Kahramaa gets 5 bids from top firms for solar power plant

GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978SUNDAY Vol. XXXX No. 11265

August 4, 2019Dhul-Hijja 3, 1440 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

ASIA | Politics

Hong Kong police fi reteargas at protesters

EUROPE | Demonstration

Police detain hundreds at Moscow protest

REGION | Politics

Iran to ‘further reducecommitments to N-deal’

Hong Kong riot police fired repeated teargas rounds yesterday evening at pro-democracy protesters in a popular tourist district, during the latest violence to rock the global finance hub despite increasingly stern warnings from China. The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has seen two months of protests and clashes triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law. Page 9

Police detained over 800 people at an opposition gathering in Moscow yesterday, as authorities upped the pressure on top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny by launching a criminal probe into his anti-graft group. Crowds walked along the capital’s central boulevards in a protest “stroll” over the refusal by off icials to let opposition candidates run in September polls. 1

A munitions blast killed 31 regime and allied fighters at a military airport in central Syria yesterday, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain and relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it was unclear what had caused the deadly explosion at the Shayrat airbase in Homs province. But state news agency SANA reported that a “technical fault during the transport of expired ammunition” had killed an unspecified number of victims. Page 5

Iran will take another step to reduce its compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif said yesterday without elaborating, according to parliamentary news agency ICANA. Iran has repeatedly said it will reduce its commitment to the nuclear accord in stages and may even withdrew from the pact altogether unless the remaining signatories find ways to shield its economy from US sanctions. Washington pulled out of the deal last year. Page 4

In briefQATAR | Offi cial

Amir holds phone talkwith French presidentHis Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held a telephone conversation yesterday evening with French President Emmanuel Macron. During the phone call, they reviewed relations between the two friendly countries and aspects of developing them in various fields, in addition to the most prominent regional and international developments.

ARAB WORLD | Confl ict

Blast kills 31 regimefi ghters at Syria airbase

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met in Doha yesterday with Airbus Chief Executive Off icer Guillaume Faury. During the meeting, they reviewed areas of co-operation between the two sides, especially in aviation.

Prime minister meets Airbus CEO

QATAR | Page 16 SPORT | Page 1

Australia look to Smith again as England take charge of fi rst Ashes Test

‘Perfect Duet’ art show refl ects close Qatar-India ties

Kahramaa gets 5 bids from topfi rms for solar power plant

Sudan protesters, generals reach ‘full’ deal on civilian rule

QNADoha

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has received fi ve bids from in-

ternational developers qualifi ed for the fi rst solar power project in the country to produce electricity by using photo-voltaic technology.

The project is being executed by the public-private partnership system, where Kahramaa reviews and evaluates technical, legal and commercial off ers.

Being built near the Al Kharsa’a district, the West Doha Solar Power Plant project is spread over an area of 10sq km. The total capacity of the solar power project is estimated to be a min-imum of 700MW, of which 350MW will be connected to the grid in the fi rst quarter of 2021, and commercial op-eration will begin in the fi rst quarter of 2022.

Kahramaa has already qualifi ed 16 of the world’s leading companies to es-tablish and develop solar power plants, where bids were received from compa-nies and alliances from France, Japan, South Korea and China, demonstrating the strength and attractiveness of the Qatari market and the interest of inter-national companies in the partnership.

The project was off ered on the basis of the build and operate mechanism for 25 years, and then the assets are transferred to Kahramaa according to the internationally recognised BOOT (build–own–operate–transfer) sys-tem.

The plant is part of the corporation’s

plans to reduce dependence on fos-sil fuels, reduce carbon emissions and increase energy effi ciency by diversi-fying sources of electricity production, besides increasing the proportion of renewable energy, in accordance with the directives of the wise leadership to reduce dependence on oil and gas in the economic activities of the state to achieve economic diversifi cation.

It is also in line with the Qatar Na-tional Vision 2030 within the pillars of economic development and envi-ronmental development, to diversify sources of electricity production and increase the proportion of renewable energy.

Kahramaa is the sole owner and operator of the network of electricity and water distribution systems in Qa-tar. The corporation was established in July 2000 to regulate and provide electricity and water to all participants with high effi ciency.

Kahramaa is responsible for the pur-chase, distribution and sale of elec-tricity and water from independent producers and provide technical and institutional support for the establish-ment of power generation and desali-nation plants, and owns, constructs and operates electricity and water dis-tribution networks in Qatar.

Kahramaa is also responsible for preparing plans for the development of electricity and water distribution net-works, setting the rules governing the work of electrical connections and wa-ter installations for various buildings and facilities, and providing services and consultations in the fi eld of their activities.

AFPKhartoum

Protest leaders have reached “full agreement” with Sudan’s ruling generals yesterday on a hard-

won constitutional declaration, the African Union said, paving the way for a promised transition to civilian rule.

Thousands of jubilant Sudanese took to the streets of the capital Khar-toum when the deal was announced before dawn to celebrate the prospect of a civilian government.

The declaration builds on a land-mark power-sharing deal signed on July 17 and provides for a joint civil-ian-military ruling body to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian government and parliament to govern

for a three-year transition period.The deal is the fruit of diffi cult nego-

tiations between the leaders of the mass protests which erupted last December against the three-decade rule of presi-dent Omar al-Bashir and the generals who eventually ousted him in April.

“I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and international public opin-ion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declara-tion,” AU mediator Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt told reporters.

He said further meetings would be held to work out the technical details of the deal and discuss the signing cer-emony.

An initial inking of the agreement is expected to take place on today, protest leaders said, ahead of a formal signing in front of foreign dignitaries.

The Arab League welcomed the agreement saying the signing of the constitutional declaration “would launch a new and important phase in line with the Sudanese people’s aspi-rations”.

Sudan’s army ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan lauded the “long-awaited deal” in an interview on Saudi broad-caster Al-Hadath. Demonstrators among the crowds that took to the streets in the early hours hailed victory in their struggle for a new Sudan.

“For us, the revolution succeed-ed now and our country set foot on the road towards civilian rule,” said 25-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim as he joined the cavalcade of vehicles that criss-crossed the streets of Khartoum, horns blazing.

Doctors linked to protest umbrella

group the Alliance for Freedom and Change say more than 250 people have been killed in protest-related violence since December.

Protest leaders said they had won the military’s agreement that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) irregulars would be integrated in the army chain of command.

“The paramilitary RSF will report to the head of the armed forces,” said pro-test leader Monzer Abu al-Maali.

Many Sudanese expressed relief that an end was fi nally in sight to the seven and a half months of protests and po-litical unrest that have gripped the in-creasingly impoverished country.

“It is good that we reached an agree-ment but it is unacceptable to forget the blood of the martyrs,” said 22-year old Mohamed Yasine.

Sudanese demonstrators wave their national flag as they celebrate in Khartoum early yesterday, after Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders reached a “full agreement” on the constitutional declaration.

Many killed in Texas shootingReutersEl Paso, Texas

Multiple people were killed in a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas yesterday and

one man was in custody after the lat-est US mass shooting sent panicked shoppers fl eeing.

Many of those caught up in the rampage were buying back-to-school supplies. El Paso police Sergeant Robert Gomez said authorities had ruled out multiple shooters, and he said initial reports were that the gun-man used a rifl e.

“This thing is fl uid and dynamic. As of right now we don’t think there’s multiple (suspects) but that could change,” Gomez told reporters at the scene.

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said there were multiple fatalities. Amid confl icting reports immediately after the shooting, he had earlier said three people were arrested.

“This is just a tragedy that I’m having a hard time getting my arms around,” Margo told CNN.

The El Paso Police Department said the scene remained active around the Cielo Vista Mall, near the Wal-mart, but said there was no imminent threat to the public.

“There’s no active shooter cur-rently, but that isn’t to say we’ve rendered the scene safe at this time,” another El Paso police spokesman, Enrique Carrillo, told reporters.

Carrillo said there were more than 20 casualties, a number that could in-clude fatalities and people wounded.

Walmart said in a statement: “We’re in shock over the tragic events at Cielo Vista Mall... We’re praying for the victims, the community & our associates, as well as the fi rst re-sponders.”

Carrillo asked people who can-not reach loved ones to go to a family reunifi cation centre at a local mid-dle school, instead of heading to the shopping centre.

Multiple law enforcement agencies raced to the scene, including police, state troopers, Homeland Security agents and border patrol.

One witness said he saw at least one person inside the store with a fa-

tal head wound, and he saw shoppers in bloodied clothes.

Other stores at the nearby mall were also locked down as police of-fi cers cleared the shopping centre in the east of the city, which lies on the southern US border with Mexico.

Video posted on Twitter showed customers at one department store being evacuated with their hands up.

“Hands in the air!” an offi cer can be heard shouting in the footage.

Mass shootings are common in the United States. On Sunday, a teenage gunman opened fi re with an assault-style rifl e on the crowd at a food fes-tival in Northern California, killing three people before fatally shooting himself.

The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring the situation.

At a Democratic presidential can-didate forum in Las Vegas a clearly emotional Beto O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman who is from El Paso, broke the news to the audience that he had just heard about the dead-ly mass shooting in his home city.

Customs and Border Patrol police walk past individuals that were evacuated from Cielo Vista Mall and a Walmart where a shooting occurred in El Paso, Texas, yesterday.

Washington wants to quickly deploy new intermediate-range missiles in Asia, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said yesterday in a move likely to anger China.The new Pentagon chief said the US was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal on Friday from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.“Yes I would like to,” Esper said when asked if the US was considering deploying new medium-range conventional weapons in Asia.“We would like to deploy a capability sooner rather than later,” Esper told reporters on a plane to Sydney at the start of a week-long tour of Asia.“I would prefer months. But these things tend to take longer than you expect.”The plan to deploy new missiles in Asia

is likely to anger China which is vying with Washington for influence in the region, but Esper said Beijing should not be surprised.“That should be no surprise because we have been talking about that for some time now,” he said.“And I want to say that 80% of their inventory is INF range systems. So that should not surprise that we would want to have a like capability,” he said.But Esper stressed the US was not embarking on a new arms race.“The traditional sense of an arms race has been in a nuclear context,” he said.“Right now, we don’t have plans to build nuclear-tipped INF range weapons. It’s the Russians who have developed non-compliant likely, possibly nuclear-tipped weapons,” he said.

US wants to deploy new missiles in Asia

2 Gulf TimesSunday, August 4, 2019

QATAR

HMC’s Hazm hospital opens its2nd outpatient psychiatry clinicHamad Medical Corpo-

ration’s (HMC) newest hospital, Hazm Mebai-

reek General Hospital (HMGH) in Doha’s Industrial Area, has introduced its second outpatient psychiatry clinic.

This is part of a wider strategy of HMC to facilitate easier ac-cess to specialist mental health services in the country. The new clinic, which began receiving patients late last week, will care for those who require routine outpatient psychiatry assess-ment and treatment.

Dr Majid al-Abdulla, medical director and acting chairman of psychiatry, Mental Health Serv-ices, said the introduction of a second outpatient clinic is a no-table milestone on the journey toward the establishment of a multidisciplinary mental health service at the new community-based hospital.

“Our second outpatient clin-ic will provide psychiatry and

mental healthcare to those liv-ing and working in the Industrial Area of Doha. Since our fi rst out-patient clinic opened in May, we have cared for patients at around 90 outpatient visits, covering all adult psychiatric conditions, including anxiety disorders, psychosis, and depression. The

establishment of a second out-patient clinic will allow us to even better serve our patients,” said Dr al-Abdulla.

Dr Hani Kilani, medical di-rector, HMGH, said the estab-lishment of a second outpatient clinic is a response to the grow-ing need for community-based

psychiatry and mental health-care services. He says the de-mand for mental healthcare services continues to rise and the establishment of a second clinic is part of ongoing eff orts to improve the support available to patients with moderate to severe mental illness.

“The establishment of this second clinic means that pa-tients will now have access to outpatient psychiatric clinics each Tuesday and Wednesday. Patients who present at our Emergency Department, and those admitted on surgical and medical wards or seen in other outpatient clinics, can be re-ferred to these specialist psychi-atric clinics. We will also receive patients from our local Qatar Red Crescent clinic who require routine outpatient psychiatric care,” said Dr Kilani.

Iain Tulley, CEO of Mental Health Services at HMC and National Health Strategy lead

for Mental Health and Wellbe-ing said HMC’s ongoing ex-pansion of community-based mental health services is in line with the National Mental Health Strategy’s objective to design and build a compre-hensive and integrated mental health system. He said this lat-est expansion is aligned with the National Mental Health Strategy and is a reflection of efforts to develop partnerships that facilitate easier access to mental healthcare in the com-munity.

Dr Kilani also said plans are underway to launch a dental service, prosthetic lab, and out-patient cardiology services, and he noted that a second Intensive Care Unit and expanded Emer-gency Department will also open before the end of the year.

HMGH provides care for adult male patients and particularly those living and working in Doha Industrial Area.

Dr Majid al-Abdullah Iain Tulley

TII off ers language courses for children and teenagers

Six foreign language cours-es for students aged 5-15 years are now on off er at

the Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII), part of the Col-lege of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). The classes will run for 15 weeks and are set to commence in September 2019.

The fall courses, offered through the Language Center at TII, include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. A specially de-

signed Arabic course for non-native students aged 8-11 will aim to strengthen the reading skills of students and develop their communication abilities. The course will utilise simple dialogue exercises and help students read and understand short passages that address daily life.

All courses will be held at Pen-rose House in Education City. To enrol for one of TII’s language courses, visit http://tii.qa/lan-guage-center and www.tii.qa/kids-courses. Registration ends

on September 3 for children and September 10 for adults.

Students can look forward to an enriching and culturally rewarding experience where they will be taught the history of the language through care-fully planned lessons that use up-to-date methodologies and activities such as songs, games, crafts, music, drama and art.

Dr Nima Nazari, director of the Language Center, TII, said, “Research shows that children have a stronger innate ability

to learn languages and gain proficiency when compared to adults. Therefore, our courses focus on developing the cog-nitive skills and creativity of the students by encouraging them to learn in a supportive environment. In a multicul-tural country like Qatar, where several foreign languages and cultures are intertwined, be-ing able to speak another lan-guage is a valuable asset for children because it strength-ens their cross-cultural un-derstanding and boosts their

critical thinking skills.” Students are taught entirely

in the foreign language as part of a fully immersive experi-ence, and will be encouraged to think creatively and collab-orate with other students. The classes are taught by qualified instructors with prior expe-rience and will be held every Saturday from September 7 until December 14.

The fall courses off ered by TII’s Language Center further the institute’s mission to provide world-class foreign language

education that enables learners to acquire a new language in a natural setting.

HBKU’s College of Hu-manities and Social Sciences and its Translation and Inter-preting Institute encourage multidisciplinary learning. The college is home to five in-novative programmes at the master’s and PhD levels, ad-dressing the fields of transla-tion; audiovisual translation; women, society, and develop-ment; and digital humanities and societies.

Six language courses will be delivered by experienced instructors in a culturally immersive setting.

New promotion announced forOoredoo app users

Ooredoo has announced a promotion that gives Shahry and Qatarna

customers using the Ooredoo app even more value. With the new promotion, all Shahry and Qatarna customers will receive 35% discount on up to two Uber rides, up to a value of QR20 per ride.

Shahry 100, Shahry 150, and Shahry 200 customers will get one promotional code per month, valid to use only once, and Shahry 250 and all Qatarna (350, 500, 600, and 850) cus-tomers will get two promotional codes per month, each one valid to use only once.

Shahry and Qatarna custom-ers can redeem a promotional

code from the ‘Off ers’ section of the Ooredoo app. Once the code is redeemed, customers can use it in their Uber app and the discount will apply to their next ride.

Manar Khalifa al-Muraikhi, director, PR and Corporate Communications at Ooredoo, said: “Our tie-up with Uber is

a great way for us to offer ad-ditional value to our customers and accessing the promotion via the app is quick and easy, in line with our commitment to complete digitalisation and en-hancing our customers’ digital lives.”

Customers can sign up to a Shahry or Qatarna pack at any Ooredoo shop in the country.

3Gulf TimesSunday, August 4, 2019

QATAR

Subsidised sheep prices initiativelaunched for Eid al-Adha

In a bid to promote local sheep production and con-trol the price of sheep dur-

ing Eid al-Adha, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in co-operation with the Ministry of Municipal-ity and Environment (MME) and Widam Food Company, have announced the subsidised sheep prices initiative.

The sale of sheep will begin today (Dhu al-Hijjah 3) and continue until August 13 (Dhu al-Hijjah 12), the third day of Eid al-Adha.

