Forces, according to Tasnim, with a female soldier from the original picture having been cropped out. The banner was pulled down from the south-western city on Wednesday night and the mayor issued an apology the next day.

“This mistake of putting up such a despicable banner during the sacred defence week is unforgivable,” Tasnim quoted mayor Heydar Eskandarpour as saying.

Iran commonly refers to the brutal eight-year war with Iraq as “the sacred defence”. In recent days, the country has been marking the start of the conflict which began on September 22, 1980. An esti-mated 680,000 people died.

“In addition to apolo-gising to Shiraz’s pious and noble people, I ask the authorities to investigate the roots of this suspicious act and promptly report to the people,” the mayor added.

Two public relation offi-cials at the municipality were later fired according to con-servative news agency Fars.

Ethiopia charges 5 with terrorism over assassination attemptAP

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s attorney general yesterday filed terrorism charges against five people accused of trying to “kill the prime minister” at a huge rally in the capital in June, barely two months after the reformist leader took office.

The charges say the five acted on the premise that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is not popular among Oromos, Ethio-pia’s largest ethnic group, and wanted to pave the way for the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front.

That group’s leaders recently returned after Abiy’s government in July removed it

from a terror list and invited all exiled groups to participate in politics.

Abiy, Ethiopia’s first prime minister from the Oromo ethnic group, has announced sweeping and largely popular reforms since taking office in April, but ethnic tensions in Africa’s second most populous country pose his biggest challenge.

A bomb thrown at the stage while Abiy waved to the crowd of tens of thousands in Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square on June 23 killed two people and wounded more than 150.

Some of the attack’s collab-orators remain at large, including a woman who lives in neighboring Kenya and

allegedly masterminded it, the state-affiliated Fana Broad-casting Corporate reported yesterday.

It said the suspects wore T-shirts bearing the prime min-ister’s image to disguise them-selves as supporters.

At the time of the bombing, Abiy called it a “well-orches-trated attack” but one that failed.

Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, which came to power in 1991, holds its congress next week and is expected to take the next steps in implementing the political and economic reforms that include opening up state-run enterprises to investment and preparing for elections in 2020.

NAIROBI: Burundi’s government has suspended the opera-tions of non-governmental organizations for three months, saying that “many of them do not respect the law.”

The action was announced late on Thursday by the National Council of Security, which is chaired by President Pierre Nku-runziza. It was not immediately clear how many local and inter-national NGOs are suspended as of Oct. 1, though several civil society leaders told The Associated Press that only interna-tional ones were targeted. The East African nation has had tense relations with some civil society groups since deadly political violence erupted in 2015 when Nkurunziza successfully ran for another term, which some called unconstitutional.

A referendum earlier this year approved changes to the constitution that allow Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, another 14 years when his term expires in 2020. He later said, however, that he would not seek another term.

Nigerian strike widens as more unions joinBLOOMBERG

LAGOS: A strike by Nigerian labor unions to demand a new minimum wage widened on the second day yesterday as more unions joined, shutting the seaport in the commercial capital, Lagos, as well as schools, banks and offices in parts of the country.

The action started on Thursday by public and private sector labor coalitions grouped under the Nigeria Labour Congress, for blue-collar workers, and the Trade Union Con-gress, for managerial employees, also involves two influential unions in Africa’s biggest oil industry. The strike is to back demands for an increase of the minimum wage to 65,000 naira ($179) a month from the current 18,000 naira. It could involve as many as 4 million workers.

“The workers shut the gates to the ports since yesterday and most banks are not working,” Ernest Ezenwe, a Lagos port agent, said by phone. “I’m at home as there’s still no work going on today.” The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or Pengassan, is joining the action with imme-diate effect but wouldn’t involve workers “on

critical and essential services” the manager-level union’s secretary general, Lumumba Okugbawa, said in an emailed statement.

Nigeria depends on crude exports for about 60 percent of government revenue and more than 90 percent of its foreign income.

Burundi suspends non-governmental groups for three months

UN experts condemn targeting of rights defenders in EgyptCAIRO: A group of UN human rights experts have condemned what they call the systematic targeting of human rights defenders in Egypt and are gravely concerned at their prolonged periods of detention. They say in a statement that this “is yet another indication that the Egyptian Government is operating a zero-tolerance approach to dissent.”

Egyptian authorities have arrested a number of secular activists since President Abdel-Fattah Al Sissi was re-elected for a second four-year term in March.The experts say that among those arrested are Amal Fathy, Shady Harb, labour rights lawyer Haytham Mohamedeen and blogger Wael Abbas, who face charges relating to “freedom of expression and freedom of association.”

Famine threat still stalks South Sudan amid peace promisesJUBA: War-torn South Sudan is at risk of relapsing into famine in early 2019, United Nations agencies and a local official said, even as rival sides vow to end almost five years of brutal conflict.

About 36,000 people in Jonglei state and the former states of Western Bahr el-Ghazal and Unity may face famine between January and March, partly due to an earlier-than-normal lean season, the national statistic bureau’s chairman, Isaiah Chol Aruai, told reporters Friday in the capital, Juba. An estimated 5.2 million people may be in a “crisis hunger situation” over the same period, he said.

The warning comes as South Sudan’s government and some rebels pledge to form a transitional government by May to end the civil war that began in December 2013 and has caused a humanitarian disaster.

Pilot dead after 2 Nigeria air force planes crashAP

ABUJA: A Nigerian air force pilot has died after two aircraft crashed while rehearsing for the West African nation’s 58th Inde-pendence Day celebrations, the government said yesterday.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said the pilot had “successfully” ejected from one of the F-7Ni aircraft during the rehearsals in the capital, Abuja. The pilot later died due to complications from injuries sustained on impact, the air force said in a statement. Nigeria’s Inde-pendence Day is on Monday.

The locked gate of Lagos State Government Secretariat during a national strike, in Ikeja, on the outskirts of Nigeria’s largest city Lagos, yesterday.

Human Rights Watch

(HRW) said the vote

“sent a clear message

that it stands with

Yemeni civilians”.

Israeli army shoot dead five Palestinians near Gaza buffer zoneANATOLIA

GAZA CITY: At least five Pales-tinians were killed and 75 others injured by Israeli army while taking part in ongoing demon-strations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qidra said that Iyad Khalil Al Shaer, 18, and Mohamed Nayef al-Houm, 14, Mohamed Shahsa, 24, Mohamed Valid Mustafa Haniyyah, 32, and another unidentified 12-year-old child have been killed by Israeli army gunfire.

According to Al Qidra, another 75 Palestinians were injured — two of them seriously — by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone. Protesters — who have

been staging demonstrations since March 30 — demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of basic commod-ities. According to the Health Ministry, more than 180 Pales-tinians have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- since the rallies began some six months ago.

Meanwhile, Hamas yes-terday said the Al Aqsa Intifada, which lasted from 2000 to 2005, had revealed the “futility” of pursuing peace talks with

Israel.In September 2000, a visit to Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the “Al Aqsa Intifada”, a popular uprising in which more than 4,000 Palestinians were killed.

In a statement issued to mark the 18th anniversary of the outbreak of the uprising, Hamas stressed its “right to resist the Israeli occupation”, noting that “all laws and norms give a people under occupation the right to resist their occupiers”.

“The Al Aqsa Intifada revealed the futility of peace negotiations, as the occupation only understands the language of force and resistance,” the statement read.

Leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, takes part in the “Great March of Return” demonstration near Israel-Gaza border, in Khan Yunis, Gaza, yesterday.

05SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 ASIA

SC declines SIT probe, says activists’ arrest not for dissentIANS

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court yesterday refused to interfere in the arrest in August of five rights activists, accused of having links with Maoists, and also declined to set up an SIT, allowing the Pune police to go ahead with its probe in the Bhima-Koregaon case.

However, the house arrest of five activists — Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Fer-reira — will continue for four more weeks, the court said in a 2:1 majority judgement, read out by Justice A M Khanwilkar also on behalf of Chief Justice Dipak Misra. Justice D Y Chandrachud gave a dissenting judgement.

“Upon perusal of the material (given by the investigating agency), we are of the considered opinion that it is not a case of arrest because of mere dissenting views expressed or difference in

the political ideology of the named accused, but concerning their link with the members of banned organisation and its activities,” Justice Khanwilker said.

The five activists were arrested on August 28 from various cities on charges of having Maoist links. The Mahar-ashtra Police had claimed that it was in possession of “digital evi-dence about a larger conspiracy to mobilise cadres for action against security forces”. The Pune police had also alleged that the Maoists had plans to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Pune Police raids were

carried out as part of a probe into a conclave — Elgar Parishad — held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which allegedly triggered violence at Bhima-Koregaon village in the district the next day.

In his dissenting judgment, Justice D Y Chandrachud said that “dissent is a symbol of a vibrant democracy” and voices in opposition cannot be muzzled by persecuting those who take up unpopular causes.

Justice Chandrachud lashed out at the Pune police for going public with evidence and termed it “disconcerting behaviour”.

“The court must be mindful of the need not to thwart a

criminal investigation leading to the detection of unlawful acts,” he said.

“The court has to be vigilant in the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution to ensure that liberty is not sacrificed at the altar of conjectures. Individuals who assert causes which may be unpopular to the echelons of power are yet entitled to the freedoms which are guaranteed by the Constitution,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The court rejected the plea for a SIT probe into charges that the five have links with banned Com-munist Party of India-Maoist and were allegedly involved in a con-spiracy to kill sovereign leaders.

“The accused cannot ask for changing the investigating agency or to do investigation in a particular manner, including for court-monitored investi-gation,” Justice Khanwilkar said.

However, Justice Khanwilkar

said, the accused were at liberty to pursue appropriate legal relief.

As the bench extended its interim order to extend their house arrest, in his dissenting judgement Justice Chandrachud recalled the sequence of events when a senior police officer held a press con-ference and released letters.

Justice Chandrachud said that the impartiality of the Maharashtra Police was in doubt as it had tried to prejudice public opinion. He questioned “whether the Pune police can be trusted to carry out impartial investigation”.

“The police are not adjudi-cators nor do they pronounce upon guilt. In the present case, police briefings to the media have become a source of manipulating public opinion by besmirching the repu-tations of individuals involved in the process of investigation. What follows is unfortunately a trial by the media. That the police should lend themselves to this process is a matter of grave concern,” Justice

Chandrachud said.“The conduct of the Pune

police in utilising the agency of the electronic media to cast aspersions on those under inves-tigation fortifies the need for an investigation which is fair. When the Joint Commissioner of Police and the Additional Director General of Police cast aspersions in the public media against persons whose conduct is still under investigation, and in dis-regard of proceedings pending before a judicial forum, it is the duty and obligation of this court to ensure that the administration of criminal justice is not derailed.”

