The Cabinet has approved a draft decision of the Council of Ministers on leave to care for a parent or relative. Under the draft decision, a Qatari employee may be granted leave to care for a parent or relative up to the second degree with disabilities or those with illnesses that require permanent companion, upon a report from the competent medical authority. The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani on Wednesday. (QNA) (PAGE 2)

Cabinet approves draft decision on leave to care for parents or relatives

QNADOHA

PRIME Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani inaugurated the Education Conference 2019 at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) on Wednesday.

Themed ‘Education Makes a Difference’, the conference is an educational scientific platform to share local, regional and interna-tional experiences in area of education.

A documentary film was screened about the educa-tional process and the edu-cational system and its de-velopment in Qatar on the occasion.

The Prime Minister then toured the pavilions of the students research exhibition accompanying the confer-

ence and listened to a full explanation about its goals and the vital and important research issues and topics.

The conference will focus on three axes — the local and

international trends in the development of the educa-tional process; the consolida-tion of education and cultural identity and the quality man-agement in education.

In his speech, Minister of Education and Higher Edu-cation HE Dr Mohammed bin Abdul Wahed al Ham-madi said Qatar achieved advanced scientific rankings in the Arab region and the world in education, thanks to the continuous support of the wise leadership and guidance from the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani.

He said the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation aims to achieve the plans designed to make a real difference in the educational process.

The ministry has made a qualitative leap in the forma-tion of curricula and was able to implement them at the be-ginning of this year without any delay, he noted.

THURSDAYAPRIL 25, 2019SHA’BAN 20, 1440

VOL.12 NO. 4615 QR 2

PM OPENS EDUCATION CONFERENCE 2019

Qatar achieved high rankings in scientific education: Minister

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani during the inauguration of Education Conference 2019 at the Qatar National Convention Center on Wednesday.

First workers’ fun run in Doha tomorrow (PG 2 )

BALADNA Food Industries is ready to export milk and dairy products to the regional countries soon, a top official of the com-pany said. Maher Eldaly, Senior Director Marketing of Baladna Food Industries, said Baladna has already achieved 100% self-sufficiency in milk. The firm is producing 320 tonnes of milk daily and is constantly investing on innovation and product diversi-fication, he said. “We aim to establish the brand across the region,” he added. — ASHRAF SIDDIQUI (PAGE 19)

Baladna to export dairy products soon

QU research output increases six

times in 10 yearsQATAR University (QU) research output grew by about six times during the period from 2010 to 2018, and the proportion of publishing in the top 10 scientific journals in the world rose from 15.9 percent to 40.8 percent during the same period, according to statistics presented at the annual research forum and exhibition 2019 of QU on Wednes-day. QU President Dr Hassan bin Rashid al Derham said the forum represents a platform to unveil the scientific outcome and research output in a university that strives to strengthen its global standing locally, regionally and internationally. (PAGE 6)

Continued on page 20

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Business 12UDC nets QR176 million in first quarter profits

Sports 16Asian Athletics: Qatar win three medals on last day

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02 Thursday, April 25, 2019

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Qatar reaffirms support to probe

of Syria war crimesQNA

NEW YORK

QATAR has renewed its sup-port for the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism to hold account-able those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, stress-ing that sustainable peace in Syria can only be achieved through justice by ensuring accountability.

This came in a statement made by Permanent Rep-resentative of Qatar to the United Nations HE Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif al Thani at the UN General Assembly meeting on the report of the ‘International Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Se-rious Crimes under Interna-tional Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011’.

She said Qatar’s keen in-terest in the mechanism stems from its moral and legal re-sponsibility to ensure justice for the victims, as well as its keenness to enhance chances of achieving sustainable peace in Syria, which can only be achieved through justice by ensuring accountability.

He pointed out that this position is in line with Qa-tar’s policy to promote human rights at the international and regional levels in cooperation with the United Nations and

international partners. Sheikha Alia also stressed

on the importance of interna-tional efforts to activate the mechanism in light of the clear manifestations of impunity and attempts to conceal the facts about the use of chemical weapons and other crimes.

She referred to the mecha-nism’s third report, noting the significant progress it made in fulfilling its mandate as it acts as the central repository of information and evidence of crimes committed in Syria.

The Qatari diplomat hailed the distinguished efforts being made to consolidate, preserve and organise information and to combine the scattered parts of evidence together, pointing out that the mechanism has col-lected over one million records, and that this will play an impor-tant role in establishing individ-ual criminal responsibility.

She commended the lead-ership of the mechanism for following the highest profes-sional standards and for seek-ing to take advantage of mod-ern and innovative methods and technology to maximise the impact of the mechanism.

She stressed that predicta-ble funding for the mechanism, starting in 2020, through the regular budget of the United Nations would ensure its cred-ibility and independence.

She noted that in 2019, Qa-tar provided $1 million to sup-port the mechanism, stressing that supporting the mecha-nism should be continued.

MOROCCAN PM RECEIVES ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Prime Minister of Morocco Dr Saadeddine Othmani received Qatar’s Attorney-Gen-eral HE Dr Ali bin Fetais al Marri at the Government’s headquarters in Rabat on Wednesday. During the meeting, they exchanged views on a number of issues of common concern, discussed the existing relations between the two countries and ways of supporting them. The meeting was attended by the delegation accompanying the attorney-general. (TNN)

Cabinet nod to MCI decision on regulations for non-Qatari capital in economic activity

QNADOHA

THE Cabinet at its weekly meeting chaired by Prime Min-ister HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani at the Amiri Diwan on Wednes-day approved a draft decision of the Minister of Commerce and Industry about the execu-tive regulation of Law No 1 of 2019 on the non-Qatari capital in economic activity.

The Ministry of Com-merce and Industry has prepared the draft decision within the framework of im-plementing the provisions of Law No 1 of 2019.

Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for

Cabinet Affairs HE Dr Issa bin Saad al Jafali al Nuaimi stated the agenda and decisions of the meeting.

The Cabinet also approved a draft law amending certain provisions of Decree Law No 10 of 1974 on the establishment of Qatar Petroleum and referred it to the Shura Council.

At the outset of the meet-ing, the Cabinet welcomed the outcomes of the state visit paid by the Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani to the Re-public of Rwanda and the Fed-eral Republic of Nigeria.

The Cabinet affirmed that the talks between His Highness and the presidents of Rwanda and Nigeria reflected the deep ties of friendship and coopera-

tion between Qatar and the two countries.

The Council of Ministers then reiterated Qatar’s strong condemnation of the recent terrorist attacks on churches and hotels in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, which killed hundreds and in-jured many others.

The Cabinet stressed that this appalling crime calls for a firm international position against violence and terror-ism in all its forms whatever its motives.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet approved the formation of a national committee for Qatar’s hosting of the Horticultural Expo 2021, under the chair-manship of HE the Minister of

Municipality and Environment and the membership of rep-resentatives of the concerned authorities. The committee will prepare and follow-up imple-mentation of the design and construction of all facilities re-lated to this exhibition.

The Cabinet also approved Qatar’s joining the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Besides, it approved a model of a draft memorandum of cooperation in the field of civil aviation security between the governments of Qatar and other states.

The Cabinet then took the necessary measures to ratify agreements in the field of maritime transport, air services,tourism and business

activities, as well as commer-cial ports, between Qatar and the Republic of Tunisia.

Furthermore, the Cabinet took the necessary measures to ratify a memorandum of understanding for twinning between the Municipality of Doha and the Municipality of Tunis and another MoUfor co-operation to improve the fields of industry, innovation and technological development be-tween Qatar and Tunisia.

The Cabinet also reviewed a draft law on combating con-flicts of interest and the annual report of the National Human Rights Committee on human rights situation in Qatar and the views of the relevant au-thorities in this regard.

Renowned South African band regales Doha audienceCATHERINE W GICHUKI

DOHA

ACOUSTIC Element, a re-nowned acoustic band from South Africa, entertained audience with pop music at Dunes Lounge, Grand Hyatt hotel, on Wednesday.

The band from Cape Town consists of cousins Jody Abel and Callen Petersen, who play guitar and beat box respectively.

The duo will also perform during the South Africa Na-tional Day celebrations on Thursday evening.

Wednesday’s event fea-tured a two-hour show in-cluding acoustic music, South African songs, as well as inter-national pop music and dance presentations.

Speaking to Qatar Trib-une, Petersen said, “We play songs by famous South Afri-can artistes and bands, such as Miriam Makeba, Fresh-lyground, Goldfish and Good-luck. We also play pop music from all over the world.”

Abel said that they are inter-ested in learning Arabian music and are open to collaboration

with local Arab musicians. “The next time we are here, we will have Arabic music for every-one,” he said.

The duo, who have all along been giving perfor-mances together have formed a group called ALT Ego with their producer DJ Cosher and would be performing in Italy later this year.

“We started ten years ago and it started as a hobby and fun, then it progressed into something,” said Peterson.

According to him, around four years ago they decided to

leave their jobs in corporate sec-tor to focus on full time music.

Peterson has degree in Fash-ion and Bachelor of Commerce-Accounting while Abel has a degree in Media and Market-ing. They said that this was their first visit to Qatar and they were overwhelmed by the hospitality they have received so far.

According to Peterson, the duo landed about 2am and they fell in love with the lights.

Talking about their motiva-tion, Petersen said when they were doing music as part-time, they would turn down many

gigs because they had regular jobs and that’s when they de-cided to quit.

“Since then we have per-formed over six international gigs including in Sweden, Austria, United Kingdom, among other places. Now we are in Qatar and we will per-form in Zimbabwe, then we will go back to perform in Eu-rope later this year.

They said that their family is very musical. “My mother plays violin so I started playing the instrument since I was about 6 years old,” said Peterson.

South African Ambassador to Qatar HE Faizel Moosa with the artistes in Doha on Wednesday.

1st Workers’ Fun Run in Doha tomorrowTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

THE first ever Qatar ‘Workers’ Fun Run’ will take place at Aspire Park at 8am on Friday (April 26).

Organised by the Ministry of Admin-istrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), the International La-bour Organization (ILO) and the Embassy of the kingdom of the Netherlands, the 5 km fun run will bring together migrant workers from different sectors to take part in this unique event promoting together-ness and good health.

The Minister of Administrative De-velopment, Labour & Social Affairs HE Yousef bin Mohamed al Othman Fakhroo will flag off the run at 8am.

“This event recognises workers and their great contribution to the devel-opment of modern-day Qatar. We are planning to make it an annual event”, said Mohammed Hassan al Obaidly, assistant undersecretary for Labour Af-fairs in the Ministry.

While participation in the ‘Workers’ Fun Run’ is mainly limited to workers from companies representing various sectors, members of the public are warm-

ly encouraged to come along and cheer on the runners.

“The community event encourages people from all backgrounds and walks of life to come together and celebrate the importance of unity and diversity. Having a big crowd come and cheer on the run-ners will be of great value and meaning, and is an excellent way to mark together International Worker’s Day, celebrated on May 1 every year”, said the Ambassa-dor of the Netherlands to Qatar HE Bahia Tahzib-Lie.

The fun run will also help raise aware-ness of the ongoing labour reforms in the State of Qatar.

“Qatar and the ILO are working closely together to implement an ambitious la-bour reform agenda. The run provides the ideal opportunity to celebrate the positive changes that have taken place so far. It also marks the first anniversary of the opening of the ILO Project Office in Qatar”, said Houtan Homayounpour, head of the ILO Project Office in Qatar.

For more information please contact Steve Needham at the International La-bour Organization Project Office for the State of Qatar at needham@ilo.org or mob (+974) 5006 9011.

Preparations in full swing for Doha leg of Cirque du Soleil’s newest production

AILYN AGONIADOHA

THE team of Cirque du Soleil’s newest production ‘Bazzar’ is all set to entertain audiences in Qatar during the Doha leg of the show which will be staged under the Big Top at the Ritz Carlton Doha Com-plex from April 25 to May 4.

The touring show, which pre-miered in India last year, will fea-ture about 31 artistes performing several circus acts. It is inspired by the colourful and chaotic grand Indian bazaar.

Alchemy Project Entertain-ment is bringing the show to Qatar in association with Qatar National Tourism Council and is hosted by Katara Hospitality.

“Cirque du Soleil is from Que-bec, Canada. We have now more than 4,000 people working for us from 50 different nationalities. We have more than 1,500 artistes

and 19 shows that include Big Top shows as well as permanent shows like the one in Las Vegas which is very popular. ‘Bazzar’ was created a year ago. Aside from India, we have taken ‘Bazzar’ to Oman and now we are bringing it for the first time to Qatar,” said Grace Lujan, Bazzar’s Sales and Customer Expe-rience Manager, during the show’s Media Day held on the eve of its

premiere night on Wednesday.She underlined the excitement

of their team in bringing Cirque du Soleil’s newest production to Qa-tar for the first time as well as the extensive preparations in bringing the circus vibes and inspiration to life for their Doha audience.

She said, “The response has been huge for Bazzar since its crea-tion. We are going to places where Cirque du Soleil has not been for a while or have never been. It was actually first time that Cirque du Soleil was staged in India and we were warmly received. The show was a big success. It has also been awhile since Cirque du Soleil was in Qatar. So far tickets are selling well which is a good sign.”

She added, “We are discov-ering new countries. The aim of Cirque du Soleil is to share that imagination to welcome the guests and enjoy the moment with us. We really want to share

that special experience.” Alexandra Mancini, head of

Wardrobe of Bazzar, shared the intricacies of putting costumes to-gether to highlight the uniqueness of each character of the show.

She said, “Each artiste has unique characters. Therefore, they are unique in costume, make-up, shoes and accessories. The artistes do their own make up. It takes them from 45 minutes to two hours depending on how intricate their make up is. The costumes are all made in Montreal and shipped to us here on tour.”

During the Media Day, several performers also shared their ex-citement in bringing the new pro-duction to Doha for the first time and performing for a new crowd.

The show is sponsored by Ritz Carlton Doha, Ooredoo and The Pearl Qatar. The ticket price ranges from QR295 to QR1,345 and can be purchased online.

Bazzar’s Head of Wardrobe Alexan-dra Mancini talks about prepara-tions of the characters of the show.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday. (AFP)

POMPEO MEETS WITH FOREIGN MINISTER

Nation 03Thursday, April 25, 2019

QNADOHA

THE Ministry of Culture and Sports has announced the launch of Doha Award for Drama Writing to honour Arabic- speaking Qa-taris and non-Qatari television and film drama writers. The launch of the annual award follows Decision No 58 of 2019 of HE the Minister of Culture and Sports.

The award seeks to recognise drama writing as a tool for rais-ing awareness about human issues and elevating the soul and aesthet-ic taste, while enhancing writers’ role in this noble mission.

The award includes a total of $300,000 for theatrical, television and film drama to be distributed equally among the three catego-ries.

The Minister of Culture and Sports HE Salah bin Ghanem al Ali stressed that the Arab world and its talented people need a suit-able environment that embraces their creativity and develops their talents. The minister thanked the Board of Trustees of the award chaired by Dr Marzouq Bashir and with the membership of a selected group of critics and intellectuals for working out the criteria for the award and selecting an appropri-

ate jury to ensure transparency. The Board of Trustees of the

Award has recommended that the applicant’s writing should contrib-ute to the enhancement of human dignity and support the values of dialogue in society.

Entries for the award will be accepted from May until Septem-ber this year whereas the results will be announced in November.

The organising committee of the award has launched a website to inform people about the special conditions of the award and to al-low submission of the work via electronic forms though www.do-hadramaaward.qa.

Ministry of Culture announces award for drama writing

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

EDUCATION Above All (EAA) foundation announced that it has invested over $31 million, through its programme Al Fakhoora, in the reconstruc-tion, renovation and main-tenance of educational infra-structure in Gaza Strip.

This announcement was made following the generous donation granted by Qatar Fund for Development. A del-egation headed by His Excel-lency Khalifa bin Jassem al Kuwari, General Director of the Fund along with repre-sentatives from Education Above All Foundation, vis-ited the Gaza Strip earlier this week.

The EAA has launched sev-eral projects with its partners, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and the United Nations Develop-ment Program (UNDP), in an attempt to rebuild and invest in the education system in Gaza. These projects ranged from emergency medical as-sistance, to the reconstruc-tion of damaged buildings, the provision of pyscho-social support for children, and the establishment of vocational programs for students with special needs. The projects have been vital for the edu-cation system in Gaza. They have been useful to almost all the families, whether through

employment or by allowing pupils to attend the rebuilt schools.

Along with the 218,000 direct beneficiaries, and 1,000 scholarships for the youth, Al Fakhoora programme has helped over 1.2 million indi-

rect beneficiaries in Gaza. For his part, the represent-

ative of the Education Above All Foundation said: “We are proud of the work we have been doing to help rebuild the education system and provide much needed support in Gaza

over the last five years,”. “The continued deteriorat-

ing of the socio-economic situ-ation in Gaza has led to a large numbers of displaced and underprivileged children who don’t have access to education, shelter or support. EAA and QFFD will continue to work together, not only to deliver access to quality education, but also to provide academic and social support programs that are improving children’s lives in Gaza for the better.”

On the other hand, Khalifa bin Jassim al Kuwari affirmed the Fund’s commitment to contribute to changing the lives of children and refugees in Gaza. Through the launch of these projects and the in-vestment in Palestinian hu-man capital, we have been able to successfully empower the region’s most vulnerable youths.

$31 million have been invested in education

and psycho-social support since 2014

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA:

THE Communications Regula-tory Authority (CRA) hosted a del-egation from the GSM Association (GSMA) in Doha on Tuesday and the two parties discussed a number of matters of mutual interest and ways of cooperation in different fields and issues related to the mo-bile industry.

Head of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at GSMA and the accompanying team presented a brief overview of GSMA’s industry programmes such as Future Net-works, Identity and the Internet of Things as well as the advocacy initiatives that are supported by

the GSMA like bringing the views of the policymakers closer, promot-ing sustainable investment in the vi-tal mobile sector, in addition to the role of mobile telecommunications in the economic and social develop-ment as well as some topics related to spectrum.

CRA provided an overview on some of the regulatory instruments that are going to be developed in ac-cordance with the new government legislation as well as some of stra-tegic plans related to spectrum and telecommunications infrastructure, which are in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. In addition, CRA pre-sented a number of its future pro-jects for FIFA World Cup 2022.

At the end of the meeting, the

two sides expressed their interest to activate a future cooperation, es-pecially in the area of institutional capacity building for knowledge ac-quisition as well as to host number of future workshops in Qatar, specially the one related to the impact of tele-communications towers and mobile stations on the socio of health and environment.

The GSMA represents the inter-ests of mobile networks operators around the world, and includes un-der its umbrella more than 750 oper-ators including 400 companies from manufacturers of mobile phones and private software companies, equipment suppliers and Internet companies, as well as institutions working closely with the sector.

CRA hosts delegation from GSMA

The GSM Association delegation received by Communications Regulatory Authority in Doha on Tuesday.

HE Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim bin Saif al Sulaiti, who is currently on a working visit to the People’s Republic of China, met with his Chinese counterpart Minister of Transport HE Li Xiaopeng. The two officials discussed several topics of common interest relating to transportation and mobility and means of further enhancing them. They also discussed means of increasing cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and seizing new potential investment opportunities in both countries. The meeting was attended by HE Ambassador of Qatar to China Sultan bin Salmeen al Mansouri. (QNA)

MINISTER MEETS WITH CHINESE COUNTERPART

QNADOHA

THE Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Nasser Bin Khaled Auto-mobiles, dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, has recalled Mercedes-Benz S Class model of 2017 due to a malfunction in the Control Steering System.

The ministry said the re-call campaign comes within its continuous efforts to pro-tect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs. The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out.

Ministry recalls Mercedes-Benz S Class model 17

QFFD, EAA laud access to education in Gaza

Eucation Above All Foundation programme Al Fakhoora has granted over 1000 scholarships to students.

QSRSN to observe 44th Arab Deaf Week from Saturday

QNA DOHA

QATAR Society for Rehabilita-tion of Special Needs (QSRSN) will celebrate the 44th Arab Deaf Week with a series of ac-tivities from Saturday, April 26 until the end of the month.

A number of institutions and entities working in the field of disability in the country, as well as a number of specialists, lawyers and doctors will par-ticipate in events along with a large group of deaf people, per-sons with disabilities and their families. The Arab Deaf Week is annually celebrated during the last week of April.

The week-long programme will include a series of lectures and workshops by a group of specialists and experts, includ-ing a lecture entitled ‘People with Hearing Disabilities...Vi-sions and Aspirations’, and an-

other about ‘Cochlear implant...Reality and Hope’.

The programme will also feature two lectures entitled ‘Auditory Deficiency between Past and Present...Causes and Treatment’ and ‘The Rights of Deaf People in Qatari Law and Legislation’.