A MoCI statement said an agreement was signed with

Widam Food Company in order to ensure a supply of 9,000 sheep of Arab origin (local and Syrian). A total of 2,500 local sheep (Arab Awassi) with a weight of 35kg and above will be available for buyers at QR1,000 each, whereas 6,500 Syrian sheep with a weight of 40kg and above will available for QR950.

The sheep will be sold through Widam Food Com-pany at various locations in-cluding Central Market and other Widam slaughterhouses at Al Shamal, Al Khor, Al Mazr-ouah, Umm Salal, Al Shahaniya and Al Wakrah. Home delivery

services will be also available.According to the terms of

the initiative, sheep will be sold to each Qatari citizen who presents a valid ID card. The buyer should be at least 20 years old (born in 1999 or later) and he will have the right to purchase only one sheep.

As per fi gures, released by the MoCI, local sheep supply to the subsidised sheep initiative dur-ing the Ramadan increased from 293 in 2017 to 2,819 in 2018 and 6,421 in 2019.

The supply of local sheep dur-ing Eid al-Adha initiative in 2018 stood at 1,080.

Local Dates Festival concludes;

sale of over 170 tonnes recorded

The fourth edition of the Local Dates Festival by the Ministry of Municipal-

ity and Environment (MME) and Souq Waqif management con-cluded at Souq Waqif yesterday. Over 170 tonnes of dates were sold at the event that attracted as many as 51,000 visitors, according to statistics released by the MME.

The festival that started on July 23 was organised as part of Qatar’s eff orts to promote locally grown products and help local farmers fi nd the ideal market for dates. More than one dozen lo-cal varieties were on sale from 85 farms across Qatar in addition to Hassad food company. The fes-tival was attended by 86 farm-ers from across the country. The varieties on sale at the festival include Al-Khalas, Al-Shishi, Al-Khenaizi, Al-Barhi, Al-Iraqi

and Al-Silji, Al-Saqai, Nabt Saif, Al-Lulu and Al-Razizi.

Last year, the festival attracted about 54,000 visitors and sold

205 tonnes of fresh dates worth QR1.7mn.

The event attracted as many as 51,000 visitors.

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced a temporary full closure of Onaiza signalised intersection main lanes (Sports Club Intersection) in all directions tomorrow (Monday) from 1am to 4am. The closure, implemented in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Traff ic, is to allow the completion of upgrading works. Drivers can turn right only and use the next intersection as shown on the map. Ashghal will install road signs to advise motorists of the diversion. Ashghal has requested all road users to abide by the speed limits and follow the road signs to ensure safety.

Traffic diversionA view of the rush at the Local Dates Festival at Souq Waqif. PICTURES: Nasar K Moideen

REGION

Gulf Times Sunday, August 4, 20194

Prisoner fl ees while on short-term releaseAFPTehran

An Iranian serving a life sentence on a convic-tion of designing a por-

nographic website has fl ed the country while on short-term release from prison, the judici-ary said yesterday.

“This individual was barred

from leaving the country and has apparently left via unoffi cial channels and has not returned,” said judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili.

The spokesman was respond-ing on state television to reports that Saeed Malekpour had left the country.

“This individual was sen-tenced to life in jail and had served more than 11 years of his

sentence,” Esmaili said, quoted by the judiciary’s offi cial news agency, Mizan Online.

“He was given a three-day furlough on (July 20) and by the end of it he did not turn himself in to the prison.”

Malekpour, a permanent res-ident of Canada, was arrested in December 2008 in Iran when he returned to his native land to visit his dying father.

He was accused of operating a pornographic website.

He was initially sentenced to death, but that was com-muted to life in prison in Au-gust 2013.

According to reports at the time, he had been found guilty on three counts, including “de-signing and moderating adult content websites” and “insult-ing the sanctity of Islam”.

Zarif: Iran will further reduce commitments to nuclear dealAgenciesTehran

Iran will take another step to reduce its compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear

deal, Foreign Minister Moham-ed Javad Zarif said yesterday without elaborating, according to parliamentary news agency ICANA.

Iran has repeatedly said it will reduce its commitment to the nuclear accord in stages and may even withdrew from the pact al-together unless the remaining signatories fi nd ways to shield its economy from US sanctions.

Washington pulled out of the deal last year.

“The third step in reducing commitments to (the nuclear deal) will be implemented in the current situation,” he said.

“We have said that if (the deal) is not completely implemented by others then we will also im-plement it in the same incom-plete manner. And of course all of our actions have been within the framework of (the deal).”

Last month, Iran threatened to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of ura-nium to 20% purity in a move away from the nuclear deal.

Iranian offi cials have said that

all of Tehran’s moves in reducing its commitments to the nuclear deal are reversible as long as the remaining signatories uphold their commitments.

Fears of a Middle East war with global repercussions have risen since US President Donald Trump withdrew last year from the 2015 deal and revived a pano-ply of sanctions meant to push Tehran into wider security con-cessions.

The United States on Wednes-day imposed sanctions on Zarif himself, blocking any property or interests he has in the United States, although Zarif said he had none.

He added at a charity event on Friday night that he is proud to be sanctioned by America for defending the rights of Iranian people, the IRIB news agency re-ported.

Meanwhile, a magazine has

reported that Trump invited Zarif to the White House last month.

The invitation, extended by Senator Rand Paul with permis-sion from the president, was turned down for now, The New Yorker reported on Friday.

Zarif said it was up to Tehran to decide on accepting it.

Neither the White House nor the State Department responded to requests for comment on the report, which quoted US and Iranian sources and what the magazine called a well-placed diplomat.

Zarif told the magazine he would not want a White House meeting that yielded just a photo op and a two-page state-ment afterwards, The New Yorker said.

Trump has said publicly sever-al times that he is willing to hold talks with the Iranians.

Rand had been working for weeks on setting up a meeting with Zarif and on July 15, con-ferred with him in New York, passing on an invitation from Trump for him to come to the White House, the magazine said.

At the one-hour meeting with Rand, Zarif suggested ways to end the nuclear impasse and address Trump’s concerns, The New Yorker said.

Multi-coloured stained-glass windows, known in Yemen as “Qamariya”, are on display outside a workshop in the city of Taez.The Qamariya, which is symbolic in Yemeni architecture, is made with white plaster and stained-glass and arranged in geometric designs.

Windows of colours

“We have said that if (the deal) is not completely implemented by others then we will also implement it in the same incomplete manner. And of course all of our actions have been within the framework of (the deal).”

ARAB WORLD5Gulf Times

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Syria airbase blast kills 31 regime fi ghters: monitorAgenciesBeirut

A munitions blast killed 31 re-gime and allied fi ghters at a military airport in central

Syria yesterday, a war monitor said.The Syrian Observatory for Hu-

man Rights, which is based in Britain and relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it was unclear what had caused the deadly explosion at the Shayrat airbase in Homs prov-ince.

But state news agency Sana re-ported that a “technical fault dur-ing the transport of expired am-munition” had killed an unspecifi ed number of victims.

The Shayrat airbase is one of the regime’s most signifi cant installa-tions in the centre of the country.

Iranian fi ghters - who support the regime in Syria’s ongoing civil war - are based there, according to the Ob-servatory.

In 2017, US air strikes hit the base in response to a suspected sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in northwest Syria that killed more than 80 people.

According to the Pentagon, US intelligence had established that the base was the launchpad for the al-leged chemical attack.

Syria’s war has killed more than 370,00 people since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Syrians who were displaced from the south of Idlib province and fled towards its northern border region with Turkey, ride in trucks loaded with belongings along the Bab al-Hawa highway yesterday on their way back home to Idlib following the signing of a truce with government forces. Air strikes on the Idlib region stopped on August 2 after the government announced it had agreed to a truce following more than three months of deadly bombardment.

Fourteen suspected members of a drug traff icking network escaped yesterday from a police station in Baghdad, an Iraqi security services off icial told AFP.“The defendants first insulted the police, then beat them and managed to escape” from the police station in eastern Baghdad, near the Shia bastion of Sadr city, the off icial said, on condition of anonymity.Prison security is a critical issue in Iraq,

where escapes are not uncommon, whether by violence or bribery.The 12th most corrupt country in the world, experts have pointed to very high levels of corruption in Iraq and its prisons.During the years of insurrection and sectarian violence that followed the United States’ 2003 invasion, hundreds of militants - the majority from Al Qaeda at the time - were able

to escape from prison. Iraq is currently seeking to try thousands of local and foreign militants, while keeping them in overcrowded prisons.Many prisons have been rendered unusable by repeated conflicts.The sale and use of drugs has been booming for years in Iraq.Almost every day authorities announce the seizure of narcotics or the arrest of traff ickers.

14 alleged drug traffickers escape Iraqi custody

AFRICA


Ban on Nigerian group sparks crackdown fearsA ban by the Nigerian au-

thorities on a prominent Shia movement for “ter-

rorism” has driven fears of a worsening crackdown that could ignite a new confl ict.

The government announced last weekend the outlawing of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) after protests demanding the release of detained its leader Ibrahim Zakzaky descended into bloodshed.

The move has infl amed a long-running standoff amid an increasingly hostile approach from authorities under Presi-dent Muhammadu Buhari.

The IMN is the most widely known Shia group in Niger-ia, where the vast majority of Muslims are Sunni.

Those inside the IMN fear the group could now face the most hard-hitting clampdown yet – and accuse the authorities of seeking to push them under-ground.

The touchpaper for the latest surge in tensions has been al-most daily protests by the IMN in the capital calling for Zak-zaky’s release as fears grow over his deteriorating health.

The cleric has been in custody since violence in December 2015 that rights groups said saw the army shoot and burn to death some 350 of his followers in the northern city of Zaria.

In recent months, demonstra-tors sometimes numbering in their thousands have marched in Abuja, chanting “death to Bu-hari, death to Saudi Arabia, free Zakzaky, die for Zakzaky”.

The rallies have mostly been peaceful.

But sometimes they have been met by deadly force.

Last week, at least six protest-ers, a senior police offi cer and a trainee journalist were killed in violent clashes.

The IMN put the number of dead demonstrators at 20.

The language from authorities since the ban was imposed has been uncompromising.

Police chief Mohamed Adamu on Tuesday said anyone associ-ated with the group was consid-

ered “a terrorist, enemy of the state”.

He accused it of “extremist, illegal acts” and called on the public to help track down its members.

Human Rights Watch has condemned the Nigerian au-thority’s “rush to use fi rearms” against the protesters.

It called for the ban to be re-versed and warned it could “portend an even worse security force crackdown”.

So far the reaction from the IMN has been cagey.

Some members put out a statement suspending protests pending a court ruling tomorrow on whether to release Zakzaky for medical treatment abroad.

But others within the group

quickly renounced it and pledged more demonstrations.

Any rallies since the ban have been brief.

Protesters gather and disperse within minutes before police arrive.

Those taking part insist they are ready for the consequences.

“You can die at any time, in a car crash or something. If I be-come a martyr is that not bet-ter?”, said Mohamed Soje, fl ip-ping through pictures of dead comrades on his phone.

“Right now there is no point fearing death.”

Firebrand Zakzaky evokes zealous devotion among his fol-lowers.

A court in 2016 ordered the release of Zakzaky and his wife but the government rejected it

AFPAbuja In this file photo, members of IMN wave flags and chant slogans as they

take part in a demonstration to protest against the imprisonement of a member, in Abuja.

and fi led fresh charges, including homicide.

As fears increase over his health there is a growing desire by some in the IMN for a more aggressive approach, a protester said on condition of anonymity.

Younger, more vehement members have little trust in the legal process and are committed to demonstrations, however vio-lent they become.

“After a while, the anger and the unfairness is too much,” the protester said.

The threat of religious unrest in Nigeria has drawn comparisons

with Boko Haram’s insurgency that has devastated the northeast of the country over the past decade.

The confl ict started in 2009 when a string of attacks by the radical group was met with a deadly crackdown that killed leader Mohamed Yusuf.

But the diff erences between the two groups are stark - not least their split between the Sunni and Shia sects.

The IMN, founded in the 1970s as a student movement, is inspired by Iran’s Islamic revolu-tion but under Zakazaky has ad-vocated a peaceful approach.

Health workers dressed in protective suits are seen at the newly constructed MSF Ebola treatment centre in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, yesterday.

DRC tests 12 more patients for Ebola

Twelve people were ordered to undergo testing for possible

Ebola infection in Goma in DR Congo yesterday, only days after three patients in the densely populated city tested positive for the dis-ease, the country’s presi-dency said.

“A total of 12 people from various centres on the out-skirts (of Goma) are un-dergoing testing after the response team triggered the alert protocol,” it said in a statement.

Six others suspected of carrying the virus were dis-charged after testing nega-tive on Friday, the presi-dency added.

A one-year-old girl be-came the third patient to test positive for Ebola in Goma, local offi cials said Wednesday.

She is the daughter of the second patient, a gold miner, who died earlier in the week.

His wife, also infected, and the young girl were in stable condition on Satur-day, the presidency said.

Goma is the capital of North Kivu province, which has borne the brunt of the year-old epidemic that has claimed more than 1,800 lives.

Meanwhile two vehicles carrying members of a team fi ghting Ebola were shot at on the road between Beni and Butembo, two North Kivu towns that have also suff ered badly from the outbreak.

“Happily no one was in-jured,” police offi cial Rich-ard Mbambi said.

Violence against medical staff in the aff ected prov-inces where various militias operate has been one reason authorities have struggled to battle the epidemic.

Other countries in the region fear the virus could spread from DRC to their territories.

The Ebola virus causes fever, vomiting and severe diarrhoea, often followed by kidney and liver failure, internal and external bleed-ing.

The disease is spread by contact with infected body fl uids and is fought by trac-ing contacts and quarantin-ing them.

There is no medical cure for Ebola, although an un-licensed but tested vaccine has been widely deployed to help protect frontline workers.

The latest epidemic is the second deadliest on record after more than 11,000 peo-ple were killed in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia between 2014 and 2016.

AFPGoma

Mozambique sets up Ebola screeningAFPMaputo

Mozambique yesterday

set up disease checkpoints

along its border with Malawi

as a precaution against any

spreading of a deadly Ebola

outbreak, a senior health

ministry off icial said.

Mozambique has yet to

report an Ebola case, but

DRC’s regional neigh-

bours have been on high

alert while the World

Health Organisation

(WHO) has elevated the

crisis to a global health

emergency.

Checkpoints began

operating in the Milage

and Morrumbala districts

in the Zambezia province

and controls are expected

to widen to other provinces

of Mozambique that share

borders with Malawi, ac-

cording to a ministry of

health off icial.

“Setting up Ebola check-

points is a guideline given

by decision of the Ministry

of Health and World Health

Organization to prevent

the spread of the disease to

other countries” Zambezia

province health director,

Hidayate Kassim, told

reporters.

Authorities characterised

the screening of people

entering Mozambique as a

preventive control measure

to prepare, prevent, detect

and treat any Ebola case

that could develop in the

country.

QATAR7Gulf Times


Health cooperation between Qatar Charity and the Albanian Ministry of Health

Qatar Charity participates in a panel discussion on “Zakat and Islamic charitable work” in Geneva

Qatar Charity ( QC) has signed a coop-eration agreement with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the

Republic of Albania to provide the necessary medicines to meet the needs of Albanian hos-pitals. It is worth 200,000 euros.

The agreement was signed for Qatar Charity by Director of Project Management Khalid Al Yafei, and for the Albanian Ministry of Health by Secretary General of the Minis-try Jillardina Prudani, in the presence of HE Qatar’s Ambassador to Albanian Ali bin Ha-mad Al Marri and HE the Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Alba-nia Ogerta Manastirliu.

The Albanian Minister of Health and Social Protection commended the Qatari long-standing assistance and fruitful cooper-ation between the two countries.

She praised Qatar’s ongoing charitable efforts in supporting Albania in many areas, especially in the health and social welfare sec-tors.

Al Yafei said that this agreement is a continuation of Qatar Charity’s assistance to Albania which started in 1994 and has con-tinued to this day in order to strengthen coop-eration and development ties with the Alba-nian people in many fields.

He pointed out that Qatar Charity spon-sors about 4,700 people within its social wel-fare program, in addition to implementing projects in the field of water and small invest-ment projects for the benefit of families, be-sides its current project in the field of health to support hospitals with essential medicines which was preceded by the construction of the health center that was completed and is being equipped.

He added that Qatar Charity is imple-menting a project to drill water wells in differ-ent locations at a cost of about 200,000 euros.

The Qatar Charity opened its office in Al-bania in 1994. The office focusses on three ar-eas: social welfare, education and community service.