“The basic entitlement of every citizen faced with allega-tions of criminal wrongdoing is that the investigative process should be fair, Justice Chandr-achud said, adding that “if this court were not to stand by the principles which we have for-mulated, we may witness a soulful requiem to liberty.”

An Indian customs official checks his phone as he walks past a humanoid robot at a new international arrival terminal, developed under an airport modernisation programme, in Chennai, yesterday.

Humanoid robot service at Chennai airport

Goa cabinet reshuffle leaves party cadres frustrated, angryIANS

PANAJI: The Goa cabinet reshuffle has led to anger and frustration not just among MLAs but also their supporters, some of whom have threatened to block water supply to half of the state, while a taxi drivers’ body plans to go against the BJP.

Supporters of Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar, who is with the ruling dispensation, have threatened to stop water supply from a dam that caters to half of Goa, if Gaonkar was not included in the cabinet.

While 20,000 taxi operators plan to reject BJP if Michael Lobo is not given a ministry.

Once considered unthinkable under the iron command of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, a number of Goa BJP leaders have

publicly dissented against the cabinet reshuffle of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition.

Two ailing ministers were dropped in favour of two other party MLAs earlier this week.

Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza, who is being treated for cancer in New York, and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar, who suffered a brain stroke earlier in 2018 were replaced by BJP MLAs Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral, respectively.

Kin and associates of D’Souza and Madkaikar have criticised the BJP leadership for the sudden axe.

BJP MLAs and other ruling legislators, who failed to make the cabinet cut have also pub-licly slammed the party lead-ership for ignoring their claims.

BJP MLA from Bicholim Rajesh Patnekar said: “Bicholim (sub

district) did not get a ministry, so the BJP workers here have expressed anger and concern.

“I was hoping that Bicholim would get one ministry and I would get it. I am sure that the state party President Vinay Ten-dulkar will come here and quell the anger among the party workers.” Aldona BJP MLA Glenn Ticlo said he deserved to be part of the cabinet on account of his “dynamism” and said that people from his constituency wanted him to be a minister in order “to get their work done”.

But with a cabinet berth remaining elusive, there was frus-tration among his workers. “People are absolutely unhappy. I am getting calls and messages. I told them it is a party decision and when the Chief Minister is back, he will take a call...,” Ticlo said.

Modi used soldiers’ sacrifices to garner votes: CongressIANS

NEW DELHI: The Congress yesterday slammed the Central government for cele-brating “Parakram parv” on the second anniversary of the 2016 surgical strike, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP of always using “soldiers as a tool to garner votes”.

The government had earlier decided to observe “Parakram Parv” from Sep-tember 28-30, commemo-rating the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces, on the occasion of the anniversary of the cross-LoC (Line of Control) military strikes.

The Congress said the 2016 attack was not the first time that India had inflicted surgical strike and listed a number of such attacks carried out in the past.

He accused the Central government of “compro-mising national security”, saying in 52 months of its ruling the country, Jammu and Kashmir alone has lost “414 security personnel and 259 civilians in Pakistan-sponsored terrorism”.

He challenged Modi to concede that he has “failed” in keeping the borders secure by allowing a “500 percent increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan, since May 2014”.

“Where is the ‘56-inch chest’ missing as Pakistan commits more than 3,000 ceasefire violations at the LoC and international border?,” he said.

Supreme Court opens Sabarimala to women of all agesIANS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court ruling yesterday allowing women of all ages to enter the Ayyappa temple in Kerala has left its priests and many others, including women, unhappy.

Some of them plan to file a review petition against the verdict that came after 12 years of legal battle and nearly a month ahead of the annual pil-grimage starting in November.

Expressing disappointment, Sabarimala ‘tantri’ (chief priest)

K Rajeevaru said: “While I will respect the court’s directive, I wish tradition and culture are allowed to continue. The Tra-vancore Devasom Board (TDB) will decide on an appeal chal-lenging the decision.” He said that as of now, there were no facilities in the temple complex to attend to the needs of a large number of women.

Until now, the temple, located on a hilltop in Pathan-amthitta district, about 130km from the state capital, has remained closed to women in the age group of 10 to 50 years.

Over the years, the Left gov-ernment has always supported the opening of the Sabarimala temple for all women.

TDB President A Padma-kumar said that they were now duty bound to see that the directive of the apex court was implemented.

Former TDB president G Raman Nair called yesterday a black day for Sabarimala.

“One can speak of equality and freedom but the verdict is breaking a tradition that was in existence much before the Con-stitution came into effect.” The

President of the Ayyappa Seva Sanghom and a veteran Congress leader, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, said that while the rule of law has to be adhered to, the tra-ditions, culture and ritualistic practices were equally important.

“I am yet to see one woman who says she will be going to the temple while several have said they will not,” he said.

Said businessman C B Shaji: “I have been going to Sabarimala for the past 30 years and for certain I will never even dare to ask my wife if she will come with me.

“There is definitely a tra-dition and a legend associated with the temple and any woman who knows that will not go.” Bharatiya Janata Party leader P S Sreedharan Pillai said while his party believed in equal rights to all, every religious place has a culture and tradition and any breach can lead to tensions.

A spokesperson for the Pan-dalam Royal Family, which has an integral role in the affairs of the Sabarimala temple, Sasi-kumar Varma, said the palace was disappointed with the verdict.

Supporters of Congress party shout slogans during a protest demanding resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over allegations of corruption in a Rafale fighter planes deal with France, in New Delhi, yesterday.

Protest against Rafale deal

Sushma warns of terrorism threat at Saarc meetingIANS

UNITED NATIONS: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj carefully avoided any interaction with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) meeting of ministers, walking out after issuing a call to end the eco-system of terrorism.

After India had called off talks between the two min-isters, the focus was on the Saarc meeting here on Thursday which put them in close proximity and Sushma Swaraj took no chances.

She delivered her speech with the warning, “terrorism remains the single largest threat to peace and stability in our region, and indeed in the

world”, and left the meeting at the Hotel Westin Grand before Qureshi’s speech.

The Saarc event was billed as an “Informal Council of Min-isters Meeting”.

Qureshi later took a nasty swipe at Sushma Swaraj telling the Pakistani media that maybe she was feeling unwell, according to Samaa TV.

However, the Indian Minister, who has been keeping a gruelling schedule this week, went on to have her scheduled meetings with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Walid Al Muallem.

Before the Saarc event, she had spoken at the meetings of the IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BRICS (Brazil Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The house arrest of five activists — Sudha

Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha,

Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira — will

continue for four more weeks, the court

said in a 2:1 majority judgement. Justice D Y

Chandrachud gave a dissenting judgement.

06 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018ASIA

380 candidates contesting for

37 seats in Pakistan’s by-polls INTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: A total of 380 candidates are in the run in the by-elections for 37 seats of national and provincial assem-blies to be held on October 14 in Pakistan.

According to final lists of candidates issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, 112 candidates will vie for 11 seats of the National Assembly and 268 for 26 seats of the provincial assemblies.

Most of the seats had been vacated by those elected on more than one seat in the 2018 general elections, including Prime Minister Imran Khan who had won elections from all the five NA constituencies he contested.

Punjab in general and Lahore in particular are set to witness some exciting electoral battles.

Khawaja Saad Rafique of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had lost to Imran Khan in NA-131 (Lahore), but now a close contest is expected between him and Humayun Akhtar Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Asmi Mehmood of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Rana Umar Shahzad of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) are also among the 18 can-didates in the run from the constituency.

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be PML-N’s candidate from NA-124 (Lahore) where Hamza Shahbaz had defeated PTI’s Nauman Qaiser by more than 65,000 votes. Ghulam Mohiuddin Deewan is PTI’s candidate in the

by-election from the constit-uency. Shahbaz Mehmood Bhatti of the PPP is also in the run.

Ali Gohar Khan of the PML-N, Mohammad Saad Ullah of the PTI and Shahadat Ali Khan of the PPP will vie for NA-103 (Faisalabad), where polls had been put off following the death of a candidate.

Naseem Ali Shah of the PTI, Zahid Akram Durrani of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and Syeda Yasmin Safdar of the PPP and five independent candi-dates are in the run from NA-35 (Bannu) where Imran Khan had defeated Akram Khan Durrani with a margin of over 6,000 votes.

The PTI has fielded Alamgir Khan as its candidate from NA-243 (Karachi) where Imran Khan had won in the general elections. Amir Waliud Din of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Hakim Ali of the PPP and Sharafat Ali of the PML-N are among 22 con-testants in the constituency.

Moonis Elahi of the PML-Q will contest from NA-69 (Gujrat) on a seat vacated by his father Pervaiz Elahi. The PML-N has fielded Imran Zafar in the constituency.

Chaudhry Saik Hussain of the PML-Q will vie for NA-65 (Chakwal). There are only two other candidates belonging to the TLP and Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party in the run. The PPP and PML-N have not fielded their candidates.

Mansoor Hayat Khan of the PTI and Aqeel Malik of the PML-N will vie for NA-63. The seat was vacated by Ghulam Sarwar Khan of the PTI. Candi-dates from the PPP and TLP and an independent are also in the run.

The PML-N has fielded Sajjad Khan in NA-60 (Rawalpindi) where elections had been postponed following the disqualification of PML-N’s Haneef Abbasi. Railways Min-ister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad’s nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq will contest against him on a PTI ticket.

Malik Khurram Ali Khan of the PTI and Malik Sohail Khan of the PML-N will be in an elec-toral contest in NA-55 (Attock) where PTI’s retired Maj Tahir Sadiq had won in the general elections. The TLP has fielded Syed Faisal Mehmood Shah in the constituency.

Little known Ali Nawaz Awan of the PTI and Waqar Ahmad of the PML-N will run for NA-53 (Islamabad). Imran Khan had defeated Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in general elec-tions from this constituency.

As many as 135 candidates are in the run for 12 Punjab Assembly seats, 52 for nine seats of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 43 for three seats of the Sindh Assembly and 36 for two seats of the Balochistan Assembly.

Khawaja Saad Rafique

of the Pakistan Muslim

League-Nawaz had

lost to Imran Khan in

NA-131 (Lahore), but

now a close contest

is expected between

him and Humayun

Akhtar Khan of PTI.

This file picture shows an aerial view of water released through the Tarbela Dam spillway in Tarbela, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province.