Chairman of QSRSN Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah al Thani ex-pressed pleasure to celebrate the week with Arab deaf peo-ple, stressing that the Society is trying as much as possible to achieve the desired goals with this year’s theme ‘Enabling Government Bodies and Af-filiated Institutions to Employ Deaf People’.

He pointed out that the QSRSN will work within the programme of the 44th Arab Deaf Week to make members of the society aware of their duties towards persons with disabili-ties, including the deaf.

CARTOON CORNER By: Saad al Mohannadi

04 Thursday, April 25, 2019 Nation

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

QATAR Charity (QC) has re-cently distributed food and shelter aid to 30,000 displaced people in the governorates of Sana’a, Hajja, Saada and So-cotra.

Over 55,000 people suf-fering from harsh living condi-tions, according to the classifi-cation of UN agencies operating in Yemen benefited from the project, said a release. This aid came as part of the continuous efforts exerted by Qatar Char-ity’s Yemen office to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people due to the ongoing conflict in their country.

The distribution of the aid was carried out in cooperation with the National Authority for the Management and Coordi-nation of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Response.

QC distributed 6,250 food baskets, which included eight main food items, as well as it delivered 1250 shelter items, including mattresses, blankets, bed sheets and pillows.

The delegate of the National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humani-tarian Affairs and Disaster Re-sponse expressed the pleasure

over the distribution of the food and shelter aid.

He appealed to the people in Qatar to support the Yem-eni people. “We ask the people in Qatar and officials at Qatar Charity to pay more attention to the Yemeni people and stand by them in their difficult time. They will never forget those who ex-tend a helping hand to them in

their plight,” the delegate said.QC’s office coordinates all

its activities with the United Na-tions agencies working in Yem-en, implementing various joint projects in the country.

During the past period, Qa-tar Charity’s office delivered food assistance to 26,000 dis-placed persons in Sana’a. It also distributed the benefits of the sponsorship to 10,000 orphans for the year 2017, while it is working on the distribution of these benefits to13, 000 spon-sored ones for the year 2018, Thus, the total beneficiaries of the sponsorship and food bas-kets will increase to 125,000 persons.

Qatar Charity’s office in Yemen has recently been se-lected as a member of the Ad-visory Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s shel-ter cluster.

Qatar Charity provides food to 30,000 displaced Yemenis

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

ASPIRE Academy hosted its third term meeting for the Academic Year 2018-2019 on Tuesday to al-low parents to interact with teach-ers, inquire about their children’s progress and remain informed about their child’s academic and sports-related development.

Aspire Academy’s school prin-cipal, Jassem al Jaber, said: “It gives me great pleasure to host our third term meeting for the academic year, as these meetings are important in terms of keeping

parents informed and updated on their child’s yearly performance. Communication is a huge part of the education process and we at Aspire Academy believe that teachers and parents must work hand-in-hand to provide the op-timal support for our student-ath-

letes to enable them to reach their highest potential and become great ambassadors for Qatar.”

Deputy Director of sports in Aspire Academy, Dr. Hazem Anabtawi said: “At Aspire Acad-emy we managed to successfully combine the academic and the sports curriculum for the benefit of our student athletes. We are proud of the impact we have made, espe-cially in the sports sector as our student-athletes managed to earn medals and showcase outstanding performance at their chosen sport as well as strong stellar academic results at top universities.”

One of the parents, Adel Elba-gori, said: “I am very happy with the curriculum Aspire Academy has developed and the fact that it focuses on both my child’s physi-cal and academic performance. It feels good to see your child grow in an environment that is safe and enjoyable and that also supports similar morals and values.”

As part of Qatar’s National Vision 2030, Aspire Academy was established in 2004 with the aim of identifying and transform-ing talented young athletes into world-renowned champions who can represent Qatar in national teams across a wide range of sports. The Academy also con-tinues to successfully promote an outstanding sports culture in the country.

A teacher and parent during the student-athletes’ parent meeting.

Aspire Academy hosts third termstudent-athletes’ parent meeting

THE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs HE Sultan bin Saad al Muraikhi met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations of the Kingdom of Lesotho Lesego Makgothi, who is visiting the country, on Wednesday. They dis-cussed bilateral relations and means of boosting them and enhancing prospects for cooperation, in addition to issues of common concern. Following the meeting, an air services agreement between the two countries was signed by Muraikhi and Makgothi. (QNA)

MURAIKHI MEETS LESOTHO MINISTER

Founder President of UTTARA KARNATAKA BALAGA-QATAR, Shashidhar Hebbal receives Association Organisation Certificate from ICBF Coordinating Officer Dr Mohammed Aleem in the presence of Indian Ambassador to Qatar HE P Kumaran and ICBF President P N Baburajan.

Qatar Charity’s field officers distrubute food to Yemenis recently.

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

COLLEGE of the North Atlantic – Qatar (CNA-Q) recognised students of the Technician Certif-icate Program (TCP) who recording maximum attendance, in partnership with the students’ sponsors. The ceremony saw 15 students hon-oured for 95 to 100 percent attendance in the Winter 2019 semester.

The students were recognised with a cer-tificate and gift from their employer sponsors, which included representatives from Qatar Pe-troleum, Qatar Gas, QAFCO and Qatar Shell GTL. “There is an inextricable correlation be-tween student attendance and student success, both academically and professionally,” said Associate Dean of Industrial Trades at CNA-Q Robin Walters. “Committing to attend classes, workshops and workplace training equates to a better and brighter future. Both the College and students’ industry sponsors believe in the pow-er of positive reinforcement at every touchpoint along the educational journey, and celebrating dedication to learning is at the top of the list”

TCP is a specially-designed industrial trade programme for industry-sponsored Qatari males to become technical knowledge workers in the State’s energy and industry sector.

The programme was developed in partner-ship between CNA-Q and Qatar Petroleum to ensure students are highly-skilled and techni-cally-competent to work as electrical, instru-mentation, mechanical or process operator technicians. The 18-month programme focuses on industrial training, English language skills and workplace familiarisation.

To date, CNA-Q’s technician programmes have certified over 1,650 individuals with In-dustrial Trades qualifications who now work with 20 industry partners.

CNA-Q fetes top attending students

Al Attiyah Foundation to fete Sinopec Group former chiefTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

FU Chengyu, former chairman of Sinopec Group, ranked third in the Fortune 500, is this year’s recipient of The Honorary Life-time Achievement Award for the Advancement of International Energy Policy and Diplomacy pre-sented by HE Abdullah bin Hamad al Attiyah, chairman of the Al-At-tiyah Foundation (a non-profit or-ganisation).

During his four years at the helm of Sinopec, Chengyu re-formed the company to promi-nence on the international stage, increasing its market capitalisa-tion by $30 billion and positioning Sinopec third place in the Fortune 500.

As former chairman and CEO of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Chengyu was instrumental in transform-ing the company, increasing its market capital from $8 billion to $12 billion and in 2005, initiating CNOOC’s $18.5 billion acquisition of US Unocal, turning a new page of overseas acquisitions by Chi-nese firms.

“Chengyu has made an out-standing contribution to the in-dustry over the course of his career and is truly one of the most influ-ential business leaders in China. I look forward to honouring his work and Lifetime Achievement at our award ceremony on May 1,” said Attiyah.

In accepting his invitation to come to Qatar to receive the hon-

orary award, Chengyu said, “I am grateful and humbled to have been nominated to receive the Al-Attiyah Foundation’s Interna-tional Energy Award for Lifetime Achievement. I look forward to the evening.”

The Al-Attiyah Foundation be-stows one Honorary Award each year to an outstanding global ener-gy leader for their exceptional im-pact on the energy industry with distinct personal achievements for a consistent and prolonged period.

The 2019 accolade will be pre-sented to Fu Chengyu at the sev-enth edition of the Awards to be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Doha, on May 1. The event will be attend-ed by over 300 past and present leaders from industry, academia and government, in addition to many of the Foundation’s interna-tional award-winning alumni.

The Awards this year are sup-ported by Qatar Petroleum, Exx-onMobil, Shell, North Oil Compa-ny, Dolphin Energy, Qatar Airways and Total.

Fu Chengyu, former chairman of Sinopec Group

Aspire Academy teacher with a parent during the student-athletes’ parent meeting at the Aspire premises recently.

“I am very happy with the curriculum Aspire Academy has developed and the fact that it focuses on both my child’s physical and aca-demic performance. It feels good to see your child grow in an environment that is safe and enjoyable”

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

VIRGINIA Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), Qatar Foundation and Mall of Qatar will be presenting ‘EDGE’, the university’s 20th annual fash-ion show, on April 27 from 6pm to 7pm at the Ooredoo Stage at Mall of Qatar.

The show features collec-tions from sophomore, junior, and senior students from VC-Uarts Qatar, as well as three

senior students from the uni-versity’s Richmond campus.

The 2019 fashion show is a platform to inform the audi-ence about a group of emerging, young designers who are ex-ploring what fashion design is today and into the future. This event will increase the visibility of diverse design talent and cel-ebrate collaboration.

The show is designed to support the vision of a develop-ing fashion design industry in Qatar and hopes to highlight the potential of the university’s

graduates in becoming lead-ers of that movement. “The ‘EDGE’ theme is about undefin-ing boundaries to discover new and unique opportunities”, said Kimberly Guthrie, the interim chair of VCUarts Qatar’s Fash-ion Design programme.

“We are thrilled to be host-ing Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar’s annual fashion show at the iconic Ooredoo stage. It is an honour to showcase the creativity and innovation of the community. Join us to celebrate

the talented young designers as their unique creations make their runway debut”, said Stuart Elder, CEO, Mall of Qatar.

VCUarts Qatar alumna Maryam al Darwish, who grad-uated with a BFA in Fashion Design from VCUarts Qatar in 2015, will be the guest designer at the show, where she will pre-sent her most recent collection. Her senior collection titled, ‘The Details’ won the W Doha Award. Maryam also won the ‘Emerging Talent Award’ from Grazia Magazine in 2018.

VCUarts Qatar to present fashion show on April 27

CNAQ recognises students for their class attendance.

ICBF issues certificate to Indian group

Nation 05Thursday, April 25, 2019

QA strengthens ties with Amadeus to maximise revenueTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

QATAR Airways looks for the right technology to deliver memorable experiences for its customers by implementing the Amadeus Altéa Revenue Availability with Active Valu-ation (RAAV) solution.

This solution calculates real-time availability at Ori-gin & Destination level, and can be customised to help the airline tailor its offer and gain more revenue.

The solution also pro-vides the airline with greater flexibility, scalability and ef-ficiency as a result of further integration with the existing Amadeus Passenger Service System (PSS).

The combined technolo-gies will help prevent re-sponse time-outs, which can occur during the booking pro-cess, resulting in frustrated customers and lost revenue.

The solution will also en-able Qatar Airways to better manage periods of high cus-tomer demand. By allowing the airline to scale its inven-tory management systems up and down, it can ensure great-er uptime during busy periods while minimising cost. Both will mean a smoother experi-ence for Qatar Airways cus-tomers while allowing the air-line to maximise its revenues from bookings.

With Qatar Airways ex-pected to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years, the airline will also count on Amadeus Altéa Booking Intelligence (ABI) to prevent fraud and revenue leakage. The solution helps

detect abusive or fraudulent bookings during the booking process in real time and takes corrective actions before the booking is completed.

Graham Brodie, SVP Revenue Management, Qa-tar Airways, said: “With this agreement, we’re pleased to be strengthening our work together with Amadeus. At Qatar Airways, we are fo-cused on providing the best customer experience pos-sible. This partnership with Amadeus will allow us to go further by offering an im-proved experience for our customers while our book-ings continue to increase.”

Maher Koubaa, executive vice-president, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Airlines, Amadeus said: “Amadeus has enjoyed a strong relationship with Qatar Airways for many years and this renewed part-nership is a testament to that. Revenue maximisation is critical for airlines today and this collaborative effort will enable Qatar Airways to make the most of every booking and ensure that customers are served in the best way possi-ble, while minimising related operational costs.”

HIA, Kahramaa mark Earth Day, raise climate change awareness

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

HAMAD International Airport (HIA) through its memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) with Kahramaa in partnership with the National Programme for Conservation & Energy Effi-ciency ‘Tarsheed’, joined hands to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2019.

Launched by Abdulaziz al Mass, HIA vice-president of Commercial and Market-ing, and Engineer Abdulaziz al Hammadi, Kahramaa Conser-vation and Energy Efficiency Department Manager, the two-week awareness campaign includes a booth placed at the airport to highlight Qatar’s contribution to combating cli-mate change through Tarsheed & HIA’s efforts to decrease its carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency and conserva-

tion in Qatar. Commenting on the event,

Mass said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Tarsheed to celebrate Earth Day. At HIA, we believe in our environmental responsibility and are commit-ted to tackling climate change within the context of our strat-egy. We are committed to sup-porting Tarsheed’s initiatives and hope the booth will create awareness of passengers trave-ling through HIA.”

Eng Hammadi said, “Both Tarsheed and HIA support the Earth Day Global Celebration. Our partnership with HIA has given us the best platform for our booth to help raise aware-ness of global & local passen-gers travelling through the terminal. HIA is one of the most sustainable airports in the world and is joining hands with Tarsheed.”

He added, “Kahramaa dis-

seminates the awareness, regu-lations and technologies related to energy efficiency and renew-able energy. Therefore, we co-operate with all institutions and sectors in the country to achieve this goal.”

This new initiative fol-lows in the tracks of the exist-

ing MoU between HIA, Qatar Airways and Tarsheed, which was implemented last year to achieve long-term sustainabil-ity and energy conservation in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Through this framework, Tarsheed conducted staff train-

ings for both HIA and Qatar Airways on best practices for electricity and water conserva-tion as well as energy efficiency, in addition to planned energy audits at HIA’s award-winning passenger terminal and at Qatar Airways head offices.

HIA successfully retained its Airport Carbon Accredita-tion at Level 3 in 2018. The airport’s renewal came after successfully reaching Level 3 ‘Optimisation’ status in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Carbon Accredi-tation programme. The airport is the first airport among the Gulf countries and only the second in the MENA region to achieve this accreditation.

HIA is currently targeting to improve carbon efficiency per passenger by 30 percent by 2030 against a 2015 base-line and has achieved signifi-cant progress.

The awareness campaign includes a booth placed at the airport to highlight Qatar’s contribution to combating climate change through Tarsheed & HIA’s efforts to decrease its carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency and conservation in Qatar.

The state-of-the-art airport aims to improve carbon efficiency per passenger by 30 percent by 2030

The RAAV solution calculates real-time availability at Origin & Destination level, and can be customised to help the airline tailor its offer and gain more revenue.

WISE, RoboTerra partner for AI and education meetTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

THE World Innovation Sum-mit for Education (WISE) – an initiative of Qatar Foundation – has partnered with Robo-Terra, a robotics company de-signed for children, to produce the second Curiosity Confer-ence on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education, helping to bring education expertise from Qatar and around the world to a Silicon Valley audience.

The conference included a roundtable to discuss human

relationships with technology through speculative storytell-ing, using the imagination to explore issues and opportuni-ties of emerging technologies on our educational systems in the future. The discussion brought to light the inequities in communities struggling to keep up with changing technol-ogy and the factors that inhibit their progress.

WISE CEO Stavros Yian-nouka said, “We are in the early stages of identifying how tech-nology can work with educa-tion, and where we can nudge

the technology to create a more promising future.”

The Curiosity Conference also featured a variety of pan-els, workshops and discussions about designing ethical and in-clusive technologies, education in the AI era, rethinking learn-ing systems and reskilling for an AI future.

Steve Jurvetson, manag-ing director and founder of Future Ventures, shared ideas from SpaceX, a private Ameri-can aerospace manufacturer and space transportation com-pany, including plans to launch

broadband worldwide to help emerging communities signifi-cantly improve development and quality education.

As part of the trip to the US, and ahead of the Curiosity Conference, WISE participated in the 25th International Eco-nomic Forum of the Americas in Miami to facilitate efforts be-tween local Qatari and US stra-tegic partnerships.

WISE also attended the ASU GSV – the world’s lead-ing education and workforce summit – in San Diego where the theme of the summit was

‘Bending the arc of human potential’, and concluded the tour at the Comparative & In-ternational Education Society (CIES) conference in San Fran-cisco, where WISE research on secondary education in West Africa was presented.

The US tour provided valu-able insight into educational innovations coming out of the Silicon Valley, as well as other innovation hubs in the country.

The topics will contribute to discussions at this year’s WISE Summit in Doha, taking place from November 19 to 21.

06 Thursday, April 25, 2019

MOROCCAN PM MEETS QATAR’S AMBASSADOR: Prime Minister of Morocco Dr Saadeddine Othmani on Wednesday met with Qatar’s Ambassador to Morocco HE Abdullah bin Falah al Dosari, on the oc-casion of the end of his tenure in the country. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations, means of boosting them and issues of mutual interest. (QNA)

Muraikhi opens workshop on responding to natural disasters

QNA DOHA

MINISTER of State for Foreign Affairs HE Sultan bin Saad al Muraikhi inaugurated a high-level workshop on responding to natural and man-made dis-asters - the role and challenges of relief and development work.

The workshop is organ-ised by the International Co-operation Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Perma-nent Delegation of Qatar to the United Nations in Geneva with

the participation of Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN in Geneva HE Ambassador Ali Khalfan al Mansouri.

The workshop was attend-ed by the Permanent Commit-tee for Emergency at the Min-istry of Interior, permanent committee for the work of res-cue and relief in the affected ar-eas in friendly countries at the Internal Security Force (Lekh-wiya), representatives of Qatari humanitarian, charitable and development institutions and a number of embassies accred-ited to the State.

The workshop was also at-tended by HE Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa bin Ahmed al Thani, special envoy of the Secretary-General of the Arab League for Humanitarian Af-fairs; Nada El Agizy, director of Sustainable Development at the Arab League; Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Muraikhi, UN Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs; Zola Dowell, head of response services to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; and Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Under Secretary-General for Partner-

ships, International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent So-cieties (IFRC).

At the end of workshop, memorandum of understand-ing was signed for a coopera-tive agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IFRC.

From the Qatari side, the MoU was signed by Depart-ment of International Coop-eration of the Ministry Ambas-sador Tariq bin Ali al Ansari and from the IFRC side Under Secretary-General for Partner-ships Dr Jemilah Mahmood.

Vichy Celestins Spa Resort Retaj Salwa joins Future 318 for stress awareness campaign

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

IN celebration of Stress Aware-ness Month, Future 318, in partnership with Vichy Celes-tins Spa Resort Retaj Salwa, will conduct a stress management workshop at the Vichy Celestins Spa Resort located on Salwa Road on April 27.

Facilitated by Moham-med Abu Zeinab of Brain Education, Qatar Mental Health Awareness Community Founder Sana Nazakat and Transformation Guru Zahra Shikara, the workshop will be both informative and experi-ential for all the attendees.

The workshop aims to pro-vide the participants with the key skills of managing both their stress and their time. It will provide them with strate-gies for handling stress more effectively and skills that will help them feel more in control of their lives and give them greater satisfaction at work and at home.

“Companies should recog-nise the importance of a stress-free work environment as their employees will come out more productive and creative at work. A one-day off away from the city could spell a difference in one’ s body and mind which is why we have partnered with Vichy Celestins Spa Resort as it is one of the best places in Doha to de-stress with its scenic nature and good ambiance,” said Conchita Ponce, founder of Future 318.

Zahra Shikara, a certified health coach, yoga and Pilates instructor and black belt in Taekwondo, said: “The body is designed either to be in a state of stress or relaxation and a lot of people find themselves dealing with the serious effects of chronic stress. In this work-shop, we’ll be assessing stress levels using a stress test, then learning tools such as relaxa-tion techniques, meditation, breath and trance, followed by an interactive transformational workshop to get participants to reset and manage their stress levels. These tools can be used in daily life in future.”

Mental Health Activist Sana Nazakat said, “It is a lively and interactive workshop, which is specifically designed to help attendees become more emo-tionally aware towards stress

management and stress pre-vention. It will aid them in learning and developing ba-sic soft skills through various activities and presentations aimed for better coping with everyday life stresses and pre-venting mental exhaustion due to everyday hassles.”

Brain Education Middle East Regional Director Mo-hammed Abu Zeinab said, “If you simply wanted change, your mind can quickly grasp and choose the idea and this is where Brain Education comes in. We deliver experiences designed to awaken the body and brain.”

He added that the work-shop will help the participants to integrate brain functions, enhance executive control and begin to tap into one’s potential and power which would help avoid the pitfalls of stress.

Other activities include team building, mindfulness medita-tion and lots of fun games for the attendees to enjoy.

Mohammed Abu Zeinab.