Qatar Charity (QC) participated in a panel discussion

on “The Humanitarian potential of Zakat and Islamic Philanthropy” in Annual Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) consultations. The United Nations Higher Commissioner held the panel discussion for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr. Ahmed Saad Al Rumaihi Head of International Partnerships- Qatar Charity participated in the panel discussion and briefed the participants about Qatar Charity and its operations globally and the different aspects of humanitarian assistance projects for refugees and its impact on their lives.

Participants at the meeting were briefed on innovative projects like WRS projects and cash assistance program using IRIS technology. They were also informed that these projects have tackled the issue of misuse of funds and ensured transparency in the distribution of cash, maintaining dignity of beneficiaries while receiving assistance.

Al Rumaihi was then asked about the partnership with UNHCR and how to tackle the issue of donors’ trust, in which he reflected on the joint campaign (4H) between Qatar Charity and UNHCR in Ramadan.

It is worth mentioning that Qatar Charity (QC) and the UNHCR have launched the QC4HCR initiative to join efforts and co-operate to achieve their common humanitarian goals. The campaign primarily aims to the protection of displaced

persons and refugees and the provision of a decent life for them in their countries or countries of asylum.

Responding to a question on how the trust of beneficiaries has been built while using social media platforms, Al Rumaihi said: “QC has a

specialized department, which manages social media account like Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc”. Our team works to spread the word to the public to increase the numbers potential donors.

Qatar Charity (QC) and the UNHCR have launched

the QC4HCR initiative to join efforts and co-operate

to achieve their common humanitarian goals.

AMERICAS


March to end murder in violence-plagued BaltimoreBy Ian Timberlake, AFPBaltimore

The misery and hope of the city of Baltimore are on display at the corner

where 40-year-old Levar Bailey was shot dead.

As part of a ‘Ceasefi re’ week-end that began on Friday, activ-ists marched to the Park Avenue corner and other sites in Balti-more’s downtown to remember victims of violence in a city with one of the highest murder rates in the US.

“Bestow your healing touch upon this city,” the crowd of about 100 said in unison, pray-ing in front of a park near where Bailey was murdered in Novem-ber 2017.

That was the year of the fi rst Ceasefi re — an event held every three months that seeks to stand up to violence, create aware-ness, and strengthen community bonds with the ultimate goal of ending murder.

“So many have died, and so little has been said,” Bob Hoch, of First and Franklin Presbyte-rian Church in Baltimore, says

through a megaphone on Park Avenue across from a building daubed with graffi ti.

Most of the marchers — a mix of black and white faces — wore

blue T-shirts with the logo of the Presbyterian Church USA.

A man leaning on a metal crutch clunks past them on the road.

The activists continue their “peace walk”, past a man ly-ing motionless on the sidewalk across from buildings with a sign up outside them that says: “Now

leasing: 1-2-3 bedroom apart-ments.”

Some marchers tie small pur-ple ribbons on a fence above the motionless man.

His mouth is open and a bottle of liquid pokes out from the back pocket of his jeans.

The marchers turn onto an-other street to remember Dwight Taylor, 25, shot dead in a barber shop in April 2011.

Men hang out on the busy street, which is lined with small retailers.

Although more than 300 have been killed each year in Baltimore since 2015, activists say they are making a diff erence.

“This may be a small step, but it’s a positive step,” Keith Paige, pastor of Baltimore’s Cherry Hill Community Presbyterian Church, told AFP, sweat glisten-ing on his forehead in the humid evening air.

The activists are “putting a face on violence, letting people know that we are not statistics,” Paige said.

He stops to help a stranger who has fallen into the street after a screaming match with a woman outside a shop.

Gary Wheeler, 35, stood out-side Baltimore Celebrity Cutz, the barber shop where he has worked for the past decade, and praised the activists who had stopped there for more prayers.

“I think they need a lot more of this than just down here,” he said.

Wheeler said he hadn’t seen “too much” trouble near his workplace but in West Baltimore, where he lives with his family, “it’s rough right now.”

Baltimore Police said three men were shot and wounded in separate incidents on Friday.

Along with the peace walk, the Ceasefi re weekend includes the installation of peace fl ags and posters, neighbourhood festivals, musicians spreading “a message of love,” and worship in honour of victims and their families.

The prayer group continued their walk around the city centre, past a theatre advertising Cats and Miss Saigon, until they met Phyllis Felton, pastor of Balti-more’s Madison Avenue Presby-terian Church, waiting for them in a park.

“God, I’m sick of praying after gun violence. I’m sick of praying

for this won’t happen again. But I know it will,” Felton told the marchers, who held up signs say-ing: “Nobody kill anybody. Balti-more Ceasefi re.”

Felton and other activists cite many reasons for the violence: Poverty, racism, family and com-munity breakdown, frustration, and the easy availability of guns.

The Maryland city has more than 620,000 residents.

More than one in fi ve live in poverty, almost double the na-tional rate.

This month’s Ceasefi re caps a week in which US President Don-ald Trump sparked accusations of racism with his comments at-tacking Baltimore over its crime and other problems.

But J Herbert Nelson, who heads the Presbyterian Church USA, said Baltimore is not unique in a country where fi rearms killed nearly 40,000 people in 2017.

“This entire country, actually, is the very word that he called Baltimore because this is the cul-ture in which we live throughout the United States of America, and I’m convinced if this continues as it is, no one is going to be safe,” Nelson said.

People take part in a Baltimore Ceasefire ‘peace walk’ on Friday.

Cop suspended over choking death of black New YorkerAFPNew York

A New York police offi cer was suspended on Friday after a judge recommended that he

be sacked for placing a black man in a banned choke hold just before his death fi ve years ago.

The landmark case fuelled nation-wide ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests calling for police to be held account-able for the deaths of unarmed Afri-can-Americans in custody or facing arrest.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner and departmental administrative judge Rosemarie Maldonado oversaw the disciplinary process for offi cer Daniel Pantaleo, who was accused of con-tributing to the death of Eric Garner, 43, during an arrest on July 17, 2014.

Her recommendation that he be sacked will be examined by New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill, who has the fi nal say.

Pantaleo was suspended pending the decision, the police department said.

Expectations for the outcome are high, particularly in the African-American community and especially since Pantaleo has not faced charges for his involvement in the case.

“Today, we fi nally saw a step toward justice and accountability,” said May-or Bill de Blasio, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

“And I hope that this will now bring the Garner family a sense of closure and the beginning of some peace,” he added.

Four offi cers attempted to arrest Garner on suspicion of illegally sell-ing cigarettes on a sidewalk in Staten Island.

In a video recorded by a bystander, which was posted online and went vi-ral, Pantaleo can be seen putting his arm tightly around Garner’s neck and driving the much larger suspect into the pavement before releasing him.

Meanwhile, another offi cer pressed Garner’s head to the pavement.

Garner, who resisted arrest but was unarmed, complained 11 times that he could not breathe — a refrain that would become a rallying cry for pro-testers.

Garner appeared to lose conscious-ness, and the father-of-six was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

On July 16, the US Department of Justice determined that Pantaleo would not face federal charges, a deci-sion that Garner’s family slammed as an “insult.”

The decision came after the vic-tim’s family appealed to the Justice Department to consider whether fed-eral criminal or civil rights charges could be brought against one or more of the offi cers in the case.

A New York state grand jury de-cided in December 2014 that there was insuffi cient evidence to support homicide charges against Pantaleo, amid claims that Garner suff ered from a heart condition and asthma that could have caused his death.

Trapped raccoon image goes viralHe may lack the poise of Guardians of

the Galaxy superhero Rocket Raccoon

but this fur-tive little adventurer is be-

coming an Internet star in his own right

after coming off worse in an encounter

with a storm grate.

The mischievous mammal went viral

after he was snapped by US firefighters

managing to look simultaneously star-

tled and cute as a button during a bun-

gled escape from a sewer on Thursday.

“He had been stuck for a while but we

are happy to report he is free!!!” the local

fire department tweeted after freeing

the trapped trash panda in Newton, Mas-

sachussets.

Firefighters were dispatched when a

passing cyclist saw the raccoon clinging

desperately to the grill, head and tiny

paws visible through the metal struts,

local media reported.

“We sent a fire truck and we tried to

remove his head from the sewer grate

with soap and water,” said Newton Fire

Lieutenant Michael Bianchi.

When that failed, the firefighters called

in local government animal control ex-

perts, who sedated the raccoon, calming

it enough to pull its head out of the grate.

“It was quite the operation,” said

Bianchi. The whole rescue mission lasted

two hours. “We rescue citizens both big

and small!!!” tweeted the Newton fire

department.

Raccoons, which are omnivorous, live

around two to three years in the wild.

They are known for their strange

fixation with “washing” their food and

hands, a ritual believed by scientists to

be related to their innate tendency to

forage for food near water sources.

A Newton Fire department handout photo of a juvenile raccoon stuck in a grate in Newton, Massachusetts, on Thursday.

3 dead as cliff falls on California beachgoersAFPLos Angeles

At least three people died when part of a cliff col-lapsed onto beachgoers

on the California coast on Friday, authorities said.

The incident took place near a staircase leading to Grandview Surf Beach, north of San Diego.

The San Diego County Sher-iff ’s Department said one person was killed and the City of En-cinitas later tweeted that two of three people who were taken to hospital had also died.

“Beachgoers should continue to use caution when visiting beach areas,” the City of Encini-tas cautioned in the tweet.

At least two people had to be rescued from the debris after being trapped, said Lieutenant

Ted Greenawald of the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department.

Encinitas lifeguard captain Larry Giles told local reporters that res-cuers were working with dogs to search for other possible victims.

The beach where the inci-dent took place is located along sandstone cliff s that have rapidly eroded over the years.

In 2000, a landslide in the area killed a woman who was on a beach watching her husband surf.

The city of Encinitas has placed warning signs along sev-eral locations.

“Because of frequent bluff fail-ures, a great deal of consideration has been given to ensuring the safe-ty of those who visit our beaches,” according to the city’s website.

Visitors should “avoid stand-ing or sitting directly underneath unstable bluff s, since they may collapse.”

Train derails in Canada’s Alberta

A train derailed in Canada’s southern Alberta province on Friday, prompting an evacu-

ation of nearby residents for fear of chemical exposure and disrupting road and highway access, the Alberta gov-

ernment said. There were no immedi-ate reports of any injuries or casualties.

The derailment caused damage along the railway line and “chemical exposure,” according to the Alberta Emergency Alert.

Residents within a 7km radius were told to evacuate the area immediately, it said.

The incident led to the shut down of part of the Trans-Canada highway, a media report said.

Third Mexican journalist murdered in one week

Mexican offi cials said yesterday they would investigate the murder of a journalist in the Gulf coast state of

Veracruz who was the third reporter to be killed in a week in Mexico as the country grapples with a record murder rate.

Jorge Ruiz Vazquez, a reporter at the Grafi co de Xalapa newspaper in Veracruz’s capital, died in spite of procedures in place to protect him, the state prosecutor’s offi ce said.

“The prosecutor will investigate why pro-tection measures granted to the victim and his family, which were active, were not enforced,” the entity said in a statement.

Ruiz’s death brings the murder toll of Mexican journalists this year to at least eight compared with nine last year, according to free-speech advocacy group Article 19. A reporter in Guer-rero state who also served as a municipal offi cial was shot and killed on Friday, while earlier last week, a reporter who covered the police in the same state was found dead in the trunk of a ve-hicle with signs he had been shot and tortured.

Murders in Mexico jumped in the fi rst half of the year to the highest on record, according to offi cial data. The spiralling violence under-scores the challenges President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has faced since taking offi ce in December with a vow to reduce violence in the country ravaged by notorious drug cartels.

ASIA/AUSTRALASIA9


Hong Kong police fi re teargas at protestersHong Kong riot police

fi red repeated tear-gas rounds yesterday

evening at pro-democracy protesters in a popular tourist district, as violence rocked the international fi nance hub once more despite increasingly stern warnings from China.

The semi-autonomous south-ern Chinese fi nancial hub has seen two months of protests and clashes triggered by opposition to a planned extradition law that quickly evolved into a wider move-ment for democratic reforms.

Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing this week signalled a hardening stance, including with the arrests of dozens of protest-ers, and the Chinese military say-ing it was ready to quell the “in-tolerable” unrest if requested.

But protesters have remained unyielding, vowing to hold mul-tiple occupations and rallies in the coming days.

Yesterday’s violence – the ninth consecutive weekend of clashes – took place in Tsim Sha Tsui, a usually bustling harbour-side district known for its luxury malls and hotels.

Offi cers with gas masks and shields charged at hundreds of protesters who had been besieg-ing a nearby police station.

Masked demonstrators had smashed the windows of cars in the police parking lot and daubed nearby walls with graffi ti. One team of protesters created a large sling-shot – held up by two members – to launch bricks at the building.

Police fi red volleys of tear gas followed by repeated baton charg-

AFPHong Kong

Police fire teargas during a protest in Tsim Sha Tsui district in Hong Kong yesterday.

es with multiple arrests made. But standoff s continued into

the evening with small groups of hardcore protesters trying to hold their ground behind make-shift shield walls.

Earlier in the day tens of thou-sands of protesters had marched through nearby streets, embrac-ing their mantra “be water” – a philosophy of unpredictabil-ity espoused by local martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

They seized roads, built barri-cades and even briefl y blocked a cross-harbour tunnel.

“We will fi ght as guerrillas to-day and be water,” a masked and helmeted 19-year-old, who gave her surname Lee, said.

Hong Kong has witnessed two months of huge rallies – often followed by violent clashes be-tween police and small groups of hardcore protesters.

And there is no sign of the chaos abating.

Many of the chants and graffi ti tags thrown up yesterday called for residents to join a planned city-wide strike on Monday.

“The more the government

suppresses us, the more we will come out until the govern-ment responds to our demands,” protester Ah Kit, 36, said.

Two marches are also planned for today while the call for strike action appears to be gaining more traction than previous walkouts.

Under the terms of the 1997 handover deal with Britain, the city has rights and liberties, in-cluding an independent judiciary and freedom of speech.

But many say those rights are being curtailed, citing the dis-appearance into mainland cus-

tody of dissident booksellers, the disqualifi cation of prominent politicians and the jailing of pro-democracy protest leaders.

Public anger has been com-pounded by rising inequality and the perception that the city’s dis-tinct language and culture are being threatened by ever-closer integra-tion with the Chinese mainland.

Anger towards the police is at record levels with offi cers increas-ingly seen as Beijing’s enforcers – although police deny using exces-sive force and say they are facing increasingly hardcore protesters.

New Singapore opposition party launched

A new opposition party backed by the estranged brother of Singapore’s

prime minister was launched yesterday in a fresh challenge to the government as specula-tion mounts elections could be called soon.

The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) – aiming to con-test an election due by 2021 but widely expected ear-lier – is led by Tan Cheng Bock, a medical doctor and former government stal-wart who once ran for presi-dent and nearly defeated the establishment candidate.

The group has received the support of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s brother, the latest sign of a bitter falling-out within the city-state’s fi rst family over their father’s legacy.

The rare row within Singa-pore’s elite erupted following the 2015 death of the men’s father, revered founding lead-er Lee Kuan Yew, who led the country for three decades.

Under his People’s Action Party (PAP), Singapore trans-formed from a gritty port into one of Asia’s most advanced economies – although au-thorities also faced criticism for curtailing civil liberties and free speech.

Speaking to hundreds of supporters at a hotel ball-room and live on social media, the 79-year-old Tan decried what he said was a climate of fear preventing people from speaking up.

He also claimed there was an “erosion of trust” be-tween the government and

citizens due to lack of trans-parency, independence, and accountability.

Beneath Singapore’s gleam-ing skyscrapers “is an under-lying tale of disquiet,” he said, adding, “we cannot allow this current style of managing the country to go unchallenged”.

The group joins a handful of other parties seeking to take on the dominant PAP, but the fractious opposition – which has just six out of 89 elected seats in parliament – is not viewed as a serious threat.

However, backing from the premier’s sibling, Lee Hsien Yang, could provide a boost to Tan.

In January, 62-year-old business executive Lee, who did not attend the PSP launch, said in a Facebook post that Tan was “the leader Singapore deserves”.

In a separate post, he wrote PAP had lost its way and was no longer the party of his father.

During a press conference last week, Tan said he may be willing to take Lee into the party formally.

Lee’s association with the party can boost Tan’s profi le as “one of the ‘nice’ people to have represented the PAP during its glory days,” said Michael Barr, a Singapore politics specialist at Flinders University in Australia.