Imran to launch housing project next monthINTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will formally launch the ‘five-million housing project’ in the first half of next month. The process of registration will commence with the launch of the project.

This was decided during a meeting of the task force on housing presided over by Prime Minister Khan here yesterday.

The task force briefed the

prime minister about the progress made so far in formu-lating a comprehensive strategy for planning, execution and monitoring of the housing project for low-income groups and regularisation of katchi abadis.

The prime minister was informed that a comprehensive housing policy framework with a holistic approach and multi-faceted initiatives was being developed to create conducive

environment and offer a one-window solution to local and foreign investors. An apex body will be established to ensure seamless execution of the project.

Quarter Master General Lt Gen Moazzam Ajaz made a detailed presentation on army’s experience in catering to housing needs of its personnel. He also offered army’s expertise and assistance in implementing the housing project.

Did not want or ask for immunity: President Arif AlviINTERNEWS

KARACHI: Responding to crit-icism over suspension of trial proceedings against him in a case registered under different sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Pakistan Penal Code for inciting violence during the 2014 sit-in in the federal capital Islamabad, Pakistani President Arif Alvi yesterday tweeted that

he did not want or ask for immunity.

Taking to the microblogging website, President Alvi wrote: “I did not want or ask for immunity. However, the honourable judge is bound by Article 248(2) which does not give him any choice as it states ‘no criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or a governor in any court during

his term of office’.” After assuming office, President Alvi had said he would not seek immunity. However, his counsel Mohammad Ali Bukhari had pointed out that the office of the president enjoyed constitutional immunity from criminal pro-ceedings under Article 248 and, therefore, he had no say in the matter.

An antiterrorism court of

Islamabad suspended the pro-ceedings against Dr Alvi until he remained president. “An accused person facing trial namely Dr Arif Alvi has already been elected and has taken oath of the office of President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Keeping in view the above fact in light of Article 248 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, protection has

been provided to the President and as per Article 248 (2) of the Constitution, no criminal pro-ceeding whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President or a Governor in any court during term of office,” wrote ATC judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi in an order issued in cases relating to attacks on the Parliament House and Pakistan Television building.

China says not seeking to dethrone US as top powerAFP

NEW YORK: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed fears yesterday that his country was seeking to overtake the United States as the pre-eminent world power amid fast-deteriorating relations with President Donald Trump.

Speaking to an influential US think tank, Wang took a steadfastly conciliatory tone, pledging to work with the United States to resolve dis-putes and denying that China was stealing technology.

“Some American friends have proceeded from the Western theory of realism,” he said, believing that “in the past several hundred years, strong countries are bound to seek hegemony, and their conclusion is that China is about to seek hegemony and even challenge or displace US leadership.” “I want to tell you very clearly that this is a serious strategic mis-judgment,” Wang told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, where he was attending the UN General Assembly.

“It is a misguided antici-pation that will be extremely detrimental to US interests and the future of the United States,”

he said. “Regrettably, this self-imagined suspicion is spreading and it has also been amplified,” he said, warning that it could “even lead to new suspicions and make it even more difficult to address specific issues.” After Trump forged an initial bon-homie with Chinese President Xi Jinping, relations have rapidly plummeted.

Trump with characteristic bluntness this week said that he may no longer consider Xi a friend.

The United States has imposed $200bn in tariffs on Chinese goods and Trump has gone so far as alleging that China is interfering in midterm US elections in hopes of defeating his Republican Party due to his tough trade stance.

Wang flatly denied a key American charge — that China is stealing technology from US and other foreign businesses.

“This is simply not true. We hope that such untrue allega-tions will stop,” he said.

US officials say China seizes the technology more indirectly by requiring foreign companies to ally with local firms to enter the world’s most populous market, with the partners then seizing the know-how for themselves.

Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi president points finger at Myanmar for Rohingya ‘genocide’AP

UNITED NATIONS: Bangla-deshi President Sheikh Hasina accused Myanmar of failing to honour a verbal commitment to take back Rohingya Muslims who have fled a crackdown she described as tantamount to genocide.

Hasina’s remarks at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations came as the UN Human Rights Council agreed to set up a team to collect evidence of alleged

crimes that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators.

UN-backed investigators have already said the reported atrocities could amount to gen-ocide and other war crimes. Myanmar, which barred the investigators from the country, has rejected that reporting as “replete with unverified infor-mation.” “We are appalled by what we have seen in UN reports about atrocities against the Rohingya who have now taken shelter in Bangladesh,

which are tantamount to gen-ocide and crimes against humanity,” Hasina told the General Assembly.

She appealed for more international support for the 1.1 million Rohingya refugees now sheltering in Bangladesh, and urged an “early, peaceful solution” to the crisis. Most have arrived since August 2017 when attacks by Rohingya militants on Myanmar security forces triggered a massive retaliation that prompted a massive cross-border exodus of civilians.

INTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: All eight buffaloes belonging to Prime Minister House in Pakistan were sold for Rs2.3m in an auction yesterday.

According to sources, a large number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) workers also partic-ipated in the auction held at the PM House and made rel-atively high bids for the animals.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government under its austerity drive had announced it would auction off the eight animals — seven buffaloes and a cow of the PM House. It also held an auction for the sale of the PM House’s surplus vehicles recently, in which 61 vehicles were sold for around Rs200m. Another auction of some protected vehicles will be held soon.

The ruling party claims that the buffaloes had been brought to the PM House during the term of the Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N gov-ernment. The sources said at least three animals had been purchased by PML-N supporters.

Qalab Ali, a PML-N sup-porter from Islamabad, pur-chased a buffalo for Rs385,000, as he gave the highest bid because of his sentiments attached to the animal, they said.

“The market price of this animal is not more than 120,000 but I placed the highest bid because this belonged to Nawaz Sharif,” Ali said. Another PML-N worker, Hasan Latif from Rawalpindi, purchased another buffalo for Rs350,000.

Pakistan’s PM House auctions off buffaloes in austerity drive

Cascading dam water

07FRIDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2018 ASIA/ EUROPE

Tsunami sweeps away homes on Indonesian islandAP

JAKARTA: A powerful earth-quake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi yesterday, trig-gering a 1.5-metre tall tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a TV interview that the tsunami hit Palu, the capital of central Sulawesi province, and a smaller city, Donggala.

He said houses were swept away and families were reported missing. Communications to the area were disrupted.

“The cut to telecommunica-tions and darkness are ham-pering efforts to obtain infor-mation,” he said. “All national potential will be deployed, and tomorrow morning we will deploy Hercules and helicopters to provide assistance in tsunami-affected areas.” Indonesian TV showed a smartphone video of a powerful wave hitting Palu with people screaming and running in fear. The water smashed into

buildings and a large mosque that crumpled under the force.

The region was rocked by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake yes-terday and numerous strong aftershocks including one of magnitude 6.7.

The chief of the meteorology and geophysics agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said the tsunami was up to 1.5-metre high. She said the tsunami warning triggered by the biggest quake,

in place for about half an hour, was lifted after the tsunami was over.

Palu’s airport halted opera-tions for 24 hours due to earth-quake damage, according to AirNav, which oversees airline traffic in Indonesia.

Mirza Arisam, a resident of Kendari, the capital of neigh-boring Southeast Sulawesi, said his uncle and his family of five, including three children, were holidaying in Palu and unable to be contacted after the tsunami.

Central Sulawsi was hit earlier yesterday by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that based on pre-liminary information killed one person, injured 10 and damaged dozens of houses.

Television footage showed people running into the streets. Woman and children wailed hys-terically in a video distributed by the disaster agency, which also released a photo showing a heavily damaged department store. “All the things in my house were swaying and the quake left a small crack on my wall,”

Donggala resident Mohammad Fikri said by telephone.

Indonesia is prone to earth-quakes because of its location on

the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of vol-canoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1

earthquake off Sumatra in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

A collapsed shopping mall in Palu, Central Sulawesi, after a strong earthquake hit the area.

“The tsunami hit Palu,

the capital of central

Sulawesi province,

and a smaller city,

Donggala. Houses

were swept away and

families were reported

missing. The cut to

telecommunications

and darkness are

hampering efforts to

obtain information,”

an official said.

US, Philippines increase number of military activitiesAP

MANILA: The Philippine military said yesterday its joint defence and security activities with US forces, including annual combat exercises, will increase next year in a show of the treaty allies’ continuing robust relations.

Top US and Philippine mil-itary officials agreed to increase the number of joint security activ-ities next year to 281 in areas that include counterterrorism, mar-itime security and humanitarian aid. There are 261 such joint

activities this year, military spokesman Col. Noel Detoyato said.

Philippine military chief Gen. Carlito Galvez and Adm. Philip Davidson, the US Indo-Pacific commander, led an annual meeting of the allied forces at the military headquarters in metro-politan Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to end many of the mili-tary’s combat drills with the US military and the presence of American troops in the southern Philippines when he took office

in 2016, while working to revive strained ties with China.

Duterte said he wanted joint combat drills with the US stopped because they may offend China, where he has sought infra-structure funds and trade and investment.

The US military presence in the south and joint drills, however, have continued. About 150 to 200 American troops are providing non-combat assistance to Filipino troops battling militants. China has expressed concern in the past over joint military exercises near

the South China Sea, where it’s been locked in territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan for decades.

“It’s a bilateral issue between the Philippines and US,” Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said in Manila when asked to comment on the increased Philippine-US military activities. “What we hope is that the military relations between those two countries will contribute to the peace and sta-bility of this region.” Zhao opposed the flight early this week

of two nuclear-capable US B-52 bombers over the strategic waterway, where US ships have also sailed close to Chinese man-made islands to promote freedom of navigation in a region where Washington has repeatedly pro-tested China’s assertive actions to fortify its claims.

“Of course we are concerned... it’s a strategic bomber, it’s also far away from the US,” Zhao told reporters. “I think the general rel-ative peace and stability of the region do not require the flight of that kind of plane.”

All passengers survive as plane crash-lands into Pacific lagoonAP

WELLINGTON: A passenger on a plane that crashed into a Pacific lagoon yesterday said the flight attendants were panicking and he saw water pouring through a hole in the side of the plane before he was able to escape.

Local boats helped rescue all 47 passengers and crew after the plane hit the water while trying to land at the Chuuk Island airport in the Micronesia archi-pelago. Seven people were taken to a hospital, according to offi-cials, including one described as being in critical but stable con-dition. Passenger Bill Jaynes said the Air Niugini plane came in very low.

“I thought we landed hard,” he said. “Until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in. And I thought, well, this is not the way it’s supposed to happen.” Jaynes said those aboard managed to wade through waist-deep water to the emergency exits on the sinking plane. He said the flight attendants were yelling, and that he suffered a minor head injury.