800 Karwa employees attend awareness session on drugs

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THE public transport com-pany Mowasalat (Karwa) has concluded the second aware-ness session on identification of narcotic substances for its employees, especially driv-ers and support staff. The session was part of Karwa’s annual exercise to spread health and safety awareness among its employees.

The event was held at Mo-wasalat Training Centre in col-laboration with a team of spe-cialists from the Department of Studies and International Affairs and Drug Enforcement Department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

The sessions held under the slogan ‘Be the Role Model’ focused primarily on familiar-

ising Mowasalat employees with the harms of drugs and alcohol and encouraging them to spread the message to their company colleagues.

More than 800 employees belonging to different cultures

attended the sessions. Lectures were organised

twice a week with over 140 at-tendees in each session that shed light on the harms of drugs, as well as the serious ef-fects of psychotropic substanc-

es and medicinal drugs that lead to addiction.

The lectures addressed several topics such as identify-ing the causes of addiction and its effects on the individuals, families and society and ways

to address them early. It also taught the attendees about the ways to identify different types of narcotic and psychotropic substances, including various medicines and drugs that are prohibited in Qatar, as well as the legal provisions.

The lectures were organ-ised with the objective of rais-ing awareness about Qatari laws on dealing, sale and abuse of drugs and alcohol and fo-cused on the international up-dates regulating drugs.

In addition, the sessions covered important social, se-curity, health, legal and psy-chological impacts of drugs, emphasising the need for edu-cation for prevention of drugs.

At the end of each session, the team awarded the attend-ees with certificates for their participation.

The session was part of Karwa’s annual exercise to spread health and safety awareness among its employees.

The sessions focused primarily on familiarising Mowasalat employees with the harms of drugs and alcohol

Sana Nazakat.

Focus on QU research at annual forum & exhibitionTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

QATAR University (QU) hosted the ‘Annual Research Forum & Exhibition 2019’ under the theme ‘Research Transforma-tion through the Fourth Indus-trial Revolution: Challenges and Social Innovations’.

The first day of the forum focused on students in post-graduate studies.

The event featured tadTalks for graduate students under the theme ‘Resilience in Research’.

A number of senior repre-sentatives from QU and other educational institutes around Qatar attended the event, including Professor Mariam al Ali al Maadeed, QU vice-president for Research and

Graduate Studies.The Annual Research Fo-

rum and Exhibition was a meeting point for students, re-searchers and academics from the university’s 10 colleges, centres and institutes; includ-ing partners and stakeholders, to assess and review the institu-tion’s research enterprise.

The event was extended to two days and featured the-ory grounded discussions and original research presenta-tions. It was an occasion to demonstrate new tools, report on the implementation of new programmes, collaborations, innovations and other relevant projects that take bearing from the QU Research Roadmap 2018-2022, Qatar National Research Strategy and Qatar

National Vision 2030.The forum highlighted the

important and award-winning research being conducted at QU, which promotes the vision and research priorities of Qatar in the areas of water security,

energy security, cyber security, social priorities and health; and the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

During the tadTalks, a group of students participated in the sessions from QU, Qatar

Foundation, Hamad Bin Khal-ifa University, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and from the United States of America, Canada, Netherlands, Turkey, Japan and Australia.

Professor Maadeed said,

“Progress in civilisation de-pends on human construction. For this reason, we created this research forum, which features an elite group of students from Qatar and abroad in tadTalks discussions targeting postgrad-uate students.

“Technology is a gift, but man is the most important gift without which there would be no innovation or transforma-tion. We are thrilled to be here today to discuss with our fel-low academics and talented students under the slogan of resilience and excellence. To excel is the basic concept to achieve progress.”

The forum also included a panel discussion on the schol-arly peer-review system, which was conducted by QU Press

Founding Director, Editorial Committee Chair, and Oil & Gas Law Professor Prof Talal Abdulla al Emadi.

During this panel discus-sion, the experience of publi-cation of research in scientific journals by QU PhD students was discussed.

The event also featured rally driver Mohammed al Mannai.

Mohammed boasts a 32-year career, which saw him compete and win in numerous local and international cham-pionships. After being injured in an accident, Mohammed showed persistence by compet-ing still and becoming an icon and influencer in the commu-nity through speaking of his journey in newspapers, televi-sion and schools.

The event featured tadTalks for graduate students under the theme ‘Resilience in Research’.

Thales strengthens partnership with QU to boost cyber security knowledge

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THALES, a key player in cyber security with a presence in Qa-tar for over 35 years and a global leader in aerospace, transpor-tation, defense, security and space, has strengthened its partnership with Qatar Univer-sity (QU) by extending its spon-sorship of a ‘Professional Chair’ and by providing a Cyber Range software training platform to reinforce the transfer of knowl-edge in cyber security

This builds on the agree-ment Thales signed with Qatar University to sponsor a ‘Profes-sional Chair’ in 2014. The re-newed partnership on the cyber security demonstrates the co-operation established between Qatar University and Thales over the years and Thales com-mitment to support Qatar’s education sector.

With the contribution of the Cyber Range software

training platform to Qatar Uni-versity, developed in collabo-ration with Diateam, Thales offers another advanced train-ing tool for students.

Cyber Range is designed to help organisations improve their capabilities to ensure that they are adequately pre-pared for cyber attacks. Cyber Range has three critical ser-vices - practice, validation and experimentation.

As a training platform, it aims at developing skills to de-fend systems and organisations against cyber-attacks. It also reproduces/simulates infor-mation and industrial systems from the simplest to the most complicated in order to analyse their resistance to attacks.

The platform is also a per-fect tool to evaluate the prod-ucts and solutions in terms of cyber security.

Commenting on the agree-ment, College of Engineering Dean Prof Abdelmagid Ham-

muda said, “This cooperation with Thales to renew the chair MoU represents the good rela-tions between academia and industry and the commitment of both to graduate highly pro-fessional engineers in different industrial areas. We are proud of this partnership which will add great value to education and research at QU and which will contribute significantly to Qatar’s society as a whole.”

Frederic Sallet, Qatar VP,

Country Director of Thales Group, said: “The sponsorship of the Professional Chair for cyber security by Thales has achieved tangible results with Qatar University, developing stronger skillsets and access to knowledge based on this impor-tant topic that is central to the digital transformation shaping Qatar today in line with the Qa-tar National Vision 2030.

“The renewed partnership also highlights the industry-

academic links that are central to driving Qatari human capital development, especially in tech-nology. Thales Group’s continu-ous support will add to the skills of Qatari youth as they start their careers in both the public and private sector.”

Pierre Jeanne, VP cyberse-curity solutions and technolo-gies of Thales, said: “This is a great example of the long-term partnerships that we foster with academia to nurture the skills of Qatar next generation talents. As a key partner in the development of defence capac-ities and infrastructure of the country, including ambitious projects such as Doha Metro, Lusail LRT or Hamad Port, we are committed to promoting Qatari talents, especially in ad-vanced technology.

“Cyber security skills are key to the digital era of today, and through our partnership, we will contribute to the knowl-edge base of QUstudents.”

QU President Dr Hassan al Derham with Thales officials.

Zahra Shikara.

Nation

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

IN a first for Qatar, Fifty One East, Qatar’s favourite depart-ment store, and TUDOR hosted an event to present the latest BASELWORLD 2019 models.Watch enthusiasts and collectors

of prestigious timepieces who were in attendance had an exclusive opportu-nity to explore all 12 new models from TUDOR.

The Qatari market was chosen to release the new watches in celebra-tion of Fifty One East’s commitment to the exceptional growth and success of the TUDOR brand in Qatar.

The presentation was held in a private event at STK Doha at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. It was attended by Ambassador of Switzerland to Qatar HE Edgar Doerig, Ambassador of Ar-gentina to Qatar HE Carlos Hernán-dez, Qatar Watch Club members, VIP guests and select media representa-tives who were among the first in the world to discover the new astounding timepieces straight after their release back in March.

At BASELWORLD 2019, Swiss watch brand TUDOR made the head-lines after unveiling its unexpected Black Bay P01 model, a watch based on a legendary diving watch proto-type from the 1960s.

Alongside the full 2019 collec-tion, including models like the Black Bay Bronze or the Black Bay Chrono in Steel & Gold, was a selection of vintage TUDOR watches sup-plied by the TUDOR museum in Geneva and retracing the product history of the brand from 1926 to these days.

Commenting on the occasion, Bader al Darwish, chair-man and managing director of Fifty One East, said: “We are proud to celebrate an-other milestone with TUDOR, presenting their new collection right after BASELWORLD 2019. Fifty One East and TUDOR have a long-standing relationship and we are proud to be the first in the Middle East to

showcase these novelty timepieces to our es-teemed customers.

“This event further cements our commit-ment for 70 years to pro-vide the Qatari market with an impeccable expe-rience and products that

bring together luxury and unparalleled performance.”

The TUDOR brand sig-nature is #BornToDare. It

reflects both the history of the brand and what it stands for today. It tells the adventures of indi-viduals, usually anony-mous, who have achieved the extraordinary on

land, on ice, in the air or underwater, with a TUDOR watch on their wrists.

The TUDOR #BornToDare spirit is supported globally by high-profile ambassadors – Lady Gaga, David

Bekcham, Jay Chou and the All

Blacks.

Fifty One East presents Tudor’s latest BASELWORLD watches for first time in M-E

07Thursday, April 25, 2019

Is 70 New 50 For Presidential Candidates?

SEPTUAGENARIANS rock?A sizzling 76, former Vice Presi-

dent/US Senator/Serial Hugger Joe Biden is expected to announce within days that he will make his third run for the White House.

His age will be an issue for some peo-ple. But why?

He’s a year younger than 77-year-old Bernie Sanders, who seems to get a pass because we are used to him as a presiden-tial contender. President Donald Trump is 72, the titular leader of the Democratic Party, Nancy Pelosi, is 79.

Isn’t it weird that even though Millen-nials (ages 23-38) have surpassed Baby Boomers (55-73) as America’s largest co-hort, or age group, the leaders of the presi-dential sweepstakes are well beyond what’s thought of as retirement age, which is itself a shaky concept?

The Gray Panthers was founded in 1970 by Philadelphian Maggie Kuhn, when she was forced to retire from a job she loved be-

cause she hit the magic age of 65. She lost her job, but launched a movement.

A tireless quote machine, Maggie said there were six myths about old age: “That it’s a disease, a disaster. That we are mind-less. That we are sexless. That we are use-less. That we are powerless. That we are all alike.”

Maggie died in 1995 at 89, and since there is no Philadelphia chapter, I asked Jack Kupferman, 64, an attorney who leads New York City’s Gray Panthers, what Mag-gie might say about a candidate being too old.

“That’s nonsense, that’s just nonsense,” Jack imagines her saying. “The basic thing is understanding and experience. And the ability to get things done is essential.” Ide-as are good or bad, not young or old.

Predictably (because they are my age peers), I say the gray-haired guys (not to mention the orange-haired one) still are buzzy. They are a finished product.

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been,” said my peer David Bowie, who died at 69.

The process also rewards you, he did

not say, with an annoying number of aches and pains. For half my life the Big Think-ers have described America as a youth cul-ture that worships the young, new, and un-wrinkled. I found that cool when they were talking about me, less so now that I’ve aged out.

Does the appeal of septuagenarian can-

didates mean America has swapped youth culture for ancestor worship?

I doubt it. Sanders, Biden and Trump benefit from name recognition.

When I engage with online critics, the point of attack is my senior status, more than my race, religion, gender or politi-cal views. Almost without exception, this

comes from the Left. The same people who hyperventilate over racism, homophobia, misogyny, Islamophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia, are comfortable whipping out the club of ageism.

Does it bother me? Not really. Age brings a sort of serenity. They often think I don’t get it, whatever “it” is to them. I do know that I have been 25, and can remem-ber what that feels like, but they are clue-less about how and what you feel at 50.

My peeps grew up on rock and roll, we poured into college, we created prosperity while we fought the Cold War. Many of us were drafted to defend Europe or Vietnam. We understand service.

While our mind may be fuzzy on some details, we have the maturity to understand how and why things work. There aren’t many surprises.

But there are some — like health, which can go south quickly, even for those with apparent vigour.

That’s why I’m certain that should ei-ther Biden or Sanders be the Democratic nominee, the vice presidential candidate will be at least one generation younger.

And it won’t be a straight, white male.

Even though Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as America’s largest cohort, the gray heads are in the lead

Opinion

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THE OPINION AND ANALYSIS PAGES ARE THE AUTHORS’ OWN. QATAR TRIBUNE BEARS NO RESPONSIBILITY.

KIM Jong Un, like Vladimir Putin, has enjoyed flourishes of bonhomie with Donald Trump only to see the rela-tionship fray over sanctions. Now, the North Korean leader is turning

to the Russian president for help.Kim is slated to meet Putin on Thurs-

day in Vladivostok for his first summit with the Russian leader since coming to power in 2011. The trip — coming almost a year after Russia’s invitation — appeared timed to show that Kim has alternative sources of support after his failed meeting with Trump in Hanoi left North Korea with no clear path to escape a US-led international economic embargo.

While Putin has little money to share and is unlikely to make any moves that could violate sanctions or create another dispute with the US, Kim may have to settle for Russian pledges of diplomatic and eco-nomic support.

While the Kremlin touted the signifi-cant of the meeting, the two leaders won’t make any joint statements and so far don’t plan to sign an official documents, accord-ing to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign-policy aide.

Here’s what Kim wants:

Diplomatic lifelineMuch has changed since Joseph Stalin

helped Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, set up the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the aftermath of World War II, including the Soviet Union’s collapse and China’s emergence as North Korea’s main benefactor. Putin has preserved some Rus-sian influence on the Korean Peninsula, hosting North Korean workers and partici-pating in six-party nuclear talks, but has so far not met Kim.

Kim and Putin and have something to gain by meeting now. Kim wants to pro-tect the diplomatic profile he built during a series of unprecedented trips abroad last year and demonstrate to Trump that he has friends beyond just China.

For the Kremlin, the meeting is a chance to show Russia’s still a player in a major global issue where it’s been largely upstaged by China and the US “For Putin, it’s important to stay in the game,” said Georgy Toloraya, head of the Centre for Asian Strategy at the Russian Academy of Sciences. “It’s thanks to the Korea issue that there’s been some positive movement in the US-Russian relationship.”

Sanctions reliefRussia has largely followed China’s

lead on sanctions, joining Beijing to sup-

port UN penalties when Kim was testing weapons of mass destruction and urging relief after he stopped. Putin’s veto on the UN Security Council could give him lever-age to chip away at some sanctions on the grounds that they’re violating intended protections against “adverse humanitarian consequences.”

Still, Russia has pledged to abide by Security Council resolutions and there’s no sign Putin would take the risk of violating them.

Guest worker exceptionsOne North Korean sanctions complaint

that could find a receptive audience in Rus-sia is the Security Council requirement that countries expel North Korean guest work-ers by the end of the year. North Korea has sent tens of thousands of citizens to places like Russia and China for manual labour, earning the regime more than $500 million a year in vital foreign currency — or about 1.5 percent of the country’s economy.

North Korea wants Russia to let its workers stay, Russian lawmaker Fedot Tu-musov told the Interfax news agency after returning from Pyongyang. Sparsely popu-lated areas of the Russian Far East have grown reliant on the workers for industries such as timber and construction, giving au-thorities an incentive to look the other way. But sanctions require the last of them to leave by the end of this year, leaving little room for concessions.

Transportation linksDecades of sanctions, stagnation and

excessive military spending have left North Korea’s infrastructure in bad shape. And Russia, which shares a 17 kilometre (11 mile) border with country, wants it upgrad-

ed to gain access to the North and South Korean markets.

Kim has sought to improve his rail sys-tem, which could carry South Korean goods to China and Europe and provide broader access to an estimated $6 trillion in miner-al resources, according to a 2013 estimate by the North Korea Resources Institute in Seoul. Russian Foreign Minister Ser-gei Lavrov said in December that Moscow wanted to work with the two Koreas to up-grade their rail links, which would require sanctions waivers.

Kim may walk away from his trip to Russia with a pledge to expand border crossings, enhancing a bridge built nearly 60 years ago to allow for stepped-up ve-hicle crossings. China and North Korea opened a new border crossing over the Yalu River in April.

Barter systemWith trade between them down more

than 56 percent last year, Russia and North Korea are working on a mechanism to stimulate commerce without violating sanctions, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday. The two sides would ship goods to each other that don’t fall un-der the sanctions and avoid the risk of fi-nancial penalties by using no money, just barter settlement, the report said. Ushak-ov, the Kremlin aide, declined to comment on that possibility, however.

“Russia could agree to sell them vari-ous goods that Western firms are scared to sell,” said Andrei Lankov, a North Ko-rea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul. “North Korea is viewed as such a danger-ous partner that companies fear doing even business that’s permitted.”

Kim Jong Un looks To Putin For help

JON HERSKOVITZ & OLGA TANAS TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

While Putin is unlikely to make any moves that could violate sanctions, Kim may have to settle for Russian pledges of diplomatic and economic support

(Tribune News Service)

IN a nation of laws, no one should be above them. Not even the president. Es-pecially not the president. But for the

time being, he is.That’s unacceptable.According to US Justice Department doc-

trine, which Special Counsel Robert Mueller III was duty-bound to obey, a president can-not be indicted while in office. The pretext is that it would be too disruptive to the govern-ment to put a sitting president on trial.

But such carte blanche immunity is dis-ruptive to something even more fundamental: our constitutional democracy.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it say a president is immune to prosecution.

Considering the facts in the light most fa-vourable to President Trump, Mueller’s 448-page report portrays a candidate eager for a hostile government’s help in getting elected and a president who was so frantic to conceal that fact from the American people that he did as many as 10 things that could be construed as obstruction of justice.

The president’s culpability would be more pronounced had eight subordinates not will-fully disregarded some of his orders.

Trump went at the cover-up harder than even Richard Nixon did after Watergate. A distinction is that Nixon knew an underlying crime — the burglary — had been committed by people close to him. But that’s not much of a difference.

Russia’s hacking of Democratic comput-ers, a fact already well-known to the entire in-telligence community, was a crime for which Mueller indicted 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies.

The question of whether Trump or his campaign conspired with them was made more difficult to answer by the president’s persistent efforts to call off and disparage the investigation.

And, as the Mueller report explicitly ob-served, there doesn’t have to be an underlying crime for criminal obstruction to occur. If the motive were merely to prevent embarrass-ment, or to keep investigators from learning whether there was an underlying crime, that’s enough.

Trump must have feared something when he bewailed the appointment of the special counsel as “the end of my presidency.”

Any other politician might be contemplat-ing resignation because of the exposure of his willingness to let Russia help elect him and his indifference to the conflicts of interest created by his secret negotiations to build a hotel in Moscow. The Mueller report documented at least 140 contacts had by Trump, his family, and associates with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks.

Although Mueller cleared Trump of con-spiracy in the hacking, by no means did he absolve him of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Here’s what Mueller said about that:“If we had confidence after a thorough

investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice,

we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment. The evidence we obtained about the president’s actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent us from conclusively determining that no crimi-nal conduct occurred.”

Even without the redacted portions — which the appropriate committees in Con-gress should persist in obtaining — the report serves as a bill of particulars for impeachment should the House of Representatives decide to do that. In effect, Mueller said so. The report’s vivid and abundant details mean the House Democratic leadership must rethink slough-ing off that responsibility.

Before the report’s release — and perhaps misled by Attorney General William Barr’s disingenuous four-page summary — the Democratic leaders were apprehensive of a possible backlash from Trump’s die-hard sup-porters and mindful of the difficulty in crack-ing his border wall of enablers in the Senate. Removal would require the votes of all Demo-crats and 20 Republicans. It’s a much differ-ent place, not for the better, than when Barry Goldwater told Nixon to his face that it was time to go.

Impeachment is the fail-safe the Founders provided for a rogue presidency. What to do when the fail-safe fails?

The concept of a sitting president legally immune to indictment — and politically im-mune to impeachment — leaves only the pos-sibility of charging him after he leaves office, as Nixon likely would have been without Ger-ald Ford’s pardon.

But it also leaves the statutes of limitation running to prevent prosecution that, in the case of most federal crimes, occurred more than five years before charges are filed.

There are exceptions, as for terrorism, certain financial crimes and newly discovered DNA evidence, but none that would seem to apply to obstruction of justice.

That needs to be changed, as it could be by a simple act of Congress.

As is, the statute of limitations is an incen-tive to a rogue president to remain in office as long as possible.

By amendment, the Constitution already provides for the vice president to act tempo-rarily in the president’s place if he certifies that he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Alternatively, the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can make that finding. The 25th Amendment also provides for the president to resume power when the “inability” no longer exists.

That’s a convenient and obvious model for a congressional declaration, or for another constitutional amendment if need be, that the president is not immune to indictment and that in the event of one, the vice president will act in his place.

