Visa-free entry to US for Qatari businessmen mootedAmbassador Anne Patterson, the chairperson of the US-Qatar Business Council, has said she is looking forward to visa-free entry to the US for Qatari businesspersons. “We are working for more partnership between Florida and Qatar. We are looking for to see more Qatari businessmen entering America without visas. In return for this, we expect more legislation that would ease or facilitate the creation of projects or

businesses in Qatar to expand further and to ease export and import activities in a hassle-free and cheaper way,” she said in a speech during the Qatar-US Economic Forum held in Miami, Florida. She added: “The upcoming days will see more opportunities in Qatari investments in the US in the real estate and infrastructure sectors, among others, and other investments that will be added in the US economy.”

In brief

GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978

THURSDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 10779

April 5, 2018Rajab 19, 1439 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Deposits at QNB jump13% despite blockade

BUSINESSBUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1

Qatar Airways in deal to ‘acquire 25%of Moscow’s Vnukovo airport shares’

Qatar Airways has entered into an MoU with Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, Russia’s

third-largest airport, to potentially acquire up to 25% of the airport’s total shares.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Execu-tive Akbar al-Baker signed the MoU along with chairman of the Board of Vnukovo International Airport JSC, Vi-taly Vantsev. The signing took place in the presence of deputy general (Com-merce) Vnukovo International Airport, Anton Kuznetsov, at the Oryx Rotana Hotel in Moscow yesterday.

Al-Baker said: “As we celebrate the ‘Year of Culture’ between Russia and

Qatar, I am very pleased to announce the potential acquisition of up to 25% of Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport. Such an investment will com-plement the strong ties we have already established with the country, with our launch of direct services to St. Pe-tersburg late last year, as well as our triple-daily fl ights to Moscow. All our investments are part of our existing expansion strategy, through which we aim to be able to bring even more peo-ple together from all parts of the globe.”

Vantsev said: “Today we have signed the memorandum of understanding, the provisions of which, once implemented, could establish a foundation for pro-

ductive partnership between Qatar Airways, one of the world’s leading air carriers and a true, recognised touch-stone of sterling quality of passenger and in-fl ight services, and Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. Vnukovo International nowadays boasts the best transport ac-cessibility and most advanced, cutting-edge airport infrastructure in Russia, enabling the airport’s consistently im-pressive passenger growth performance nationwide. This gives me every con-fi dence that our potential partnership will be mutually benefi cial and good for all concerned, through further synergies it will be creating for each partner, ena-bling further growth.” To Page 2

Sheikha Moza meets Nigeria president’s wife

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and Chairperson of Education Above All Foundation, met yesterday with Aisha Buhari, wife of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari. During the meeting, they discussed joint eff orts to provide quality education for out of school children, especially the eff orts made by Education Above All in Nigeria. They also explored areas of collaboration in health, research and social sciences. PICTURE: Aisha al-Musallam/HHOPL

Cabinet nod for draft decision on taxi chargesThe Cabinet has given its nod to a

draft decision of HE the Minis-ter of Interior that requires taxi

drivers to charge only what is shown on the meter and also prohibits the shar-ing of taxis.

This came during the Cabinet’s reg-ular meeting in Doha yesterday.

The draft decision stipulates that provisions of the law shall apply to taxis operated by Mowasalat within the State in accordance with the con-cession granted to it, the offi cial Qatar News Agency (QNA) has reported.

According to the draft law, a taxi driver is required to “charge no more than the value recorded by the meter” even if there is “more than one passen-ger in a group”.

The driver is “also prohibited from allowing another person to ride with the passenger, even if the destination is the same”, the law states.

After HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani chaired the Cabinet’s regular meeting at the Emiri Diwan yester-day, HE the Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet

Affairs Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi said the Cabinet also ap-proved a draft law on regulating the ownership of dangerous animals or creatures, and referred it to the Advi-sory Council.

The provisions of the draft law “pro-hibit the ownership, import, export or trade of any dangerous animals and creatures without a licence from the competent entity”.

It is also prohibited to “take, walk around or hike” with any such dan-gerous animals and creatures in public places.

The owners and holders of danger-ous animals and their custodians shall take precautions and measures issued by a decision of HE the Minister con-cerned to ensure that such creatures do not escape, QNA adds.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet approved a draft law on amending some provi-sions of the commercial companies law promulgated by Law No 11 of 2015.

It also gave its nod to a draft deci-sion of HE the Minister of Municipality and Environment on endorsing Qatari technical regulations. Page 2

Qatar-US tradevolume doubledto $6bn in 10years: ministerTrade volume between Qatar and

the US had doubled from $3bn to $6bn in the past 10 years, HE the

Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Moham-ed al-Thani said yesterday.

Speaking at the Qatar-US Econom-ic Forum in Miami, Florida, Sheikh Ahmed emphasised that the US is one of Qatar’s largest trading partners and a top source of imports in 2017. He noted that US imports to Qatar ac-counted for 16% of the country’s total imports.

According to the minister, more than 650 American companies are currently operating in Qatar, of which, 117 are fully-owned US companies, while the volume of US investments in Qatar amounted to QR26.3bn.

On Qatari investments in the US,

the minister said Qatar Airways has allocated $92bn to enhance the US economy with the procurement of 332 Boeing aircraft, which provided around 527,000 jobs. To Page 23

QATAR | Offi cial

Emir congratulatesSenegal’s presidentHis Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani sent cables of congratulations to the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, on his country’s National Day. HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani sent a similar cable to Senegal’s Prime Minister, Mahammed Dionne.

REGION | Aid

Qatar pledges $20mnto ease crisis in YemenQatar, represented by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), pledged $20mn in financial support to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people. This came during a meeting held in Geneva yesterday, organised by the United Nations in co-operation with the governments of Switzerland and Sweden. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a number of politicians and high-level officials, participated in the meeting. QFFD Director General Khalifa bin Jassim al-Kuwari praised the efforts exerted by the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.

QATAR | Weather

Chance of light rainin some places todayThere is a chance of light rain in some places today, the Qatar Met department has said. The weather off ice has also issued a warning for thundery rain towards the north along with strong winds and high seas. The wind speed in these areas may go up to 22 knots, with the sea level rising to 7ft in the north. The detailed forecast also says slightly dusty and cloudy conditions are likely in inshore areas today.

Masters in the grip of Tiger mania

US National Guard to protect Mexico borderUS President Donald Trump will sign a proclamation ordering the deployment of the National Guard to help protect the border with Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen yesterday said. “Troops may be heading to the border as early as Wednesday night,” Nielsen said, saying that the National Guard would support US Custom and Border Protection but would not be

involved in enforcement.Nielsen spoke a day after Trump sharpened his anti-immigration rhetoric by saying he wanted to deploy US military forces until his promised border wall is built. “The president has directed that the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security work together with our governors to deploy the National Guard.

Russia loses bid forjoint UK spy probe

Russia lost a bid yesterday at the global chemical weapons watchdog to launch a joint

probe with Britain into the spy poi-soning scandal, and sought to press its case at the highest level call-ing for urgent UN Security Council talks. London has said it is “highly likely” Moscow was behind the March 4 attack on former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. But the Kremlin has vehemently denied any involvement in the poisoning which Britain says was carried out with a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union.

HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani addressing the Qatar-US Economic Forum in Miami.

QATAR

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 20182

OFFICIAL

Emir forms QNL board of trustees

Law regulatingpower, watersupply issued

Emiri decree on allocation of land for solar plant

Instrumentsof ratification

Emir issuesdecree

Ministerial decision

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued yesterday the Emiri Decision No 13 of 2018 forming the Board of Trustees of Qatar National Library (QNL). The decision stated that the Board of Trustees of QNL shall be composed of HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, as chairperson, and HE the Minister of Culture and Sports, as vice-chairperson, along with the following members: HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari; HE Sheikh Dr Abdullah bin Ali bin Saoud al-Thani; and HE Dr Hessa Sultan al-Jaber.

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued yesterday Law No 4 of 2018 regulating electricity and water supply.

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday issued Decree No 19 of 2018, on allocation of a land for Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation, to set up a solar power plant.

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday issued the following instruments of ratification:1. An Instrument of ratification approving a draft agreement on encouraging and protecting mutual investments between the governments of Qatar and Paraguay, signed in Doha on 11/2/2018. 2. An instrument of ratification approving a draft memorandum of understanding in the agriculture, livestock and fisheries field between the governments of Qatar represented by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and Oman represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, signed in Muscat on 28/1/2018. 3. An instrument of ratification approving the ratification of a co-operation agreement in the sports field between the Ministry of Culture and Sports in Qatar and the ministry of sports and youth in France, signed in Doha on 1/2/2015.4. An instrument of ratification approving the ratification of a memorandum of understanding on co-operation in the health field between the governments of Qatar and Indonesia, signed in Jakarta on 18/10/2017. 5. An instrument of ratification approving a draft air services agreement between the governments of Qatar and the Ivory Coast, signed in Abidjan on 23/12/2017. 6. An instrument of ratification approving a draft agreements between the governments of Qatar and Paraguay on avoiding double taxation and preventing of financial evasion with related to income taxes and the draft protocol annexed to the draft, both were signed in Doha on 11/2/2018.

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued Decree No 18 of 2018 approving the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a joint committee between the governments of Qatar and Indonesia, signed in Jakarta on 18/10/2017.

HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi issued a ministerial decision appointing a supervisor for educational aff airs at the embassy of Qatar in Jordan.The decision mandated Hamad Abdullah Saad al-Mahmoud to work as a supervisor for educational aff airs at the embassy of the State of Qatar in the Jordanian Kingdom.

Cabinet takes steps to pass

draft law on industrial zones

Emir issues law on national service

The weekly Cabinet meeting, chaired by HE the Prime

Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, yesterday took the necessary measures to pass a draft law on industrial zones, after reviewing the recommendation of the Ad-visory Council.

The draft law defi nes in-dustrial zones as areas desig-nated for industrial purposes in accordance with the pro-visions of this law, including lands, installations and fa-cilities erected thereon.

The draft law stipulates that the establishment of industrial zones shall be by

a decision of the Cabinet upon the proposal of the Minister of Energy and In-dustry after the Ministry co-ordinates with the au-thorities concerned.

Pursuant to the draft law, no industrial establishment shall be founded in the in-dustrial zones without an authorisation from relevant authorities and the approv-al of the Ministry of Energy and Industry.

Giving details of the meeting, HE the Minister of Justice and Acting Min-ister of State for Cabinet Aff airs Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi said that at the outset of the meeting, the Cabinet condemned the shooting by the Israeli oc-cupation forces on peace-ful Palestinian marchers on

Land Day, in which several Palestinian citizens were killed and hundreds injured.

The Cabinet called for urgent and decisive interna-tional action to protect the Palestinian people and pres-sure the Israeli government to stop its oppressive prac-tices in the occupied Pales-tinian territories, stressing the fi rm position of Qatar in supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost of which is the right to establish an independent state with Je-rusalem as its capital.

The cabinet approved a draft memorandum of un-derstanding on co-oper-ation in the legal fi eld be-tween the Ministry of Justice of Qatar and the Ministry of Justice of Portugal.

The cabinet reviewed and took required measures regarding a draft law on amending some provision of Law No 21 of 1989 on regu-lating marrying foreigners.

The cabinet reviewed and took necessary measures on a memo by HE the Minister of Administrative Develop-ment, Labour and Social Aff airs on the follow-up report on achieving gov-ernment institutional per-formance standards.

The cabinet reviewed and took measures on a memo by HE the Minister of Ad-ministrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs on the outcomes of the 88th session of the Board of Directors of Arab Labour Organisation (ALO) held in March 2018 in Baghdad.

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha-mad al-Thani issued

yesterday Law No 5 of 2018 on national service. The law stipu-lates that every Qatari male of 18 years old or graduate of a general secondary school or its equiva-lent, and not exceeding 35 years has to be enlisted for the com-pulsory national service.

Besides, no Qatari male shall be appointed at any job whether at the government or non-gov-ernment entities, or get a licence to practice a private job without fi nishing his compulsory one year national service term or be-ing excepted or granted a delay

from it according to this law. Accordingly, each person sub-

ject to the law should submit himself at the National Service Academy at the Ministry of De-fence within 60 days of becom-ing of age or graduating from the general secondary school, which comes fi rst.

The law stipulates that no Qa-tari employee can report back to his civilian job or resume his work when an order of calling him to military service is issued to him.

However, for females of 18 years old it is optional to join na-tional service and the Ministry of Defence issued the regula-

tions to govern this process. The one-year term of national

service includes four months of military training and the rest served at any government de-partment designated by the Minister of Defence or his del-egate.

In the event of a failure to show up at the designated time at the National Service Acade-my, a period of four months will be added for the original nation-al service period, and six months added for those who do not re-spond to the national service call within the designated period.

Those exempted from the compulsory national service in-

clude the graduates of military colleges and institutes, persons medically unfi t for the service, bread winners of families, only son of his parents and a man whose only wife died and left for him children and he did not marry again.

In addition, the national serv-ice can be delayed for one year, renewable for certain categories

of students, on condition that the age of the does not exceed 21 at the due enlistment time. The delay could be extended up to 28 years of age for some special categories of university students including medical students and those delegated outside the country.

After serving the compulsory period, the enlisted personnel shall be become reserve forces that could be called for training for up to 15 days, in case of gen-eral mobilisation, and in case of a declaration of war or state of emergency. Reserve service ends at the age of 40 or in case of be-ing medically unfi t for service,

death and loss of Qatari citizen-ship among other reasons.

The law includes penalties of a minimum one month and maximum three years in jail and a maximum fi ne of QR50,000 or any of the two penalties for any manipulation to evade na-tional service. The law stipulates various other penalties for delay, failing to respond to the general mobilisation call.

Each enlisted person is con-sidered a military personnel during his active and reserve national service period. The law is eff ective starting from the fol-lowing day of its publication in the offi cial gazette.

QNADoha

Exam schedule for 2017-18 academic year amended

QRCS provides medical help to over 6,300 Syrian IDPs

Qatar Airways in deal to ‘acquire 25%

of Moscow’s Vnukovo airport shares’

HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education

Dr Mohamed bin Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi has issued a decision amending some provisions of Minis-terial Decision No 21 on the annual calendar for the aca-demic year 2017-18.

The decision set the second term examinations dates for Grade 1 to 3 from May 8 to 15, 2018, Grade 4 to 9 from May 20 to 31, 2018, Grade 10 and 11 from May 22 to June 7, 2018, and Grade 12 from May 21 to

June 6, 2018.The decision also set the

dates for the second stage exams for the academic year, scheduling them from June 25 to July 2, 2018 for Grade 1 to 9 and from July 24 to August 2, 2018 for Grade 10 to 12.

The Ministry of Educa-tion and Higher Educa-tion said examinations schedule has been adjust-ed after extensive study, in co-ordination with the Advisory Committee for School Principals and the Advisory Committee for Teachers, for the benefi t of students and parents.

The ministry said that according to the amend-

ment, the students of early education will complete their exams before Ram-adan, while exams of the other classes have been advanced during the holy month, increasing the rest days during the examina-tions, especially for the secondary stage, giving students more opportuni-ty to prepare for the tests.

The amendment of ex-aminations schedule for Grade 1 to 9 from June 25 to July 2, has been done keeping in mind the school period, as staff leave will start from July 8, and therefore there will be no need for the opening of examination centres.

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has providing emer-

gency medical assistance in response to the current displacement wave from Eastern Ghouta to north-ern Syria.

So far, various medical and psychological services were provided for 6,320 internally displaced peo-ple (IDPs). QRCS said in a statement yesterday that as part of QRCS’s Aleppo Relief Campaign, the soci-ety co-ordinated with local health authorities to deploy four ambulance vehicles with medical equipment and personnel to evacuate critical cases from the IDP access points and shelter camps to hospitals.

The statement indicated that a total of 74 injuries were attended to last week.

The statement further

added that the mobile clinics with physicians, midwives, and nurses are operated in Idlib and Alep-po to off er assistance to women and children. Ba-sic medical services were provided to more than 400 benefi ciaries, in the areas of mother and child health, reproductive health and primary healthcare, ac-cording to the protocols of the World Health Or-ganistion (WHO) and the

United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

The statement pointed out that QRCS provided surgeries for the injured, chronic and communica-ble disease treatment, and free-of-charge medica-tions as well as individual and group health counsel-ling and organised lectures on health awareness and psychosocial support for more than 1,400 displaced persons.

From Page 1This potential invest-

ment supports the award-winning airline’s invest-ment strategy, which already includes 20% investment in Interna-tional Airlines Group, 10% investment in LATAM Airlines Group, 9.94% in-vestment in Cathay Pacifi c and 49% investment in Air Italy.

Qatar Airways recently announced that it has be-come the General Partner of Cosmoscow, the Inter-national Contemporary Art Fair, an event that unites the contemporary Russian art market and helps its contributors es-tablish contacts with the international art commu-nity. This collaboration is one of many between the State of Qatar and Russia, who are this year celebrat-ing the Year of Culture.

The airline shares strong links with Russia, as it op-

erates triple daily fl ights to Moscow and daily fl ights to St. Petersburg, launched in December 2017.

Named 2017 Airline of the Year by Skytrax, the national carrier of the State of Qatar is one of the fast-est-growing airlines op-erating one of the young-est fl eets in the world. In 2018/2019, Qatar Airways

will be adding many more exciting destinations to its network, including Lon-don Gatwick and Cardiff , United Kingdom; Lisbon, Portugal; Tallinn, Estonia; Valletta, Malta; Cebu and Davao, Philippines; Lang-kawi, Malaysia; Da Nang, Vietnam; Bodrum and An-talya, Turkey; Mykonos, Greece and Málaga, Spain.

QNADoha

QNADoha

A QRCS medical team providing assistance to Syrian IDPs.

Akbar al-Baker with Vitaly Vantsev following the signing of the MoU between Qatar Airways Group and Vnukovo International Airport at the Oryx Rotana Hotel in Moscow yesterday.

For females of 18 years old it is optional to join national service and the Ministry of Defence issued the regulations to govern this process

QATAR3Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Qatar Police College director general Brigadier Dr al-Mohanna (right) and Shanghai Police College executive vice president Yong after signing the LoI in Doha.

Qatar-China police colleges sign LoI for co-operation

The Qatar Police College and Shanghai Police Col-lege in China signed a

Letter of Intent (LoI) for aca-demic and training co-operation yesterday in Doha.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the seventh annual conference of the International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA).

The LoI was signed by the Qatar Police College director general Brigadier Dr Moham-ed Abdullah al-Mohanna and Shanghai Police College execu-tive vice president Hang Yong.

Brigadier Dr al-Mohanna said the LoI is aimed to develop and strengthen co-operation and exchange of experiences in the fi elds of scientifi c, educational and training activities and other areas of interest to both parties.

He recalled this LoI was the second of its kind signed with the Chinese side.

The fi rst was with the Fujian Provincial Police College.

The Qatar Police College, also will sign a LoI with the People’s University of Public Security in Beijing.

“A number of Colleges have

reached out to the Qatar Police College to sign memoranda of understanding and letters of intent with them, because of the college’s reputation among its counterparts worldwide,” Brigadier Dr al-Mohanna add-ed.

The Shanghai Police College offi cial stated that the LoI would contribute to strengthening co-operation between the two sides in many areas that concern po-lice work, and in the exchange of information and topics related to academic and training activities of mutual interest.

Doha meet discusses new trends in fi ghting terrorThe 7th annual conference of the

International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA)

organised by the Qatar Police College concluded yesterday.

The three-day event, held on the topic “New Trends in Combating Ter-rorism and Extremism” witnessed participation of 42 countries, 47 insti-tutions and fi ve international organi-sations.

As many as 21 papers were presented in six diff erent sessions and the con-ference approved the applications for membership of fi ve countries, namely Timor-Leste, Cameroon, Tunisia, Uz-bekistan and Zambia. In all, the IN-TERPA includes 72 institutions from 56 countries.

A number of points such as the dif-ferences between attitude and be-haviour in psychology books, links between violent attitudes and actions regarding extremism and the necessity of diff erent set of skills for fi ghting ter-rorists and extremists were discussed at the conference.

It was pointed out at the meeting that though the rational choice still had a signifi cant impact there is an in-creasing recognition for emotions and

emotional experience in understand-ing political extremism.

The conference also acknowledged the role of social networks in com-munication among people around the world. It also dealt with the issue of how terrorist groups misused social networks to recruit potential candi-dates.

The fi eld of information and com-munication has paved the way for more sophisticated ways to spread extrem-

ism across the world, delegates pointed out.

The meeting highlighted the role of families in fi ghting terrorism and the necessity of seeking international co-operation in the prevention and com-bating of terrorism and extremism in social networks.

It was observed that the Southeast Asian region is one of the most impor-tant targets of international terrorism and extremism. There is a greater need

for co-operation between countries to combat exploitation of the terrorist networks, it was pointed out.

The meeting felt there is a necessity of conducting regular studies on ter-rorist activities on football venues and the roles of global, regional and local sports institutions in fi ghting such ex-tremist groups.

The importance of providing a safe environment during sport events, and the necessity of co-ordination be-

tween various institutions, law en-forcement agencies, local authorities and the public was also highlighted by participants.

The meeting discussed the prepara-tions to be made for the year, includ-ing information on planning, secu-rity preparation, strategic partnerships and related projects.

The participants highlighted the ne-cessity of improved marketing strate-gies to dissuade Jihadi fi ghters. Some

of the delegates also explained how some terrorist organisations operated with a false understanding of religion and how they misinterpreted religious rulings to their benefi t.

There is an urgent need for a detailed study on anti-terrorist and extremist programmes, said the organisers while highlighting the necessity of putting in place special evidence procedures in the struggle against most nefarious crimes.

A Qatar Police Academy off icial receiving a certificate from INTERPA at conference. A view of the audience.

Zakat Fund gave QR13.5mn aid in March

The Ministry of Endow-ments and Islamic Aff airs’ Zakat Fund has provided

QR13.5mn in March as part of its assistance to nearly 20,000 eligi-ble benefi ciaries.

The aid included the perma-nent and irregular monthly aid, which are granted to eligible benefi ciaries in line with reli-gious standards in order to en-sure the worthy benefi ciaries are reached.

The fund dispenses the amount after research to make sure the people in question are eligible. - QNA

QATAR4 Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Academic chosen for Paris‘gender equality’ summitBy Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

Qatari academic and dean of the College of Humanities and So-cial Sciences at the Hamad bin

Khalifa University (HBKU), Dr Amal al-Malki, has been chosen by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Aff airs to attend a high-level forum to held in Paris on ‘Gender equality’, between April 9 and 13.

Informing this yesterday French am-bassador Eric Chevalier said the pro-gramme aims at providing participants with “genuine knowledge on gender equality issues and policies in France as well as highlighting the activities of women and their contribution to gen-der equality in their respective coun-tries”.

“The invitation and new distinc-tion now acknowledges Dr al-Malki’s unwavering long lasting commitment to women’s rights and professional equality. The establishment of the Master of Arts in Women, Society and

Development at HBKU by Dr al-Malki is another concrete illustration of her engagement in favour of this crucial is-sue.”

The envoy said the French ministry has invited from Middle East and North Africa 11 Arab women who have been active in campaigns for gender equality as “the issue (gender equality) is one of the nation’s key focuses as stressed by French President Emmanuel Macron during his speech before the UN Gen-eral Assembly last September.”

The ambassador recalled that Presi-dent Macron had launched the 3rd In-ternational Strategy for Women and Men Equality 2018-2022 on March 8 to coincide with the International Day for Women. “It aims to co-ordinate ac-tions designed to improve the situation of women around the world,” he said while adding the event is being organ-ised under the framework of “Future Leader Invitation Programme”

Chevalier added the strategy con-sisted of such domains of action as political issues of gender equality, bet-ter fi nancing of campaigns for gender

equality, improvement of their visibil-ity and role of the civil society.

Dr al-Malki said she was blessed and fortunate to have a strong leader like “Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser who has single-handed-ly changed society’s perceptions on women, especially those working, giv-ing us legitimacy and respect.”

She highlighted that Qatar leads with regards to women’s rights as part of its overall social justice and equal-ity agenda. “Therefore as a Qatari aca-demic, I feel it is my duty to participate in an important dialogue about women equality and empowerment, and en-gage with government as well as the lo-cal and global communities.”

Dr al-Malki described herself as a moderate, who stands for a just world and she was fortunate to be part of the society in Qatar, where women con-tribute for an impressive 36.7% share to the national economy. “The Arab society is a rich and diverse group, spread over many regions and I will use the opportunity to highlight this,” she added.

French ambassador Eric Chevalier reveals more about the forum to be held in Paris as Dr Amal al-Malki looks on. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

QATAR5Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Shops closed, foodstuff destroyed over hygiene violationsAl Wakrah Municipality Health Control Section conducted 225 field tours and 1,305 inspection visits on food facilities within the municipality during the month of March.These resulted in issuing six violation reports of Law No 8 for 1990 on Human Food Control. A total of 18 affidavits were signed by facility owners to abide by the health and hygiene standards and two shops were

closed for different periods for violating the applicable health regulations. Further, 230kg of various foodstuff were destroyed for being unfit for human consumption. Similarly, the health control section has destroyed around 120kg of fish after being checked by the veteri-narian concerned and after being found unfit for human consumption.

Ministry holds forum on ‘Kigali Amendment’QNA Doha

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the Radiation and Chemi-

cal Protection Department, in co-operation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), held yesterday a briefi ng on the ‘Kigali Amendment’ on hydrofl uorocarbon compounds that cause severe damage to the environment.

More than 150 countries, at a confer-ence in October 2016, in the Rwandan capital Kigali, agreed on an agreement to gradually phase out greenhouse gases and other environmental damage.

The participating states adopted a timetable for the phasing out of hy-drofl uorocarbons, as this gas used in re-frigerators and air-conditioners is very harmful to the environment.

The ‘Kigali Amendment’ came in the form of an amendment to the Montreal Protocol on the protection of the ozone layer, which will see amendment to re-duce rich countries’ use of hydrofl uoro-carbons by 10% starting in 2019.

The director of Radiation and Chemi-cal Protection Department at the Min-istry of Municipality and Environment Aisha Ahmed al-Baker, highlighted the importance of the role of the ministry in terms of achieving a number of objec-tives including protecting and devel-oping the environment in a sustainable manner that ensures harmony between economic and social development, and protecting the environment for the

benefi t of future generations and in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

Al-Baker added that the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, in co-operation with the relevant State bod-ies, monitored the import and export of HCFCs and reported periodically to the convention secretariat and the Multilateral Fund secretariat on the total and sectoral consumption of each substance, as well as the control of il-legal practices in the trade of ozone-depleting substances and tightening market controls. It also held training programmes for various stakeholders.