He said he called his wife, who started crying.

“I was really impressed with the locals who immediately started coming out in boats,” he said in an interview with a mis-sionary in Chuuk, Matthew Colson, that was posted online and shared with the AP.

“One would think that they might be afraid to approach a plane that’s just crashed.” The sequence of events remains unclear. The airline said the plane landed short of the runway. However, Jaynes said the only scenario he can imagine is that it hit the end of the runway and continued into the water.

The US Navy said sailors working nearby on improving a wharf also helped in the rescue by using an inflatable boat to shuttle people ashore before the plane sank in about 30 metres of water.

Louie Mallari, who was working at a hotel, said he could hear the whole thing happen.

“As the plane approaches, the sound of the engine is getting stronger, then suddenly a splash of water,” he said, adding that he then heard screaming.

Activists open yellow umbrellas during a gathering outside the government headquarters to mark the fourth anniversary of mass pro-democracy rallies, known as the Umbrella Movement, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Hong Kong marks 4th anniversary of Umbrella Movement

New chief takes command of Thailand army REUTERS

BANGKOK: A new chief of Thailand’s army took command yesterday, a staunchly royalist general who will oversee a return to barracks to make way for a civilian government after nearly five years of military rule.

General Apirat Kong-sompong, 58, belongs to the King’s Guard faction in the First Infantry Division of the First Army Region — a group at the very heart of the roy-alist military establishment.

The relationship between the monarchy, the army and politicians is the fundamental factor determining stability in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.

Apirat is the son of General Sunthorn Kong-sompong, who led a 1991 coup that triggered a ground-swell of opposition from a growing middle class, which resulted in the military’s return to barracks in 1992 for 14 years, until the coup in 2006.

S Korea Buddhist sect elects new leaderAFP

SEOUL: South Korea’s largest Buddhist denomination elected a new leader yesterday in an uncontested vote that did little to dispel anger following years of scandals including senior monks breaking celibacy vows, amassing huge wealth and gambling.

With more than 3,000 temples, 13,000 monks and seven million followers, the Jogye Order is followed by most of South Korea’s Bud-dhists and is highly influential in a country where religion remains a powerful social force.

But it has long been dogged by corruption allega-tions and factional feuds that often make the headlines.

The order elected a new president yesterday named Wonhaeng. But he stood uncontested after three rivals boycotted the ballot.

The rivals accused a pow-erful and scandal-tainted former president named Jaseung of unfairly pulling strings in favour of Wonhaeng.

Swiss to press on with EU treaty talks without new concessionsREUTERS

ZURICH: The Swiss government proposed yesterday continuing negotiations with the European Union on clinching a new treaty without making any major new concessions, adding it was committed to protecting high Swiss pay levels.

That has been a major bone

of contention with Brussels, which has been pushing to wrap up a treaty by the end of the year. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis had told par-liament that talks had not made enough progress so far to clinch a deal due to differences over rules to protect Swiss wages from cross-border competition. In a sign of good faith, the

government said it would ask parliament to approve another 1.3bn Swiss francs in aid to EU member states although it said key issues in bilateral ties remain outstanding.

These include the European Commission’s threat not to extend beyond this year recog-nition of Swiss stock exchange rules that allow cross-border

trading, which could touch off tit-for-tat escalation.

Should treaty talks fail — and the window is closing fast with elections in Switzerland and for the European Parliament both due next year — a patchwork of 120 sectoral accords governing economic ties would stay in effect, but bilateral relations would enter a deep

freeze. Failure to strike a deal would mean no increase in Swiss access to the single market, dashing hopes for a new electricity union. It could also endanger unfettered EU market access for Swiss makers of products such as medical devices, if agreements on mutual recognition of industrial standards lapse.

Three charged with Slovak journo’s murderREUTERS

BRATISLAVA: Three people have been charged in Slovakia’s with the premeditated murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, which sparked nationwide protests and brought down the government.

Kuciak had, among other things, investigated fraud involving businessmen with

Slovak political ties, and the sus-pected mafia links of Italians with businesses in Slovakia.

A prosecutor said in March the murder was likely to have been a contract killing related to Kuciak’s work.

The state prosecutor was due to ask a judge to allow the suspects to be held in custody, the spokeswoman for the state prosecutor’s office said. The

suspects were detained in a house raid on Thursday morning. Five others detained in the same raid were released, the spokeswoman added.

Kuciak’s final story, pub-lished posthumously, reported on an Italian living in Slovakia with past business links to two Slovaks who later worked in the office of then-prime minister Robert Fico.

The cover of the State Depart-ment’s latest report on violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar says it provides

“Documentation.” There is ample doc-umentation, showing through the expe-rience of 1,024 refugees now in Bang-ladesh, and satellite imagery, how the Rohingya were subject to brutal attacks last year by the security forces of Myanmar, also known as Burma. The report says it was “extreme, large-scale, widespread, and seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the Rohingya” from Myanmar. But then the report just stops, as if the United States lost its voice.

The Myanmar army’s scorched-earth campaign against the long-per-secuted Rohingya in northern Rakhine state is increasingly well documented, despite the government’s refusal to allow unfettered access to journalists and international observers. Non-governmental organizations and a United Nations international fact-finding mission have shown that after a militant Rohingya group attacked about 30 police and security posts, a harsh crackdown by Myanmar army and other units started August 25, 2017. Rohingya were explicitly tar-geted, the State Department notes; homes and property were destroyed,

and “scores of Rohingya were killed as they fled their villages.” There was clearly premeditation. “In one case, the local heads of the military and police called together 25 Muslim leaders from the surrounding villages to tell them to leave or they would be killed or burned.” All told, about 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, where they are now for-saken in makeshift camps.

The government of Myanmar, whose de facto head, Aung San Suu Kyi, was once a revered icon of the struggle against the country’s military dicta-torship, has failed to hold to account military leaders who carried out the onslaught. The UN fact-finding mission said those responsible should be

“investigated and prosecuted in an international criminal tribunal for gen-ocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.” Then-US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said November 22, 2017, that “it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on August 25 called it “abhorrent ethnic cleansing.” The United States has imposed sanctions on some individual military leaders and other entities for their role in the attacks.

The State Department report was an opportunity to say and do more. At the very least, the United States should have labeled the atrocities a crime against humanity. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Fortify Rights and the UN investigators have all used the term and suggested there was preparation for such crimes. Some have gone further; House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward Royce, R-Calif., said at a hearing Wednesday that “it is clear that these crimes amount to genocide” while Rep. Elliot Engel, D-NY., said it is “clearly a crime against humanity and likely also genocide.”

It’s unfortunate the administration could not speak with comparable clarity. It should propose a legal process for accountability. And it should not fear to speak the truth about this atrocity.

The UN has

warned that

international

aid agencies are

losing the fight

against famine

in Yemen, where

3.5 million people

may soon be

added to the

eight million

Yemenis already

facing starvation

— more than half

of them children.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The report says it was

“extreme, large-scale,

widespread, and seemingly

geared toward both

terrorizing the population

and driving out the

Rohingya” from Myanmar.

But then the report just

stops, as if the United

States lost its voice.

08 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018VIEWS

Yemen doctors despair as babies starve in ‘orphaned province’

At Nasr Hospital’s emergency room in the Yemeni city of Daleh, a little boy struggles to breathe. He is too tired, or too

hungry, to cry. Born with a degenerative neuro-

logical disease, his muscles have atro-phied to nothing, his tiny joints visible through his pale skin, his stomach distended.

The child’s body cannot retain even water, so nurses have resorted to putting him in diapers.

And doctors say there is nothing they can do.

The boy is one of an estimated five million Yemeni children who may not see their next birthday in a war the UN children’s fund has described as a “living hell” for minors.

The UN has warned that interna-tional aid agencies are losing the fight against famine in Yemen, where 3.5 million people may soon be added to the eight million Yemenis already facing starvation -- more than half of them children.

Mahmud Ali Hassan, director of Nasr Hospital, does not mince words. Life for his patients, he says, is “pure misery”.

“We need help. We need real help.”

South of rebel-held Sanaa and north of the government bastion of Aden, Daleh is, in the words of its resi-

dents, a for-gotten city.

The war between Yemen’s gov-ernment, backed by a Saudi-led regional mil-itary coa-lition, and Huthi rebels linked to Iran has left an estimated 10,000 dead since 2015 and triggered what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Another 2,200 have died of

cholera, according to the World Health Organization, nearly one-third of them under the age of five.

In government-held Daleh, medics at Nasr Hospital are desper-ately looking for ways to treat patients — most of whom have not yet learned to read, tie their shoelaces or even

walk — as supplies dwindle and hunger spreads.

A sign outside Nasr Hospital reads “funded by the World Health Organi-zation”. The hospital is a lifeline for three provinces with a combined pop-ulation of more than 1.5 million.

“We take cases from Daleh as well as Ibb and Lahaj,” said Hassan.

“Most cases we receive are mal-nourished children. We get three to four cases a day. The ward is always full. It’s full right now.”

In a lime green onesie, another malnourished baby wails as doctors hook him up to a nasal cannula -- the tube used to deliver oxygen to patients in respiratory distress.

His diaper is multiple sizes too big. “We are in desperate need of

medical supplies,” Hassan said. “We need orthopaedic equipment,

and everyone says they’re trying -- the government coalition and other sides — and yet we haven’t gotten supplies yet.”

Dr. Ayman Shayef, head of the emergency room at Nasr, says three to four children die under his watch every week of preventable causes, mainly linked to neo-natal care.

“We have serious issues with the total absence of pre-natal care and the inability to open an obstetrics department,” Shayef said.

“We’ve also seen a rapid rise in malnutrition cases.

“Daleh is an orphaned province. We need help. We need support for pre-natal care, malnutrition “

In addition to the war, the rising cost of living in Yemen — long the most impoverished country in the Arab world — the depreciation of the local currency and blockades have left millions unable to feed themselves and their children. Katba Ahmed made the trip to Nasr to help a close friend care for her sick child.

“A bag of flour is 18,000 riyals ($72). And with four people at home, how long do you think that’s going to last, with breakfast, lunch and dinner?” Katba said.

And the food baskets sent in by international organisations, Katba says, are nowhere to be seen in her neighbourhood in Hajja province.

“Where do they go? Why don’t we get any baskets?” she says. “Why should we be deprived? Why should we be humiliated?”

AFP

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I have decided today not to run for the

nomination as the EPP’s European elections lead

campaigner. It is my duty and responsibility to continue the Brexit

negotiations right to the end.