That needs to be done for the future, if not for now.

One president above the law is one too many.

A US President Should Not Be Immune From Indictment

Nowhere does US Constitution say that a president is immune from prosecution. One president above law is one too many

ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2006

HAMAD BIN SUHAIM AL THANI CHAIRMANADEL ALI BIN ALI MANAGING DIRECTORDR HASSAN MOHAMMED AL ANSARI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

STU BYKOFSKY TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

08 Thursday, April 25, 2019

Intense fighting flares between Taliban and IS in Afghanistan

REUTERSKABUL

AFGHAN Taliban insurgents are battling fighters loyal to Islamic State over control of territory in eastern Afghani-stan in some of the heaviest clashes over the past year be-tween the rival militants, offi-cials said on Wednesday.

The fighting erupted on Monday in two districts of the eastern Afghan border province of Nangarhar, when Islamic State fighters at-tacked villages under Taliban control.

“Islamic State fighters have captured six villages in Khogyani and Shirzad dis-tricts but the fighting has not stopped,” said Sohrab Qaderi, a member Nangarhar’s the provincial council.

About 500 families had fled from the fighting, he said.

Casualty figures were not available. A spokesman for the Taliban, who control more territory than at any

point since they were ousted from power nearly 18 years ago, was not available for comment. Islamic State fight-ers first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in around 2014 and have battled the Taliban as well as government and foreign forces.

The Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, sometimes known as Islamic State Kho-rasan (ISIS-K), after an old name for the region that in-cludes Afghanistan, has made some inroads into other ar-eas, in the north in particular.

It has also established a reputation for unusual cru-elty, even by the standards of the Afghan conflict, and has been behind some of the deadliest attacks in urban centres.

While Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan, has been an Islamic State stronghold, some villages in Khogyani and Shirzad dis-tricts have been controlled by the Taliban.

NEW Delhi: Dumped by the BJP, Delhi MP Udit Raj on Wednesday joined the Con-gress and alleged that he was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha battle because the BJP was anti-Dalit and because he took a stand contrary to BJP’s line on many issues. Address-ing a press conference at the party office after joining the Congress, Udit Raj said: “The BJP carried out internal sur-veys by various agencies of all the seven seats in Delhi, and out of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies the only posi-tive feedback came from my seat. (IANS)

Delhi MP Udit Raj joins Congress, calls BJP anti-Dalit

NEW DELHI: An Indian state court on Wednesday moved to lift a ban on popular video app TikTok in the country, two law-yers involved in the case said, in a boost for its developer Beijing Bytedance Technology Co. Earlier this month, the court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu ordered the fed-eral government to prohibit Tik-Tok downloads, saying the app was encouraging pornography and could expose children to sexual predators. Acting upon subsequent instructions from the federal IT ministry, Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google last week removed TikTok from their Indian app stores. (REUTERS)

Indian state court lifts ban on Chinese video app TikTok

MANILA: Four suspected Islamic militants were killed on Wednesday in an offen-sive by government troops in the southern Philippines, the military said. Soldiers were conducting an operation to track down a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, when they encountered the militants, said Lieutenant General Arnel Dela Vega, a regional military chief. The firefight occurred before dawn in a remote village in the town of Ungkaya Pukan, where the military also dispatched air support to go after militants who fled. (DPA)

Philippine troops kill four suspected Islamist militants

News in brief

AGENCIESISLAMABAD

PRIME Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday telephoned his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe to offer assis-tance to fight terrorism while condemning horrifying suicide attacks that have killed 359 people so far As per details, PM Khan condoled with the fami-lies of deceased and extended wishes for the speedy recovery of the injured.

“Pakistan has been a vic-tim of terrorism, we empathize with the pain of Sri Lankan na-tion,” the prime minister said while offering complete assis-

tance to the island country for curbing terrorism.

During the phone call, pre-mier Khan asserted that terror-ism has no religion, no border and it has ruined the peace of the entire globe.

Sri Lankan police spokes-man Ruwan Gunasekera said

the death toll had risen to 359 from 321 overnight, with about 500 people wounded at three churches and four hotels hit by the bombers on the day of Easter, media reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Imran Khan called his counterpart to offer condolences.

In a telephonic conversa-tion with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesing-he, Imran strongly condemned the terrorist attacks that took place on Easter Sunday and conveyed condolences to the bereaved families and pro-found prayers for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

Imran offers Sri Lanka anti-terror assistance

REUTERSCOLOMBO

POLITICAL tension mounted in Sri Lanka on Wednesday over the handling of advance in-telligence related to Easter Sun-day’s suicide bombings, with an ally of the prime minister charg-ing that top officials deliberately withheld critical information.

The attacks on church-es and luxury hotels, which killed at least 359 people and wounded about 500, appear to have rekindled a feud between Prime Minister Ranil Wick-remesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena.

Critics said government in-fighting could undermine the authorities’ response to the se-curity crisis and the threat of Islamist extremism now facing an island state that had been relatively peaceful since a civil war ended a decade ago.

“How do you deal with this? The president and the prime minister are part of the same government, and they are blam-ing each other,” said Keheliya

Rambukwella, lawmaker and spokesman for former presi-dent Mahinda Rajapaksa’s op-position party.

“You would normally expect the opposition to be playing the blame game. But we don’t need to, they are busy attacking each other, we are in fact saying please get together and sort it out, so the country can unitedly face the challenge.”

Sri Lankan intelligence of-ficials were tipped off about an

imminent attack by Islamist militants hours before the sui-cide bombings at three church-es and four hotels, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said this week.

An Indian government source said similar messages had been given to Sri Lankan intelligence agents on April 4 and April 20. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday.

The leader of parliament,

an ally of the prime minister, said on Wednesday that “some top intelligence officials hid the intelligence information purposefully”.

“Information was there, but the top brass security officials did not take appropriate ac-tions,” Lakshman Kiriella, who is also minister of public enter-prise, told parliament.

He said information about possible suicide attacks on churches, hotels and politicians was received from Indian intel-ligence on April 4 and a Security Council meeting was chaired by President Sirisena on April 7, but the information was not shared more widely.

“Somebody is controlling these top intelligence offi-cials,” the minister said. “The Security Council is doing poli-tics. We need to investigate into this.” Sirisena has said his office never received the In-dian report. Two sources close to the president said Sirisena had asked the country’s police chief and defence secretary to resign following the attacks.

Some top officials purposefully hid warnings of Easter bombings: PM aide

Security forces stand guard at St. Antony shrine, days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels across the island on Easter Sunday, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

Intelligence handlingrow stokes political tensions in Sri Lanka

AFPKABUL

AFGHAN civilians are for the first time being killed in great-er numbers by US and pro-government forces than by the Taliban and other insurgent groups, a UN report released Wednesday revealed.

The bloody milestone comes as the US steps up its air campaign in Afghanistan while pushing for a peace deal with the Taliban, who now control or influence more parts of the country than at any time since they were ousted in 2001. Dur-

ing the first three months of 2019, international and pro-government forces were re-sponsible for the deaths of 305 civilians, whereas insurgent groups killed 227 people, the United Nations Assistance Mis-sion in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a quarterly report.

The majority of the deaths resulted from US air strikes or from search operations on the ground, primarily conducted by US-backed Afghan forces, some of which UNAMA said “appear to act with impunity”.

“UNAMA urges both the Afghan national security forc-

es and international military forces to conduct investigations into allegations of civilian casu-

alties, to publish the results of their findings, and to provide compensation to victims as ap-

propriate,” the report states. UNAMA started compiling civilian casualty data in 2009 amid deteriorating security conditions in Afghanistan.

It is the first tally since re-cords began that shows pro-government forces have killed more civilians than insurgents have, though insurgents were responsible for more than twice as many injuries as were pro-government forces.

Colonel Dave Butler, spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan, said the US mili-tary holds itself “to the high-est standards of accuracy and

accountability” and that it strives for precision in all its operations. “We reserve the right of self-defence of our forces as well as the Afghan Security Forces,” Butler said in a statement.

“The best way to end the suffering of non-combatants is to end the fighting through an agreed-upon reduction in vio-lence on all sides.”

According to US Air Force Central Command, the US dropped 7,362 bombs in Af-ghanistan in 2018, the highest number since at least 2010, and up from 4,361 in 2017.

More civilians killed by US and Afghan forces than by insurgents: UN

US soldiers stand guard outside the venue of a meeting in Ghazni, Afghanistan, recently. (EPA-EFE)

Will go after the fixers in Indian judiciary: SC

IANSNEW DELHI

THE Supreme Court on Wednesday said “fixing” has no place in the judiciary and it will go to “the bottom of the conspir-acy” to identify those involved as it heard a case pertaining to conspiracy to frame the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in a sexual harassment case.

A bench, headed by Jus-tice Arun Mishra, took a very serious note of advocate Utsav Bains’ affidavit, which claimed that conspiracy of levelling an allegation of sexual harassment against the CJI was hatched by two apex court staffers recently sacked in connection with Eric-sson case order.

The staffers were charged with tampering with the court’s order, in collusion with power-ful corporate lobbyists linked with the “cash for judgment” in the Supreme Court.

As at the beginning of the second phase of hearing at 3 p.m., Bains handed over some documents to the bench, sen-ior advocate Indira Jaising sought to know the nature of these documents.

The bench, however, said that these documents were highly confidential and it may not be appropriate to let her know about it. Bains told the

court that the two conspirators have met in person and he was waiting for it to happen. He re-sponded positively when Jus-tice Mishra inquired if he was carrying a mobile phone.

The SC bench, which had earlier met the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investi-gation, the Intelligence Bu-reau and the Delhi Police and shared the details of Bains’ af-fidavit, said that a decision on ordering of high level probe re-garding the conspiracy will be taken on Thursday.

Bains will file an additional affidavit in the court on Thurs-day. Justice Mishra said that Bains will have to corroborate his contentions regarding for-mer SC employees hatching a conspiracy in collusion with some powerful lobbyists.

Asia 09Thursday, April 25, 2019

US denies possessing advance intelligence on suicide bombingsCOLOMBO: The US ambassador to Sri Lanka has denied the United States had prior knowledge of the Easter militant attacks that it passed to the Colombo government, CNN television reported Wednesday. “We had no prior knowledge of these attacks,” US am-bassador Alaina Teplitz told the US channel in an interview on the suicide attacks on Sunday that killed 359 people, including at least four Americans. A Sri Lankan minister had said earlier this week that India and the United States had provided information before the bombings on three churches and three hotels which authorities have blamed on a local Islamist group. “Well I can’t speak for oth-ers. I don’t know what other sources of information the government of Sri Lanka might have had. I can just tell you that we had no prior knowledge,” the ambassador told CNN. (AFP)

AllegationA bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, took a very serious note of advocate Utsav Bains’ affidavit, which claimed that conspiracy of levelling an allegation of sexual harassment against the CJI was hatched by two apex court staffers recently sacked in connection with Ericsson case order

Gunmen kill Pakistan police officer protecting polio team in Bunar area

REUTERSPESHAWAR

GUNMEN in Pakistan shot and killed a police officer guarding a polio immuniza-tion team on Wednesday, the latest attack on efforts to protect children from the crippling and sometimes deadly disease.

Polio workers are often targets in Pakistan where hardline clerics and Islam-ist militants have claimed the government’s polio eradica-tion campaign is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies.

The police constable was on duty with a polio team in the remote Buner district in northern Pakistan when un-known gunmen opened fire, police chief Irshad Khan Yousafzai said.

“He was shot in the head and shoulder and died imme-diately,” he said, adding that officers had been assigned to polio teams in the district after a rise in threats against workers. Pakistan is one of the only three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, that suffers from endemic po-lio, a childhood virus that can cause paralysis or death.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan.

Bangladesh marks 6th year of factory disaster with new safety warningsSAVAR: Six years after one of the world’s most devastating factory disasters, moves to cut international safety monitoring of Bangladesh clothes factories led Wednesday to warnings of a new threat to lives.

Hundreds of workers at-tended commemorations for the collapse of the nine-floor rabbit warren of textile factories at Rana Plaza on April 24, 2013 that killed 1,138 workers.

Some laid wreaths at a makeshift memorial, demand-ing justice for the victims as well as highlighting their safety fears.

“Six years have passed

since the disaster, yet nothing has happened to the perpetra-tors. The victims haven’t had any justice. Six years later, safety issues in the factories have not been fixed,” said Joly Talukder, a top union leader.

Under intense pressure at the time, top brands such as H&M, Inditex, Carrefour and Gap set up two watchdogs to look at more than 4,500 factories that make clothes for Western stores. One, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, has already wrapped up after reviewing nearly 1,000 factories that produced mostly for US brands. (AFP)

2 more deaths take Telangana student suicide toll to 10

HYDERABAD: Two more intermediate students in Telangana on Wednesday committed suicide, taking the number to 10 since the results were declared last week, even as protests continued over the Telan-gana Board of Intermediate Education (TBIE) goof-ups.

Depressed over failure in examinations, Chakali Raju hanged himself in his house in Chinna Shakar-ampet village of the Medak district. Another student Malothu Naveen of the Wa-rangal Rural district ended his life by jumping before a train. (IANS)

51 killed, 1,000 displaced by floods in South Africa

AFPJOHANNESBURG

DEVASTATING floods in South Africa have left 51 dead and forced more than a thou-sand people from their homes, according to an updated toll issued Wednesday as Presi-dent Cyril Ramaphosa flew to the deluged region.

Heavy rains have lashed the southeast of the country, tearing down homes and rav-aging infrastructure in Kwa-Zulu-Natal and Eastern Cape

provinces. Speaking to the affected

Amanzimtoti community in Durban, after returning from emergency African Union talks in Egypt on the crises in Libya and Sudan, Ramapho-sa said “there are more than 1,000 people who are now dis-placed.”

He raised concerns about Free State province north of KwaZulu-Natal, saying that continuing downpours there were causing “risky situa-tions.”

KANO: Nineteen wedding guests in the northern Nigeri-an state of Jigawa died when their bus lost control and burst into flames, police said Wednesday. The 18-seater was carrying 40 women and children returning from a wed-ding when its front tyre burst, causing it to skid off the road. The crash happened on Tuesday in Gwaram Sabuwa, a village around 100 kilome-tres (60 miles) from the state capital Dutse.

“Nineteen people were killed in the accident and 21 others were injured,” state police spokesman Abdul Jinjiri told AFP. Residents said the bus somersaulted and burst into flames, burning the victims alive. (AFP)

Road accident kills 19 wedding guests in Nigeria

ALGIERS: Algeria’s richest man Issad Rebrab has been detained in jail on the public prosecutor’s orders, state media reported Tuesday, a day after his arrest as part of a corruption probe.

The crackdown on al-leged graft follows the resig-nation of veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in early April after weeks of mass protests against his 20-year rule. News of Rebrab’s arrest came as thousands of students thronged the capital’s streets calling for the overthrow of the “sys-tem” and for trials against members of the deposed leader’s inner circle. (AFP)

Algeria’s richest man held in jail over graft probe

VLADIVOSTOK: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he was looking forward to his first talks with President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in Russia on Wednesday seeking support in Pyong-yang’s nuclear deadlock with the United States. Kim’s armoured train rolled in to the Tsarist-era station in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladiv-ostok, where the summit will take place on Thursday. Wearing a long black coat and fedora, Kim stepped out onto a red carpet on the station platform before making his way outside where he was received by an honour guard and military band. (AFP)

North Korea’s Kim in Russia for first talks with Putin

News in brief

AFPDUBAI

SAUDI Arabia faced world-wide criticism Wednesday for its mass execution of a group made up mostly of people from the kingdom’s Shiite Muslim minority, some of whom the UN said were minors when charged.

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet condemned Riyadh’s Tuesday execution of 37 Saudi nationals, saying “it was par-ticularly abhorrent that at least three of those killed were mi-nors at the time of their sen-tencing”.

The EU echoed her cen-sure, calling the execution of people charged as minors a “serious violation”.

Spokeswoman Maja Koci-jancic said the fact that the ma-jority of those executed were Shiites had “the potential to fuel sectarian tensions”.

They were put to death af-ter being convicted of terror-ism, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, in the largest mass execution in the country for more than three years.

At least 33 of those execut-ed belonged to Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, according to

Human Rights Watch.The rights group said the

convictions were based on “unfair” mass trials and on confessions allegedly extracted through torture.

The Sunni-dominated king-dom’s interior ministry said some of those executed were accused of “inciting sectarian strife”, a charge often used in Saudi Arabia against Shiite ac-tivists.

One person was crucified after being killed, SPA reported, a measure reserved for particu-larly serious crimes in the ultra-conservative oil-rich kingdom, where executions are usually

carried out by beheading. “Saudi authorities will in-

evitably characterise those ex-ecuted as terrorists... but the reality is that Saudi courts are largely devoid of any due pro-cess, and many of those execut-ed were condemned based sole-ly on confessions they credibly say were coerced,” said HRW’s deputy Middle East director Michael Page.

“Executing prisoners en masse shows that the current Saudi leadership has little inter-est in improving the country’s dismal human rights record.”

Rights group Amnesty In-ternational said most of those executed were “convicted after sham trials” based on “confes-

sions extracted through tor-ture”. The executions were “yet another gruesome indication of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush dissent” from within the Shiite minority, it added in a state-ment. The rights watchdog said 11 of those executed were convicted of spying for Iran, while at least 14 others were sentenced in connection with anti-government protests in the Eastern Province between 2011 and 2012.

Among those executed was Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, who was only 16 at the time of his arrest, Amnesty said.

Saudi faces rising global criticism after mass executions

AFPKHARTOUM

SUDANESE protest leaders raised the pressure on the coun-try’s army rulers on Wednesday, threatening a general strike and calling for a million-strong march to demand a civilian gov-ernment.

The military council that took power after veteran presi-dent Omar al Bashir was ousted earlier this month meanwhile invited rally leaders to a new meeting.

Siddiq Farouk, one of those spearheading the protests, told reporters the demonstrators were “preparing for a general strike” across the country if the army rulers refuse to hand pow-er to a civilian administration.

He also said that a “million-strong march” is planned, con-firming a call for the mammoth protest Thursday by the Suda-nese Professionals Association (SPA), the group that launched protests against Bashir in De-

cember. For the first time, Su-danese judges said they would join a sit-in outside army head-quarters “to support change and for an independent judiciary”.

The demonstrations began in the central town of Atbara on December 19 against a decision by Bashir’s government to triple bread prices.

They swiftly turned into

nationwide demonstrations against his rule and that of the military council that took his place.

The council, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since his predecessor quit after barely 24 hours in the post, says it has assumed power for a two-year transitional period.

Hundreds of protesters

came from the central town of Madani to join the sit in on Wednesday, the second major batch of new arrivals from out-side the capital in as many days.

A train laden with demon-strators had rolled in from At-bara -- the crucible of the pro-tests -- on Tuesday.

“We have come from Mada-ni and we demand civilian rule!”, the latest arrivals chanted.

“Revolutionaries from Madani want civilian rule,” they also belted out, according to witnesses. The protesters sus-pended talks with the council on Sunday over its refusal to trans-fer power immediately.

The military council said it had invited the protest leaders to another meeting on Wednes-day evening at the presidential palace. The council acknowl-edged the role of the protest alli-ance in “initiating the revolution and leading the movement in a peaceful way until the toppling of the regime” of long-time lead-er Omar al Bashir.

Demonstrators preparing for a general strike across the country if the army rulers refuse to hand over power to a civilian administration

Sudanese activist Omar el-Digeir (left), one of the leaders of the opposition Alliance for Freedom and Change Movement, speaks as activist Siddiq Farouk al Sheikh looks on during a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday. (EPA-EFE)

Sudan protest leaders vow a ‘million-strong’ rally for civilian rule

REUTERSCHIBAYISH MARSHES, IRAQ

THIS time last year, most of Iraq’s historic marshlands were dry, desiccated by up-stream damming and a chron-ic lack of rainfall.

Now, local farmers are counting their blessings af-ter unexpected heavy rainfall at the end of 2018 caused the dams to overflow by early Jan-uary and water came gushing back to the wetlands in south-eastern Iraq.

For Yunus Khalil, a farmer raising water buffalo in the

central marsh, the lack of wa-ter meant he had to sell most of his herd at a loss last year.

“We were terrified the wa-ter wouldn’t come back,” Khal-il said. “It would’ve been the end for us.”

The marshes, thought to be the biblical Garden of Eden and named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2016, are ex-periencing their highest wa-ter levels since they were re-claimed in 2003, said Jassim al-Asadi, southern director of local NGO Nature Iraq and a native of the marshlands, which stretch to the Iran bor-

der. “God knows how much we suffered last year,” Khalil said. “He protected us.”

