TUESDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10084

May 10, 2016Sha’baan 3, 1437 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals GULF TIMES

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INDEX

SPORT | Page 1QATAR | Page 28

DFI-supported fi lms to screen at Cannes

QATAR | Robbery

Man held for QR5mn Doha jewellery theft The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a man for stealing gold and diamond jewellery and watches valued at QR5mn from the residence of a citizen in Doha. According to a post on the Ministry of Interior’s Facebook page yesterday, the arrest of the man, identified as an Arab, came after the CID carried out a probe into a complaint received from a Qatari national, alleging that his house was burgled while he was abroad. Page 5

REGION | Confl ict

Yemen peacetalks resumeYemen’s warring parties resumed face-to-face talks yesterday following a two-day interruption after mediation eff orts and an appeal by the UN envoy. A UN spokesman told AFP that three joint working groups formed last week met yesterday afternoon in an attempt to resume discussion of the key issues. Page 9

AUSTRALIA | Vote

Poll set to be ‘neck and neck’ Australia’s election is set to be a nail-biter with two polls published yesterday suggesting it is too close to call. Conservative Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday called the national vote for July 2, saying there was a “clear choice” between him and Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten.

EAST ASIA | Congress

North Korea crowns Kim party chief North Korea yesterday wrapped up its first ruling party congress for 36 years – an event seen as a formal coronation for leader Kim Jong-Un, who was appointed to the post of party chairman. Page 15

PHILIPPINES | Politics

Duterte on course for election victoryFirebrand mayor Rodrigo Duterte looked virtually certain to become the Philippines’ next president as results from Monday’s election poured in and a rival conceded defeat, confirmation the outsider’s vow to crush crime had resonated with voters. Pages 24, 28

Platini to quit UEFA presidency aft er losing appeal

In brief

HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani leads the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the off icial opening of Project Qatar 2016 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre yesterday. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

Qatar now ‘a leading investment destination’ Project Qatar 2016 features 900 companies in the building and construction industry from 37 countries

By Peter AlagosBusiness Reporter

Qatar has become one of the world’s “important” invest-ment destinations in a wide

range of sectors, particularly in the construction industry, amid ongo-ing major infrastructure projects, HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jas-sim bin Mohamed al-Thani said yesterday.

The minister, who inaugurated the 13th edition of Project Qatar, emphasised that “Qatar’s invest-ment atmosphere is promising and economic growth continues to move forward”.

Project Qatar 2016, the 13th In-ternational Construction Technol-ogy and Building Materials Exhibi-tion, will run until May 12 from 2pm to 9pm at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC). It fea-tures 900 companies in the building and construction industry from 37 countries.

Citing the “Global Competitive Index” prepared by the World Eco-nomic Forum (WEF), the minister stressed that Qatar led the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region

at 14th position globally.According to the WEF’s 2015-2016

Global Competitiveness Report, Qatar’s main strength is its “sta-ble macroeconomic environment”, which is driven by public budget surpluses and low government debt due to high windfall revenues from energy exports.

“Qatar is considered as one of the most important economic envi-ronments and investment destina-tions across all fields. The presence of international companies, some of which are first time participants in Project Qatar, are looking for in-vestment opportunities here. These companies understand the impor-tance of having a presence in the region, particularly in this country,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

“Major projects in Qatar are on-going in all levels and in all sectors, particularly transportation and in-frastructure development. Compa-nies participating in Project Qatar 2016 are keen to partake in various economic opportunities and major projects being undertaken by the government,” he said.

Speaking to Gulf Times, Belgian ambassador Christophe Payot said Project Qatar “is a good oppor-tunity” for Belgian companies to “identify the needs” of Qatar, es-pecially in the fields of construc-tion, building and materials.To Page 7

By Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has recommended that “patients with non-urgent con-

ditions can visit their nearest Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) cen-tre” instead of visiting the Emergency section at the Hamad General Hospital.

This is to avoid any delay during the transition period of introducing the Clinical Information System (CIS) at the Hamad General Hospital.

Under the new system, patient

records at the hospital will go digital and can be accessed electronically from any of the hospitals of HMC as well as the health centres of PHCC.

However, several patients who had visited the Emergency Department in the last few days had reported delays and some of them had to wait for very long hours for getting treatment. Several of them reported that the whole process at the centre was relatively slow.

Replying to a Gulf Times query yes-terday, HMC stated that the new proc-ess needed more time than necessary for initial registration of the patients.

“Staff at Hamad General Hospital

needs to gather more information from patients in order to register them under the new system and this means that fi rst appointments and initial visits to the Emergency Department take longer than usual,” informed an offi cial from HMC corporation communication department.

“The Emergency Department’s triage system ensures we see the sickest patients fi rst. Those with non-urgent conditions can visit their nearest Pri-mary Health Care Corporation Centre,” the offi cial suggested.

The CIS project involves more than 1mn patient records. “These also in-clude documents such as test results,

discharge papers and medications. The Hamad General Hospital sees more than 1,000 patients each day and as this is a comprehensive, large-scale imple-mentation in our busiest hospital, there is a period of transition for both the staff and patients.”

The CIS system enables clinicians and healthcare providers to access a patient’s healthcare history, prescription informa-tion, clinical notes and other important information electronically. It means cli-nicians can spend more time with each patient and less time on paperwork and it will also reduce errors in transcription.

HMC highlighted and thanked the

co-operation of the patients in imple-menting the CIS process. “The imple-mentation of the system has gone to plan on account of the patients’ co-op-eration in arriving at appointments on time and bringing the necessary docu-mentation needed for registration.”

The Hamad General Hospital started implementing the state-of-the-art Clinical Information System from May 6. Its roll-out follows the success-ful CIS implementation in seven HMC hospitals, Paediatric Emergency Cen-tres, Dialysis Centres, Bone and Joint Centre and a number of PHCC Health Centres across the country.

HMC advises non-urgent patients to visit PHCC centres

New bus station at Al Khor nearing completion By Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

The new bus station at the north-ern town of Al Khor is nearing completion, a senior offi cial of

Mowasalat told Gulf Times yesterday.“The station is equipped with such

facilities as a waiting terminal, accom-modation for bus staff , a petrol station and other mandatory requirements,” he explained.

The station, being built near the Al Khor Stadium, will serve as the major hub for public transport services op-erating in the country’s northern areas.

The offi cial said works on more shelters would be taken up in the com-ing months to meet the passengers’ requirements.

Asked if companies would be al-lowed to build bus shelters on their own as part of their corporate social responsibility, the offi cial said Mow-

asalat is looking into all such possi-bilities so that the needs and require-ments of the bus passengers could be eff ectively met.

About the chances of introducing bus routes to localities to where some of the Asian embassies were shifted in recent months, another offi cial of the mass transit department said propos-als in this regard had been forwarded to the transport ministry and they were waiting for its nod for introduc-

ing more services to the areas which were not covered.

Asked about the possibility of re-routing some of the existing routes which have relatively less patronage, the offi cial said the company was ex-ploring such possibilities and some buses might be re-routed in the com-ing months to serve the commuters better.

The offi cial said patronage to circu-lars 301 and 304 was improving.

‘Hop-on-Hop-off ’ services growing

The average daily ridership of the four

feeder services of the Mowasalat public

transport operating between Karwa Town-

ship and Industrial Area street is between

5,000 and 8,000. “The buses attract more

passengers during Fridays,” a Mowasalat

off icial told Gulf Times.

While acknowledging the growing patron-

age of the feeder buses named “Hop-on-

Hop-off services”, the off icial said that if

the response improved further, Mowasalat

would consider increasing the frequency of

the services. The off icial said the company

had also sought permission from the Trans-

port Ministry for the introduction of more

onward services from Karwa Township to

diff erent parts of the city and other areas to

suit the convenience of the passengers.

2 Gulf TimesTuesday, May 10, 2016

QATAR

Sudan’s First Vice President Lt Gen Bakri Hassan Saleh met in Khartoum on Sunday with Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Aff airs HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud. They discussed relations and ways of enhancing them. They also reviewed topics to be discussed at the 11th meeting of the Implementation Follow-Up Commission of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, to be held in Khartoum. The Sudanese First Vice President hosted a dinner banquet in honour of al-Mahmoud. The meeting was attended by Qatar’s ambassador Rashid bin Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi and members of the delegation accompanying al-Mahmoud.

Qatar-Sudan ties reviewed

HMC’s home healthcare services now in Al Khor too The Hamad Medical Cor-

poration (HMC) has opened Home Health-

care Services’ new offi ce in Al Khor to accommodate patients living in the north of Qatar.

The offi ce will provide ad-ministrative support for Home Healthcare Services to patients and families from Al Khor and the surrounding region, which will serve as a base from which the healthcare teams will con-duct their home visits.

The expansion comes as HMC continues to upgrade its public healthcare services as part of a facilities master plan that aims to enhance na-tionwide clinical services and focus additional resources on patient-centred care.

Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari said the new offi ces are part of a planned expansion of com-munity-based health services across the country.

“Goal one in Qatar’s Nation-al Health Strategy is to shift the balance of care towards a pre-ventative model and develop community-based settings that ensure access to the right care, in the right setting, at the right time,” HE al-Kuwari said.

“The new Home Healthcare Services Al Khor branch offi ce is an excellent example of this strategy in action and will be of signifi cant benefi t to those in the community that require these services,” she added.

HMC chief of continuing care group, Mahmoud al-Rai-si, said that Qatar’s premier public healthcare provider has recently opened several com-munity-based services for long-term care, mental health, and home-based care.

“Over the past 18 months, HMC has established a number of community-based facilities to serve Qatar’s growing pop-ulation, including the Enaya

Specialised Care Centre, the Enaya Continuing Care Centre in Muaither, and an overall ex-pansion of community-based mental health services. The Home Healthcare Services of-fi ce in Al Khor continues this trend of bringing services closer to the community,” said al-Raisi.

Home Healthcare Services include home visits by doc-tors, nurses and allied health professionals who perform a variety of medical support pro-cedures including oxygen ad-ministration, catheter changes and a number of therapies such as respiratory, physical, occu-pational and speech therapy, as well as other services.

Patients or family members can request Home Health-care Services and other related home healthcare resources by referral from their doctor. The service is available 7am to 3pm from Sunday to Thursday.

Home Healthcare Services include home visits by doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

BMW 7 Series recalled

Firms given 30 days’ time to get licences

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), in collaboration with Al-

fardan Automobiles, has an-nounced the recall of BMW 7 Series models of 2016 over a po-tential defect in the airbag warn-ing light.

The MEC said the recall cam-paign comes within the frame-work of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on ve-hicles’ defects and repair them.

The MEC will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out.

The MEC has urged all cus-tomers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud De-partment through the follow-ing channels: Hotline: 16001, e-mail: info@mec.gov.qa, Twit-ter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar

The Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MoTC) has granted some companies, which have been providing unauthorised public transportation services, 30 days to obtain all licences and approvals to operate, starting on Sunday. In an advertisement published in newspapers yesterday, MoTC noted that some of these companies operate taxis and limousines through online applications such as Uber and Careem without securing the needed permits from the Ministry.MoTC stressed that such operations violate applicable laws and regulations in Qatar.

QNL events to highlightbenefi ts of public services QNADoha

The Qatar National Li-brary (QNL) will host a series of events to

highlight the benefi ts of pub-lic services and prioritise the training of students and pro-fessionals this month.

The events include a book discussion featuring ‘Qatar’s Modern and Contemporary Development: Chapters of Po-litical, Social and Economic Development’, co-authored by Dr Ahmed al-Shalaq, Dr Mus-tafa Mahmoud and Dr Youssef al-Abdullah.

The book sheds light on the nation’s modern history, and discusses Qatar’s emergence as a sovereign state in 1971, and its continuing political, economic and social developments up until 2013. The discussion will be conducted in Arabic and will

take place on May 11 in the TV Lounge at the Hamad bin Kha-lifa University (HBKU) Student Centre.

QNL will also host the ‘Train the Trainer - Hands On’ work-shop for library professionals on May 14 at the HBKU Stu-dent Centre.

Entitled ‘Public Services in Libraries and Information Centres’, the workshop will be presented by guest lecturer Huda Abbas, Executive Direc-tor of the HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum Li-brary in King’s Academy Am-man, Jordan.

Targeting local librarians and focusing on the benefi ts of reference materials, the work-shop aims to raise awareness of public services provided by libraries and information cen-tres, and their role in spreading knowledge in the local com-munity. The workshop will enable participants to enhance

their skills to catalogue, locate and effi ciently deliver relevant information to library patrons.

On May 17, QNL will off er a comprehensive training course at the HBKU Student Centre, which is open to all librarians in Qatar, on the selected Islamic online resources E-Marefa, al-Manhal and Dar Almandumah collections, containing schol-arly journals and full-text Ara-bic and Islamic publications in various fi elds.

“QNL aims to cultivate well-trained knowledge providers, so as to off er the highest standard of information services delivery to our patrons,” said Saadi al-Said, Director of Administra-tion and Planning at QNL.

Last Saturday QNL hosted a popular research workshop entitled ‘Conducting Research’ at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS) to develop the research skills of students and researchers.

Oman’s Minister of Education Dr Madiha bint Ahmed bin Nasser al-Shaibaniya yesterday met in Muscat with HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, Adviser at the Emiri Diwan and Qatar’s nominee for the post of Unesco director-general. The Omani minister welcomed al-Kuwari’s nomination and stressed her country’s support. The meeting is part of al-Kuwari’s visit to Arab and foreign countries to explain his election programme. Al-Kuwari earlier met Oman’s Minister of Heritage and Culture Sayyid Haitham bin Tarik al-Said and Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi.

Al-Kuwari meets Omani minister

Doha to host China-League forum QNADoha

The seventh session of the Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab Co-opera-

tion Forum will be held in Doha on Thursday, in the presence of Chinese Minister of Foreign Af-fairs, Wang Yi, and a number of foreign ministers of member states and the Secretary -Gen-

eral of the Arab League. The meeting will be preceded

by a ministerial meeting of the second session of the China-Ar-ab strategic political dialogue at the level of senior offi cials as well as the 13th session of the senior offi cials meeting of the China-Arab Co-operation Forum.

On the sidelines of these meetings, an exhibition on tech-nology of high-speed trains, satellite navigation system and

power generation through nu-clear energy and clean energy will be held.

Participants will discuss key regional developments, the Mid-dle East peace process, the Syri-an crisis, the situation in Yemen, Libya and the fi ght against ter-rorism.

The meeting will also review the progress made in the fi eld of collective co-operation since the last session and propose plans

for follow-up and implementa-tion of the outcome of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the region earlier this year.

The Forum was established in 2004 as a mechanism for col-lective co-operation aimed at enhancing ties between China and member states of the Arab League and partnership between the two sides in various political, economic, cultural and humani-tarian fi elds.

QOC strategies in line with national vision, says offi cial QNADoha

Qatar Olympic Committee Secretary General HE Dr Thani Abdulrahman al-

Kuwari has said the country has achieved successes due to the wise directives of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency, al-Kuwari said the QOC has prepared plans and strategies to be adopted soon in order to achieve more successes

that refl ect the leadership’s great support and the attention of HE the President of the Qatar Olym-pic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani.

Al-Kuwari said the QOC strate-gies are in line with the Qatar Na-tional Vision 2030, which consid-ers the development of the sports sector as a top priority and gives special attention to the overall de-velopment process in the country including the sports sector.

He highlighted the QOC’s keenness to promote community sports through events and activi-

ties organised throughout the year to encourage the community to exercise and promote the concept of sport for all and sport for life.

Al-Kuwari said the sports sec-tor in Qatar achieved many re-markable accomplishments this year both in terms of results or hosting international and global tournaments, conferences and meetings, and receiving sports delegations in Doha, which have all contributed to strengthening the leading role of the country.

More than 40 international tournament were organised in the state this year, he noted.

Al-Kuwari announced the Committee’s intention to bid for Summer Olympics, possibly in

2028, noting that all sports facili-ties will be ready to embrace any event after the 2022 World Cup.

Al-Kuwari said Rio Olympics will see the largest Qatari par-ticipation in the Olympic history, with over 34 athletes taking part.

He hoped more Qatari athletes would qualify for the Olympics.

He said that Qatar Olympic Committee looks forward to win-ning more Olympic medals in Bra-zil next summer as plans and pro-grammes are all set to prepare the Qatari athletes to achieve the best possible results.

He said QOC is preparing to host the general assembly meeting of the Association of National Ol-ympic Committees (ANOC) this year. The big event will see leading sports personalities from around the world, national Olympic com-mittees and international sports federations.

Al-Kuwari expressed pride for Doha as the capital of world sport, given its remarkable successes in organising major sporting events.

He said Qatar’s sports successes have made several countries seek QOC’s help in organising champi-

onships. For example, Turkmeni-stan has asked the Committee to organise the Lounges Cham-pionship next year. He stressed that the Olympic Committee is working according to a strategy aimed at only organising global championships but also to export expertise.

Speaking about the “GCC Sports Court” which will be es-tablished in Doha, al-Kuwari said it will look into disputes that oc-cur in any tournament or other disputes between the Olympic committees.

PHCC holds workshops to mark world asthma day QNADoha

The Primary Health Care Corporation marked the World Day

of asthma on May 7 under the theme ‘you can control asthma’.

The activities aimed at improving and increasing awareness among asthmatics, the people around them and the society in general about prevention and treatment.

The Primary Health Care

Corporation also organised a workshop on asthma in chil-dren for 112 nurses at Crowne Plaza Hotel.

During the workshop, a detailed explanation about asthma was presented by consultants working in Ha-mad Medical Corporation and PHCC, in addition to provid-ing practical scenarios and a detailed explanation of the treatment plan.

The PHCC under the su-pervision of the Ministry of Public Health and in col-laboration with HMC, imple-

mented the Asthma Friendly Schools programme in 2014.

The programme aims at improving the quality of life and health of children with asthma.

Clinics of non-commu-nicable chronic diseases at PHCC centres also held work-shops and lectures on the causes of asthma, its com-plications, methods of treat-ment, awareness methods for patients, distribution of bro-chures and publications, and providing consultancy and advice by doctors.

Al-Kuwari

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 20164

Sidra introduces leaders for clinic sSidra Medical and Research

Center (Sidra) has intro-duced clinical leaders for

strategic direction of clinics and services at the newly opened Sidra Outpatient Clinic.

The Sidra Outpatient Clin-ic opened on May 1 with the launch of three clinics – Paedi-atric Dermatology, Paediatric General Surgery Consultation and Obstetrics. The clinics are supported by radiology, pathol-ogy, pharmacy and laboratory facilities.

The medical director of the Sidra Outpatient Clinic is Prof David Sigalet, who is also the chair of paediatric surgery. Dr Abdulla al-Kaabi is the acting

chief medical offi cer while Prof Ziyad M Hijazi is the chair of the department of paediatrics and leads all of the paediatric clinics at Sidra. Dr Justin Konje is the chair of obstetrics and gynae-cology while Dr Deepak Kaura is the chair of the department of radiology and oversees the pro-vision of the diagnostic imaging. Prof Rusung Tan is the chair of the department of pathology.

The outpatient clinic is cur-rently accepting patients from Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corpora-tion and Qatar Foundation Pri-mary Health Care Centre. Sidra is collaborating closely with other healthcare institutions in Qatar

to expand the referral network as and when more clinics and services are launched this year.