Michel Barnier

EU’s Brexit negotiator

Has America lost its voice on human rights around the world?

The opening

of the centre

confirms PHCC’s

commitment to

the geographical

expansion

process and

its keenness to

facilitate access

to health services

for all patients.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

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

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

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

A healthy step forward

Qatar, under its ambitious plan of providing the most advanced healthcare facilities to all of its citizens and residents, is fast implementing health projects

and the opening of Al Waab Health Center is another accomplishment in this direction.

The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) has already opened and operated two health centers in the first half of this year, namely Al Wajba and Muaither Health Centers.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated the Primary Health Care Corporation’s (PHCC) new health center in Al Waab the other day.

The new health center is part of the country’s biggest healthcare facility expansion projects. PHCC will open another health center in Qatar University soon.

The opening of the center confirms PHCC’s com-mitment to the geographical expansion process and its keenness to facilitate access to health services for all patients.

With the inauguration of new facility, the number of PHCC health centers has increased to 26. This health center has the capacity to cater to 35,000 patients. A total of 8,000 persons from neighbouring areas have already registered with the new health center since the beginning of this month.

Al Waab Health Center is located in a populated area and will provide a list of com-prehensive healthcare services, which will help in reducing the burden on neigh-bouring facilities.

The Al Waab Health Center is staffed with 20 physicians in different specialties, 40 nurses, seven dentists, 10 lab technicians, eight pharmacy staff and others. The services

include Women Wellness Clinic, Maternity and Postnatal clinic, Well Baby clinic, periodic immunisation for children, physiotherapy, dentistry, optometry and several others.

In addition to the comprehensive services, the health center will be running a family medicine model, which has been newly introduced by the PHCC to provide a patient-centered approach.

At the opening of Al Waab Health Center, Minister of Public Health H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, affirmed the State’s keenness to provide the best healthcare services to the population and that in view of the great progress achieved in the health system, the hard work will con-tinue to achieve the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030.

The Minister said that the opening of the Al Waab Health Center is part of the large expansion plans in the health facilities, which include the opening of primary health care centers in different parts of the country.

The opening of Al Waab Health Center will reduce the pressure on the surrounding health centers, which leads to upgrading the services provided.

A worker from local charity organisation Mona Relief gives bags to orphan students at their school on the outskirts of Sanaa.

At the United Nations

General Assembly

this week, Trump

praised Kim for

his courage. Such

flattery is no doubt

calculated to entice

Kim to denuclearize.

Nevertheless, it’s a

radical turnaround for

Trump, who last year

excoriated Kim for his

human rights violations

and “depraved

regime,” and it tops

off a bountiful year’s

harvest for former

“Rocket Man” Kim Jong

Un.

09SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 OPINION

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All thoughts and views expressed in these columns are those of the writers,not of the newspaper.

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Chinese moves inAfrica meet US silence

US efforts in Korea bear little fruit

JOSH ROGIN BLOOMBERG

KATHARINE H S MOON REUTERS

The Horn of Africa has become a strategic linchpin for the United States, so the fact that China has dramatically esca-

lated its involvement there presents a daunting challenge for US policy-makers. Nowhere is this more evident than in the tiny country of Djibouti, where Beijing is aggressively

expanding its influence.When China opened its first

overseas military base in Djibouti last year, Washington took a wait-and-see approach. The United States, Japan, France and Italy all have bases in the area, so the Chinese military presence was a test case of whether Beijing’s military expansion in Africa would be an opportunity for cooperation or a source of potential conflict. A year later, the verdict is increasingly clear.

The Chinese military base is only one part of a steady encroachment into Djibouti that now threatens the diplomatic and national security interests of the United States and its allies.

Earlier this year, the Djiboutian government, which is heavily

indebted to Beijing, seized control of Doraleh Container Terminal from Dubai-based DP World. Djibouti Pres-ident Ismail Omar Guelleh invoked “emergency” measures to ignore legal rulings in the United Kingdom meant to prevent his seizure of the port.

The Djiboutian government is expected to hand over operations of the port to Chinese state-connected firms and in July announced a part-nership with one of them to establish a massive free trade zone in the country. Situated along one of the busiest commercial sea lanes in the world, Chinese economic interests are clear. Djibouti stands to be a key node in China’s “string of pearls” strategy, which links key ports to their greater “One Belt, One Road” initiative.

Meanwhile, Beijing’s military activities in Djibouti are of increasing concern. The US base there is a key launching pad for anti-terrorism and intelligence operations against the Islamic State, Al Qaida, Al Shabab and Boko Haram. The United States in May publicly accused China of using high-grade lasers to repeatedly attack US pilots operating out of that base.

That prompted Congress to pass legislation last month that includes language requiring the Pentagon to provide a formal assessment of China’s military presence in Djibouti and the threat it poses to US military personnel. Lawmakers are also con-cerned that Beijing is using its presence in Djibouti to facilitate an illicit arms-trade network that funnels money to the Guelleh regime.

“Guelleh’s dictatorial reign has

been largely fueled by a steady flow of Chinese cash, palaces and gifts,” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., wrote in a Sept. 24 letter to US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. “With new reports indicating his government is profiting from the burgeoning arms trade supplying Houthi rebels in Yemen and terrorist groups the US is combatting across the African con-tinent, it is time for his reckless and unscrupulous behavior to be firmly addressed by the United States.”

Over the past five years, China’s official arms sales to Africa have increased by 55 percent and its share of the African arms market has doubled to 17 percent, surpassing the United States, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. There is also growing evidence that Djibouti is emerging as a strategic transit node for illegal weapons smuggled between Yemen and places such as Somalia.

The Chinese government has a long history of fueling instability in Africa by trading in weapons with rogue regimes. China sent massive amounts of weapons to the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe in 2008 while it was under a European Union arms embargo. Beijing long supplied arms to Sudanese dictator Omar Al Bashir that contributed to genocide in South Sudan.

What’s new is that, under Pres-ident Xi Jinping, Beijing now has the power, influence and intention to combine its economic, diplomatic and military interference in Africa to wide-ranging effect.

Every fall, when the leaves begin turning yellow and brown, I think of my late grandmother. Born in 1913 in

what is now South Korea, she spent some of her early life in what is today North Korea. In both parts of the then-undivided peninsula, my grand-mother lived according to the rhythm of the changing seasons; in her later years, she loved recalling the harvests of her youth, when Korea’s fields were bursting with life-sustaining golden grain. For me, her grand-daughter, fall remains a time to assess what I have harvested in my life, and to examine the fruits the world has borne - or failed to bear. This year I’ve concluded that, while North Korea has reaped a bumper crop of political gains since last fall, the United States has come up empty.

Last week, in a bid to shift that imbalance, South Korean president Moon Jae-in visited Pyongyang for a third meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The latest Kim-Moon summit was billed as a litmus test for a second US-DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) summit proposed by the North Korean leader. According to Victor Cha, a former US diplomat who negotiated with Pyongyang more than a decade ago, the North Koreans “are getting every-thing they want right now.” This includes successfully testing intercon-tinental ballistic missiles late last year, starring in February’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a diplomatic recon-ciliation with Beijing, and a historic coming-out party in April when Kim met Moon for the first time at Pan-munjom. But Kim’s crowning achievement was his June summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore, where he “normalized” his status as the world’s supreme dictator.

Since then, the easing of Chinese sanctions has given the North Korean economy a massive infusion of fuel and other vital goods, and strengthened a dynamic trade in coal, fishing rights, and Chinese tourists - all without giving up nuclear weapons. On the contrary, Pyongyang appears to have been tending its nuclear crops even more assiduously, increasing uranium enrichment and fuel for nuclear plants, while building structures to hide its existing weapons arsenal and to thwart foreign surveil-lance efforts.

What has Washington harvested from its strategy of “maximum pressure” (punishing sanctions and enforcement) and from the Singapore summit, after which Trump declared that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat? Trump appeared to accept the weakening of Chinese sanc-tions during his first news conference following the June meeting in Sin-gapore. While painting a rosy picture of his talks with Kim and promising great things to come in the bilateral rela-tionship, Trump noted that China had lapsed in recent months on enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang, “but that’s OK.” This became a blinking yellow light allowing not only China but other countries, including Russia, to bypass sanctions.

Although Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, recently lambasted Moscow for allegedly violating the UN sanctions regime and then pushing for the alter-ation of a UN report in order to cover up the violations, her tirade - even if justifiable on the grounds of UN Security Council principles - was mis-placed, and sent a confusing political message. If sanctions violations and continuing support for the North Korean regime were the real reason

for Haley’s outrage, then China - not Russia - should have been the primary target. This kind of diversion under-scores Washington’s lack of progress with North Korea, reinforcing the view that Washington is unfocused and unreliable and that Seoul must take the lead. Moon Jae-in has stepped in to mediate between Pyongyang and Washington, but in practice is serving as the “adult” in the room.

Seoul’s dogged pursuit of a peace treaty with Pyongyang may seem abstract and idealistic, but the Pyongyang summit earlier this month yielded substantive and concrete steps toward rapprochement: regular military communication and cooper-ation to prevent clashes in the West Sea, new “buffer zones” on land and sea, halting military exercises in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and launching joint search operations to locate the remains of Korean War casualties in the DMZ. Such measures are intended to increase South Korea’s security and decrease its dependence on Washington.

Despite the Trump administra-tion’s insistence that the international community honor UN sanctions, South Korea has begun seeking eco-nomic engagement with the North. South Korean firms are positioning themselves to enter various areas of the DPRK market, including con-struction, manufacturing, infra-structure development, communica-tions, and financial operations. Warmer inter-Korean relations have encouraged other Asian countries to follow suit and to welcome Moon’s New Southern Policy, which focuses on advancing economic and other ties with Southeast Asia and India.