Saddam Hussein accused the area’s inhabitants, the Marsh Arabs, of treachery dur-ing the 1980-1988 war with Iran and later drained the marshes - which before then had stretched across more than 3,700 square miles (9,583 sq km) - to flush out rebels.

Many residents fled, but after Saddam’s overthrow in 2003, parts of the marshland were reflooded and around 250,000 Marsh Arabs have cautiously trickled back.

Many had moved to farm-land in nearby provinces, or went to live in exile in Iran. Their years away brought a change to the vibrant local culture, residents say, and more conservative norms, par-ticularly regarding the role of women who have long worked alongside men in the marshes.

“You used to hear women singing as they pushed their boats through the marshes at dawn,” said Taher Mehsin, a fishermen in his late 60s. “Now, some of the men won’t let their women out of the house.”

Unexpected rain revives Iraq’s historic marshlands

Iran FM Zarif warns US over sanctions, Strait of Hormuz

AFPNEW YORK

IRAN’S foreign minister on Wednesday warned the United States of unspecified “conse-quences” if it tried to seal off to Tehran the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic passage into the oil-rich Gulf.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been ramp-ing up pressure on the clerical state, this week vowing to stop all oil exports from Iran by sanc-tioning any countries that defy its order.

“We believe Iran will contin-ue to sell its oil, we will continue to find buyers for our oil and we will continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as a safe transit passage for the sale of our oil,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad

Zarif said at the Asia Society in New York, where he was par-ticipating in a UN session. “But if the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for the consequenc-es,” he said.

Gulf / Middle East / World 10 Thursday, April 25, 2019

Libyan PM accuses France of backing ‘dictator’ Haftar

AFPPARIS

LIBYAN Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the interna-tionally-recognised government in Tripoli, angrily denounced France Wednesday for support-ing rival Khalifa Haftar, under-lining the growing diplomatic tensions over fighting there.

Speaking to French dailies Liberation and Le Monde, Sar-raj denounced Paris for backing a “dictator” in his harshest criti-cism yet of French diplomacy.

France has long been sus-pected of offering backing to Haftar, a former army field marshal based in eastern Libya, who heads the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and has gradually expanded his territori-

al control. But on April 4, Haftar launched a drive towards Tripoli where Sarraj’s UN-recognised government is based, triggering fighting that has claimed 264 deaths and left more than 1,200 wounded.

Over 17 killed in rebel-held Syria city blast

REUTERS AMMAN

AT least 17 people were killed on Wednesday in an explosion in the centre of Jisr al Shughour, a rebel-held city in northwestern Syria, a day after heavy Russian air strikes in the vicinity, rescue workers and residents said.

Several residential buildings collapsed as a result of the blast in Idlib province, near a road be-tween the coastal city of Latakia and city of Aleppo.

“The casualties are expected to rise. The cause is not known,” said Ahmad Yaziji, head of civil defence in the city, adding at least 27 people, mostly civilians, were injured. Bodies were still being pulled out of the rubble, another rescuer said.

The province and areas around it in northern Syria, the last remaining rebel bastion, have seen an escalation in at-tacks by Russian warplanes and the Syrian army even though they are protected by a “de-esca-lation zone” agreement brokered last year between Russia, Iran and Turkey.

The bombardment has sent people fleeing from opposition-held towns in the buffer zone that straddles parts of Idlib to northern Hama and parts of La-takia province.

4 HK ‘Occupy’ leaders jailed for 2014 democracy protests

REUTERSHONG KONG

A Hong Kong court jailed four leaders of 2014 pro-democ-racy protests on Wednesday amid heightened concerns over the decline of freedoms in the China-ruled city nearly five years after activists took to the streets in mass pro-tests.

The sentencing of the nine activists followed a near month-long trial that was closely watched as China’s

Communist Party leaders have put Hong Kong’s auton-omy under increasing strain, stoking concern among for-eign governments, rights groups and business people.

Law professor Benny Tai, 54, and retired sociologist Chan Kin-man, 60, were both jailed for 16 months for con-spiracy to commit public nui-sance tied to the protests that paralysed parts of the Asian financial centre for 79 days in late 2014 and became known as the Umbrella Movement.

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s ruling military council said Wednesday it has invited protest leaders for a meeting later in the day, as demonstrators press it to cede power to a civilian government.

“The military council invites the leaders of the Alliance for Freedom and Change to a meeting at the presidential palace this evening,” a statement from the military body said.

In a follow-up statement the council said it acknowledged the role of the alliance in “initiating the revolution and leading the movement in a peaceful way until the toppling of the regime” of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir.

“The council is hoping that the outcome of the meeting ... will lead to resuming of talks with this umbrella group concern-ing the future of our homeland.” (AFP)

Sudan military council invites protest leaders for talks

Iran FM Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Libya PM Fayez Serraj.

Abhorrent: UNUN rights chief Michelle Bachelet condemned Riyadh’s Tuesday execution of 37 Saudi nationals, saying ‘it was particularly abhorrent that at least three of those killed were minors at the time of their sentencing’

REUTERSWASHINGTON

PRESIDENT Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to fight all the way to the Supreme Court against any effort by congressional Democrats to impeach him, even though the US Constitution gives Congress complete authority over the impeachment process.

Trump’s threat, made in a morning tweet, came as the White House launched a fierce legal battle to fight subpoenas from Democrats in the House of Representatives for docu-ments and testimony from his administration.

Democrats remain divided on whether to proceed with Trump’s impeachment after Special Counsel Robert Muel-ler’s Russia inquiry. Trump de-fiantly proclaimed on Twitter that the investigation “didn’t lay a glove on me.”

“If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the US Supreme Court,” the Republican president, who is seeking re-election next year, said without offering details about what legal action he envi-

sioned. The Constitution gives the sole power of impeachment and removing a president from office to the House and the Sen-ate, not the judiciary, as part of the founding document’s sepa-ration of powers among the three branches of the federal government.

House Speaker Nancy Pelo-si and other Democratic lead-ers have remained cautious over launching impeachment proceedings against Trump ahead of the 2020 election, al-though they have left the door

open to such action. Others in the party’s more liberal wing have demanded impeachment proceedings.

Mueller’s findings, re-leased in a redacted report last week, detailed about a dozen episodes of potential obstruc-

tion of justice by Trump in trying to impede the inquiry but stopped short of conclud-ing he had committed a crime. The report said Congress could address whether the president violated the law.

House Democrats have stepped up their oversight of the Trump administra-tion since taking control of the chamber in January, from Trump’s tax returns and White House security clearances to the investigation into Russian interference in US politics.

Trump has ordered officials not to comply with subpoe-nas, and has filed a lawsuit to prevent material from being turned over to lawmakers.

“We’re fighting all the sub-poenas,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednes-day. The Justice Department on Wednesday rebuffed the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which had sought to interview an official involved in the Trump administration’s decision to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Trump vows apex court fightagainst impeachment moveDemocrats remain divided on whether to proceed with Trump’s impeachment after the Russia inquiry

Extinction Rebellion to end 2 London blockades today

REUTERSLONDON

ENVIRONMENTAL cam-paigners Extinction Rebellion will shut down their two re-maining central London pro-test sites today , the group said after 10 days of disruption in the British capital.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested during the protests, which started last Monday, as part of the group’s campaign of non-violent civil disobedience with the aim of stopping what it calls a global climate crisis. The protesters said it would end its blockades

at Marble Arch and Parliament Square, and said direct action was the only way to bring the is-sue to public attention.

“We know we have disrupt-ed your lives. We do not do this lightly. We only do this because this is an emergency,” the group said in a statement on Wednes-day “Around the planet, a long-awaited and much-needed con-versation has begun.”

The protests took place after months of wrangling in Britain over its decision to leave the European Union, with Brexit dominating the po-litical agenda and leaving little room for anything else.

NEWS IN BRIEF

ROME: Tensions between Italy’s ruling parties have climaxed in an overnight cabinet meeting, trig-gering talk of a looming crisis for their populist coalition government. The far-right League and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) have been squabbling for months, but frictions have increased in the run-up to May’s European Parliament elections. The latest row played out in a late Tuesday cabinet meeting that ran into the night, in which the League effectively vetoed a financial aid package for Rome, which has an M5S-affiliated mayor. On Wednesday, dailies ran front page headlines that spoke of a “war” or “fight” over the so-called “Save-Rome” measure. (DPA)

Fate of Italian govt in balance after major cabinet row

WASHINGTON: An avowed white supremacist convicted of a notorious racist murder -- chain-ing a black man to the back of a pickup truck and dragging him to his death -- is to be executed on Wednesday in the US state of Texas. John William King, 44, one of three men convicted of the brutal June 1998 killing of James Byrd Jr., filed a last-minute request to halt his execution with the Supreme Court. Unless the nation’s highest court grants his plea for a stay of execution, King is to be put to death by lethal injection at 6:00 pm Central Time (2300 GMT) at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. (AFP)

US white supremacist who lynched black man to be executed

REUTERSLONDON

BRITAIN’S Conservative Party will demand a clear timetable for Prime Minis-ter Theresa May’s departure but will not change the rules governing leadership chal-lenges, the chair of the par-ty’s influential 1922 Com-mittee said on Wednesday.

May survived a confi-dence vote in December and under the party’s rules can-

not be challenged again for 12 months.

But many of the party’s lawmakers and members have become increasingly frustrated over her handling of Brexit and have called for a way to force her out sooner.

The executive of the so-called 1922 Committee, which groups Conservative lawmakers, met on Tuesday and then again on Wednes-day to discuss whether to

change the leadership rules. “We determined there should not be a rule change to re-move the 12 month period of grace during which a sec-ond confidence vote cannot be held,” Graham Brady, the committee’s chair, told re-porters after the meeting.

May has said she will step down if her Brexit deal, which has already been rejected three times, is passed by par-liament but has not set out what she will do if it is not.

UK Conservatives to demand clear departure schedule from PM May

More Brazilians rejecting Bolsonaro, says pollREUTERS

BRASILIA

THE number of Brazilians rejecting the government of right-wing President Jair Bol-sonaro continued to rise this month, according to an opin-ion poll released on Wednes-day, underscoring his early struggles after easily winning an October election.

About 27 percent of those surveyed found the govern-ment doing a “bad” or “terri-ble” job, pollster Ibope said in the survey commissioned by industry group CNI. That’s up from 24 percent in an Ibope survey in March and from 11 percent in January. The gov-

ernment’s “good/great” rating was 35 percent, little changed from 34 percent in March, but down from 49 percent in January.

The Bolsonaro govern-ment approval rating is the lowest for the early months of any previous Brazilian presi-dent elected since democratic rule was restored in 1985.

CNI polling director Re-nato da Fonseca said many Brazilians had voted for Bol-sonaro to prevent the leftist Workers Party from returning to power, but that he had not been able to convince them his government was heading in the right direction.

“The economy is not mov-

ing. Growth has not returned as some of them probably expected would happen with Bolsonaro elected, and they

are disappointed,” Fonseca told reporters. Those views were supported by analysts.

More than half of Bolson-aro’s backers in October were voting against the Workers Party and had no other option, said Leonardo Barreto, head of Brasilia-based political con-sultancy Factual.

“Bolsonaro needed to move to the center to hold onto that contingent of supporters. But he has done the opposite, and continues to hold right-wing positions, to keep his original allies,” Barreto said.

Unemployment remains high, consumer spending has not picked up and inves-tor confidence remains on

hold, pending approval of a fiscally vital overhaul of Bra-zil’s pension system, CNI’s Fonseca said.

Bolsonaro, a former Army captain who was elected on a law-and-order anti-corruption platform, was most approved for his perceived actions in improving public security, the poll showed.

His lowest approval num-bers related to taxes and inter-est rates. Bolsonaro had the highest approval rating among men, those in the richer south of the country, and among families with higher incomes earning more than five times the monthly minimum wage, the poll showed.

REUTERSEDINBURGH

SCOTLAND will start pre-paring for an independ-ence referendum before May 2021 without permis-sion from London, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday.

Scotland, England’s political partner for more than 300 years and part of the United Kingdom, rejected independence by 10 percentage points in a 2014 referendum. But dif-ferences over Brexit have strained relations with the government in London.

“A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independ-ent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this parlia-ment,” Sturgeon told Scot-land’s devolved parlia-ment.

She said a devolved parliament bill would be drawn up before the end of 2019 and that Scot-land, which has 8 percent of Britain’s electorate, did not need permission at this stage from London.

London’s approval, however, would eventu-ally be necessary “to put beyond doubt or challenge our ability to apply the bill to an independence ref-erendum,” she said. The

United Kingdom voted 52-48 to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, but while Wales and England vote to leave, Scotland and North-ern Ireland voted to stay.

In the campaign for the 2014 independence refer-endum, unionists said that the only way for Scotland to stay in the EU was to stick with the United King-dom. The Scottish Nation-al Party (SNP), which runs the devolved government in Edinburgh, says that a second referendum is jus-tified as Scotland is now being dragged out of the bloc against its will.

With most Scots un-happy at Brexit, Sturgeon is under pressure from in-dependence supporters to offer a clear way forward in the quest to break from the United Kingdom.

Britain is mired in po-litical chaos and it is still unclear whether, when or even if it will leave the Eu-ropean Union.

John Curtice, profes-sor of politics at Strath-clyde University and Britain’s leading polling expert, said Sturgeon was keeping her own troops happy while leaving her options open. She prob-ably has until October or November of 2020 to hold a new vote once Brexit happens, he said.

Scotland will prepare for a second independence vote regardless of UK: Sturgeon

(File photo) First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon delivers a speech to the Association of British Insurers conference in London, Britain.

Europe / Americas 11Thursday, April 25, 2019

US President Donald J Trump responds to a question from the news media as he and First Lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Wednesday. (EPA-EFE)

Democratic leaders have remained cautious over launching impeachment proceedings against Trump ahead of the 2020 election

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump renews threat to close Mexican border, send more troopsWASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again threatened to close part of the southern border and send more “armed sol-diers” to defend it if Mexico did not block a new caravan of migrants traveling toward the United States. “A very big Caravan of over 20,000 people

started up through Mexico,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “It has been reduced in size by Mexico but is still coming. Mexico must apprehend the remainder or we will be forced to close that sec-tion of the Border & call up the Military.” Trump also said, with-out offering details, that Mexican soldiers recently had “pulled

guns” on U.S. troops in what he suggested was “a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers.” “Bet-ter not happen again! We are now sending ARMED SOLDIERS to the Border. Mexico is not do-ing nearly enough in apprehend-ing & returning!” Trump tweeted. It was not clear what Trump meant by “armed soldiers” since

at least some of the troops on the border already are armed. It also was unclear what specific caravan Trump was alluding to. US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they are expecting a request from the Department of Homeland Security in the coming days for additional troops, although that

number is expected to be in the low hundreds. About 5,000 active duty and National Guard troops already are at the border.The US Defense Department said earlier this month that six Mexican military person-nel questioned two US Army soldiers near Clint, Texas, about 30 miles. (REUTERS)

Ukraine fumes as Russia eases citizenship rules in east UkraineMOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday made it easier for people liv-ing in eastern Ukraine’s separatist territories to obtain Russian passports, drawing swift condemnation from Kiev only three days after it elected a new president.

President Vladimir Putin signed the decree aimed at residents of the unrecognised Donetsk and Lugansk repub-lics that broke away from Kiev in 2014 and are governed by Moscow-backed rebels.

People living in the separatist regions will now be entitled to receive a Russian passport within three months of applying for one. The conflict between the Ukrainian government and breakaway rebels began after Moscow annexed Kiev’s Crimea peninsula in 2014. The war has claimed some 13,000 lives. Ukraine’s president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian who won Kiev’s weekend vote, called for more international sanc-tions against Russia in response to the move. (AFP)

Diplomats walk out as Venezuela hits United States in UN speech

AFPUNITED STATES

SEVERAL dozen diplomats walked out from the UN Gen-eral Assembly Wednesday to protest a speech by Vene-zuela’s foreign minister, who denounced US calls on the world body to recognize op-position leader Juan Guaido as interim president.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza took the General As-sembly rostrum in the name of the Non-Aligned Movement as part of a special UN ses-

sion devoted to the value of multilateralism. Walking out were between 30 and 40 dip-lomats from the Lima Group, the coalition of Latin American nations and Canada that have nearly all recognized Guaido and declared the leftist Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate after widely criticized elections.

In his speech, Arreaza ac-cused the United States of want-ing to “impose a dictatorship” at the United Nations through its “blatant attempt to expel or withdraw recognition of the cre-dentials of member-states.

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

UNITED Development Com-pany (UDC), a leading Qatari public shareholding com-pany and the master devel-oper of The Pearl-Qatar and Gewan Islands on Wednes-day reported a net profit of QR176 million and revenues of QR530 million for the first quarter of the year. The net profit attributable to the eq-uity shareholders stood at QR171 million and basic earn-ings per share was QR0.48.

“These results are espe-cially noteworthy given the challenging market condi-tions under which they were generated,” said UDC Chair-man, Turki bin Mohammed al Khater.

“With many significant developments coming up at The Pearl-Qatar to comple-ment the properties already developed, it shows that the future for UDC is indeed

bright, with the development of The Pearl-Qatar in full bloom,” he added.

UDC, Khater said, was well positioned to sustain its success, given the broad mix of quality assets that are available at The Pearl-Qatar.

“With a portfolio that in-cludes land plots, apartments and townhouse developments to sell, and office, residential, retail, and hospitality units to lease, all set within in a safe,

secure and self-sufficient community, The Pearl-Qatar has become the crown jewel of Qatar’s real estate market. Designed and constructed to the highest of international standards, its quality, ambi-ance, and aesthetics are un-matched in Qatar,” he said.

UDC President, Chief Ex-ecutive Officer and Member of the Board Ibrahim Jassim al Othman said, “We have commenced new develop-

ments and will be placing them into operation accord-ing to our business plan, while continuing to foster an excellent customer experi-ence for all the valued resi-dents, retailers and visitors who are at The Pearl-Qatar.”

He said UDC had wit-nessed a steady increase in residential leasing occupancy rates at The Pearl-Qatar with rates 40 percent higher in the first quarter of 2019 com-pared to the sames period in 2018. The volume of leased retail properties was also holding steady year over year, making The Pearl-Qatar the premier location for retailers and residents alike, he said.

“UDC’s fast start to 2019 will serve as a springboard for further success. I am optimis-tic that the course of action set by the Company is achiev-able and that the sharehold-ers who have put their faith and trust in UDC will be re-warded.”

Net profit attributable to shareholders stands at QR171 mn and EPS at QR0.48

UDC nets QR176 million in first quarter profits

UDC Chairman, Turki bin Mohammed al Khater

UDC President and CEO Ibrahim Jassim al Othman

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

NEBRAS Power Investment Management, a Dutch affiliate of Doha-based Nebras Power, has signed a binding agree-ment to acquire 80 percent equity stake in four greenfield solar PV projects in Brazil from Canadian Solar, a leading glob-al solar PV developer and solar panels manufacturer.

The acquisition provides Nebras with access to the at-tractive and fast-growing Brazil renewables power market and is in line with Nebras’ stated objectives of establishing itself as a leading international power developer.

The portfolio being trans-acted is the largest bifacial solar PV portfolio to commence con-struction in Latin America with a total capacity of 482.6 MW peak split. It consist of Salgue-iro Solar Holding SA (114.3 MW peak), Francisco Sa Solar Hold-ing SA (114.3 MW peak), Jaiba Solar Holding SA (101.6 MW peak) and Lavras Solar Holding SA (152.4 MW peak).

Fahad Hamad al Mohan-nadi, Chairman of the Board of Nebras said: “The acquisition by our Dutch affiliate of a con-trolling stake in these 4 bifacial

solar PV projects is a key mile-stone in the implementation of the vision we had for Nebras since its inception. Nebras is strengthening its international expansion with successful and reputable partners and makes a major foray into a key mar-ket, Brazil. This transaction not only confirms this visionbut at the same time increases Ne-bras global capabilities while bringing further geographic and technology diversification to its portfolio.”

Khalid Mohammed Jolo, Chief Executive Officer of Ne-bras, said, “Nebras is commit-ted to becoming a leading in-ternational power developer. However, Nebras does not plan to do it alone. We witness today

the illustration of our approach to team up with global and lo-cal reputable players in order to deliver growth in a sustainable and balanced manner. This ac-quisition adds to our solar capa-bilities in the Netherlands and our leading position in solar PV in Jordan.”

Faisal Al Siddiqi, Chief Busi-ness Development Officer of Nebras, said, “This transaction is a first step in a very dynamic region identified by Nebras as key for future growth, which we intend to follow with more in the near future. It also com-bines the strength of our respec-tive companies in a balanced mannerand further strengthen-sNebras’ development capabili-ties in renewables.”