AFPSingapore

11 dead, three missing afterboats capsize in PhilippinesAFPManila

Eleven people died and three others were missing after three passenger boats capsized in rough seas off the central Philippines yesterday, authorities said.Sixty-three survivors were plucked from the water after huge waves swamped the boats in the Guimaras Strait, regional police chief Rene Pamuspusan told reporters.All three vessels plied the short 20-minute hop between the port city of Iloilo and the island of Guimaras,

with two of the accidents happening almost the same time around noon, forcing the coast guard to temporarily shut down ferry services.Services resumed in the afternoon, which was when the third boat capsized, the coast guard said.“The winds and the waves suddenly became strong,” coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo told reporters.Seasonal southwest monsoons have churned up the seas on the western section of the Philippines over the past week.Six of the dead were yet to be identified, the rest being Filipinos.

Philippine Red Cross posted pictures of two of the vessels on social media, showing one turned upside down as rescuers swam nearby, while the other was almost completely sunk with just the bow above water.The Southeast Asian archipelago nation has a poor shipping safety record, with scores dying in mishaps at sea each year, usually aboard wooden-hulled outriggers that move people from one small island to another.Boat accidents historically spike during the middle of the year when the country is hit with most of its annual average of 20 storms and typhoons.

Tan Cheng Bock gestures at the party’s launch in Singapore yesterday.

Quake kills 4 in Indonesia

A powerful undersea earthquake that struck off the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java has killed four peo-

ple and damaged hundreds of buildings, the nation’s disaster agency said yesterday.

Indonesia issued a tsunami warning within min-utes of the 6.8-magnitude quake on Friday night. The warning lasted two hours and sent people liv-ing along the coastline fl eeing to higher ground.

The strong quake was felt in the capital Jakarta and people rushed out of high-rise buildings.

Four people died, some of heart attack or fa-tigue, as people rushed away from the coastline, Agus Wibowo, spokesman of the disaster mit-igation agency told a news briefi ng. Four oth-ers were injured, and more than 200 buildings were damaged by the quake, he said.

Many of the people who took to higher ground, including about 1,000 taking shelter in the gubernatorial offi ce in the Lampung province, had returned home, Wibowo said.

The US Geological Survey put the epicentre in the Indian Ocean about 227km (141 miles) from the city of Teluk Betung on Sumatra.

This lies along the Sunda fault, where researchers have long found a potential for a megathrust quake, Wibowo said, referring to a very large earthquake that occurs in a region where one of the earth’s tectonic plates is thrust under another. (Reuters)

China: Progress on ties with Australia ‘unsatisfactory’

The progress of repair-ing China-Australia ties, strained over Canberra’s

concerns about Chinese infl u-ence in its domestic aff airs, has been “unsatisfactory,” said Chi-na’s top diplomat after meeting his Australian counterpart.

“During our diplomatic and strategic dialogue in Beijing last November, we agreed to calibrate and relaunch China-Australia rela-tions, but the process of improving our ties has not been satisfactory,” said State Councillor Wang Yi after the Bangkok meeting on the side-lines of a regional security forum.

Beijing says it never interferes in the internal aff airs of another country.

Wang said he hoped China’s relations with Australia could be back on track as soon as possible, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

Both countries have no his-torical grievances and funda-mental confl icts of interests and their interests are highly complementary, said Wang.

China is Australia’s major trad-ing partner and while there are dif-fi culties in bilateral ties, Australia is willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with China on the basis of mutual respect, the statement cited Payne as saying.

Australia has banned Chinese telecommunications equipment-maker Huawei from supplying its 5G mobile networks over security concerns and is seeking to coun-ter China’s emerging infl uence in the South Pacifi c islands.

ReutersBeijing/Canberra

Maldives police arrest ex-vice president after India denies entryMaldives police yesterday said they had arrested former vice-president Ahmed Adeeb and were bringing him to the capital Male after he was refused entry to India.Adeeb, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2016 for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Maldives’

then-president Abdulla Yameen, was detained early on Thursday in the southern Indian city of Thoothukudi after arriving illegally by tugboat.“We would like to confirm that Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor of H Saamaraa has been arrested and is

being transported to Male under our custody,” Maldives police said in a Twitter post.An Indian port off icial in Thoothukudi said Adeeb had been sent back to the Maldives late on Friday on a boat escorted by a coast guard vessel. (Reuters)

BRITAIN


English councils have been told to designate a “Brexit lead” to work with central

government to prepare for the possibility that the UK will leave

the European Union with no deal at the end of October.

However, a £20mn funding pledge to help authorities step up preparations was immediately described as an “insult”, as the ministry for housing, communi-ties and local government (MH-CLG) was forced to concede that the full amount had already been pledged in previous announce-ments.

In the new policy announced yesterday, Robert Jenrick, the re-cently-appointed communities

secretary, instructed authorities to appoint staff in every commu-nity to plan intensively for Brexit with local stakeholders.

The funding was being made available for communications as well as for recruiting and training new staff , Jenrick said.

Offi cials were considering how best to allocate the cash to en-sure that those areas facing more acute potential stresses, such as ports of entry, get the funding they need.

Shared equally, it would

amount to about £57,000 for each of England’s 353 councils and combined authorities, ac-cording to the Guardian’s calcu-lation.

The Labour MP Jess Phil-lips said: “The idea that £20mn across the 353 main councils of England is enough to prepare, is an insult to our intelligence and to the hard work of public serv-ants struggling with the con-sequences of the government’s decision to force a vicious Brexit on us.”

Criticism intensifi ed after a MHCLG spokeswoman admit-ted that half the pledged fund-ing comes from Chancellor Sajid Javid’s £2.1bn announcement on Thursday.

The other half comes from funding announced by the de-partment in January, she added.

“This off ers no new money and no new ideas for how to address the cliff -edge councils are fac-ing,” Andrew Gwynne, the shad-ow communities secretary, said.

The Liberal Democrat MP

Christine Jardine added: “This extra money is a drop in the ocean for cash-strapped coun-cils desperately concerned about what no-deal Brexit will mean for crucial public services in their areas.”

Councils across the country welcomed the funding but high-lighted the shortfall they are al-ready facing.Kevin Bentley, the chairman of the Brexit taskforce at the Local Government As-sociation, said: “With councils already facing a funding gap of

more than £3bn in 2019/20, it is more important now than ever that councils receive the re-sources they need for their ongo-ing Brexit preparations.

“There remains information and advice gaps that councils are facing while helping their com-munities prepare, which need to be met by the government.

“Councils also need certainty to plan for their communities over the longer term, such as on the domestic replacement for EU funding.”

All English councils told to appoint ‘Brexit lead’Order comes as £20mn funding pledge to help authorities step up preparations is described as ‘insult’

By Damien GayleGuardian News & Media

Anti-fascist counter-pro-testers declared that Tom-my Robinson supporters

“can’t march unopposed”, as op-posing demonstrations were kept apart by police in central London yesterday.

Singing “We want Tommy out”, hundreds of supporters of the jailed far-right activist con-gregated at Oxford Circus under strict conditions imposed by the Metropolitan police which lim-ited the groups to specifi c areas and a certain time period.

However, those conditions were almost immediately broken by a number of pro-Robinson demonstrators who moved off and marched partway down Ox-ford Street before making their way down Regent Street in the direction of Piccadilly Circus chanting “Oh Tommy, Tommy”.

Just before 4pm, dozens of Robinson supporters approached Downing Street before police in-tervened, raised their batons and appeared to make arrests after a tense stand-off .

The disorder on Whitehall fol-lowed chaotic scenes earlier in the day when Robinson’s sup-porters pelted a police van with missiles on Regent Street.

Offi cers also drew batons outside the BBC headquarters where they formed a line to repel hundreds of pro-Robinson sup-porters who moved towards the counter-demonstration.

Crowds listened to vari-ous speakers outside All Souls church, where a bus was parked

with Robinson’s face displayed along the side, as a fl ag earing the symbol of Generation Identity, a far-right pan-European group linked to racist attacks, was waved on the stage.

Earlier, a smaller group of Robinson supporters attempted to blindside police and shouted insults at anti-racist protesters from the cover of bushes, as of-fi cers stood just between them.

Stand Up to Racism said rising bigotry and Islamophobia at the top of society was emboldening racists.

Carrying a large banner say-ing “The enemy does not arrive by boat, he arrives by limousine, no to fortress Britain”, counter-protesters from a number of anti-racist groups chanted “Nazi scum off our streets”.

“We’re opposing them wher-ever they go on the rampage stok-ing hatred,” said Lewis Nielsen from Stand Up To Racism, who organised the demonstration, estimated to number about 1,000 people. “We’re saying they can’t march unopposed in London. They’re trying to whip up racism and Islamophobia.

“We’re going to see off Tommy Robinson.”

He said acolytes of Robin-son, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had been em-boldened by US President Don-ald Trump, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and right-wing leaders across Europe.

“They see someone like John-son in No 10 talking their lan-guage, referring to Muslim women as bank robbers and let-terboxes, and black people as piccaninnies with watermelon smiles. He’s a nasty racist who is playing the Trump card. The far-right see him and take confi dence from it.”

Before the protests, the Met said anyone breaching the con-

ditions set could be arrested and prosecuted.

At 2.30pm, the Met press bu-reau said the police were not aware of any arrests.

Commander Kyle Gordon, who was leading the operation, said: “I have a full policing operation in place and we will be proactive in ensuring any impact on our communities is minimised, while ensuring anyone who is intent on violence is dealt with swiftly and robustly.”

Robinson was handed a nine-month sentence last month after a judge ruled that he had been in contempt of court when he lives-treamed events outside a court-house in Leeds where a group of men faced trial over the sexual exploitation of young girls.

Anti-fascist activists clash with far-rightStand Up To Racism says rising bigotry at the top of society is emboldening the far-right

By Mattha Busby and Damien GayleGuardian News & Media

Off icers grapple with supporters of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson in central London yesterday.

Counter-protesters from ‘Stop Tommy Robinson’ and ‘Stand up to Racism’ let off smoke canisters as they demonstrate against a march in support of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, in central London.

Residents of the Derbyshire town that was evacuated after a dam threatened to

burst have been allowed back into their homes for short, “con-trolled” visits to pick up pets and other essentials.

Derbyshire police took the “diffi cult” decision to allow one person from each of the 400 Whaley Bridge properties evacu-ated on Thursday to return for a 15-minute visit yesterday.

At the Horwich End traffi c lights at the Buxton end of the town, cars lined up patiently to be let through the police block-ade.

Offi cers have attempted to stop people entering the steep-sided village from all directions since Thursday afternoon, when a month and a half’s rainfall fell on the Derbyshire hills in just 48 hours, causing massive damage

to the 180-year-old dam at Tod-dbrook reservoir.

Engineers deemed there was a “substantial risk to life” should the reservoir fail, prompting the evacuation of the lower quarter of the town.

Ania Hill had been worrying about her cat, Slippers, ever since the evacuation.

She was relieved to fi nd him alive but distressed.

He had not gone hungry after a neighbour managed to throw him food through the letterbox.

“He was quite upset, I’ve had to put him in the dark in the boot to calm him down,” she said, after her personal rescue mission.

Police had stipulated that only one person per household would be allowed through the cordon.

Visits were to be timed, with residents signing in and out.

But in practice, many peo-ple had brought their friend or spouse and took far longer than their allotted 15 minutes, as an RAF Chinook helicopter ferried bags of aggregate above their heads to drop on the damaged dam.

Gill and Martin Shaw, who live on Buxton Road, the main road through the town, took the op-

portunity to pop home and move more belongings upstairs – fur-niture and Gill’s collection of or-naments.

Like many residents, they take seriously the warning from engi-neers, who said on Friday night that they remained “very con-cerned” about the integrity of the structure, despite an extensive pumping operation having re-duced water levels in Toddbrook reservoir by half a metre.

They were also worried about looters after Martin popped back on Friday night to see two men trying to break into his shed.

“It was two fellas, their trou-sers all wet – I think they must have entered the village via the River Goyt, which runs right be-hind our house,” said Martin.

Derbyshire police said it would look into the claims of looting, with a press offi cer saying that she was unaware of problems of that nature following the mass evacuation.

Fred Salmon, who runs the Bike Factory shop, right in the centre of the town, arrived with his van, hoping to bundle as many bicycles in the back as he could.

Another woman, rushing too

much to give her name, speed-walked to her house to pick up her passport: she was off on holi-day later in the day.

Dan Curley, the landlord of the Cock pub on Buxton Road, was fi nally allowed back to fetch his spectacles, having spent the fi rst 36 hours after the evacuation with a splitting headache.

Ruth George, the local Labour MP, who lives just outside Wha-ley Bridge, arrived to fi nd out the latest.

She said she had written to Boris Johnson, the prime minis-ter, on Friday night following his visit to Whaley Bridge.

He told local residents that he had fl own over the dam and thought it was “dodgy but sta-ble” and assured them they would all be rehoused should the worst happen.

In her letter to Johnson, George asked him to ensure a “proper in-vestigation” into why the reser-voir dam had been damaged and to ensure it can’t happen again.

“It’s not just about the emer-gency situation, as important as that is. Whaley Bridge as a town needs to be able to feel safe for the long term and we need to know what the options are.”

She commended the emergen-cy services but warned that the situation remained critical, with poor weather expected.

“We’re expecting lots and lots of rain over the next few days so I can quite understand the au-thorities not being prepared to

say it’s safe until those storms have gone.”

The environment minister Thérèse Coff ey said the situation remained in a “critical stage” yesterday as she issued a message to residents.

“I cannot emphasise enough

how patient they need to be,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Of course this is a distressing and worrying time for them, but if that dam were to breach it would lead to a loss of life if there were people there. There’s no doubt about that.”

Whaley Bridge residentsallowed 15 minutes at homePeople evacuated from town threatened by damaged dam make ‘controlled’ visits to pick up pets and other essentials

By Helen PiddGuardian News & Media

This picture taken on Friday shows a Chinook helicopter transporting sand bags over Whaley Bridge town.Evacuated residents of the town were allowed 15 minutes yesterday to retrieve essentials from their homes.

A 38-year-old man has died in hospital follow-ing an accident on an

electric skateboard.Bradley Visser was taken to

hospital after he was seriously injured in the village of Stoke Row in Oxfordshire on July 17.

He died 10 days later, Thames Valley police said.

His death was the second recent fatal collision involving a “powered transporter” in the UK despite the fact the vehi-cles are illegal, as calls grow for their use to be allowed.

The force said no other ve-hicle was believed to have been involved and that investiga-tions into the death were ongo-ing.

Police named Visser and said his next of kin were being sup-ported by specially trained of-fi cers.

Reports said he suff ered se-rious head injuries and was taken to hospital by air ambu-lance.

“This was a tragic incident which has resulted in a man losing his life,” police offi cer Mark Dunne said. “I would like to continue to ask anyone who saw this incident, or who has

any other information relating to it, to please come forward.

“We do not believe that there were any other vehicles in-volved, but if you saw Mr Viss-er using his skateboard shortly before this incident, we would like to hear from you.”

There has been heightened scrutiny on the use of such ve-hicles after the fi rst fatal colli-sion involving an e-scooter in Britain last month.

The TV presenter and YouTube star Emily Hartridge died when her e-scooter col-lided with a lorry at a rounda-bout in southwest London.

The next day a 14-year-old boy suff ered a serious head in-jury after crashing into a bus stop in southeast London.

The Department for Trans-port restated yesterday that the use of e-scooters and electric skateboards was illegal.

“It is illegal to use a pow-ered transporter on a public road without complying with a number of legal requirements, which potential users will fi nd very diffi cult,” offi cial guidance said.

“Any person who uses a powered transporter on a pub-lic road or other prohibited space in breach of the law is committing a criminal off ence and can be prosecuted.”

Second death in one month after electric skateboard accidentBy Mattha BusbyGuardian News & Media

Heathrow airport cancels 172 flightsLondon’s Heathrow Airport cancelled over 100 flights ahead of planned two-day strike next week, British media reported on Friday.Unite, Britain’s largest union, said its 4,000 members overwhelmingly rejected a revised pay deal ahead of crunch talks between the union and Heathrow Airport bosses, with plans of a walkout tomorrow and on Tuesday likely to go ahead.The airport, Britain’s biggest, pre-emptively cancelled 172 flights as last minute talks to avoid the action were being held, according to British newspapers the Telegraph and the Independent.In a statement, the union warned Heathrow bosses “against opting to pay millions of pounds in compensation to airlines for cancelled flights and causing passenger misery, rather than going the extra mile to give hardworking staff a fair pay rise”.Unite has warned that some 88,000 passengers could be disrupted if 20% of flights are cancelled tomorrow and on Tuesday, amounting to compensation of about £2.3mn ($2.8mn) for the airlines aff ected.