American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s August visit to Southeast Asia, on the other hand, failed to boost regional support for sanctions against North Korea. Malaysia’s Prime Min-ister Mahathir Mohamad had already declared, in June, that his government would reestablish full diplomatic rela-tions with Pyongyang, even resuming the visa waiver agreement that had been dropped in response to the DPRK’s 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam in a Malaysian airport. Mahathir char-acterized the event, rather dismiss-ively, as a “simple case of murder,” and appears eager to burnish his rep-utation as a champion of sovereignty among developing countries; his eagerness to befriend Pyongyang may also stem from a desire for first-mover advantage in a country he believes is on the brink of opening up. Indonesia also seeks a piece of the action on the peninsula; in recent months, Jakarta has elevated its rela-tionship with Pyongyang through high-level diplomatic visits, and

The Chinese military

base is only one

part of a steady

encroachment

into Djibouti that

now threatens the

diplomatic and

national security

interests of the

United States and

its allies.

honored Kim with an award for “global statesmanship.” Even Jap-anese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump’s most loyal friend in East Asia, has been sowing the seeds of diplomacy with Pyongyang through direct talks with Kim - despite Washington threatening Japan with more tariffs and Japanese officials acknowledging that the United States can’t be relied on to nego-tiate the return of Japanese abductees. Now that Abe has won an historic third term, he is likely to push hard to join the posse of national leaders who have talked with Kim. Abe’s campaign promises included negotiating with Pyongyang and, in August, Jap-anese officials met their North Korean counterparts without prior consultation with Washington.

A series of contradictory state-ments from the Trump adminis-tration - and increasing evidence of personnel issues and policy shifts within it - have corroded American power and influence in Asia. Even the multilateral naval cooperation that the United States helped forge, and which is led by the UK and France, to police DPRK ship-to-ship exchanges that violate United Nations sanctions invites the British and French to increase their interests as “legitimate Indo-Pacific powers,” while American leadership recedes.

At the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump praised Kim for his courage. Such flattery is no doubt calculated to entice Kim to denuclearize. Nevertheless, it’s a radical turnaround for Trump, who last year excoriated Kim for his human rights violations and “depraved regime,” and it tops off a bountiful year’s harvest for former “Rocket Man” Kim Jong Un.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thanks members of the United Nations Security Council after their meeting on North Korea, yesterday.

10 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018EUROPE

Merkel, Erdogan vow

to rebuild strained tiesAFP

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Pres-ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed yesterday to rebuild strained relations after a two-year crisis despite remaining differences on civil rights and other issues.

Erdogan was visiting the top EU economy, home to three million people of Turkish descent, in what German media have described as a charm offensive.

Turkey is suffering economic turbulence aggravated by US sanctions stemming from a row with US President Donald Trump.

The three-day state visit is being held under tight security as thousands were due to protest against the Turkish leader under the banner “Erdogan Not Welcome”.

Merkel and Erdogan stressed the need to rebuild traditional ties that hit a historic low after a 2016 failed coup and subsequent crackdown in Turkey.

The two Nato allies agreed to jointly discuss the Syria crisis in a meeting next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron of

France, Merkel said at a joint press conference.

But the gulf between them remained apparent on issues from press freedom to the fate of German or dual citizens being held behind bars in Turkey, and on whether Germany should extradite Erdogan’s declared foes.

Merkel, under pressure at home for giving Erdogan the red-carpet treatment, said there was “on both sides a joint strategic interest in good relations” despite “deep differences... espe-cially in questions about a dem-ocratic, open society”.

But she stressed that con-tinued dialogue was the best way

to overcome those differences.She also vowed to keep

pushing for the release of five German citizens still being held in Turkey.

At the height of the crisis, Berlin had urged its citizens and companies to stay away from Turkey and pulled out its troops from Nato bases.

However, relations have thawed somewhat since Turkey in February released prominent German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel.

Erdogan, who at the height of the diplomatic crisis had accused Berlin of “Nazi-like practices”, also struck a concili-atory tone, pointing to “win-win” business projects on the horizon.

On the question of open trade, he said, without men-tioning Trump, that “we are of the same opinion as Germany” and that protectionism “spells a great danger for global security”.

However, he said Germany was doing too little to deal with thousands of militants on its soil.

He complained that Germany was refusing to extradite fol-lowers of Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt.

Merkel said Germany regards the PKK as a banned militant organisation but was not

convinced it should treat the Gulen movement the same way.

Ahead of Erdogan’s arrival, Turkey handed Germany a list of 69 people it wants extradited, among them alleged PKK and far-left activists and Gulen followers.

Also on the list was journalist Can Dundar, who has lived in Germany since 2016. He is evading a jail sentence for his Cumhuriyet newspaper’s reporting on alleged secret Turkish arms deliveries to rebels in Syria.

Dundar dropped plans to attend yesterday’s press

conference, claiming Erdogan had threatened to boycott it.

Dundar said he did not want to “be the news” and spark a new diplomatic crisis.

But Erdogan charged that Dundar “is an agent, he is a person who has disclosed state secrets”.

“No country would allow state secrets to be disclosed,” he added. “It is our natural right to want the extradition of a guilty individual.”

Mass protests were planned against Erdogan, with demon-strations also expected today when he opens a mosque in the city of Cologne.

More than 4,000 police were deployed across central Berlin, where helicopters buzzed in the sky and snipers guarded the roof of the Adlon Hotel where Erdogan was staying.

German Green party poli-tician Cem Ozdemir, who has Turkish roots, said Erdogan should have been received with less pomp, perhaps for a working-level visit.

He said that, even though a rapprochement was good news, those Turkish citizens “who wish for democracy and human rights... do not deserve to be abandoned by us”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (second right) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) arrive to hold a joint press conference following their meeting, in Berlin, yesterday.

Kremlin urges Britain to release details on poisoning caseAP

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said yesterday it expects Britain to say what it knows about the iden-tities of the two suspects in the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy so Russian officials can launch an investi-gation.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov (pic-tured), said allegations from British-based investigative group Bellingcat and others can’t be the basis for a Russian inquiry, adding that Moscow expects British officials to produce the government’s information.

Britain has charged Alex-ander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with trying to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his

daughter, Yulia, with the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok. The Skripals survived the March 4 attack in Salisbury, but a res-ident of a nearby England town later died after apparently having contact with the poison.

British officials alleged the attack on the Skripals received approval “at a senior level of the Russian state,” an accusation Moscow has fiercely denied.

After the two suspects were charged this month, Putin said they were civilians who did nothing criminal and urged them to speak to news outlets. The pair then appeared on Russia’s state-funded RT channel, saying they visited Salisbury as tourists and had nothing to do with the poisoning.

Bellingcat has reported that

the man identified as Boshirov is in fact Col Anatoly Chepiga of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, who was awarded Russia’s highest medal in 2014. But beyond a photo from Chepiga’s 2003 passport file resembling Boshirov, the report didn’t contain further proof that Boshirov and

Chepiga were the same person.On Thursday, Russian

business daily Kommersant reported that some residents in Beryozovka, a small village in Russia’s far east where Chepiga’s family once lived, confirmed that they recognised Chepiga as the man identified as Boshirov.

Chepiga’s former com-manding officer at a military academy in far-eastern Russia said he didn’t recognise Boshirov when he saw him on TV, but added that he didn’t clearly remember what Chepiga’s face looked like.

Alexander Borzhko con-firmed that Chepiga fought in Chechnya and received the Hero of Russia medal.

Asked if the Kremlin could confirm that Chepiga received

the Hero of Russia medal, Peskov responded that he checked and found no information about such a person receiving the award.

Peskov scoffed at the claim that in a passport file Bellingcat said it reviewed, Chepiga closely resembles Boshirov. He cited the lookalikes of Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin who prowl Red Square for tourists willing to pay for photos.

“We have 10 Stalins and 15 Lenins on Red Square, and all of them closely resemble the real ones,” Peskov snapped.

He said in a conference call with reporters that the Kremlin gave little credibility to investi-gative reports and media articles on the case, adding that “we don’t know how reliable and well-founded they are.”

Police closes the Oresund bridge near Copenhagen, Denmark, yesterday.

Official jailed for stealing London’s Grenfell fire fundAFP

LONDON: A public official who stole more than $78,000 intended for the survivors of London’s deadly Grenfell tower disaster was jailed for five and a half years, police said.

Jenny McDonagh, 39, a finance worker with Ken-sington and Chelsea local authority, admitted spending the money on trips abroad, beauty treatments and res-taurant meals.

“Her actions were truly appalling,” said Detective Superintendent Matt Bonner of the Metropolitan Police.

She began stealing shortly after joining the council in October 2017, several months after the June 14 inferno at the public housing bloc, which killed 71 people.

McDonagh used five pre-paid credit cards intended to help the survivors, who were left homeless and deeply traumatised in many cases.

She topped up the cards 17 times over the next ten months with council money, to a total of £62,062, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement.

She also admitted a sep-arate fraud in 2016 at the state-run National Health Service.

“She knew she was taking precious funds intended for those who survived the Grenfell Tower tragedy, people who have already been through the most trau-matic experience imaginable without then being caught up in McDonagh’s deception,” Bonner said.

Angela Merkel said

there was “on both

sides a joint strategic

interest in good

relations” despite

“deep differences...

especially in questions

about a democratic,

open society”.

Dutch police arrest 7 for plotting attackAP

THE HAGUE: Seven men were arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting a large-scale extremist attack that Dutch prosecutors said they think was foiled following a months-long investigation.

The national prosecutor’s office said in a statement that heavily armed police arrested the men in the towns of Arnhem,

about 100km south of Amsterdam, and Weert in the southern Netherlands close to the borders of Germany and Belgium.

The investigation was launched by intelligence sug-gesting the alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi her-itage, wanted to carry out an attack at the site of a large event and cause multiple casualties, according to the statement.

The suspects allegedly

wanted to use bomb vests and assault rifles to do harm at the event, and planned to detonate a car bomb at another location, prosecutors said. An investi-gation of potential targets was continuing.

Prosecutors said the sus-pects ranged in age from 21 to 34. Three of them were previ-ously convicted of attempting to travel overseas to join extremist networks.

Manhunt shuts down bridges to CopenhagenAP

COPENHAGEN: A police manhunt yesterday prompted Danish authorities to briefly cut off the eastern island of Zealand, where the capital of Copen-hagen sits, from the rest of the country as well as from Germany and Sweden.

A black Swedish-registered car with “possibly three people onboard” was being sought in connection with “serious crim-inality,” the Copenhagen police said.

Sweden’s Aftonbladet paper,

citing an unnamed police source, said the case was likely connected to a kidnapping.

Bridges from Zealand to the central island of Funen and to neighboring Sweden were closed down for about two hours, and ferry crossings to Germany and to Sweden were also halted. Shutting down these key crossings caused major traffic jams near the bridges to Sweden and the mainland.

Copenhagen pol ice spokesman Riad Tolba said police all over Denmark were involved in the manhunt, saying

heavily armed police officers were screening cars at bridges and ferries.

Aftonbladet reported that the car, a Volvo V90, had been stolen from the airport on August 1, east of Malmo, in Sweden.

Denmark’s TV2 said a police helicopter and a search with canine squads were spotted on the highway near Roskilde, 25km west of Copenhagen, between the capital and the Storebaelt bridge to the island of Funen.