Al-Baker said that in the State of Qatar, HCFCs are mainly involved in two main sectors which are domes-tic, commercial and industrial refrig-eration as well as air-conditioning,

central air-conditioning, and indus-trial insulation. UNEP expert Ayman al-Talouni said the ‘Kigali Amend-ment’, approved at the 28th Confer-ence to the Montreal Protocol, was the cornerstone for reducing the use of HCFCs by about 15% of world average consumption by mid-century.

The manager of the Department of Environmental Observation at the Min-istry of Municipality and Environment Engineer Hussein Saad al-Kibisi, said that since 2011, the State of Qatar, in co-operation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the United Nations Envi-ronment Programme (UNEP), has im-plemented the national strategy for the phase out of HCFCs in accordance with the obligations of Montreal Protocol.

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment’s (MME) Radiation and Chemical Protection Department organised yesterday an introductory forum on the ‘Kigali Amendment’ to the Montreal Protocol on hydrofluorocarbons, in co-operation with United Nations Environment Programme at the MME headquarters.

QATAR6 Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Wrangler, Chrysler 300C recalled

New partnership to strengthensocial, community initiativesBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Hundreds of elderly, or-phans and persons with disabilities in Qatar stand

to benefi t from a new partner-ship between Qatar Social Work (QSW) and Aspire Zone Founda-tion (AZF), it was announced yes-terday.

The three-year agreement, signed by QSW CEO Amal al-Mannai and AZF CEO Mohamad Khalifa al-Suwaidi seeks to fur-ther strengthen their social and community-focused initiatives.

Speaking to reporters, al-Man-nai said the programme aims to promote community activities and enhance co-operation be-tween government institutions, highlighting the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards the community.

“The newly-signed memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) will give some 800 benefi ciaries from QSW member-organisations ac-cess to various support and serv-ices, and facilities, among others, that help improve their physical and mental health and well-be-ing,” she said.

QSW members include the So-cial Development Centre, Shafal-lah Centre, Family Counselling Centre, Orphans Care Centre (Dreama), Centre for Empower-ment and Elderly Care (Ehsan),

Protection and Social Rehabilita-tion Centre and the Best Buddies Qatar.

Part of the MoU allows the two organisations to provide each other with expertise and logistical

support that benefi t the elderly, orphans and persons with dis-abilities, according to al-Mannai.

“We can arrange (or organ-ise) for example some (indoor or outdoor) activities for the elderly or people with disabilities using AZF’s facilities and tap the serv-ices of AZF experts and volunteers such as trainers and coaches to teach and assist them,” she said.

Al-Mannai reiterated the im-portance of their collaboration with AZF saying it will substan-tially benefi t for both organisa-tions, as well as QSW members.

“Having a strong partnership between social work organisations is key for sustainable human de-velopment,” she said.

Established in 2013 as a non-profi t developmental organisa-tion, QSW seeks to bring a posi-tive contribution to Qatar’s civil society, enhance the capabilities of its member organisations and promote their role in the society.

Al-Suwaidi also lauded the close co-operation as he cited AZF’s growing role in supporting public and private organisations, which benefi t the society.

“This new agreement builds on our existing partnership with QSW, which extends beyond the

agreement we signed today,” he said. “This collaboration has been ongoing for the past couple of years, and we have organised several joint initiatives and social programmes for QSW’s member organisations.”

“This partnership will com-bine our ongoing collaboration together under one umbrella,” al-Suwaidi added.

“AZF and QSW share similar foundations and both our visions seek to help Qatar realise its Na-tional Vision 2030.”

Founded in 2008, AZF estab-lished annual CSR programmes to improve the physical and mental health of various members of the community and encourage them to have an active and healthy life-style, he said.

Some of AZF’s ongoing ini-tiatives include the Life in Aspire smartphone app, Step into Health campaign and Keep Aspire Green eco-friendly campaign.

According to al-Suwaidi, AZF has three member organisations: Aspire Academy, Aspetar and As-pire Logistics. It has successfully speeded up the development of Qa-tar’s community and made remark-able advances in the fi eld of sports, entertainment and social work.

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), in collabora-tion with United Cars Almana (After Sales), has announced the recall of Jeep Wrangler models of 2009-2013 and Chrysler 300C model of 2013 over safety recall of passenger airbag inflator.The MEC said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that au-tomobile dealers follow up on vehicles’ defects and repair them.The Ministry said that it will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The MEC has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Depart-ment through the following channels: Call centre: 16001, e-mail: info@mec.gov.qa, Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar

QSW CEO Amal al-Mannai and AZF CEO Mohamad Khalifa al-Suwaidi at the MoU signing yesterday. PICTURE: Ram Chand

Ooredoo’s Hala India pack now permanent

Ooredoo announced yes-terday that its Hala In-dia Packs will become a

permanent service, thanks to its growing popularity and demand.

Ooredoo revealed that more customers are making calls to In-dia from Qatar and their custom-ers have become reliant on Hala

India Packs as they will work with any network in India and Qatar.

Other benefi ts include an out of pack international rate of just Dh10 per minute to call India, once the packs’ international minutes have been used. Hala India Packs, which come in denominations of 10, 30, 45, 60 and 100, off er a host

of international and local calling minutes and data.

With a Hala India Pack 45, sub-scribers will enjoy 525 minutes to call India (valid for 30 days) and a bonus 500 MB of local data, as well as 40 local minutes (valid for 10 days) for QR45.

Hala India Pack 60 subscribers

can take advantage of 725 minutes to India (valid for 30 days) as well as a bonus 750 MB of local data and 50 local minutes (valid for 10 days) for QR60.

For expats looking to call home for longer, the Hala India Pack QR100 pack off ers 1,250 minutes to India valid for 30 days, 1,500

MB of bonus local data, and 70 bo-nus local minutes valid for 15 days.

To subscribe to a new Hala India Pack, customers can use the Oore-doo App, dial *121#, or send ‘INP pack number’ (eg ‘INP 30’) to 121.

Visit www.ooredoo.qa for full details of Ooredoo’s service plans and international call rates.

QATAR8 Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Positive clinical leadership at the heart of patient safetyPositive leadership is the

key to improving patient safety and driving qual-

ity enhancements in healthcare, according to a study funded by the Qatar National Research Fund, it was announced yester-day.

The two-year exercise was led by researchers from Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Pharmacy Department in col-laboration with Qatar Univer-sity, Robert Gordon University (UK), University of Aberdeen (UK), and RCSI (Ireland).

The study explored aspects of reporting medication er-rors from the perspective of healthcare professionals and those in positions of power and infl uence. The multi-national research team involved in the study also examined the under-lying causes of medication er-rors.

Prof Moza al-Hail, executive director of HMC’s Pharmacy Department, says it is important to understand why healthcare-related errors happen and the study’s fi ndings validate the im-portance of eff orts undertaken by HMC to optimise the safety

of patients.“HMC’s Pharmacy Depart-

ment is committed to making a signifi cant diff erence to the health and well-being of our

patients and to improving pa-tient safety through innova-tive research, training and safe medication use practices. These study fi ndings reinforce the im-

portance of our eff orts and will lead to the continued develop-ment of even more robust and enhanced medication safety practices,” said Prof al-Hail.

HMC’s pharmacy team has included the implementation of automated pharmacies at sev-eral facilities across the organi-sation, helping to increase the time pharmacists spend with patients while also reducing medication errors. This tech-nology was fi rst introduced in the region at Al Wakra Hospital in 2014. The use of automated dispensing cabinets in inpatient wards and surgical theatres has led to both decreased wait times in administering medications and reduced error rates through the use of barcodes to retrieve prescriptions.

According to Prof al-Hail, other notable service enhance-ments include the implemen-tation of dedicated pharma-cist-led clinics, such as the anti-coagulation clinic, and medication therapy manage-ment clinics. The anti-coagu-lation clinic is designed to be a ‘one stop shop’ where pharma-cists assess patients, perform

required tests, educate patients, and also dispense medications within the clinic.

Medication therapy man-agement clinics, led by clinical pharmacists, have been intro-duced to provide consultancy services with the aim of mini-mising medication side eff ects and encouraging patients to ad-here to their dosage regime.

Last month, HMC launched a drug information centre to an-swer patient and clinician ques-tions about prescribed medica-tions or medications purchased at retail pharmacies. The informa-tion centre will eventually operate 24-hours a day and will also have a hotline available for queries.

The Pharmacy Department’s post-graduate year one phar-macy residency programme has been accredited by the Ameri-can Society of Health System Pharmacists, making it the sec-ond health system outside of the United States to receive this distinction. The programme enhances general competency in managing medication-use systems and supports optimal medication therapy outcomes for patients.

Prof Moza al-Hail, executive director of pharmacy at HMC.

Win 101 gold bars from Sky Jewellery

Sky Jewellery has announced a promotion that gives cus-tomers in the Doha region

the opportunity to win 101 gold bars during Akshaya Tritiya this year. Customers will get a coupon to enter the lucky draw for 101 gold bars for every purchase worth QR500, Babu John, chairman and managing director of Sky Jewel-lery, has said in a statement.

“We are also giving customers the privilege of paying just 1% and pre-book gold jewellery, which will help them get the lowest gold rate this season,” he added.

Sky Jewellery is off ering free

gifts for all pre-booked gold jewel-lery purchases before 6pm on Ak-shaya Tritiya. Also, customers will be getting free gold coins for gold Jewellery purchases on the occa-sion of Akshaya Tritiya. For every purchase of diamond Jewellery worth QR1,500, customers will get a 1gm gold coin for free. “For old gold jewellery exchanges, we are off ering 100% value, as well as no making charges for any purchases of gold coins,” the statement adds. The off ers are available at Sky Jew-ellery outlets.

Akshaya Tritiya falls on April 18 this year.

The mega draw pertaining to LuLu-Nestle Promotion was held yesterday at LuLu Hypermarket, D-Ring Road branch, under the supervi-sion of an inspector from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. Ten prizes of LuLu gift vouchers worth QR5,000 each were given away to 10 winners. Off icials from LuLu Hypermarket Group and Nestle Qatar were present at the draw.

LuLu-Nestle draw winners announced The Flying Georgians to take the stage at Mall of Qatar’s Oasis

Mall of Qatar has invited visitors to be “capti-vated by the dazzling

performances” of The Flying Georgians, the gravity-defying internationally acclaimed ar-tistes. The performances will take place at the mall’s Oasis Stage every day at 6.30pm and 8.30pm from today until April 14.

“At Mall of Qatar, we have made a promise to our guests to provide new and exciting en-tertainment experiences with every visit. As such, we are delighted to welcome The Fly-ing Georgians to take the stage and wow our visitors with their breathtaking musical perform-ances,” said Stuart Elder, CEO, Mall of Qatar. “As a super-re-gional mall, we are proud to in-vite our visitors to witness this one-of-a-kind performance with an experience they can’t find anywhere else.”

In a statement yesterday, Mall of Qatar said The Flying Geor-gians “are sure to delight visi-tors” as they command the stage at the mall’s Oasis.

“Their dances perfectly cap-

ture the natural gracefulness and beauty of Georgian women and the courage, honour and re-spectfulness of Georgian men. The male artistes perform spec-tacular leaps, turns and incred-ible spins with a highly original technique unlike any other per-formers in the world. The female

artistes glide like swans, add-ing an unmatched component of elegance to the performance to enchant any audience,” the statement noted, adding that The Flying Georgians perform-ances add to the “robust lineup of free family entertainment” at the mall.

The performances will take place at the mall’s Oasis Stage every day at 6.30pm and 8.30pm from today until April 14.

Tamuq event focuses on impact research, industry partnershipsTexas A&M University at Qatar

(Tamuq) has hosted its sev-enth annual Research-Indus-

try Partnership Showcase, “Making an Impact,” in Education City.

Tamuq’s research is valued at more than $248.2mn and addresses issues important to Qatar. The an-nual event highlights the work by Tamuq faculty, staff and student re-searchers that contribute to Qatar’s goal of being a knowledge-based economy. The showcase also aims to strengthen partnerships with lo-cal industry to maximise shared op-portunities and pursuits of mutual interest.

This year’s event featured stu-dent presentations, lab tours, and workshops on enhanced oil recov-

ery, cyber security and solar ener-gy. In a poster session, Tamuq stu-dents and researchers displayed research findings and outcomes of their recent projects, emphasising their impact to local and inter-national scientific and technical communities.

Several research centres also were represented, including the Gas and Fuels Research Centre, the Ad-vanced Scientifi c Computing Cen-tre, the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Centre and the Smart Grid. “Research creates new knowledge and drives innovation,” said Dr Ce-sar Octavio Malave, dean of Tamuq. By focusing on research in line with Qatar’s National Research Strategy and addressing Qatar’s grand engi-

neering challenges, Tamuq directly contributes to Qatar’s goal of be-coming a knowledge-based society as outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030. We are proud of the partner-ships we have established with our industry collaborators to help re-alise sustainable solutions to real-world issues in Qatar, and we will continue to look for ways to explore, encourage, enrich and expand these collaborations for the benefi t of the State of Qatar and its people.”

Mariam A al-Maadeed, vice president for research and gradu-ate studies at Qatar University, gave the keynote talk, and said, “This is a very important event that can pro-mote dialogue between universities and industry. Universities are the

sources of innovation that power industry.” She also spoke about how academic research enhances com-petitiveness within industries and spurs commercialisation and devel-opment of innovative products.”

Al-Maadeed also announced a QU co-funding programme and emphasised the need for joint grad-uate programmes/graduate student supervision.

Dr Konstantinos Kakosimos, as-sistant professor in the chemical en-gineering programme, Tamuq, who co-chaired this year’s event, added that this year’s showcase presented the contributions of students, re-searchers and faculty, and how their tangible research outcomes do make an impact in Qatar.

Student, faculty and staff researchers at Texas A&M at Qatar highlighted their research during the university’s annual Research-Industry Partnership Showcase. A student explains a poster to the guests.

QATAR9

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 2018

QLM celebrates World Health Day by off ering free medical check-upsQ Life & Medical Insurance

Company (QLM) is cel-ebrating World Health

Day by off ering free medical check-up on Friday (April 6) for all nationals and residents of Qatar. QLM is off ering free med-ical checkup for two consecutive years.

Whether insured with QLM or not, all Qatari nationals and expatriates can visit the nearest QLM counters located at leading medical providers like Al Tai (Al Kinana Street, Al Nasr), Al Abeer Medical Centre (Mesaimeer Road & Al Karrasat Street), Elite Medical Centre (Al Jazeera Al Arabiya Street), Al Safa Polyclin-ic (Al Kinana Street, Al Nasr), Naseem Al Rabeeh (C Ring Road and Rayyan branch), Al Rabeeh Medical Centre (Al Aziziyah),

Planet Medical Centre (Al Waab Street), Aster Plus (Muntazah), Aster Plus Medcare Polyclinic (Al Salam Street, Hilal), Aster Plus Welcare Polyclinic (Al Jas-sasiya Street, Al Rayyan), As-ter Medical Centre (Al Ghanim, Industrial Area, Al Khor), and Aster Hospital (D Ring Road) to avail free medical check-up and services.

Participants would only need to present their Qatar ID to avail a variety of medical services.

Participants visiting Al Tai Medical Centre can choose any one of the following specialties: consultations in orthopaedics, internal medicine, dermatology, paediatrics, and ophthalmol-ogy. Other services include CBC, urine analysis, glucose random, lipid profi le, urea, creatinine,

uric acid, AST, ALT, and X-Ray. The free medical tests avail-

able at Al Abeer include GP and dental consultations, blood pressure, glucose – random, cholesterol – total, creatinine – serum (kidney function), ALT (liver function), and Body Mass Index (assess body fat).

Those visiting Elite Medical Centre can avail free GP, den-tal, and dermatology consulta-tion; blood sugar; cholesterol; blood pressure; and Body Mass Index (BMI).

Free medical tests available at Al Safa Polyclinic include GP consultation, vital signs, ran-dom blood sugar, pulmonary function test (spirometry), eye checkup, dental consultation, cardiology consultation and echocardiogram (examination

dependent), obstetrician and gynaecology consultation, and ultrasonography.

Naseem Al Rabeeh Medical Centre at C Ring Road is off ering free GP consultation, cardiology consultation, neurologists con-sultation voucher, cholesterol checkup, random blood sugar, body mass index, and 25% dis-count on follow-up services.

Naseem Al Rabeeh Medical Centre at Rayyan is providing free GP consultation, including neurologist, dental and X-Ray, dermatology, gynaecology, ENT, and orthopaedic consultations; cholesterol checkup; random blood sugar; body mass index; free medicine; and 25% discount on follow-up services, while Al Rabeeh Dental Centre at Azizi-yah Branch off ers free dental

examination and X-Ray.Planet Medical Centre is pro-

viding free Internal Medicine, dental, and ophthalmology con-sultations; tests for glucose ran-dom; calcium, creatinine, urine, and cholesterol analysis.

Aster Medical Centres and Aster Hospital is off ering free physical examination, CBC (14 tests), triglyceride, HDL cho-lesterol, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, cholesterol total, uric acid (kidney), SGPT (liver), and blood sugar tests.

Ahmad Mohamed Zebeib, Sen-ior Manager at QLM, said: “Align-ing our approach with the new-ly-introduced National Health Strategy (NHS) 2018-2022, we take pride in commemorating World Health Day along with our provider network. It is our way of

Ahmad Mohamed Zebeib, senior manager, QLM.

demonstrating our commitment towards promoting awareness about various lifestyle diseases and ways to prevent them.”

He added: “Early detection of lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure and blood sugar, etc is crucial as it helps to pre-vent complications at a later stage. The free medical check-up reinforces the importance of this proposition and echoes the salient features of the NHS 2018-2022 that focuses more on disease prevention and helps the community to maintain a healthy and an active lifestyle.”

Rated ‘A/Stable’ by Standard & Poor’s, QLM diff erentiates it-self from its peers by delivering bespoke and innovative medical insurance solutions with

unmatched customer service. QLM has established itself as a

pioneer in the medical insurance sector in Qatar, with its highly experienced in-house team of experts coupled with innovative technologies and a wide net-work of medical service provid-ers, QLM is well-positioned to deliver the world class health-care services to its multicultural client base.

Off icials of LG Electronics and Video Home & Electronic Centre open the LG Brand Shop in City Center Doha.

LG holds grand opening of showroom at City CenterLG Electronics (LG), a global

leader and technology in-novator in consumer elec-

tronics, held the grand opening of its premium brand showroom in City Center Doha on Monday.

Located on the fi rst fl oor and spread across 433sqm, the shop has been renovated as per the latest LG premium brand shop guidelines to serve as a one-stop destination for customers, housing an expansive line-up of LG’s latest and innovative consumer products.

Conceptualised with an in-tuitive layout, the new pre-mium brand showroom is spe-cifi cally designed to showcase LG’s cutting-edge technology from across diff erent business units including Home Appli-ances, Home Entertainment,

Mobile Communications, IT and Residential AC, providing a fully immersive hands-on experience. A complete port-folio of LG’s premium range of products is showcased within dedicated areas in the showroom.

Speaking at the grand open-ing, Yong Geun Choi, presi-dent, LG Electronics, Gulf, said, “Consumer satisfaction is key for us at LG Electronics, and our premium brand showroom is an embodiment of our com-mitment to our customers in Qatar. This is further testament to our commitment to give every customer a holistic experience into our complete line-up. This milestone would not have been possible without having a long-term trustworthy partner like

Video Home & Electronic Cen-tre – Jumbo Electronics, whose team and management have been instrumental in LG’s

leadership in Qatar.” The premium products that

will be available soon at the premium brand shops include the new LG Signature prod-ucts that were unveiled in CES 2018 at Las Vegas. LG Electron-ics won more than 90 awards at CES, leading the way with the coveted, offi cial Engadget CES Best of the Best Awards, for LG Signature W7 OLED 4K TV complemented by a variety of best-of-show honours for the LG Signature Twinwash washing machine.

Commenting on the occa-sion, Sajed Jassim Mohamed Sulaiman, vice chairman and

managing director, Video Home & Electronic Centre – Jumbo Electronics said, “The opening of this premium showroom from LG is yet another indication of the robust retail sector Qatar has to off er. As LG expands, we will continue to ensure LG’s pre-mium products are accessible and enjoyed by the avid Qatari consumer, and we look forward to the next chapter for the brand in Qatar.”

“LG aims to recreate unique experiences in Qatar by giving customers the opportunity to connect with the brand and the product. These product off er-ings by LG have come together to ensure “Life’s Good” for con-sumers by enhancing consumer touch-points and boosting local business development.”

Kalyan Jewellers launches global campaign to mark Indian festival

Kalyan Jewellers has an-nounced the unveiling of a one-of-its-kind global

campaign leading to the Indian festival Akshaya Tritiya.

The campaign, which is valid until June 9 across Qatar, Ku-wait, Oman, India and the UAE, gives customers an opportunity to win the Mercedes-Benz CLA upon the purchase of jewellery at any of its showrooms.

There will be three winners in Qatar, two in Kuwait, three in Oman, 10 in India and seven in the UAE as part of the ini-tiative, the leading jeweller has said in a statement. The win-ners will be chosen through country-specifi c raffl e draws, which will be held in Doha and cities in the other nations cov-ered by the campaign.

Vodafone passport pack now covers more than 80 countries

Vodafone Qatar an-nounced that it is ex-panding Qatar’s widest

reaching Passport Pack to over 80 countries to include this summer’s most exciting des-tination Russia, allowing cus-tomers discover the world and roam worry free.

Enabled on all operators across these countries, the Vo-dafone Passport Pack allows customers to enjoy 1GB of data and 100 minutes of roaming calls for only QR100 per week.

Customers with the Bill Manager service can enjoy the benefi ts of Vodafone Passport Pack automatically as soon as they’re roaming in one of the enabled countries or they can choose to activate it themselves through the My Vodafone

App or by dialling *110*110#. Moreover, all Vodafone cus-tomers also enjoy the widest 4G coverage while roaming at no extra cost.

Vodafone Qatar COO Diego Camberos said: “The Vodafone Passport Pack just got better and our customers can now discover the world and roam in over 80 countries with an unmatched worry-free experi-ence. Vodafone Passport Pack and Bill Manager strongly un-derline our commitment to

lead in innovation drawing on the very best of the Vodafone brand globally.”

The latest addition of Russia to Vodafone Passport Pack will enable thousands of Vodafone Qatar customers travelling to Russia for the world’s biggest footballing event in June to capture their once in a lifetime experience. Last month, The Qatar-Russia 2018 Year of Cul-ture was also announced that includes a variety of events and activities that will promote Qa-tar’s art and heritage in Russia.

Vodafone Qatar was recently rated as a premium operator for its roaming services by the GSMA Association for the sec-ond year in a row, which is tes-tament to the company’s high quality roaming services.

The winners will be an-nounced on the offi cial website of Kalyan Jewellers as well as its offi cial Facebook page.

Customers can participate in the raffl e draw by making a min-imum jewellery purchase worth QR500. Those buying gold jew-ellery will receive one coupon, whereas those purchasing dia-mond, uncut and precious stone will receive two coupons. In ad-dition, customers buying dia-mond, uncut and precious stone

jewellery worth QR2,500 are also eligible for free gold coins, the statement explains.

T S Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director, Kalyan Jewellers, said: “We are positive that our patrons will appreciate this pre-Akshaya Tritiya oppor-tunity. The campaign also coin-cides with the ongoing wedding season, and it is a great chance for our customers to win the Mer-cedes-Benz CLA while buying jewellery from Kalyan Jewellers.”

This campaign is valid across all Kalyan Jewellers outlets ex-cept those in the states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (India). While 15 winners from the Middle East will each receive a Mercedes-Benz CLA 250, the 10 India winners will each get a Mercedes-Benz CLA 200.

Qatargas employees participate in blood donation driveQatargas employees

and contractors participated in a

blood donation drive held at the Qatargas headquar-ters in Doha, Ras Laff an and Al Khor Community over the past two weeks.

The initiative was held in co-operation with Ha-mad Medical Corporation (HMC) with the objective of adding to the national blood reserves.

The annual event forms part of the company’s cor-porate social responsibility programme, which includes a wide range of health awareness programmes and support to health organisa-tions in the country, Qatar-gas has said in a statement.

Donors participated in blood donation campaigns held at the Qatargas head-quarters in Doha, Al Khor Community and the Ras Laff an North and South plants. Qatargas has been organising blood donation drives over the past 17 years in co-operation with HMC.

Hundreds of employees and contractors have do-nated blood during these campaigns. In addition to helping the blood bank in-crease its supply of blood and blood components, Qatargas “believes that such campaigns also help promote a culture of vol-untary blood donation in the society”, the statement adds.

REGION/ARAB WORLD

Gulf TimesThursday, April 5, 201810

Turkey, Iran, Russia to work for stability in SyriaReutersAnkara

Turkey, Iran and Russia pledged yesterday to ac-celerate eff orts to bring

stability to Syria, underlining their joint commitment to the country a day after President Donald Trump raised the pros-pect of withdrawing US troops.

A statement by the three countries after a summit meet-ing of their leaders in the Turk-ish capital Ankara said they were determined to “speed up their eff orts to ensure calm on the ground” in Syria.

While their decision to work together has done little to re-duce violence, in part because of their own military interven-tions on opposing sides, it un-derlined their central role just as questions grow over Wash-ington’s presence in Syria.

A senior US offi cial said Trump wanted US forces out of Syria relatively soon.

“We’re not going to imme-diately withdraw but neither is the president willing to back a long-term commitment,” the offi cial said.

Around 2,000 US troops are deployed in northern Syria on a mission to battle the remnants of an Islamic State force that once controlled the area.

Trump had said on Tuesday it was time to pull them out.

Iran’s President Hassan Rou-hani said developments in Syr-ia, where the Syrian army and its allies have driven back rebels in recent years, showed that the United States had “failed to topple the Syrian government” of President Bashar al-Assad.

“They wanted to fuel insecu-rity in order to maintain their own interests but they have gained no success,” he told a news conference after talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin. He added, however, that he believed US forces would stay in Syria.

Iran and Russia have both strongly supported the Syrian president, while Turkey backed anti-Assad rebels.