EUROPE11Gulf Times


Russian police detained more than 800 people at-tending a protest in Mos-

cow yesterday to demand free elections, including prominent activist Lyubov Sobol, after au-thorities warned that the dem-onstration was illegal.

Police removed Sobol from a taxi and bundled her into a van minutes before the start of what anti-Kremlin activists described as a peaceful walk to protest against the exclusion of their candidates from an election next month.

Soon after the start of the protest, a Reuters reporter saw several hundred people milling around at one of the designated protest points in central Moscow.

Minutes later, a line of riot po-lice began to squeeze people out of the area.

OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group, said police had detained 828 people, in some cases beating them with trun-cheons as they lay on the fl oor.

Reuters reporters witnessed dozens of arrests.

In one case police carried off a man as he clung upside down to his bicycle.

Police said they had detained 600 and said 1,500 had attended the protest, though footage of demonstrations which fl ared in diff erent parts of Moscow sug-gested many more had taken part.

Yesterday’s protest was small-er than one a week earlier, but underlined the determination of some Kremlin critics – especially younger people – to keep press-ing to open up Russia’s tightly-choreographed political system.

The focus of the protest-ers’ anger is a prohibition on a number of opposition-minded candidates, some of whom are allies of jailed opposition politi-cian Alexei Navalny, from taking part in a September election for

Moscow’s city legislature.That vote, though local, is seen

as a dry run for a national parlia-mentary election in 2021.

Authorities say opposi-tion candidates failed to collect enough genuine signatures to register.

The excluded candidates say that is a lie and insist on taking part in a contest they believe they could win.

“They (the authorities) are wiping their feet on us,” said Elena, a student attending yes-terday’s protest.

Another attendee, Yevgeny Snetkov, a 61-year-old engineer, described as brazen the way the

authorities had prevented oppo-sition candidates from running.

“I had no option left but to protest,” he said.

Some protesters chanted “Pu-tin is a thief” as they marched.

Observers said the police pres-ence was one of the biggest at such a protest in nearly a decade.

Mobile Internet access was cut in some areas and police cordoned off swathes of central Moscow to stop people gather-ing.

At a similar protest in Moscow a week earlier, police detained more than 1,300 in one of the biggest security operations of recent years that brought wide

international condemnation.Authorities carried out a new

round of detentions and home searches before yesterday’s pro-test and opened criminal pro-ceedings for what they term mass civil unrest, an off ence which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in jail.

Activists say the Russian con-stitution allows them to freely protest.

However, authorities say they need to agree the timing and lo-cation of any demonstrations in advance, something that was not done ahead of yesterday’s pro-test.

Opposition activists say the

authorities have repeatedly re-fused to allow protests in central Moscow, leaving them with no choice but to go ahead anyway.

At least eight of Sobol’s allies, including Navalny, are in jail for breaking tough protest laws.

The ruling United Russia dom-inates the national parliament and Navalny plus his allies are starved of media air-time.

Russian investigators said yesterday that they had opened a criminal investigation into the alleged laundering of 1bn roubles ($15.3mn) by an anti-corruption foundation which Navalny set up.

Navalny and his allies say the foundation is transparently fi -nanced from public donations.

President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have not commented on the stand-off with the oppo-sition, but Moscow prosecutors on Friday warned would-be pro-testers that the planned demon-stration had not been approved and that its organisers could be brought to account.

At well over 60%, Putin’s ap-proval rating is still high com-pared with many other world leaders, but is lower than it used to be due to discontent over years of falling incomes.

Last year the 66-year-old former KGB intelligence offi cer won a landslide re-election and a new six-year term until 2024.

People take part in a rally calling for opposition candidates to be registered for elections to Moscow City Duma, the capital’s regional parliament, in Moscow.

Hundreds arrested at rally in MoscowReutersMoscow

Riot police off icers detain a journalist during an unsanctioned rally demanding fair elections at Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square.

Police off icers detain opposition politician Lyubov Sobol on her way to an unsanctioned rally urging fair elections in downtown Moscow.

Police fi red teargas and used water cannons against pro-testers in Nantes yesterday

as skirmishes broke out on the fringes of a demonstration and tributes to a young man who disappeared and drowned in the western French city.

The death of Steve Canico has become a fresh focal point for protests and scrutiny over polic-ing methods in France.

The 24-year-old disappeared in late June at a concert where police clashed with revellers by the riverbank in Nantes.

His body was found in the Loire River earlier this week.

Tributes to Canico planned for yesterday morning coincided with calls for a broader march to denounce police brutality.

That was attended by several hundred people.

Small groups of people, wear-ing bandanas on their faces and masks, used chairs to erect barri-cades in a square, set fi re to piles of debris and hedges, and threw rocks at police, French television showed.

A handful ripped up a street sign and used it to try to bash in the door of a building, according to the footage.

By mid-afternoon, around 40 people had been arrested, local authorities said.

Some parts of the city centre were declared off limits to dem-onstrators ahead of time, amid concerns there could be unrest

if so-called black bloc hooligans joined the march.

“Yellow vest” demonstrators, who have been leading anti-government marches for several months across France, had also called on social media for people

to take part in the protest.Canico went missing on the

night of June 21 to 22, when he attended a late-night open-air techno concert.

The exact circumstances and timing of Canico’s disappearance

and death are still unclear.Police fi red tear gas to disperse

party-goers and end scuffl es af-ter the event ran over its allotted time.

Fourteen people fell into the river.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe released a report on Tuesday, saying that no link had been found between the police intervention and Canico’s disap-pearance.

The disappearance – which prompted fi ve weeks of protests and calls of “Where Is Steve?” on social media until his body was found – has become a fresh ral-lying cry for anger in France at police tactics.

Authorities had been al-ready criticised by rights groups for excessive use of force and crowd control weapons during the height of the “yellow vest” movement.

Canico’s family distanced it-self from yesterday’s demon-strations and did not take part in gatherings, fearing that they might descend into violence, their lawyer Cecile de Oliveira told France Info radio.

“Steve was apparently some-one who was particularly peace-ful, calm and gentle,” she said. “These types of violent fl are-ups were totally unlike him, and he hated them.”

French police clash with protesters after man’s deathReutersParis

People confront riot mobile gendarmes in Nantes during a protest called in memory of Steve Maia Caniço, whose body was found in the River Loire a month after he went missing during a police raid on a music festival.

Today a French inventor will make his second at-tempt to cross the Eng-

lish Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard he designed, hav-ing abandoned a previous bid after failing to land on a refu-elling platform and falling into the sea.

Franky Zapata, who wowed crowds during France’s Bastille Day celebrations on July 14 by soaring over a military parade in Paris on the device, said he had changed refuelling ar-rangements to give himself the best chance of a successful crossing.

“I just want to do it this time, we changed the boat, we took a bigger boat and built a bigger platform,” Zapata told a news conference yesterday just outside the northern port of Calais.

He will be carrying enough kerosene in his backback to fuel the hoverboard for about 10 minutes of fl ight, and as on

his failed July 25 crossing will need to strap on a new supply for the second leg of his jour-ney.

He is expected to take off from France at around 0600 GMT, making fi rst for the re-fuelling vessel mid-way across the 35-km wide Strait of Dover.

A champion on jetski-powered waterboards, Zapata steers his Flyboard Air craft which fl ies at up to 140kph by leaning forward or backward, and controls thrust with a throttle connected to his 1,500 horsepower board.

“I hope to see you in Eng-land, for another press confer-ence,” Zapata told reporters. “I hope I will be drier than last time.”

French hoverboard inventor readiessecond Channel bidReutersSangatte, France

Zapata: I hope to see you in England, for another press conference.

32 dolphins, two whales found dead off Tuscany since early this yearThirty-two dolphins and two whales have been found dead off the Tuscan coast since the beginning of the year, the Italian region’s environmental protection agency said on Friday.Autopsies showed many had stopped feeding, suggesting they had been hit by a virus, possibly measles, experts said.Over just four days at the end of July the bodies of six dolphins were found, the agency’s spokesman Marco Talluri told AFP.“We analysed the stomachs of eight specimens and found that they were half empty, as if the animals had not eaten for two or three days,” said Italian biologist Cecilia Mancusi, an expert from the ARPAT environmental agency.The dead cetaceans included bottlenose and stenella dolphins and a sperm whale.“This could indicate that the dolphins had not been doing well for some time, and that it could be a virus like measles, which caused hundreds of dolphin deaths throughout Italy in 2013,” she was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera daily.Results of tests performed on the carcasses were not expected before the end of August.A 2008 to 2018 study found that on average around 18 marine mammals are found dead each year off Tuscany.

More pilot whales discovered in new mysterious Iceland stranding

Some 20 pilot whales have died stranded in mysterious circumstances on the southwestern coast of Iceland, emergency services said yesterday, only two weeks after a similarly unexplained mass stranding had already killed dozens of the long-finned cetaceans.The dead whales, part of a group of 50 stranded whales, were discovered late on Friday near Gardur, some 50km (31 miles) from the capital Reykjavik.According to Icelandic media, locals began rescue eff orts to save the whales even before emergency teams arrived.“Around 90 volunteers worked all night to keep the animals wet,” David Mar Bjarnason, a spokesman for the Icelandic research and rescue association, told AFP.By 0800 GMT the last of the surviving whales were back in deep water.“We had to wait for high tide to get them back into the sea,” Bjarnason said.Pilot whales are relatively plentiful, with their stock in the Atlantic estimated at between 500,000 and 800,000 animals.Last month more than 50 dead stranded whales were discovered by tourists on a remote beach in the west of the north Atlantic island nation.

Seven arrested in Italy over last year’s nightclub stampede that left six dead

Seven suspected members of a gang of thieves have been arrested over a stampede at a rap concert in central Italy which left six dead and dozens injured, prosecutors said yesterday.Six of the group are accused of using a pepper spray-like substance at the venue in the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona, in December last year in a bid to take advantage of the disorder and steal valuables, said Chief Prosecutor of Ancona, Monica Garulli, who is in charge of the investigation.“They are youths aged between 19 and 22 who took advantage of busy concerts to commit the crimes by using an irritant spray,” Garulli said.The seventh is accused of receiving stolen goods.The victims included three girls and two boys, aged between 14 and 16, and a 39-year-old woman who accompanied her daughter to the club.Some 120 people were also injured.

Turkey watchdog granted powers to oversee all online content

Turkey has granted its radio and television watchdog sweeping oversight over all online content, including streaming platforms like Netflix and online news outlets.The move was initially approved by Turkey’s parliament in March last year, with support from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party and its nationalist ally.The regulation, published in Turkey’s Off icial Gazette on Thursday, mandates all online content providers to obtain broadcasting licences from RTUK, which will then supervise the content put out by the providers.Aside from streaming giant Netflix, other platforms like local streaming websites PuhuTV and BluTV, which in recent years have produced popular shows, will be subject to supervision and potential fines or loss of their licence.In addition to subscription services like Netflix, free online news outlets which rely on advertising for their revenues will also be subject to the same measures.

12 Gulf TimesSunday, August 4, 2019

INDIA

IAS offi cer held for road accident deathIANSThiruvananthapuram

An IAS officer in Ker-ala has been arrested over a road accident

in which a journalist was killed yesterday. He has been charged under non-bailable sections.

Sreeram Venkitaraman ac-companied by his lady friend Waha Firoz was returning after a late-night party when their car hit K M Basheer who was on his scooter.

Basheer, 35, bureau chief of the Siraj newspaper, was re-turning home around 12.45am when the accident happened in the high security zone area of the state capital. He died on the spot.

Venkitaraman, the direc-tor of Surveys, was driving at high speed and was under the

influence of alcohol, police said.

The police arrested him from a hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for in-juries received in the accident. He is likely to be shifted to the state-run medical college hos-pital.

He was arrested after the police questioned Firoz. She told the police the car belonged to her but was driven by Venki-taraman.

Surprisingly, many CCTV cameras on the road where the accident took place and is used by VVIPs including the chief minister and the governor, were not working, the police claimed.

A witness to the accident said the car was speeding when it hit the bike. The driver was under the infl uence of alcohol and a lady was with him, the eyewitness added.

4 students drown as rains continue to pound MumbaiIANSMumbai

Four college girls drowned in a raging waterfall in Navi Mumbai yesterday as the

entire coastal Maharashtra expe-rienced torrential rains.

The region went on a high alert for the next 72 hours, offi cials said.

Three teenaged students – Arti Nair, Neha Dama and Shweta Nand, students of SIES College in Nerul, Navi Mumbai – who skipped lectures for an impromp-tu picnic to the treacherous Pan-davakada Waterfalls, drowned yesterday morning.

The details of another victim, Neha Ashok Jain, who hailed from Chembur are not known.

Kharghar police said the bodies of Arti Naik and Neha Dama have been recovered and a search was on to trace the other two victims.

For the second consecu-tive weekend, heavy rain lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad

and Ratnagiri, hitting life and road traffi c.

However, suburban trains and fl ights were not largely aff ected.

A 78m-long and 1,478 tonne cargo ship from Hazira, Gujarat, went adrift owing to heavy rains and was washed on the rocky shores of Vangaon village in Pal-ghar early yesterday.

Vangaon police chief Rahul Patil and ship’s captain V V Nair said there the 13 crew members on board were safe. They also said the ship had enough food and water on board and was awaiting help from the Surat-based owners Eco Pronch Logistics Ltd.

The ship’s propellers and the hull have reportedly suff ered damage as it hit the rocks in the Arabian Sea at 4am, paralysing the vessel.

In another incident, a fire due to suspected electrical short circuit broke out in Navrang Building in the congested Abdul Rehman Street in south Mum-bai. Three women and a man who were trapped in the smoke were rescued safely.

However, at least three fi remen suff ered injuries due to suff oca-tion and were hospitalised.

Mumbai, which has been expe-riencing virtually incessant rains for 10 days, witnessed a fresh spell of heavy downpour from mid-night, with many low-lying areas in the city and suburbs, subways and arterial roads submerged un-der 3 to 4ft of water, severely dis-rupting traffi c.

Water-logging was reported from many areas in Nala Sopara, Vasai, Virar, Vikramgad (Palghar district), Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane City, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Titwala, Ulhasnagar (Thane), Roha, Pali, Mangaon, Karjat, Pen, Panvel (Raigad), and Man-dangad, Chiplun, Dapoli (Ratna-giri).

In Mumbai, several areas in Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri, San-tacruz, Khar, Bandra, Matunga, Parel, Dadar, Kings Circle, Sion, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar, AKurla, Bhandup, Mulund and other parts were fl ooded resulting in huge traffi c snarls.

Panic sets inValley amid shortage offood itemsIANSSrinagar

Provisions are fast vanish-ing from the shelves of departmental stores and

even from small grocery stores in towns and villages across Kash-mir Valley. Petrol pumps are going dry as unending queues of cars, two-wheelers and even people carrying cans hope that supplies would come and they would be the fi rst to have their vehicle tanks and cans fi lled.

Hospitals have been alerted to keep their necessary comple-ment of doctors present at emer-gencies and for patients. ATMs across Srinagar city and in dis-tricts like Ganderbal, Badgam, Pulwama, Kulgam, Baramulla, Shopian, Kupwara and Sopore town are running out of cash as people fear long hours of curfews could be imminent.

“Ambulances have been made ready to cope with emergencies. We have been advised to lodge at places close to the hospital or at hospital quarters”, said Dr Nisar Shah, a super specialist at Srina-gar’s largest hospital, the SMHS Hospital.

Ali Mohamed Dar has a brick kiln in Chadura area of Badgam district. His skilled labourers had arrived in April, like every previous year, to do their work in the valley before cold sets in.

“Our business is fi nished this year. All my skilled labour from Uttar Pradesh have left out of panic. No local resident engages in brick kilns in the valley as both unskilled and skilled labour-ers come from outside the state. What do we do now?” asked Dar.

Dar is no exception to scores of other brick kiln owners and other small businessmen whose live-lihood depends entirely on the availability of staff from other states. Even the transplanting of paddy crop, de-weeding and har-vesting of the crop in autumn is done in the valley for the last many years by labourers from West Ben-gal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

“Most of our barbers, carpen-ters, masons, painters come from outside the state. They have start-ed leaving”, said Noor Mohamed Wani, a retired bank offi cer.

“Don’t know whether there is going to be a war or some-thing else”, says Showkat Ahmad Wani, a retired power develop-ment commissioner who lives in Shivpora area of Srinagar.

Parents and anxious mothers have been advising their children not to venture outside if there is a clampdown.