Nebras’ Dutch affiliate to acquire 4 Canadian Solar projects in Brazil

Nebras Power Chairman Fahad Hamad al Mohannadi, after signing the agreement.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

John Crane opens Qatar’s 1st dry gas seal repair, testing facility PAGE 14

Aussie businessmen to visit Doha in Nov to boost trade ties PAGE 14

DOW QE GOLD

SILVERWTIBRENT

26,615.34-41.05 PTS

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PRICE PERCENTAGE65.87 -0.65%

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REUTERSNEW YORK

CATERPILLAR spooked in-vestors for a second straight quarter on Wednesday with a 4 percent drop in Asia-Pa-cific construction equipment sales that pointed to more weakness in China, its key growth market.

Shares of the heavy-duty equipment maker, a bell-wether for economic activity whose results often influence global stock market senti-ment, fell more than 2 per-cent, overturning an initial rise due to overall results that were flattered by a tax gain.

The world’s largest heavy duty equipment maker took a hit in the fourth quarter from an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in China, which accounts for up to 10 percent of company sales. The com-pany had then warned that it expected construction growth in the world’s second largest economy to cool after two years of significant growth.

“CAT has most exposure to China in their construction industry business and that business was just a bit dis-appointing on revenue and margins,” Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann said.

Operating margin for the company was flat at 16.4 per-cent, indicating that the com-pany was still grappling with higher freight and manufac-turing costs.

The company reported first-quarter construction revenue of $5.87 billion, missing analysts’ expectation of $5.95 billion, according to

Refinitiv IBES.Still, overall revenues

rose about 5 percent to $13.5 billion and beat estimates due to higher demand in North America for equip-ment used in road construc-tion activities.

Sales in North America, its biggest market, rose 7 per-cent.

The company also raised its full-year profit forecast as it booked a tax gain in the first quarter stemming from President Donald Trump’s tax reforms.

The company said it now expects 2019 profit of $12.06 per share to $13.06 per share, compared with $11.75 to $12.75 per share forecast earlier.

Excluding tax gains the company maintained its 2019 earnings targets.

The company reported an adjusted profit of $2.94 per share in the first quar-ter, compared with $2.82 a share, last year. Analysts on average had expected earn-ings of $2.85 a share.

Caterpillar slips on disappointing construction sales in Asia Pacific

A row of excavators are seen at the Caterpillar booth in Las Vegas, Nevada. (File Photo) (REUTERS)

REUTERS GLASGOW, SCOTLAND

BRITAIN will allow Huawei Technologies a restricted role in building parts of its 5G net-work, seeking a middle way in a bitter dispute between the United States and China over the next generation of com-munications technology.

Huawei, the world’s big-gest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categori-cally denied this.

Britain’s National Secu-rity Council, chaired by Prime Minister Theresa May, met to discuss Huawei on Tuesday.

A security source told Reu-ters that Britain would block Huawei from all core parts of the 5G network and access to non-core parts would be restricted. A second source confirmed that. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

“It’s essential that we get the balance right, ensuring that our networks are built in a way that is secure against interference from whatever source, but also are competi-tive,” said Britain’s finance minister, Philip Hammond.

“Where our security ex-perts tell us that there are ways in which we can main-tain security - whether it’s in

networks or installations - that avoid the most economi-cally costly outcomes, then we should look very carefully at those options.”

The Daily Telegraph news-paper first reported the Hua-wei decision.

5G, which will offer much faster data speeds and become the foundation stone of many industries and networks, is seen as one of the biggest in-novations since the birth of the internet itself a generation ago.

In what some have com-pared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is wor-ried 5G dominance would give a competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.

European nations are treading a fine line in the dis-

pute between the world’s two most powerful countries, un-der pressure from the United States to take a hard line on Huawei but also anxious not to sour trading and diplomatic relations with China.

Huawei welcomed Lon-don’s move, though ministers cautioned that a final decision may not have been made.

Britain’s compromise could provide a template for other Western nations to fol-low as they try to navigate the row between Beijing and Washington.

The world’s leading intel-ligence-sharing network - the anglophone Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - will not use technol-ogy from Huawei in its most sensitive networks, a U.S. of-

ficial said.“What I see playing out

here is a discussion amongst all of us about the realities of where do you define sensitive networks, where does that start and end,” said Rob Joyce, a senior official from the U.S. National Security Agency.

Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber centre of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

“There have been differ-ent approaches across the Five Eyes and across the allied wid-er Western alliance towards Huawei and towards other issues as well,” said Martin, head of the National Cyber Se-curity Centre (NCSC).

Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former engineer in Chi-na’s People’s Liberation Army,

denies it is spying for Beijing, says it complies with the law and that the United States is trying to smear it because Western companies are falling behind.

Huawei’s equipment is either not present or is being stripped out of existing core networks in Britain, but is widely used in lower risk parts such as radio masts.

The world’s second largest mobile company, Vodafone, has warned a complete ban would significantly extend the cost and time to deploy 5G.

What Britain is trying to do is keep Huawei’s technol-ogy away from the brain of the network, while using it in the less sensitive parts of the nerv-ous system.

But lawmaker Tom Tu-gendhat, the chairman of Britain’s Foreign Affairs Com-mittee, said allowing Huawei to remain in the 5G network would undermine trust be-tween Five Eye allies.

“Our most important se-curity alliance is the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network,” Tugendhat said. “The problem with therefore having Huawei running our infrastructure is that it undermines that trust.” Tugendhat said it was difficult to define core and non-core with 5G and that the Chinese company should not be al-lowed to build Britain’s 5G network.

The telecoms equipment market is divided between three majors suppliers - Hua-wei, Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia - and network operators oppose any reduc-tion that would limit competi-tion among them.

Britain to allow Huawei restricted access to 5G

A staff member of Huawei uses her mobile phone at the Huawei Digital Transformation Showcase in Shenzhen, China’s Guangdong province recently. (AFP)

Move could hurt cooperation with allies, says senior lawmaker

Economy & Business 13Thursday, April 25, 2019

BOOST TO OIL GAS SERVICE INDUSTRY

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

JOHN Crane, a global leader in rotating equipment solu-tions, supplying engineered technologies and services to process industries, in partner-ship with Al Ahed Trading and Contracting Co, one of Qatar’s leading oil and gas, and energy service providers, has opened Qatar’s first dry gas seal and testing facility in Ras Laffan.

For nearly 40 years, Al-Ahed has represented John Crane within Qatar, providing a range of John Crane prod-ucts and multidisciplinary ser-vices to oil and gas customers within the region. This service center comes as part of John Crane’s commitment to con-tinue investing in and devel-oping its network of global ser-

vice centers, as well as bolster support for local customer ser-vice needs, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Located in the Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) secu-rity area, an industrial hub approximately 80 kilometres north of Doha, which serves as Qatar’s main production site for liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid products, the new service centre is Qatar’s first dry gas seal repair and testing facility.

The new service centre will provide John Crane with the capabilities necessary for aftermarket support for its customers within the region, while also allowing them to deliver quick turnaround ser-vice capabilities and reduce downtime costs.

“John Crane has been sup-

porting energy sector com-panies in Qatar since the first compressors with dry gas seal technology were installed in the country,” said Ruben Alva-rez, Executive Vice President, Sales and Aftermarket.

“Our continuous invest-

ment in local capabilities, such as our existing wet seal service center and the request from our customers for local sup-port, as well as a higher level of technology and service dif-ferentiation, clearly marked our strategy to commit to this investment.”

The Ras Laffan service centre increases John Crane’s localisation efforts in the country, which closely aligns with the energy sector’s vi-sion. The opening of the cen-tre brings highly critical ser-vice and repair capabilities to Qatar’s energy sector and pro-vides support for local com-panies within the oil and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer, and power generation markets.

“Considering local logis-tics, Qatari customers are de-manding critical services like

gas seal repair and testing,” said Alvarez.

“We are proud to be work-ing with the government of Qatar, as well as Qatar Petro-leum, to drive the localization of critical manufacturing and service capabilities. Establish-ing this first-of-its-kind facil-ity within Qatar will allow us to dramatically reduce main-tenance and shipping costs, while also decreasing delivery lead times.”

Phase two of the service centre will bring additional capabilities to cover wet seal product services and support.

John Crane’s other service facility, located in the Salwa Industrial Area, in proximity to Doha, will continue to ex-tend wet seal repair services to oil and gas customers within the region.

John Crane opens Qatar’s 1st dry gas seal repair, testing facility

Officials of John Crane and Al Ahed Trading and Contracting at the opening of Qatar’s first dry gas seal and testing facility in Ras Laffan on Wednesday.

Ooredoo launches new faster, secure biz internet servicesTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

IN response to demands from customers, Ooredoo has launched a new portfolio of business internet services – with enhanced speeds, secu-rity, and additional value - to accelerate digital transforma-tion.

The new simplified portfo-lio offers customers access to speeds up to 1 Gbps with static IP services, real-time network monitoring, complete con-trol, and enhanced reporting, Ooredoo said in a statement on Wednesday.

In addition, as global cy-ber-threats increase in num-ber and complexity, Ooredoo customers can rest assured that they have the latest se-curity solutions with Firewall and DDoS protection services as standard on the Ooredoo

network, the statement said.Yousuf Abdulla al Kubaisi,

COO, Ooredoo Qatar, said, “Re-launching our business internet services enhances our standing as the leading inter-net services provider in Qatar, helping organisations to accel-erate their digital transforma-tion.

Our new and existing cus-tomers can gain greater value and complete peace of mind with our new services. Busi-ness internet provides fast and reliable speeds, along with en-hanced security and real-time reporting.”

News in brief

QIIB bags top honours for cards data protectionTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

FOR the fourth consecutive year, QIIB has received the highest certificate in the pro-tection of banking cards data (PCI-DSS).

The certificate is granted to institutions with the best secu-rity standards in the critical field of Information Security.

Business Head of SISA Company Ray Vincent handed the certificate to QIIB Deputy CEO Jamal al Jamal at an event held at the bank’s headquarters in Doha on Wednesday.

QIIB Chief of Human Re-sources and Administrative

Affairs Ali Hamad al Musaifri, Chief of Business Development Omar Abdul Aziz al Meer, Chief Information Security Of-ficer Hesham Mohameden and Director of IT Governance Ab-

dul Rahman Hassan were pre-sent at the event.

“We are extremely happy to maintain the highest inter-national standards in the field of protecting our customers’

data,” said Jamal.“In fact, this certificate

reflects our long-term invest-ments in Cyber Security with the purpose of achieving this outstanding level in the field of security and customer data confidentiality.”

QIIB, he said, was always keen on providing the highest standards in relation to all its transactions, services and cus-tomers’ data.

“Today, we have received this certificate for the fourth consecutive year, hence proving that we are mov-ing forward, meeting the ex-pectations of customers and maintaining their interests in

the best way,” he said.“QIIB will continue its suc-

cessful investment in devel-oping systems, software and technology, which contribute in achieving the highest interna-tional standards in this field and mitigating the various risks, in particular those related to cyber security, currently considered as an international challenge.”

Jamal recognised “the out-standing level” of SISA, a lead-ing company in the information security and protection of cus-tomers’ data. QIIB is keen on benefiting from the SISA’s ex-tensive expertise in the field of Cyber Security and protection of customers’ data, he noted.

QATAR National Bank (QNB) will be the platinum sponsor of the sixth National Conference on Internal Auditing 2019 due to be held in Doha on April 28-29, the bank announced in a statement on Wednesday . The bank’s sponsorship of this event comes within the framework of its commitment to supporting various events aimed at enhancing internal auditing and governance, thus establishing transparency and disclosure principles to build a knowledge-based society, the statement said. The conference, hosted by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA Qatar) under the theme of “Taking the Lead,” includes a number of seminars and workshops to highlight the most important issues and challenges facing the internal audit sector. (TNN)

QNB named as platinum sponsor of Internal Auditing 2019 conference

QATAR Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) on Wednesday reported a net profit of QR33.9 million for the first quarter of the year, translating to earnings per share (EPS) of QR0.71. QIMC’s net profit for the same period last year was QR50.8 million and EPS QR1.07. QIMC Chairman Abdul Rahman bin Mohamed bin Jabor al Thani said the decline in the company’s net profit in the first quar-ter is due to the restructuring of operations by an associate and the decline in sales of a subsidiary. (TNN)

QIMC posts net profit of QR34 million in 2019 Q1

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

QATAR First Bank (QFB) on Wednesday reported a first quarter net profit of QR3.2 million attributable to equity-holders of the bank, compared with a net loss of QR47.1 mil-lion in the same period of 2018.

It also posted a 71 per-cent increase in Q1 revenues of QR57.5 million, compared with QR33.6 million in the same period of 2018.

New QFB Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Thani al Thani said, “We are glad to see the turnaround performance of the bank by generating a net profit in the first quarter. Posi-tive results show that QFB is back on the right track with a new strategy that the executive management has developed and implemented.”

He attributed the positive results to efforts by the board and the executive manage-ment team.

“With the new elected board of directors, assisted by the executive team, we will work together to mine new opportunities and use them for the best interests of QFB shareholders, customers and depositors,” he added.

During the first quarter of the year, the bank saw its total income grow 71 percent over the same period of 2018. It was mainly driven by an increase in fee-based income on structured products and investments from QR6.5 mil-lion to QR14.4 million, and in-crease in net financing income from QR3.2 million to QR11.9

million.The chief executive cred-

ited the bank’s newly imple-mented business strategy of moving away from asset-based income generation to being a fee income based business for the increase in fee-based income.

The increase in net financ-ing income was mainly driven by a reduction in the costs of funding due to better manage-ment of the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio and more com-petitive profit rates offered on deposits, he said.

“The bank’s stakeholders are witnessing the results of revised strategy. Along with this new strategy, QFB has already begun generating fee income by offering client-focused investment products, primarily in real estate and aviation.”

At the recently concluded bank’s AGM, QFB sharehold-ers have elected a robust and diverse BoD consisting of prominent economic and business figures.

QFB’s Q1 net profit jumps to QR3.2 million, revenues up 71%

Sheikh Faisal Thani al Thani, QFB Chairman

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

AUSTRALIAN businessmen and investors will visit Doha in November to meet with their Qatari counterparts to build partnerships and alli-ances, Simon Harrison, chair of the Arab Australia Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland, has said.

He said this during a meet-ing with the Qatar Chamber (QC) held to discuss coopera-tion and coordination to serve

the business and trade sectors in the two countries, in Doha on Wednesday, QC said in a statement.

The two sides discussed a number of important issues, including arrangements for mutual visits of trade delega-tions and overcoming obsta-cles facing investors from both sides, which would contrib-ute to boosting the volume of trade and investment between Qatar and Australia.

During the meeting, QC Board Member Mohamed bin

Ahmed al Obaidli reviewed the most important services pro-vided by the QC to the private sector, as well as its external activities and the consequent membership in the joint Arab and foreign chambers of com-merce.

Obaidli highlighted Qatar’s attractive business environ-ment for foreign investments thanks to its legislations and laws that promote and protect foreign and domestic invest-ments.

Simon stressed the keen-

ness of the two chambers to bring the two countries’ busi-ness community closer to further increase cooperation between the private sectors in Qatar and Australia.

He also hoped that Aus-tralian investors would learn about investment opportuni-ties in Qatar, especially with the existence of successful joint investments between employers in both countries in sectors including agricul-ture, food, infrastructure and others.

Aussie businessmen to visit Doha in November to boost trade ties

QC Board Member Mohamed bin Ahmed al Obaidli with Simon Harrison, chair of the Arab Australia Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland, in Doha on Wednesday.

Economy & Business14 Thursday, April 25, 2019

QIIB Deputy CEO Jamal al Jamal receives the certificate from Business Head of SISA Company Ray Vincent, in Doha on Wednesday.

Key service The opening of the centre brings highly critical service and repair capabilities to Qatar’s energy sector and provides support for local companies within the oil and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer, and power generation markets

www.guide.com.qaThursday, April 25, 2019

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AYENI OLUSEGUNDOHA

HOSTS Qatar collected three medals (one silver, two bronze) on the fourth and last day of the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships at the majestic Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday. The home ath-letes had earlier bagged three medals – the men’s 400m hur-dles gold along with the men’s 800m gold and a bronze for a total of six medals.

Musaab Ali scooped the first medal of the final day for Qatar in the men’s 1,500m. The young distance runner showed tremendous spirit in the final leg of the race, com-ing close to snatching the sil-ver from India’s Ajay Saroj. Abraham Rotich claimed gold with a season best 3:2.85.

“In the heat on Tuesday, I went in front from the begin-ning but in the end, I hardly qualified,” Musaab said. “We decided to play the winning game today and push in the end. The gold was within my grasp but I didn’t make it. Overall I am satisfied (with my performance).

“I know I can run fast start-ing from the Diamond League here in Doha. The goal is to be ready for the World Champi-onships,” he added.

In the hammer throw, Qa-tar’s Ashraf El Seify was cruis-ing to his first Asian Cham-pionships gold but Dilshod Nazarov of Tajikistan proved once again why he’s Asia four-time champion with a season best 76.14m throw on his fifth try.

“I couldn’t find my rhythm due to the cold but I made a few big ones in the end. I have won so many titles in my ca-reer but not a World Cham-pionships gold. Maybe I will make it in Doha,” the Tajik who is also president of the country’s athletics federation said.

Ashraf who beat the Tajik at the Asian Games last year, settled for silver while Uzbeki-stan’s Sukhrob Hodjayev com-pleted the podium.

“It took me some time to find my rhythm because of the cold but however, it hap-pens with hammer throwers to slowly find a big throw,” Ashraf said.

“I want to throw 80m this season; that is my aim. If I

make it here in Doha at the World Championships, I could be placed in a high position.”

The most dramatic turn of the night came in the men’s 4x400m relay as India were disqualified for jostling and obstruction which upgraded Qatar from fourth to bronze medal. During the race, Bas-sem Hemeida was clipped just after the fourth corner on the track. Japan emerged the win-ner, beating China.

60m specialist Xie Zhenye blazed to the 200m gold, as Qatar’s Femi Ogunode pulled his left hamstring again just after the bend, much to the disappointment of the home fans. The 200m Asian record holder was a surprise starter having been doubtful after suffering an injury in the same hamstring on Tuesday. Zhenye stunned Asian Games gold medallist Yuki Koike who could only settle for the silver.

“I had a glance at the clock after the race and I wasn’t re-ally satisfied with my time. I finished faster in the semis and I expected to do better, apparently I was tired from Tuesdays’ races,” Zhenye said.

Syria’s Majdeddin Ghazal claimed his first Asian Cham-pionship gold medal on his seventh appearance as the lanky Damascus-born jumper

leapt to a world lead 2.31 in the men’s high jump final. With record holder Mutaz Bashim out due to injury and looking on from the stands, Ghazal clearly dominated the field and gunned for Bashim’s record of 2.35 which he set in Kobe, Japan in 2011. Ghazal however, after a few tries gave up.

“I was feeling cold that’s

why I tried in all heights which I really don’t like doing. I eased into it after making the qualifying mark for the World Championships (2.30) but I personally put the bar at 2.35,” Ghazal said.

“It is strange but after so many years competing at Asia Championships, this is only my first gold medal,” the 32-year-old Asian Games

bronze medallist added.More records continued to

fall as two-time Asian Games champion China’s Xie Wanjun blitzed to the 110m hurdles gold with a new championship record of 13.21sec, ending the eight-year reign of former re-cord holder and fellow Chinese Liu Xiang. Kuwait’s Yaqoub al Youha finished second setting the national record with 13.35, while Chen Kuei-Rui complet-ed the podium.

“I am so excited. I was in great shape and the track of this wonderful stadium helped me beat the Championship re-cord,” said the Chinese.

Chinese duo Feng Bin and Chen Yang did not disap-point as they claimed the gold and silver, respectively in the women’s discus throw. Feng had the longest throw going into the competition this sea-son and followed up with the championship record with 65.36m. Thailand’s Subenrat Insaeng who was the runner-up at the 2017 meet landed the bronze.

Salwa Nasser stormed to another medal and champi-onship record in the women’s 200m final. The 20-year-old breezed past Olga Safronova in the final 40 metres adding another gold to her kitty in this championships.

QATAR SCOOP THREE MEDALSMore records fall on last day of Asian athletics; hosts clinch 4x400m bronze due to India’s disqualification

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019

Al Rayyan Club storm into Asian clubs volleyball semis PAGE 18 IPL

KKR VS RR

Chitra Palakeezh Unnikirshnan of India on the way to winning the women’s 1,500m race on Wednesday.

Qatar’s Musaab Ali (foreground) with 1,500m gold medallist Abraham Kipchirchir Rotich (Bahrain) and silver medallist Ajay Kumar Saroj (India) on the podium during the fourth and final day of the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships in Doha.

Syria’s Majdeddin Ghazal on the podium with his men’s high jump gold medal on Wednesday.