Those diff erences have con-tinued on the ground despite their political co-operation aimed at winding down some of the violence.

Turkey has waged a mili-

tary campaign to drive Kurdish YPG fi ghters from northwest-ern Syria’s Afrin district, while Russian air power and other militias have supported Syrian army off ensives in the Idlib and Ghouta regions.

Iran’s state television quot-ed Rouhani as telling Erdogan and Putin that Afrin should be handed over to Syria’s army.

“The developments in Afrin can only be useful if they do not violate Syria’s territorial integrity, and control of these areas should be handed over to the Syrian army,” Rouhani said.

Erdogan has said the Turk-ish army will extend its mili-tary operation after Afrin to the town of Tel Rifaat and then further east along Syria’s bor-der with Turkey — a prospect which has angered Tehran.

“Whatever the intentions are, Turkey’s moves in Syria, whether in Afrin, Tel Rifaat or any other part of Syria, should be halted as soon as possible,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters before yesterday’s talks.

Seated alongside Putin and Rouhani, Erdogan focused on areas of common ground, saying that Turkey wanted to

build a mobile hospital to help treat civilians coming from formerly rebel-controlled parts of eastern Ghouta, on the edge of Damascus, which the Syrian army has taken over.

Rebel fighters and civil-

ians who were evacuated from eastern Ghouta have been tak-en to the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, which bor-ders Turkey.

Erdogan proposed providing a bakery to help feed refugees

and build housing on both sides of the border.

“We can save these people from tents and container cities by building housing. We can, all together, make that zone safe,” Erdogan said.

Trump promises pullout, but sets no end dateAFP Washington

President Donald Trump’s White House vowed yes-terday that the US mission

in Syria would come to a “rapid end” but failed to put a timetable on an eventual withdrawal.

Just days after Trump shocked aides and allies by declaring that the 2,000 troops would come home soon, US offi cials moved to scotch talk of a precipitous pullout.

The decision will reassure those in Washington pushing for a longer commitment to coun-tering Russian and Iranian infl u-ence in a Syria still wracked by civil war.

But the hawks’ relief may not last; the White House statement made it clear that the mission will continue only as long as it takes to defeat the beleaguered Islamic State group.

And, with only a few thou-sand IS fi ghters thought to re-main, the rationale for keeping US troops alongside Kurdish and other militia allies in the east of Syria may soon expire.

“The military mission to erad-icate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being al-most completely destroyed,” the White House said.

“The United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS pres-ence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated,” it added.

This commitment was lack-ing last week, when Trump trig-gered speculation of an immi-nent withdrawal by lamenting that America had wasted $7tn fi ghting in the Middle East.

“We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now,” he vowed, in a speech.

This appeared to contradict or undermine the policy outlined in January that troops would stabi-lise areas recaptured from the IS militants and boost US infl uence over Syria’s future.

Then secretary of state Rex Tillerson argued US forces must remain to prevent IS and Al Qaeda from returning and to deny Iran a chance “to further strengthen its position.”

And he warned that “a total withdrawal of American person-nel at this time would restore” Syrian strongman Bashar al-As-

sad to “continue his brutal treat-ment against his own people.”

Trump has since sacked Till-erson, but US military com-manders and diplomats have continued to work to implement the policy, including eff orts to stabilise eastern Syria.

As recently as Tuesday, the commander of US troops in the Middle East, General Joe Votel, said: “Of course there is a mili-tary role in this, certainly in the stabilisation phase.”

And US diplomat Brett McGurk, the president’s special envoy for the war against the Islamic State, said much work remains to be done to ensure the group’s lasting defeat.

But questions remain over a $200mn US pledge to pay for this endeavour, and Trump has publicly suggested that Gulf al-lies like Saudi Arabia should step up to pay.

The White House’s decision appears to grant the mission a reprieve, but if Trump does not want to stay the course, he may leave room for Russia and Iran to step in.

As Trump was meeting his commanders in Washington, the presidents of Turkey, Rus-sia and Iran were issuing a joint statement calling for a “lasting ceasefi re” in Syria.

The three have been work-ing to fi nd a political solution in Syria under the Astana process, which began last year in com-petition with the US and UN-backed Geneva initiative.

But US allies and Trump’s more hawkish advisers fear a rapid American departure from eastern Syria would oblige America’s Kurdish allies there to seek a compromise with Da-mascus.

And Iran would be free to ex-tend its role to the Iraqi border, creating a continuous zone of infl uence between Tehran and Hezbollah, which has also de-ployed to Syria.

America’s European allies also want the troops to stay on.

A British SAS soldier was killed alongside a US comrade in Syria last week and France is reportedly sending reinforce-ments.

Yesterday, the United States, Britain, France and Germany marked the fi rst anniversary of an alleged Syrian sarin attack that killed 80 people by vowing to hold Assad to account.

(From left) Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin hold a joint press conference during a tripartite summit on Syria, in Ankara, yesterday.

Displaced Syrian families arrive at a checkpoint manned by Syrian soldiers and Russian forces allied with the regime at the Abu al-Duhur crossing, as they return from rebel-held areas in the northern Idlib province to their villages in government-controlled territory in Idlib, yesterday.

A Jordanian court yesterday sentenced two alleged supporters of the Islamic State (IS) group to 15 years in prison with hard labour after convicting them of planning attacks.The men, both Jordanian, were found guilty of agreeing to carry out attacks against “churches, foreign tourists and Jordanian soldiers” at the request of a member of the extremist group. They were arrested before being able to carry out their plans, according to state’s security court. Jordan, has used its own air force and allowed US-led coalition forces to use its bases to battle IS in Iraq and Syria. The kingdom was hit by a string of attacks in 2016, including a suicide bombing in June that killed seven guards near the border with Syria that was claimed by IS.

A Danish Social Democrat lawmaker has been denied entry to Bahrain where he planned to meet a jailed leading human rights activist, Copen-hagen and an NGO said yesterday. “MP Lars Aslan Rasmussen has been denied entry into Bahrain,” Danish undersecretary for consular aff airs, Rene Dinesen, said in a statement. Aslan Rasmussen spent several hours at Bahrain International Airport in Manama and then tweeted he had been thrown out in the late afternoon after first having his passport confis-cated. The Danish foreign ministry confirmed he had been denied entry. Accompanied by Brian Dooley, an Irish activist at the Gulf Centre for Hu-man Rights (GCHR), Aslan Rasmus-sen was seeking to protest against the detention of Danish-Bahraini citizen Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who in 2011 was sentenced to life for conspir-ing against the nation’s rulers.

Jordan sentences two IS suspects to 15 years in prison

Bahrain bars Danish MP from meeting activist

TRIAL

RIGHTS

Israel arrests 10 PalestiniansAFPJerusalem

Israeli authorities said yesterday they had arrested 10 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip over alleged plans to carry

out a missile attack and hostage taking against a navy ship.

Seven of those arrested were released lat-er yesterday by an Israeli court, while three were kept in custody, including the main suspect, who was charged, Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said.

Authorities did not explain why the an-nouncement of the March 12 arrests was delayed for more than three weeks, though Israel often keeps such cases under a gag or-der while it investigates.

The announcement comes ahead of ex-pected new mass protests along the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel tomorrow.

A protest by tens of thousands last Friday led to clashes in which Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians and injured more than 1,400 others, the bloodiest day since a 2014 war.

There were no casualties among Israelis.Shin Bet announced the arrests in a

statement, saying the 10 Palestinians from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza were on a boat outside a designated fi shing zone

off the blockaded enclave.It alleged one of those arrested, fi sherman Amin Juma, 24, has been involved with Islamic Jihad.

Israel’s use of live fi re last week has come under criticism from rights groups, while the European Union and UN chief Antonio Guterres have called for an independent in-vestigation.

Israel has defended its soldiers’ actions,

saying they opened fi re only when neces-sary against those throwing stones and fi re-bombs or rolling tyres at soldiers.

It said there were attempts to damage the fence and infi ltrate Israel, while alleg-ing there was also an attempted gun attack against soldiers along the border.

Palestinians say protesters were fi red on while posing no threat to soldiers.

Khamenei says negotiating with Israel would be big mistakeReutersBeirut

Any move to negotiate with Israel would be an “unforgivable mistake”,

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatol-lah Ali Khamenei said yester-day, after Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Israelis were enti-tled to live peacefully on their own land.

Saudi Arabia does not offi -cially recognise Israel, but Mo-hamed bin Salman’s comments, quoted in the US magazine The Atlantic, are a further sign of an apparent thawing in bilateral ties.

“Movement toward negotia-tion with the cheating, lying and oppressive regime (of Israel) is a big, unforgivable mistake that will push back the victory of the people of Palestine,” Khamenei

said in a statement posted on his offi cial website.

The statement, which did not explicitly name Saudi Ara-bia, said it was the duty of all to support Palestinian resistance movements and it pledged con-tinued Iranian backing for the Hamas.

After the crown prince’s comments, his father King Sal-man reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for a Palestinian state.

Riyadh has long maintained that normalising ties with Israel hinges on an Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war — terri-tory Palestinians seek for a fu-ture state.

However, Saudi Arabia opened its air space for the fi rst time to a commercial fl ight to Israel last month, which an Is-raeli offi cial hailed as historic following two years of eff orts.

In November, an Israeli cabi-net member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgement of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.

Khamenei issued yesterday’s statement in reply to a letter he recently received from Ha-mas chief Ismail Haniya which criticised the support of gov-ernments in the region for the United States.

Hamas, which is sworn to Is-rael’s destruction, dominates the small coastal strip of Gaza, where this week at least 17 Pal-estinians were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

In his statement, Khamenei called on the people of Muslim countries to defeat Israel.

“With an intense and planned struggle they should force the enemy to retreat toward the point of demise,” he said.

A Palestinian protester waves his national flag at the site of a tent protest in support of refugees returning to lands they fled or were expelled from during the war surrounding Israel’s creation, near the border, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, yesterday.

French president urged to pressure Saudi prince

AFPParis

Ten international rights groups called on French President Emmanuel

Macron yesterday to pressure Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman over his country’s bombing campaign in Yemen.

Macron is expected to host prince Mohamed for a three-day trip to France starting Sunday, the latest stop in an in-ternational tour by the 32-year-old son of King Salman who is considered the de facto Saudi leader.

A civil war in Yemen, which Saudi Arabia has been bomb-ing since 2015, is considered the world’s worse humanitar-ian crisis by the United Nations with 22.5mn people in need of aid. “Emmanuel Macron should put Yemen at the centre of his discussions with Mohamed bin Salman as he hosts him in

France,” said a statement from the rights groups including Amnesty International, the In-ternational Federation for Hu-man Rights and Human Rights Watch. They called for “the end of bombing targeting civilians and respect for international humanitarian law” as well as the “unconditional and permanent lifting on restrictions on the de-livery of humanitarian aid and commercial goods to Yemen”.

In November, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies including the United Arab Emirates tight-ened a pre-existing blockade on Yemeni ports and airports, severely restricting deliveries of food aid and other humanitar-ian supplies.

The Saudi-led coalition says it has since lifted the restric-tions, but a recent visitor to the main port of Hodeida, humani-tarian worker Suze van Meegen, described it as a “wasteland” in an interview with AFP in late March.

AFRICA11Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara (right) welcomes Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe at the presidential palace in Abidjan at the start of his visit to Ivory Coast.

Liberia’s justice minister yesterday announced he would step aside from a probe into a contested oil deal, as he used to be head of the country’s national oil company. Frank Musa Dean had been appointed to head the probe just six days earlier by Liberia’s newly-elected president, George Weah, who has vowed to crack down on corruption. In a statement, Dean said he had decided to step aside from the probe in the interests of transparency. “The decision to recuse myself is based on the fact that I served as president and chief executive off icer of NOCAL (the National Oil Company of Liberia) between 2004 and January 2006,” he said.

South African police said yesterday that five people had been arrested in connection with a petrol bomb attack on a bus that killed six workers on their way to the Modikwa platinum mine earlier this week. The platinum belt has been a flashpoint of violence rooted in community grievances over jobs, revenue flows and conflict between rival unions that threatens production in the world’s top producer of the precious metal. The accused will appear in court today on charges of attempted murder, murder and malicious damage to property, police spokesman Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said. The motive for the attack, which is still being investigated, was unknown, Mojapelo added.

The UN Security Council yesterday urged the government of Burundi to engage in meaningful talks with the opposition ahead of the 2020 elections, saying it was “deeply concerned” about the situation in the African nation. The statement also off ered support to the African Union’s eff orts to help resolve the Burundi conflict, but called on regional states to “refrain from any interference.” The Council is “deeply concerned over the political situation in Burundi, the slow progress of the inter Burundian dialogue led by the East African Community and the lack of engagement” by the Burundi government read the statement adopted by the 15-member Council.

The UN’s high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, yesterday launched a key visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ahead of eff orts to drum up nearly $1.7bn in aid for the troubled country. Grandi will meet with senior off icials, aid workers and refugees before heading to several locations in the east of the country to assess the situation first-hand, his off ice said. The visit comes against a backdrop of tension between the DRC authorities and agencies over the scale of humanitarian problems. In January, the International Organization for Migration said the crisis had reached a “breaking point” and identified needs of $1.68bn.

Liberia’s justice minister steps aside in oil probe

5 arrested over S Africa mine worker killings

UN urges talks between Burundi govt, opposition

UN refugee chief in Congo ahead of key aid meeting

DIPLOMACY POLITICSINVESTIGATION POLITICAL RIFT CIVIL STRIFE

In mourning, South Africa defends Winnie Mandela as a heroBy Benjamin Sheppard, AFPJohannesburg

In life, Winnie Mandela was known as a brave anti-apart-heid activist whose reputa-

tion was badly tainted by crimi-nal convictions and thuggish gang violence.

But in death, her chequered record has largely been forgiven in South Africa, with the presi-dent declaring 12 days of mourn-ing and the government accusing her critics of pushing an “apart-heid-era narrative”.

Defending Winnie Madikize-la-Mandela’s legacy has become a rallying call for South African politicians keen to tap into her radical, uncompromising image that now resonates with many young black voters.

Soon after Winnie’s death on Monday, media accounts of her life told how she was found guilty of kidnapping in a case where her bodyguards beat a 14-year-old boy to death in her home in 1988.

She was accused of running a mafi a-style gang responsible for multiple murders and beat-ings in Soweto, and of endorsing “necklacing” — killing suspected informers with burning tires put over their heads.

But Communications Min-ister Nomvula Mokonyane said there was an “attempt to present the legacy of this great liberation struggle stalwart as a compro-mised and divisive history”.

Mokonyane accused critics of undermining Winnie’s role in the fi ght against a “regime whose killing machinery found enemies in children and adults alike on the sole basis of them being black”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa had earlier set the tone by hailing Winnie as “an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free” and “a champion of justice and equality”.

He ordered the national fl ag to be fl own at half-mast until April 14, when she will be honoured with an offi cial funeral at a huge sports stadium, complete with a ceremonial military guard.

Not to be outdone in the out-pouring of praise, the leader of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party Ju-lius Malema, attacked those who questioned Winnie’s record.

“The least we can do is de-fend her in death and not allow the racists to insult her,” Malema said, standing outside her mod-est Soweto home.

“They fear her even in death — that is why they continue to

characterise her in a manner that we do not know.”

Winnie, who was divorced from South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela in 1996, was also convicted of fraud in 2003 over fake bank loan paperwork.

One of the few prominent names to address the darker side of her past was former president Thabo Mbeki.

He told local media that she was “an outstanding activist”, but that she had made major mistakes when she ran the no-toriously brutal gang called the “Mandela United Football Club”.

Mbeki said that remember-ing a national fi gure like Winnie “includes discussing the nega-tives” — sparking fury from some mourning South Africans.

National press coverage has been largely adulatory since Winnie — often known as “Mama” and “Mother of the Na-tion” — died aged 81 at a Johan-nesburg hospital.

The popular middle-market Sowetan newspaper described her “a true struggle icon” but added that people should at least “refl ect on the mistakes ‘Mama’ made in her life”.

She “was no angel and was punished for her mistakes,” it concluded.

Winnie’s life story was cer-tainly compelling and complex.

She was South Africa’s fi rst black university-educated social worker — but suff ered beatings, detention and torture while her husband was in prison for dec-ades.

The couple were famously pictured hand-in-hand when he emerged from prison, though they divorced soon after the tri-umphant 1994 elections.

At the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, she was repeatedly questioned by archbishop Desmond Tutu and publicly shamed over her links to gang violence.

She remained active in politics until the end — still passionate, angry and divisive.

Since her death, a constant stream of mourners have headed to her house in Soweto, ranging from Ramaphosa and ruling ANC party ministers to neighbours and old friends.

Scores of ANC women’s league members yesterday sang and chanted on the street outside in her honour.

“I think she’s a hero of the struggle. Period,” said her one-time lawyer Dikgang Moseneke.

“Does she have limitations? All heroes do.”

Members of the ANC Women’s League pay tribute to late South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela outside her Orlando Soweto house on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

Mali suspect faces off with Hague judgesReutersThe Hague

An Islamist militant sus-pected of war crimes in Mali appeared yesterday

before the International Crimi-nal Court but did not address the allegations against him, instead complaining about the condi-tions of his detention.

The ICC issued an arrest war-rant against Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud for crimes allegedly committed while serving as de facto chief of religious police after his militant group seized control of the Mal-ian city of Timbuktu in 2012.

He is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the destruction of cultural monuments in the ancient city in Mali’s north, and over enforce-ment of policies that led to sexual

enslavement of women and girls.When asked during his fi rst

appearance at the ICC if he had any observations to make to the court, Al Hassan, who is not yet required to enter a plea, com-plained about his detention.

“I was detained in a single room with a camera,” he told the judge after confi rming his identity.

Al Hassan’s duty counsel told the court his client believed the circumstances of his detention were “harming his dignity and his privacy”.

Al Hassan was a member of Ansar Dine, one of several mili-tant groups that have waged an insurgency against the Malian government since 2012.

Timbuktu is known for monu-ments dating to its 14th century golden age and was once a major trading hub.

After seizing Timbuktu, An-sar Dine introduced its version

of Shariah that Al Hassan is ac-cused of helping to enforce, in-cluding forced marriages for some women and girls and the destruction of monuments.

Under ICC rules, Al Hassan has not yet formally been charged.

The next step in his case is a confi rmation of charges hearing that has been tentatively set for September 24.

He was handed over to ICC custody in The Hague on March 31, almost a year after his arrest in northern Mali.

Mali fell into turmoil when Is-lamist fi ghters and Tuareg-led rebels seized control of the coun-try’s north six years ago.

France poured hundreds of troops into its former West Af-rican colony to repel the insur-gents in 2013, but attacks have been spreading further south to-wards the capital Bamako despite a UN peacekeeping mission.

Men work in a construction site in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Building a better future

S Leone ruling party nominee has slim lead: partial results

ReutersFreetown

The presidential candidate of Sierra Leone’s ruling party holds a slim lead over the opposition leader based on

certifi ed tallies seen by Reuters from nine of the 16 voting districts, though many op-position strongholds have not yet reported.

The largely peaceful election process has come as a relief for the country of 7mn peo-ple, who endured a civil war in the 1990s and whose economy was dragged down by an Ebola epidemic in 2014-15 and a global slump in commodity prices in 2015.

However, a small number of protesters gathered at the High Court demanding the electoral commission (NEC) release offi cial

results to help speed up the formation of a new government.

Samura Kamara of the All People’s Con-gress (APC) secured 50.80% of the nearly 1.94mn votes certifi ed so far from Satur-day’s election — a lead of about 30,000 votes over Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), the district tallies seen by Reuters showed.

In the remaining seven districts, Bio claimed over 100,000 more votes than Ka-mara in last month’s fi rst round, in which the two fi nished neck-and-neck.

Kamara, a former foreign aff airs minister, and Bio, who briefl y ruled the West African nation as head of a military junta in 1996, are vying to replace outgoing President Er-nest Bai Koroma, who cannot seek re-elec-tion due to term limits.

But tensions have risen since the election with each side saying it is on track to win.

The streets in Freetown were quiet and many schools were closed yesterday as residents waited for the NEC to announce offi cial results. It was unclear when an an-nouncement would take place.

“Everything is (at a) standstill, the economy is going down,” said Martins Jonalisa, a busi-nessman and one of a handful of protesters gathered outside the High Court. “We thought it fi t...to prevail on the judiciary to prevail on NEC so they can release the result for us.”

Bio has also alleged that his Freetown home was targeted by gunfi re from a secu-rity guard deployed to a neighbour’s house after polls closed on Saturday. The neigh-bour, a government minister, denied any shots were fi red.

12 European hostages rescued in troubled anglophone CameroonAFPDoula

Twelve European tourists have been freed after being taken hostage in western

Cameroon, where anglophone militants are campaigning for an independent state, the govern-ment said yesterday.

The group of seven Swiss and fi ve Italians “were taken hostage by a band of armed terrorists” in the Southwest Region before being rescued by troops on Monday in a “special operation,” the communi-cations ministry said in a statement.

Separately, six municipal councillors in the neighbouring Northwest Region — another seat of anglophone unrest — were also released in operations that saw “tens of assailants neutralised, huge stocks of weapons and am-munitions as well as large quanti-ties of drug(s) seized,” it said.

Cameroon’s government is fi ghting insurgents demanding a separate state for the two regions.

They are home to most of the country’s anglophones, who ac-count for about a fi fth of the predominantly French-speaking population.

The tourists, members of an

organisation called the African Adventure Group, were seized in the area of Moungo-Ndor while they were heading for a tourist site called the Twin Lakes, the ministry said.

The lakes, lying in volcanic craters, have special signifi cance in the local traditional religion.

The statement did not say when the group, or the municipal councillors in the Northwest Re-gion, had gone missing.

One of the main armed sepa-ratist groups, the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), played no part in the tourists’ abduction, its leader Cho Ayaba told AFP.

AMERICAS

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 201812

All four crew members of a US Marine Corps helicopter are presumed dead after it crashed during a training flight in southern California. The crash occurred on Tuesday afternoon at 2.35pm near El Centro, according to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, a unit of the US Marine Corps stationed in Miramar north of San Diego. The cause of the crash is still being investigated and the identity of the crew members is being withheld until their family are notified. The helicopter involved was a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion. The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing is the largest unit of the US Marine Corps on the West Coast.

SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo ship arrived yesterday at the International Space Station, packed with food, gear and science experiments for the astronauts living in orbit. “We have capture confirmed,” a Nasa commentator said as the space station’s robotic arm latched onto the gum-drop shaped spacecraft at 6.40am, at a moment when the spacecraft was over the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The spacecraft was bolted onto the orbiting outpost at 9am. The cargo ship is carrying 2,600kg of food, supplies and science experiments to enable the study of thunderstorms, anti-cancer drugs, and technology to remove debris in orbit.

Right-wing candidate Ivan Duque is in the lead for Colombia’s May presidential election, with 36% of voters saying they plan to back him, a survey showed late on Tuesday. Support for Duque, a protégé of former President Alvaro Uribe, was down six percentage points from the last survey by the Centro Nacional de Consultoria. Leftist candidate Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 rebel and previous mayor of Bogota, was in second place with 22%, down four points. Centrist Sergio Fajardo came third with 17%, up 4 points from the previous poll, and support for centre-right German Vargas Lleras held steady at 6%.

Peru’s Congress has authorised the entry of more than 500 US military personnel as security for President Donald Trump who will attend next week’s Summit of the Americas in Lima. The body voted in a late night session Tuesday by 80 votes to 17 to authorise the arrival of the security personnel as well as two helicopters. “The military corps is made up of 114 troops and 454 members of the Air Force, who will enter with military equipment, weapons and two helicopters and will remain for 18 days,” the legislature said. Deputies of the minority leftist Frente Amplio party voted against the measure, saying that the security provided by Peru’s armed forces would be “suff icient.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency granted hardship exemptions from the nation’s biofuel laws to 25 oil refineries in 2017, according to an agency source, representing a significant expansion of the waiver program. In a typical year, the EPA would receive about 12 to 15 requests for hardship exemptions and would grant about half of them, a second source familiar with the program told Reuters. Refiners, including large ones like Andeavor, applied for the hardship waivers in larger numbers in the wake of a federal appeals court ruling in August that said the EPA must expand the criteria for approving such waivers.

4 dead in Marine Corps helicopter crash

Cargo-packed Dragon arrives at space station

Right-wing Duque leads Colombia opinion poll

Peru clears 500-strong Trump security detail

EPA grants 25 refineries relief from biofuels law

ACCIDENT SUPPLY RUNELECTIONS DIPLOMACY WAIVER

Migrant caravan abandons march to US border

AFPMatías Romero, Mexico

A caravan of Central American migrants whose trek across Mexico infuriated President

Donald Trump has decided not to travel to the US border, leaders said Tuesday.

“We will wrap up our work in Mex-ico City,” said Irineo Mujica, the head of the migrant advocacy group People Without Borders (Pueblo sin Fronte-ras).

“We have support teams at the bor-der if there are people who need as-sistance there, but they would have to travel on their own,” he told AFP in the town of Matias Romero, in the south-ern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

The just over 1,000 migrants who currently make up the caravan — many travelling in families of up to 20 peo-

ple — have been camped in the south-ern town since the weekend, deciding their next move in the face of daily at-tacks from Trump.

The Republican president vowed to send the US military to secure the bor-der and threatened to axe the North American Free Trade Agreement (Naf-ta) if Mexico did not stop the caravan.

The caravan is in fact a yearly event whose goal is more to raise aware-ness about the plight of migrants than to reach the United States — though some participants have travelled to the border in the past.

Mujica said this year’s caravan was so large it would have been dangerous to travel to the border by train-hop-ping.

“There are too many children — 450 in all. There are lots of babies. Hopping the train, as we did in the past, would have been crazy,” he said.

The caravan now plans to travel to

the central city of Puebla for a confer-ence, then on to Mexico City for a se-ries of demonstrations — and end its journey there.

The group, mainly Hondurans, also includes Salvadorans, Guate-malans and Nicaraguans, mostly fleeing the brutal gang violence that has made Central America home to some of the highest murder rates in the world.

Organisers say Mexican immigra-tion authorities are working with the migrants to get them papers to stay in Mexico.

Mujica praised the Mexican govern-ment for its response.

“Donald Trump wanted the world to crush us, to erase our existence. But Mexico responded admirably and we thank the government for the way it handled this caravan,” he said.