“Would nothing work? Are mobile phones, Internet and even fi xed landline phones going to stop functioning? That would be hell if this happens and nobody can step out of home”, said Elizabeth Mar-yam, who teaches economics at the University of Kashmir.

Meanwhile, former minis-ter and senior Congress leader Karan Singh said cancelling the Amarnath Yatra over security threat was “unprecedented”.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Singh said: “In my 70 years of public life, I have never seen a situation like this in J&K where even the Amarnath Yatra had to be called off . This will leave a deep impact on the pilgrims, who have come from all parts of the country. This is unprecedented.”

He said the government has not given any concrete reason behind its decision asking the pilgrims and tourists to leave.

“An atmosphere of fear and apprehension has seized the Kashmir Valley today as every-body there is in a state of panic worrying if there would be any attack or something else. In the last few days, over 30,000 ad-ditional troops have been sent there,” he said.

Slamming the government, the Congress leader said, “I can-not see a worse situation in the state. The lives of thousands of Kashmiri people are linked with the Amarnath Yatra. Today’s sit-uation being created in Jammu and Kashmir will eventually lead to the end of all development works in the state” he said.

Anxious tourists are seen at the airport in Srinagar yesterday. Many airlines such as Air India, IndiGo and Vistara have waived rescheduling and cancellation charges for all flights to and from Srinagar.

Tourists fl ee Kashmir after ‘terror’ warningAgenciesSrinagar

Thousands of tourists and students scrambled to get places on planes and

buses leaving Kashmir yester-day after the Indian government warned of the threat of “terror” attacks.

Thousands of military rein-forcements were arriving in the state, where a three-decade old insurgency has left tens of thou-sands of dead.

The Jammu and Kashmir state government said late Friday that tourists should leave “imme-diately” because of new intel-ligence about “terror threats” to Amarnath Hindu pilgrimage in the region.

Anxious tourists, including some foreigners, fl ooded the air-port in Srinagar yesterday, many without tickets for fl ights.

Visitor numbers have been

boosted by the Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage, which draws hun-dreds of thousands of Hindus each year.

The pilgrimage has been can-celled because of the scare.

A huge security force had been guarding the route even before the alert.

A second smaller pilgrim-age, the Machail Mata Yatra, in Jammu region was also cancelled yesterday.

“Passengers who were sched-uled to return in coming days have turned up in panic at the airport today,” said the manager of one airline operating the Del-hi-Srinagar route.

“It’s chaotic and not many will manage seats unless there are additional fl ights.”

Hundreds of students from outside Kashmir were evacuated in buses.

“All the non-local students have left the campus for their respective states,” an adminis-

trative offi cial at the National Institute of Technology in Sri-nagar said.

A senior local government offi cial did not give a specifi c number, but he said most of the 20,000 Hindu pilgrims and In-dian tourists and the more than 200,000 labourers were leaving the region.

Around 60 international tour-ists arrived in Kashmir yester-day, however, the offi cial said.

Yesterday Germany and the UK issued advisories to their citizens discouraging them from travelling to Jammu and Kash-mir.

“Travellers staying in Kashmir (especially the Kashmir Valley and the Armanath Yatra Pil-grimage Route) are advised to leave Jammu and Kashmir,” the German ministry of foreign af-fairs said.

The UK’s foreign offi ce ad-vised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir with the exceptions

of travel by air to Jammu and within the city, and within the region of Ladakh

Kashmiri residents formed long lines outside petrol sta-tions, food stores and bank cash machines on Friday night after the alert was announced.

But the queues eased yesterday.India’s military head in Kash-

mir, Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, said Friday that a sniper gun and a mine with Pakistani markings had been found on the route of the Amar-nath Yatra.

“This proves Pakistani at-tempts to attack the Yatra,” said Singh, who has 500,000 forces in Kashmir battling the insur-gency.

The Indian government has admitted that 10,000 extra troops were sent to Kashmir a week ago.

Media reports Friday said a further 25,000 had been ordered there.

The government has declined to say how many are in the new reinforcements.

While military authorities and the state government high-lighted the security risk, Kash-mir politicians have raised fears that the troops are sign that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government could carry out a threat to scrap Article 35A of the constitution that guar-antees a special status for the state.

Political leaders in the state have warned that cancelling rights, which mean only state domiciles can buy land in the re-gion, could spark unrest.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said “unneces-sary panic” was being created by “rumours”.

Modi’s government has re-fused to say whether it is about to scrap the constitutional arti-cle, though he has often spoken against it.

Water from the Mithi river floods the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali as Mumbai continued to get torrential rains, yesterday.

A strike by Goa taxi drivers continued for the second day yesterday, as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured inbound tourists that his administration was “equipped” to handle the situation. “Our state administration is equipped to handle matters concerning the tourism industry. I want to assure tourists visiting Goa that there are adequate intra-state transport arrangements. Tourists, domestic as well as international, are most welcome to Goa!” Sawant tweeted yesterday. Earlier in the day, taxi union leader Bappa Korgaonkar was arrested for allegedly threatening a cab driver working for GoaMiles – a government-appointed cab aggregator service. He was later released on bail. “The strike will continue until the GoaMiles taxi aggregator service is scrapped by the government. I have been arrested on false charges,” Korgaonkar told reporters.

A 45-year-old man died while two others were injured after the truck in which they were travelling fell off a flyover in central Delhi, police said yesterday. The driver has been identified as Jallaluddin, a resident of Mewat, while the injured are Sarukh and Wazid who were coming from Maharashtra and going to Azadpur fruit and vegetables market. “We received a police control room call at around 2am informing about the incident. A team reached the spot and found that a truck with registration number RJ 14 GJ 9882 had fallen off the flyover near Ring Road bypass. We had to use gas cutters to cut through the truck in order to bring the three out,” said a senior police off icer. The three were rushed to a nearby hospital where Jallaluddin was declared dead while the other two are undergoing treatment.

Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue K N Govindacharya yesterday moved the Supreme Court seeking live streaming of the upcoming day-to-day proceedings in the Ayodhya dispute case. The Supreme Court on Friday announced that the mediation proceedings on resolving the Ayodhya dispute have failed and no amicable solution was found and as a result, the court will begin day-to-day hearings from August 6. Govindacharya’s advocate Virag Gupta said he would seek an urgent hearing on the plea from the court tomorrow. In his plea, Govindacharya has cited the Supreme Court’s September 2018 judgment which had ruled that SC proceedings must be live streamed. Gupta said that ruling came on a petition moved by the think tank Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC), and he himself had argued for the petitioner.

A Kerala police probe team yesterday seized a car used by Marxist legislator A M Shamsheer as part of investigation into the attempted murder rebel party member C O T Naseer. Naseer, a popular Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker, quit the party in 2015 and was an independent candidate from the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency. He survived the attack in May that happened a few days before the general elections. A few local CPM leaders were arrested who confessed that the conspiracy of the attack had taken place in the car, owned by Shamsheer’s brother, and used by the legislator. Kannur Lok Sabha member and senior Congress leader K Sudhakaran said: “All the evidence is there, but the police have not been able to unravel the conspiracy angle. We will pursue this case to its logical conclusion.”

A two-day compulsory ‘orientation programme’ focusing on maintaining discipline and good manners while attending parliamentary procedures for Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarians started yesterday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP working president J P Nadda are leading the closed-door programme, called BJP ‘Abhyas Varga’. According to sources, the main purpose behind the workshop is to urge lawmakers to maintain punctuality and discipline in parliament as many reportedly have a poor attendance record. The programme began with an inaugural speech by Nadda. In the evening, Shah talked about the role of lawmakers in parliament. Modi will address the workshop today. Earlier, Modi had instructed all ministers to reach off ice on time every morning and avoid working from home.

Goa taxi strike continues, CM says govt ‘equipped’

Driver killed, 2 injured as truck falls off flyover

SC urged to live streamAyodhya case hearing

Car used by legislator seized in murder attempt case

BJP holds compulsory ‘discipline’ class for MPs

PROTEST TRAGEDYDISPUTE INVESTIGATION POLITICS

PAKISTAN13Gulf Times


The Federal Board of Reve-nue (FBR) of Pakistan has extended the deadline, to

August 9, for fi ling of income tax returns for tax year 2018.

The tax authority has thus ex-tended the deadline eight times for the last fi scal year – unprece-dented in the history of the FBR.

Moreover, the fi ling of new re-turns for tax year 2019 will com-mence from next month as well.

Under the Income Tax Ordi-nance, the last date for fi ling of returns for any fi scal year is end September.

However, the dates have been extended to a maximum of mid-December in the past.

However, in the case of tax

year 2018, the last date has been extended several times, with various reasons cited to justify the extensions.

The deadline for tax year 2018 was fi rst extended from Septem-ber 30, 2018 to October 31, 2018. It was then extended till Novem-ber 30, and then to December 17, 2018.

On March 16 this year, the government extended the last date for fi ling of income tax re-turns retrospectively, from De-cember 17, 2018 to March 31.

This deadline was extended further to April 30.

With the announcement of the tax amnesty scheme, the government further extended the deadline to June 30, to pro-vide an opportunity to all those who planned to avail of the am-nesty scheme to fi le their returns for the tax year 2018 as well.

Furthermore, after the gov-ernment initiated a drive under

the Benami Law to register peo-ple, the last date for fi ling of tax return was extended till August 2.

The FBR has received more than 2.2mn tax returns for the fi rst time in its history, but the government has set a target of 4mn income tax returns for the tax year 2019.

Meanwhile, the tax author-ity has decided to enforce a new taxation regime, from this fi s-cal year, for Pakistanis who stay abroad for a certain period in a year, ending the possibility of litigation that could aff ect the revenue collection.

Rectifying a mistake in its pre-vious circular issued on Tues-day, the FBR issued the “corri-gendum to circular” to illustrate important legal changes that were introduced in the budget 2019-20.

The new defi nition of “resi-dent Pakistani” would take ef-

fect from tax year 2020 – the fi s-cal year 2019-20 – according to the FBR’s new circular.

Now a person will be treated as “resident Pakistani”, and thus liable to pay income tax, if he stays in Pakistan for four months – down from six months.

The earlier circular had said that the FBR gave eff ect to the change in the defi nition of “resi-dent Pakistani” for tax purposes from previous fi scal year, that is 2018-19.

The Express Tribune had pointed out this legal defi ciency, which the FBR rectifi ed.

Prior to the Finance Act 2019, an individual was treated as a “resident individual” for a tax year if the person was present in Pakistan for a period of 183 days (over six months) or more in a tax year.

Now, this period has been re-duced to four months, which means a person will have to stay

abroad for eight months to claim tax-free status.

Instead of giving eff ect to this change from July 1, 2019 – the beginning of fi scal year 2019-20 – the FBR had made the change eff ective from tax year 2019, which was fi scal year 2018-19 that ended in June, the circular issued on Tuesday showed.

After the issuance of the cir-cular, legal and tax experts had warned the authorities con-cerned that giving eff ect to the new regime for such Pakistanis from fi scal year 2018-19 would give rise to litigation, forcing the FBR to address the lacuna.

However, it did not change its position on the question of cal-culating aggregate 365 days stay abroad in four preceding years – another amendment brought in the defi nition of a “resident Pakistani” in the budget.

Its illustration showed that the aggregate stay period of 365

days for four years will take ef-fect from tax year 2016.

Legal experts argue that this change should take eff ect from tax year 2024.

However, the FBR believes that it was not a substantive change, and therefore, can be implemented from preceding years.

During the last four years, the Pakistan Muslim League – Na-waz (PML-N) and the current Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) governments brought substan-tive changes in the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, aimed at improving tax recovery from abroad.

However, so far these changes have not translated into reve-nues due to capacity and imple-mentation issues.

The FBR is also in process of expanding the tax base by en-couraging people to fi le their an-nual income tax returns.

Govt extends deadline for fi ling of tax returns Tax authority amends rules for ‘resident Pakistani’

InternewsIslamabad

On Thursday, four hours before the no-confi -dence motion was ta-

bled against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, leading oppo-sition senators sat together at the offi ce of Raja Zafar-ul-Haq to review preparations.

A Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) senator there shared information which caught his colleagues by sur-prise.

It was about the eff orts be-ing made to create a wedge within the opposition alliance, the most consequential of which was a meeting held late on Wednesday.

“According to my guerilla report,” Mushahid Hussain Sayed was said to have told those present at the offi ce, “a businessman had a mid-night meeting with a PPP leader.”

He named the tycoon and the person he met.

The businessman’s role was that of a messenger sent to convey that Sindh government would be toppled in case of non-co-operation in the Sen-ate.

Other facilities will also be withdrawn, it was further warned.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader subsequently passed on the message to a blood relative, who is also in politics, to seek instructions from the top leadership.

Sayed’s information was a bomb-shell for the partici-pants of the meeting.

The National Party’s Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, the PPP’s Mian Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman, and the PML-N’s Javed Abbasi were in attend-ance there.

Rabbani told the partici-pants that he could neither deny nor confi rm that the meeting between the busi-nessman and his party leader had taken place, but was pretty

sure that no instructions had been conveyed to PPP sena-tors.

Rehman was dismissive as well.

Sayed then advised them to disregard what he had said, but to nevertheless keep an eye on their senators.

The rest is the history.Fifty opposition senators,

out of 64, supported the no-confi dence move against San-jrani. Fifty-three votes were needed for the motion to be passed.

According to the PML-N senator’s information that was shared at the meeting, the named PPP leader had in-structed fi ve party senators to vote against the party line.

A source in the government circles involved in the wheel-ing-dealing revealed that an-other couple of PPP senators had also voted in support of Sanjrani.

In total, seven PPP senators voted against the party line.

Five PML-N senators did so as well, as did two senators from smaller opposition par-ties.

With this turn of events having left opposition in dis-array, a meeting of the alliance was convened to discuss the development.

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif proposed the formation of a joint committee to inves-tigate and to suggest appropri-ate uniform punishment for the senators who voted against the party line, regardless their affi liation.

The Awami National Party (ANP) and other members of the alliance agreed.

However, PPP representa-tives at the meeting vetoed the proposal, and said that their party will do it separately, ac-cording to the insiders.

Information on Senate defections ‘went unheeded’InternewsIslamabad

Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Ma-lik Amin Aslam said the

federal capital will embrace the complete ban on polythene or plastic bags by August 14, while allowing other biodegradable al-ternates to overcome plastic pol-lution.

He said that the ministry of climate change, under the legis-lation approved by the cabinet, has allowed plastic bag producers to adopt innovative substitutes for polythene bags.

Jute, cotton, recyclable and reusable plastic bags, and bio-

degradable organic solutions like potato starch bags are permissi-ble, Aslam added.

He said that environmental sciences students had come up with many out-of-the-box solu-tions which could be replicated for the better good of the masses and the ecology.

“At present, around 55bn plas-tic bags are being produced in the country, as compared to 10mn bags in 1990, which is worrying,” Aslam said.

He said a mass awareness campaign had been kicked off in the federal capital, aimed at not only to getting the public to shun the use of polythene bags, but also spark a behavioural change in society to avoid damaging the

environment and ecosystem.“A student at Pir Mehr Ali

Shah Arid Agriculture University has developed a biodegradable plastic bag made of starch from mango seed, for example,” Aslam said.

He said 80% of the urban

fl ooding can be blamed on plastic bags clogging up sewers.

Aslam added that the govern-ment has banned oxo-biode-gradable plastic bags, which were more lethal then polythene.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic disintegrate into tiny pieces af-

ter exposure to the environment, which then gets into the water supply, is consumed by fi sh and aquatic life, and heading back into the food chain.

This has a serious impact on human health and environment, Aslam said.

All except polythene allowed as alternative to plastic bags: offi cialInternewsIslamabad

A vendor packs watermelons in plastic bags. From August 14, a ban on plastic bags would come into force in Islamabad.

Future dates

A farmer boils dates before drying them to be preserved for the rest of the year, on the outskirts of Sukkur.

Seven PPP senators are said to have voted against party lines, along with fi ve from the PML-N

Panel on benami assets formedInternewsIslamabad

The federal government has constituted a six-member committee, including

offi cers from the intelligence agencies, to expedite action against benami assets and assist the relevant authorities to im-prove their performance.

A benami is a transaction that is considered a form of money laundering: a transaction in which property is transferred to one person for consideration paid by another.

The Benami Information Processing Committee (BIPC) will function on the pattern of a joint investigating team (JIT).

It will be headed by Nausheen Javed Amjad, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) national co-ordinator (Benami).

Its other members will be of-fi cers of grades 18 and 19 from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

The government has decided expedite the action against those with benami assets following the end of the scheme of declaration of assets.