“The opening of the Sidra Outpatient Clinic has been an opportunity for us to proudly showcase the skills and expertise of our diverse healthcare lead-ers and teams. Their hard work has made it possible for Sidra to off er patient and family centric services that will match the ex-cellence of our medical care and the needs of our patients,” said Peter Morris, chief executive offi cer, Sidra.

The General Surgery Consul-tation Clinic currently sees pa-tients aged 14 years or younger who may need surgical care. It

provides consultation to pa-tients with abdominal (includ-ing hernia), head and neck, dia-phragm, thoracic, skin and soft tissue, liver, biliary and neonatal (newborn) conditions/diseases that may require surgery. In ad-dition to endoscopic procedures, the team provides consultations for genito-urinary procedures.

The Dermatology Clinic spe-cialises in skin conditions re-lated to eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis and acne and skin in-fections. Once the Sidra Outpa-tient Clinic is fully operational by early 2017, the dermatology clinic will be able to treat all skin conditions that do not require hospitalisation.

The Sidra senior management team.

The Obstetrics Clinic cur-rently provides access to rou-tine prenatal care, education and testing. Doctors and nurses closely monitor the health and well-being of both the mother and her baby. Pregnant patients referred to Sidra for care will give birth at HMC-Women’s Hospi-tal (HMC-WH) under teams of Sidra and HMC-WH physicians. They will also be admitted to HMC-WH during pregnancy for any emergency care or assess-

ment where the Sidra physicians work collaboratively with their HMC colleagues.

Radiology and diagnostic im-aging services at the Sidra Out-patient Clinic include X-rays of all body parts, ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) scans of the head, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis and Mag-netic Resonance Imaging (MRI) services.

Pathology services at the Sidra Outpatient Clinic include rou-

tine and specialised outpatient testing in hematology, chem-istry, microbiology, and ana-tomical pathology with genetic testing services to be launched in a few weeks. In collaboration with HMC, the laboratory will focus on delivering high quality laboratory diagnostic services to patients at Sidra to enhance the diagnosis, treatment, manage-ment, and prevention of child-hood and maternal diseases in Qatar.

WCM-Q shares advice on assessment methods Experts in the fi eld of

assessment of phy-sicians from the

American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) have de-livered a series of workshops at Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar (WCM-Q).

They discussed the pur-pose of assessment, role of workplace-based assess-ments and Objective Struc-tured Clinical Examinations in clinical assessments, de-velopment of exam-question test and score reporting, all of which are important elements of a well-designed system of assessment for measuring the knowledge and skills of doctors in training as well as healthcare professionals.

ABMS staff members Kris-ta Allbee, vice-president, International Programmes; Dr David B Swanson, vice-president, Academic Pro-grammes and Services; and Kathy Holtzman, director of Assessment and Interna-tional Operations, presented the workshops, which were

Dr Thurayya Arayssi

UCQ and CAN-Q experts attend learning conference Experts from Univer-

sity of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) and College of

the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) joined leading aca-demics from Qatar and abroad at the fourth annual Teaching and Learning Conference, held recently in Doha.

The two-day confer-ence was themed “Engage: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education”.

Over the course of the conference, more than 125 participants from a variety of sectors exchanged ideas on innovation in post-sec-ondary education and ways in which Qatari educators could improve teaching methods, specifi cally in a higher education setting.

Dr Kim Critchley, dean and CEO, UCQ, noted: “UCQ is committed to de-veloping exceptional nurses for Qatar’s future and qual-ity instruction is critical to achieving that goal. The Teaching and Learning Con-ference is about exchang-ing perspectives, research and expertise with our peers to further improve how we educate future leaders for Qatar. This collaboration can yield powerful results as our graduates join the workforce and contribute to the ad-vancement of the country’s healthcare sector.”

“CNA-Q is determined to achieve goals in align-ment with Qatar National Vision 2030 by giving our

students the skills to suc-ceed in a knowledge-based economy,” said Dr Ken Ma-cLeod, president of CNA-Q. “In order to achieve this, we must constantly be on the lookout to fi nd new ways to improve and adapt our teaching methods to meet today’s challenges – the Teaching and Learning Conference plays an integral role in this ongoing eff ort.”

University educators, researchers and students from UCQ, CNA-Q, WCM-Q, Sidra Medical Research Center, Qatar University and Doha Community Col-lege participated in the con-ference. Several presenters focused on demonstrating how teaching innovations

could be applied to various specifi c classes and theo-ries, while others shared ideas aimed at increasing reading and writing levels and better managing stu-dent progress. Experts also recommended ways to cre-ate engaging classrooms and integrate active teach-ing and learning strategies.

Hind al-Amri, a fourth-year Qatari student in UCQ’s Bachelor of Nursing pro-gramme, spoke at the con-ference about her research on student motivation.

“The quality presenta-tions, collaborative discus-sions and interactions were outstanding,” said William Kay, teaching and learning specialist from UCQ.

HBKU events debate challenges in Islamic fi nance, studies

Hamad Bin Khalifa Univer-sity (HBKU) recently held a series of public events,

organised through one of its col-leges, the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS). These commu-nity workshops, roundtables, and conferences considered current challenges in Islamic Finance and Islamic Studies.

In March, HBKU’s QFIS brought more than 60 members of the wider community together, including students, faculty, ex-perts and practitioners, to discuss “Shariah Governance Systems in a Globalised World”.

Speaking at the roundtable event, Dr S Nazim Ali, director, Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance at QFIS, said, “The mo-tivation behind this workshop is borne out of the need to start pro-

gressive communication and dia-logue opportunities between the two most important stakeholders of the Islamic fi nance industry.”

The conference explored top-ics such as Shariah governance policymaking, how to resolve con-fl icting fatwas issued by diff erent banks on the same products, and the Shariah audit function in the Islamic banking industry.

The university held another public event, targeting individuals interested in sustainability eff orts in the Muslim world. Apart from attracting leading academics from universities in and beyond Qatar, the Second Annual Student Con-ference gathered representatives of various youth organisations to partake in discussions around the role of Islamic institutions in ef-forts that support sustainability.

In addition to plenary discus-sions between professionals, the event featured student presenta-tions and informal dialogue, cul-minating in an award ceremony honouring the most impactful community projects.

The Muhammad Bin Hamad Centre for Muslim Contribution to Civilisation at QFIS held an inter-national conference on “Contem-porary Issues in Qur’anic Studies”. The event provided distinguished scholars from Germany, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States with the opportunity to present their work and comment on emerging theories in the fi eld.

Dr Aisha Yousef al-Mannai, director, Centre for Muslim Con-tributions to Civilisation at QFIS, noted, “In line with HBKU’s ob-

jectives, we are proud to engage in academic pursuits that help to disseminate knowledge to the

community, foster understand-ing, and build bridges between cultures.”

Delegates at one of the events of QFIS.

AAB holds skills contest for technicians

Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co (AAB), the exclusive dealer of

Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Qatar, recently held the 2016 Body and Paint Tech-nician Skills Contest grand fi nals.

The national service di-vision of AAB conducts the event once in every two years.

The skills competition aims to improve body and paint technicians’ repair techniques using the lat-

est technology available in the market. It is in line with AAB’s thrust on achieving the “best customer sat-isfaction and increasing the motivation of techni-cians, thereby enhancing their loyalty and continu-ously improving reliability as well as the reputation of Toyota”, according to a statement.

This year’s skills com-petition winners are as follows: Paint category - Krishna Prasad Maharjan

(champion), Ryan Tafalla Dalimocon (fi rst runner-up) and Dhammika Lasan-tha Weerasinghe (second runner-up); and Body cat-egory - Rajesh Babu Durai (champion), Sarath Babu Nettissery Nandanan (fi rst runner-up) and Suresh Valiaparamull Nanu (sec-ond runner-up).

The Body and Paint Technician champions will represent AAB at the Toyota International Cus-tomer Service Assembly

at Toyota Motor Corpora-tion, Japan, in November year.

In 1991, Toyota Motor Corporation established the Toyota International Customer Service Cham-pions’ Society to provide the deserved recognition and motivation for Toyota customer service person-nel worldwide. AAB started the national skills contest in 1999 and the formal body and paint competition began in 2008.

Contestants with the management team.

attended by more than 30 staff and faculty members from WCM-Q and other healthcare profession schools and healthcare in-stitutions in Qatar.

The aim of the two-day event was to assist Qatar’s community of healthcare educators in updating their knowledge and skills of assessment methodol-ogies in order to continue to meet the standards of excellence in medical education required of a modern healthcare sys-tem. The ABMS works to continually evolve stand-ards for medical spe-cialty practice and board certifi cation to support advancements in medi-

cine, science and technol-ogy, both in the US and internationally.

“High-quality assess-ment methods are abso-lutely crucial to the deliv-ery of a quality education for healthcare profes-sionals, and it is essential for faculty at healthcare profession schools and healthcare institutions to have access to the latest knowledge in this fi eld,” said Dr Thurayya Arayssi, WCM-Q’s associate dean of continuing professional development. “We are extremely grateful to the ABMS for joining us and sharing their world-class expertise with our work-shop participants.”

QATAR5Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Man arrested for stealing jewelleryand watches worth QR5mn

The Criminal Investiga-tion Department (CID) has arrested an Arab

man for stealing gold and dia-mond jewellery and watches valued at QR5mn from the residence of a citizen in Doha.

According to a post on the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) Facebook page yesterday, the arrest came after the CID car-ried out a probe into a com-plaint received from a Qatari national, alleging that his house was burgled while he was abroad.

Someone had broken into the house and stolen gold and diamond jewellery and watch-es worth QR5mn, according to the complaint. The depart-ment immediately formed a search and investigation team to look into the matter.

The team collected evidence and listed suspects in the area where the complainant re-sides. Accordingly, one of the suspects was taken into cus-

tody for interrogation, during which he admitted to stealing from the complainant’s house.

The suspect said he had al-ready sold a portion of the loot and kept the rest at his home. Many of the stolen items were later found at his residence.

The accused and seizures were referred to the Public Prosecution and it ordered his detention for four days pend-ing investigation.

The CID has urged citizens and residents not to leave any money or valuables in their house while travelling out-side the country. Instead, they should keep them in the bank, it has advised.

In case they face some diffi -culty in depositing such valu-ables in banks, people should inform the CID or the near-est police station about their travel period in order to facili-tate monitoring of the area by security patrols, the MoI post said.

The arrested man with the seized valuables.

Minister visits newDoha North SewageTreatment PlantHE the Minister of Mu-

nicipality and Envi-ronment Mohamed bin

Abdullah al-Rumaihi yesterday visited the newly constructed Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). He was accompa-nied by infrastructure aff airs director Jalal Yousef al-Salhi and other senior offi cials at Ashghal.

The Minister was briefed on the project and the progress it is making, the engineering and construction techniques in its implementation, the compo-nents, advantages of the new treatment plant, thermal dry-ing plant, the plants’ advanced systems and also the status of the ongoing works.

The Doha North STP uses advanced treatment tech-niques such as ultra-fi ltration and ultra-violet technologies to produce high quality treat-ed water which can be used in irrigation.

The facility is located in Umm Slal Ali, 25km north of Doha. The fi rst phase of the project includes the construc-tion of the main treatment plant for the reception and treatment of sewage, which has been designed to treat up to 245,000 cubic metres of sew-age per day, serving a projected population of over 900,000 people by the year 2020.

The modern facility features advanced biological treatment processes as well as ultra-fi l-

HE Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi with Ashghal off icials at the Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant.

tration, which is an ultra-mem-brane fi ltration technique that separates large molecules and small granules from the water. The plant also uses ultra-violet technologies for waste water treatment.

The STP has started receiv-ing sewage fl ows from the main pumping station Doha (PS70) located in Al Kheesa. The sew-age fl ows are estimated 46,000 cubic metres per day.

The Doha North STP became fully operational last December after completing necessary in-spection and testing processes by the Qatari Civil Defence and other entities.

The second phase of the

project includes construction of a Thermal Drying Plant (TDP) to process sludge from the sewage treatment plant. The TDP will also receive and treat sludge generated by oth-er sewage treatment works. The sludge is dewatered, processed through the ther-mal dryers to fi nally produce dried pellets.

The construction of the TDP is substantially completed and is currently going through fi nal commissioning.

The Doha North STP is the fi rst facility with comprehen-sive odour control system to minimise the impact on the surrounding environment. The

Buff er Zone surrounding the STP will be carefully landscaped to form a green oasis that in-cludes approximately 95,000 trees and 50 picnic areas with interconnecting roads and a bird watching lagoon.

The roads, picnic areas and lagoons are under construc-tion and the remaining irriga-tion pipe work and planting are in progress as well as the con-struction of artifi cial mounds across the area.

The Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant Project is worth approximately QR3.63bn. The project contracts were awarded to Keppel Seghers Engineering Singapore.

Chances of scatteredlight to moderate rain today

Rain and thunder are ex-pected in parts of the country today along with

strong winds, the Qatar Met department has said.

Al Ruwais and Abu Samra are among the places where it may rain today, according to the weather offi ce.

In a post on social media yesterday, the Met department said “cloud advection” over the country was expected to continue until Wednesday and there are chances of scattered light to moderate rain during this period. In addition, “some convective clouds may form during the afternoon due to increased surface heating” and there is a possibility of thun-dershowers over some areas at times.

Light rain was reported from some parts of the country yesterday as well.

The wind speed may go up to 24 knots in inshore areas dur-ing the thundershowers and 20 knots in some off shore areas.

The detailed forecast for in-shore areas today says it will be hot during the day and partly cloudy to cloudy conditions are also likely at times. There is a chance of scattered rain, which may be thundery in some places at times.

Off shore areas, meanwhile, will see partly cloudy conditions and there is also a possibility of scattered rain there.

A maximum temperature of 40C is expected in Abu Samra today, followed by 39C in Doha, 38C in Messaied, Wakrah and Al Khor, 37C in Dukhan and 35C in Al Ruwais.

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 20166

Traffi c fatalities are down, saystop offi cial

The rate of road traf-fi c fatalities in Qa-tar has fallen below

global numbers, traffi c department director Brig-adier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji said yesterday.

“The fall in the fatali-ties is due to the active co-operation among the entities concerned and the increased traffi c awareness among the Qatari commu-nity,” he said on the side-lines of a workshop.

The exercise on the ‘Role of Public and Private Sec-tors in the Implementation of the National Strategy for Traffi c Safety’ was organ-ised by the National Com-mittee for Traffi c Safety.

“During last year, there were 8.2 cases of road ac-cident deaths for eve-ry100,000 inhabitants, which is less than the in-ternational rate of 10-15 deaths per each 100,000 inhabitants,” he explained while stressing Qatar is on the right track for a better road safety.

Ashghal participated in the workshop held under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Interi-or Minister Sheikh Abdul-lah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, who is also the chairman of the National Committee for Traffi c Safety.

Engineer Mohamed Ali Darwish, Ashghal’s di-rector of Technical Sup-port Aff airs spoke on the authority’s commitment to its key role in support-ing the country’s eff orts to achieve sustainable devel-opment and enhance traf-fi c safety on roads in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

It was in January 2013 that Ashghal participated in the formulation and launching off the National Strategy for Traffi c Safety along with a number of other entities. The strat-egy included around 200 action plans in addition to a number of initiatives to raise awareness about traffi c safety in the Qatari society and minimise ac-cidents and traffi c viola-tions.

These are being im-plemented by several entities concerned in co-ordination with the National Committee for Traffi c Safety. Ashghal is implementing 34 initia-tives and action plans.

Thirteen action plans have been completed so far, including the implemen-tation of a wide range of procedures and techniques in the fi eld of traffi c safety, including those concerned with road users and in the work sites of Ashghal’s projects.

The authority is also implementing the School Zone Safety Programme to ensure the safety of stu-dents and parents while going in and out of schools and providing all safety el-ements for more than 200 schools all over Qatar.

In addition to this, Ash-ghal is implementing the International Road Assess-ment Programme which included a comprehen-sive fi eld survey for over 1,500km of roads in order to analyse and assess them geometrically and suggest needed procedures to en-hance traffi c safety.

Ashghal is also building a shared database to analyse traffi c accidents data, their causes, areas that see fre-quent accidents, in order to take appropriate pro-cedures to prevent them, in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior.

The Public Works Au-thority participated in the accompanying exhibition through a pavilion where it showcased its latest roads infrastructure projects, and the means and tech-nology used in the Intel-ligent Transportation Systems and traffi c safety fi elds.

Ashghal’s Darwish at the opening ceremony of the National Committee for Traff ic Safety workshop.

HMC celebrates Day of the Midwife 2016 Hamad Medical Corporation

(HMC) recently celebrated the International Day of the Mid-

wife 2016 for those working in mid-wifery, maternity care and newborn services.

Under this year’s theme, ‘Women and Newborns: The Heart of Mid-wifery’, the annual day aimed to raise awareness and increase visibility of the value of midwifery services in provid-ing maternity care services to women,

newborns and their families. Haila Salim, executive director of

nursing at the Women’s Hospital said: “This occasion provides all of us with an opportunity to refl ect and celebrate the important role played by this pro-fessional group. Our midwives are qualifi ed to off er holistic care in all are-as of maternity services that are needed by pregnant women.”

“Midwives partner with new moth-ers throughout their birthing experi-

ence and work with our multi-disci-plinary teams to ensure our patients always receive the safest, most eff ec-tive, most compassionate care,” she added.

Midwifery is an essential part of HMC’s healthcare provision, off ering timely and eff ective, family-centred care. In fact, the majority of births in Qatar are attended by midwives with the support of highly specialised doc-tors.

Kristine Luzano, a HMC nurse who gave birth at Wom-en’s Hospital said: “Midwives are truly unsung heroes that should be celebrated today and every day. During my labour and delivery, I remember how they were at my side. They calmed me down and advocated for me when I was too weak to speak. They provided reassurance, encour-agement and praise. They comforted me physically and provided me with information and advice about what was happening.”

Every year, May 5 is recognised worldwide as the Inter-national Day of the Midwife, when midwives around the globe celebrate the day and highlight the important role they are play in improving the quality of life of expectant mothers and their babies.

Some of the midwives at HMC

MEC violation report

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) is-sued 78 diff erent consumer violations for local re-tailers and service providers during April.

The violations were registered in breach of law no 8 on consumer protection, enforced by MEC inspectors during their inspection campaigns to monitor and control the lo-cal market, aiming at controlling prices of commodities and services and to spot any manipulation or fraud. Most of these violation were regarding not posting the price tags for items on display or services, other spotted viola-tions include fraud in describing items and services, issu-ance of incomplete and non-standard purchase invoices, and posting incomplete information about the items on display, in addition to other related issues.

The violating outlets were issued violation reports and incurred penalties ranging from a fi ne of QR5,000- 30,000 to administrative closure of the outlet for a certain period of time.

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 2016 7

Approval process for camel racing equipment simplifi edThe Communications Regu-

latory Authority (CRA) has issued an updated version of

the Class Licence for camel racing equipment, streamlining the ap-proval process for its installation, operation and use, ahead of the camel racing season in Qatar.

The Class Licence enables any person to possess, instal and op-erate camel racing equipment without that person having to apply for a licence provided the licensee complies with the terms and conditions, operates the de-vice within the authorised fre-quency bands and ensures that the camel racing equipment is type approved by CRA. Under this Class Licence, there are no licence or spectrum fees.