Students join teachers to demand school fundingAFPOklahoma City

Students yesterday joined teachers in Oklahoma City for a third day of protests

demanding that state lawmak-ers increase funding for public schools after years of budget cuts.

“We the students of Okla-homa are with you for as long as this strike takes,” student Cam-eron Olbert told a rally outside the state capitol, epicentre of a protest that has attracted tens of thousands of people.

Protesters on Tuesday over-whelmed offi ces of their state representatives and jeered when Republican-controlled legisla-ture refused to consider addi-tional school funding.

The protests are part of a mid-term election year wave that is sweeping Republican-dominat-ed states where teachers have had

to cope with years of low pay and cuts to public schools.

Oklahoma is among a handful of states that cut its education budget deeply as public coff ers were drained by tax cuts and the 2008 economic downturn.

Even though the economy has improved, the education cuts have not been restored, prompt-ing struggling teachers to fi ght back.

Their protest has brought to light stories of teachers taking multiple jobs to make ends meet and classrooms in disrepair.

The teachers’ union said many of its members were prepared to protest through the week, if not beyond.

Yesterday, they got a boost from the students, who organ-ised their own rally.

“We’re not just here for teach-er pay raises,” Oldbert said.

“We are here for support staff . We are here for arts and mu-sic programmes that have been

decimated for the last decade. We are here for chairs that don’t break when we sit on them.”

Students, some of whom are near voting age, threatened to punish unresponsive politicians in the November mid-terms, raising the stakes for Republicans in what would normally be one of their strongholds.

Oklahoma lawmakers recently agreed to a rare tax increase to bump teachers’ pay by an average of $6,100 a year.

But that was not enough to placate educators, who insist cuts in recent years have been far deeper than what lawmakers have given back, and that school funding in general, and not just salaries, must be increased.

The states of Kentucky, Ari-zona and West Virgina have been hit by similar protests.

West Virginia led the way with a nine-day strike last month won teachers their fi rst pay raise in four years.Teachers rally at the state capitol in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma yesterday.

Zuckerberg to face Congress next weekBy Rob Lever, AFPWashington

Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to appear before a congressional panel next

week, putting a spotlight on the Facebook chief executive and so-cial networking giant pressured by a massive breach of private data and misinformation on the plat-form.

The House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Commit-tee yesterday announced what appeared to be the first congres-sional appearance by Zuckerberg since the scandal broke on the hi-jacking of data on tens of millions of users.

The April 11 hearing will “be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data pri-vacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online,” said the committee’s Republican chairman Greg Walden and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone in a state-ment.

“We appreciate Mr Zucker-

berg’s willingness to testify be-fore the committee, and we look forward to him answering our questions.”

Zuckerberg will likely face mul-tiple congressional hearings as his social media giant battles a fi re-storm following revelations that the British consulting fi rm Cam-bridge Analytica obtained the data of 50mn Facebook users to try and manipulate US voters in the 2016 presidential election.

The Facebook co-founder has also been invited to appear before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee on April 10, alongside Google chief Sundar Pichai and Twitter head Jack Dorsey.

His participation is yet uncon-fi rmed but Senator Dianne Fein-stein told the San Francisco Chron-icle that Zuckerberg had agreed to attend that hearing.

Zuckerberg, who has been mak-ing a series of media appearances after staying silent for several days on the breach, said earlier this week it would take “a few years” to fi x the problems uncovered by the revela-tions on data misuse.

He told Vox.com that one of Fa-

cebook’s problems was that it was “idealistic,” focusing on the posi-tive aspects of connecting people and that “we didn’t spend enough time investing in, or thinking through, some of the downside uses of the tools.”

The world’s biggest social net-work faces probes on both sides of the Atlantic over the misuse of data, which Facebook attributed to a breach of terms of service by an academic researcher linked to the consulting fi rm working for Donald Trump’s campaign.

Late on Tuesday, Facebook said it deleted dozens of accounts linked to a Russian-sponsored internet unit which has been accused of spreading propaganda and oth-er divisive content in the United States and elsewhere.

The social networking giant said it revoked the accounts of 70 Face-book and 65 Instagram accounts, and removed 138 Facebook pages controlled by the Russia-based In-ternet Research Agency (IRA).

The agency has been called a “troll farm” due to its deceptive post aimed at sowing discord and propagating misinformation.

Woman’s anger at YouTube behind shooting ReutersSan Francisco

An Iranian-born woman who blogged about veganism and be-lieved YouTube was suppressing

her videos opened fi re at the company’s California headquarters because she was angry with the site’s policies, police said yesterday.

In a series of Persian and English-lan-guage online postings, Nasim Najafi Agh-dam, 39, railed against YouTube, the vid-eo-sharing site owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google before wounding three people and killing herself.

“It is believed that the suspect was upset with the policies and practices of YouTube. This appears to be the motive for this incident,” San Bruno police chief Ed Barberini told reporters.

He added that Aghdam did not appear to have targeted particular victims when she opened fi re with a hand gun at the open-air plaza.

In some of Agdham’s online posts be-fore the attack, she spoke about herself in heroic terms for surviving in a hostile world.

Other pages are adorned with pictures of Aghdam scowling and wearing jewel-lery of her own design.

“I think I am doing a great job,” she

wrote in Persian on her Instagram ac-count. “I have never fallen in love and have never got married. I have no physical and psychological diseases. But I live on a planet that is full of injustice and dis-eases.”

In an English-language video posted to her YouTube account before the channel was deleted on Tuesday, Aghdam said, “I am being discriminated. I am being fi l-tered on YouTube.”

One victim, a man in his 30s, remained yesterday in San Francisco General Hos-pital in serious condition, the hospital said.

Two others who had been wounded were released Tuesday night, it said.

People join a march to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis yesterday.

Remembering a giant

ASIA/AUSTRALASIA13Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

N Korea rights record likely off table at Korean summit: SeoulAFPSeoul

Seoul’s top diplomat said yesterday that North Ko-rea’s human rights record

is unlikely to be discussed at this month’s summit, after Pyongyang denounced the South for supporting a fresh UN reso-lution against the North. North

Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the South’s president Moon Jae-in are due to meet for a rare inter-Korean summit on April 27.

But Pyongyang’s state media condemned South Korea yes-terday for its “dubious double dealing”, after Seoul welcomed a new United Nations resolution against North Korea’s human rights violations. Such action could jeopardise future dialogue,

the North warned. “This is an open political provocation to the DPRK and an intolerable act of chilling the atmosphere for dia-logue,” the North’s offi cial KCNA agency said in a commentary, using North Korea’s offi cial ac-ronyms.

It added: “Whom are they go-ing to hold dialogue with and whom are they going to improve relations with while denying the

dignity and social system of the dialogue partner?”

South Korea’s foreign min-ister Kang Kyung-wha said Seoul maintains a “fi rm stance” against the “dire human rights situation” in the North but that the prospect of Moon discuss-ing it with Kim this month was unlikely. “In order to enhance dialogue, the topics that both sides have agreed upon will be

discussed,” Kang told reporters. “So to include it in the agenda

of South-North dialogue, I think the government will need more preparation,” she said. North Korea’s rights record has been heavily criticised by the United States and the United Nations.

The North is estimated to have up to 120,000 political prisoners in its sprawling gulag system. A UN commission pub-

lished a searing report in 2014 which concluded North Korea was committing human rights violations “without parallel in the contemporary world”.

The summit will be only the third of its kind since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an ar-mistice.

It comes amid a rapid diplo-matic thaw on the peninsula that has seen Kim enjoy a K-pop con-

cert by artists from the South in Pyongyang. The two Koreas have yet to set an agenda for the sum-mit, which will take place in the demilitarised zone.

Offi cials from both sides will meet Thursday for working-level talks to discuss issues including protocol and security. Landmark talks between Kim and US Presi-dent Donald Trump are planned next month.

Myanmar judge to rule next week on journalists’ caseAFPYangon

A Myanmar judge said yes-terday he would decide next week on whether

to throw out a case against two Reuters journalists who were ar-rested while reporting on mili-tary abuses against Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmar nationals Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, could face up to 14 years in prison on charges of possessing classifi ed documents under the colonial-era Offi cial Secrets Act.

Their plight has triggered glo-bal alarm over worsening me-dia freedoms in Myanmar and government eff orts to restrict reporting on northern Rakhine state, where troops are accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya minority.

Last week the journalists’ law-yers asked the court to drop the case, which is still in a pre-trial hearing phase, saying there was not enough evidence to charge the pair.

Yesterday defence and pros-ecution teams presented argu-ments on the motion to a court-

room packed with relatives, media and diplomats.

“I’m going to give a decision on Wednesday, April 11th,” said Judge Ye Lwin.

At the time of their arrest four months ago the reporters were investigating the killing by se-curity forces and ethnic Rakhine locals of 10 unarmed Rohingya Muslim men.

The army later acknowledged that security offi cers took part in the extrajudicial killings of the men, who were in custody at

the time, in Inn Din village and vowed take action against those responsible.

But it has denied any other abuses against the Rohingya, re-jecting allegations from the UN that troops are guilty of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide in a campaign that has expelled 700,000 Rohingya from the country since August.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has estimated that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the fi rst month of the crackdown

alone. The journalists, who have been detained since their ar-rest on December 12, have vehe-mently denied any wrongdoing. Their families say they were set up by two policemen who invited them for dinner and gave them the documents in question before their arrest.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. That’s why I believe I will be free soon,” Kyaw Soe Oo told reporters after the hearing. Sean Bain, who was observing the trial for the International Commis-sion of Jurists, called on the gov-ernment to order prosecutors to “immediately drop these spuri-ous charges”.

“Each adjournment wrong-fully extends their detention,” he told AFP, adding that “three months of hearings have pro-duced no credible evidence” against the journalists.

Calls for the pair’s release have poured in from around the globe, including from former US president Bill Clinton and UN Secretary-General Antonio Gu-terres. The case received another publicity boost last week after British-Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Clooney announced she would represent the pair.

She was not in court yesterday.

Detained Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo’s wife, Chit Suu Win, and daughter, Moe Thin Wai Zan, sit after the court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar.

Detained Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo speaks to the media after a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar.

Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone gives a thumbs up as he is escorted by police after a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar.

Southeast Asians unite as beef over ‘chicken rendang’ rages onReutersKuala Lumpur

Southeast Asians have unit-ed to defend hugely popular “chicken rendang” that was

knocked out of a British cooking competition television show for not being crispy enough, but the longstanding debate on the ori-gins of the dish rages on.

Malaysian-born chef Zaleha Kadir Olpin cooked nasi lemak, a beloved traditional Malaysian dish, served with chicken ren-dang in the quarter-fi nal of the BBC show MasterChef UK, in which contestants were asked to prepare a meal that was impor-tant to them.

Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace turned down the chicken accompaniment saying the skin wasn’t crispy, stirring fury on social media and a viral debate in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei where the spicy dish is widely loved.

“Chicken rendang should be made authentic. And it is just stupid for it to be crispy,” said KF Seetoh, founder of Makansutra and an Asian street food expert based in Singapore.

“Saying chicken rendang should be crispy is like say-ing that hamburgers should be boiled.”

Rendang is traditionally made with chicken or beef that is slow cooked with Asian herbs and coconut milk. Haikal Johari, 41, executive chef of Michelin-star restaurant Alma by Juan Ama-dor in Singapore, said he had never heard of chicken rendang being crispy. “Chicken rendang is a dish that many of us grew up with. And to have a ang-moh (caucasian) tell us how the dish should be like is a smack on

our face,” said Haikal. Malay-sian Prime Minister Najib Razak waded into the debate saying no one eats crispy chicken rendang – and veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad for once agreed with his arch rival. A hashtag “gas-trodiplomacy” was soon trend-ing along with “rendanggate”.

Corporates were not to be left out.

In a cheeky Instagram post with a bucket of their classic fried chicken, KFC said: “The only thing that should be crispy is our fried chicken.”

Regional ehailing service Grab off ered promotions, asking us-ers to tweet #RendangIsNever-Crispy. However, the jury is still out on which country owns the dish with neighbouring Indone-sia already claiming it. Some sug-gest the fi rst version of rendang was in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, some 600 years ago.

Torode riled Malaysians by sug-gesting on Twitter that chicken rendang was from Indonesia, and ending his tweet with “namaste”, an Indian greeting.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with these Malaysians keep say-ing Rendang theirs, it’s like the Koreans claiming Japanese ra-men,” said one post on Twitter. Many other Indonesians were

quick to agree. Haikal from Alma said there were diff erent versions of the dish. “In the region and the Malay archipelago, it (rendang) is made by diff erent people includ-ing Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians, and even in Thai-land, there is a dish called massa-man, which actually tastes really similar to the chicken rendang too,” he said.

A plate of chicken rendang is pictured at a restaurant in Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

People eat at chicken rendang restaurant in Cyberjaya, Selan-gor, Malaysia.

‘Australia’s service cuts on Nauru threaten migrants’AFPGeneva

The United Nations sounded an alarm yester-day over Australia’s deci-

sion to stop providing services to migrants detained on the is-land of Nauru, saying the move would put vulnerable people at heightened risk.

Nauru is among the island nations involved in Canberra’s policy of off shore processing for refugees and asylum-seekers that try to reach Australia.

Australia had previously tak-en responsibility for providing basic care for migrants held on the island but has decided to let Nauru’s authorities take over, with some fi nancial support from Canberra. The UN refu-

gee agency’s chief for Asia and the Pacifi c, Indrika Ratwatte, told reporters that he had “deep concern” over the transfer of services.

He said it was vital that “ad-equate services are provided by trained, qualifi ed individuals, particularly in mental health.”

Ratwatte, who recently visit-ed the island, reported that 80% of migrants detained there have been clinically diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma and depression. While they are already lacking “ad-equate care,” Ratwatte said their plight could worsen if Nauru’s authorities take charge without being properly supported.

Meanwhile, Nauru has also abolished links with Australia’s highest court, which for four decades had been the fi nal ven-

ue for migrants looking to ap-peal against adverse rulings on asylum claims.

Nauru has pledged to set up its own local court of appeals, but activists warn that in the interim asylum-seekers will be deprived of basic legal rights. Ratwatte said any legal “gap” was worrying.

“Until such time that Nauru has established a process where appeal can be eff ectively heard, I think Australia should continue to have that facility open,” he said.

More than 300 men, women and children are being held in a camp on Nauru, according to recent Australian immigration detention fi gures. The group includes nationals of multiple countries, including Afghani-stan, Iran and Myanmar.

Deadly Indonesia oil spill caused by burst pipe: company

An oil spill off Borneo island that led to five deaths and the declaration of a state of emer-gency was caused by a ruptured undersea pipe, Indonesia’s national oil company Pertamina said yesterday. The leakage, which started in waters near Balikpapan city early Saturday, has spread at least 26km and coated large areas of the coast in thick black sludge. Five fishermen died in a fire sparked by workers who were trying to clear the spill by burn-ing it off the water’s surface, a local search and rescue agency spokesman said. “They were a group of men who were on vacation together and went fishing,” said Octavianto, a senior off icial of the East Borneo search and rescue agency, who like

many Indonesians goes by one name. State-owned Pertamina, which had initially denied responsibility, said yesterday that one of its pipes used for transporting crude oil, laid about 25m below the sea surface, was the source of the huge leak. “Since it was first detected, we have closed the crude oil supply from Lawe-lawe to Balikpapan as a precaution,” Pertamina spokes-man Togar MP told reporters. Police and Pertamina are inves-tigating the source of the pipe fracture but initial inspections by divers show that it has shifted about 120 metres from its initial location on the seabed. A state of emergency was declared Tuesday in Balikpapan as local off icials warned residents not to light cigarettes in the area and

distributed gas masks because of the acrid fumes and smoke. Dramatic aerial photos showed masses of crude oil spread across the surface of the ocean and black blobs covering beaches. The precise impact on sea life is not yet clear, but one endangered Irrawaddy dolphin has washed ashore dead. Several oil booms have been deployed to try contain the spill with about 69,300 cu m having been collected as of Tuesday evening, the environment ministry said in a statement. “We have asked the team as well as Pertamina to prioritise the cleaning of oil spills in residen-tial areas due to the stench and other potential risks,” said Environment Minister Nurbaya Bakar.

Uni staff voteon pensionsoff er withoutdeal in sightGuardian News and MediaLondon

The outcome of the strike that has crippled 65 Brit-ish universities this year

remains clouded in uncertainty no matter what is the result of a ballot being taken by union mem-bers, according to university and union offi cials.

About 50,000 members of the University and College Un-ion (UCU) began voting from yesterday on an off er from their employers to renegotiate the pen-sions changes that sparked the strike.

But whether or not the off er is accepted, the union and employ-ers face diffi culties fi nalising a deal in talks that could drag on for years.

For the UCU, even holding the ballot has caused deep rifts. While many expect the members to ac-cept the off er and end the strikes that threaten to disrupt exams this summer, a strong backlash has emerged on campuses includ-ing University College London and Liverpool universities, where members have been urged to reject the deal as vague and too risky.

Jo Grady, a UCU branch mem-ber at Sheffi eld University, said she would vote to reject the pro-posal by Universities UK (UUK), which off ers little more than a new joint committee of experts to examine the valuation and opera-tion of the staff pension scheme.

“I would rather have seen a better off er on the table before there was a move to ballot mem-bers,” said Grady, a senior lecturer in employment relations who has

researched pensions disputes.“On paper there is lots to be

welcomed, but the language from UUK is very woolly and al-lows it to kick too many things into the long grass – and I think that’s their aim,” she said. “I feel I’ve been forced to vote ‘reject’ because the union called a ballot that was unwise.”

A number of branch executives are advising their members to re-ject the off er in the ballot, which closes on April 13. In a message to its members on Tuesday, the Uni-versity of Kent UCU branch said: “Like many other branches across the country, the Kent UCU posi-tion is to reject this proposal.”

Sam James, the Cambridge UCU branch vice-president, said he thought the outcome was fi ne-ly balanced: “The atmosphere is for rejection but it’s very hard to judge.”

Those on the left of the union have also argued strongly to re-ject the proposal. Carlo Morelli, a UCU national executive mem-ber from Dundee, posted a widely circulated video in which he said he would reject the off er.

“The off er is ambiguous – the off er doesn’t tell us what we are really going to get and what the settlement is going to be,” More-lli said. “That’s not what we are fi ghting for, it’s not why we’ve been on strike for 14 days.”

Few union offi cials or branch members are willing to predict the outcome, but many say ran-cour and disruption could result either way.

“There has already been un-told chaos in higher education this year. If this (off er) does un-ravel, then that would make

things worse,” said Grady.The strike centres on a radical

overhaul of the universities su-perannuation scheme (USS), the country’s largest private-sector pension scheme, with 400,000 members at more than 60 uni-versities and almost 300 similar institutions such as the Royal Society and Overseas Develop-ment Institute.

A series of events, triggered by a triennial valuation of the scheme required by law and a botched sur-vey of member institutions, cul-minated in a decision in January in favour of the employers that ended the scheme’s defi ned benefi ts – guaranteed levels of payment to members upon retirement.

Instead, the fi xed benefi ts would be replaced by defi ned contributions, in which members would pay in but their eventual pension payments would be at the whim of the fi nancial markets upon retirement.

UCU members voted by 88% in favour of strike action that began in February and which drove the employers back to negotiations – and an off er of a deal in early March that was roundly rejected by UCU branches.

But after further strikes, and with more scheduled later this month, UUK came back with its latest off er – a jointly run panel of experts to look at the valuation and revisions – which UCU narrowly decided to put to its members.

Critics say that even if an ex-pert panel could agree a new pension structure, it would have to win support from both union and employers, the USS trustees and fi nally the offi cial pensions regulator.

Corbyn agrees to meetJewish leaders for talksGuardian News and MediaLondon

Jeremy Corbyn has said he will meet the two largest Jewish communal bodies “without

any preconditions”, pledging to hear their concerns about tack-ling anti-semitism in the Labour party.

In a letter to the Board of Dep-uties of British Jews and the Jew-ish Leadership Council, the La-bour leader said he accepted “my responsibility to give a strong and continuing personal lead”.

Writing to the JLC chair, Jonathan Goldstein, and BoD president, Jonathan Arkush, Corbyn said he accepted the organisations’ agenda for the meeting.

“I place no limitations on the points you would wish to raise and am happy for the agenda to cover the issues you’ve already outlined,” he wrote.

“I appreciate and understand the anger you express and reit-erate my determination to fi ght anti-semitism within the Labour

party and society at large … I re-commit to doing all I can to ad-dress the anguish and distress caused to many people in the Jewish community.

“I would welcome an early meeting with your organisations to discuss the issues that you have raised. I am a strong be-liever that engaging in meaning-ful dialogue is crucial to fi nding eff ective solutions and resolving disputes and I am clear that such a meeting would be just the start of a fruitful ongoing exchange on eradicating anti-semitic be-haviour and discourse within the Labour party.”

Arkush and Goldstein had written to Corbyn after the Enough is Enough demonstra-tions sparked by concern that the party was failing to tackle anti-semitism from some members. The Labour leader had initially off ered a meeting, but organis-ers were understood to have felt wary of accepting unless a plan of action was in place.

The organisations proposed an agenda, which Corbyn has ac-cepted, that centred on the need

for personal leadership from him to tackle the issue, swift action on outstanding anti-semitism disciplinary cases and a pro-gramme of education for party members.

It also suggested public en-gagement with the Jewish com-munities’ main representative groups and “not through fringe organisations who wish to ob-struct the party’s eff orts to tackle anti-semitism”.

The Jewish Chronicle reported that the organisations believed it would be “churlish” not to ac-cept Corbyn’s response and that a meeting would take place.

The JLC acts as an umbrella organisation for major British Jewish institutions. It also has representation from the main Jewish charities and some pro-Israel organisations.

The BoD is an elected Jewish communal body made up of 300 deputies elected by synagogue memberships across the coun-try, as well as other organisations including the Union of Jewish Students. Deputies then elect its president and vice-presidents.

New fraud claims overTower Hamlets pollLondon Evening StandardLondon

A specialist police unit, drafted in to a London borough rocked by a vote-

rigging scandal, has received 39 new allegations of corruption in the run-up to next month’s local elections, the Standard revealed.

Detectives from the special enquiry team, part of Scotland Yard’s specialist crime and oper-ations division, are investigating complaints of bribery, forgery and ballot tampering in Tower Hamlets.

Anti-fraud offi cers equipped with body-worn cameras will be deployed at polling stations across Tower Hamlets on May 3, when voters will also elect the town hall’s mayor.

Detective chief superintend-ent Sue Williams, overseeing the operation, said: “It is vital to ensure the integrity of the demo-cratic process, so, in the run up to the election, and on the day it-self, there will be a policing plan in place in Tower Hamlets.”

Labour is battling to hold on to control in the face of a new inde-

pendent party, Aspire, founded in January by Lutfur Rahman, the disgraced former mayor.

Rahman was removed from offi ce in 2015 and banned from standing for election for fi ve years by a judge for “corrupt and illegal” practices.

He was replaced by Labour’s John Biggs, who vowed to clean up the borough after clinching a dramatic victory in 2015.

Biggs is now fi ghting for a sec-ond term in offi ce against coun-cillor Rabina Khan’s People’s Alliance, and councillor Ohid Ahmed, for Aspire.

A total of 39 complaints have so far been made to police from councillors, candidates, journal-ists and an MP. Of these 28 are actively being investigated, ac-cording to the latest Met fi gures.

Tory councillor Peter Golds said residents are “fed up” with the borough’s reputation for cor-ruption.

He told the Standard: “Fraud is a huge issue here. It’s terrible really, people talk about it all the time. When you knock on doors they say things like, ‘Why would I bother voting when it’s so cor-rupt. What is the point?’”

Man Bookerrevertsauthor’snationalityafter outcryGuardian News and MediaLondon

The Man Booker Interna-tional prize has backed away from its decision

to change a Taiwanese author’s nationality to “Taiwan, China” after it was criticised for bowing to pressure from Beijing.

Author Wu Ming-Yi, who has been longlisted for his novel The Stolen Bicycle, was originally described by award organisers as a writer from Taiwan, when his nomination was announced in March. Following a complaint from the Chinese embassy in London last week, his national-ity was changed on the prize’s website to “Taiwan, China”.

Beijing maintains that the self-governed island is part of China, and has recently ramped up pressure on foreign compa-nies that describe Taiwan as a country, with German airline Lufthansa and British Airways dropping Taiwan from their lists of countries.

The switch was noted by Wu on his Facebook page, where he said it was “not my personal position on this issue”. The cause was also taken up by Taiwan’s ministry of culture, which stated that Taiwan was “a sovereign state that par-ticipates in international aff airs with respect and fairness”, and called on the Booker Prize Foun-dation not to “bow to external infl uence and … respect authors and their home countries”.

As the Man Booker Interna-tional prize’s Facebook page was fl ooded with one-star reviews and petitions were launched calling on it to reverse its deci-sion and identify Wu’s country as Taiwan, the organisers an-nounced yesterday morning that “following correspondence with stakeholders and additional guidance on the appropriate ter-minology from the Foreign and Commonwealth Offi ce”, in the future it would list the “country/territory” of authors up for the prize, rather than their nation-alities. Wu will again be listed as “Taiwan”.

Sturgeon visits Aggreko plant

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon talks with an apprentice electrical engineer, Stacey Blair, during a visit to Aggreko, a supplier of mobile power generators, at their base in Dumbarton, northwest of Glasgow, Scotland.

The number of hospital admissions linked to obesity has soared by 18%, with women accounting for two thirds of all cases. A total of 617,000 people had to be admitted to a NHS ward for treatment due to their excess weight in 2016-17, up from 525,000 the previous year. Wirral, Southampton and Slough had the highest rates of obesity in the country. London has the lowest rate of adult obesity and the North-East the highest. Figures from NHS Digital yesterday also revealed that 6,760 patients underwent surgery for obesity, up 5%. Women accounted for 77% of those to undergo the surgical procedure, which includes gastric bands, stomach stapling and gastric bypass.

The BBC has been dragged into another fakery row after it emerged tribes in Papua New Guinea built new “very high” treehouses just for the cameras during the making of the 2011 series Human Planet. A BBC spokeswoman said it had been “alerted to a breach of editorial standards” when another BBC team went to the area to film a separate show. She said: “During the making of BBC Two’s upcoming documentary series, My Year with the Tribe, a member of the tribe discusses how they built treehouses for the benefit of programme makers. The BBC has reviewed a sequence in Human Planet and found the portrayal of the tribe moving into the treehouse as a real home is not accurate.”