The BIPC will collect infor-mation about benami assets and their owners from across the country, and provide it to the relevant authorities.

According to a summary ap-proved by the federal cabinet, the committee has been formed under the Benami Transactions Act 2017, which was enacted in February 2017.

The Revenue Division issued the notifi cation of the Benami Transactions Act on March 11 this year.

The Revenue Division had sent the summary for the es-tablishment of the BIPC to the federal cabinet, which was ap-proved unanimously.

The summary said that un-der the section 55 of the Benami Transactions Act, a committee, comprising secret and state rep-resentatives, needs to be set up to accelerate the actions taken under the benami laws and that supports the offi cers.

The federal cabinet approved the establishment of the BIPC under the Para-2 of the sum-mary.

The Lahore High Court has handed over a 14-year-old girl to her Christian par-

ents after recovering her from a Muslim family, for whom the teenager had been working as a “domestic worker” for the past four years.

Nasira Bibi of Sargodha fi led a habeas corpus petition, pleading that family of respondent Azhar

Iqbal detained her daughter Muskaan and prevented her from seeing the girl.

In compliance with the court order, the respondent and his wife presented the girl during the proceedings.

Representing the respondent, Advocate Rana Shaukat Ali told the court that the girl had em-braced Islam of her free will, and could not be handed over to her Christian parents.

He pointed out that a local judicial magistrate had granted

the custody of the girl to the re-spondent when she refused to go with her parents.

Ali said the petitioner had been blackmailing the respond-ent, demanding money from the respondent’s wife to allow the girl to continue working at their home.

The counsel said that the girl did not want to live with her par-ents.

Assisting the court as amicus curiae, Advocate Sheraz Zaka stated that a child below 15 years

of age could not be employed as a domestic worker as enumerated in Punjab Domestic workers Act 2019.

The lawyer stated that a child is presumed to have his/her fa-ther’s religion as laid down in several judgments of the superior courts.

Zaka said that the employer could not keep unlawful custody of the child.

Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh also observed that a child aged below 15 years could not be em-

ployed in domestic household work under Sections 3 and 31 of Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019.

The judge disposed of the pe-tition and handed the girl over to her parents as the lawful guard-ians.

The high court judge also ob-served that keeping a child away from her parents and not allow-ing her to meet her parents on the pretext that she had embraced Islam was against fundamental rights.

Child is presumed to have father’s religion: High CourtInternewsLahore

Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation on August 18.According to off icial sources, the prime minister will take the nation into confidence over the government’s one-year performance.Furthermore, the prime minister’s off ice said, Khan has directed all ministries and divisions to submit their one-year performance report.He has instructed the ministries and divisions to highlight five big achievements during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s first year in power, by August 9.

Prime minister to address nation about his first-year performance

Prime Minister Khan: has directed all ministries and divisions to submit their one-year performance report.

The United Nations will mark its 75th birthday and

celebrate the diamond anniversary next

autumn.But beyond the balloons, the bunting

and the jubilant Antonio Gutteres speeches, there will be plenty of soul-searching about the future of the organisation.

The UN itself has overstretched and ballooned.

The 2016 fi gures show that there are 85,000 bureaucrats, with an annual spend of about $40bn – 2,000 times that of the organisation’s budget during its fi rst year in 1946.

Spending has quadrupled in the past 20 years – and still several agencies struggle to balance their books.

The UN began, in 1945, as a vision shared by the leaders of the victorious Allies, who were determined to ensure that the second half of the 20th century did not play out like the fi rst half.

After two world wars, countless civil wars, brutal dictatorships and fascism, mass expulsions of populations: the horrors of wars “never again” were not just a slogan.

The alternative was too apocalyptic to contemplate.

To this end, the Allies sought an alternative to the balance-of-power politics that had wreaked such havoc in the preceding fi ve decades.

Their idea – now called by the new terminology as “global governance” – was to create an institutional architecture that could foster international co-operation, elaborate consensual global norms, and establish predictable, universally applicable rules, to the benefi t of all.

But one should be aware though that in the geoeconomics and geopolitical arena, the world order and the balance of power have been rapidly changing over the last decades.

The dramatic shift of the economic balance from the G7 countries toward the emerging market economies has meant that what used to be a bipolar world (USA–USSR, 1950–1990) and briefl y a unipolar world (USA, in the 1990s) is now rapidly becoming a multipolar world (China, Europe, India, Russia, USA, and perhaps others). While in many ways we consider this shift as a welcome development, and indeed a sign of the spectacular success of multilateralism over the last 74 years, the convergence in economic and political power has also been a contributing factor to the revival of East-West tension, perhaps even a “new” or “second neo-cold war”. The uncertainty and the lack of a clear and consistent means for assessing changing global power dynamics is not helping us to draw an assuring future outlook.

One of the greatest challenges facing the United Nations today is to address

the critical task of reinventing the organisation to make it a credible force in the 21st century.

It is becoming clear in the last few years and, following the 2015 enthusiasm by the international community and world leaders to endorse the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, that there is a shift in the mood among some major powers towards multilateralism.

The building political pressures of populism and inward nationalism are threatening to push the pursuit of the SDGs noble goals aside.

We can see that rule-based multilateral institutions start facing serious threats and under increasing strain at a time when the need for eff ective multilateral discourse and action arguably is more important than ever.

Multilateralism lies at the core of the liberal world order of the post-WWII period, which is characterised by a vision of an open trading system, global organisation in which the powers cooperate to maintain peace, and the growth of international institutions.

That multilateralism spirit is fading away and international co-operation is suff ering along several dimensions: a mounting trade war, stalled global trade talks and the questioning of global institutions by some prominent countries.

The media focus is mainly on what this means for wealthy countries, but what does it mean for the rest of the world?

Developing nations already seem to be suff ering the consequences.

Aid fl ows to least developed countries are stagnating.

The promotion of private fi nancing risks displacing public funds.

The number of bilateral trade agreements is increasing, favouring the powerful rather than the worst-off.

Inequality within and between countries remains unacceptably high and is in many cases rising.

Poorer countries will suff er most from a failure to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets.

The list of pressing issues of today and for the future is staggering, chief among them the revival of nationalism, ethnic cleansing, genocide, unprecedented humanitarian crises, gross violations of human rights, the degradation of the environment, poverty, social inequalities, the spread of communicable diseases, drug traffi cking, b international terrorism, population growth, increasing levels of unemployment, and economic migration from the South to the North.

Responding to such challenges, there is a demand a strong and eff ective United Nations, adapted to meet its ever-widening agenda.

In my opinion, multilateralism is not going to vanish.

It may be under threat; it is certainly being undermined, but it is still alive and kicking.

I see it working every day – in every resolution the UN adopts.

The awaited new international multi-polar order will render a new paradigm for a more equitable world.

But in the same time, with the hard delivery of such transformation there is no doubt that this is a critical moment for the UN and for global co-operation The UN has not fully succeeded in turning recognition into reality.

But at its best and its worst, the UN is a mirror of the world.

As the legendary Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld famously put it, “The United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.”

I believe strongly that the UN needs reform, not because it has failed, but because it has succeeded enough to be worth investing in.

As the agreement on the SDGs demonstrates, there is much that can be accomplished with the UN as the lynchpin of our system of global governance.

Moreover, the UN has proved a remarkably adaptable organisation; it would not have survived so long if it was not.

While it must be reformed to accommodate today’s world, all that is needed is a smidgen of the statesmanship shown seven decades

ago, when world leaders subordinated their immediate short-term interests to a long-term vision of the kind of world they wanted their children to inhabit.

The UN remains the source of laws and norms that countries negotiate together and agree to uphold as the “rules of the road.” And it remains the pre-eminent forum where sovereign states can come together to share burdens, address shared problems, and seize common opportunities.

In other words, the UN’s foundations, laid down in 1945, remain strong.

But they must be buttressed if they are to withstand the ongoing shifts in countries’ strategic weight.

As the UN turns 75 next year, it is time to reaffi rm its founders’ guiding vision – a vision born of devastation that remains a source of universal hope for a better world.

Grounds for pessimism are undeniable.

Confl icts rage on, seemingly unaff ected by upholders of world order.

Despite more than two decades of talk, the Security Council’s permanent membership (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) still refl ects the geopolitical realities of 1945, not our today’s reality.

Denied accommodation in the

Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) commensurate with its economic clout, China has established its own alternatives, which other countries have fl ocked to join.

The G20 seems more representative than the Security Council – and more imbued with common purpose.

Yet the UN should not be written off .It continues to serve a vital purpose,

and its history suggests that it can be revitalized to meet the needs of the twenty-fi rst century.

Policy-makers and experts in a number of fora and publications have emphasised the need to work towards a more ‘resilient multilateralism’. More recently, the German presidency of the G20 has launched a process of refl ection on the role of the G20 in fostering multilateralism.

It has been posited by some experts that due to its origin, structure and membership, the G20 may be an ideal forum to take on the task of reshaping the multilateral order.

Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Aff airs, outlined recently several priorities in order to accomplish that, including:

Acknowledging multilateralism’s current structural weaknesses, while at the same time building and capitalising on its strength and victories over recent decades.

Ensuring that citizens understand and appreciate the fact that giving away power to multilateral agencies enhances their own power.

Aiming for a more globally inclusive multilateralism, stimulating dialogue on questions of ownership with emerging powers that are currently under- represented in global governance institutions.

Avoiding overstretching the mandates and functions of multilateral institutions if there is insuffi cient consensus among governments to move ahead, and using informal forums when more appropriate (fl exible multilateralism )

Adapting to the new geopolitical order.

Emphasising consensual (and fact-based) knowledge production about the problems at hand, and acknowledging consensual knowledge production as a key deliverable of multilateral institutions.

Being open to opportunities for reform of organisations.

Multilateralism must adapt to the new geopolitical order if it is to succeed.

The UN, the Bretton Woods institutions, and the WTO were, most of all, Transatlantic creations.

Other parts of the world are now represented in these institutions.

But for multilateralism to remain strong, countries in the Global South must feel a real sense of ownership in these institutions.

The larger countries in these regions have more options than the smaller ones, and unless they feel that they have more of a say, they might turn away from the institutions that mean so much to western countries.


COMMENT14

To Advertise [email protected]

Display 44466621 44418811

Classified 44466609 44418811

Subscription [email protected]

© 2019 Gulf Times. All rights reserved

GULF TIMES

P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar

[email protected]

44350478 (News),

44466404 (Sport),

44466636 (Home delivery)

44350474

facebook.com/gulftimes

twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar

CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing EditorK T Chacko

Strong economicfundamentals boostQatar’s credit profi le

Qatar’s strong fundamentals such as its solid net creditor position, vast hydrocarbon reserves and exceptionally high per capita income have come in for special mention by a premier credit rating agency.

In its August 1 report, Moody’s Investors Service said Qatar’s high rating (Aa3 stable) refl ects its assessment that Qatar’s credit metrics are likely to remain consistent with the assigned rating, despite the continuing diplomatic, economic, and fi nancial blockade by a quartet of Arab countries.

A sustained and signifi cant reduction in external vulnerabilities through a decrease in external debt and a rebuilding of foreign exchange reserves would likely prompt an upgrade of the rating.

“Moderate fi scal and external break-even oil prices have helped Qatar to withstand the oil price shock,” a Moody’s analyst said. “Although the country’s economy still relies heavily on the oil and gas sector, non-hydrocarbon growth has been a key growth driver,” it noted.

That said, Moody’s also highlighted some credit challenges before Qatar, which include the government’s reliance on hydrocarbon-related revenue that exposes the public fi nances to oil price declines, while the relatively large debt burden of the non-fi nancial public sector carries some contingent liability risks.

In its latest country report, the International Monetary Fund noted Qatar’s economy has successfully absorbed the shocks from the 2014-16 drop in hydrocarbon prices and the continuing diplomatic rift.

The country has managed to retain export ties and develop newer trade relations, sustaining its one-third share of global liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) trade, the Bretton Woods institution said in its latest Article IV consultation report with Qatar.

“Overall GDP (gross domestic product) growth is projected to reach 2.6% in 2019 from 2.2% in 2018, underpinned by a recovery in the hydrocarbon output and still robust growth of the non-hydrocarbon sector,” it said.

The projected non-hydrocarbon growth for this year refl ects the lingering multiplier eff ects of sustained increases in capital expenditures in the last few years, the gradual pace of fi scal consolidation, ample liquidity, and increased private sector activity, it said, adding medium-term growth will be supported by increased gas production from the Barzan fi eld, a planned increase in LNG production capacity by 40%.

The IMF report said infl ation is projected to peak at 3.7% in 2020 with the introduction of a valued added tax, but converge to 2% in the medium term.

Highlighting that fi scal consolidation is envisaged to continue, albeit at a slower rate; IMF said that in 2019, expenditure restraint and lagged revenue impact of higher oil prices would result in further improvement of fi scal position to about 3% from 2.3% in 2018.

Over the medium term, the fi scal position would be in moderate surplus due to broadly stable hydrocarbon prices and sustained expenditure control.

“A current account surplus of about 4.6% of GDP is envisaged for 2019 in line with the projected oil prices, and slower import growth than GDP. Over the medium term, the current account would be in modest surplus,” it said.

Qatar’s reform agenda pertaining to the business environment, special economic zones, labour law, increased foreign ownership limits and privatisation has also been hailed by the IMF.

Qatar’s credit metrics are likely to remain consistent with the assigned rating

By Dr Darim al-Bassam

UN and the future of multilateralism

“The United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell”

COMMENT

Gulf Times Sunday, August 4, 2019 15

Climate change will survive Democratic debatesBy Liam DenningBloomberg News

It seems likely that two of the most memorable proponents of action on climate change in the latest Democratic debates won’t make it

onto the stage next time.One of them, Andrew Yang, will

be remembered chiefl y for his blunt assessment that “we are too late” in addressing the issue and that “we need to start moving our people to higher ground.” Raising the alarm is warranted, though my moderately developed political instincts tell me a slogan along the lines of “we’re all doomed” won’t turn out the necessary numbers on a cold Tuesday in November. I must admit, however, I would have liked to see how Yang’s “higher ground” plan would fare (sample fantasy headline: “Hill Bill Faces Steep Climb On The Hill”).

More consequential is the likelihood that Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, polling somewhere south of 1% heading into Wednesday evening’s circus, won’t be there for the next one. He has made climate change the defi ning principle of his campaign, raising the alarm (“our house is on fi re”) but also striking a more optimistic note on America’s ability to deal with it (provided it acknowledges the alarm, that is).

In doing so, Inslee ensured that more air time was devoted to the issue of climate change than in any debate before, both with his opening and closing remarks and when the climate question was posed to the candidates.

He also forced the leading candidate, Joe Biden, onto the defensive by dismissing the former vice president’s climate plan as “middle ground solutions.”

Can climate change survive as a topic on the Democratic debate stage if Inslee isn’t there to push it? Even with him there, issues such as healthcare and immigration took up far more time and attention. As I wrote before 2016’s election, it can be tough to get Americans focused on energy-related issues when energy prices aren’t especially high (as is the case now). A ballot measure to create a carbon fee in Inslee’s own state was voted down last November, despite Washington appearing to be particularly fertile ground for such initiatives.

Yet there is good reason to think the topic will remain alive even if Inslee’s campaign fades. That good reason is the Green New Deal.

The GND’s importance lies less in the chances of its points being passed into law – not dissimilar to Inslee’s polling numbers right about now – but the fact that it exists at all (see this). In attracting criticism of being unrealistic, it implicitly raised the rejoinder: How realistic is it to simply absorb rising risks of fl ood, drought, migration and the rest of what climate change portends? (Inslee nodded at this Wednesday evening with his “survival is realistic” line.)

Above all, though, in taking both a very broad and radical approach, intended more to stoke passions outside Congress than necessarily push legislation through it, the GND has become the touchstone for

proposals on climate change. Earlier on Wednesday, former energy secretary Ernest Moniz delivered a speech to the US Chamber of Commerce on his own plan for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, dubbed the “Green Real Deal” – a moniker that contrasts with the GND but in doing so piggy-backs on the branding. Even some senior Republican politicians, much as they loath the GND, fi nd themselves forced to pick up the gauntlet and make their own proposals.

With regards to the Democratic candidates specifi cally, Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners, a DC-based analysis fi rm, puts it like this: “Campaigns emphasise diff erence, and thanks to the Green New Deal, Democrats can fi nally disagree about climate change.”