Copenhagen airport stayed open during the manhunt.

Barnier rules himself out of top EU job raceREUTERS

BRUSSELS: The European Union’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier yesterday ruled himself out of the race to become the head of the European Commission, the bloc’s exec-utive, next year, saying he needed to remain focused on the talks with Britain.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the current president of the Com-mission, is due to step down next year after European Par-liament elections set for May.

Barnier, a Frenchman, is from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and had

been mentioned as a possible successor to Juncker.

“I have decided today not to run for the nomination as the EPP’s European elections lead campaigner,” Barnier said in a letter to the party.

“We are in the final stretch of a serious and complex nego-tiation on the orderly with-drawal of the United Kingdom. It is my duty to remain engaged with all my energy and determination”.

Over the year-and-a-half of Brexit negotiations, Barnier has greatly increased his profile by travelling extensively around the EU and holding meetings.

11SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 AMERICAS

House committee agrees to release Russian probe transcriptsREUTERS

WASHINGTON: A US House of Representatives committee voted yesterday to release dozens of transcripts of inter-views from its investigation of Russia meddling in the 2016 US elections, including conversa-tions with senior associates of President Donald Trump.

The House Intelligence Com-mittee voted unanimously to send transcripts of 53 interviews to the Office of the Director of

National Intelligence, which will scrub them of classified infor-mation before they are made public.

However, committee Dem-ocrats said Trump’s fellow Republicans, who hold a majority in the House and thus control the panel, refused their request to immediately release all of the transcripts to Robert Mueller, the federal special counsel investigating Russia, Trump and the election.

Adam Schiff, the committee’s

top Democrat, said after the meeting that Republicans refused to make some of the most important transcripts public, including interviews with fired FBI Director James Comey and Admiral Mike Rogers, the former National Security Agency director.

“There was no interest (from Republicans) in the public seeing anything that they thought might be damaging to the president,” he said.

Democrats wanted all of the

transcripts released. The meeting was closed to the press.

Asked for a response to Schiff’s comments, Jack Langer, a Republican committee spokesman, said in an emailed statement, “It’s amusing to see the Democrats continuing to promote their never-ending chain of absurd conspiracy theories.”

The transcripts release would let the public to see thou-sands of pages of interviews with people including the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, and

son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

Interviews with officials from former president Barack Obama’s administration are also among the transcripts.

The transcripts include dis-cussions about a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York at which Russians offered to provide damaging information about Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Obama warns against growing nationalismAFP

KOLDING: Former US pres-ident Barack Obama warned yesterday against the rising nationalism as he painted a grim picture of American and global politics on a visit to Denmark.

“I’m concerned enough about the international and American trends that I thought it was important to offer my views,” he told entrepreneurs and students in the Danish central city of Kolding.

“When you start seeing our politics driven completely free of facts, when you start seeing a debate that is driven solely on racial or nationalistic impulses, when you start seeing a rejection of science and expertise and logic in politics... we are beyond the sort of pol-itics that will continue our best traditions,” he added.

Relatively discreet since leaving the White House on

January 20, 2017, the 44th Pres-ident of the United States care-fully avoided any direct ref-erence to his successor Donald Trump.

“Maybe we got more jolt and more change than we expected in the US,” Obama said.

He expressed concern over a lack of citizen engagement in public life and underlined the importance in the United States, Europe, and in other countries “to affirm the ideals of our constitution.”

Referring to the right-wing populist Law and Justice Party (PiS)’s arrival in power in Poland and the fiercely anti-immigration government in Hungary, Obama said: “there is a shift that has implications for all of Europe.”

“When a population is passive and ill-informed and not paying attention, that’s when there is the greatest danger.”

NSA hacker gets jail term over leaked US reportAFP

WASHINGTON: A former National Security Agency (NSA) hacker whose leak of top secret online spying materials led to US government ban on Kaspersky software was sentenced to 66 months in prison.

Nghia Hoang Pho, 68, a veteran of the NSA’s elite Tai-lored Access Operations hacking unit, pleaded guilty in December to one count of willful retention of classified n a t i o n a l d e f e n c e information.

Authorities discovered that between 2010 and 2015, he had taken home with him substantial TAO materials, including programmes and data, that eventually ended up in the hands of Russian intelligence.

Vietnam-born Pho put the information on his home com-puter, which was protected by Kaspersky anti-virus pro-gramme. US authorities believe that Russian intelli-gence was able to access his computer through Kaspersky.

In order to function, the Kaspersky programme needs a computer owner’s blanket permission to access the machine’s systems. It then communicates the results of its anti-virus scans to Kaspersky headquarters.

It was reported that the 2015 penetration of Pho’s com-puter led to the Russians obtaining information on how the NSA itself infiltrates foreign computer networks and pro-tects itself from cyberattacks.

Multi-faceted projections

Rosa intensifies to Category 4 storm in Pacific OceanREUTERS

MEXICO CITY: Hurricane Rosa intensified into a major storm in the Pacific Ocean, with maximum sustained winds near 230 kph and little change in strength was expected overnight, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said yesterday.

Rosa, a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, was about 975km southwest of the southern tip of Baja California and moving west at almost 15 kph.

It is the seventh category 4 hur-ricane of the season.

“Little significant change in strength is forecast overnight, with

some slow weakening anticipated by Saturday (today), and a larger decrease in wind speed expected early next week,” the NHC said in its advisory.

Swells generated by Rosa are forecast to affect parts of the coast-lines of southwestern Mexico, the southern Baja California Peninsula, and southern California later this

week and over the weekend.“These swells are likely to cause

life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the Miami-based center said.

However, no coastal watches or warnings are in effect, the NHC said.

Mexico’s Pacific coast has already been hit hard by heavy rain and floods in recent days.

Hurricane Rosa is shown from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric GOES East satellite over the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The site-specific art installation called “WDCH Dreams” by media artist Refik Anadol is projected onto the undulating stainless steel facade of the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall (WDCH), in Los Angeles, California, yesterday. The vibrant multi-faceted projection celebrates the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 100th anniversary with more than 45 terabytes of information from the LA Phil’s archives, including photos, videos, audio recordings and posters. The installation runs from September 28 to October 6.

Panel backs Kavanaugh; Flake seeks FBI probeREUTERS

WASHINGTON: A Republican-led committee approved Pres-ident Donald Trump’s nomi-nation of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court yesterday but moderate Republican Senator Jeff Flake called for an FBI inves-tigation into misconduct allega-tions against the judge before a final Senate vote.

Flake’s dramatic intervention means a final Senate vote on the nomination could be delayed for up to a week so that the possible FBI investigation can be com-pleted, if Republican Senate leaders agree to his demand. Democrats have called for an FBI probe, but Republicans had opposed the move.

The committee, with tempers flaring on both sides, met the day after a jarring and emotional hearing into misconduct allega-tions against Kavanaugh that gripped the country, with a uni-versity professor named Christine Blasey Ford accusing him of assault. Kavanaugh denied the accusation.

“This country’s being ripped apart here,” Flake, with a pained look on his face, told his fellow senators. “... I think we can have a short pause,” Flake added.

We ought to do what we can to make sure that we do all due diligence with a nomination this important,” Flake added.

It was unclear yet if the investigation will take place.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office had no imme-diate comment. The committee moved to advance the nomination 11-10 on party lines, with Trump’s fellow Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.

“All I’ve said to Senator Flake is I would advocate for the position he took but I don’t control that,” said Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the committee.

Just before the scheduled vote in the Judiciary Committee, Flake left the committee room to talk to some Democrats, adding new turmoil to the proceedings.

During the delay, senators and aides could be seen in the committee room having hushed

conversations, with some going back and forth to an anteroom of the committee chamber.

Earlier in the day, Flake, who had previously raised concerns about the allegations against Kavanaugh, said Ford gave “compelling testimony” but Kavanaugh provided “a per-suasive response.”

One Republican, Senator John Kennedy, called Kavanaugh’s confirmation process “an inter-galactic freak show.”

As the committee, with 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, set its vote, some Democrats left the room in protest. “What a railroad job,” Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said.

It remained unclear if Repub-licans have the votes to confirm Kavanaugh on the Senate floor.

As the committee, with 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, set its vote, some Democrats left the room in protest. “What a railroad job,” Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said.

Grassley said he found Thursday’s testimony from both Ford and Kavanaugh “credible,” but added, “There’s simply no reason to deny Judge Kavanaugh a seat on the Supreme Court on the basis of evidence presented to us.”

The timing of the panel’s session gave committee members little time to review Thursday’s extraordinary tes-timony from Kavanaugh and Ford, who accused him of

assaulting her when they were high school students in 1982. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations and accused Dem-ocrats of a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s senior Democrat, called Kavanaugh’s remarks unseemly for a judicial nominee.

This was someone who was aggressive and belligerent. I have never seen someone who wants to be elevated to the highest

court in the country behave in that manner. In stark contrast, the person who testified yes-terday and demonstrated a bal-anced temperament was Dr. Ford,” Feinstein said. Another Democrat, Amy Klobuchar, noted that Grassley had thanked Ford for her bravery but never-theless failed to back any further investigation.

Democrats said Kavanaugh’s confirmation could taint the Supreme Court, which prides

itself on staying above the political fray.

“Voting to advance and ulti-mately confirm Judge Kavanaugh while he is under this dark cloud of suspicion will forever change the Senate and our nation’s high court. It will politicise the US Supreme Court,” Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said.

Democrats have urged a delay in the confirmation process to allow for an FBI investigation.

Senate Judiciary Committee member Senator Jeff Flake with colleagues during a hearing on the nomination of Brett M Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Senator Flake’s

intervention means

a final Senate vote

on the nomination

could be delayed

for up to a week so

that the possible

FBI investigation

can be completed, if

Republican Senate

leaders agree to his

demand.

12 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018AMERICAS / CLASSIFIEDS

Maduro welcomes visit

by UN rights chiefREUTERS

UNITED NATIONS: Vene-zuelan President Nicolas Maduro said yesterday that UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet was welcome to visit any time after she urged Caracas to allow an international inves-tigation of the humanitarian situation in the country.“OF COURSE, whenever she wants,” Maduro told reporters when asked at the United Nations if he would accept a mission to report on the human rights situation in Venezuela.

“President Bachelet, the high commissioner, should coor-dinate with the foreign ministry when she wants to go to Vene-zuela. She’s always welcome,” he added.

Bachelet, a former president of Chile, took over at the head of the UN Human Rights Council on September 1.