“CRA enables the development of a digital society and ensures the availability of smart, innova-tive and high-quality services to improve customer experiences in the sector,” said Faisal al-Shuaibi, CRA spokesperson.

Pointing out that camel racing is an important cultural heritage

of Qatar and the CRA encourages continuing this tradition, the of-fi cial explained that the issuance of the Class Licence, before the camel racing season starts in Sep-tember, would make it easier for applicants to understand the re-

quirements for the use and opera-tion of camel racing equipment.

The type approved camel racing equipment is restricted to handheld devices with low power transmission used by the camel owners, and earpieces in-

stalled on the camels, enabling one-way communication to control the speed of the camel and its movement during vari-ous stages of the race.

Any entity or person wanting to import camel racing equip-ment for commercial purposes still needs to obtain type approval from CRA, comply with stipula-tions and measures prescribed in the Type Approval and also obtain CRA authorisation for dealing in telecommunications equipment.

The CRA, established by vir-tue of Emiri Decree 42 in 2014, regulates the communications AND information technology sector, postal services and ac-cess to digital media. CRA uses its regulatory powers mandated by the Emiri decree to protect consumer rights, ensure compe-tition, manage the resolution of disputes and manage the elec-tromagnetic spectrum.

In all its activities, the CRA seeks to ensure the provision of ad-vanced, innovative and reliable ICT and postal services across Qatar.

Video Home showcases Hitachi Power Tools at Project Qatar

Video Home & Electronic Centre has showcased the full range of Hitachi

Power Tools at Project Qatar 2016, which opened yesterday at Doha Exhibition Convention Centre (DECC).

“It was nearly a decade ago that Hitachi-Koki Power Tools (Gulf) appointed Video Home as their authorised distributor for the power tools segment,” said C V Rappai, director and CEO of Video Home & Electronic Cen-tre.

“With the eff orts of qualifi ed staff and the support of valued customers, we have evolved as a ‘Total Tools Provider’ with a service setup in place,” he ex-plained.

The full-fl edged service cen-tre is located on Street 36, In-dustrial Area, with technically trained staff by Hitachi.

Hitachi has manufacturing plants in Japan, Malaysia and China. All tools come with a one-year warranty on all me-chanical parts.

“We believe in serving the customer by giving ‘on-time service solutions’ and, if re-

quired, even provide standby units to save the time and cost of our valued customers.”

The experienced engineering team of Video Home is capable of providing pre-sales demonstra-

tions for facilitating project ap-provals and after-sales service.

The Hitachi Power Tools stand is numbered i72 in DECC’s Hall 03. The event concludes on Thursday.

The CRA has issued an updated version of the Class Licence for camel racing equipment.

The Hitachi Power Tools stand at Project Qatar 2016.

Qatar now ‘an important investment destination’ From Page 1

“The participation of these companies shows that Belgium is ready to partner with Qatar and that we are committed to the country and all of its ongo-ing major infrastructure and de-velopment projects,” said Payot, who noted that 11 Belgian com-panies are participating this year.

“We have a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a lot specifi c projects and niche industries, and they are ready to meet the needs of Qatar not only in

FIFA World Cup-related infrastruc-ture but with other development projects,” the ambassador added.

According to Italian ambassa-dor Guido de Sanctis, his country has consistently ranked among the top three exhibitors during Project Qatar.

“Italy has always been present in almost all major infrastructure projects of Qatar and we’re not only looking at FIFA World Cup in 2022 but towards the realisation of Qatar National Vision 2030, which is an ‘omni-comprehen-

sive’ programme, consisting of roads, drainage systems, tunnels and the metro project,” he said.

Trade commissioner Andrea Ferrari of the Italian Trade Agen-cy said there are around 30 Ital-ian companies in Qatar and 60 others in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region.

Ferrari said Italian companies participating in this year’s edi-tion of Project Qatar will focus on business to business (B2B) meet-ings and networking sessions with their Qatari counterparts.

Trade commissioner Andrea Ferrari of the Italian Trade Agency and Italian ambassador Guido de Sanctis accompany HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani during a tour of the Italian pavilion at the 13th instalment of Project Qatar at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Ambassador Christophe Payot of Belgium joins HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani during a tour of the exhibition hall of Project Qatar 2016. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed

QATAR

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 20168

Star rating a must for ACs from JulyStar rating system will be applied for

energy effi ciency of air conditioners in Qatar in July.

The star rating system is issued by Qa-tar General Electricity and Water Corpo-ration (Kahramaa) through the National Programme of Conservation and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed) in co-operation with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in order to ensure energy efficiency of air conditioning devices and reducing harmful carbon emissions rates.

To keep pace with the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030 to preserve the state’s resources and achieve the com-prehensive environmental development, Tarsheed succeeded in accrediting the specifi cations and technical standards for energy effi ciency systems of air con-

ditioners in Qatar, which begins with a three-stars rate and more for “window” devices at a rate of energy effi ciency (EER) estimated by 8.5 to be the minimum rate allowed, and a rate of energy effi ciency (EER) estimated at 9.5 to be the minimum rate allowed for “Split Unit” devices which begins with a four-stars rating.

The Stars Rating is a global classifi ca-tion sticker on ACs and other devices to defi ne the effi ciency of the devices. The energy effi ciency increased, electricity consumption and harmful carbon emis-sions reduced if the air conditioner have more stars.

If the device doesn’t have the label of energy effi ciency, it means that the device consumes energy which exceeds the limit of conservation. The stars rating post-ers of energy effi ciency for ACs have been

launched to promote awareness of the ap-proved classifi cations.

The stars rating poster provides the customer with reliable methods of com-parison between the other devices accord-ing to their effi ciency in electrical energy consumption.

Kahramaa, through Tarsheed, endeav-ours to confi rm the stars rating posters for electrical devices to educate the customer about the procedure of stars calculation, minimising of building energy consump-tion, reducing consumption bill costs, the stars card also includes key information about the product such as type and brand of the device, electric power consumption and specifi cation of the test.

The stars rating system will be applied soon also on other electrical devices such as washing machines, fridges and heaters.

The description of stars numbers on the card of the device show its effi ciency and consumption to electrical energy.

A campaign is being arranged for edu-cating people about stars system of ACs and calculation methods for energy ef-fi ciency of devices via various media like TV channels, newspapers, magazines and cinemas to educate and guide the audi-ence about the ways of choosing the best devices with high quality that meet their needs.

Tarsheed is collaborating with Carre-four in three malls to raise awareness of the campaign through available internal screens and signboards located there and via distributing posters and plastic bags for items purchased at Carrefour as well as a stand for information and specifi cations related to devices.

Domasco launches CMC’s 2016 Z7 Doha Marketing Services Company

(Domasco), authorised distribu-tor for the CMC brand in Qatar, has

announced the launch of the all-new 2016 Z7.

A multi-purpose crossover seven-seater MPV with an “impressive presence and a new sporty look”, the all-new Z7 is “fully equipped” to meet the Qatar market’s de-mand for an aff ordable MPV, according to a statement.

“We are very excited about the arrival of the all-new CMC Z7 that is sure to impress the market and our potential customers,”

said Faisal Sharif, managing director of Do-masco.

The all-new Z7 is a “dynamic MPV pro-viding great comfort, ample cargo space, intelligent features and exceptional utility with low fuel consumption combined with an aff ordable price that adds to the joy of driving”, the statement notes.

Mohamed Majeed, sales and marketing manager of CMC at Domasco, said: “The Z7 has a sporty design and a compact yet spa-cious interior with generous room to fi t sev-en passengers comfortably with ample leg-room for each passenger. The MPV also has

the option of folding the third row of seats to create extra storage space.”

The Z7 is powered by the Mitsubishi 4G69 engine that produces a torque of 21KG-M @ 2,300RPM and generates a power output of 136PS @ 5,250RPM. Its high-rigidity, off -road chassis frame creates a “superior SUV-level combination of high handling stability and ride comfort, the statement explains, adding the fuel effi ciency of the new Z7 is 10.9 KM/L.

The exterior design elements are “beau-tifully crafted and present a blend of func-tionality and safety”, while the interior is

where “comfort meets advanced technol-ogy”.

The Central Information Display off ers easy access to a wide range of important functions, and the Z7 also comes with a Parking Reverse Sensor.

The advanced Japanese technology em-bedded in the new Z7 provides “excellent reliability along with superior safety fea-tures” as it is equipped with Dual-Front Airbag, Anti-lock Brake System, Electronic Brake Distribution, Brake Override system and Auto Cruise Control. The all-new CMC Z7 comes in two grades - KF15B and KF14B.

‘Signifi cant increase’ in deploymentof OFWSBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed to Qatar in

the fi rst quarter of 2016 has signifi cantly increased de-spite reported retrenchments from various companies in the country during this period, fi gures from the Philippine Overseas Employment Admin-istration (POEA) showed.

The comparison was based on the record posted by POEA during the second quarter of 2015 (Q2) since fi gures during the fi rst quarter (Q1 2015) have yet to be completed, accord-ing to the Philippine Overseas Labour Offi ce (POLO) in Doha.

However, labour attache David Des Dicang told Gulf Times that the fi gures could be almost the same based on the trend from the second to the fourth quarter of 2015.

“There was a high demand in all categories of workers including household serv-ice workers (HSWs) based on POEA records and contracts that we processed daily,” he stressed.

The average annual number of deployed land-based OFWs to Qatar range between 94,000 and 114,000 from 2011 to 2014. Preliminary data for 2015 was for new hires only and some OFWs who were locally hired in Qatar may not be included in the record.

The number of labourers reached 2,762 in Q1 of 2016, an increase by 2,052 (nearly tripled) compared with Q2 of 2015 fi gures (710). These in-clude cleaners, guards and watchmen, construction workers and other types of la-bour workers.

For highly and semi-skilled workers, the number had in-

creased from 1,535 in Q2 2015 to 4,141 in Q1 2016.

Highly skilled workers in-clude laboratory technicians, cooks, chefs, and other con-struction related workforce such carpenters, welders, painters, steel and tile fi xers, plasterers, plumbers, and pipe fi tters, among others.

Electric/mechanic assist-ants, glass cutters, assistant cooks, waiters, kitchen help-ers, washer and pressmen, and gardeners are categorised as semi-skilled.

While a surge in the number of deployed workers in these categories in Q1 of 2016, POEA saw a slight decrease in Q3 and Q4 of 2015.

Meanwhile, the number of OFW professionals had more than tripled from 415 in Q2 of 2015 to 1,379 in Q1 of 2016. These include engineers, nurses, software developers, geologists, soil experts, ar-chitects, bankers, professors, teachers, scientists, doctors, pharmacists, and other Philip-pine Regulation Commission-licensed individuals.

The POEA record also noted that some 6,617 HSWs or housemaids (nanny and household helper) had been deployed in Q1 of 2016, a de-crease of 311 compared with the Q2 of 2015 fi gures. The highest deployment of HSWs was recorded in the Q4 of 2016 with 7,577.

After Indonesia stopped sending HSWs to Qatar, the demand for Filipino HSWs further surged based on the number of individual employ-ment contracts processed at POLO.

“While the Philippine gov-ernment is focusing in send-ing more professionals than labourers and HSWs, the de-mand for HSWs has remained high in Qatar,” Dicang added.

Labour attache David Des Dicang.

Off icials at the launch of the all-new 2016 CMC Z7.

Blue Salon has launched ‘Collection Orient’ by perfume house Atelier Cologne in Qatar. Christophe Cervasel, creator and founder of Atelier Cologne, introduced the collection at an event in Doha. The collection is an “innovative and compelling presentation of fragrance, design and materials”, according to a statement. Pictured are officials and dignitaries at the launch ceremony.

Blue Salon launches Collection Orient

Travellers with forged passports busted by scanners

The use of advanced technology such as iris scanners at Hamad International Airport (HIA) has

helped detect many travellers who tried to return to the country with forged pass-ports after being banned from entering Qatar, a senior Ministry of Interior (MoI) offi cial has said.

Speaking to local Arabic daily Arrayah, Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Rashid al-Mazroui, director of the Airport Pass-ports Department at the MoI, also noted that the movement of passengers had

been considerably eased at HIA through the use of state-of-the-art equipment, and that steps were afoot to enhance the smart traveller programme and E-gate system.

The department uses sophisticated equipment that can read travel docu-ments and identify fake ones, he said, stressing that the iris scanners used at HIA have a 100% accuracy level.

At present, the Airport Passports De-partment is working on a number of projects to cope with the constant rise in

the number of travellers passing through HIA and reduce the time taken to process travel procedures. These include an ex-pansion of the smart traveller programme and E-gate system, which is currently used by 1,000-1,800 travellers a day. He hoped that the number of E-gate users would increase to 5,000-7,000 travellers a day.

Lieutenant Colonel al-Mazroui said the time taken to process travel procedures at the airport’s passports counters is only 45 seconds per passenger. However, delays

happen occasionally as some travellers avail of the visa-on-arrival facility, some do not have previous eye scan records, some have changed their passports while abroad and others have spent more than six months outside the country.

Lieutenant Colonel al-Mazroui, said the annual increase of travellers at Hamad International Airport was an estimated 10-14%, with the number of GCC tour-ists increasing year on year. Also, some 3,984,231 visas of diff erent types were is-sued last year.

REGION

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 2016 9

AFPTehran

Iran launched a new long-range missile late last month, a general announced yester-

day, trumpeting the accuracy of the latest such weapon to be test-fi red in defi ance of the West.

“A missile with a 2,000km range was tested two weeks ago,” said General Ali Abdolahi, add-ing that it has a negligible margin of error of just 8m.

“We can guide this ballistic missile. It leaves the Earth’s at-mosphere, re-enters it and hits the target without error,” the armed forces deputy chief-of-staff said, quoted by the website of state broadcaster IRINN.

However, several hours later, Defence Minister General Hos-sein Dehghan denied that such a test had taken place.

“We have not tested a missile with such a range as media re-ports said,” he said, quoted by the offi cial IRNA news agency.

In early March, Iran carried out several short-, medium- and long-range (300 to 2,000km) precision missile tests across its

territory, mostly from under-ground bases.

The series of tests has come in for criticism from the US, Brit-ain, France and Germany.

They say the tests violate UN resolutions, and have called on the Security Council to address them.

Opponents of the programme say the weapons are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, an argument categorically denied by Tehran’s political and military authorities.

Tehran’s ballistic missile tests in late 2015 brought new sanc-tions by the US against Iran on January 17.

The punitive measures were announced a day after interna-tional sanctions were lifted fol-lowing the entry into force of a July 2015 nuclear agreement.

Iran’s parliament, whose mandate expires at the end of May, passed new legislation this month that boosts the country’s ballistic capability.

President Hassan Rouhani and senior Iranian military offi cials have also said in recent months that ballistic missiles must be enhanced in order to boost Iran’s deterrent power.

Iran touts itsnewly testedlong-rangemissile

Police shoot deadsuspected militant AFPRiyadh

Saudi security forces yester-day shot dead a suspected militant in the western

province of Taif a day after a po-liceman was killed in a shootout, the interior ministry said.

The gunman was killed after refusing to surrender to secu-

rity forces hunting him over his suspected involvement in an at-tempt to infi ltrate a police sta-tion parking area in the province on Sunday, a ministry statement said.

It identifi ed him as Mohamed al-Maliki, adding that he had threatened in a video message to attack police and had been involved in a previous attack in which a policeman was killed.

AFPKuwait City

Yemen’s warring parties resumed face-to-face talks yesterday follow-

ing a two-day interruption after mediation eff orts and an appeal by the UN envoy, the UN said.

A UN spokesman said that three joint working groups formed last week met yesterday afternoon in an attempt to resume discus-sion of the key issues.

These include the withdrawal of the Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels from areas they occupied in a 2014 off ensive, the sur-render of weapons, the release of prisoners and detainees and

agreeing a political settlement. The renewed direct talks came

a day after mediation by the Ku-waiti foreign minister, ambas-sadors of the mostly Western 18 countries backing the peace process and UN Special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Earlier yesterday, Ould Cheikh Ahmed urged the two warring parties to make concessions to save peace talks aimed at ending a devastating 13-month war in the Arabian Peninsula country.

“The participants in the Ku-wait negotiations must refl ect the aspirations of the Yem-eni people. I am confi dent that Yemenis want an end to the con-fl ict,” Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

Direct talks broke off on Sat-urday with the government del-egation complaining of a lack of progress and the Houthi rebels protesting about air raids by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

A source close to the govern-ment delegation said the re-sumption of direct talks came as a result of international diplo-matic pressure on the rebels.

But the source also said that no progress was made yester-day’s meetings.

A source close to the rebel del-egation said it was due to meet the ambassadors of the 18 coun-tries later yesterday.

Yemen’s foreign minister said the talks which began on April 21 have made no headway.

“For the sake of peace, we have accepted all proposals submitted to us in order to progress,” said Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi , who heads the government delega-tion.

“But after three weeks, we have nothing in our hands be-cause the other party backed down on its commitments,” Mikhlafi wrote on Twitter.

The rebels issued a strong protest to the UN envoy over al-leged air raids on Sunday that they said killed several people, according to a source close to their delegation.

There was no immediate con-fi rmation of the reported air strikes.

The rebels and their allies

have demanded the formation of a consensus transitional govern-ment before forging ahead with other issues that require them to surrender arms and withdraw from territories they occupied in 2014.

The talks, which come after two failed peace attempts in June and December last year in Swit-zerland, are based on a UN Se-curity Council resolution which orders the rebels to withdraw and surrender heavy weaponry they had seized.

There has been mounting in-ternational pressure to end the Yemen confl ict that the UN es-timates has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8mn since March last year.

New Saudi ministers sworn in

New Saudi Arabian ministers are sworn in by Saudi King Salman (not seen) in Riyadh yesterday. Pictures show (from left to right) Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih, Minister of Commerce and Investment Majed al-Qusaibi, Transport Minister Suleiman al-Hamdan and Minister of Health Tawfiq al-Rabeeah.

Yemen foes resume directtalks after mediation: UN

Saudi intercepts missile from Yemen ReutersDubai

Saudi air defence forces yesterday intercepted a ballistic missile fi red from

Yemen, but a Saudi-led military coalition will maintain a shaky truce despite this “serious es-calation” by the Houthi militia, the Saudi state news agency SPA said.

The Iran-allied Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed exile government are trying to reach a peace agreement in talks in Kuwait aimed at ending the year-long war and easing a hu-manitarian crisis in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.

“The coalition announces that it will continue to maintain the cessation of hostilities,” the coalition said, according to SPA, reiterating that it retained the right to respond as appropriate.

The statement gave no other

details about the missile or the target, other than saying it was destroyed without causing any damage. Similar incidents have occurred periodically over the past months.

The Saudi-led coalition inter-vened in Yemen a year ago main-ly with air strikes in support of Yemeni forces.

It ended a previous ceasefi re in January saying that its en-emies had fi red missiles target-ing its border posts and shelled civilian areas where the Houthis were fi ghting pro-Saudi Yemeni forces

This tentative UN-backed ceasefi re has been in place since last month to give the peace talks in Kuwait a chance at progress. Both sides have regularly ac-cused each other of violations.

Yesterday, representatives of the Yemeni government and Houthis met in Kuwait and a UN special envoy urged them to make more progress.