A hand-held robot is being used to revolutionise knee replacement surgery at a London NHS hospital. The £300,000 device uses 3D infra-red technology to ensure that artificial joints are fitted to bones more accurately, meaning patients are less likely to require further operations. It is being pioneered at Central Middlesex hospital in Harlesden. More than 25 operations have been carried out since January, making it Europe’s leading centre for the procedure. Lead surgeon Simon Jennings said: “The software and hardware together bring on orthopaedic accuracy by leaps and bounds. This is groundbreaking technology.”

Security scanners and working baggage carousels are going under the hammer this month as part of an unusual auction which will see the remains of Heathrow’s Terminal One sold off . Among the objects on sale from inside the building, which opened in 1968 and closed three years ago, are 110 check-in desks, nine travelators, information boards and thousands of seats and security cameras. Also on off er is a huge mural that once graced the walls of the building welcoming travellers to the airport. Daniel Gray, of auction firm CAGP, said he expected “a broad range of interest” for the sale, which is predicted to raise a six-figure sum.

A reward of £20,000 is being off ered to help catch those responsible for the fatal shooting of a “community hero”. Abraham Badru, 26, was gunned down in Hackney, east London, on March 25 after opening the boot of his car to look for a drink, police said. Paramedics and police were called to the scene in Ferncliff Road, but Badru was pronounced dead. Churchgoer Badru, the son of a Nigerian MP, had previously received a bravery award for intervening in a sex attack on a teenage girl and his family said the pain of losing him is “unbearable”. “We plead with any parent, siblings, family and friends that if you have any information to please come forward.”

Hospital admissions andsurgery for obesity soar

BBC faces morefakery charges

Hand-held robot usedfor knee surgery

Heathrow to auctions off contents of closed terminal

£20,000 reward off ered for leads to MP son’s killer

HEALTHCARECONTROVERSY TECHNOLOGY SALECRIME

14 Gulf TimesThursday, April 5, 2018

BRITAIN

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in London.

BRITAIN15Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Briton held inimmigrationremoval centrefor four monthsGuardian News and MediaLondon

A 53-year-old disabled British man who was born in the UK and says he has

never travelled abroad has been held in an immigration removal centre for the past four months, the Guardian has learned.

Paul Tate is in a wheelchair after a stroke and has diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure. He applied for bail last week but the judge who considered his application refused to free him, saying: “He says he is a British citizen but has done nothing to prove it.”

Tate’s solicitor has begun legal proceedings against the Home Offi ce for unlawful detention and says his client is desperate to be released.

The Guardian has recently re-ported on cases of people born overseas who have lived most of their lives in the UK but are fac-ing removal because their immi-gration status was not formalised decades ago.

However, Tate insists he was born in Bangor, north Wales, and that he has never left the UK. Human rights campaigners and lawyers have expressed concern that British citizens who may not have a passport are being target-ed for removal by immigration offi cials.

Home Offi ce sources say Tate told them he was a US citizen, but he denies ever saying this. According to his lawyers, the Home Offi ce made a request to US authorities for an emergency travel document for him in De-cember 2017.

In January, the US refused to provide one, saying it had no record of Tate being a US citizen. However, more than two months later Tate is still locked up.

He is being held at Morton Hall in Lincolnshire, a 392-unit im-migration removal centre run by the prison service for the Home Offi ce, after serving a 12-month

prison sentence for grievous bodily harm.

During last week’s bail hearing by videolink, Tate said: “I will die in here.” Had he not been held in an immigration removal centre after completing his sentence, Tate would have been able to ac-cess support from the probation service to reintegrate into society and reduce his risk of reoff end-ing.

Tate’s name was changed from that on his birth certifi cate when he was adopted as a child. His solicitor is working with mem-bers of Tate’s family to obtain documents to prove he is a Brit-ish citizen.

The human rights lawyer Shoaib Khan asked the Home Offi ce how many cases it had of British nationals being detained in immigration removal centres. The Home Offi ce told Khan that although British nationals were not subject to immigration con-trol, there may be some cases where they were detained while their identity was established, but it could not provide a number of these cases because the infor-mation was not recorded cen-trally.

Tate’s solicitor, Hamish Ar-nott, of Bhatt Murphy solicitors, said his client insisted he was a British citizen with no connec-tion to any other country and had never left the UK.

“The notion of him being re-movable is fanciful. He is taking legal proceedings to obtain his release,” Arnott said.

Celia Clarke, the director of the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees, said: “The complete lack of oversight of decisions to detain and to maintain deten-tion, coupled with the avowedly hostile environment, means that anyone with any perceived con-nection with any other country, be they long-term residents or even British citizens, is now fair game for detention and deporta-tion. This is completely scandal-ous and the only way to stop it is to end detention completely.”

78-year-old arrested forstabbing burglar to deathLondon Evening StandardLondon

A pensioner has been ar-rested after stabbing to death a suspected armed

burglar he confronted in his south-east London home early yesterday.

The 78-year-old was asleep with his wife when he heard noises and got up to challenge two intruders. One of the men, who was armed with a screw-driver, forced him into the kitchen where a struggle broke out.

Police said the 37-year-old suspected burglar suff ered a stab wound to his chest and was taken to hospital, where he died at 3.37am. The second suspect, who police say was also armed, escaped after the incident in Hither Green. The homeowner suff ered bruising to his arms but his condition was not thought to be serious.

He was initially arrested on suspicion of grievous bod-ily harm but was rearrested on suspicion of murder and was in custody at a south London po-lice station yesterday.

Scotland Yard said offic-

ers were called to reports of a “burglary in progress” at about 12.45am in Further Green Road. A spokesman said: “The 78-year-old resident had found two males inside his ad-dress. One suspect went up-stairs while the homeowner was forced into the kitchen by the second suspect, armed with a screwdriver. A strug-gle had ensued in the kitchen, during which one of the males sustained a stab wound to the upper body.”

Police said the dead man’s family had been informed al-though he had not been for-

mally identified. Detectives from the Met’s homicide and major crime command were investigating.

Evelyn Henry, who lives in the road, said: “I saw fl ashing lights and lots of commotion in the early hours. It was around the houses opposite me. I’m not sure which of the neighbours were targeted. Police then came round to ask me what I’d seen or whether I had heard an alterca-tion, but I told them I hadn’t. We have had a lot of police activity on the road before and problems with intruders.”

In 2013, the coalition govern-

ment strengthened the law on self-defence to allow house-holders to take tougher action against intruders.

In a landmark case last year the high court ruled that house-holders can use a dispropor-tionate level of force against an intruder in their homes if they reasonably believe it is neces-sary.

Farmer Tony Martin sparked a national debate about house-holders’ rights to protect their property when he was jailed for shooting dead a teenage burglar in 1999 at his isolated Norfolk farm house.

Stop and search will notmake capital safer: AbbottGuardian News and MediaLondon

A return to high levels of stop and search will not solve London’s violent

crime problem, Diane Abbott has said, as policymakers continue to come under pressure after the latest spate of killings in the capital.

The shadow home secretary said random stop and search had poisoned relations between the police and local communi-ties, hampering eff orts to gather intelligence and solve major crimes, while mostly turning up nothing but small amounts of drugs for personal use.

She said a Scottish-style pub-lic health approach, where police worked with schools, hospitals, mental health services and local authorities to reverse Glasgow’s status as the country’s knife crime capital, was needed to get to grips with London’s violent crimewave.

The Metropolitan police

opened their 48th murder in-vestigation on Tuesday night after a 16-year-old boy shot in Walthamstow, east London, died of his injuries in hospital. Their 47th began the night before, when Tanesha Melbourne-Blake, 17, was killed in a drive-by shoot-ing in Tottenham.

Detectives charged a man in relation to their 46th, the stab-bing of Devoy Burton-Stapleton, 20, in Wandsworth on Sunday morning. Billy Botton, 24, who lives locally, was in custody be-fore a hearing at Wimbledon magistrates court.

The mayor of London has handed £15mn in extra funding to the Met to fi ght violent crime. On Tuesday, Sadiq Khan argued that austerity was responsible for the growth in violence, tweeting: “Government cuts have decimat-ed services for young Londoners.”

He has also called for a signifi -cant increase in stop and search, putting him at odds with col-leagues in the Labour party and community campaigners.

Abbott told BBC Radio 4’s To-

day programme that the anger caused by stop and search would be a price worth paying if it was proven to cut violent crime. “But the truth is, when stop and search was at full throttle, the main thing they found were small quantities of drugs,” she said.

“Evidence-based stop and search will always be an important weapon against all types of crime. But random stop and search has poisoned relationships between the police and the community, and in the end we need the co-opera-tion of the community to deal with the issues.”

Responding to a claim that New York-style targeted polic-ing, in which at-risk areas are fl ooded with offi cers, was the an-swer, she said: “The (New York) mayor, Bill de Blasio, actually got rid of what they call stop and frisk altogether, and crime has continued to go down.”

Labour would reverse cuts to offi cer numbers overseen by Conservative and coalition gov-ernments since 2010, Abbott said.

Curry houses boil at plan for EU migrantsLondon Evening StandardLondon

Curry house chiefs who backed Leave in the 2016 European Union vote

said they felt “let down” after it emerged that EU migrants may be granted preferential access to the UK after Brexit.

Downing Street would not deny that ministers are consid-ering a plan for EU citizens to leapfrog workers from elsewhere in sectors where skills are in short supply, as a concession to off er in trade negotiations with the EU.

But it drew bitter condemna-tion from leaders of the £4.3bn curry industry who were lured into backing Vote Leave with promises that Brexit would make it easier to bring in top chefs from south Asia.

Enam Ali, founder of the Brit-ish Curry Awards, said: “On many occasions we recall Boris Johnson and others say it was very important that we could bring in chefs from outside the EU because the market needed

it. But now it seems as if nobody is entertaining the idea.”

Mitu Chowdhury, organis-ing secretary of the Bangladesh Caterers Association, said: “We attended every single campaign meeting with Johnson, Priti Patel and Michael Gove and they said that the British curry industry would be a first prior-ity. We think we have been let down.”

Chowdhury said granting preference to EU workers would “be a disaster” as curry houses could be pushed to the back of the queue for visas.

“Every day one or two more restaurants close down and in most cases it is because they cannot fi nd the skilled staff ,” he said.

Last week Brexit Secretary David Davis, a leading Leave campaigner, refused to rule out preferential treatment for EU citizens after Brexit.

Brexiteers outside the gov-ernment condemned the idea. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “After Brexit, people from around the world should be treated equally.”Diane Abbott: urges adoption of Scotland approach

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall showed off their domestic skills at the start of their whistle-stop Australian tour. Charles and Camilla visited the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane to learn about the work of Juiced TV, which produces programmes made by children. They met Pip Russell, founder of Juiced TV, and Abi Head, a 13-year-old Juiced TV star and Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital patient. They saw a Juiced TV segment being made, and met hospital patients and their families. The royal couple are in Australia for the opening of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Royal couple show off their kitchen skills

‘Digital healthcare revolution’ set to transform NHS systemLondon Evening StandardLondon

Patients are to be given ac-cess to hospital consult-ants within 24 hours under

a “digital healthcare revolution” being pioneered in London.

Paper referral forms used by GPs to book appointments with consultants will be scrapped from October and replaced with online communications — ena-

bling family doctors to receive next-day expert feedback on a patient’s condition.

The new e-referral system will enable GPs to obtain “ad-vice and guidance” from a consultant within 24 hours, to help decide on the next stage of treatment. They will also be able to send photographs — for example, of a mole they fear is cancerous.

Under the NHS constitution, cancer patients must be seen

within two weeks of a GP referral, but there can be a wait of up to 18 weeks for other conditions.

About one in 20 patients seen by a GP has to be referred to hos-pital, resulting in 1.5mn appoint-ments a year in London. It is hoped that by securing early ac-cess to a consultant, care can be speeded up and simplifi ed.

Vin Diwakar, London medical director at NHS England, said: “This is about getting access to the professional you need, using

digital channels much faster than the traditional route.”

Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs fi ve east London hos-pitals, is in the vanguard of the system, which will be introduced London-wide.

Barts Health runs a “virtual e-clinic” for patients with chronic kidney disease that has slashed waiting times for a special-ist opinion from 15 weeks to fi ve days, and ensures that only those who need to see a consultant are

referred to hospital. The trust plans to roll out the system to eight other specialties, including diabetes, paediatrics, renal and dermatology.

Dr Diwakar, a former medi-cal director of Great Ormond Street hospital, said: “I think there is a revolution going on in the whole way we deliver urgent care outside hospitals. It’s much bigger than anything I have seen in my 20-year ca-reer in the NHS.

“Let’s say you go to the GP and you need to see someone like me, a paediatrician, if you have got a (sick) child.

“In the traditional system, the GP would see you, decide they needed another opinion and type a letter to the hospital. It would get to me and we would send you an appointment.

“If we were following the na-tional target, you would get an appointment in eight weeks’ time, and nothing would happen

in that eight weeks. By October, all GP referrals will go through on the e-referral service. A query will come in from a GP saying this is my concern about a patient, what do you think?’

“I might say, ‘Do these blood tests and call me back.’ Or, ‘This patient needs an urgent test, but I will walk down to X-ray and or-ganise it immediately, instead of having them waiting on the wait-ing list.’ I think that is quite a big revolution.”

EUROPE

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 201816

A mother and her adult son were apparently mauled to death by their own dog in a flat in the northern German city of Hanover, police said yesterday. Fire rescue workers captured the Staff ordshire Terrier when they broke into the flat. “Preliminary investigations by a forensic specialist indicate that the 52-year-old and her 27-year-old son were killed by the dog,” said police. The woman’s 25-year-old daughter alerted authorities after she couldn’t contact either of her two family members. She spotted a lifeless body through the window of the flat. “It currently remains unclear how the accident could come about,” said investigators.

A Turkish court yesterday sentenced 65 people to life sentences in two separate cases related to incidents during the night of a failed military coup in July 2016, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. They were charged with “violating and attempting to overthrow the constitution.” Seventy-seven defendants were acquitted of all charges, the report added. The cases focused on a blockade of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over the Bosphorus and incidents at a key military post in Istanbul. More than 50,000 people are under arrest in connection with the coup, and some 150,000 people have been purged from the civil service and military.

An organised crime boss in southern France was cleared yesterday of having a role in the “heist of the century” at a Riviera bank after being accused of writing about the robbery in a book. Jacques Cassandri, a well-known figure in the Marseille underworld, was cleared on a charge of laundering the proceeds of the 1976 theft at a Societe Generale bank branch in the southern city of Nice. The crime saw a gang of robbers tunnel through sewers to snatch the equivalent of 29mn euros ($35.7mn) from a bank vault, but it remained a mystery until Cassandri appeared to write about it in a 2010 book using the pen name D’Amigo.

The German military yesterday put a short-range air defence unit with about 450 soldiers under Dutch command, further deepening ties between the two Nato allies. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen lauded the unique nature of the closer bilateral co-operation, which began in 1995 with the creation of a multinational formation that takes part in Nato readiness rotations. “We share common values and interests, believe in our European future, and are strong partners in the trans-Atlantic alliance,” von der Leyen said during a ceremony marking the latest tie-up between the two countries’ militaries.

A man in northern Italy who considered himself to have been a victim of a wrongful conviction killed two people and then took his own life yesterday. Cosimo Balsamo, 62, killed Elio Pellizzari, 78, and James Nolli, 61, during a shooting rampage in the province of Brescia, the ANSA news agency said. He shot his first victim in a warehouse, where he also injured another man, then drove off with a stolen car to commit the second murder, before killing himself in a third location, a supermarket car park. Witness Giampietro Strada, whose uncle was injured by Balsamo, told local paper Giornale Di Brescia that the killer was armed with a shotgun, four pistols and several cartridges.

Woman, son mauled to death by own pet dog

Turkey jails 65 for life over 2016 failed coup

French gangster cleared over ‘heist of the century’

German air defence unit put under Dutch control

Ex-convict kills 2 people, himself in northern Italy

CAUSE UNKNOWN CONVICTEDACQUITTED CLOSE TIES RAMPAGE

Student protests add to Macron rail strike woesBy Katy Lee, AFPParis

Growing protests at French universities yesterday added to pressure on President Em-

manuel Macron over his sweeping re-form agenda, as rail workers pressed on with rolling strikes that are causing havoc for millions of travellers.

Train drivers and other railway staff waged a second day of strikes set to continue two days out of every fi ve until June 28, unless Macron backs down on his plans to overhaul the heavily-indebted state rail operator SNCF.

In the meantime, students at two universities in Paris and Lyon blocked campuses in anger at Macron’s plans to make university entry more se-lective, joining a slew of nationwide sit-ins that have disrupted classes for weeks.

French unions and left-wingers have consistently called for students and workers to come together to resist Macron in a re-run 50 years later of the famed May 1968 anti-government demonstrations which saw them join forces.

“I’m working for a May 2018,” radi-cal leftist and former presidential candidate Olivier Besancenot told France Inter radio.

Macron, a 40-year-old ex-invest-ment banker, has vowed to reshape France with far-reaching reforms de-signed to increase economic growth and cut mounting public debt.

After storming to power last May at the head of a new centrist party, he in-sists he has a mandate for change.

He managed to push through con-troversial labour reforms in October, but a series of protests against his various shake-ups have drawn tens of thousands onto the streets.

On Tuesday, Air France staff , gar-bage collectors and some energy workers staged separate walkouts along with train drivers, adding to a growing atmosphere of industrial dis-content.

“This is the start of a social power struggle almost unknown in France,” fi rebrand leftist leader Jean-Luc Me-lenchon told a rail workers’ protest in Paris.

Only one in seven high-speed trains and a fi fth of regional trains were run-ning yesterday, with a third of Euros-tar crossings to London called off —

similar to the level of cancellations a day earlier.

And the SNCF warned the walkouts would continue to have knock-on ef-fects today for France’s 4.5mn daily rail users as staff struggle to get re-gional services running again as nor-mal.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has told travellers to brace for “diffi -cult days ahead”.

But he insisted the government will press on with reforms which it says are needed to make the SNCF cheaper to operate as EU countries prepare to open

passenger rail to competition by 2020.SNCF management said only a

29.7% of staff were taking part in the strike yesterday compared to 33.9% a day earlier, but unions have given much higher fi gures of 60% or more on the fi rst day.

Unions oppose plans to strip new hires of guaranteed jobs for life and early retirement, and fear a looming restructuring of the SNCF as a public-ly-owned company could ultimately see it privatised — something minis-ters deny.

The battle of wills between Macron

and rail unions has already earned comparisons with late British premier Margaret Thatcher’s standoff with coal miners in the 1980s.

Students are protesting against planned changes to entrance proce-dures at public universities that will see them set stricter requirements to tackle massive overcrowding and high dropout rates.

Students at universities from Paris to Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes have been shutting down or severely disrupting classes for weeks arguing the changes are an elitist attack on France’s egalitarian principles.

Protesters at a second Paris-ian faculty, the Lettres de Sorbonne-Universite, yesterday blocked the campus, following students at the Lumiere Lyon 2 university in eastern France who joined the fray on Tuesday evening.

“The objective is that only knowl-edge compatible with the dominant ideology — compatible with a mar-ket economy — will get taught,” read a statement from the Lyon students, who have occupied the main lecture hall.

In the Paris region, the second day of train strikes prompted more morn-ing gridlock as commuters took to the roads instead, with traffi c website Sytadin reporting 350km of tailbacks — double the usual amount.

Commuters have been forced to set off hours early, work from home or fi nd other solutions such as carpools due to disruption that is set to cause months of problems for French busi-nesses.

At Lille station in northeastern France, 56-year-old Marc Cornille was worried the disruption could cost him his temporary job contract.

“I understand their demands, just not the way they’re going about it,” he said of the rail workers.

Striking workers look on as representatives speak at Lille Flandres Station in Lille on the second day of a strike by railway workers.

Hungarians weigh migration option as election nearsBy Krisztina Than, Reuters Budapest

Sitting in a student cafe in Budapest, Laura Balazs says she will think care-fully before voting in a national elec-

tion on Sunday as, for her and many other in her age group, the outcome may determine if she stays in Hungary or moves abroad.

She already knows she will not vote for the likely winner, Prime Minister Viktor Or-ban, whose campaign for a third consecutive term has been underpinned by a strong anti-migration message — in his case preventing certain categories of foreigner from moving in.

Aged 20, Balazs is studying fi lm and me-dia science at Budapest’s Eotvos University (ELTE), the country’s oldest and also Orban’s alma mater, but has ambitions to acquire a master’s degree abroad.

ELTE was a hotbed of activism at the end of the 1980s, and many of its current stu-dents also hold fi rm political views.

Balazs is still undecided between the So-cialists and the leftist LMP party.

“(But) I won’t vote for the governing par-ties as...they don’t give enough freedom and even suffi cient room for thinking any more, and I cannot see my future in this kind of en-vironment,” she said.

Orban established his ruling Fidesz party after graduating from ELTE in 1987, starting out as a liberal before over the past eight years using a strong political mandate to engineer a shift towards anti-Muslim sentiment and a broader nationalism that critics argue has frayed Hungary’s democratic fabric.

“I am not satisfi ed with the direction the education system is going right now, and also this nationalist feeling they express now,” said another ELTE alumnus, Eszter Jakab, who is studying Southeast Asian art history and considering continuing her studies in the Netherlands.

Speaking yesterday at Budapest’s Na-tional Public Service University, Orban said the election would decide if Hungary was fl ooded with immigrants, and that students were “important bastions” of the country’s future.

But according to a survey published last month by liberal think tank Republikon In-stitute, Hungarians’ wish to emigrate is highest among those aged 18 to 24, of whom 40% say they or someone in their family plan to move abroad.

Much of that is down to economic factors. “They mostly want to emigrate due to fi nan-cial reasons,” said Republikon analyst Andrea Virag.

That chimes in with a 2016 poll by the Uj Nemzedek (New Generation) institute show-ing 33% of Hungarians aged 15 to 29 planned to work or study abroad, most with the aim of making a better living.

Wages have risen substantially in Hungary during Orban’s current term.

But they still lag those in the West, as a group of young beer drinkers in a pub in the northeastern town of Miskolc — an industri-al heartland during the Communist era — are keenly aware.

“I think I will work abroad for about fi ve years after graduating and then perhaps come back,” said Zsolt Beliczky, 21, an engi-neering student at the local university.

“Of course (I would go) because of the...higher salary and better conditions for living.”

He wants to see a change of government but has also not yet decided who to vote for.

Sitting nearby, Mark Schon — who de-clined to say how he would vote — said his job with German auto supplier Bosch off ered him good opportunities inside Hungary.

“I am not considering moving abroad but I don’t say no to possibilities,” he said.

“I would be happiest if industry and Hun-garian companies got support (from the state) as thereby the profi ts that Hungarian workers generate...would stay in the country.”

Rocket tests force partial closing of Baltic SeaReutersRiga

Russia yesterday began testing mis-siles with live munitions in the Bal-tic Sea, alarming Latvia, a member

of Nato, which says the drills have forced it to partly shut down Baltic commercial airspace.

The Russian defence ministry said on Monday that its Baltic Fleet, based in its European exclave of Kaliningrad, was preparing for routine training in the Bal-tic Sea, including live fi re drills to practice hitting air and sea targets.

“It is a demonstration of force,” Latvia’s Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis told Reuters.

“It is hard to comprehend that it can happen so close to (our) country,” he said.

The tests are being carried out in Latvia’s exclusive economic zone, offi -cials said, an area of the sea just beyond Latvia’s territorial waters where Latvia has special economic rights, as well as further west in the Baltic Sea.

Riga has closed some of its airspace for the three days of tests, and Sweden also issued a warning to civilian sea traffi c and said there could be delays and disruption to civilian air traffi c.

The Swedish Transport Agency as-signed a so-called temporary D-zone, or danger area, to the southern Baltic Sea, re-routing air and sea traffi c.

The missile tests and military drills follow Russia’s massive war games last September, which stretched from the Baltics to the Black Sea.

The exercises unnerved the West be-cause of their scale, scope and what Nato said was a lack of transparency.

At a time of high East-West tensions, Nato offi cials worry that any accident involving military weapons and a civilian ship or plane could spark a wider confl ict.

Moscow accuses Nato of stirring up anti-Russian propaganda.

Latvia said Russian drills have never taken place so near its territory. Russia says it is testing its forces after the winter.

A young rhinoceros bull runs next to his mother at their outdoor enclosure in the zoo in Leipzig.

Baby’s day out!

Police up security in Catalonia as protests loomAFPBarcelona

Police yesterday upped secu-rity in front of government buildings in Catalonia and

provided special protection for several political leaders, judges and

prosecutors as further pro-inde-pendence protests loom, authori-ties said.

Separatist activists have in the past weeks taken advantage of the void left by a renewed crackdown on the restive region’s independ-ence movement to step up their protests by blocking roads and

clashing with police, raising fears of radicalisation.

“From today, we are imple-menting a new plan to guarantee security and public order with regards to the various scenarios that could take place in Catalo-nia,” a spokeswoman for the Mos-sos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s police

force, told AFP, without giving further details.

Enric Millo, the central govern-ment’s representative in Catalonia, added that “security measures have been increased for people and pub-lic equipment that have been tar-geted by protests, graffi ti or assaults recently”.

INDIA17

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 2018

Court to deliver verdictin black buck case today

It’s up to CBSE to decideon re-exam, says court

Parliamentstalematecontinues

AgenciesJaipur

A court in Jodhpur, Rajas-than will deliver its ver-dict today in the 1998

black buck poaching case, in which Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Ben-dre, Tabu and Neelam are ac-cused.

All the accused arrived in Jodhpur yesterday ahead of the court hearing.

Salman Khan, 52, boarded a chartered plane from the Mum-bai, after landing from Abu

Dhabi, where he was shooting for Race 3, people close to the actor said.

The stars were accused of poaching black bucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur on October 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain movie.

They were accused of killing two black bucks, an endangered species protected under Sched-ule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Act. The punishment for hunting black buck can be up to six years in jail.

The fi nal arguments in the case were completed in a Jodh-pur rural court on March 28.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved the judgment which will be deliv-ered today.

“All of them were in a Gypsy car that night, with Salman Khan in the driving seat. He, on spot-ting a herd of black bucks, shot at and killed two of them,” Public Prosecutor Bhawani Singh Bhati had said.