Earlier yesterday, the council said it had approved a resolution expressing serious concern about alleged human rights violations in Venezuela, and urged the country to let Bachelet compile a report on the conditions on the ground.

In a video published by the United Nations, Bachelet said for the Human Rights Council to be able to produce an impartial report on the situation, it was vital to be allowed in.

It would also provide an opportunity for the council to get the “official version” from Venezuela’s government, she added. Venezuela, which is struggling to cope with an

economic and political crisis, has come under the spotlight for its human rights record at the UN General Assembly this week.

Five Latin American coun-tries (Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay) and Canada on Wednesday said that they had asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to inves-tigate Maduro’s government over allegations of crimes against humanity in using force to repress political opponents.

Venezuela has rejected crit-icism of the Maduro government as hostile propaganda and attempts to set the stage for an intervention by foreign powers in the country.

The UN Human

Rights Council said

it had approved a

resolution expressing

serious concern

about alleged human

rights violations in

Venezuela.

Call to oust Venezuelan leaderAFP

UNITED NATIONS: The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, joined Venezuelan protesters outside the world body headquarters and called for the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.

Haley’s embrace of dem-onstrators was highly unusual for a diplomat from a major power at the staid UN and came a day after President Donald Trump hinted at mil-itary options against Maduro’s leftist government.

“We are going to fight for

Venezuela and we are going to continue doing it until Maduro is gone!” Haley shouted from a megaphone.

“We need your voices to be loud and I will tell you, the US voice is going to be loud,” she said.

Haley said she visited the border with Colombia, which has accepted more than one million Venezuelans fleeing an economic freefall including hyperinflation.

“What we saw is what no one should live ... while Maduro is eating in nice restaurants.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (third right) during an interview after his meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations, in New York, yesterday.

Teen opens fire in Brazil school;two injuredAP

RIO DE JANEIRO: A teenager opened fire at a school in southeastern Brazil yesterday, leaving two students injured, authorities said.

The shooting happened in the city of Medianeira in the state of Parana.

In a statement, the state’s secretary of education said the shooter and another teen who was with him had been taken into custody. It wasn’t immediately clear what role the accompanying student might have played.

One student was shot in the back and another suffered injuries to a knee, according to the statement. It did not clarify if the second student had been shot.

A military police spokesman for the state said police were investigating at the scene and could not immediately provide comment.

Ex-Mexican governor gets 9 years in jail after guilty pleaAP

MEXICO CITY: The former governor of Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz pleaded guilty to charges of organised crime and money laundering, and received a nine-year sentence, prosecutors said yesterday.

The plea deal reached with Javier Duarte was an anti-cli-mactic end to Mexico’s highest-profile corruption case in recent years and sparked anger among critics since he can apply for parole in as little as three years.

Duarte — accused of embezzling millions in state money — took a leave from the governorship of Veracruz and fled to Guatemala before being extradited back to Mexico in July 2017 to face justice.

Along with the prison sen-tence, Duarte had 41 properties seized as part of the deal. But he will not have to pay reparations.

“In cases like these, we are never satisfied,” said federal prosecutor Felipe de Jesus

Munoz. “We have to follow what the law says.”

Munoz said that after serving 4½ years — half the sen-tence — Duarte could apply for parole, and that he will be credited for the 1 ½ years he has already spent in prison.

“It’s all a circus,” said Pres-ident-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who made fighting corruption a focus of his campaign.

He said the sentence is a demonstration of the lack of political will to fight corruption by outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto since not all the evi-dence against the ex-governor was presented.

But current Veracruz Gov Miguel Angel Yunes said that despite the federal plea deal, Duarte still faces an array of state charges.

“It will be many years before Duarte gets out of prison,” said Yunes.

Prosecutors said Duarte used much of the embezzled money to buy properties.

13SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 CLASSIFIEDS

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20 SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018MORNING BREAK

HIGH TIDE 07:30 – 19:00 LOW TIDE 01:00 – 13:45

Misty at places by early morning, becomes

hot and relatively humid daytime with

chances of local thundery rain at places

by afternoon.

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum 31oC 37oC

FAJR

SHOROOK

04. 09 AM

05. 25AM

11. 24 AM

02. 49 PM

05. 25 PM

06. 55 PM

ZUHR

ASR

MAGHRIB

ISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

Pakistani photographer proves power of passionAMNA PERVAIZ RAO THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The success story of Irfan Ahson, a renowned Pakistani wedding photographer, is a convincing proof of power of passion and unlimited enthu-siasm.

A civil engineer by profession with an engineering degree from the Uni-versity of Texas fell in love with his hobby — photography — and years later down the lane he became the most successful wedding photographer.

Recently, Ahson got a sensational press in Pakistan when he shot the official portrait of newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. The curious media riding on speculative winds started questioning the exor-bitant fee Ahson would have charged for the photo shoot of Premier Khan thus severely criticising the austerity drive of PTI government.

“I did not charge for that portraits. It was my small contribution to Naya Pakistan,” Ahson tweeted to silence the critics. The Peninsula talked to Irfan Ahson during his recent visit to Doha about Imran Khan’s portrait, his passion for photography, his journey and also about the necessary elements of success in entrepreneurship.

Ahson believes in capturing ‘moments’ which he thinks ‘become a beautiful memory with the passage of time.’ “Photography was my hobby when I was working as a transportation civil engineer in the US after doing my masters degree. It was a very expensive hobby, but I managed to earn extra

money to fund my hobby.”Irfan Ahson is an award-winning

photographer in Pakistan. He runs a studio in Lahore named “Fine Art Wed-dings by Irfan Ahson”. A colleague of Ahson was getting married and it was the moment from where he got an opportunity to start his wedding pho-tography journey. “The fleeting nature of life encouraged me to indulge into photography,” he says.

Sharing his experience of capturing Imran Khan’s official portrait, he said: “I was given one and a half minute in which we did two sittings. One was with the white background and two flags; and the second one was taken with picture of Quaid-e-Azam in the background. I clicked Khan’s three shoots in 25 seconds.”

On wedding photography, he con-tinued: “Wedding photography is my way of earning money; my real passion is street photography, portraits, nature, people in their element and capturing innocence. From the experience I got from US outdoor weddings, I tried to implement it in Pakistan. My timings and idea was right hence it clicked. This way I made my name in photography industry.”

Ahson has a team of twenty people working with him for the last three

years, full-time. “I do a couple of shoots; the rest is done by my talented team. I was in the US in July for a wedding shoot and again heading to the US this month. It has been very long that I have not covered an entire event single-handed,” he added.

Learning something new every day through YouTube tutorials and books is a part of Ahson’s daily life routine. “You can never learn light while doing photography. Photography is a simple art: it is based on three elements; ISO, aperture and shutter speed. But, crea-tivity plays its own role while doing photography.”

Ahson’s greatest achievement in

field of photography was when he did Rick Perry’s (Governor of Texas) shoot in 2008. “It was a big honour for me as a Pakistani amateur photographer cov-ering the oath ceremony and inaugu-ration ceremony of Rick Perry because back then I did not have my ‘IRFAN AHSON’ identity.”

For people who want to learn pho-tography, my advice would be to pick up the camera and start shooting. Look at the exit data. See what you did and what you could have done to make the shot better. Learn to shoot with primes and in manual mode. You will learn a lot faster this way as compared to shooting in ‘auto’ mode.”

Irfan Ahson: one of the top Pakistani photographers.PIC: ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

Al Shyoukh Terminal, the ferry terminal of Banana Island Resort, is seen illuminated in the foreground of Al Fanar Tower and QCB. A view from Doha Harbour. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT / THE PENINSULA

Colourful view from the harbour

Ahson believes in

capturing ‘moments’

which he thinks ‘become a

beautiful memory with the

passage of time.’

World’s biggest shipping firm tests Russian Arctic routeAP

DENMARK: Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping group, said yesterday that one its cargo vessels has successfully passed through the Russian Arctic on a

one-off trial journey as a result of melting sea ice.

Palle Laursen, Maersk’s Chief Technical Officer, says, “The trial allowed us to gain exceptional operational experience,” adding the Venta Maersk and all systems aboard performed well in the

unfamiliar environment. Laursen said the ship, which had a cargo of frozen fish, arrived in St. Petersburg yesterday, after leaving Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok on August 22.

The Northern Sea Route could be a shorter route for journeys

from East Asia to Europe than the Northwest Passage over Canada because it will likely be free of ice sooner due to climate change.

Experts say it could reduce the travel distance from East Asia to Europe from the 21,000km it takes to go via the Suez Canal, to

12,800km. That would cut transit time by 10-15 days. It’s not the first time a cargo vessel has completed the Russian Arctic route, and Maersk underlined that the journey was “to gain operational experience in a new area and to test vessel systems.”

Cranes rest in shallow water of the river Oder in Mescherin at the German-Polish border, northeastern Germany, yesterday. The migratory birds stay in the region for gathering new strength before continuing their bird migration towards the South.

Mass migration

More than 300 endangered turtles hatch in SingaporeAFP

SINGAPORE: More than 300 hawksbill turtles have hatched on beaches in Singapore this month and been released into the sea, authorities said yesterday, in a boost for the critically endangered creatures.

They hatched on three beaches across the tropical Southeast Asian country, according to the National Parks Board, which oversees parks and nature reserves.

Over 100 turtles hatched on Sentosa Island, a popular tourist destination, according to the organisation that manages the island. After their nest was dis-covered in July, a barrier was erected around the site to

protect it from monitor lizards and crabs It was the fourth time since 1996 that eggs of the crit-ically endangered turtles have hatched on Sentosa.

The other turtle nests were discovered at a beach on the east coast and on Satumu island south of the Singapore mainland, the parks board said. A total of 321 turtles hatched over a 10-day period from Sep-tember 15. Hawksbills get their names from their narrow pointed beaks and are found throughout the world’s tropical oceans, mainly around coral reefs. They are threatened by damage to their natural hab-itats from pollution and coastal developments, and are also tar-geted by poachers.

Genes associated with chronic back pain identifiedIANS

NEW YORK: Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have identified three novel genetic variants associated with chronic back pain that may help point toward avenues for the eventual development of new therapies.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, links the risk for back pain with var-iants in genes controlling skeletal development, among other pathways.

“Chronic back pain is linked to changes in mood, and the role of the central nervous system in the tran-sition from acute to chronic back pain is well-recognised,” said the co-author Pradeep Suri from the University of Washington.

“However, the top two genetic variants we identified suggest causes implicating the peripheral structures, such as the spine,” Suri added.

The research team involved 158,000 adults of European ancestry, including over 29,000 individuals with chronic back pain.