Hadi criticises expulsions from Aden

Yemen’s president has criticised what he called the “unacceptable” expulsion from Aden of hundreds of people originating from the north, aft er loyalists drove Iran-backed rebels out of the southern city. “The individual acts of expelling citizens of Taiz and other cities (from Aden) is unacceptable,” President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said late Sunday, quoted by the offi cial sabanew.net website. Taiz, he added, was of strategic importance to Aden. Located in the southwest, Taiz was historically part of northern Yemen, whose residents are viewed as occupiers by many inhabitants of Aden and other provinces in the formerly independent south. Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher said acts by “dozens do not

necessitate in any case expelling hundreds” of northerners from the city, describing the move as “harsh collective punishment against a group of citizens”. Yemen has been torn by deadly confl ict since Iran-backed Houthi rebels descended from their northern strongholds and seized the capital Sanaa and other parts of the country since September 2014. In March last year, pro-government forces and southern fi ghters backed by a Saudi-led military coalition drove the rebels out of southern regions, including Aden. But authorities have struggled to secure the city, which the government declared as Yemen’s temporary capital, as attacks attributed to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group increased. Pro-government activists and

coalition commanders accuse former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allied with the Houthis, of backing militants to carry out attacks against Hadi’s loyalists. Bin Dagher called for improvements in security for Aden, and appealed against the “punishment” of other people. The prime minister said Aden’s governor and its security chief needed to “control the actions of all services that operate under their command”. These acts were “unconstitutional and illegal” as well as against “basic human rights”. Bin Dagher also appealed for those who have been expelled to “return to practising their normal lives” and ordered authorities in the city to protect them, sabanew.net reported.

US: missile launch would be provocative

The US said yesterday it could

not confirm reports that Iran

had tested a precision-guided

missile two weeks ago but if true

such a step would be provoca-

tive and destabilising.

“We are aware of Iranian

comments on an additional

ballistic missile launched,” State

Department spokeswoman

Elizabeth Trudeau told a brief-

ing, saying any launch by Iran

would be inconsistent with a

UN Security Council resolution.

“We remained concerned about

Iran’s ballistic missile test launch

which are provocative and

destabilising.”

UAE court jailsself-proclaimedIS leader for life AFPAbu Dhabi

An Emirati court yes-terday ordered a self-proclaimed local

leader of the Islamic State group jailed for life for plot-ting a series of attacks, me-dia reported.

The court in Abu Dhabi convicted Emirati Mo-hamed al-Hashemi, 34, of plotting attacks on the city’s Formula 1 circuit and its branch of Swedish fur-niture chain Ikea, as well as planning to assassinate an unspecified Emirati leader, daily The National reported.

Hashemi’s wife, also an Emirati, was executed in July for the militant-in-spired December 2014 mur-der of an American school teacher in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall, one month

after her husband’s arrest. The National quoted a

witness as telling the court that Hashemi had “ap-pointed himself” an “emir” of the militant group and had also, according to pros-ecution documents, do-nated some 80,000 dirhams ($21,800) to Al Qaeda.

With his wife, he had “planned terrorist attacks in the country in retaliation for the UAE’s stance against ISIL,” the newspaper quoted prosecutors as saying, using another name for IS.

The United Arab Emir-ates is a member of the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS since mid-2014 in parts of Syria and Iraq under its control.

The couple had per-formed a “symbolic cer-emony to pledge allegiance” to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a witness said, according to the daily.

Bahrain to release female activistBahrain’s foreign ministry said yesterday that opposition activist

Zainab al-Khawaja who is in jail with her toddler will be released for

“humanitarian” reasons. She was jailed in March after being con-

victed of insulting the king by ripping a photograph of him. She kept

her son, who is reportedly just over one year old, with her in jail.

Zainab, who was sentenced to three years in prison in December

2014, is the daughter of rights activists Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 2016

ARAB WORLD10

Payout for kin ofMexican touristskilled by mistake AFPCairo

The federation of Egyptian tourism agencies said yester-

day it had paid $140,000 each in compensation to the families of three of eight Mexican tourists killed by mistake last year.

The tourists and four Egyptians were killed by se-curity forces on September 13, 2015 when they came un-der fi re during a lunch break in Egypt’s vast Western Desert while on their way to the Bahariya oasis.

Survivors have told Mexi-can diplomats that came under fi re from a plane and helicopters.

Egypt said the tourists had entered a restricted area and were “mistakenly” killed as security forces chased militants.

“The families of three of the victims have each re-ceived a bank transfer worth $140,000,” said Ahmed Ibrahim, treasurer of the Egyptian Travel Agents As-sociation.

He said the payment was made after the three fami-lies agreed not to press legal

proceedings against Egypt after their relatives were killed.

Their lawyers signed the agreement last week, he said.

“Negotiations are un-der way with the other fi ve families in order to close the case defi nitively,” Ibrahim said.

Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid confi rmed that an agree-ment had been reached to compensate three of the eight families.

He said the accord was between the federation and the families and that the Cairo government was not involved.

Ibrahim said the federa-tion agreed to compensate the families after an investi-gation found that the travel agency looking after the tourists was responsible for their deaths.

In January, Mexican For-eign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu said Egypt’s tour-ism ministry “found that the administrative authori-ties and the travel agency should have had more clar-ity on the permit, and in that sense would eventually be responsible”.

Trial opens of Israeli soldier who killed wounded Palestinian ReutersJaff a, Israel

An Israeli soldier who shot and killed a wounded Pal-estinian assailant went on

trial on manslaughter charges yes-terday in a rare case that focuses on allegations of excessive use of force in confronting Palestinian attacks.

A majority of Israelis do not want a court-martial to take place, according to an opinion poll taken shortly after Sergeant Elor Azaria was arrested in March. Palestinian offi cials have called the soldier’s action cold-blooded murder.

The incident, in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, came to light after a video shot by a Palestinian witness

showed Azaria fi ring once into the head of the assailant, who lay wounded on the ground after he had stabbed and wounded an-other soldier.

An autopsy, attended by both an Israeli and a Palestinian pa-thologist, showed it was Azaria’s bullet that killed him.

Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of routine extra-judicial kill-

ings - a charge it denies - as it tries to quell months of stabbings, shootings and car rammings.

Azaria, a conscript medic, is the fi rst active duty Israeli soldier to face criminal proceedings over the alleged illegal use of lethal force since the violence erupted in October.

But with Israel’s military chief urging soldiers to use only “meas-

ured and considered force” in dealing with attackers, an opin-ion poll found that 57% of Israelis believe Azaria should never have been arrested.

Two months ago, after far-right ministers in his governing coali-tion cautioned against what they dismissed as a show trial, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the unusual step of telephoning the

conscript’s father to say “I under-stand your distress” and promising his son would be treated fairly.

Military prosecutors said that with no proof of premeditation, they had opted to indict Azaria for manslaughter instead of murder. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

“Justice will come to light,” Binyamin Malka, one of Azaria’s

attorneys, told reporters in the military courtroom in Jaff a, near Tel Aviv, where the soldier was hugged by his mother before the three-judge panel convened.

According to the military, Azaria told investigators he be-lieved the Palestinian, though subdued, may have had a suicide explosive belt and that he still posed a danger.

Egypt vowsto upholdPalestiniancause at UN AFPCairo

Egypt will use its infl u-ence as chair of the UN Security Council in May

to defend the interests of the Palestinian people, the presi-dency said yesterday.

The pledge, made during talks between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestin-ian leader Mahmoud Abbas, comes after France called for an international conference later this month to relaunch peace talks.

Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations have been frozen since a US-brokered initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Last month, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said France will host a meeting of ministers from 20 countries on May 30 to try to relaunch the peace process.

Abbas and Sisi discussed “ways of co-ordinating Arab eff orts and the steps that need to be taken within the UN Se-curity Council” as Egypt holds the rotating presidency of the council for May, a statement said.

The two leaders said ef-forts to resolve the Palestin-ian-Israeli confl ict should be bolstered in light of regional and international initiatives, including France’s decision to host a conference.

The Palestinian leader-ship has welcomed the French initiative but Israel opposes it, insisting that direct and un-conditional negotiations with the Palestinians are the only way forward.

Ayrault has said that the aim of hosting a ministerial confer-ence in May is to prepare for an international summit later this year that would include the Is-raeli and Palestinian leaders.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (right) meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo yesterday.

Two dead, 88 injured inCairo fi re AFPCairo

Two people died and 88 others in-cluding fi refi ghters were injured yesterday when a fi re spread quickly

through a commercial area in downtown Cairo, Egyptian offi cials said.

It is not yet known what caused the blaze that erupted overnight in a small hotel in the Al-Mosky neighbourhood not far from the Al-Azhar mosque, and spread rapidly to four nearby buildings, police said.

The buildings included warehouses con-taining plastic materials which helped the fi re to spread.

“There are two dead and 88 injured,” health ministry spokesman Khaled Mega-hed said.

“Two charred bodies were found in the rubble,” he said, adding that most of the injured were suff ering from smoke inhala-tion.

By midday the fi re had been brought un-der control, Cairo fi re chief Gamal Halawa said, adding that 16 fi refi ghters and police also suff ered from smoke inhalation.

Egyptian firefighters extinguish fire at the popular market area of al-Atabaa in downtown Cairo yesterday. The fire erupted overnight in a small hotel in the Al-Mosky neighbourhood, not far from the Al-Azhar mosque, and moved rapidly to four nearby buildings.

First body of assailant isburied after court ruling AFPJerusalem

The body of a Palestinian attacker has been buried in Jerusalem after Israel

returned his remains, the fi rst such burial since the country’s top court recommended return-ing bodies of assailants.

The funeral took place in the early hours of yesterday near the Old City of east Jerusalem un-

der strict conditions imposed by Israeli authorities, a lawyer for the family, Mohamed Mahmoud, said.

Only 30 family members were allowed to attend and no mobile phones were permitted during the ceremony.

The family gave a deposit of 20,000 shekels ($5,200) to Israeli authorities as a guarantee the fu-neral conditions would be met, Mahmoud added.

Mohamed Nimr, a 37-year-

old father of three, was shot dead after trying to stab security guards near the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City on No-vember 10.

Israeli authorities had held his body since the attack.

The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday recommended that all bodies of Palestinian attackers be returned.

The court encouraged “police to co-ordinate with the families and return the bodies of their sons

before Ramadan,” which begins in early June.

A wave of violence since Octo-ber last year has killed 204 Pales-tinians and 28 Israelis, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli au-thorities say.

Israel’s policy on return-ing bodies has been divided. West Bank assailants are usually handed to their families for burial

within a short time, while resi-dents of east Jerusalem are held by authorities until a series of condi-tions are met.

Supporters of holding the bod-ies argue it acts as a deterrent and say funerals turn into celebrations of anti-Israeli violence, but critics say it fuels tensions.

After the burial, Israel still holds the bodies of 17 attackers - 11 from annexed east Jerusalem and the rest from the occupied West Bank.

Hariri-backed list wins Beirut municipality polls ReutersBeirut

A list backed by mainstream Lebanese parties has won Beirut municipality elec-

tions, its leader said early yester-day, seeing off a challenge by an independent movement that had sought to galvanise voters angry with political paralysis.

Turnout for the fi rst election in

Lebanon in six years was around 20%, local media said, with poll-ing stations on Sunday heavily guarded by armed state security personnel.

Prime Minister Tamam Salam put the poor turnout down to the politicised and uncertain atmos-phere.

“In particular people did not believe the elections would go ahead and did not prepare them-selves,” he said in an interview

with As-Safi r newspaper pub-lished yesterday.

Parliamentary elections scheduled for 2013 have been postponed twice due to politi-cal instability exacerbated by the war in neighbouring Syria. Mu-nicipal elections are due to be held in other areas of the country over the next two weeks.

Media reported a decisive victory for the “Beirutis” list, headed by Jamal Itani, after his

announcement, based on initial results. Final results were to be announced later yesterday.

The list was backed by estab-lished groups including the Fu-ture Movement of Sunni Mus-lim politician Saad al-Hariri, a former prime minister.

It saw off the challenge by the recently formed “Beirut Madina-ti” movement that emerged from a wave of public anger last sum-mer over the government’s fail-

ure to solve a waste disposal crisis that resulted in rubbish piling up around the city.

Beirut Madinati campaigners said the momentum created by their campaign was in itself a vic-tory. The movement has sought to challenge the political parties that have long dominated the Lebanese state.

“We are the winners, this at-mosphere you see, these young people who are all about hope,

life, hope in the Beirut that we dream of, this is what we have won,” fi lm director Nadine La-baki, a Beirut Madinati candi-date, told New TV.

A monitoring group said there had been a big increase in irregu-larities compared with the last election, included vote buying, violence and a report of an of-fi cial interfering with voting to help one of the party lists.

The Lebanese Association

for Democratic Elections said 647 irregularities were recorded in Beirut and the Bekaa valley, which also went to the polls on Sunday, compared with 314 in the same two areas in 2010.

The monitoring group said it had observed a signifi cant de-cline in the standard of the elec-toral process, with polling sta-tions ill prepared and chaos in sorting and transporting ballot papers.

Fighting rages in Aleppo as US, Russia try to revive truce ReutersBeirut/Paris

Syrian government forces and their allies fought in-surgents near Aleppo yes-

terday and jets carried out raids around a nearby town seized by Islamist rebels, a monitoring group said, despite international eff orts to reduce the violence.

The US and Russia, who sup-port rival sides in Syria’s civil war, said yesterday they would

work to revive a February “ces-sation of hostilities” agreement which reduced fi ghting in parts of the country for several weeks.

But warplanes struck the town of Khan Touman, southwest of Aleppo, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Rebels also fought govern-ment forces east of Damascus, and jets struck the rebel-held towns of Maarat al-Numan and Idlib.

A recent surge in bloodshed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before

the war, wrecked the 10-week-old, partial truce sponsored by Washington and Moscow which had allowed UN-brokered peace talks to convene in Geneva.

The talks, attended by govern-ment and opposition delegates including representatives from rebel groups, broke up last month with both sides accusing the oth-er of killing the truce.

Russia and the US said in a joint statement they would step up eff orts to convince the war-ring parties to abide by the cease-fi re agreement.

“We have decided to reconfi rm our commitment to the (cease-fi re) in Syria and to intensify ef-forts to ensure its nation-wide implementation,” they said.

“We demand that parties cease any indiscriminate attacks on ci-vilians, including civilian infra-structure and medical facilities.”

Russia’s military intervention last September helped Presi-dent Bashar al-Assad reverse some rebel gains in the west of

the country, including in Aleppo province.

But insurgents captured the town of Khan Touman last week, infl icting a rare setback on gov-ernment forces and allied Ira-nian troops who suff ered heavy losses in the fi ghting. Several Iranian soldiers were captured in the clashes, a senior Iranian law-maker said yesterday.

Aleppo city is one of the big-gest strategic prizes in a war now in its sixth year, and has been divided into government and rebel-held zones through much of the confl ict.

The Observatory said war-planes struck rebel-held areas of the city early yesterday, and rebels fi red shells into govern-ment-held neighbourhoods.

Al Manar, the television chan-nel of Damascus’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, said yesterday troops had destroyed a tank belonging to insurgents and killed some of its occupants.

On the eastern edge of Damas-

cus, government forces and their allies shelled rebel-held areas and clashed with insurgents in the area, the Observatory and the rebel force Jaish al-Islam said. Three people were killed and 13 wounded in air strikes on Idlib, it said.

Jaish Al-Islam agreed with a rival rebel group, Failaq Al-Rahman, that both would vacate a town they have been fi ercely fi ghting over for almost two weeks, the Observatory said.

The groups, two of the strong-est operating in the area, agreed to make no more attempts to militarily occupy the town of Misraba in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, and return it to civilian rule. Quiet returned to the town after 13 days of heavy artillery exchanges which saw Jaish Al-Islam take control of it over the weekend and capture around 50 rival fi ghters.

Saudi Arabia condemned air strikes on a camp for displaced Syrians west of Aleppo last week

which killed at least 28 people, saying it was part of “the genocide committed by Bashar al-Assad’s forces against civilians in Syria”.

A Saudi cabinet statement yesterday said the strikes on the camp, alongside the prevention of humanitarian aid deliveries to Syrians, constituted war crimes. Damascus has denied targeting the camp or obstructing aid de-liveries.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, hosting a meeting in Paris of Assad’s opponents, said Syrian government forces and their allies had bombarded hospitals and refugee camps.

“It is not Daesh (Islamic State) that is being attacked in Aleppo, it is the moderate opposition,” Ayrault said.

The US-Russian joint state-ment said Moscow would work with Syrian authorities “to mini-mise aviation operations over areas that are predominantly in-habited by civilians or parties to the cessation”.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (centre) arrives to attend a meeting about Syria at the French foreign ministry in Paris yesterday.

Rebels capture Iranian soldiers ReutersDubai

Up to half-a-dozen Iranian soldiers deployed in Syria have been captured by

rebel forces, a senior Iranian law-maker said yesterday, two days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards confi rmed losses in a bat-tle near Aleppo.

Iran, along with Russia, has been a principal ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country’s fi ve-year-old civil war, while Gulf Arab states and West-ern powers have supported vari-ous rebel factions.

Rebels seized the village of Khan Touman on Friday, some 15km (9 miles) southwest of Aleppo, and killed several Iranian soldiers, dealing one of Tehran’s biggest losses in Syria.

“According to the latest num-bers, 13 defenders of the shrine were killed, 18 were wounded and fi ve to six were captured,” Esmail Kosari, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s defence committee, was quoted as saying by the Mi-zan Online news agency.

Shia Muslim Iran alludes to its troops in Syria as “defenders of the shrine”, a reference to the Sayeda Zeinab mosque.

It was the fi rst time Iran had confi rmed that any of its com-batants had been taken prisoner in Syria. In December, Islamist rebels in Khan Touman said they had seized two Iranians but that was never confi rmed by Tehran.

Syrian prisoners in deal to end mutiny

Tunisians protest closure of border

ReutersAmman

A tentative deal has been reached to end a strike in a Syrian prison by nearly 800 mostly political

detainees that would eventually lead to the pardon and release of those held without charges, rights groups and ac-tivists in touch with inmates said yes-terday.

They said the deal brokered late on Sunday would end a mutiny in the Hama prison in central Syria that started last week when political de-tainees revolted after fi ve inmates were to be taken to the notorious Sad-naya prison for the execution of death sentences passed by an extra-judicial military tribunal.

“The regime has agreed to most of our demands to release those political detainees held without charges,” said a rights activist in touch with two in-mates who requested anonymity.

The prisoners seized the prison

210km (130 miles) from Damascus, and took hostages from guards..

That prompted a siege in which the authorities tried to storm the civilian prison on Friday using tear gas bombs and rubber bullets in an attempt to end the rebellion.

Leading Syrian rights activist Ma-zen Darwish, a former detainee in the prison and in touch with the prison-ers, said a verbal agreement had been reached, but did not give details.

Another rights activist in touch with inmates said the deal was brokered af-ter tribal fi gures intervened with the authorities who gave assurances to in-mates held without charge they would be released if they ended their revolt.

The Syrian interior ministry has de-nied the reports about Hama central prison but has not elaborated on the issue since yesterday.

The UK Observatory for Human Rights had confi rmed a deal was in the works to release 26 detainees. The authorities previously released 46 detainees under Red Crescent media-

tion until negotiations broke down. The deal comes after conditions

worsened and inmates made appeals to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after prison offi cials cut electricity and water amid food shortages and serious medical condi-tions among some of the inmates.