“But on being spotted and chased, they fl ed leaving the dead animals there,” he said, adding that there was adequate evidence against them.

Refuting the allegations, Sal-man Khan’s lawyer H M Saras-

wat said there were several loop-holes in the prosecution’s story and it had failed to prove its case beyond any doubt.

“The prosecution has failed to prove the allegations. It engaged in tampering and fabricating ev-idence and documents as well as roping in fake witnesses to prove its case,” he said.

“It even failed to prove that the black bucks were killed by gunshots. Hence, such an inves-tigation cannot be trusted,” Sar-aswat said.

The case also involved two others, Dushyant Singh, who was allegedly accompanying the

actors when the poaching took place, and Dinesh Gawre, said to be Salman Khan’s assistant.

“Gawre never appeared in court and was made to disap-pear by the main accused. Had he been around, there could have been more information available in the case,” Bhati claimed.

Meanwhile, a video clipping of Saif Ali Khan getting an-noyed over media questions and threatening his driver has since gone viral on social media.

Khan allegedly told the driver: “Close windowpane, put car in reverse or else you will get slapped.”

AgenciesNew Delhi

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is the latest celebrity whose wax fi g-

ure was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in New Delhi yes-terday.

Khan’s detailed fi gure has been created in his classic ro-mantic pose with his arms wide open. The wax fi gure sports a blue sherwani.

“Given Shah Rukh’s im-mense popularity and stature, the fi gure called for a special unveiling. We will introduce more such additions in the future. Keep visiting us,” said Anshul Jain, general manager and director of Merlin Enter-tainments India Pvt Ltd.

The fi gure was earlier taken on a tour around parts of cen-tral and old Delhi for the fans.

“The king of romance, the

Baadshah of Bollywood makes an entry to Tussauds Delhi,” read a tweet posted from Mad-ame Tussauds’ Twitter ac-count.

“Always a pleasure to be in Delhi. Thank you,” replied Khan to one of the tweets of Madame Tussauds.

Delhi is the superstar’s hometown.

This is the second wax statue of Khan, 52, to be dis-played. He has another wax statue at Madame Tussauds London, which was unveiled in 2007.

Madame Tussauds Delhi is located in Connaught Place. It also has wax fi gures of promi-nent personalities like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ac-tors Amitabh Bachchan and Madhubala, cricket stars Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev and singers Asha Bhosle, Lady Gaga and Angelina Jolie among others.

SRK’s wax fi gure unveiled in Delhi

IANSNew Delhi

The Supreme Court yes-terday dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging

the Central Board of Secondary Education’s decisions over the leaked economics and maths question papers of Class 12 and 10.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said it was the “discretion of the CBSE to conduct the re-examination and the court will not interfere”.

The bench asked students who had challenged the CBSE’s decision to appear in the exami-nations if held.

On Tuesday, the CBSE said there would be no re-examina-tion of Class 10 maths paper as “internal inquiries and analysis” revealed that the leak “may be

confi ned to a few alleged benefi -ciaries”.

The government on March 30 announced the re-examination would be held for Class 12 eco-nomics paper throughout the country on April 25 while a fresh test for Class 10 maths paper would be held only in Delhi and Haryana, if needed, in July.

Besides challenging the CB-SE’s decision, the students also wanted a Central Bureau of In-vestigation probe into the al-leged leak of question papers, saying several incidents were reported from various states and the Delhi police were not com-petent to hold the nation-wide probe.

Meanwhile, the Human Re-source Development (HRD) Ministry has set up a seven-member committee to examine the CBSE’s examination process.

The committee headed by

former HRD secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi will examine the conduct of Class 10 and Class 12 examina-tions by the board in order to pre-vent leak of question papers and revisit all aspects related to secu-rity checks built into the system to ensure question papers reach ex-aminees without tampering, the ministry said in a statement.

It will also suggest measures to make the examination process “secure and foolproof through the use of technology”. The panel will submit a report by May 31 to the ministry.

The committee will examine and assess potential weakness in the present system of transport-ing question papers from the printing presses till they reach the examination halls.

It will suggest ways for more secure system through technol-ogy use and minimal human in-tervention.

IANSNew Delhi

Parliament remained deadlocked yesterday for the 20th consecu-

tive day as the Telugu Desam Party, the All India Anna Drav-ida Munnetra Kazhagam, Con-gress and other parties stuck to their various demands.

This is the last week of the budget session that began on January 29 and went into a re-cess on February 9. The session resumed on March 5 and will conclude tomorrow.

The session has witnessed very little business due to con-tinuous disruption over vari-ous demands by opposition and other parties.

The Lok Sabha was ad-journed for the day following noisy protests by AIADMK members demanding a Cau-very Management Board while the Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for a record 11 times due to noisy protests.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Deputy Chairman P J Kurien tried their best to conduct the business to get the Prevention of Corrup-tion (Amendment) Bill 2013 passed but failed as the op-position parties stuck to their demands.

The upper house saw an unusual 11 adjournments of which 10 came in the second half between 2pm and 5.13pm as the AIADMK, the TDP, the YSR Congress and other op-position members continued with their agitation.

As the Rajya Sabha met at 2pm, the government moved the Prevention of Corrup-tion (Amendment) Bill 2013. Kurien, who was in the chair, sought a voice vote on the bill on which the treasury benches shouted “aye”. However, the agitating members continued with the slogan shouting.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad blamed the govern-ment for the disruptions and said the government was run-ning away from discussion on various issues including the

demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh, Cauvery wa-ter distribution between Kar-nataka and Tamil Nadu, exam paper leak and banking fraud.

“An impression is being cre-ated outside that the opposi-tion parties are not allowing the House to function. But it is the ruling party which is run-ning away from the discussion. The entire opposition is for the passage of the pending bills. We also want these bills passed but we are also mandated to raise the issues concerning millions of people.

“I am sorry to say but it is the treasury benches which are not allowing the House to function. See who is disrupt-ing the proceedings. Let the country see,” he said, amid noisy scenes created by the treasury benches.

As Azad was speaking, TDP and AIADMK members rushed towards the chairman’s po-dium shouting slogans and holding placards. As the din continued Kurien adjourned the House for half-an-hour.

As soon as the House reas-sembled at 2.43pm, another adjournment till 3.15pm was announced. At 3.15pm, it was again adjourned for 15 minutes.

At 3.30pm, as the House was reconvened, Kurien appealed to the members to pass the bill which he said was “in national interest”.

“Many government pro-grammes would stall if the bill is not passed. Let’s discuss the bill,” he said.

Azad said the government was “more interested in its bill than the interests of the peo-ple belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes”.

As members again trooped near the chair’s podium, Kurein adjourned the House for 15 minutes. The House was then successively adjourned at 3.55pm, 4.10pm, 4.30pm, 4.45pm and 4.55pm before be-ing adjourned for the day at 5.13pm.

In the morning the House was adjourned 20 minutes af-ter it met amid noisy protest by non-treasury members.

Bollywood actor Salman Khan arrives at the Jodhpur airport yesterday ahead of a verdict in the long-running black buck poaching case.

MP govt gives ministerial status to fi ve religious leadersAgenciesBhopal

The Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment yesterday gave fi ve Hindu religious lead-

ers the status of minister of state, a move the opposition Congress said has “appeasement politics” written all over it in an election year.

However, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan defend-ed the decision saying the state government was attempting to

bring diff erent sections of the society to work for the people.

“We want every section of the society to work towards devel-opment and welfare of people and that is why we have attempt-ed to bring together each section of the society,” the Chouhan told reporters.

Computer Baba, Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, Narmadanandji, Hari-haranandji and Pandit Yogendra Mahant were given the minister of state status. All the fi ve religious leaders were earlier appointed to a committee set up to create aware-

ness about tree plantation, wa-ter conservation and cleanliness along the Narmada.

Computer Baba, whose real name is Swami Namdev Tyagi, and Yogendra Mahant who were supposed to lead a march to ex-pose an alleged scam in planting saplings on the banks of the Nar-mada river and demand a ban on illegal sand mining, yesterday junked the protest.

The campaign was cancelled as the state government has ful-fi lled their demand to set up a panel for the river conservation,

Computer Baba said, adding: “Now why would we take out the yatra?”

He also thanked the govern-ment “for showing trust in sad-hu community” and added that they would now work in tandem with the government.

In trademark saff ron robes and dabs of sandalwood on his forehead, Computer Baba re-acted to the controversy over his ministerial status. “What’s wrong with it? We were reward-ed for our work,” he said.

The opposition Congress

called it a gimmick by the Chou-han government to score politi-cal points and exploit the respect these religious leaders enjoy in the society.

Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Raj Babbar said: “They want to use these saff ron-robed babas to win elections. They should learn from what happened when they made a saff ron-robed priest the chief minister in Uttar Pradesh.”

“This shows weakness of Chouhan (ahead of the polls)… He thinks they can win election, which seems impossible now,

relying on the saff ron-clad reli-gious leaders,”

He also hit out at the saints, asking them to relinquish their roles as monks and hermits and instead get back to household activities.

State Congress leader Pankaj Chaturvedi quipped, “This is also an eff ort by the chief minister to wash off his sins. He ignored the conservation of the Narmada.”

However, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, accused the Con-gress of disliking anything re-lated to saints.

“Indian culture has always re-spected saints. The status has not been given to cons and thugs but to saints. I applaud the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and condemn the Congress for oppos-ing it,” BJP leader Uma Bharti said.

“Saints and seers were ac-corded the MoS status to make their work of environment and river conservation easy. The saints were roped in for the Nar-mada conservation work to en-sure public participation,” Mad-hya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said.

A visitor takes a selfie with a waxwork of Shah Rukh Khan after it was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in Delhi yesterday.

Regularise contractual workers: Kejriwal

Actor Jayasurya’s privateboat jetty demolished

IPS off icer sacked formaking baseless charges

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tabled a report card in the assembly yesterday on Lt Governor Anil Baijal’s performance, highlighting major delays by him in the approval of government schemes. As per rules, all projects passed by the Delhi cabinet have to be approved by the Lt Governor before they can be implemented. The report card shows delays of major project proposals sent to Lt Governor for approval. According to it, the highest delay was for ‘Higher Education Loan Guarantee Scheme for Students’ – 402 days – while the lowest was for ‘Doorstep Delivery of Services’, which was delayed only by 21 days. “This seems to reflect that the queries and clarifications (by Baijal) are merely a means to delay, derail or scuttle policies of elected government,” the report said.

The Supreme Court yesterday said it would hear in the first week of July the final hearing in a public suit that sought to bar candidates from simultaneously contesting from two constituencies. Earlier, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court he needed time to file his response. By its December 11, 2017, order, the court had asked petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to serve a petition copy on the Attorney General so that the court can get his assistance. Upadhyay is Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit spokesman. The court yesterday took on record the Election Commission’s aff idavit filed in December 2017 that a candidate should not contest from two constituencies. Upadhyay has challenged Section 33(7) of the Representation of the People Act that allows a person to simultaneously contest elections from two constituencies.

Sisodia releases report card on LG’s performance

SC to hear plea for bar oncontesting from two seats

POLITICSELECTION

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday asked Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain to ask local bodies to regularise the services of all contractual sanitation workers. Later, the assembly passed a resolution on this by a voice vote. Kejriwal said five sanitation workers of local bodies had been staging an indefinite hunger strike for the past 16 days and that he had urged them to break their fast. The three municipal corporations of Delhi are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kejriwal asked BJP legislator Vijender Gupta whether they would regularise the services of sanitation workers. The chief minister said that in Gujarat and Haryana, which are BJP-ruled states, all workers were contractual. “If we get Services (Department) today, we will show how to make workers permanent,” he said.

EMPLOYMENT ENCROACHMENT PUNISHMENT

The federal Home Ministry has sacked Indu Kumar Bhushan from the Indian Police Service (IPS) for making repeated allegations of corruption against senior colleagues. An off icer of the 1989 batch of IPS, Bhushan was accused of talking to the media accusing his colleagues of amassing wealth through illegal means. He has also been accused of making controversial statements and indulging in “irresponsible behaviour” at public gatherings. He allegedly used foul language against his seniors at a meeting called by the director general of police. This is first time in Rajasthan that an IPS off icer has been compulsorily retired with the backing of the federal Home Ministry. The order was issued by the Ministry of Personnel and Training after making the performance evaluation of IPS off icers of Rajasthan in November 2017.

Popular Malayalam actor Jayasurya’s illegal construction near a lake was demolished by the Cochin Corporation yesterday. The actor lives near the Chilavanoor lake in Kochi. Sometime ago, he had built a private boat jetty linking it to his home. Last year, a man filed a petition against the encroachment and the authorities issued a notice to the actor asking him to demolish the jetty. Jayasuriya filed an appeal with the local self-government, but they also asked him to demolish the boat jetty. Jayasurya, 39, began his career as a mimicry artiste and made his debut in the film Pathram in 1999. He has since acted in over 100 films besides producing six, including Aadu 2, one of 2017’s biggest box office success.

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 2018

INDIA18

PM hits out atCongress forpolitics overDalit issueAgenciesNew Delhi

Amid simmering Dalit an-ger across the country over a Supreme Court ruling,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday slammed the Congress for playing politics in B R Ambed-kar’s name and said no other gov-ernment had honoured the Dalit icon like his administration.

Modi said his government gave Ambedkar, one of the main au-thors of India’s Constitution, his rightful place and completed projects in his memory that were ignored by the previous govern-ment.

The prime minister said the 26, Alipur Road house where Ambed-kar died would be dedicated to the nation as Ambedkar National Memorial a day before his birth anniversary on April 14.

Speaking at an event to mark the inauguration of Western Court Annexe meant to house MPs in Parliament Complex, Modi said it was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that de-cided to dedicate two memorials to Ambedkar at two places in the capital.

Without naming the Con-gress-led government, Modi said it could not happen as the gov-ernments that followed Vajpayee showed little interest, ignored Ambedkar and his contributions and delayed the project for years.

“After that, the governments ran like that... Everybody is al-ways ready to do politics in the name of Babasahib. But nobody gave him the kind of respect and

paid tributes to him as much as this government did,” Modi said.

He said his Bharatiya Janata Party government was walking the path shown by Ambedkar and asked every political group to try and do the same for the country’s development.

“At the core of Ambedkar’s ide-als is harmony and togetherness. Working for the poorest of the poor is our mission.”

The remarks came days after at least 10 people were killed in widespread violence during pro-tests by Dalit groups across the country against a Supreme Court ruling that they said diluted pro-visions of a law aimed at prevent-ing atrocities against Dalits and tribes.

The rising public anger against the Supreme Court ruling forced the government to fi le a petition, seeking a review of the order. The top court on Tuesday refused to stay its March 20 decision but said it would hear the petition in 10 days.

The government had come un-der sharp attack of the opposition with Congress president Rahul Gandhi saying that being anti-Dalit was in the DNA of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Modi and said the prime minister was “not uttering a word” on the alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals in the country.

In Jaipur meanwhile, Con-gress’ Rajasthan unit chief Sachin Pilot blamed the Vasund-hara Raje-led BJP government in the state for the deteriorating law and order situation, courtesy

the divide and rule policy it had adopted.

Terming the incidents of loot and arson reported in the state during Dalit protests on Mon-day as “unfortunate”, Pilot said the state government has totally failed on all fronts in dealing with the situation.

In a press statement, Pilot said that the onus of the deteriorating law and order situation goes to the BJP government which failed to predict the intensity of the pro-tests and hence couldn’t stop the violence and arson on streets.

“Today, the situation has worsened to the extent that Dalit leaders’ houses have also been torched,” he added.

Pilot also expressed his sur-prise at the statement issued by the BJP blaming the Congress for the situation in the state, and said the state’s people will give a “be-fi tting reply to the insensitive-ness and apathy” of the ruling BJP by electing the Congress in the forthcoming elections.

Hundreds of security forces en-forced a curfew in Karauli district of the state a day after a mob set fi re to the homes of two political fi gures from the Dalit community.

Some 5,000 people angered by the Dalit protests torched the houses on Tuesday of a state leg-islator and former lawmaker.

Neither was at home at the time, the district’s top adminis-trative offi cial said.

“We have made some arrests following the arson and violence. A curfew is in place and we have also deployed 600-700 extra se-curity personnel,” said Abhiman-yu Kumar.

IANSChennai

Tamil Nadu was hit by pro-tests for a fourth day yes-terday over the central

government’s failure to set up a Cauvery Management Board (CMB), with demonstrators blocking rail lines and roads, wit-nesses and offi cials said.

In Chennai, activists of the op-position Dravida Munnetra Ka-zhagam attempted lay siege to Chennai Metro Rail at Koyambedu but were taken into custody. Other protesters tried to block suburban trains in Perambur.

Demonstrators also squat-ted on a highway linking Chen-nai and Chengalpattu shouting slogans against the central and Tamil Nadu governments, se-verely paralysing traffi c.

The DMK and its allies have called a state-wide shutdown to-day. They have also threatened to show black fl ags to Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi when he visits Tamil Nadu.

At Basin Bridge near here, members of the Communist Party of India blocked subur-ban trains. Similar protests took place in Madurai, Tirunelvelli and Thanjavur.

DMK legislator J Anbazhagan launched a hunger strike over the Cauvery issue.

Meanwhile, DMK leader M K Stalin told reporters that lead-ers of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were pretending to be asleep and so it was not possible to wake them up.

Stalin said an all-party meet-ing would be convened today to decide on who would march from Cauvery Delta region to Raj Bha-van here.

Meanwhile, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, presi-dent of the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party, accused the central government of delay-ing setting up a CMB in order to appease Karnataka, which is op-posed to the board and where as-sembly elections are due.

The Supreme Court on Feb-

ruary 16 reduced Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water from 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), which was less than the 192 TMC allocated by a tri-bunal in 2007. Karnataka’s share of water was increased by 14.75 TMC.

The central government failed to set up the CMB within six weeks of the Supreme Court’s February 16 order. The deadline ended on March 29.

In a related development, M Prabhu, a 38-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, committed suicide over the Cauvery waters, police said.

Prabhu, a resident of Annad-hanapatti near Salem, drank rat poison on March 31. “He is said to be a DMK sympathiser,” a police offi cial in Salem said.

According to him, DMK mem-bers visited Prabhu’s home.

R Rajendran, a DMK legislator, said in Salem: “Prabhu is a DMK sympathiser. He has written a suicide note thanking Stalin for convening an all-party meeting over Cauvery.

TN opposition parties stageprotests over Cauvery issue

Monsoon likely to be normal this year, saysforecasterIANSNew Delhi

Monsoon in India is likely to be normal with no chances of drought this

year, private forecaster Skymet said yesterday, bringing relief to the country.

The forecaster said there were 5% chances of excess rainfall that is more than 110% of long-period average (LPA).

The average, or normal, rainfall in the country is defi ned between 96 and 104% of a 50-year average for the entire four-month mon-soon season. If it is normal, the country will record 887mm for the four-month period from June to September.

“The onset month of June and the withdrawal month of Sep-tember give a promising picture in terms of good countrywide rainfall distribution,” Skymet said in its report.

The offi cial forecaster, the In-dia Meteorological Department, is expected to come up with its monsoon predictions later this month.

In its forecast bulletin, Sky-met drew up three more scenar-ios likely for the season – rang-ing from below normal to excess rainfall with an error margin of plus-minus 5%. There are 20% chances of above normal which is between 105 to 110% of LPA.

Chances of normal, which is seasonal rainfall between 96 to 104% of LPA, are 55%. Below normal rainfall, which is between 90 to 95% of LPA, are 20%.

There is “0% chance of drought or seasonal rainfall that is less than 90% of LPA”, the fore-caster said.

Normal rainfall in the country is critical for rice, cane, corn, cot-ton and soybean cultivation.

However, the agency said key monsoon months of July (97%) and August (96%) would see “below normal” rains. The two months, which bring in half the monsoon rains, are critical for a good crop harvest.

Man held for morphingphotos of wedding guests

Ashraf PadannaThiruvananthapuram

Police in Kerala have de-tained a man suspected to have morphed pictures of

wedding guests and making porn videos.

The suspect’s computer con-tained thousands of pictures tak-en at weddings by photographers of a studio in the municipal town of Vadakara in Kozhikode district.

Police said they received some ten complaints from women whom the suspect identifi ed as Bibeesh allegedly blackmailed using the photos.

Local media reports said the

scandal came to light after a man alerted his friend about her morphed image being circulated on social media.

“We have arrested him, and he is being questioned,” Vadakara deputy superintendent of police T P Premraj said.

The police had earlier arrested the owners of the studio where Bibeesh worked as an editor.

He was on the run since then. Local reports said he had con-fessed to morphing fi ve images. The police picked him up from his hideout in Idukki, some 300km away from Vadakara.

Scores of the women had earli-er this week staged a march in the town demanding his arrest.

They alleged ruling politicians were trying to save him as he had close links with them.

They were planning to stage a protest outside the local police station yesterday, which they cancelled following his detention.

The police are verifying if he had stored morphed photo-graphs anywhere else and if he had shared any of them on social media.

Communist Party of India activists block a train as they protest over the Cauvery issue in Chennai yesterday.

Congress Party activists gather during a demonstration in New Delhi yesterday against a Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Bibeesh: arrested

PAKISTAN19

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 2018

Govt won’t challenge Sharif disqualifi cation verdictThe Pakistan’s federal gov-

ernment has decided not to contest the Supreme

Court’s judgment on The Elec-tions Act, which disqualifi ed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from being head of the Pakistan Muslim League - Na-waz (PML-N).

The federal government on March 22 fi led a review petition through Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana, request-ing the SC to set aside its Febru-ary 21 judgment.

However, it was returned due to incomplete legal require-ments on the same day. How-ever, the SC registrar had given the federal government two weeks to fi le a modifi ed review petition.

Sources said that the attor-ney general for Pakistan’s (AGP) offi ce has given its legal advice to the federal government and

suggested that a review petition not be fi led as the government is not an aggrieved party.

“The AGP offi ce advised that as the SC did not strike down certain provisions of the Elec-tion Act, the federal govern-ment lacks locus standi to fi le a review petition,” they added.

The government is expected to accept the advice and not challenge the SC’s verdict. The PML-N never fi led a review petition against the verdict, meaning that the judgment on the disqualifi cation of Sharif is essentially fi nal.

A senior PML-N lawyer in-formed that though the party’s counsel Salman Akram Raja ad-vised challenging the SC’s judg-ment, one section of the ruling party has shown complete mis-trust in the bench which heard pe-titions against The Elections Act.

“The superior judiciary should itself consider why a major political force (PML-N) lacks trust in the top court,” he further stated.

The PML-N lawyer believes that at this time, it is unlikely that the PML-N will get relief in any matter.

However, he said, this is a clas-sic case for review as the SC de-viated from its own principles set in Benazir Bhutto’s case in 1988. The lawyer also raised questions over the SC’s detailed judgment in the case, wherein it gave a nexus between Islamic morality

and political party head.Pakistan People’s Party (PPP),

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and others had approached the Supreme Court to seek the dis-qualifi cation of Sharif as party chief after the Panama verdict of July 28, 2017, wherein he was declared ineligible to hold pub-lic offi ce under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution.

The court started hearing the

Elections Act case on January 1. Farogh Nasim, Sardar Latif

Khosa, Babar Awan and others argued on behalf of the peti-tioners, while Salman Akram Raja contested the case for the PML-N.

Additional Attorney Gen-eral Rana also argued the case. Though Sharif was also party to the case, he did not engage any counsel to represent him in the matter.

The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, held that morality is part and parcel of the Islamic ideology of Pakistan and is in-cluded in the expression, “in-tegrity of Pakistan”

Once again, the Judicial Commission’s (JC) meeting to consider the elevation of Sindh High Court Justice Muneeb Akhtar has been extended from April 9 to April 16, sources re-vealed. This is the second time the commission meeting has been extended. It was initially fi xed for April 5.

One seat in the apex court fell vacant after the retirement of Justice Dost Muhammad Khan earlier this week. If Justice Akhtar is elevated to the apex court, he will be in line to be-come the chief justice after the retirement of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah in 2027. Justice Akhtar is fourth on the seniority list of Sindh High Court (SHC) judges.

The sources said that accord-ing to the agenda of the JC meet-ing, shared with the concerned members, it was mentioned that before initiating the name of Justice Akhtar, Chief Justice Nisar had contacted three sen-ior SHC judges, namely Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.

“According to the agenda of the meeting, the three judges expressed a desire to continue work at the SHC. After consul-tation with these judges, the CJ has recommended the name of Justice Akhtar for elevation,” the sources added.

InternewsIslamabad

Nawaz Sharif

1,286 objections on delimitationsThe Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has so far received 1,286 objections on delimitation of the constituencies throughout the country. According to ECP, out of total objections, 706 objections were received from Punjab 284 from Sindh, 104 from Balochistan and 192 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The commission was to start hearing on objections on delimitation of constituencies-2018 from yesterday. It said that the ECP has continued receiving objections on delimitation from across the country including from Islamabad, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The process of accepting objections on delimitation from citizens throughout the country will continue up to April 24.The ECP has established a facilitation centre for submission of objections and facilitating the people regarding the initial delimitation of national and provincial assemblies.Five teams have been constituted to receive the objections pertaining to all four provinces, federation and Fata in the off ice hours, it added.The commission has also launched the details of objections on proposed delimitation of the constituencies 2018 along with proposed maps by the petitioners on its website for public convenience and transparency.

Taxpayers increase by over 45,000 in Punjab

Punjab province’s Fi-nance Minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha has said

that the number of taxpayers has increased in the province with an estimated 45,000 to 46,000 more people con-tributing their share of taxes, which is a positive step for-ward to meet the revenue goals.

“The number of taxpayers could be multiplied further provided that universities raise awareness to encourage people to fi le tax returns and formally get registered with the tax net,” Pasha said.

She was addressing the au-dience at a pre-budget con-ference titled “Tax reforms in Pakistan” organised by the School of Commerce and Ac-countancy at the University of Management and Technology

(UMT), Lahore yesterday.“We need to change our

perception of tax and budget by keeping in mind that more the people pay taxes, the bet-ter would be the lifestyle and facilities,” she remarked.

“When the number of tax-payers expands, every budget, whether provincial or federal, turns out to be more attrac-tive, more meaningful and public-friendly.”

Shedding light on Punjab government’s policies, Pasha said the government was un-dertaking many initiatives to restore trust between taxpay-ers and the government.

She emphasised that the government wanted to provide maximum opportunities for health, education and other basic facilities, but added it was also the responsibility of every citizen to change his tra-ditional way of thinking about tax payments and the gross domestic product (GDP).