110m hurdles gold medallist Xie Wenjun of China (centre) on the podium after setting a new meet record on Wednesday.

MEN’S 1500M

Abraham Rotich Bahrain 3:42.85 SBAjay Saroj India 3:43.18 (.174) SBMusaab Ali Qatar (3:43.18 (.180) SBWOMEN’S DISCUS THROW

Feng Bin China 65.36 CR, PBChen Yang China 61.87 SBSubenrat Insaeng Thailand 58.20 SB

WOMEN’S 100M HURDLES

Ayako Kimura Japan 13.13Chen Jiamin China 13.24 PBMasumi Aoki Japan 13.28

MEN’S 110M HURDLES

Xie Wenjun China 13.21 CR, WL, PBYaqoub al Youha Kuwait 13.35 PB, NRChen Kuei-Ru Chinese Taipei 13.39 equals PB, NR

WOMEN’S 200M

Salwa Nasser Bahrain 22.74 CR, PBOlga Safronova Kazakhstan 22.87 SBDutee Chand India 22.24 (.232) SB

MEN’S 200M

Xie Zhenye China 20.33Yuki Koike Japan 20.55Yaqoub Salem Bahrain 20.84

WOMEN’S 1500M

Chitra Palakeezh Unnikirshnan India 4:14.56Gashaw Tigest Bahrain 4:14.81Winfred Yavi Bahrain 4:16.18 SB

MEN’S LONG JUMP

Yuki Hashioka Japan 8.22 PB, equals WLZhang Yaoguang China 8.13 SBHuang Changzhou China 7.97 SB

MEN’S 5,000M

Birhanu Balew Bahrain 13:37.42Albert Rop Bahrain 13:37.57Hiroki Matsueda Japan 13:45.44

WOMEN’S 4X400M

Bahrain 3:32.10 SBIndia 3:32.21 SBJapan 3:34.88 SB

MEN’S 4X400M

Japan 3:02.94China 3:03.55 PB, NRQatar 3:03.95

MEN’S HAMMER THROW

Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan 76.14 SBAshraf El Seify Qatar 73.76Sukhrob Hodjayev Uzbekistan 72.85

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

23RD ASIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS CONCLUDE AT KHALIFA INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani and other officials watch the Asian Athletics Championships action at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on Wednesday.

Asian Athletics Championships men’s 4x400m gold medallists Japan, silver medallists China and bronze medallists Qatar pose on the podium after the prize distribution. (PHOTOGRAPHS: HANSON K JOSEPH)

Nadal advances in Barcelona Open despite a rare set lossPAGE 17

AGENCIESBARCELONA

WORLD number two Rafa Na-dal dropped a set at the Barce-lona Open for the first time in four years before advancing to the last 16, beating Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-7(7) 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday.

The Spaniard surrendered a 5-3 lead in the first set and then spurned two set points in the tiebreak, which Mayer, ranked 63 in the world, edged thanks to an impressive cross-court forehand winner.

Nadal, who has won the Barcelona Open a record 11 times, had not lost a set in the tournament since a round of 16 game against Fabio Fognini in 2015, winning 30 sets in a row until he met Mayer.

Nadal was in danger of los-ing two consecutive matches on clay for the first time in his career following defeat in the Monte Carlo Masters semi-fi-nal to Fognini, but he bounced back by breaking his opponent in the second set opener.

Nadal broke the Argentine twice more in the decider to set up an all-Spanish third round tie with David Ferrer.

Ferrer beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-1 while Argentine Guido Pella beat six-seed Karen Khachanov in straight sets.

Lucky loser Roberto Car-balles Baena beat compatriot Nicola Kuhn in three sets af-ter Fognini withdrew from the tournament following injury concerns after practising ear-

lier in the day.

Duel of ex-starsIn Stuttgart, Victoria Aza-

renka and Vera Zvonareva turned back the clock on Wednesday when the former top stars met for the first time in eight years - with Azarenka prevailing 7-5, 6-4 at the Por-sche Grand Prix.

The Belarussian Azarenka, 29, won the first-round base-line duel in 1 hour 44 minutes on first match point over her 34-year-old Russian opponent who still leads the series 6-5.

In other action, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su Wei rallied to beat Wang Qiang of China, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to earn a Thursday second-round date with world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan.

Swiss Belinda Bencic ousted Luxembourg qualifier Mandy Minella, 6-2, 6-4; and Croatia’s Donna Vekic beat Italian lucky loser Giulia Gat-to-Monticone, 6-1, 7-5.

Turin wins bid to host ATP Finals

Turin’s Pala Alpitour sta-dium was named on Wednes-day as the new venue for the ATP Finals from 2021-2025, drawing a line under London’s long tenure as host of the year-ending tournament.

Men’s governing body the ATP said in a statement on that Turin was picked ahead of Manchester, Singapore, To-kyo and London, marking the first time in the tournament’s 50-year history that it will be staged in Italy.

The Pala Alpitour, opened in 2005 for the Winter Olym-pics, is Italy’s largest indoor sporting arena, with a seating capacity of 12,350.

“Italy provides us with one of the strongest and most established tennis markets in Europe and has a proven track record for hosting world class tennis events,” Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said in a statement.

The event features the world’s top eight singles play-ers and doubles teams and offered $8.5 million in prize money last year, when Alexan-der Zverev stunned Djokovic to win the title.

Milan has hosted the Next Gen Finals for the top eight players aged 21 and under for the past two years, while Rome hosts a Masters 1000 clay court event in May in the buildup to the French Open.

Turin has a hard act to follow as the ATP Finals have been hugely popular with play-ers and fans at the O2 Arena, where aggregate attendances have routinely reached a quar-ter of a million each year since London began hosting the tournament.

Nadal’s rare set loss in Barcelona

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his second-round match against Leonardo Mayer of Argentina at the 67th Barcelona Open tennis tournament in Barcelona on Wednesday. (EPA-EFE)

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THE Jordan Rally, round two of the 2019 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, gets un-derway at Abdali Boulevard in the heart of Amman on Thurs-day evening.

The ceremonial start will take place from 19.15hrs and gives spectators the opportu-nity to see the cars and drivers in the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom before the on-stage action switches to the sinuous gravel trails of the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas on Fri-day and Saturday.

Officials at Jordan Motor-sport have completed the re-pairs and tweaks to the special stages, following recent inclem-ent weather conditions, and a favourable weather forecast for the weekend lays the founda-tions for two days of classic ral-lying action near to the lowest point on earth.

Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah is the defending champion and a 12-time winner of the Jordan Rally. His French co-driver Matthieu Baumel has won the event on five occasions, but both are trying to clinch a first success in their new Volkswa-gen Polo GTI R5.

Fresh from winning the re-cent Merzouga Rally in Moroc-co with Attiyah at the helm of a lightweight Can-Am Maverick X3, Baumel said: “I am really surprised. Despite the weather, the organisers have done a very good job. All the tracks are well prepared. It is going to be a nice rally. I think we will beat the best times on some stages this

year because the piste is well prepared.”

Reigning MERC 2 champi-on Meshari al Thefiri of Kuwait also leads this year’s show-room category after his win in Qatar last month. Speaking of the recce, he said: “The stages are very good and the tracks are in perfect condition, not like last year when we had the late rain and it was very slip-pery. It is good for me. The goal is maximum points and maximum speed, flat out on the first loop, to kill off my ri-vals and to win again.”

Henry Kahy of Lebanon is the defending FIA MERC 3 champion and his Jordanian co-driver Musa Djiyerian said: “Full credit to the organisers. Amazing stages. You cannot

even see that the stages were damaged at all. It will be flat out for us in the front-wheel drive category.

“Recce went very well and then we had documentation today and then some testing.

Henry is feeling confident with the notes and the car. Last year was his first time be-hind the wheel of the Škoda. After one year with the car, he is feeling good, especially here in Jordan. The weather forecast is good. We have missed the sun in Jordan in recent days…”

On Thursday, attention fo-cuses on the ceremonial start for the Jordan Rally in the heart of Amman at Abdali Boulevard.

Several drivers will attend the pre-event press confer-ence on the start podium from 18.15hrs and cars will then cross the start podium in re-verse order from 19.15hrs.

Support for the event comes from Abdali Boulevard, Moun-tain Dew, Hala and Bliss FM.

Attiyah eyes lucky 13th win in Jordan

QATAR BEAT SAUDI ARABIA IN WORLD CURLING

Qatar recorded their first-ever win in the World Mixed Curling Championship as they defeated the Saudi Arabian rivals in Norway. In a mixed doubles match, Qatar posted a fine 7-3 triumph.

Rider al Moatasem al Balushi led Rassan, owned by Jassim bin Ali al Attiyah and trained by Jassim Ghazali, to a strong finish in the Club Cup (Late Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari) at the 46th Race Meeting at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club Racecourse on Wednesday. The nine-year-old gray horse defeated Kasser with Tadgh O’Shea astride by two lengths on the dirt track. Third place went to Ateej and Raqee was fourth, followed by Caid De L’Ardus in the fifth spot. This was the third win of the season for Rassan after the Doha Cup in November and the Fuweiret Cup last month, taking his victories to 17 in 54 races.

BALUSHI GUIDES RASSAN TO CLUB CUP

Seven Qataris members in OCA standing committees

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

THE Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced the names of heads and members of its standing committees for the term from 2019 to 2023.

Seven Qatari nominees were selected as members in the OCA standing committees including Ishaq al Hashemi in Sports Committee, Alanoud Saaed al Mesnad in Women and Sports Committee, Nasser Saleh al Attiyah in Athletes Committee, Hamad Yousif al Obaidli in Media Committee, Saif Mohammed al Naemi in Education Committee, Rashid Saed Adiba in Sport For All

Committee and Abdul Wahab al Musleh in Medical Commit-tee.

The OCA consists of 18 standing committee including Advisory Committee, Athletes Committee, Culture Commit-tee, Coordination Commit-tee, Education Committee, Ethics Committee, Entourage Committee, Finance Com-mittee, Information and Sta-tistics Committee, Interna-tional Relations Committee, Media Committee, Medical

Committee, Peace Through Sport Committee, Rules Committee, Sports Commit-tee, Sports For All Commit-tee, Sports and Environment Committee and Women and Sports Committee

Theses posts come as a new credit for the sport posts tally assumed by Qatari of-ficials at continental and in-ternational level , that in line with QOC’s vision to benefit from young and qualified Qa-tari officials in different sport organisations.

The QOC aims to promote integrated sport system con-sists of highly qualified and professional Qatari cadres as per the QOC’s strategy to take care and develop the Olympic Movement in the country.

The Qatari candidates honorably received the con-

fidence of Olympic Council of Asia as per the required terms and qualifications. Qa-tar has elite of national sport leaders and cadres in all fields that helped the country hosting the sport events and championships over the past decades and organized many programs and initiatives in all fields.

Dr. Thani bin Abdulrah-man al Kuwari, the Second Vice-President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), was elected Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for west Asian for a term from 2019 to 2023 dur-ing the OCA 38th General As-sembly meeting held in Bang-kok, Thailand in March 2019 under the chairmanship of the OCA President Sheikh Ah-mad al Fahad al Sabah.

Saif al Naeemi Al Anoud al Misnad

Hamad al Obaidly Ishaq al HashemiQatar’s champion rallyist Nasser bin Saleh al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel on their way to winning the recent Qatar International Rally.

Officials at Jordan Motorsport have complet-ed the repairs and tweaks to the special stages, fol-lowing recent inclement weather conditions, and a favourable weather fore-cast for the weekend lays the foundations for two days of classic rallying action near to the lowest point on earth.

RCB beat Kings XI for third win in a row

IANSBENGALURU

ROYAL Challengers Bangalore rode A.B. de Villiers’ half-cen-tury to record their third suc-cessive win as they beat Kings XI Punjab by 17 runs to keep their chances alive, in an IPL game here on Wednesday.

De Villiers (82*; 44 balls, 4x3, 6x7) and Marcus Stoinis, who remained not out on 46 (34 balls, 4x2, 6x3), shared an unbroken 121-run fifth wicket stand off just 66 balls to help RCB posted 202/4 after Kings XI skipper R. Ashwin asked them to bat first.

In reply, Kings XI fought hard but in the end fell short as K.L. Rahul (42; 27b; 7x4; 1x6) and Nicholas Pooran (46; 28b 1x4; 5x6) threatened to take the game away from Virat Kohli’s men at the start and towards the end respectively. Kings Xi posted 185/7 in 20 overs.

Mayank Agarwal (35)and Rahul combined for a 59-run second wicket stand while Da-vid Miller (24) and Pooran joined hands for a 68-run part-nership.

The result saw RCB lift

themselves off the foot of the table while Kings XI remained fifth.

Earlier, de Villiers was scor-ing at run-a-ball till he was on 25, but from the 15th over on-wards the South Africa legend changed gears to plunder his next 57 runs off just 19 deliver-ies as RCB scored 64 runs in the last three overs.

De Villiers shared a 121-run fifth wicket stand off just 66 balls with Marcus Stoinis who remained not out on 46 (34 balls, 4x2, 6x3).

Mohammed Shami (1/53) had an off day and so did Har-dus Viljoen (1/51), who was tak-en for 27 runs in the last over with Stoinis producing a series of 4-6-4-6 in the final four de-liveries.

Skipper Virat Kohli (13) was the first to go, but de Vil-liers used all his experience and class to guide RCB to an impos-ing total.

BRIEF SCORES:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 202/4 in 20 overs (de Villiers 82 not out, Marcus Stoinis 46 not out, Parthiv Patel 43; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/15)Kings XI Punjab: 185/7 (Pooran 46, Rahul 42; Umesh Yadav 3/36)

Sports 17Thursday, April 25, 2019

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

CURRENT Asia champions Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan from Qatar will clash with Turk qualifiers Murat Giginoglu and Volkan Gogtepe in their opening Pool G match at the double gender Four-Star Xiamen Open, due to start from Thursday to April 28.

The Qatari pair have been creeping up the rankings since they teamed up in 2018. They will aim for their first FIVB World Tour final after taking two bronzes in 2018, in Doha and Vienna.

This is the second meet-ing between the Qatari and Turkish teams with the for-mer winning the previous one in three sets in the Moscow Four-Star in August last year.

Younousse and Tijan would be more than keen to improve on 17th place finish in the 2018 edition.

Tijan was ninth in 2017 when he had partnered Julio Cesar Nascimento.

The second match in Pool G pits 10th seeds Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb from the US against Brazlian qualifiers Ali-son Cerutti and Alvaro Filho.

The Xiamen Open is a key event in the lead up to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Ham-burg 2019 and the Chinese tournament will see the best in beach volleyball go head to head on Guanyinshan Golden Beach including top-seeded men Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum.

With every team within the main draw capable of tak-

ing it all the way to the podi-um, Xiamen promises to see some fierce competition.

Topping the men’s seed-ing is Anders Mol and Chris-tian Sorum. The Norwegian

pair were unstoppable in the second half of 2018 taking five golds in a row; Gstaad 5-Star, CEV European Champion-ships, Vienna 5-Star, Ham-burg World Tour Finals and Las Vegas 4-Star. Mol, A./So-rum, C. kicked off the year in

The Hague reaching the quar-terfinals and enter Xiamen for a second time, reaching the quarters last year.

Snapping at the heels of Mol, A./Sorum, C. in 2018

was Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fijalek, who enter Xiamen as number two seeds. The Polish team faced Mol, A./Sorum, C. in the finals of the Vienna 5-Star, the Hamburg World Tour Finals and Las Vegas 4-Star, taking the silver each time. Bryl/Fijalek got off to a positive start in 2019 reach-ing the final four in Doha in March.

Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek (left) and Norway’s Anders Mol at the Las Vegas 4-Star final in 2018

Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins are back in Xi-amen for a fifth edition, first appearing in 2013 and their best result a bronze in 2015. Samoilovs/Smedins posted two golds in 2018 at the Es-pinho 4-Star and Moscow 4-Star and will be aiming to improve on their most recent result in Doha where they ended in pool play.

Russia’s Oleg Stoyanovs-kiy and Viacheslav Krasilnik-

ov will play in their fifth tour-nament as a team in Xiamen. Of their four tournaments to-gether so far, three ended on the podium with silver at the Yangzhou 4-Star, their first tournament as a team, bronze in Las Vegas and most recent-ly gold at The Hague 4-Star in January this year.

Stoyanovskiy won Xiamen last year alongside former partner Igor Velichko in an all-Russian final against Kra-silnikov and Nikita Liamin. Velichko and Liamin now play together in a direct switch of partners among the Russian teams and will also feature in Xiamen’s main draw.

In their tenth year as team, Spain’s Pablo Herrera Allepuz and Adrián Gavira Collado are back in Xiamen for a fourth time, winning the tournament in 2016. With a bronze in Doha to start their year, the Spanish pair enter Xiamen as number five seeds.

Most of the top players confirm their participation in the Chinese event

Younousse, Tijan hope to improve on Xiamen Open 2018 finish

Qatar’s star beach volleyball players Cherif Younnouse (left) and Ahmed Tijan.

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORKDOHA

TWICE finalists Al Rayyan Club virtually walked all over Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sports Club and stormed into the Asian Men’s Club Volley-ball Championship semi-finals with a 25-14, 25-22, 25-12 romp on Wednesday.

At the University of Taipei (Tianmu) Gymnasium, Bra-zilian Marcus Costa fired 11 smashes and served two aces to top-score for Al Rayyan with 13 points. Montenegro’s Marko Vukasinovic provided commendable support to him to contribute 10 points. Lasindu Wasanthapriya led Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sports Club with 11 points, all from powerful attacks.

Rychlicki from Luxem-bourg said after the match that he was happy to help the team secure the first ob-jective. “It’s good to win this match and my team is in the semi-finals. We are happy to win since we have achieved our first goal and on Thurs-

day, we have to continue this. “We will take on Pana-

sonic Panthers in the semi-finals. I think the Japanese team are one of the strongest teams in the tournament. I suppose that we have to per-form our 100 percent to beat them and I think it’s possi-ble,” the 206-cm tall spiker added.

This is a 12th time that a Qatari club reached the last four stage. Al Arabi, the 2012 champions, booked a spot in the semi-finals on eight occa-sions, advancing to the final four time. Al Rayyan, fourth way back in 2002, finished runners-up in the 2013 and 2014 campaigns.

Al Rayyan strong lineup was led by attacking machine Rychlicki, powerful Mascus Costa from Brazil, Vuka-sinovic and hard-attacking Youssef Oughlaf. Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sports Club were strengthened by two Sri Lanka national team players, Janitha Surath and Lasindu Wasanthapriya.

Al Rayray, taking the height advantage of 195cm against the rivals’ 184cm, opened a gap and continued to widen it, thanks mainly to the imposing presence of Costa and Rychlicki, who kept finding holes to put the ball away. After jumping to an initial 19-10 lead, the

Qataris were relentless and clinched the first set comfort-ably at 25-14.

Going down one set, Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sports Club bounced back initially to catch the much taller ri-vals at 11-11. From then on-wards, both sides attacked and countered it to go neck and neck. After opening a narrow 20-18 lead, Al Rayy-an stretched it to 24-21 and allowed the brave rivals only one more point before Costa unleashed a sharp blow to take the hard-fought set at 25-22.

In the third set, the Sri Lanka team looked hapless as Ahmed Noaman punc-tured their defence into shreds with his fierce attacks. Mubarak Hammad and Costa produced terrific jump serves which always went without responding. The Qataris led initially 21-10 and continued their charge. Belal Abunabot sealed the set and the match with his well-placed serve to set up Al Rayyan’s fourth en-try to the best four group.

This is a fourth semi-final for the Qatari club in the championship

Al Rayyan storm into Asian club volleyball semis

Exciting close-to-the-net actions during the quarter-final match between Al Rayyan Club of Qatar and Sri Lanka Ports Authority in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Taipei on Wednesday.

Plenty of work to do to reach ACL last 16, says Al Sadd coachAFC.COM

DOHA

AL Sadd coach Jesualdo Fer-reira insists there is plenty of work to do in order to qualify for the 2019 AFC Champions League last 16 after the Qatari side secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan’s Pa-khtakor on Monday.

Xavi scored his second free-kick – and third goal – in two games as Al Sadd took an early lead at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium and Egor Krimets leveled proceedings before the interval.

But with the clock ticking down, Baghdad Bounedjah capitalised on a defensive er-ror before slotting home to seal all three points as the 2018 semi-finalists moved to the top of the Group D stand-ings.

“We expected the match to be tough and everyone saw the strength of the oppo-nent,” Ferreira told the club’s website.

“The match did not play out in the way we wanted it to, but we stayed true to our iden-tity and tried to create chances to score and win on merit.”

Nothing could separate the two sides in Tashkent in a 2-2 draw on Matchday Three and a similar scenario seemed to be panning out in Doha in what is a congested group.