Inmates have demanded the release of political detainees held without charges. Many feared a wave of execu-tions that could follow if they were to be transferred to the Sadnaya military prison, north of Damascus.

The prison itself was the scene of protests in 2008 by Islamist detainees that led to several being fi red at and killed.

International rights groups say thousands of detainees are held in Syrian government prisons without charge and many of them are tortured to death, which authorities deny.

Human Rights Watch expressed con-cern late on Friday about the safety of the hostages and said an attempt to re-take the facility risked high casualties.

AFPTunis

Tunisian security forces used tear gas yesterday against hundreds of people in the southern town

of Ben Guerdane protesting against the closure of the border with Libya, offi -cials said.

“Around 1,000 people rallied out-side local government offi ces and set tyres ablaze in protest against a Libyan decision to close the Ras Jedir border crossing,” interior ministry spokesman

Yasser Mesbah said. Security forces fi red tear gas to disperse the demon-strators, he added.

Ras Jedir is the main frontier between western Libya and southeastern Tuni-sia, a region whose economy is largely dependent on cross-border trade, both legal and illegal.

Tunisia’s southern provinces are among the poorest in the country.

Since April, Libyan border offi cials have stopped the fl ow of merchan-dise across the border, sparking anger among residents. A Libyan offi cial, Hafedh Moammar, said at the time

that the border was closed amid alleged “harassment” of Libyan travellers and to stop the fl ow of smuggled fuel.

The governor of the Tunisian town of Medenine, Tahar Matmati, said Libya also wanted to impose a “unifi ed tax” on all products crossing the frontier.

In March, Tunisia closed two border crossings with Libya for two weeks in response to a deadly militant attack on Ben Guerdane. Tunisia has also built a 200-km barrier stretching about half the length of its border with Libya in an attempt to prevent militants from infi l-trating.

Aleppo truce extended by 48 hours

A truce in Aleppo in northern Syria between regime forces and rebels that was due to expire late yesterday has been extended by 48 hours, the army command said. “The ‘regime of silence’ in Aleppo and its province has been extended by 48 hours from Tuesday 01:00am

(local time) to midnight on Wednesday,” a statement said. The temporary truce, initially for two days and then prolonged until Tuesday at 00:01am (21:01 GMT Monday), was decided after fighting killed nearly 300 people since April 22 in Aleppo, where some areas are held by rebels.

ARAB WORLD11Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

AFRICA

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 201612

White judge in Facebook ‘racism’ row AFPJohannesburg

A white South African judge was yesterday at the centre of a social media

storm after Facebook comments emerged in which she suggested rape was part of black culture.

Political parties rushed to condemn the messages, which sparked fresh outrage after a se-ries of recent Internet postings underlined racial tensions in South Africa, 22 years after the end of apartheid rule.

“In their culture, a woman is there to pleasure them. Period,” wrote Judge Mabel Jansen, who sits in the High Court in the capi-tal Pretoria. “It is seen as an ab-solute right and a woman’s con-sent is not required.”

Jansen added: “I still have to meet a black girl who was not raped at about 12. I am dead serious.”

“Murder is also is not a biggy. And gang rapes of baby, daughter and mother (are) a pleasurable pastime.”

The opposition Democratic

Alliance party said it would re-port the messages to the coun-try’s Judicial Services Commis-sion to be investigated.

Her comments were “not only hurtful and demeaning”, but undermined “the dignity of our people,” the party said.

The women’s league of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lambasted the judge.

“Her comments made on Fa-cebook where she claims that the rape of young children is part of black culture, are purely racist and misrepresentation of facts about black culture,” it said.

The league questioned wheth-er Jansen would be able to deal fairly with cases of rape in court.

Jansen told Business Day newspaper that her postings had been misrepresented.

“What I stated confi dentially to somebody in a position to help has been taken completely out of context and referred to specifi c court cases,” she said.

“The real issue... is the protec-tion of vulnerable women and children and an endeavour to cure the pandemic.”

The messages, posted a year ago, were part in a Facebook con-versation that was made public on Sunday.

Anger erupted earlier this year when Penny Sparrow, a white realtor and DA member, com-plained on Facebook about black people littering beaches and lik-ened them to “monkeys”.

In the ensuing uproar, local government employee Velaphi Khumalo wrote in another viral Facebook message that blacks should act towards whites “as Hitler did to the Jews”.

Offi cial statistics showed that 43,195 rapes were reported in South Africa between April 2014 and March 2015, though most rapes are not reported to police.

Africa Check, a fact-checking project devised by but independ-ent of the AFP Foundation, re-cently dismissed reports that a woman or child was raped every 26 seconds in the country.

The project said the number of rapes committed each year in South Africa could not be ac-curately estimated due to lack of research.

Congo opposition leader denies ‘mercenary’ charge ReutersLubumbashi, DR Congo

A leading opposition can-didate for president of Democratic Republic of

Congo was questioned yesterday over government allegations of hiring mercenaries, a case that could halt his fl edgling campaign in its tracks.

Police fi red tear gas at more than 1,000 supporters of Moi-se Katumbi who advanced on the prosecutor general’s offi ce, where he was being questioned, chanting “president!”.

Some entered the building and at least four were arrested, a Reu-ters witness said.

Katumbi’s supporters say the allegations are aimed at derail-ing his campaign to succeed President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled since 2001 but is barred from standing for a third term at

elections set for November. “The tricks continue in this

trial of shame,” said Katumbi’s chief adviser, Salomon Idi Kalonda Della, on Twitter.

Katumbi has denied accusa-tions made by the justice minis-ter last week that he hired mer-cenaries including US soldiers. The enquiry could lead to charg-es that carry a prison term and could also tie Katumbi in legal knots during the campaign.

Many Congolese people say Katumbi is the strongest opposi-tion candidate to succeed Kabila, given his personal wealth and popularity as the former gov-ernor of Congo’s main copper-producing region. He also owns a soccer team.

Kabila is barred by the consti-tution from seeking a third term but has yet to announce his in-tentions. His ruling party has not named another candidate and the opposition says Kabila wants

to delay the election to retain power.

Katumbi arrived at the pros-ecutor general’s offi ce dressed in a white suit and accompanied by leaders of an opposition coalition that has backed his presidential bid.

He governed Katanga, the southeastern copper-mining heartland, from 2007 until last September when he quit Ka-bila’s ruling party, accusing it of plotting to keep the president in power beyond a two-term limit.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Congolese authorities have arrested at least 27 of Katumbi’s associates, in-cluding six employees and the two sons of an ally, since late last month. It called the arrests “tar-geted actions against a presiden-tial aspirant and close support-ers”.

The government denies Ka-tumbi is being targeted for politi-cal reasons.

Top court hands down life terms to 21 Burundi ‘coup plotters’

Burundi’s Supreme Court yesterday slapped life sen-tences on 21 army offi cers

involved in a supposed coup plot in May last year.

The court had in January given 30-year jail terms to nine offi cers and sentenced eight other sol-diers to fi ve years while acquit-ting seven others.

But prosecutors appealed the

initial sentence. The decision is however not binding as it can be appealed once more.

“Twenty-one offi cers includ-ing the main accused like General Cyrille Ndayirukiye were sentenced to life,” a judicial source said, speak-ing in the central city of Gitega.

The source said two senior army offi cers initially acquitted were also given life terms.

Prosecutors had said in Janu-ary that they wanted all jailed for life and the seven acquitted to face a re-trial.

Burundi has been in crisis since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza ran for a con-troversial third term, sparking street protests, the failed coup, regular killings and smouldering violence.

Kenyans protest ing against poll panel again teargassedReutersNairobi

Kenyan police fi red teargas and water cannon yesterday at stone-throwing protesters in Nairobi who had gath-

ered to demand that a body supervising next year’s elections resign, a Reuters witness said.

The presidential and parliamentary polls are more than a year away but politicians are already lining up for what could be a bruis-ing battle in a nation where violence erupted after the 2007 vote and the opposition dis-puted the 2013 result.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the university and the offi ces of the Inde-

pendent Electoral and Boundaries Commis-sion (IEBC).

The opposition have accused the IEBC of bias in favour of the government, demanding it be disbanded. The IEBC has dismissed the charges and says its members will stay on.

A few demonstrators hurled stones at po-lice standing near the gate of the IEBC offi ces.

“IEBC must go,” protesters shouted in the centre of Nairobi, where dozens of police with support vehicles had been mobilised.

When stone throwing began, police fi red tear gas canisters and trucks shot water can-non. Protesters dispersed after that.

Members of the opposition Coalition of Reform and Democracy (CORD), which un-successfully sought to overturn the 2013 re-sult, staged a street protest last month.

The 2013 vote, which brought President Uhuru Kenyatta to power, proceeded calmly despite the opposition challenge.

Raila Odinga, the CORD leader who has lost previous presidential bids, accepted the court ruling. He is expected to run again.

Western diplomats say the authorities must prepare carefully to ensure another peaceful vote in a country where ethnic loy-alties usually trump policy among voters. About 1,200 were killed in ethnic killing that erupted after the 2007 poll.

Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, who in 2007 were on opposing sides but in 2013 united in a coalition, were charged by the International Criminal Court with stok-ing the post-election violence. Both denied this. Charges were later dropped.

Kenya’s opposition politicians and supporters run away from teargas in Nairobi as police disperse demonstrators from the premises of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

Kenya threatens to shut massive refugee camps ReutersGeneva

The UN refugee agency yester-day called on Kenya to recon-sider its plans to close camps

that host Somali and South Sudanese refugees and that the government has long said pose a security threat.

Kenya’s Interior Ministry had said on Friday it aimed to close in the “shortest time possible” the sprawling Dadaab camp, home to 350,000 mostly Somalis, and Ka-kuma camp, which has expanded during more than two years of con-fl ict in nearby South Sudan.

Kenya has made similar remarks before, even setting a three-month deadline last year for Dadaab to be closed, although it has backed away from such threats.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a statement it viewed with “profound concern” the latest Kenyan government comments.

“UNHCR is calling on the gov-ernment of Kenya to reconsider its decision and to avoid taking any ac-

tion that might be at odds with its international obligations,” it said.

In Friday’s comments, the Inte-rior Ministry said hosting refugees posed “immense security challeng-es”, particularly from Somali Islam-ist group Shebaab, which has killed hundreds of Kenyans in attacks dur-ing the past three years or so.

UNHCR said in January it was planning for as many as 50,000 So-malis to return to Somalia in 2016 under a voluntary repatriation programme, although it said that number might not be met given the challenges returnees still face.

Although neighbouring Somalia is making a slow recovery from more than two decades of confl ict and cha-os, the government is still fi ghting a Shebaab insurgency and many basic services are lacking, such as proper schooling and adequate shelter.

South Sudan’s political leaders have also been patching up diff erenc-es, but the peace process has proved fragile and the UN World Food Pro-gramme has said up to 5.3mn people may face severe food shortages dur-ing this year’s lean season.

MDC slams local ‘US dollar’ plan ‘madness’

Zimbabwe’s opposition yesterday condemned the govern-

ment’s plan to print a local version of the US dollar as “mad-

ness”, as panic set in over a crippling cash shortage.

“The printing of bond notes will be the death knell to this

economy,” the main opposition party, the Movement for

Democratic Change (MDC), said in a statement.

“Zimbabweans have walked this road before. They have not

forgotten the dark days when they were poor quintillionnaires.”

Zimbabwe adopted the US and South African currencies in

2009 after hyperinflation peaked at 231mn%, rendering the

national currency worthless.

A recent shortage of foreign notes prompted central bank

governor John Mangudya to unveil measures including

limiting withdrawals to $1,000 per day and printing a series of

tokens, called bond notes, rated at par with the US dollar.

“The MDC is preparing a robust response to this madness

and the party reserves its right to mobilise the people against

this ill-advised decision which is certainly not backed by

economic logic,” the party said.

Bond notes will complement bond coins, which were intro-

duced in 2014 to tackle a lack of small change.

The notes, which Mangudya said were “at design stage”,

will be in denominations of $2, $5, $10 and $20.

They will be backed by a $200mn support facility provided

by the Africa Export-Import Bank.

Mangudya’s announcement last week prompted panic,

with long queues of desperate depositors trying to withdraw

their money at banks and automated teller machines.

Economists blame the cash shortage on lack of investment

and a trade deficit which saw the country’s import bill stand-

ing at $490mn in the first quarter against $167mn in exports.

Niger Delta oil workers evacuated after militants threat en attacks

Shell workers at Ni-geria’s Bonga oil fi eld in the southern Niger

Delta are being evacuated following a militant threat, a senior labour union offi -cial said yesterday.

“We are aware of the de-velopment and the evacua-tion is being done in catego-ries of workers and cadres,” Cogent Ojobor, chairman of the Warri branch of the Nu-peng oil labour union, said. “My members are yet to be evacuated.”

He gave no numbers. Shell said earlier yes-

terday that oil output was continuing at its oil fi elds in Nigeria despite local media reports of a militant attack near its Bonga fa-cilities.

“Our operations at Bonga are continuing,” a spokesman for Shell Ni-geria Exploration and Pro-duction Company (SNEP-Co) said in a statement. It said it would continue to monitor the security situ-

ation in its operating areas and take all possible steps to ensure the safety of staff and contractors.

Last week, militants at-tacked a Chevron platform in the Delta where tensions have been building up since authorities issued an arrest warrant in January for a former militant leader on corruption charges.

President Muham-madu Buhari has said there would be a crackdown on “vandals and saboteurs” in the Delta region, which produces most of the country’s oil.

A group known as the Niger Delta Avengers claimed responsibility for the Chevron attack.

Residents in the Delta have been demanding a greater share of oil rev-enues. Crude oil sales ac-count for around 70% of national income in Nigeria but there has not been much development in the poor Delta region.

AMERICAS13Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

A helicopter is seen through heavy smoke near a Royal Canadian Mounted Police vehicle around Ft McMurray, Alberta.

Canadian offi cials to inspect wildfi re areaReutersLac La Biche, Alberta

Canadian offi cials were to take their fi rst look yesterday at the oil sands boomtown devastated by a wildfi re

that has been raging for more than a week as the blaze turned away from populated areas and cooler weather slowed its spread.

Alberta’s premier, Rachel Notley, will lead local offi cials and media on an in-spection of Fort McMurray, whose 88,000 inhabitants fl ed the blaze that broke out on May 1.

Notley warned the nation to brace for grim images, with entire neighbourhoods destroyed, though the fl ames had moved far enough away from the town to make an inspection safe, offi cials said.

“The head of the fi re is well away from the community. There’s been some growth, but limited growth, and that’s due to the change in weather,” said wildfi re in-formation offi cer Matthew Anderson on CBC television.

Damage from the fi re, while extensive, could be less costly than initially feared, according to data released yesterday.

Canada’s largest property and casu-alty insurer Intact Financial Corp expects to suff er losses ranging from C$130mn to C$160mn ($100mn-$123mn) from the wildfi re. Intact used satellite imagery and geocoding technology to see if buildings were a total loss or partially destroyed.

Analysts said Intact’s forecast implied overall industry losses of between C$1bn C$1.1bn, much less than the earlier fore-cast of C$9bn ($7bn).

Previous analysts’ estimates, based on less precise data, had expected losses to dwarf previous records in Canadian his-tory, including C$1.9bn ($1.46bn) from the North American ice storm of 1998 and the Alberta fl oods of 2013.

Firefi ghters hoped that cooler weather would aid in the battle against the blaze.

Temperatures cooled yesterday, with a forecast high of 10C (50°F), down from Sunday’s high of 17C.

The cool weather was expected to linger through tomorrow, according to Environ-ment Canada. Still, much of the province of Alberta in western Canada is tinder-box dry after a mild winter and warm spring.

Alberta’s government said the fi re had consumed 161,000 hectares, an estimate unchanged from Sunday. It had expanded to within 40km of the border of Saskatch-ewan, a province east of Alberta, but was not expected to cross into the neighbour-ing province, said Travis Fairweather, an Alberta wildlife information offi cer.

Offi cials said it was too early to know when the thousands of evacuees camped out in nearby towns could go back to Fort McMurray, even if their homes were in-tact.

The city’s gas has been turned off , its power grid is damaged and the water is undrinkable.

Fort McMurray is the centre of Canada’s oil sands region. About half of its crude output, or 1mn barrels per day, has been

taken offl ine, according to a Reuters esti-mate.

Statoil ASA said it will suspend all pro-duction at its Leismer oil sands project in northern Alberta until midstream ter-minals needed to transport crude oil via pipeline reopen. Its move followed shut-downs of Nexen Energy’s Long Lake facil-ity, Suncor Energy’s base plant operations, the Syncrude project and Conoco Phillips’ Surmont project.

U S oil prices fell 2.7 percent.Nearly all of Fort McMurray’s residents

escaped the fi re safely, although two teen-agers died in a car crash during the evacu-ation.

The nearly 90,000 residents of Cana-dian oil boomtown Fort McMurray forced to fl ee a massive wildfi re include some who were already homeless and now fi nd themselves better off than before.

Terry MacDuff , 54, had been living in a tent for nearly fi ve months when he evacu-ated Fort McMurray last Tuesday.

The fi re, which has now burned for more than a week, emptied the city of residents and damaged an estimated 1,600 struc-tures. While many fl ocked to insurance booths at the Lac la Biche evacuation center to fi le claims for lost possessions or homes, MacDuff had little to lose in the fi re.

“I’m living like a king here,” said MacDuff , who lost his job as a long-haul truck driver in December after a bout of pneumonia.

His situation underscored the hard eco-nomic times that have befallen the city, which is sometimes dubbed Fort McMon-

ey for the six-fi gure salaries its oil sands workers enjoyed before oil prices fell more than 70% since mid-2014.

Alberta lost 20,800 jobs in April, ac-cording to the latest data from the govern-ment, the largest monthly decline since December 2008. An estimated 8,400 came from oil and gas, fi shing, forestry and mining.

Since losing his trucking job, MacDuff , from Hawkesberry, a town of more than 10,000 in eastern Ontario, panhandles and even spent the winter lighting cigarettes for patrons outside Showgirls, a Fort Mc-Murray strip club, an odd job that high-lights the income disparity in the resource town.

MacDuff estimated there were some 100 homeless or near homeless evacuees at the Lac La Biche evacuation centre.

Rayaaz Ali Shaw, who is also bunking in Lac La Biche, lost his maintenance job at the MacDonald Island recreation center two months ago. He currently shares a downtown apartment with four other guys for just $500 a month.

“I have ten dollars to my name. You can’t even buy a cookie with that,” he said.

At Lac La Biche, evacuees are given a place to sleep, access to health services, unlimited food and a gym full of clothes and goods donated from the community.

MacDuff plans to return to Fort Mc-Murray and believes that eventually more people will be put back to work as the city rebuilds.

“This fi re saved a lot of people. There will be a lot of work in the cleanup,” he said.

Democrats gird for fi ght with Trump in US Rust Belt states AFPCleveland/New York

Bracing for a general election fi ght with Donald Trump, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary

Clinton and her allies are putting resourc-es into industrial states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania to try to block Trump from making inroads with working-class voters there.

Labor leaders, progressive groups and Democratic operatives told Reuters in in-terviews that they took seriously Trump’s appeal with white working-class voters and were studying how to respond to his promises to create jobs and negotiate bet-ter trade deals.