InternewsLahore

Automatic audit selection likely to be abolishedThe Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan is likely to abolish automatic audit selection of non-filers of tax returns in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year of 2019, a senior off icial said yesterday.“The taxpayers will have good news in the budget on the issue of automatic selection of audit,” Tariq Masood, member of FBR, said at a pre-budget seminar.Government introduced the Section 214D into the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 through Finance Act 2015 under which a taxpayer is automatically selected for audit if income tax return is not filed for the preceding year.The law resulted in accumulation of audit cases and some estimates suggested that the pendency of audit cases reached to around 1mn.Masood said the FBR is also working on streamlining the audit cases. “The board in council of the FBR has recently decided to avoid multiple tax audits under audit policy.” “It is decided that if a taxpayer selected under Sections 214C or 177 of the

Income Tax Ordinance 2001 during the past year then the FBR will not select the taxpayers for next year,” he added.On the issuance of return form by FBR, Masood said the return for tax year 2018 would be issued in the first week of July to enable people to easily file their annual returns.Rehan Siddiqui, partner at accountancy advisory service Baker Tilly, said there is a massive trust deficit between taxpayers and tax off icials. Tax of salary persons is deducted at source yet they are issued notices for audit. “Such measures would prove counterproductive for broadening of tax base.”Mazhar Saleem, partner at auditing firm KPMG, said the government should reduce sales tax rates on petroleum products and instead fix a standard rate of 17%.Saleem said a taxpayer has an option to avoid recovery by tax payment of 25%. “The application of 25% payment should not be implemented after the finalisation of appeal from first appellate forum.” (Internews)

Country on steady upward path: survey

Pakistanis are nostalgic about the past as much as they are optimistic about

the future, reveal the fi ndings of a Herald survey presented in a special publication that hits the market yesterday along with the magazine’s April 2018 issue.

A vast majority of those in-terviewed for this survey believe that 10 major fi elds of national life such as economy, foreign aff airs, strategic aff airs, hu-man rights, religion, arts and culture, media, law and justice, governance and politics were best handled by the govern-

ment jointly headed by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and fi rst Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.

The survey respondents have also given higher approval rat-ings to elected governments on most counts as compared to the military regimes.

While they have also acknowl-edged the issues that Pakistan continues to grapple with as a young developing state, most of them feel they are on a slow but steady upward path to a better life.

More than 55% of them feel their lives have improved in economic terms as compared to those of their parents and grand-parents, with an even greater

number of people expressing satisfaction in this regard in rural areas than in urban ones. Predictably, such numbers are higher for Punjab than for the other provinces.

The survey, conducted in 70 selected districts of Pakistan during July-November 2017, asked 70 diff erent questions from 7,000 Pakistanis who rep-resent all the four provinces as well as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Islama-bad, diff erent genders, various localities (both urban and rural) and a number of ethnicities (as determined by the respondents’ mother languages).

Coinciding with Pakistan’s 70th birth anniversary last year,

the survey aimed at highlighting Pakistani public’s opinions and perceptions about their history.

Its main objective was to col-lect fi rst-hand evidence on how people living in diff erent parts of the country and coming from diff erent sections of society view their own past and present.

Some of its results confi rm many previously held concep-tions about Pakistan that it’s a strongly religious society; that most of its members do not view the West favourably.

Many other fi ndings seem to contradict some gener-ally held views. For instance, a large number of respondents said Muslim Pakistanis were more tolerant towards their

non-Muslim compatriots than towards members of the sects other than their own.

Some unexpected perceptions came to light as well that non-Muslim Pakistanis enjoy a high level of religious freedom; that protection for the rights of wom-en and children has increased even though news reports con-tinue to suggest otherwise.

The survey’s fi ndings have been analysed by leading aca-demics and experts in all the ten fi elds it covers. The writers include senior journalist and human rights campaigner I A Rehman, historian Tahir Kam-ran, art critic Quddus Mirza and economist Rashid Amjad among others.

InternewsKarachi

Healthcare workforce likely to be increased

The ministry of national health services, regula-tions and co-ordination,

in consultation with the pro-vincial departments of health and other stakeholders, has developed Human Resource for Health Vision 2018-30.

This document provides guidance for deploying stra-tegic measures and suggests linkages along with the scope of work for the na-tional and provincial health systems, thus allowing all to plan their own agendas, albeit with some principles and strategic choices that

are common and mutually agreed upon.

The vision document will be formally launched by fed-eral and provincial ministries of health in ceremony to be yes-terday in Islamabad.

Pakistan Vision 2025 refl ects the government’s commitment, of investment in the social sec-tor including health as a top priority.

The National Health Vision (NHV, 2016 -2025) provides a unifi ed common health vision for universal healthcare, espe-cially for women and children of Pakistan. One of the major actions under NVH is formu-lation of Pakistan’s Human Resources for Health (HRH) vision.

Pakistan has one of the low-est densities of health workers in the region and globally, with an essential and skilled health professional (physicians in-cluding specialists, nurses, lady health visitors and midwives) density of 1.4 per 1,000 popu-lation, which is much below the indicative minimum threshold of 4.45 physicians, nurses and midwives per 1,000 population necessary to achieve universal health coverage.

Adequate numbers, qual-ity and well-performing health workers are crucial for eff ective functioning of health systems.

Through an eff ective and effi cient health workforce, Pakistan aims to success-fully implement the agenda of

right to health wellbeing and to ensure economic and social development of its people.

Human resources for health underpins the health goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as health systems can only function with a health workforce fully geared towards meeting the contemporary challenges.

Human Resources for Health (HRH) initiative is not only a specifi c SDG3 target (SDG3c) but is vital in achiev-ing the universal health cover-age (UHC). The contribution of health workers thus needs to be seen in a wider context of its role in the larger economy of the country than merely achieving SDG3.

InternewsIslamabad

Above normal temperatures expected in April, May

Occasional heat waves are expected to hit major cities in Pakistan during

April and May as dry weather will keep temperatures above their normal values.

This was stated by the Pakistan Meteorological Department in its latest forecast for the season.

According to the forecast, slightly below normal rainfall is expected throughout the country during April and May. However, the frequency and intensity of dust storms is likely to remain higher disturbing the harvesting and threshing activities.

Three to four spells of western disturbances may cross the up-per parts of the country during April. The average temperature is likely to remain above normal throughout the country.

The expected rise in tempera-ture during these months is 1 to 2 degrees Celsius. The rise in temperature will accelerate the snowmelt in Northern Areas and subsequent increase in runoff in the upper Indus region. Heatwave conditions are most likely to aff ect the major cities occasionally.

During winter 2018, snowfall remained 20 to 25pc less than the long-term average in upper Indus Basin and most of that occurred in February or early March. Ow-ing to the rise in temperatures, water infl ow will increase in In-dus and Jhelum rivers.

However, the water reservoir will remain under stress condi-tions and relevant agencies are advised to better manage the expected water resources during the period.

The defi cient rainfall will inten-sify the drought conditions over south-west Balochistan and may transform into moderate, while the prevailing drought condi-tions over Tharparkar region may exaggerate further (Internews).

A man selling vegetables waits for customers at his makeshift stall at the Empress Market in Karachi yesterday.

Waiting for customers

PHILIPPINES

Gulf TimesThursday, April 5, 201820

Duterte slams UN rights chief over drug war criticismAFP Manila

President Rodrigo Du-terte has launched a foul-mouthed attack on the UN

human rights chief, calling him “empty-headed” in a row over international criticism of the Philippine leader’s deadly drug war.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, had last month said Du-terte needed “psychiatric evalu-ation” and that his verbal attacks on a United Nations rapporteur who condemned his anti-drug crackdown could not go unan-swered.

“I need to go to a psychia-trist?” asked Duterte in a speech late Tuesday.

“The psychiatrist told me: ‘You are okay, mayor. You are just fond of cursing,’” Duterte said, referring to his former title.

The Philippine leader added he had been advised to refrain from commenting on the re-marks of Zeid, a Jordanian prince, but he wanted to “seek revenge”.

“Look, you have a big head but it’s empty. There is no grey mat-ter between your ears. It’s hol-low. It’s empty. It cannot even sustain a nutrient for your hair to grow because his hair here is gone,” Duterte said as he touched his head.

Duterte, 73, has launched curse-laden tirades on world leaders, including former US president Barack Obama and Pope Francis, as well as critics of his anti-crime crackdown.

Duterte won a presiden-tial election in mid-2016 after promising to eradicate drugs in society within six months by killing tens of thousands of users and dealers.

Philippine police say they have killed roughly 4,100 sus-pects who fought back during arrest, but rights groups allege the actual number is three times higher and accuse the authori-ties of murder.

The International Criminal Court has launched a “prelimi-nary examination” into killings in the anti-drug campaign.

Zeid, who has criticised al-leged extrajudicial killings in the drug war, last month said Du-terte’s remarks about a UN rap-porteur seeking to investigate the matter were “absolutely dis-graceful”. Zeid last month also condemned Duterte’s statement ordering troops to shoot female rebels in their private parts.

In Tuesday’s speech, Duterte defended the comments along with his war on drugs.

“I am rude? I am really rude. There is nothing I can do about that,” Duterte said. “I kill peo-ple? Yes, I really kill people... go ahead and do drugs there.

I already told you to stop.”Addressing human rights

groups, Duterte said: “You are dreaming if you think you

can jail me.”

Chinese police off icers escort Taiwanese nationals who were arrested in the Philippines on suspicion of telecom fraud, at an airport in Tianjin, yesterday.

Arrest over telecom fraud

Fast food chain told to make more than 6,000 workers permanentReutersManila

The Philippine govern-ment yesterday ordered Jollibee Foods Corp to

regularise more than 6,000 workers by making them per-manent, sending shares of the country’s largest fast-food group down nearly 4%.

Ending the employ-on-con-tract practice was one of the many campaign promises of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who shortly after as-suming power in 2016 warned that any company that would not end short-term labour risked closure.

Jollibee was also directed to

refund “illegally collected pay-ments” worth 15.4mn pesos ($295,778) to 426 workers, the Department of Labour and Em-ployment said in a statement.

Jollibee had a total headcount of 12,000 as of 2016, including permanent and contract staff .

It has a market value of $6.18bn and operates the larg-est food service network in the Philippines with 2,875 restau-rant outlets, including its epon-ymous chain of fast food stores with the ubiquitous smiling bee logo and Burger King.

Jollibee shares closed down almost 4%, the top loser among the 30 companies that comprise the Philippines’ broader index, which ended 0.63% lower yes-terday.

The labour agency said it was also set to inspect Philippine stores of McDonald’s and Yum! Brands Inc’s KFC to ensure they were not violating employment laws.

Jollibee and KFC Philippines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

McDonald’s Philippines does not practice contractualisation and has not used the services of manpower agencies since it started operations in 1981, Adi Timbol-Hernandez, the com-pany’s senior communications manager, said in a statement.

The Philippines allows em-ployers to hire workers to meet demand at peak times.

These contracts typically span fi ve months to avoid a six-

month rule that would require employers to make an employee permanent.

The practice is popularly called “endo”, an abbreviation of “end of contract”. In 2011, the labour agency allowed compa-nies to engage contractors to supply workers for short-term jobs, helping spread the prac-tice of “endo” to job-intensive sectors such as retailing and manufacturing.

Two-thirds of the country’s 39-40mn workforce are on short-term contracts, accord-ing to a 2016 government esti-mate.

Duterte had said he wanted to eradicate “endo” by 2017, but it proved a challenge as it required changing the law.

Coff ee conquers confl ict for business-savvy farmersThomson Reuters Foundation Mount Apo

Five years ago, Filipina farmer Marivic Dubria would buy Nescafe sachets

to serve visitors because she was embarrassed by the quality of the coff ee she grew next to her main vegetable crops.

Life was tough for her family in Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, as they struggled to earn $1,000 a year from their produce, with their coff ee beans fetching only 20 cents per kilo from local traders.

But Dubria is now one of hun-dreds of farmers nationwide who are brewing up a storm with training from Coff ee For Peace (CfP) — a social enterprise striv-ing to boost growers’ profi ts, protect the environment and foster peace between communi-ties.

Having learned how to grow, harvest and process high-quali-ty Arabica beans at a time when global demand for coff ee is soar-ing — it is set to hit a record high this year — Dubria exports her crop to buyers as far away as Seattle for at least $5per kilo.

“But it’s not all about the money — it’s about taking re-sponsibility for the environment and other communities,” Dubria told the Thomson Reuters Foun-

dation in her home on Mount Apo while brewing a pot of thick, aromatic, treacle-like coff ee.

Beyond helping coff ee grow-ers get a better deal, CfP aims to encourage dialogue between communities, with tensions ranging from colonial-era con-fl ict between natives and Chris-tian settlers to land and re-source disputes between ethnic groups.

The Philippines is battling to restore order to troubled Mind-anao, where militant groups have pledged allegiance to Is-lamic State, and fi ve decades of communist insurgency and sep-aratist bombings have displaced at least 2mn people.

By bringing people together

through trade, businesses with a social mission can help build peace, industry experts say.

“Social enterprise presents an emerging pathway or ap-proach to conflict resolution,” said Angel Flores, East Asia business head at the British Council, which backs compa-nies seeking to help people, invest in the environment and tackle social ills.

“Being inclusive, participa-tory and prioritising community benefi t over personal agendas enhances the social fabric from a place of distrust to... confi dence and mutual understanding.”

CfP was set up in 2008 on the confl ict-hit southern island of Mindanao, after its founders

stopped diff erent neighbours going to war over the ownership of a rice fi eld.

The men were invited to put down their guns and talk over coff ee, a tradition which quickly spread across the region.

CfP off ers a three-year scheme to train farmers to produce cof-fee while encouraging native and settler communities and various tribes to harvest and process the beans together.

While the social enterprise buys the farmers’ beans above market value — selling them on to local coff ee shops and export-ing as far as Canada — com-munities can sell to any buyer, but are encouraged to demand higher prices.

“We don’t treat them as sup-pliers or just part of the chain — they are farmerpreneurs,” said CfP senior vice president Twin-kle Bautista.

“The aim is to unite the set-tlers and indigenous people to teach each other, share tech-niques and tools... and harmo-ny,” she added.”Our product is peace — coff ee is just the tool.”

For Kagawad Abe and his in-digenous community, setting up a processing centre through CfP has brought them closer to the Christian settlers — who work with them to process their beans.

“It has also brought wom-en together, and given them a

chance to work independently... to contribute to the tribe,” he said.

About 80% of CfP’s coff ee-growing partners are women.

“Just fi ve or so years ago, we didn’t really know each other — but now we are talking and working together,” Abe added.

CfP says business is booming, having tripled sales to at least $46,000 last year from $15,000 in 2012 and won United Nations and regional awards for promot-ing peace and development.

Although social enterprises in the Philippines have more than tripled in the last decade to 165,000, many are struggling due to limited state support and a lack of funding, said the British

Council and the Philippines So-cial Enterprise Network.

CfP’s success is likely largely due to its unusual mission, said Gerry Higgins, chief executive of Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS), Britain’s largest agency to support the sector.

“Coff ee for Peace is unusual...there aren’t many social enter-prises that recognise that if a community is resilient and sus-tainable, (then) fewer confl icts will emerge,” Higgins said.

By walking farmers through every step of the supply chain, CfP says they no longer see the coff ee industry as “a mystery”. Once dependent on traders and big brands such as Nestle, the world’s biggest coff ee maker and

producer of Nescafe, farmers can now demand higher prices for better quality beans, CfP said.

Yet winning communities over remains a major challenge.

Some are proud of their tra-ditional methods and reluctant to embrace change, while others are wary of civil society groups and used to instant cash or aid, rather than long-term support.

“We had to convince and con-vince our people, many times, to move from the traditional to the technical way of doing things,” said Baby Jerlina Owok, chieftain of a native tribe which has seen their coff ee beans almost double in value in recent years.

Yet for women such as Owok and Dubria and their coff ee co-operatives, the ambitions are much bigger than making mon-ey.

Pointing at huge swathes of coff ee trees covering the hills, painting once barren land vi-brant shades of green, Dubria spoke about planting more to combat deforestation and soil erosion.

Lastly, she said they need to share their prosperity.

“We need to encourage and help other communities to pro-duce quality coff ee,” she said. “We want to pull them up — to improve their standard of living — so they can experience what we have.”

Duterte: curse-laden tirades

Marivic Dubria of the Balutakig Coff ee Farmers Association tends to a coff ee plant on her farm in Mindanao.

Local chieftain Baby Jerlina Owok poses for a photo with coff ee beans grown by her community in Mindanao.

President wants resumption of talks with rebelsReutersManila

Philippine President Ro-drigo Duterte yester-day asked his cabinet to

work on a ceasefi re with Maoist rebels in order to resume peace negotiations, four months after he called off talks and vowed to crush the insurgents.

Duterte had campaigned in 2016 on a promise to end the nearly 50-year Maoist rebel-lion, which has killed more than

40,000 people, by fi nding a political solution but he aban-doned peace eff orts in Novem-ber complaining of repeated rebel attacks.

Yesterday, he revived the idea of talks.

“Let’s give this another last chance,” Jesus Dureza, a presi-dential adviser on the peace process, said in a statement, citing Duterte.

The president had told his government “to work on the resumption of peace talks” and stressed the importance of fi rst

“forging a ceasefi re agreement to stop mutual attacks and fi ghting while talks are under-way”, Dureza said.

The government and the communists’ political wing, the National Democratic Front, have been in on-again, off -again negotiations since 1986.

Norway has brokered some talks.

The communist insurgency has stunted economic develop-ment in several resource-rich provinces, just as separatist rebellions have plagued large

parts of the south of the Cath-olic-majority country.

The defence ministry and the military said in separate state-ments, they would support the resumption of talks provided the rebels agreed to a truce and to stop extortion.

The founder and leader of the communist movement, Jose Maria Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands welcomed the president’s overture, say-ing the communists were “open and ready to resume peace ne-gotiations”.

Former jail doctor held for extortionBy Rhea Ruth RosellManila Times

Police arrested a retired psy-chiatrist of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology

(BJMP) and her sister-in-law in an entrapment in Barangay Mabolo in Cebu City on Tuesday after-noon.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) identi-fi ed the suspects as former su-perintendent Resiliana Lee Gil-boy, 49, of Mount View Village,

Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City, and Fatima Gilboy, 45, of Cavite West, Palo, Leyte. Chief Inspec-tor Chuck Barandog, CIDG team leader, said a male BJMP applicant went to their offi ce on Monday and complained that a BJMP doc-tor sent a text message and called him, asking for money so he will be certifi ed as having passed the BJMP neurological examination.

Barandog said Gilboy, who re-tired as BJMP psychiatrist last March 30, asked money from the complainant amounting to one-month salary of a Jail Offi cer 1

which is about P30,000. Accord-ing to him, a police decoy accom-panied the complainant and they met with Resiliana and Fatima at about 5.45pm on Tuesday in a fast- food chain inside a mall in Mabolo.

Police used P20,000 as entrap-ment money. Barandog said it was Fatima who received the money and Resiliana sat beside her dur-ing the transaction.

Police said the two suspects did not resist arrest but despite of being caught in the act, the two women denied the allegations.

SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL21

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 2018

Bangladesh to start relocating Rohingya to island in JuneBangladesh will begin re-

locating around 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a

desolate island off its southern coast in June, a senior offi cial said yesterday, despite warn-ings the site is prone to violent weather.

Authorities say shelters for around 50,000 refugees have been constructed at Bhashan Char, a silty strip of land that only emerged from the Bay of Bengal in 2006.

The remaining shelters will be completed within two months,

Bangladesh’s disaster manage-ment secretary Shah Kamal told UN agencies during a briefi ng about the controversial plan in Dhaka.

“It will begin in the fi rst week of June,” Kamal said of the relo-cation project that has attracted fi erce criticism since being fi rst proposed in 2015.

“We’re building accommo-dation for 100,000 people,” he said, adding the navy would construct more than 1,440 large shelters to house the refugees by May 31.

The navy is also fi lling in low-lying areas and building em-bankments around the entire perimeter to ensure the island

can resist tidal fl ooding and monsoon storms.

Bangladesh, a low-lying riv-erine country at risk from rising sea levels, is prone to tropical cy-clones and 120 evacuation shel-ters are also being constructed on the island, Kamal said.

Bangladesh allocated $280mn last November to make the island suitable for habitation as hun-dreds of thousands of refugees from Myanmar crammed into squalid camps near the border.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya

have crossed into Bangladesh since August alone, fl eeing army violence in Rakhine state that US and UN offi cials say amounted to ethnic cleansing.

Kamal said refugees most vulnerable to the approaching monsoon would be off ered the chance to relocate to the small island, which lies west of the port city of Chittagong.

The process would be volun-tary, he added.

The UN says 150,000 Ro-hingya in the camps were at risk of landslides, heavy rains and diseases when the monsoon sea-son hits in June.

UN resident coordinator Mia Seppo said Bangladesh wanted to

start the process in June but said more discussion was needed.

“That is the timeline they are looking at,” Mia Seppo said, adding any relocation must be “voluntary” and conducted safely and with dignity.

The refugees “need to have a say, need to be consulted and need to understand the condi-tions to which they would be moving”, she added.

The island is one hour’s boat journey from the nearest inhab-ited land.

Critics warned the whole island could be inundated by fl oods or wiped out by cyclones, which have killed hundreds of thousands along Bangladesh’s

turbulent coast in the last half century.

The plan was shelved but re-vived in August as unprecedent-ed waves of refugees poured into Bangladesh’s southeast, placing enormous strain on the limited resources in the region.

Many Rohingya remain op-posed to the relocation plan, but offi cials are confi dent tens of thousands will be persuaded to leave dire conditions in existing camps.

Meanwhile proposals for Ro-hingya to return to Myanmar have stalled. An agreement be-tween Bangladesh and Myanmar to repatriate Rohingya has not seen a single refugee return.

AFPDhaka

Authorities say shelters for around 50,000 refugees have been constructed at Bhashan Char

Minister to visit Rohingya camps

A Myanmar minister will tour camps for Rohingya refu-gees in Bangladesh, an of-

fi cial said yesterday, the fi rst such visit since Myanmar’s army drove nearly 700,000 members of the Muslim minority over the border.

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry confi rmed that Myanmar’s social welfare, relief and resettlement minister Win Myat Aye would visit the congested camps, which are home to nearly 1mn Rohingya refugees in total.

“His programme has not been fi xed yet,” Tareque Muhammad, a director-general at the foreign ministry, said. The visit is slated for April 11 or 12.

US and UN offi cials say the military crackdown which be-gan last August in the mainly Buddhist nation, purportedly to fl ush out guerrillas, amounted to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

Another Bangladeshi offi cial said it would be the fi rst visit by a Myanmar minister to the camps, which have sheltered Rohingya refugees since the early 1990s, for more than a decade.

Win Myat Aye is the deputy head of a task force led by Aung San Suu Kyi on the crisis in Ra-khine state, and a top offi cial overseeing a stalled agreement with Bangladesh to repatriate some 750,000 refugees.

Myanmar has approved sev-eral hundred Rohingya from a list of thousands to return to their homeland but not a single one has yet crossed back.

Even before the latest infl ux began last August, the camps in southeast Bangladesh were home to roughly 300,000 Ro-hingya Muslims who fl ed previ-ous waves of violence.

Rohingya community lead-ers in the camps said they would welcome the opportunity to raise their concerns about returning to Rakhine with the visiting Myan-mar offi cial.

“We would like to meet face-to face with the minister,” Mohibullah said.

Many of the displaced Muslims have rejected the prospect of re-turning, fearing a repeat of the per-secution that has forced them off their lands for generations.

Refugees demand recognition as a minority, access to health and ed-ucation and an assurance they can return to their ancestral villages rather than being shunted into re-settlement camps in Rakhine.

AFPDhaka

Lankan PM survives no-confi dence vote

Sri Lankan Prime Minis-ter Ranil Wickremesin-ghe yesterday survived

a no-confi dence vote in par-liament after a majority of the legislators in the House voted to support his coalition government.

The opposition, eyeing frac-tures within the ruling alliance, had sponsored the trust vote against Wickremesinghe blam-ing him for failing to prevent an alleged scam in the bond mar-ket, and for failing to stop anti-Muslim riots that occurred last month.

The vote showed Wick-remesinghe winning the sup-port of 122 members of the 225-member parliament.

Wickremesinghe has resisted calls to resign from President Maithripala Sirisena, whose Sri Lanka Freedom Party had threatened to vote against the prime minister over an alleged scandal in the bond market.

The motion was put to a vote yesterday evening after a mara-thon debate.

Sirisena joined hands with

Wickremesinghe’s United Na-tional Party to oust strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 after a decade in power.

But the pair have since been embroiled in a power struggle, especially over economic poli-cy, which has sowed divisions in leadership.

Sirisena publicly blamed the free-market champion for mis-managing the economy as Sri Lanka’s growth plunged to a 16-year low of 3.1% in 2017.

A multi-billion bond scan-dal at Sri Lanka’s central bank - which fell under Wickremes-inghe’s portfolio until Sirisena removed it last month - only deepened acrimony between the leaders.

The prime minister was cleared of any wrongdoing but accused of trying to protect a former central bank governor named as a suspect in the in-sider trading scam.

The no-confi dence motion

was moved by an opposition grouping led by Rajapakse, who humiliated the governing coali-tion in a surprise blitz at local elections in February.

The former strongman presi-dent wants a national election slated for 2020 brought for-ward.

The prime minister could be brought down only if Sirisena can unite his own divided party and engineer defections from Wickremesinghe’s UNP.

But the UNP is the largest single party in the 225-member assembly, commanding a com-fortable majority with the help of allies.

Tensions between the coali-tion partners have also esca-lated over Sirisena’s attempts to extend his presidential term by one more year till 2021, a move that was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

The UNP has suggested that it may go it alone at the next general election in 2020.

Presidential powers to sack the government and call early elections were removed through a constitutional amendment introduced in the early days of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition.

Rueters/AFPColombo

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, centre, leaves his off ice in parliament before the debate of no-confidence against him, in Colombo yesterday.

The vote showed Wickremesinghe winning the support of 122 members of the 225-member parliament

Nepal PM to press India for banned currency swap

Nepali Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will press India to exchange mil-

lions of dollars held in Nepal in banned high-value Indian bank notes during a visit this week to improve ties with its large southern neighbour.