The ability to stake out diff erent positions on an issue that polls highly with Democratic voters is why, even if Inslee isn’t there to bang the podium, climate change won’t fade

away. It helps that, as Inslee noted, climate change and environmental stewardship cut across multiple hot-button topics such as healthcare and economic inequality, letting candidates defi ne distinct positions centered on this or that axis of priority. It helps, too, that President Donald Trump’s maximal position against doing anything to combat climate change means virtually any of those positions can also be turned against their ultimate adversary. It was

notable on Wednesday evening that Senator Kamala Harris of California, a GND sponsor, aligned herself with Inslee during the debate but focused on Trump pushing “science fi ction instead of fact,” when it comes to climate change.

For fossil-fuel producers, the staying power of climate change in this campaign isn’t the only thing to note. The other dynamic set in motion by the GND is a leftward pull. For example, in the sometimes heated back-and-forth Wednesday evening, Biden appeared forced into pledging to end the use of coal and fracking of oil and gas. Meanwhile, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, another GND-er, evoked the spirit of the Apollo programme as she spoke of America’s opportunity to lead on combating climate change – stirring stuff , yet also strikingly interventionist as a policy framework. Gillibrand also proposed a carbon tax to put “market forces” to work, but like many others on the stage Tuesday and Wednesday evening, the broad drift of climate policy appears to be centred more on regulatory forces. This stems in part from both the urgency of the problem and the time wasted already through ignoring or obfuscating it. With or without Inslee, the “middle ground” is crumbling away. - Tribune News Service

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities. He previously was editor of the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote for the Financial Times’ Lex column. He was also an investment banker.

Yellow lens glasses don’t improve drivers’ night vision

Russiagate is deader than ever

Live issues

By Linda CarrollReuters Health

Touted to improve nighttime eyesight, yellow lens glasses don’t help drivers see better and may, in fact, worsen vision,

a new study suggests.Researchers found that yellow-lens

wearing volunteers operating a driving simulator were no better at spotting a pedestrian when confronting oncoming headlights than those who wore clear lenses, according to the study published in JAMA Ophthalmology. And there was a suggestion that the yellow tinted lenses might even be making the situation worse.

Buyers of these products “have the concept that somehow these magic glasses can improve nighttime driving,” said the study’s lead author, Alex Hwang, an instructor in ophthalmology at the Harvard Medical School and an investigator at the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. “Wearing (tinted) glasses,

whether they are yellow, red or blue, cuts out a chunk of light. Which means this is the same as wearing sunglasses while driving at night.”

Hwang’s advice: “Don’t waste your money on these kinds of glasses for night driving.”

Despite there being no evidence of eff ectiveness, yellow-lens glasses are sold widely, Hwang noted.

An ad for one brand of yellow-lens glasses sold on Amazon claims that “night vision glasses help reduce night driving glare and eye strain, yellow lenses help to enhance night vision, improve colour clarity and optical defi nition, enable to see better when driving at night or cloudy, rainy days, making night driving safer and easier.”

To determine whether yellow-lens glasses could actually improve drivers’ night vision, Hwang and his colleagues set up an experiment using a specially designed driving simulator that included the option of bright oncoming headlights.

The researchers recruited 22 volunteers who, wearing either one of

three brands of yellow-lens glasses or clear glasses, completed a total of eight night driving scenarios, each of which lasted about 10 minutes. Of the 22, 18 were younger, with an average age between 27 and 28, while the other four, all men, had an average age of 70.

During the experiment, volunteers were told to press the horn as soon as they saw a pedestrian. Pedestrians were clad in either a dark blue navy shirt or an orange shirt. In some runs, the volunteers were subjected to bright headlights and in others they were “driving” in the dark.

While glare from headlights did seem to slow the speed with which the younger group spotted the pedestrian, wearing yellow-lenses did not improve things. In fact, the yellow lenses appeared to slow their response time, but that fi nding was not statistically signifi cant. The fi ndings were similar among the older volunteers, but their overall response time was slower than that of the younger volunteers both with and without the yellow lenses.

Dr Douglas Frederick hopes drivers

take note of the fi ndings. “The biggest issue is that we don’t want people to have a false sense of security because they are using something that does not (improve vision),” said Frederick, deputy chair of education in the department of ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai/New York Eye and Ear Infi rmary. “Motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians are a common problem.”

An important secondary fi nding is that “older people are more sensitive to headlight glare compared to younger people,” said Robert Masoff , a professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Eye Institute and author of an editorial that accompanied the new study. “This is a real problem that needs to be addressed.”

The reason older people are more sensitive to bright headlights is that “changes occur in people’s lenses with ageing,” Masoff said. Those changes lead to more glare, he explained. “Glare can cover up what you’re trying to see. It’s like having a dirty windshield. Cataract surgery may make things better for people, but that study hasn’t been done yet.”

By Leonid BershidskyBloomberg News

The ruling by US District Judge John Koeltl to dismiss the Democratic National Committee’s lawsuit against

Russia, the Trump campaign and others on Tuesday may look like something of an afterthought now that Robert Mueller, the special counsel, has failed to fi nd evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump’s team. It is, however, anything but anticlimactic: It contains some hard truths for those still hanging on to the Trump-Russia story.

The DNC sued in April 2018, painting a picture of collusion between a Russian government eager to get Trump elected and a Trump campaign that was “a willing and active partner in this eff ort.” This picture, unlike Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s eventual report, was based on “connecting the dots” – an exercise in which many commentators have happily engaged since Trump won the 2016 election.

Even at the time it was fi led, the DNC lawsuit was widely dismissed as a political stunt. But it also followed the example of the Democrats’ legal action against president Richard Nixon’s re-election committee after Watergate, which ended in a $750,000 settlement when Nixon resigned. Koeltl refused to penalise the DNC for suing frivolously: Indeed, the case helped him clarify

some important points.In his ruling, Koeltl, who once

worked for Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, fi rst explained that Russia cannot be sued in a US court for government actions planned in Moscow. That seems obvious, but the DNC disputed it in the lawsuit, and there’d been a lot of public indignation about Russia’s actions on US soil that contravene US laws. The Russian government, of course, isn’t bound by these laws any more than the US government is bound by Russian laws. As things stand, the two are adversaries, and as such, they’ll do to each other what they feel they can get away with, not what the other side deems legal. Retaliation is a matter of policy rather than law.

So when Trump called on Russia to hunt for missing Hillary Clinton e-mails, he wasn’t really condoning illegal action, since this concept doesn’t apply to the Russian government; he was merely hinting that as president, he wouldn’t retaliate against Russia for trying to unearth the e-mails. From a legal point of view, it appears safer to call on Russia to do some hacking than to ask the same of a specifi c American hacker. One can fi nd Trump’s call unpalatable, or accept his logic that whatever helps him win is good, but this is a political choice, not a legal dilemma.

Another point Koeltl makes is that, though it’s not OK to steal documents such as personal and

work-related e-mails, it’s perfectly OK to disseminate and publish them under the First Amendment – as long as the disseminator isn’t also the thief. This has important implications for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whom neither Mueller nor anyone else has accused of actually stealing the e-mails of DNC operatives and Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta – or, indeed, any of the classifi ed documents WikiLeaks has published. It can be argued that he helped some of the whistle-blowers to steal fi les and that constitutes a crime, but in general, he shouldn’t be held responsible for publishing pilfered material.

Moreover, according to the ruling, it’s fi ne to ask a thief for information he’s known to have stolen. And even if Russia’s military intelligence service had sent the stolen e-mails directly to the Trump campaign, the campaign wouldn’t have been legally liable for publishing it.

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, any foreign government can obtain, by whatever means, compromising information about any of the candidates, hand it to the media or to the candidate’s competitors, and the media or the competitors can publish it – all without anyone being legally liable.

I can see why that can make some people uncomfortable. But there it is. Countries will spy on each other, and they’ll get their hands on information of public interest in the process. If this

information is genuine, the public should get access to it. (But of course the publisher should fi rst make sure it’s not fake). And the foreign government that stole the information should suff er the consequences – for example, in the form of sanctions – unless there are political reasons not to retaliate.

The Democrats should accept the reality and play by the same rules as their opponents – who, in this case, appear to have played by the rules, such as they are.

As for Trump-Russia, the Democratic candidates appear to have made the right decision about it. During Tuesday’s debate, the word “Russia” was heard exactly twice, from Senator Amy Klobuchar, who criticised Trump for pulling out of an arms control agreement. Perhaps the story will fl oat up again as the campaign goes on – but it should stay buried. There are more legitimate reasons to push back against President Vladimir Putin’s regime: His aggression against neighbouring countries, his ruthless suppression of protest, his support of other murderous regimes, and so on. In US elections, it’s the voters who decide, regardless of whether Putin helps a candidate by sharing some kompromat.

Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.

Democratic presidential hopeful US Senator from California Kamala Harris looks on as US entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks during the second round of the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season hosted by CNN at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, on July 31.

WARNINGInshore : Nil

Offshore : Expected strong wind with high sea at some places

WEATHERInshore : Hot daytime with slight

dust at some places and some clouds

Offshore : Partly cloudy at timesWINDInshore : Mainly Northwesterly

08-18/22 KT

Offshrore : Northwesterly 08-18/25 KT

Visibility : 4 - 8 KM

Offshore : 3-5/8 FT

TODAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Maximum Temperature : 440c

Minimum Temperature : 340c





BaghdadKuwait City ManamaMuscat Tehran

AthensBeirut BangkokBerlinCairoCape TownColomboDhakaHong KongIstanbulJakartaKarachiLondonManilaMoscowNew DelhiNew YorkParisSao PauloSeoulSingaporeSydneyTokyo

Weather

today

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Max/min

44/28

46/32

41/33

35/30

39/28

Weather

tomorrow

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

M Sunny

Sunny

Max/min

45/29

46/33

42/34

36/32

41/27

Around the region

Around the world

Max/min

34/23

31/27

32/27

25/14

39/26

17/12

29/26

33/27

28/26

27/21

33/24

31/28

26/16

29/26

14/07

33/28

32/21

32/17

13/11

35/25

32/28

16/08

35/26

Weather

today

Sunny

Sunny

S T Storms

P Cloudy

Sunny

P Cloudy

S T Storms

S T Storms

T Storm

S Showers

M Sunny

P Cloudy

Cloudy

T Storm

P Cloudy

S T Storms

P Cloudy

M Cloudy

Cloudy

P Cloudy

S T Storms

P Cloudy

Very Hot

Max/min

32/22

31/26

31/27

26/17

38/24

16/13

29/26

34/27

29/25

27/19

32/23

31/28

24/14

29/26

13/09

33/28

29/23

29/18

18/12

37/26

31/28

18/07

34/26

Weather

tomorrow

M Sunny

Sunny

S T Storms

M Cloudy

Sunny

Showers

S T Storms

M Cloudy

S T Storms

Sunny

M Sunny

P Cloudy

S Showers

T Storm

Cloudy

S T Storms

P Cloudy

P Cloudy

P Cloudy

M Sunny

S T Storms

P Cloudy

Clear

Fisherman's forecast

Three-day forecast

QATAR


‘Perfect Duet’ art exhibition refl ects close Qatar-India ties

An exclusive art exhibi-tion titled ‘Perfect Duet’ by Qatar’s talented artist,

Ahmed al-Jufairi and his mother, artist Hanady al-Othman, has opened at the ART29 gallery at W Doha Hotel & Residences, a luxury lifestyle hotel.

The ‘Perfect Duet’ showcases the nexus of mother and son, cultures and histories, India and Qatar, and colours and mediums, according to a statement from W Doha yesterday.

The collection of artworks including work on canvas and sculptures expresses the artistic locus of both al-Jufairi and al-Othman.

Their collective exhibition comprises more than 20 installa-tions based on diff erent mediums of art, such as sculptors, hints of fashion, digital prints, 3D and oil and acrylic paintings.

Al-Jufairi and al-Othman each have a very distinctive in-terpretation on the Qatar-India artistic message, with al-Oth-man choosing to celebrate wom-en in a very bright, colourful and empowering paintings, such as one series of paintings entitled ‘She Thought She Could/So She Did’.

This can also be seen as a re-fl ection of al-Othman’s own fortitude, as born with an ar-tistic itch, growing up, she was never presented with the oppor-tunity to express her creativity through art as this was deemed not to be an ‘acceptable’ life choice.

Thus, the opening reception for the month long exhibition, which was held on July 27, is the much overdue recognition of al-Othman’s talent.

Indian ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran said during the open-ing night: “The vibrant expres-sion of this union between In-dia and Qatar, nourished over centuries of trade and cultural links, has been interpreted and expressed by both artists Ahmed al-Jufairi and his mother Hanady al-Othman and highlights, with a warm sentimentality, the artis-tic interchange between our two cultures.”

Also in attendance on the opening night were ambas-sador’s and dignitaries, Peru’s deputy chief of mission, Oswal-do Daneri, DPS-MIS vice-pres-ident and Indian Business and Professional Council in Qatar secretary-general Yasir Nainar, Unesco Doha Offi ce director Dr Anna Paolini, as well as media and a host of art lovers and sup-porters to mark this innovative collaboration.

“I am excited to display my latest work here at Art29. How-ever, it is even more of an exciting moment this time round as I am proudly standing with my moth-er who not only is my inspiration, but also my artistic mentor, and a revered artist in her own stand-ing,” al-Jufairi said on the open-ing night.

The ‘Perfect Duet’ exhibition gives al-Othman the platform to express her artistic flair, and with W Doha continually seek-ing to support fresh talents such as al-Jufairi, the hotel’s Art29, is the ideal gallery loca-tion to present such a contem-porary and forward-thinking event.

W Doha general manager Wassim Daaje said: “It is an-other exciting time for W Doha

and ART29 as we provide a creative space for the most heartfelt duo – mother and son, to showcase their work to the local community. Their un-deniable connection and pas-sion is clearly evident through their art, and truly shows their passion to communicate with people through their artistic pieces.”

Al-Othman went on to say that ‘this is my fi rst exhibition, and I want to use this to show that it is never too late to make your dreams come true’.

The exhibition is open to the public until August 27, from 10am-10pm daily. A view of the gathering at the opening reception of the exhibition.

Indian ambassador P Kumaran, artist Ahmed al-Jufairi, and W Doha general manager Wassim Daaje at the opening reception of the exhibition.

Some of the exhibited works of art.

More Qataris picking Turkey as a holiday destinationQatari nationals continue to travel to

Turkish cities in rising numbers, accord-

ing to a statement received in Doha

yesterday.

As per latest figures released by the

Turkish Cultural and Tourism Off ice,

30,160 Qataris visited multiple destina-

tions across Turkey within the first four

months of the year, representing a

14.09% increase when compared to the

same period last year.

A total of 12,766 Qatari nationals

travelled to Turkey during the month of

April, representing a 101.77% increase

when compared to April last year.

As of now a total of 66 flights depart

from Qatar for several destinations

across Turkey each week.

“We are delighted to see Turkey climb

to one of the most popular tourist des-

tinations for Qatari as well as other Gulf

nationals. Visitors from neighbouring

nations have always played a significant

role in driving economic growth within

Turkey by boosting its tourism sector,”

said Salih Ozer, attaché of Culture and

Information, Turkey.

Over 8,735,200 tourists from around

the world flew into Turkey in April, rep-

resenting a 24% increase in comparison

to April last year.

The largest influx of tourists into

Turkey in the first four months of

2019 has been from Germany, at just

over 803,480 visitors, followed by

Bulgaria and Russia, the statement

added.

Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya is a popular tourist destination.

Aspire summer camp concludes

Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) has successfully concluded its second edition of the ‘Summer

Camp’ following four weeks of edutain-ment and sport activities for more than 250 children aged 6-13 years old.

This year’s programme included a blend of fi eld trips to the National Mu-seum of Qatar, Katara’s Thuraya Plane-tarium, and KidZania Doha, as well as a variety of sporting activities, including athletics, gymnastics, aerobics, long

jump, tennis, badminton, swimming lessons, and training sessions in bas-ketball, handball, taekwondo, football and volleyball.

Commenting on the successful conclusion of ‘2019 Summer Camp’, Abdulla Aman Alkhater, director of Venues and Events at AZF, said: “More than 250 children have invested their free summer time in useful and ener-getic educational and sports activities. Our experts have been keen to pro-

vide the best experience for them. We look forward to organising the winter edition during the upcoming school break, so that more children can en-joy the taste of what AZF off ers to the youngsters.”

The ‘2019 Summer Camp’ was or-ganised in partnership with Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation, KidZania, National Museum of Qatar, Cage Sport, Planet Medical Centre, and STEM Xplorers.

Some of the campers pose for a photo.

Kahramaa gets 5 bids from top firms for solar power plant

Documents

Transcript of Kahramaa gets 5 bids from top firms for solar power plant