The desire to stop the presumptive Republican presidential nominee from wresting away the support of unionised workers has even led a group organised to back Bernie Sanders, Labor for Bernie, to consider its next steps if Sanders does not win the Democratic nomination.

“It may well be our task to work hard to reach out to our (labour union) mem-bers who support Trump and begin an important dialogue,” said Rand Wilson, a staunch Sanders supporter and Labor for Bernie spokesman.

The Rust Belt, which includes Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wiscon-sin, Indiana and West Virginia, has suf-fered heavy job losses in sectors such as

autos, coal and steel that have faced fi erce competition from abroad.

The region, home to many unionised workers, has been a stronghold for Dem-ocrats. The exceptions are socially con-servative West Virginia, which has gone Republican in the past four presidential elections, and Indiana, which has gone Democratic only twice since 1940. Ohio has switched back and forth.

Trump has aggressively courted work-ing-class voters ahead of the November 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama. He has criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and promised to rip up the Trans-Pacifi c Partnership (TPP) trade deal.

He has also said he will consider rais-ing the minimum wage and backing higher taxes on the wealthy.

Yesterday, Trump sought to backtrack from those comments on taxes. “Now if I increase it on the wealthy, that means they’re still going to be paying less than they are paying now,” he told CNN. “I’m talking about increasing it from my (origi-nal) tax proposal.”

Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told Reuters the campaign was targeting industrial states like Penn-sylvania and Michigan, which have voted Democratic in presidential elections since 1992.

Working America, an advocacy group affi liated with the AFL-CIO labour fed-eration, is expanding operations in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania and plans to open an offi ce in Wisconsin. Its fi rst mis-sion is talking to voters about jobs and the economy and trying to gauge where they are leaning in the presidential race. Later in the campaign, the group will work more aggressively to win over voters.

In Ohio, the Democratic Party has doubled its fi eld operation over the past month, thanks to an infusion of cash raised by the Clinton campaign for the na-tional and state parties.

Clinton, who has a strong lead over Sanders but has yet to secure the Demo-cratic nomination, has already hired state directors in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Working America fi eld director Soren Norris knocked on doors on the west side of Cleveland last week as part of an eff ort to gauge voter sentiment.

At the fi rst house, Tamara Phillips, 44, told Norris she was not enthusiastic about either Clinton or Trump but that she would vote for the New York businessman if forced to choose.

Phillips, who works in publishing, said taxes on her commission income rose dur-ing former president Bill Clinton’s admin-istration. But she said she had reservations about Trump’s “gruff ” demeanour.

With an eye toward voters across the Rust Belt, Clinton visited Appalachia last week with stops in West Virginia and Ohio. She apologised for previous statements related to shutting down the coal industry and told protesters she was committed to solving their economic problems even if they did not support her.

Union activists said their strategy for undercutting Trump’s support would be pointing out discrepancies in his posi-tions.

His comment that he is open to raising the minimum wage comes after he said in a November debate that “wages are too high” and that an increase would hurt the economy.

Although Trump rails against trade deals and businesses that move opera-tions to Mexico, critics say that items such as ties and suits in his clothing line were made in China.

“The best way to go after Trump is to make him run against himself,” said po-litical strategist Brad Bannon, who advises labor unions.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders greets supporters following a campaign rally at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City yesterday.

Bacteria came to the rescue after BP oil spill AFPFlorida

Microscopic bacteria played a crucial role in the cleanup of the

devastating 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, scientists who decoded the genomes of the oil-eating organisms reported yesterday.

The fi ndings published in the Nature Microbiology jour-nal suggest that certain bac-teria have far greater potential for containing chemical pollu-tion in the ocean than previ-ously thought.

An explosion on the Deep-water Horizon oil rig in 2010 killed 11 men off the coast of Louisiana and caused 134mn gallons of oil to spew into Gulf waters.

It took 87 days to cap the out of control well some 1,500m below sea level, and the oil slick stretched across an area the size of Virgina.

Beaches were blackened in fi ve US states, and the region’s tourism and fi shing industries were devastated.

Massive resources were mo-bilised to clean up the mess, and BP paid out a record $20.8 bn to settle claims for damages.

As the disaster unfolded, communities of bacteria grew unusually fast, and helped to eat away at the chemicals that had contaminated the sea wa-ter.

There were as many as 1,000 different types of chemical compounds to be dispersed.

While it was clear that bac-teria assisted in the clean up, scientists did not know much about the genetic traits that caused the process, or the full range of the single-cell organ-isms involved.

Assistant professor Brett Baker and post-doctoral re-searcher Nina Dombrowski, both from the University of Texas at Austin, sequenced the DNA of the oil-eating mi-crobes to fi nd out more.

“We found a number of bac-teria surprisingly capable of dealing with the more danger-ous compounds,” Dombrowski said in a statement.

“This has implications for future oil spills and how we take advantage of the natural environmental response.”

Oil has a complicated chemical makeup, but con-sists broadly of two main com-pounds.

Alkanes are relatively easy for bacteria to break down. Aromatic hydrocarbons are not.

But not only did the gene sequencing reveal that several bacteria — including one called Alcanivorax, and another named Neptuniibacter — could handle the hydrocarbons.

But it also showed how var-ious species worked together to maximise the viability of the whole microbial commu-nity.

“We used new methods to obtain genomes of bacteria that haven’t been grown in the lab to enhance our under-standing of how they consume oil in nature,” Baker said.

The scientists even found some species that assisted with the post-cleanup, eating the chemicals that had been added to the water to absorb or dis-solve the oil.

While not as harmful as the oil itself, these dispersants can damage the environment too.

Dombrowski said that hu-mans had a responsibility to help maintain “a healthy and diverse bacterial community”.

US cracks downon $180mn scam AFPWashington

The architects of an al-leged $180mn US mail fraud scam have agreed

to stop advertising on behalf of psychics, clairvoyants or astrologers as part of a settle-ment with US prosecutors, the justice department said yes-terday.

Eight individuals and enti-ties in Canada, Hong Kong, France and Switzerland had been charged in a civil case with marketing false claims via US mail to the elderly and other vulnerable consumers.

The alleged scammers claimed that psychics had a “specifi c personalised vision” of how to achieve great wealth, including by winning the lot-tery. Recipients were urged to purchase products and serv-ices, the Justice Department said.

The messages were sent in “identical, mass produced

form letters” that targeted the “desperate, elderly and infi rm,” the department said.

It said the scam garnered payments totalling more than $180mn from more than 1mn Americans.

“To line their own pockets, the defendants preyed upon the superstition and despera-tion of millions of vulnerable Americans,” said US attorney Robert Capers.

“We will use every means at our disposal to protect our citizens from fraudulent schemes like this, that target the lonely, the ill, and the eld-erly.”

Under a consent decree, the eight defendants agreed to a permanent injunction on mail solicitations with claims about astrology, winning the lottery, bringing good luck or receiving an inheritance.

The agreement also author-ised the US Postal Inspection Service to return any money or personal checks detained by the US agency.

Chicago schools takeover rejectedChicago’s cash-strapped public school district is not in sufficiently bad financial shape to warrant a state takeover, according to an Illinois State Board of Education staff report. Illinois governor Bruce Rauner launched a probe of the nation’s third-largest school system in February, contending it could lead to state oversight and a suspension of borrowing at debt-dependent, “junk”-rated Chicago Public Schools (CPS). However, the report from state school superintendent Tony Smith, posted on the board’s website ahead of a monthly meeting scheduled for tomorrow, said CPS does not meet “any of the criteria” to be certified in financial difficulty. “The district has not realised two consecutive years of negative operating fund balances nor is it forecasted in this model,” the report stated. It noted that negative operating balances are possible in fiscal 2018 and 2019. “It’s clear in our analysis CPS has financial challenges and a spending problem,” state board spokeswoman Laine Evans said on Friday. “However, at this time they do not meet the criteria for certification of financial difficulty, as defined per statute. ISBE will continue to monitor the situation and the district’s finances. The state education board’s recommendation undercuts a series of strident remarks made by Republican Rauner in January and February,

A change in the weather has slowed down the fire

Special Forces Task Group prepare to storm a building during an Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus counter-terrorism exercise, participated by 10 Asean countries as well as Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US, in Singapore yesterday.

Counter terrorism drill Swede, German among activists arrested in Cambodia AFPPhnom Penh

Cambodian police ar-rested eight rights ac-tivists, including two

foreigners, yesterday as they stamped down on protests linked to a shadowy political sex scandal.

Eight people, including the deputy director of promi-nent local rights organisation Licadho and two foreigners — a Swede and a German who also work for the group — were detained as they tried to rally outside a prison in Phnom Penh, Am Sam Ath of Licadho, said.

“The government is scared by its own shadow,” he said, adding that the foreigners had been sent to immigration po-lice.

All were later released after signing documents “promis-ing not to do illegal activities”, he later said.

Rights workers and activ-ists dressed in black uniforms were calling on authorities to free fi ve colleagues charged last week in connection with a sex scandal that has engulfed Cambodia’s political opposi-tion.

Opposition lawmaker Kem Sokha, the deputy leader of the Cambodia National Res-cue Party, has been accused

of having an aff air with a 25-year-old hairdresser.

Allegations have swirled among opposition groups that the repressive government of Prime Minister Hun Sen has fanned the scandal to smear his enemies - a charge the gov-ernment denies.

The woman was initially helped by rights groups when multiple audio tapes of her conversations with Kem Sokha were leaked online two months ago and she came into the crosshairs of the police, long accused by activists of lacking independence from Hun Sen’s government.

But she later accused the rights groups of instructing her to deny the relationship for money after she was inter-rogated by Cambodia’s anti-terrorism police.

That accusation led to fi ve activists last week being charged with bribery, an alle-gation they deny.

Various rights groups called for protests to mark a week of their detention, with instruc-tions for supporters to dress in black. On Sunday, Interior Minister Sar Kheng told au-thorities nationwide that a handful of NGOs were inciting a “Black Uniform Campaign” and ordered them to “prevent the movement that could lead to chaos and unrest in the so-ciety”.

Indonesia forms team to probe massacre ‘graves’ AFPJakarta

Indonesia announced yes-terday it will form a team to investigate what activists say

are mass graves from 1960s anti-communist massacres, its latest move to resolve the dark chapter.

The decision came after ac-tivists handed authorities a list of sites where they say some of those killed during the massa-cres were buried.

The purge in 1965-66 was

one of the worst mass killings of the last century and saw at least 500,000 alleged communists and sympathisers killed, but had long remained taboo in Indone-sia.

However the government reopened the painful episode last month by backing a series of public discussions into the atrocity for the fi rst time, after which President Joko Widodo ordered a senior minister to launch a probe.

Security Minister Luhut Pan-jaitan yesterday met with ac-

tivists led by a group called the Foundation for Research into Victims of the 65-66 Killings, who handed him information about 122 sites on Java and Su-matra islands, his ministry said.

After the meeting, the minis-try said on Twitter it would form a team to start excavating the sites.

Panjaitan stressed that au-thorities would protect the safe-ty of those involved, it said.

“He sends a message for eve-rybody to stay calm,” it added.

The ministry did not say when

the team would begin excavat-ing.

Foundation head Bedjo Un-tung said the government’s re-sponse seemed positive.

“I feel the government is se-rious. This is a new chance,” he said.

“There’s a willingness to re-solve issues from Luhut Pan-jaitan’s side, not to burden the next generation with the past.”

However, other activists have expressed scepticism about whether the government is seri-ous about unearthing the truth.

Panjaitan faced criticism after insisting at last month’s discus-sions that the government would not issue an offi cial apology.

The mass killings happened around the time General Suharto came to power, and during his 32-year rule the offi cial narrative was that they were necessary to rid the country of communism.

The massacres, conducted by local groups supported by the security forces, began after Su-harto put down a coup on Octo-ber 1, 1965, that the authorities blamed on communists.

US offi cial in Vietnam to assess human rightsReutersHanoi

A top US envoy began a two-day trip to Viet-nam yesterday to gauge

its progress in human rights, two weeks ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama in what will be the fi rst by a US leader in a decade.

Tom Malinowski, assistant secretary of state for democ-racy, human rights and labour, is expected to press Vietnam to release unconditionally po-litical prisoners and reform its laws to comply with its inter-national commitments.

Relations between the US and Vietnam have moved to a new level in the past two years as Washington seeks to make a

new ally in Asia, but the com-munist nation’s zero-toler-ance approach to its detractors remains a sticking point.

Vietnam has jailed dissi-dents, bloggers and religious fi gures in recent years, holding them for long periods with-out access to family or legal counsel and often subject to torture or other mistreatment, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The US has been intensify-ing eff orts in building stronger ties — in health, education, en-vironment, energy and recently military — to boost its infl u-ence, and off set that of China.

The US and Vietnam, along with 10 others, this year signed Trans-Pacifi c Partnership (TPP), one of the world’s big-gest multinational trade deals.

Students caught using spy cameras at exams AFPBangkok

A top Thai medical college has caught students using spy cameras linked to smart-

watches to cheat during exams in what some social media users yes-terday compared to a plot straight out of a Mission Impossible movie.

Arthit Ourairat, the rector of Rangsit University, posted pic-tures of the hi-tech cheating equipment on his Facebook page on Sunday evening, announcing that the entrance exam in ques-tion had been cancelled after the plot was discovered.

Three students used glasses with wireless cameras embed-ded in their frames to transmit images to a group of as yet un-named people, who then sent the answers to the smartwatches.

Arthit said the trio had paid 800,000 baht ($23,000) each to the tutor group for the equipment and the answers. “The team did it in real-time,” Arthit wrote.

Thailand’s Channel 3 news reported yesterday that the stu-dents had been blacklisted.

“We want this to be known in public to make people aware that we must be careful, particularly for medical exams where there is high demand among students but not many vacancies,” Arthit told the

network. His original post went viral, with many either praising the students for their ingenuity or condemning them for cheating.

“If they had passed and grad-uated, we might have had illegal doctors working for us,” wrote a Facebook user. Others were more impressed. “Cool,” wrote one. “Like Hollywood or Mission Impossible.”

Medical degrees are highly sought after in Thailand, where doctors can make small fortunes in a private sector that has become one of the world’s treatment hubs.

Despite more than a decade of impressive economic growth, Thailand’s education system is in dire need of reform with rote learning, long hours and poor international test scores still commonplace.

In the 2014 PISA rankings, which measures global educa-tional standards, Thai students performed below the global av-erage and much worse than those from poorer Vietnam in subjects like maths and science.

Last year the World Bank said improving poor quality educa-tion was the most important step the kingdom could take to secur-ing a better future, with one third of Thai 15-year-olds “function-ally illiterate” - lacking the basic reading skills to manage their lives in the modern world.

Sacred bulls predict rainfall for thirsty Thailand AFPBangkok

Thailand’s drought-stricken farmers got a rare bit of good news

yesterday, when a pair of sacred bulls predicted that the heavens would fi nally open during the upcoming rainy season.

The bovine prophecy came during the kingdom’s much-watched annual royal ploughing ceremony, an ancient rite of-fi cially marking the start of the main rice cultivation season.

During the ceremony, the creatures - who must adhere to a strict list of physical attributes and boast a “polite tempera-ment” - are off ered bowls con-taining various foods.

At yesterday’s ceremony, presided over by Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralong-korn, the two animals chose rice seeds, sesame, hay, water and liquor — a combination the country’s livestock department said meant suffi cient water, bountiful crops and better for-eign trade for the year ahead.

The bulls made a similarly positive prediction last year, but their forecast did not bear fruit.

Instead, like much of the greater Mekong region this year, Thailand has been hit hard by one of the worst droughts in decades.

Unable to plant their crop,

rice farmers have lurched deep-er into debt.

Thousands of villages in the north east have had to have water trucked to them as the river beds, reservoirs and waterfalls run dry.

Rains usually arrive from May

onwards, peaking in August and September.

Thailand’s military junta, which has embarked on a par-ticularly harsh period of repres-sion in recent weeks, will also be hoping the rains come.

The country’s languishing economy remains the army’s weak point, with falling exports and the generals struggling to kickstart growth.

Rice farmers, most of whom are in the north and northeast,

broadly support the Shinawatra political family.

They have led two admin-istrations toppled by the mili-tary in the last decade and are loathed by the kingdom’s royal-ist elite.

Thailand’s Agriculture Secretary Herapathite Prayurasiddhi (centre) leads a pair of white bulls during the annual royal ploughing ceremony in Bangkok yesterday.

14 Gulf TimesTuesday, May 10, 2016

ASEAN

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA15Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

N Korea crowns Kim party chief as congress closesNorth Korea yesterday

wrapped up its fi rst rul-ing party congress for 36

years — an event seen as a formal coronation for leader Kim Jong-Un, who was appointed to the post of party chairman.

Thousands of delegates clapped and cheered enthusi-astically as the country’s offi cial head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, announced the new title which cements Kim’s status as the iso-lated state’s supreme ruler.

For the fi rst time since they arrived last week, foreign jour-nalists were allowed a rare glimpse inside the delegate hall, which was festooned in red and gold banners carrying the party’s logo.

Serious-looking men, and the occasional woman, dressed in sombre suits and servicemen weighed down by chests-full of medals fi lled row after row of red seats in the cavernous hall.

The congress, which opened on Friday, has given 33-year-old Kim a podium to secure his status as rightful inheritor of the one-party state founded by his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, who also held the title of party chairman.

“Kim’s new position makes it very clear that the whole party meeting is only aimed at solidi-fying his legitimacy as the new leader,” said Koh Young-Hwan,

AFPSeoul

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un clapping during the first congress of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party in 36 years, in Pyongyang, North Korea, yesterday.

a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South in 1991.

Koh, who is now vice head of the South’s state-run Institute for National Security Strategy, said the rarity of the party con-gress conferred real authority on the new role.

“All past leaders of the party were named at a party congress... so this was a perfect coronation,” he said in Seoul.

Around 130 foreign reporters were invited to cover the con-gress, although their movement

was tightly controlled, and their only access to the event came on the last day.

As well as raising Kim to the post of party chairman, the congress formally endorsed his legacy “byungjin” doctrine of twin economic and nuclear development.

Delegates on Sunday unani-mously adopted Kim’s work-ing report on the party, which stressed the need to strengthen the North’s nuclear arsenal “both in quality and quantity”.

North Korea has carried out two of its four nuclear tests under Kim’s leadership, most recently in January when it claimed to have tried out a powerful hydro-gen bomb — a claim experts have disputed.

There has been growing con-cern that Pyongyang may be on the verge of conducting a fi fth test, with satellite imagery showing activity at the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

The congress also enshrined a policy of not using nuclear

weapons unless the country is attacked by another nuclear power, and of working towards reunifi cation of the divided Ko-rean peninsula.

“But if the South Korean au-thorities opt for a war... we will turn out in the just war to mer-cilessly wipe out the anti-reuni-fi cation forces,” said the report adopted by the North Korean delegates.

Kim was not even born when the last party congress was held in 1980 to crown his father, Kim Jong-Il, as the heir apparent to founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

When his own turn came, fol-lowing the death of Kim Jong-Il in December 2011, the new young leader quickly set about shoring up his power base.

One of his earliest moves was to adjust his father’s “songun”, or military fi rst policy, to the “byungjin” policy of economic-nuclear development.

The nuclear half of that strat-egy had dominated the run-up to the party congress, start-ing with a fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch a month later.