Nepal and India have yet to

agree on how to exchange old Indian bank notes estimated to be worth $146mn held by indi-viduals and informal sectors af-ter India’s shock announcement in 2016 to ban 500 and 1,000 rupee bills.

India said the move was aimed at fl ushing out unac-counted wealth and hit the fi -nances of militants suspected of using fake currency to fund operations. But it also caught

countries such as Nepal and Bhutan, where the Indian currency is widely used, off guard.

“The Indian demonetisa-tion has hurt Nepali nationals. I will raise this in my meetings with Indian leaders and request them to resolve the issue,” Oli told Nepali parliament late on Tuesday.

India is Nepal’s largest trade partner and the supplier of the

bulk of consumer goods. Indian currency is widely used by busi-nesses and individuals who keep their savings at homes in Indian bank notes.

Oli will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind and other offi cials during the visit starting tomorrow.

Central Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) offi cials say the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) verbally

agreed to allow every Nepali na-tional to exchange up to 4,500 rupees worth of scrapped In-dian bank notes in a meeting in March last year.

“But nothing has been com-municated to us formally so far,” NRB Deputy Governor Chinta Mani Shivakoti said.

A senior Indian govern-ment offi cial, with direct knowledge of the RBI’s views, said the central bank was un-

able to exchange the old cur-rency notes in Nepal or any other country because there was no such provision made in the rules that the govern-ment issued at the time of demonetisation.

“Only the federal government can take a decision in this regard now,” the offi cial said.

Indian citizens were given nearly two months to exchange their old notes for new ones.

ReutersKathmandu

China to develop Bangladesh industrial zoneChina is developing a 750-acre industrial park in Bangladesh which will largely be used by Chinese manufacturing firms, a Chinese off icial said yesterday, part of its push to expand links with South Asia and beyond.State-run China Harbour Engineering Company will hold a 70% share in a joint venture being formed for the park with the Bangladesh Special Economic Zone Authority (BSEZA), Li Guangjun, the economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Dhaka, said.“This is for the first time China has received such a facility from the Bangladesh government where Chinese investors will be able to set up industries, mainly manufacturing firms,” Li said.China is investing billions of dollars in building ports, power stations and roads in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan as part of its Belt and Road Initiative to build trade and transport corridors across Asia and beyond.The industrial park will be in Bangladesh’s main port city of Chittagong and will take five years to become fully operational.Li said Chinese investment in Bangladesh would soon reach $10bn, mainly focused on power, road and infrastructure projects.Most financing for Chinese investment in Bangladesh comes through soft Chinese loans, with interest rates of 2% and repayment periods of 20 years.In Sri Lanka, China has faced criticism for tough loan conditions which critics say has pushed the island nation into debt and forced it to hand over majority control of Hambantota port to China in an equity for debt swap.Li said the land acquisition process needed to be faster in Bangladesh for projects to reach completion.

New York Met returns stolen idols to Nepal

A pair of rare idols sto-len from Nepal three decades ago were re-

turned to the country yesterday by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The two statues were stolen in the 1980s when rampant looting saw many important artifacts whisked out of Nepal and into the hands of private collectors.

“The government was una-ware of the whereabouts of the statues until historian Lain Bangdel mentioned (in a book) that the statues were on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,” Shyam Ra-jbanshi of Nepal’s department of archaeology said.

The 11th century statue, known as the Uma Maheshwor idol, was given to the Met in 1983

while the Buddha - estimated to be around 700 years old - was donated by a private collector in 2015.

The two statues were removed from display after the Met learned they were stolen, local media reported.

The statues will now be show-cased at the National Museum of Nepal in the capital Kathmandu, Rajbanshi confi rmed.

Nepal’s rich cultural heritage was ravaged by decades of theft from the 1960s to 1980s. Natu-ral disasters and unchecked de-velopment also encroached on ancient sites.

A devastating earthquake in April 2015 caused extensive damage in the Kathmandu Val-ley, home to hundreds of sacred Buddhist and Hindu sites.

The UN’s cultural agency Unesco warned if not properly conserved those sites could lose their coveted world heritage status.

AFPKathmandu

Nepali activists take part in whistle rally against rapes, in Kathmandu yesterday.

Whistle rally

Gulf Times Thursday, April 5, 2018

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Much remains to be done as Brexit clock ticks on

In less than a year, the UK will fi nally leave the European Union, but the future of the trading agreement between the two sides still remains unclear.

The Irish border remains a sticking point.Theresa May has said it is important Northern

Ireland’s voice is heard in Brexit negotiations with the European Union.

On a visit to a farm in County Down, the British prime minister said, “I want to hear from people in Northern Ireland about what our exit from the EU means to them.”

She has thus reaffi rmed the government’s opposition to a hard border.

“The border is used daily for travel and trade, but it also forms a hugely important part of British and Irish identities, rooted in generations of family history – and this is something that needs to be protected,” May said.

With the UK voting to leave the EU, it is scheduled to depart at 11pm UK time on March 29, 2019.

But big businesses – with a few exceptions – tended to be in favour of Britain staying in the EU, because it makes it easier for them to move money, people and products around the world.

The EU, taken as a whole, is the UK’s largest trading partner. Being a member of the EU allowed the UK to

trade freely with 27 other European countries.In 2016, UK exports to the EU were £236bn (43% of

all UK exports). UK imports from the EU were £318bn (54% of all UK imports).

And given the crucial role of London as a fi nancial centre, there is interest in how many jobs may be lost to other hubs in the EU.

Some UK exporters say they have had increased orders or inquiries because of the fall in the value of the pound. Others are less optimistic; fearing products for the European market may have to be made at plants in the EU.

A recent report showed that Brexit could cost London 5.5% of growth — equivalent to £22bn of output — over 15 years. That is more than £2,500 for every man, woman and child living in London!

According to a study by forecaster CEBR, London is more exposed than the rest of Britain to a chaotic cliff -edge departure from the European Union because of its heavy dependence on the services sector — particularly fi nancial services — and its reliance on skilled workers from the continent.

The EU has repeated that warning ever since Britain voted in June 2016 to leave- Brexit is going to hurt Britain. That applies especially to future trade and economic ties, which the two sides have barely begun to negotiate.

Negotiations between Britain and the EU fi nally began last summer. Their main achievement so far seems to be agreeing on a transition period that will last until the end of 2020.

Given the importance of the trading relationship between the UK and the EU, it is crucial that a fair and workable solution is found, and at the earliest.

As of now, many miles still have to be travelled.

London is more exposed than the rest of Britain to a chaotic departure from the EU

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CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing EditorK T Chacko

QNL promotes informationliteracy to beat fake newsBy Dr Stuart HamiltonDoha

The role of spin doctor is as old as politics itself, and certainly the age of the 24/7 television news cycle has elevated the job

to an art form, with well-paid, well-coiff ed spokespeople appearing on our screens to assure us that black is white and up is down.

But easy as it is to laugh at the sheer absurdity of a phrase like “alternative facts”, in actuality fake news is having a very real eff ect on the world. Russia and other foreign actors allegedly used disinformation to infl uence the 2016 US presidential election, and the ongoing blockade of Qatar was precipitated in part after the UAE allegedly hacked Qatar government news sites to spread false information.

While the phrase “fake news” became part of the public lexicon seemingly overnight, the concept has been in practice for millennia. Disinformation – and its less malicious cousin, misinformation – have been used throughout history to smear political opponents, religious groups, and business rivals. For example, the culmination of the tragedy of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, immortalised by Shakespeare, revolved around “fake news” of the Egyptian queen’s suicide. The propaganda posters that

now hang in ironically decorated coffee shops were the “alternative facts” of their time.

Today, of course, our access to information is virtually limitless – and so, too, is our susceptibility to being misled. The consequences aren’t always as dire as a diplomatic crisis, but still aff ect us; a student working on a research paper, for example, might be faced with two contradicting sources about the same event.

For libraries, then, it is not enough to merely provide access to information; we have been promoting literacy for centuries, and will continue to do so, but now more than ever the idea of “information literacy” is a necessary next step.

Information literacy is the set of skills that enable us to identify what information we need, where to find it, and – crucially in today’s environment – how to determine its veracity. Its sub-disciplines, such as health literacy, financial literacy, and visual literacy, are further acknowledgements that the unending flow of information impacts every aspect of our lives.

Libraries have a particular duty to raise this key type of literacy because at our heart is a commitment to freedom of access to information, without censorship or restriction. Qatar National Library (QNL), which offers members nearly a million books, dozens of online databases,

and numerous other informational resources, also offers community workshops to help our users ask important questions about the authenticity and reliability of the information they consume. This, in turn, enables them to develop the critical thinking and judgment skills to navigate a world that sometimes seems bent on deception.

To that end, on April 17, QNL will host a panel discussion, ‘Truth Matters: The Era of Fake News’, with journalists, academics, diplomats, library leaders, and Middle East experts unpacking the ways in which “fake news” is being used in the current political climate to

manipulate political agendas, and what can be done about it.

The “fake news” phenomenon shows no signs of going away, even in the face of widespread acceptance that we cannot believe everything we read or see. The best we can do – and must do – as providers of information is arm the public with the skill to identify when they are being misled or manipulated, and collectively prevent lies from becoming the truth.

Dr Stuart Hamilton, Deputy Executive Director – International Relations & Communications, QNL

Qatar National Library

Qatar National Library (QNL), a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, acts as a steward of Qatar’s national heritage by collecting, preserving and making available the country’s recorded history. In its role as a research library with a pre-eminent heritage collection, QNL fosters and promotes greater global insight into the history and culture of the Gulf region. As a public library, QNL provides equal access for all Qatari residents to an environment that supports creativity, independent

decision-making and cultural development. Through all its functions, QNL provides leadership to the country’s library and cultural heritage sector.Website: www.qnl.qaQNL’s e-newsletter: http://qnl.qa/programs-and-services/subscribe-qnl-newsletter QNL’s Twitter: @QNLibQNL’s Instagram: QatarNationalLibraryQNL’s Snapchat: QnlibQNL’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheQatarNationalLibrary QNL’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/QNLibrary

Qatar National Library off ers members nearly a million books, dozens of online databases, and numerous other informational resources.

QATAR23Gulf Times

Thursday, April 5, 2018

HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani met on Tuesday, a number of CEOs of some of the major US companies on the sidelines of Qatar’s economic tour that started in Miami. HE the Minister met Barry Sternlicht, chairman & CEO of Starwood Capital Group, where they discussed ways of co-operation in various fields and shed light on the investment incentives provided by the Qatari economy.

Minister meets CEOs of US firms

Abu Issa Holding, Chargello inpartnership to reach MenaThe Qatar-US Economic

Forum yesterday wit-nessed the signing of

a partnership agreement be-tween Abu Issa Holding and mobile charging solutions pro-vider Chargello in the presence of HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qas-sim al-Thani, chairman of Qa-tari Businessmen Association, and Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani, chairman of Qatar Chamber.

The deal was signed by Ashraf Abu Issa, chairman of Abu Issa Holding, and Freddy Sidi, co-founder of Chargello.

The agreement provides for the establishment of a joint venture under which Abu Issa Holding will have exclusive li-censing rights for Chargello in the Middle East and North Africa region, Turkey and Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has said in a statement. The partnership will help en-hance the production capac-ity of Chargello and support its distribution network.

Abu Issa Holding is a ma-jor retail and luxury company with signifi cant investments in the US. It has opened a chain of

stores specialising in accessories and travel services in New York in addition to owning real estate in Virginia and New York.

Chargello is an American company specialising in mobile battery and charging solutions.

Its portable batteries provide a “convenient way” for custom-ers to recharge their mobile de-vices, and the charging stations are “compact, easy to install and maintain”.

The company off ers mobile

charging solutions at airports, stadiums, etc.

Chargello has strengthened its position in both North and South America over the past five years, the MEC statement adds.

HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani, Ashraf Abu Issa and Freddy Sidi at the signing ceremony.

Miami seeks investment opportunities with QatarTop offi cials in Miami have

expressed keenness to seek further investment

opportunities with Qatar in all fi elds during the Qatar-US Eco-nomic Forum held in Miami, Florida yesterday.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A Giménez said the forum is an opportunity to highlight the investment opportunities between the two countries.

“The Miami area is open to trade with Qatar and we look forward to further co-operation and partnership with Qatar in the fi elds of tourism, trade, in-dustry, and other sectors. The existing infrastructure in Miami will also enable it to play this role,” said Giménez in his open-ing speech at the forum.

Miami, Florida’s largest city with an estimated population of more than 2.7mn, is character-ised by a wide variety of ethnic populations, most of whom were

born outside the US. Miami is known in the health, housing, trade, transportation, and en-tertainment sectors.

The airport and Port of Miami, which are the main economic drivers in the region and other services, receive many ships coming from Panama. Miami is the world’s number one cruise city and the top airport for cargo.

“We have the most number of airlines operating at this airport, and it is also among the top three airports in the world. We are de-lighted with the success of Qatar Airways between the two cities, which started in 2014, and we also have daily shipping lines for goods from Miami to Qatar. Qa-tar Airways is using Boeing 747 across the two cities,” Giménez added.

Miami City Mayor Francis X Suarez said Miami is one of the cities that have moved from a local city to an international

destination. “We look forward to further co-operation with in-ternational cities such as Doha and Miami, which has expanded signifi cantly over the past six years,” he said.

He added: “As for co-opera-tion between Doha and Miami, the direct airline between the two cities has been launched since then. We also look for-ward to the completion of the relations between Miami and Doha to keep pace with the strong relations between Qatar and the US, and look forward to completing the growth of the city.

“We are looking forward to hosting the 2026 World Cup and the city will become a sister to Doha, which will host the 2022 World Cup, and we are work-ing to achieve all the goals and means to strengthen the part-nership between the two cities,” Suarez added.

Qatar-US trade doubled in 10 yearsFrom Page 1Qatar and the US have strong

economic, trade and investment ties that were reinforced by the signing of the Trade and Invest-ment Framework Agreement in 2004.

In 2015, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) had pledged to invest $35bn in the US over a five-year period, and an ad-ditional $10bn to be invested in the infrastructure sector. Citing a report from the World Bank, Sheikh Ahmed said Qa-

tar’s GDP will reach around 2.8%, the highest among GCC countries.

The forum in Miami gathered more than 200 businessmen and Qatari offi cials, including some 200 businessmen and executives from major US companies.

Several discussions were held on the sidelines of the forum between Qatari and US business sector representatives aimed at strengthening existing eco-nomic partnership of the two countries. The discussions also

centred on partnership and in-vestment opportunities between the two sides in sectors such as food security, tourism, logistics projects, and infrastructure.

From Miami, the economic roadshow will bring the Qatari delegation to Washington, DC, Columbia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Organised by the MEC, Sheikh Ahmed will be accom-panied by representatives from the Ministry of Energy and In-

dustry, Qatar Investment Au-thority, Qatar Chamber, Qatar Stock Exchange, Qatar Busi-nessmen Association, Qatar Airways, Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Com-munity Development, Qatar Financial Centre, beIN Sports, Supreme Committee for De-livery & Legacy, QNB, Qatar Development Bank, Manateq, Qatari Diar, Katara Hospitality, Qatar Tourism Authority, Doha Film Institute, and several oth-er major entities in Qatar.

A section of Qatari delegates at the event.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A Gimenez Mayor of Miami Francis X Suarez

HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani addressing the Qatar-US Economic Forum in Miami, Florida, yesterday.

Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani addressing the Qatar-US Economic Forum yesterday in Miami.

US-Qatar Business Council chairperson ambassador Anne Patterson speaking at the event.

Qatari Businessmen Association Chairman HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani addressing the Qatar-US Economic Forum in Miami, Florida, yesterday.

A group of 29 Qatar-based artists from the group In-ternational Artists of Doha

(IAD) had the opportunity to dis-cover and explore the artworks displayed at the Hamad Inter-national Airport’s (HIA) airside and landside recently. HIA, in co-operation with Qatar Museums (QM), toured IAD members to its more than 20 stunning art pieces created by local and international artists, hand-picked to be dis-played at the airport.

The HIA art programme seeks to turn the airport into an inno-vative public space for creativity beyond the walls of a gallery or museum to entertain and inspire, as well as reduce stress level, of millions of people fl ying through the airport annually.

The artists’ tour began with a viewing of ‘The Flying Man’, two iconic sculptures designed by re-nowned Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi and installed at HIA’s passenger terminal for travellers to see.

The 15m high dual sculptures are based on the story of Abu Fir-nas, a historical fi gure from the Islamic world who was an early pioneer in fl ight experiments. “This tour stirred the highest at-tention from all members of the IDA group. Art installations dis-

played at HIA are representative of the airport’s cultural intersec-tion between local roots and glo-bal reach, transcending all cul-tures and beliefs,” said Austrian ambassador Willy Kempel, who is also the IAD president.

He thanked HIA and QM for their hospitality and joined eff orts in making the airport a unique lo-cation for arts and culture. “HIA is an airport for art lovers and art curious. We are delighted by the visit of the International Art-ists of Doha. We believe that art and creativity must be enjoyed beyond the confi nes of a gallery and are proud to turn HIA into an innovative public space,” HIA’s Commercial and Marketing vice president Abdulaziz al-Mass said.

The artists also had the chance to see the newest art piece at the airport dubbed as ‘Small Lie’ by American pop artist Brian Don-nelly, known as Kaws. The iconic piece was unveiled on March 7 in a ceremony attended by senior offi cials of HIA, QM and local art enthusiasts.

24 Gulf TimesThursday, April 5, 2018

QATAR/SPORTSecond Katara Oud Fest opens todayKatara - the Cultural Village will rediscover the Oud, a popular musical instrument central to Arab music, at the Katara Oud Festival 2018, which opens today (Thursday) at 8pm and concludes on Sunday. The second edition of the festival, themed “Al Farabi the Second Master,” will see captivating performances by renowned Oud maestros from 17 countries, including Qatar. Some 84 artistes and famous Oud-makers are in Doha to take part in the four-day festival, which is dedicated to Al Farabi, dubbed as “the great Muslim philosopher,” whose contribution to music is not known to many. Katara’s general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti will lead the opening of the festival at Katara’s Opera House followed by a short documentary film on the life and contributions of Al Farabi. Mehmet Bitmez, a world-renowned Turkish musician, accompanied by popular band Istanbul Sazkar, will pay tribute to Al Farabi through a special musical performance, highlighting the latter’s contributions to music. Famous Oud musicians

Abdulazeez al-Haidous (Qatar), Mohamed al-Majri (Tunisia), Negar Bouban (Iran), Beraber (Greece), Amir Haddad (Spain) will also perform on the opening day in solo and ensembles.The Katara Opera House will witness daily performances by musicians from countries, including Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Japan, Greece, Spain, Oman, Kuwait, Tunisia and Morocco. The Al Farabi Theatre in the Amphitheatre boulevard will have daily performances by musicians from Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar and Mauritania beginning at 4pm, Katara said. Meanwhile, renowned Oud-makers from various countries will display their craftsmanship with their instruments at the kiosks set up across Al Masrah street near the Amphitheatre. Top academics and experts will deliver lectures on Oud at Katara Building No 9 during the festival. Lectures will be held from 4.45pm to 5.45pm throughout the event. The concluding part of the festival will feature a grand musical treat involving all the participating musicians.

Fire Station connects local community with Artists in ResidenceA large number of Qatar res-

idents and art enthusiasts had the opportunity to

meet the 18 artists who are part of Qatar Museum’s (QM) ‘Fire Station: Artist in Residence pro-gramme’ yesterday.

The programme’s open studio event for the public witnessed visitors exploring and enjoying the artworks at the venue, which now serves as a hub for creative exchange.

“Our open studio events are an incredibly important part of that and provide the perfect in-troduction to the various steps that QM is taking to nurture and develop the country’s young creatives,” Fire Station: Artist in Residence director Khalifa al-Obaidly said.

Launched under the patronage of QM’s chairperson, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Kha-lifa al-Thani, the Fire Station provides the perfect springboard for creativity and has helped large numbers of talented young artists take their passion to the next level. The Fire Station of-fers a host of unique opportuni-ties for artists in Qatar during the nine-months of residency, QM said.

Not only do they move into one of the studios, but they collabo-rate with fellow creatives and fi nd ways to develop and explore their own technique. They also meet curators, access all QM ex-

hibitions and are encouraged to join lectures. In a statement, QM noted that artists in residence benefi t from weekly mentoring sessions and meet arts profes-sionals from all over the world, representing Qatar in the inter-national cultural community.

By bringing these elements to-gether, the initiative clearly dem-onstrates QM’s commitment to nurturing emerging talent. What

the initiative provides to the art-ists was clearly on display during the open studio event, featuring a wide range of striking works produced across a variety of me-dia including fi ne art, sculpture, photography and more.

Since the Fire Station opened its doors, more than 55 artists benefi ted from the residency programme. The programme has proven to be enormously

popular, with several hundred applications submitted over the course of the three years, accord-ing to QM.

“The Fire Station not only provides an eff ective launchpad to develop the careers of many of the Qatar’s most talented artists, but it has developed into a col-ourful, spirited and dynamic arts centre for the public,” al-Obaidly said.

The ‘Fire Station: Artist in Residence programme’ open studio yesterday showcased the artists’ works to visitors.

Indian embassy handled 265 consular issues in five camps

The Indian embassy handled 265 consular issues of its nationals at camps at Salwa, Mesaieed, Al Khor, Dukhan & Zikreet and Shamaal areas during the month of March. This was informed at the monthly Open House held on March 28. Grievances were brought to the notice of the embassy, related to issues of delayed payment of wages and violations of contract terms and conditions.Besides ambassador P Kumaran, third secretary (labour and community welfare) S Vijayakumar and other off icials

met all the complainants, discussed their problems and assured them of the embassy’s active follow up of their cases with the authorities concerned in the Government of Qatar. The embassy issued 66 Emergency Certificates in March to as many community members for their repatriation to India. The embassy also issued 11 air tickets to needy Indians to India during last month.An embassy team visited the Central Prison and Deportation Centre the previous week to inquire about the welfare of detainees from India. The total

number of Indians in the Central Prison and the Deportation Centre are 219 and 100, respectively.The Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) helped 47 Indians in distress during March. The ICBF is supporting the eff orts of the embassy and helps Indian workers through various welfare measures, including supply of foodstuff , transport, medical assistance and other minor assistance. The ICBF president Devis Edakulathur and vice president P N Babu Rajan were also present at the Open House.

Seventh Senyar Festival begins

The start of the seventh annual Senyar Festival at the Katara beach wit-

nessed 165 individuals, includ-ing four children, in 15 dhows taking part in the pearl diving competition.

In a press statement, Katara – the Cultural Village said “the mood was jubilant” at the venue as participating teams, who ar-rived with beds and blankets and cartons of food and wa-ter, are all set for the two-day championship.

Mohamed al-Hashmi, cap-tain of the team that won fi rst prize last year, led the partici-

pating teams in their hours-long journey to the sea. Tra-ditionally, the leader is called Sardal, captain of the captains. Participants will be diving in an area about 40km away from the Katara beach to collect as many shells as possible. The actual competition is scheduled to be-gin around 7am today (Thurs-day).

The teams, comprising Qa-taris and several participants from other GCC states, will re-turn tomorrow (Friday) evening after completing the competi-tion. A closing ceremony will take place at the Katara beach

in the evening, along with the awarding of the winners.

The pearl diving champion-ship is the fi rst part of the three-week long Senyar Festival, which will also feature com-petitions in traditional fi shing starting next week. The festival will conclude on April 20, al-lowing families to take part in the traditional fi shing competi-tion – being introduced for the fi rst time this year.

The festival in its seventh year aims to evoke memories of the past and revive the Qatari traditions associated with the sea.

Some 15 dhows set sail for the Senyar Festival’s pearl diving competition yesterday.

Hamad International Airport hosts International Artists of DohaIn partnership with Qatar Museums, international artists were taken on an exclusive tour to discover the airport’s art treasures

Members of International Artists of Doha standing by the Desert Horse Art Piece at HIA.

Liverpool stun City, Barca ease past Roma

The prolific Mohamed Salah scored again as Liverpool outclassed

English rivals Manchester City 3-0 in their first-leg Champi-ons League quarter-final match yesterday, while two own goals helped Barcelona beat Roma 4-1.

On Tuesday, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich had won against Juventus and Sevilla, respectively.

Playing at Anfield, Juergen Klopp’s side scored three goals inside the opening 31 min-utes. In the 12th minute, Salah played the ball inside to Rob-erto Firmino whose shot was blocked by City keeper Eder-son. Firmino pounced on the loose ball and slipped it to Salah who fired home.

Liverpool were rampant and harrying City off the ball in midfield when James Mil-ner won back possession and moved it straight to Alex Ox-lade-Chamberlain, who un-

leashed an unstoppable drive from 25m to make it 2-0 in the 20th minute.

City were reeling and looked nothing like the team that has marched so convincingly to a 16-point lead in the Premier League and it was not long be-fore the five times European champions made it 3-0. Salah floated a teasing cross from the right towards Sadio Mane, who rose above the City defence to power a header past Ederson and send the Anfield crowd into delirium.

However, a perfect night for Liverpool was marred when Salah limped off with an injury early in the second half.

City now have a mammoth task to the turn the tie round in next Tuesday’s second leg at home.

In the other quarter-final yesterday, Barcelona capital-ised on two own goals from Roma to take a huge step to-wards reaching the Champi-

ons League semi-finals for the first time in three years as they thrashed the Serie A side 4-1 at home yesterday.

Roma’s captain Daniele De

Rossi hit an unstoppable shot into his own net to break the deadlock in the 38th minute of what had been a delicately poised game and a second own

goal 10 minutes into the second half, this time by Greek defend-er Kostas Manolas, stretched the runaway La Liga leaders’ advantage.

Barca defender Gerard Pique piled more misery on the Ital-ians four minutes later, mop-ping up on the rebound af-ter Luis Suarez was thwarted by goalkeeper Alisson before Roma’s top scorer Edin Dzeko struck at the right end to give his side faint hope of a turna-round in the second leg.

Suarez effectively van-quished those hopes, however, by notching his side’s fourth goal three minutes from time, scoring for the first time in the Champions League in over a year.

Lionel Messi, back from in-jury, endured a slightly frus-trating night – his shots and dribbles for once meeting op-ponents rather than the net.

Roma have a mountain to climb in next Tuesday’s return.

Liverpool’s midfielder Mohamed Salah celebrates with teammates at the Anfield, Liverpool. yesterday.