But Al Sadd had the bet-ter of the possession and, just like in their previous home game against Persepo-lis, the 2018 AFC Champions League’s top scorer Bouned-jah popped up with a late goal

to secure a vital win.“In the game against

Persepolis, we got the win in injury time; everyone on the team knows that if they want the win, they need to fight until the last minute and this

is what we did today – and Baghdad was able to score the winner in the 87th minute,” said the Portuguese coach.

“The changes in the po-sitions between (substitute) Yasir (Abubakar) and Ab-

delkarim (Hassan) had a positive effect on the result of the match. All the players performed at a good level and we succeeded in fulfilling our objective, which was to win the game.”

With Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli defeating the Islamic Re-public of Iran’s Persepolis 2-1 in Monday’s other Group D fixture, the stage is set for an intriguing final two rounds of fixtures.

Just three points sepa-rate top from bottom, with Al Sadd leading the way on seven points, Al Ahli on six,

Pakhtakor on five and Perse-polis on four.

“The task remains diffi-cult for everyone, because the competition is very intense, even if we defeat Al Ahli at home,” added Ferreira.

“We then have to go to Iran to face Persepolis and everyone knows the strength of Iranian teams when they play in front of their home fans.”

Al Sadd Club coach Jesualdo Ferreira encourages his players during the match.

Baghdad Bounedjah of Al Sadd (Qatar) celebrates with teammates against Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in an AFC Champions League match.

Results of the quarter-final matches:

Quarter-finals

Panasonic Panthers (Japan) beat Queensland Pirates (Australia) 25–14 25–18 25–9Chennai Spartans (India) beat TP.HCM (Vietnam) 25–21 25–18 25–21Al Rayyan (Qatar) beat Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka) 25–14 25–22 25–12Shahrdari Varamin (Iran) beat Taichung Bank

(Chinese Taipei) 25–20 25–15 25–20

Thursday’s fixtures

Semi-finals

Panasonic Panthers vs Al RayyanShahrdari Varamin vs Chennai Spartans5th–8th semi-finals

Queensland Pirates vs Sri Lanka Ports AuthorityTP.HCM vs Taichung Bank

RESULTS

Milos Stevanovic sets the ball for his Al Rayyan teammates against Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

“The match did not play out in the way we wanted it to, but we stayed true to our identity and tried to create chances to score and win on merit,” said Al Sadd coach Ferreira

This is the second meeting between the Qatari and Turkish teams with the former winning the previ-ous one in three sets in the Moscow Four-Star in August last year. Younousse and Tijan would be more than keen to improve on 17th place fin-ish in the 2018 edition.

18 Thursday, April 25, 2019 Sports

Slice of the West19Thursday, April 25, 2019

Reports by Ashraf Siddiqui For events and press releases email qatar.editor@qatar-tribune.com or call (974) 4000 2222

Qatar poised to export dairy products, courtesy Baladna

QATAR’S relentless drive to achieve self-sufficiency in the wake of an unjust blockade is bearing fruits. The campaign for self-reliance in food production

is led by a Qatar-based company Baladna Food Industries, which has been able to meet nearly 100% of the dairy products need of the country with local production but also hopes to export milk and other dairy prod-ucts to countries in the region soon.

According to Senior Director, Market-ing, of Baladna Food Industries Maher Eldaly, Baladna is in a position to export milk and dairy products to the countries in the region. He was giving a presentation at a networking event organised jointly by Canadian Business Council Qatar and Qa-tar- Australia-New Zealand Business Asso-ciation (QANZBA) held recently at Hotel St. Regis Doha. Present on the occasion were Ambassador of Canada to Qatar HE Stefanie McCollum, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Stock Exchange, Rashid Bin Ali al Mansoori, President Canadian Business Council Qatar, Jacob Burke, Head of Political and Econom-ic Section, Australian embassy, Erin Tunks, board members of the business groups, guests and members of the media.

Talking on the subject ‘Towards Food Self-sufficiency in Qatar’, Eldaly said that Baladna has already achieved 100% self-suf-ficiency in meeting local demand of milk. “The company is producing 320 tonnes of milk daily meeting 95 % of local de-mand for milk and 49 % yogurt, and it is constantly investing in innovation and product diversification. We aim to establish a brand foundation across the region,” he added. It is to be noted that Qa-tar’s ‘Baladna Dairy Farm’, which at-tracted wide at-tention from

local and international media for launching its ambitious plans aimed at meeting 100% of the country’s dairy products requirement following the imposition of Saudi-led block-

ade of Qatar on June 5, 2017. The company immediately airlifted

around 5,000 cows from Eu-rope and the United States and announced import of 25,000 in all during the next nine months, counting from the day blockade started as

part of its ambitious plan to meet the then local demand

of 300 tonnes of milk and other dairy prod-ucts. Before the siege started, Qatar de-pended on Saudi

imports for 85 % of its dairy re-quirements.

Eldaly said that Baladna has also started pro-ducing juices

and supplying them into market. The juices are squeezed from 100% natural fruits with no sugar, colour or preservatives added and in flavours of orange, pineapple, pomegran-ate, apple, tropical mixed fruits, among oth-ers, he added.

On price reduction during the holy month of Ramadan, Eldaly said that gener-osity is the hallmark of the fasting month of Ramadan which inspires all sellers of con-sumables in Qatar to offer special prices to the buyers, and Baladna will be no exception; it will be offering very attractive rebate on all its products.

On the use of plastic bottles, he said that environment protection is a big concern for Baladna, but its first priority is self-sufficien-cy in food products and making them avail-able at affordable rates. Glass bottles are expensive and difficult to handle, and therefore many major brands are us-ing plastic but Baladna does it with a difference: it uses the best plastic packaging process, he added.

The Bladana offi-cial laid stress on mod-

est consumption of dairy products for good health and wellness besides maintaining the supply. Though Qatar now meets its entire demand locally, excess consumption could affect the supply.

Talking with Qatar Tribune on the sidelines of the presen-tation, Rashid bin Ali al Man-soori, CEO, Qatar Stock Ex-change, lauded the efforts of the organisers of the event, saying that it provided an insight

into the state of the market of the products of daily use. On the challenges facing the stock market facing during the ongoing blockade, Mansoori said, “We are fortunate to have a great leadership which has steered the coun-

try out of the crisis initially created by the siege. Qatar has shown resilience, and by the Grace of God, we have been able to overcome much of the challenges.”

Earlier, Jacob Burke, President of Canadian Business Council, welcomed the guests and briefed them about the big strides a very young business coun-

cil has made in a brief of span. It has just entered its sec-

ond year. He said that the Council is trying to sup-port and help Canadian business community and is determined to provide all support to any new Canadian investor coming to Qatar.

Brenda Lockyer of Canadian group

conducted the event.

Maher Eldaly

Baladna has already achieved 100% self sufficiency in meeting local demand of milk.“The company is producing 320 tonnesTof milk daily meeting 95 % of local de-mand for milk and 49 % yogurt, and it is constantly investing in innovationand product diversification. We aimto establish a brand foundation

h i ” h dd dacross the region,” he added. It is to be noted that Qa-tar’s ‘Baladna Dairy Farm’, which at-tracted wide at-tention from

following the imposition of Saade of Qatar on June

company immediaround 5,000 c

rope and theand announc25,000 in all dnine months,h d bl kthe day block

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Brenda Lockyer

HE Stefanie McCollum (3rd from right), Rashid Bin Ali AlMansoori (4th from right), Jacob Burke (2nd from right), Erin Tunks (1st from left) seen with community business groups’ officials.

LAUDING Qatar’s sustained labour law reform aimed at improving the condition of workers in the country,

head of International Labour Organization (ILO) Office Doha, Houtan Homayounpour, noted that it was the first country in the region to have abolished the Kafala System and introduced minimum wage law, occupa-tional safety and health laws for workers.

He was speaking at a semi-nar jopintly organised by Swiss Business Council Qatar, busi-ness community forums of Spain, Netherlands, Philippines and Portugal at Hotel St. Regis Doha. Present on the occasion were HE Mohammed Hassan al Obaidly, Assistant Undersecre-tary, Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, HE Edgar Dorig, Ambas-sador of Switzerland, HE Dr Ba-hia Tahzib-Lie, Ambassador of The Netherrlands, Dr F. Sama-dian, President Swiss Business Council, Jose Vicente, President Spanish Business Council, Greg Loayon of Philippine Business Community and representatives of various other communities.

In his address, Assistant Un-dersecretary, Ministry of Admin-istrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Mohammed

Hassan al Obaidly, appreciated the community business groups for organising an event that highlights and raises awareness on labour reforms in Qatar. He said that he will be covering in his presentation areas pertain-ing to achieving goals of Qatar National Vision 2030, strategies on recruitment of skilled work-ers in the future and developing work environment to encour-age investments in Qatar. He said that the ministry has been working with ILO in making the procedures easier for workers to change job, moving from one employer to another.

“We have also introduced laws that ensure workers get their wages through bank ac-counts under the Wage Protec-tion System (WPS). Working in collaboration with the ILO, we are trying to improve WPS to penalise those companies which are not complying with the law,” Obaidly pointed out. He said that under the new rules exit visa has been waived for workers who can easily switch jobs. And, in the event of any dispute be-tween employer and the worker, a dispute settlement committee has been authorised to settle the dispute within three weeks, the

official said. Moreover, in col-laboration between Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Min-istry of Interior and the Ministry of Health of Qatar, Visa Centers have been opened in major work-force exporting countries, he said. These centers will facilitate the signing of contracts, medical checkups, biometric registration of the new recruits, Obaidly said adding that these centers are al-ready functioning in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and, lately, in India.

The senior official in his ad-dress to community business

forums said that to ensure pay-ment of wages to workers in the event of bankruptcy of a com-pany, a Workers Fund has also been established under a gov-erning body headed by HE the Minister of Administration Af-fairs, Labour and Social Affairs. Though the dues of the workers will be paid by the Fund, the Fund will sue the company later for recovery of the amount.

Obaidly said that a committee has also been formed to combat human trafficking and a law for protecting the rights of domestic worker has been promulgated that fixes working hours, weekly day-off, annual leave and end of service gratuity.

Earlier, welcoming the par-ticipants, Dr F Samadian, presi-dent of Swiss Business Council, said that he prides himself on being in a country which has the largest ILO office in the region. He said that it was a great oppor-tunity to have the head of ILO Project Office Doha as well as Assistant Undersecretary for La-bour Affairs to discuss the recent labour reforms introduced by the Government of Qatar.

There was also a question-answer session at the end of the speeches to help clear any confu-sion among the members of the audience.Houtan Homayounpour

According to Senior Director, Marketing, of Baladna Food Industries Maher Eldaly, Baladna is in a position to export milk and dairy products to countries in the region

International business forums leaders laud Qatar’s labour reform

HE Mohammed Hassan al Obaidly

KUQ celebrates Qatar-India Cultural Year 2019 in styleTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

KARWAN-E-URDU Qatar (KUQ) celebrated the Qatar–India Cultural Year 2019 by hosting Life Time Achieve-ment Award ceremony and International Urdu Poetry Symposium (mushaira) at the DPS-MIS Auditorium, Al Wakra recently.

The Chief Guest at the function was Rizwan Ahmed, former director general of po-lice in India while the Guest of Honours were the First Sec-retary at the Indian Embassy in Doha S R H Fahmi and the Head of Department for Ex-ternal Branches at Community

Policing, Ministry of Interior, Col Ghanim Saad al Khayarin.

The event started with a welcome address by Karwan Chairman Azim Abbas who praised the efforts of all Urdu lovers in Qatar. He announced names of the winners of Life Time Achievement Awards which is given each year to two prominent personalities, one each from India and Qatar.

Abbas expressed his grati-tude to Indian Ambassador to Qatar HE P Kumaran for his support and congratulated him on the ongoing grand cel-ebrations of Qatar – India Cul-tural Year 2019.

Meanwhile, Professor Shehpar Rasool was award-

ed with the KUQ Life Time Achievement Award and a cheque of Rsone lakh for his

services as professor of Urdu in the Urdu Department of Jamia Millia Islamia, New

Delhi. He is also the vice chair-man of Urdu Academy, Delhi. KUQ Life Time Achievement

Award 2019 was also present-ed to noted Indian business-man, educationist and social

worker Hassan Abdul Kareem Chougule.

The prize distribution was followed by a mushaira an-chored by KUQ Gen Secretary Shahid Khan.

The Indian and Pakistani poets who took part in the mushaira included Dr Nawaz Deobandi, Azm Shakri Sa-hab, Dr Nuzhat Anjum, Abrar Kashif , Suhail Usmani , Ahmed Alvi, Mohammed Ali Sahil, Ahmed Ashfaque, Dr Wasi Bastavi, Rashid Alam& KUQ President Ateeq Anzar.

KUQ President Anzar pro-posed a vote of thanks.

He thanked the Ministry of Cultural and Sports of Qatar for their support.

Karwan-e-Urdu Qatar celebrated the Qatar–India Cultural Year 2019 by hosting Life Time Achievement Award ceremony and International Urdu Poetry Symposium (mushaira) at the DPS-MIS Auditorium, Al Wakra recently.

HMC offers health checks, tips to QF & Ooredoo staffTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

REPRESENTATIVES from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) recently provided ba-sic medical screenings, health tips and information on dis-ease prevention to employ-ees at Qatar Foundation and Ooredoo as part of a commu-nity engagement activity held to mark World Health Day 2019.

During separate events held at Qatar Foundation’s Penrose House and Ooredoo Tower, staff from HMC’s Communi-cable Disease Center, Blood Donor Center, Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Ambu-lance Service, National Diabe-tes Centers and Tobacco Con-trol Center offered basic health checks to employees of both or-ganisations and provided health awareness tips and information about nutrition, tobacco cessa-tion and diabetes control and prevention.

World Health Day, ob-served globally on Apri l7, is a chance to celebrate health and remind world leaders that eve-ryone should be able to access the healthcare they need, when and where they need it.

“As the main provider of specialist healthcare services in Qatar, we have a crucial role to play in educating residents on how to take care of their health and advise them about how to access care at our facilities. We believe that universal health coverage means that all people

have access to the high-quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship,” states Eyman Faran, project manager of Community En-gagement, Corporate Commu-nications, HMC.

“We are always keen to col-laborate with other local organi-sations that have prioritised health of their employees and to engage local community mem-bers in taking charge of their health. Our participation in these community engagement activities with Qatar Founda-tion and Ooredoo is in line with the World Health Organiza-tion’s focus on universal health coverage and highlights HMC’s leading role in the provision of advanced healthcare services for all residents in Qatar,” add-ed Faran.

Commenting on the col-

laboration, Rashid al Marri, events coordinator, Academic Bridge Program, Qatar Foun-dation, said: “One of the core values of Qatar Foundation is extending compassion to eve-ryone and these values are the beliefs that define who we are, and guide our decisions. By col-laborating with Hamad Medical Corporation on this community engagement initiative for World Health Day, we are demonstrat-ing this core value of showing compassion to our entire com-munity at QF.”

Ooredoo’s Director of Pub-lic Relations and Corporate Communications, Manar Khal-ifa al Muraikhi, explained that the World Health Day activities delivered by HMC were highly beneficial for the staff who were able to learn about how to quit smoking and the importance of blood donation.

Princess Dina Mired of Jordan visits HMCTRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA

PRINCESS Dina Mired of Jor-dan, director general of the King Hussein Cancer Foun-dation and president of the Union for International Can-cer Control (UICC), toured Hamad Medical Corpora-tion’s (HMC) National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR) and Hamad General Hospital (HGH) on Wednes-day as part of her official visit to Qatar.

Accompanied by Dr Hadi Mohamad Abu Rasheed, su-pervisor of Health Education at the Qatar Cancer Society, Dina Mired was welcomed to NCCCR by Professor Alex Knuth, medical director and chief executive officer; Dr Al Hareth al Khater, deputy medical director; Dr Ussama al Homsi, chairman of Medi-cal Oncology and Hematol-ogy; Catherine Gillespie, ex-ecutive director of Nursing and director of Qatar’s Na-tional Cancer Program and Dr Ahmad al Mulla, head of the HMC Tobacco Control Center.

After a brief presentation on the Qatar National Cancer Strategy and the role of NC-CCR in improving cancer care in Qatar, the delegation visit-ed some of the hospital’s spe-cialist units. The group toured the Radiation Oncology De-partment where the princess viewed the Positron Emission Tomography-Computed To-mography (PEC/CT) facility and the Robotic Radiosurgery System (Cyberknife).

Professor Knuth said: “We are delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan to NCCCR. This is a very special visit as it embodies the strong and trusted relationship between Jordan and Qatar and sym-bolises the importance of mu-tual cooperation between the King Hussein Cancer Founda-tion and NCCCR.”

Following her tour of

NCCCR, the Jordanian prin-cess visited Hamad General Hospital where she was wel-comed by a small group of the hospital’s executive leader-ship and senior consultants, including CEO Aidan Kehoe, Dr Mohamad Salem Jabor al Hassan, chairman of Surgical Oncology; Dr Ahmed Zarour, head of Acute Care Surgery Section; Dr Moustafa Khalil, director of Operating Theat-

ers and chairman of the Head and Neck Tumor Board; and Dr Aftab Mohammad Azad, deputy chairman, Corporate Emergency Department. She also visited the new operating theatre facility.

“We are honoured to have Her Royal Highness visit Hamad General Hospi-tal. As the busiest hospital in HMC’s network, HGH plays a key role in the delivery of specialist healthcare services to Qatar’s population, includ-ing the delivery of specialist cancer surgical procedures,” stated Dr Hassan.

The visit from Her Royal Highness showcased the work of UICC and its impact in helping to reduce the global burden of cancer. The visit was also used to discuss the World Cancer Congress and the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit, which will be held in Oman in 2020.

HMC staff offered basic health checks to employees of both organi-sations and provided health awareness tips and information about nutrition, tobacco cessation, diabetes control and prevention.

Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, director general of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and president of the Union for International Cancer Control during a tour at National Center for Cancer Care and Research and Hamad General Hospital on Wednesday.

Expert calls for innovative education system that makes the world a better place to live in

QNADOHA

RICHARD Gerver, the keynote speaker at the Education Conference 2019, discussed how to build an innovative educational system that can make great impact on learners.

In his speech at the opening of the conference titled ‘Education that makes a difference’, Gerver presented before the audience a summary of his meetings with regard to innovation and discovery with some of the world leaders, scientists and major companies that won the Nobel Prize, and distinguished ideas gained by them all in this area.

He also shared with the audience his own experience of leading one of the most innova-tive schools in the world, as well as tackled challenging questions about the future of ed-ucation to ensure that students are prepared not only to survive, but also to prosper and develop.

He noted that the goal of higher educa-tion is to build young people who are capable of leading themselves and also have the abil-ity to think practically and play a pioneering role to make the world a better place.

During the conference, Gerver will de-liver a lecture on ‘Quality management con-cepts and their application: how to manage quality in education’, in which he will look beyond statistical data. He will also present his views on the links between high perfor-mance leadership, technical guidance and teaching, as well as sensitive skills related to the four relevant factors - standards, follow-up, analysis and feedback.

EDUCATION CONFERENCE 2019

Qatar aims to deepen excellence, creativity in education: Minister

THE minister said Qatar, under the patronage of the Amir, supports edu-cational excellence with annual awards that aims to deepen the concepts of ex-cellence and creativity.

He said education in Qatar has em-barked on a broader horizon, through scientific research, internal and external debates, local and international scientific competitions, as well as continuous par-ticipation in seminars.

The minister added that today, the universal language is technology and Qa-tar keeps pace up with the technological development.

He said the ministry has provided all possible care to students in this field where it started to set up specialised schools and updating a hi-tech track in the secondary stage to help students compete in the tech-nology, engineering and maths industry.

He said the ministry was keen that the topics discussed at the conference by ex-perts, researchers and educators would fo-cus on facing the current challenges.

The minister said the other focus of the conference will be promoting the concept of identity, its preservation and defending

it, as identities are currently being attacked around the world.

He said the conference seeks to pro-mote exchange of expertise between edu-cators, discuss the roles, patterns and methods of educational leadership and cel-ebrate the outstanding educational prac-tices in schools in Qatar.

The large participation of Arab and non-Arab countries, as well as experts from within Qatar in the conference, proves the prestigious position of Qatar globally.

He said the conference is being held to share visions and aspirations for building an education open to global developments, keeping pace with what is new in the field of knowledge and human development, building a national economy based on self- sufficiency to make Qatar able to ad-dress tough situations and challenges. The minister said Qatar learned this over the past two years as it went through an un-just blockade and was able to stand united, record great achievements and proved its ability to give under these exceptional cir-cumstances.

The conference is being attended by over 25 countries and will hold about 150 interactive sessions, workshops and seminars.

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The Last Word20 Thursday, April 25, 2019