Some observers had predicted the congress might switch the focus to the economic side of the equation, and Kim did unveil a fi ve-year economic plan—the fi rst of its kind for decades.

But it was short on detail be-yond general ambitions to boost production across all economic sectors, with a particular focus on energy output.

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes pushing his cart upon his arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport after being expelled from North Korea, in Beijing, yesterday.

BBC reporter held, expelled

A BBC reporter in North Korea was detained, in-terrogated for eight hours

and eventually expelled over his reporting in the run-up to a rare ruling party congress, the British broadcaster said yesterday.

Foreign reporters invited to cover specifi c events in North Korea are subjected to very tight restrictions on access and move-ment.

Numerous journalists have been prevented from returning because their previous cover-age was deemed “inaccurate” or “disrespectful”—but detaining and then expelling a reporter while still in the country is ex-tremely rare.

The BBC journalist, Rupert Wingfi eld-Hayes, was about to board a plane departing from Pyongyang airport with two other BBC staff on Friday when he was stopped and taken into detention, the BBC said.

He was then questioned for around eight hours, apparently over one of his reports which questioned the authenticity of a hospital his team was visiting.

“He was taken to a hotel and interrogated by the security bu-reau here in Pyongyang before being made to sign a statement and then released” on Saturday morning, said John Sudworth, another BBC reporter covering the congress in the North Korean capital.

Sudworth said the BBC had sought to keep the detention and expulsion order quiet out of con-cern for the safety of Wingfi eld-Hayes and two other members of his team, who had refused to leave on Friday after he was de-tained.

However, an offi cial with the North’s National Peace Com-mittee broke the news at a press conference early yesterday, when he criticised Wingfi eld-Hayes for “speaking very ill of the system and the leadership of the country”.

“We are never going to allow him back into the country for any reporting,” he added.

The three-person BBC team landed in Beijing from Pyongyang last evening.

“We are very happy to be back in Beijing,” the team’s producer Maria Byrne tweeted at around 7pm local time (1100 GMT).

Wingfi eld-Hayes emerged from the terminal 3 arrivals area at Beijing International Airport at around 7:20pm, and did not stop for the dense pack of reporters and cameras waiting for him.

“We are not making any state-ment now or interviews. Obvi-ously I am glad to be out. We are going to talk to our bosses now,” he said.

During their interrogation, the North Korean authorities had made it clear to Wingfi eld-Hayes that they saw the content of his reporting as a “very, very serious issue”, Sudworth said.

A spokesman said the BBC was “very disappointed” at the treatment of Wingfi eld-Hayes and his team.

The BBC team had been work-ing in North Korea for several days ahead of the party congress opening on Friday, accompanying a delegation of Nobel prize laure-ates conducting a research trip.

There are currently around 130 foreign journalists in Pyongyang—all of whom were ostensibly invited to cover what is the fi rst Workers’ Party congress to be held for more than 35 years.

However, access to the con-clave has been limited.

AFPSeoul

TV pioneer Reg Grundy dies Australian media mogul Reg Grundy, a game show pioneer who also developed television hits including Neighbours, Sons and Daughters and Prisoner, has died aged 92, it was announced yesterday. “Reg Grundy has passed away in the arms of his beloved wife Joy, on their Bermuda estate,” radio personality Alan Jones, a long-time friend, said on his morning programme. Grundy founded one of Australia’s first entertainment groups—the Reg Grundy Organisation—and was widely regarded as the king of the game show, as well as producing a host of very successful soap operas. A year later he founded his entertainment group and began producing game shows for the Australian and overseas markets, including Sale of the Century and Blankety Blanks.

Australian inquiry backs nuclear power after decades-long aversion

An Australian royal com-mission yesterday rec-ommended building a

nuclear industry, including a waste dump, in the uranium-rich state of South Australia, propelling the case for over-turning long-held opposition to nuclear power.

The recommendation drew broad support from the federal government, and will likely be embraced by nuclear propo-nents to justify ending dec-ades-long resistance to nu-clear energy which has hinged on safety and environmental grounds.

The government “stands ready to work with the South Australian Government if

they choose to pursue any new economic opportunities in this area that create jobs and growth”, energy and resources minister Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.

The commission’s recom-mendation off ers a “sound basis for the South Australian government and the broad-er community to make in-formed and considered deci-sions about South Australia’s role in the nuclear fuel cycle”, Frydenberg added.

Nuclear advocates have targeted sparsely populated South Australia, with one of the world’s biggest uranium deposits, as a home for a nu-clear power plant and waste dump, and the state’s govern-ment began an inquiry into the possibility last year.

The commission urged the state and federal governments to adopt nuclear power gen-eration, to “allow it to contrib-ute to a low-carbon electricity system”.

It also recommended South Australia build a government-owned nuclear waste dump, saying the facility could gen-erate A$100bn ($73.5bn) for the state over 120 years.

The commission noted that South Australia, known for its vast deserts and producing half Australia’s wine, could keep its reputation as a tourist destination but recommended “targeted, informative and fact-based discussions with potentially aff ected stake-holders” to ease concerns.

The Australian Conserva-tion Foundation (ACF) said the

report was “deeply disturbing” and there was not the broad political support that needed to push ahead with the plan.

“The promise of dollar signs seems to have blinded the commission to the known danger signs,” said ACF cam-paigner Dave Sweeney in a statement.

“High-level radioactive waste is a long-term environ-mental threat, not a short-term business opportunity.”

Australia has a third of the world’s uranium reserves and in 2015 produced 6,689 tonnes of U308, a common form of yellowcake, or uranium pow-der, making it the world’s third largest producer behind Kaza-khstan and Canada, according to the World Nuclear Associa-tion.

ReutersSydney

Australia turns back three asylum seeker boats Australia has intercepted three asylum seeker boats so far this year, including one carrying women and children from Sri Lanka, the country’s immigration minister revealed yesterday. Under Canberra’s hardline measures, asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat are either sent back to where they departed or to remote Pacific island camps, where living conditions have been criticised. Since the start of its “Operation Sovereign Borders” in September 2013, it has managed to halt the flood of boats, and drownings, that characterised previous Labour administrations. In March, Canberra hailed 600 days with no vessels arriving, with 25 boats carrying 698 people turned back and “safely returned to their country of departure”. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said three boats had been intercepted this year, including a small wooden fishing vessel from Sri Lanka last week. “I can advise that there were 12 people on that vessel,” he said. “And the vessel had departed from Sri Lanka and we were able to successfully return those 12 people, which included men, women and children, back safely to Sri Lanka on May 6.“Now, that brings to three the number of vessels that have sought to arrive and have been turned back, people returned back to their country of origin, in this calendar year.” He gave no details on the other two boats. Dutton reiterated that no boatpeople, even if found to be genuine refugees, would ever be settled in Australia.

Landslide death toll climbs to 34

The death toll in a landslide in China’s southeastern Fujian province has ris-

en to 34, with four people still missing, state media said yes-terday.

The landslide, triggered on Sunday by heavy rain, hit a hy-droelectric power station that was under construction in Fu-jian’s Taining County. President Xi Jinping had demanded that lo-cal offi cials step up rescue eff orts.

Persistent rain has made res-cue work more diffi cult, Xinhua said. It earlier said 22 bodies had been found.

In December, a landslide in the southern city of Shenzhen buried 77 people. The govern-ment has blamed breaches of construction safety rules for that disaster and a number of offi cials have been arrested.

Sunday’s landslide is the latest accident to have raised questions about China’s indus-trial safety standards and lack of oversight over years of rapid economic growth.

ReutersBeijing

Rescuers carrying the body of a victim at the site of a landslide in Taining County, in China’s eastern Fujian province, yesterday.

Panama Papers report alleges NZ prime place to hide money

Wealthy Latin Ameri-cans are using tax-free New Zealand shell

companies and trusts to help channel funds around the world, according to a report yesterday based on leaks of the so-called Panama Papers.

Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister John Key to take action after local media analysed more than 61,000 documents relat-ing to New Zealand that are part of the massive leak of data from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law fi rm.

Mossack Fonseca actively pro-moted New Zealand as a good place to do business due to its tax-free status, high levels of con-fi dentiality and legal security, ac-cording to a joint report by Radio New Zealand, TVNZ and investi-gative journalist Nicky Hager.

Key said it was “utterly incor-rect” that New Zealand was a tax

haven, adding he was open to changing rules around foreign trusts if advised by a review or the OECD.

“If there’s any need for change in this area, the government will consider it and if necessary, take action,” Key told reporters.

The government was asking the ministry of justice to move quickly on rules already under consideration to tighten anti-money laundering requirements for lawyers, real estates and ac-countants, he added.

Opposition Labour Party lead-er Andrew Little said the govern-ment must act to “preserve New Zealand’s reputation by shutting down the system that sees our country implicated in a massive global network of tax avoidance.”

The New Zealand government said last month it would begin a review of its foreign trust laws after the Panama Papers high-lighted vulnerabilities in its legal framework that made it a pos-sible link in international tax avoidance structures because

its foreign trusts are not subject to tax.

Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said that review doesn’t go far enough. He called on Key to “stop defending the tax avoid-ance industry” and demanded a full inquiry.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possi-ble fi nancial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5mn documents from Mossack Fonseca.

The papers have revealed fi -nancial arrangements of promi-nent fi gures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Pu-tin, relatives of the prime min-isters of Britain and Pakistan and of China’s President Xi Jinping, and the president of Ukraine.

According to the report, Mos-sack Fonseca’s main contact in New Zealand was allegedly Roger Thompson, co-founder and director of accountant fi rm Bentleys New Zealand, the reg-istered offi ce of Mossack Fon-seca New Zealand.

ReutersWellington

BRITAIN/IRELAND

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 201616

London HIVclinic fi ned asservice users’names revealed Guardian News and MediaLondon

An NHS clinic in London has been fi ned £180,000 for a serious breach of the

privacy of more than 700 users of an HIV service.

Patients and service users who were on the HIV clinic e-mail list of 56 Dean Street, a Soho-based sexual health clinic, said at the time of the breach they were ter-rifi ed it could leave them open to blackmail or public outing.

A staff error meant anyone re-ceiving the September newslet-ter from the service could see the e-mail addresses of all the other recipients.

Addresses had been wrongly entered into the “to” fi eld instead of the “bcc” fi eld, and 730 of the 781 e-mail addresses contained recipients’ full names. Most of the recipients were HIV positive though a small number were not.

Chelsea and Westminster hospital NHS foundation trust, which runs the clinic, has been fi ned £180,000 after the Informa-tion Commissioner’s Offi ce (ICO) found there had been a serious breach of the Data Protection Act, likely to have caused substantial distress.

The information commission-er, Christopher Graham, said it was “clear that this breach caused a great deal of upset to the people aff ected”.

Graham said the investigation revealed many people recognised other names on the list of recipi-ents, because the clinic served a small area of London, and feared their own name would be recog-nised too.

The ICO investigation found the trust had previously made a similar error in March 2010, when

a member of staff in the pharmacy department sent a questionnaire to 17 patients in relation to their HIV treatment. After the mistake, extra measures were put in place but no specialist training was im-plemented, the ICO found.

“The trust was quick to apolo-gise for their mistake, and has undertaken substantial remedial work since the breach,” Graham said. “Nevertheless, it is crucial that the senior managers at NHS trusts understand the require-ments of data protection law, and the serious consequences that follow when that law is bro-ken.”

After the error was revealed in September, the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, ordered an inquiry into how the NHS handles con-fi dential medical information. The Care Quality Commission will conduct a review of the ef-fectiveness of existing data se-curity measures in the NHS and recommend changes.

Patients told the Guardian after their names were revealed that the e-mail contained the names of friends who had never disclosed their HIV status to them before.

“It’s not diffi cult to put those names into Facebook and bring up their profi les and personal details,” Elliot Herman, 38, from London said. “If my details were on that list I would feel angry and disappointed at the clinic for having such a lousy system that this can happen.”

56 Dean Street is Europe’s busiest genital-urinary medi-cine clinic, and widely regarded as a pioneer centre for sexual health. In 2011, the clinic set the world record for the most HIV tests performed in one location, at G-A-Y bar in Soho on World Aids Day.

Patients are also taking legal action against the clinic for dis-tress suff ered as a result of the breach, alleging the trust failed to have appropriate IT systems or training in place to prevent the accidental disclosure.

Death robs womanof divorce payout London Evening StandardLondon

A widow left with just £36,000 from her late husband’s £12mn es-

tate now wants a judge to hand her £6mn - as that is what she would have got if she had di-vorced him before he died.

Mari Vindis had been sepa-rated from car sales tycoon Nigel Vindis for two years and fi led divorce papers two months before he died aged 58 in a Cam-bridge hospital in April 2013.

Vindis, who was joint boss of nationwide car dealership chain, Vindis Group, made out a will and a letter of intentions during his fi nal illness that left the “lion’s share” of his massive wealth to his and his wife’s two children Gabriella, 26, and Al-exander, 28.

His widow, 59, claims that, had she divorced him before he died, she would have been handed half his riches. She now wants the High Court to make legal history by re-writing her husband’s will to make “rea-sonable provision” for her. If

her claim for a £6mn share of his fortune succeeds, it will the largest ever award by an English judge in such a case.

Mari Vindis is also facing a “hostile” claim against the es-tate by her late husband’s sis-ters, Sonjia Stubbings, 73, and Theresa Orrock, 58, the court heard.

Gabriella said that should her mother’s claim succeed in full, it would “drive a coach and hors-es” through her father’s wish to leave most of his millions to her and her brother.

Justice Asplin heard that the Vindis enjoyed “many years of happy marriage” during a rela-tionship lasting almost 40 years.

The Vindis separated in 2011 and she set up home in Penryn, Cornwall, blaming her hus-band’s excessive drinking. His will stated that she was to have assets worth £1mn but that was to include the half share she already owned in three family properties.

That meant his widow, who earns £11,000-a-year as a hyp-notherapist, was entitled to just £36,000 from an estate valued at £12mn.

Father-of-four jailed over teen’s 1984 murder AgenciesLondon

A father-of-four who raped and murdered a teenage girl in a

“lengthy and brutal” attack 32 years ago has been jailed for at least 22 years.

Christopher Hampton, 67, only fi nally admitted murder-ing Melanie Road, 17, in court after he was charged following a DNA breakthrough.

Police caught the painter and decorator after his eldest daughter was arrested follow-ing a minor domestic incident with her partner in 2014.

She received a caution and her DNA was put on the na-tional database - with a famil-ial match later discovered using samples taken from the 1984 crime scene.

Hampton gave a volun-tary mouth swab in June 2015, which matched DNA from se-men staining on Melanie’s trousers.

He initially denied any in-

volvement but changed his plea to guilty at Bristol Crown Court on the day of his trial.

The murderer had lived a normal life since 1984, marry-ing his second wife and having his fourth child with her.

Justice Popplewell jailed Hampton for life with a mini-mum term of 22 years, telling him: “You will very likely die in prison.”

The judge added: “Only you know precisely how you ap-proached her and carried out your attack, but certain things are plain from the evidence.

“It was a lengthy and bru-tal attack for your own sexual gratifi cation. She was repeat-edly stabbed, 26 times in all, with a sharp-edged knife caus-ing 4in wounds.

“You fi rst stabbed her when she was on her feet in the street on her route home, before chasing her or taking her some 30 metres round the corner to the cul-de-sac, where she ulti-mately died.”

Melanie had been on a night out in Bath with her friends and

her boyfriend Michael in the hours leading up to her murder.

They left a nightclub at about 1.30am, with Melanie setting off alone to her family home in St Stephen’s Close.

Her route took her past Broad Street, where Hampton, then a father-of-three, lived with his girlfriend.

Witnesses heard screams, a man bellowing, loud wailing and howling at about 2am that morning.

A milkman found Melanie’s body on St Stephen’s Court - just 200 metres from her home - at 5.30am.

Hampton had twice raped Melanie. Offi cers took swabs at the murder scene from 71 blood spots, Melanie’s body and her clothing.

DNA analysis was not availa-ble in 1984 but Avon and Som-erset Police kept the evidence for more than three decades.

A DNA profi le of Melanie’s murderer, extracted from se-men at the scene, was loaded onto the national database in the 1990s.

Khan is man we can dobusiness with: Tories London Evening StandardLondon

Senior Cabinet ministers yesterday vowed to bury their political diff erences to

work with Sadiq Khan but both sides privately agree there are fi erce battles ahead over money and priorities.

Despite attacking the new London mayor days ago in the Commons, David Cameron phoned him yesterday with con-gratulations — and a proposal to campaign together in the Euro-pean Union referendum.

Khan will also attend the secre-tive Cobra (Cabinet Offi ce Brief-ing Room) meetings on security

“where appropriate”. Ministers are setting up meetings with the mayor on policies ranging from transport investment and polic-ing to the newly devolved powers to train Londoners in the skills that businesses need. Employ-ment Minister Priti Patel told the Standard: “I take the view that he is elected, he has a large demo-cratic mandate, so we will work constructively with him.” Trans-port Secretary Patrick McLough-lin said he expected to meet the new mayor within a couple of weeks. “Our tasks are to move forward to make sure London reaches its potential,” he said.

But behind the veneer of busi-ness-as-usual smiles, there are hard calculations on all sides.

For the time being it suits each to stress that they will co-operate in the interests of Londoners. But arguments, especially over cash, are inevitable.

“We had a good working rela-tionship with Boris (Johnson) but there were sometimes disagree-ments,” said a minister. “So we can safely assume we will have them with Sadiq Khan.”

For the Conservatives, the Khan honeymoon is also a chance to enjoy — and deepen — the pressure on Jeremy Corbyn’s

Left-wing leadership, by rolling out the red carpet for a rival pow-erhouse from the centre-Left.

“I would try to work with Khan, to send the message that we will always work with sensible people,” said Lord Hayward, the infl uential Conservative peer. “It is like when Margaret Thatcher said of Mikhail Gorbachev, ‘here is a man I can do business with’.

“It marked him out from the rest of the Politburo, which then looked even more out of touch.”

But Khan is not the sort of politician to be fobbed off with empty courtesies. A born fi ghter, he is now armed with the big-gest personal mandate of any UK politician and his allies say he will aim to extract maximum conces-

sions from the government while the public are on his side.

He intends to press the Con-servatives hard to reverse cuts in police numbers, to give big-ger devolved powers to London equivalent to those being given to Manchester, and will seek im-mediate co-operation for a pro-gramme of aff ordable homes.

Former mayor Ken Living-stone, who won his fi rst term in the teeth of Tony Blair’s opposi-tion, advised Khan to make the most of his honeymoon.

“Sadiq is in a very strong posi-tion now to get what he wants,” he said. “The government needs to work with him. I always worked well with Blair — I just avoided talking about the Iraq war.”

New MPs welcomed

Ireland’s main opposition party said it would table a law to give the central bank power to intervene in the setting of mortgage rates, in one of the first legislative tests of the new government. Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s coalition last year used its majority to vote down a similar proposal. But his new minority government controls just 59 of parliament’s 157 seats, leaving opposition parties with enough votes needed to pass legislation if they act together. Fianna Fail, Ireland’s second largest party, has agreed to abstain on key votes on government appointments and budgetary issues to the end of 2018, but the agreement does not prevent it from proposing its own legislation.

A minicab booking app which is seen as the start of a fightback against Uber launched in London yesterday, with the promise of a three- to five-minute pick-up time throughout the capital. Karhoo has signed up many of London›s biggest operators, including Addison Lee, as well as hundreds of small local firms and some leading black cab fleets, such as ComCab. It already represents about licensed 30,000 cars, including 8,000 black cabs. Unlike Uber, the app allows passengers to book a ride at a fixed price set in advance, with no «surge» fares during periods of high demand. Passengers booking through the app will be quoted a price by all the companies in the area signed up to Karhoo.

British band Radiohead released their first new album since 2011 late Sunday with the 11-track A Moon Shaped Pool. The band from Oxfordshire have made the album available from the dedicated website www.amoonshapedpool.com and through iTunes, Apple Music and Tidal. The release came a week after the unexpected disappearance of the rock band from its off icial website and social media accounts, which had fuelled speculation of a much-anticipated album release. The band’s off icial website, radiohead.com, had been a blank page since May 1. All tweets on Radiohead’s Twitter account, which was created in 2010 and has a following of 1.58mn, had been deleted

House prices fell more sharply than expected last month after the introduction of a new tax on the purchase of rental properties and the market might be entering a cooler phase, mortgage lender Halifax said yesterday. House prices slipped by a monthly 0.8% in April following a 2.2% leap in March. Compared with the same period last year, house prices rose by 9.2% in the three months to April, the slowest rise since November and down from an increase of 10.1% in the three months to March. Rival mortgage lender Nationwide has also previously reported a slowdown in house price growth in April.

Actor Tye Sheridan arrives at a screening of X-Men Apocalypse at a cinema in London yesterday.

Irish opposition to test govtwith mortgage rate bill

Fixed-price minicabapp takes on Uber

Radiohead’s newalbum released

House prices fall in Aprilas new tax bites: Halifax

POLITICS TRAVELMUSIC REALTY ENTERTAINMENT

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomes new MPs outside Parliament in London yesterday.

“The trust was quick to apologise for their mistake, and has undertaken substantial remedial work since the breach”

“I would try to work with Khan, to send the message that we will always work with sensible people”

Newly elected mayor Sadiq Khan speaks to supporters as he arrives for his first day at work at City Hall in London yesterday.

BRITAIN17Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Johnson jeersas Cameronargues Britainsafer in EU ReutersLondon

Britain needs the European Union to help fi ght Islamic State and rebuff a “newly

belligerent” Russia, Prime Min-ister David Cameron said yester-day, making a “patriotic case” for membership that was immedi-ately mocked by a one-time ally.

With just over six weeks to go before a referendum, both sides of the debate are sharpening their arguments, with Conserva-tive former London mayor, Boris Johnson, attacking the prime minister for scaremongering by suggesting that Britain could trigger World War III if it left the 28-member bloc.

Cameron, setting out the secu-rity argument for Britain to vote to remain in the EU on June 23, drew on military history, invok-ing the memory of wartime leader Winston Churchill to bolster his case that “isolationism has never served this country well”.

But it was his words that the EU had helped secure peace for 70 years that were seized upon by “Out” campaigners, who ques-tioned whether he could seri-ously believe that a British exit, or Brexit, could see troops on the move in Europe again.

“I want to show that if you love this country, if you want to keep it strong in the world and keep our people safe, our member-ship of the EU is one of the tools that helps us to do these things,” Cameron told diplomats and campaigners.

“I’m not arguing that the EU alone has kept the peace in Eu-

rope these last 70 years, of course not, Nato has played an abso-lutely key role ... (but) it’s pretty extraordinary that countries that were fi ghting and killing each other are now fi nding a way to work together.”

He warned Britain that it could be exposed to greater threats if voters decided to leave the EU, underlining the role of security co-operation after dozens were killed in attacks by Islamic State in Brussels and Paris.

“We see a newly belliger-ent Russia, the rise of the Daesh (Islamic State) network to our east and to our south the migra-tion crisis - dealing with these requires unity of purpose in the West,” he said.

Brexit, he said, would “make co-operation more legally com-plex and make our access to vital information much slower”.

Johnson, whom the prime min-ister had once hoped to recruit to his “In” campaign, said the argu-ment was “wholly bogus”.

“I don’t think the prime min-ister can seriously believe that

leaving the EU would trigger war on the European continent, given that he was prepared only a few months ago to urge that people should vote leave if they failed to get a substantially reformed European Union,” Johnson told campaigners and journalists.

He said Britain should pull out now to regain its sovereignty and democratic rights, leaving a fail-ing organisation.

The former mayor, who is seen as a possible replacement for Cameron, called on Britons to demand answers from “In” campaigners, including over how high levels of immigration could be curbed when the country had no control of its borders.

Both campaigns are trying to fi nd the arguments that resonate with British voters, who, accord-ing to opinion polls, are evenly split over which way to vote.

The “In” campaign, backed by Cameron, has so far mainly stuck to economic arguments, trying to deepen rifts in the “Out” cam-paign over what Britain would look like after Brexit.

Legal highs linked to 39prisoner deaths: data AgenciesLondon

So-called “legal highs” have been linked to the deaths of at least 39 prisoners in two

years, new fi gures show.They indicate that the number

of fatalities behind bars in which the use of the drugs may have played a part has risen.

The latest fi gures cover deaths between June 2013 and June 2015, where the prisoner was known or “strongly suspected” to have been using the new psychoactive substances (NPS).

A previous report published last year recorded 19 deaths be-tween April 2012 and September 2014 in which it was suspected the drugs may have been a factor.

The new total included: two with no cause of death; two that were the result of drug toxicity and the drugs included NPS; six were the result of natural causes but NPS “may have played a part”; one was a homicide of a prisoner “involved with NPS by another

prisoner suspected of smoking NPS”; and the remaining 28 were self-infl icted, with some involving psychotic episodes probably re-sulting from NPS, while for others the drugs “appeared to exacerbate vulnerability”.

The disclosure was made by prisons and probation ombuds-man Nigel Newcomen.

In a speech to the Reform think-tank he said: “ The links to the deaths were not necessarily causal, but nor can they be dis-counted.”

He warned that staff and other prisoners may also be at risk from users “reacting violently” to the eff ects of new psychoactive sub-stances.

“There are even cases of pris-oners being given ‘spiked’ ciga-rettes by others who wanted to test new batches of NPS, as a way of gauging the eff ect before tak-ing it themselves,” he said.

“In other cases, prisoners have been used as unwitting NPS guinea pigs, just for the amuse-ment of others.”

He identifi ed three types of

risk associated with the drugs: to physical health, mental health and associated problems of debt and bullying.

The availability and use of le-gal highs have been linked to ris-ing levels of violence across the prison estate.

Last year, former chief inspec-tor of prisons Nick Hardwick described new psychoactive sub-stances as the most serious threat to the safety and security of jails.

There were also warnings that the rampant use of the drugs in prisons was placing local am-bulance services under strain as paramedics are increasingly called out to tend to inmates who have used them.

New laws have been intro-duced to target smugglers at-tempting to sneak the substances into prisons, while a new testing regime is being rolled out.

Newcomen commended pris-on and healthcare services for beginning to act.

“We must hope that these ef-forts have an eff ect,” he said. “But there is a long, long way to go.”

Hundreds ill withnorovirus on ship ReutersLondon

A stomach bug causing vomiting and diarrhoea has spread to more than

a quarter of the 919 passengers aboard a British cruise ship, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, as the ship docked in Maine over the weekend.

It also said eight of the 520 crew on the Balmoral, operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, had also fallen ill with the bug, iden-tifi ed as a norovirus.

The Balmoral left Southamp-ton, England, on April 16 for a 34-day cruise, making stops in Portugal and Bermuda before putting in at Norfolk, Virginia, where it fi rst arrived in the US late last month.

CDC offi cials said at that time that 153 passengers and six crew had been infected by norovirus. Health offi cials and an epidemiolo-gist boarded the ship at its next stop in Baltimore, Maryland to assess the outbreak and the response.

The CDC said specimens col-lected and onboard tested positive

for norovirus, and would be sent to CDC for additional testing.

Fred. Olsen said in an April 29 statement that a “gastro-en-teritis type illness” had aff ected a number of guests, with seven cases in isolation at that point.

It said two US nationals were on board, with the majority of passengers from the UK.

When the Balmoral docked at Portland, Maine, over the week-end, media reported witnesses seeing surfaces being constantly wiped down.

The ship was due to stop at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, yesterday.

CDC said the cruise line had taken actions in response to the outbreak, including increasing cleaning and disinfection pro-cedures, collecting stool speci-mens, daily reporting of illness and dispatching public health and sanitation managers to oversee and assist with imple-mentation of sanitation and out-break response.

Balmoral has capacity for 1,350 passengers, and is the largest and newest ship in the cruise line’s fl eet.

Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne, one of the enduring couples in the hard-living world of heavy metal, have split, reports said. Celebrity news outlets E! News and Entertainment Tonight quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Osbournes were ending their marriage of more than 33 years. However, People magazine reported that, while the 67-year-old singer was moving out of their Los Angeles-area mansion, the separation may be temporary. People said that the split was linked to Sharon’s suspicions he was having an aff air.

Former mayor of London Boris Johnson departs after delivering a speech at a Vote Leave rally in London yesterday.

Osbournes ‘to split’

Junk Billof Rightsplans,say peers Guardian News and MediaLondon

The government’s pro-posed Bill of Rights will hamper the fi ght against

crime, undermine the UK’s in-ternational moral authority and could start “unravelling” the constitution, a cross-party par-liamentary committee is warn-ing.

A critical report by the House of Lords’ European Union justice sub-committee urges ministers to rethink plans to scrap the Hu-man Rights Act and highlights fears expressed by the Irish gov-ernment that the policy could damage the Northern Ireland peace process.

Publication of the draft leg-islation, which is intended to replace the Human Rights Act, has been repeatedly delayed despite the Bill of Rights being a Conservative party manifesto pledge. It is now expected after the EU referendum.

While the Justice Secretary, Michael Gove, has implied the bill may not be as radical as originally envisaged, oth-ers fear that a vote to remain within the EU on June 23 could force Downing Street to ap-pease disappointed Brexiters with a more substantial attack on the European court of hu-man rights in Strasbourg. Last month the Home Secretary, Theresa May, a supporter of remaining in the EU, called for the UK to abandon the Europe-an convention of human rights.

“Were the UK to depart from the standards of human rights currently recognised within the EU,” the report states, “the system of mutual recognition which underpins EU justice and home affairs co-operation would be hampered by legal ar-guments over its application to the UK.

“We urge the government not to introduce domestic human rights legislation that would jeopardise the UK’s participa-tion in this important area of EU co-operation in the fi ght against international crime.”

Scottish farmers left in the dark about Brexit, MPs told Guardian News and MediaLondon

Scottish farming and fi shing leaders have told a parlia-mentary committee that

their members are facing a “total lack of evidence” about how the UK would cope with Brexit.

The president of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, Ross Dougal, told the Scottish aff airs select committee that the major-ity of his members were in favour

of leaving the European Union, prompted by “micro-manage-ment and top-down manage-ment” of the controversial com-mon fi sheries policy.

But, giving evidence, he cau-tioned: “As (members) look at Brexit, one of the questions is who is going to cope with it? Is there the staff and experience available to start unpicking it?”

Dougal said cuts at Westmin-ster were already aff ecting the Scottish fi shing community’s relationship both with Defra and

the EU. “What we are experi-encing now is that budget cuts mean a lot of people we are deal-ing with are no longer there,” he said, giving the example of a key international negotiator at Defra, with whom his organisation had worked regularly and who was “overnight, gone”.

At a session in Glasgow to take evidence on the June ref-erendum’s impact on Scotland, Andrew McCornick, the vice-president of NFU Scotland, emphasised the importance of

funding to farmers from the com-mon agricultural policy. Asked by Labour’s Stephen Hepburn how Brexit would aff ect Scot-tish farming, McCornick replied: “Our biggest market is in Europe. Our industry mindset has been towards accessing the common market. If we were to leave all those trade agreements we would have to start again, and if we exit we would not be sitting at the ta-ble for those negotiations.”

Another committee member, the Conservative Chris Chope,

expressed his regret that the UK government’s fi shing minister – and Brexit supporter – George Eustice had not been allowed to come to the committee to “ex-plain all the advantages that would fl ow” from leaving the EU for fi shing and farming commu-nities.

McCornick told Chope to “send him up” to speak at a forthcoming NFU Scotland de-bate on the referendum. He said: “Where’s the money coming from? We’ve got a Westminster

parliament that is very keen on austerity. Are they going to re-place the money coming from Europe? Answer some of those questions and we’ll take it to the membership and discuss it.”

He said NFU Scotland re-mained neutral on the issue, but added that “we fi nd a total lack of evidence for exit”. The Scot-tish Fishermen’s Federation is likewise neutral although Dougal acknowledged that the majority of the industry were “no fans” of the EU, having suff ered cuts to

quotas and fi shing time under the common fi sheries policy.

Dougal added: “What we don’t know is, if there is a Brexit what happens next? Fishing is devolved so, apart from dealing with Eu-rope, Scotland also has a concordat with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If there is a Brexit and the UK takes back control, does that mean that Scotland still has com-petence? The majority of fi sh is in Scottish waters, mainly around Shetland. Have we got the exper-tise to sort this all out?”

Support for staying in EU rises in YouGov poll British support for staying in the European Union is up to 42% from 40% previously while support for leaving is on 40%, up from 39%, according to a YouGov online opinion poll yesterday. YouGov said 13% did not know how they would vote in the June 23 referendum, down from 16%. Field work for the latest poll was carried out between May 4 and 6 among 3,378 adults and the margin of error was three

percent, YouGov said. Meanwhile a weekly online poll published by opinion poll firm ICM yesterday said the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union saw its lead grow slightly over the rival “In” campaign. The poll found 46% would vote “Out”, up one percentage point from the previous ICM poll on May 3, while 44% would support staying in the bloc, unchanged from the previous survey.

EUROPE

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 201618

‘De-radicalisation’ centres to combat extremism: Valls AFPParis

France will create regional de-radicalisation centres, the prime minister said

yesterday as he set out measures in response to last year’s terror attacks that killed 147 people.

The centres covering all 12 of France’s mainland regions and Corsica will take people referred by the justice system and try to stop them being sucked into mil-itant networks where they could mount attacks, Manuel Valls said.

The government believes nearly 9,300 people in France have been radicalised and are ca-pable of violent actions.

“The fi ght against militancy is without doubt the big challenge of our generation,” Valls said, fl anked by the interior and justice ministers.

The anti-terror plan will cost an additional 40mn euros ($45.5mn) by 2018 on top of cur-rent funding and aims to ramp up existing eff orts to try to help people already in militant net-works or those likely to join such groups.

Around 1,600 young people in France are in state-run de-radicalisation programmes. The new scheme aims to bring that number up to 3,600 within two years.

The government believes nearly 9,300 people in France have been radicalised and are capable of violent actions as a result. About 30% of that fi gure are women and 20% are under the age of 18.

The government believes 1,500 of France’s 66,000-strong prison population have been radicalised.

Valls said last month that hard-line Salafi st groups were “win-ning the ideological and cultural battle” among Muslims in France.

In 2015, France was rocked by two sets of attacks that were car-ried out mainly by French citi-zens who had become radicalised and had fought abroad alongside militant groups.

Militant gunmen stormed the Paris offi ces of Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a Jew-ish supermarket in January 2015, killing 17 people.

Ten months later 130 people died in coordinated shootings and suicide bombings in the cap-ital claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Valls said at least half of the new de-radicalisation centres will take people at the request of the judicial authorities. They will be individuals “who cannot be put in prison”.

The fi rst centre could be set up by this summer and a second is planned to open by the end of the year which will deal with the “tougher cases”, including extremists who have returned from fi ghting in Syria alongside IS forces.

Teams will be set up to fi ght online radicalisation by “build-ing powerful counter-arguments to militant and Salafi st propa-ganda”, the government said.

The government also plans to set up a “permanent scien-tifi c council” on radicalisation and terrorism, with the aim of strengthening ties between re-searchers and offi cials in the counter-terrorism fi eld.

“We need to hear the voices of Islam in France. They must make

themselves heard far more than they are at the moment,” Valls said.

Under the new anti-terror plans, applicants for security-sensitive jobs - in airports, for example - will face extra vetting to weed out anyone with extrem-ist sympathies.

The vetting “will be extended to the staff who are preparing major events”, Valls said, just over a month before the Euro 2016 football championships be-gin in France.

France will also move to in-troduce the sharing of airline passenger information, or PNRs (Passenger Name Records), within two years. The French government has been one of the leading voices in calling for PNRs to be introduced across Europe.

Phone tap led police to Belgian IS cell

A series of bugged, coded com-

munications over two months

led Belgian police to storm a

suspected Islamic State cell in the

town of Verviers last year, thwart-

ing an alleged plot, a Brussels

court heard yesterday.

One unidentified conspirator

used the cover name “Fatty”;

another in the plot which Belgian

authorities have said intended to

target police off icers, went by the

handle “Big Lanky”.

Among seven accused present

on the first day of a terrorism

trial that began in Brussels under

heavy security seven weeks after

suicide bombers killed 32 people

in the capital was Marouan El Bali.

He survived the gunfight in Janu-

ary 2015 when police shot dead

two armed men who had returned

from fighting with IS in Syria.

In summarising the case

against the 16 accused, nine of

whom are still at large, the judge

off ered details of how security

services had used telephone taps

to help combat a potential threat

from more than 300 Belgians who

have fought in Syria.

In a tapped call in November

2014 an unidentified man told

another who was on a police

watchlist: “I’ve got everything.”

Six months after a first Islamist

attack in Belgium, when a French-

man shot dead four people at

Brussels’ Jewish Museum, that

was enough to set off an intensive

monitoring operation. It led to the

Verviers raid, a week after Islamist

attacks on the Paris magazine

Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish gro-

cery had shocked Europe.

The judge said investigators

had heard cryptic messages,

some from Turkey and Greece,

to various alleged members of

the Belgian cell, including those

named Fatty and Big Lanky.

Among those involved was Ab-

delhamid Abaaoud from Brussels,

who fought with Islamic State in

Syria and is believed to have been

an organiser of several attacks in

Europe, including those in Paris

last November 13. Abaaoud was

killed in a gunbattle with French

police five days after militants

killed 130 people.

Criticised by some for failing to

prevent the March 22 IS suicide

bombings at Brussels airport and

on the city’s metro, Belgian lead-

ers have highlighted the operation

at Verviers, a rundown industrial

town near German border, as a

major success.

As well as the two dead gun-

men, both from Brussels’ Arab

immigrant community, police

found assault rifles, bomb-making

material and items of Belgian

police uniform. Abaaoud later

boasted online that he had eluded

capture and returned to Syria.

El Bali has protested his in-

nocence. His lawyer told reporters

yesterday outside the court that

he had merely been visiting a

childhood friend. He is accused of

being a leader in a terrorist group,

attempted murder, making and

keeping of bombs and planning

an attack on a non-specified build-

ing, his lawyer said.

Greek police stand amid Molotov cocktails thrown by protesters during a demonstration on Sunday night in Athens against a controversial tax and pensions overhaul.

Painful reforms

‘Sexual harassment’ charge costs French deputy speaker his job AFPParis

A deputy speaker of France’s parliament re-signed yesterday after

becoming the latest French politician to face sexual harass-ment allegations, claims he ve-hemently denies.

Denis Baupin, a former mem-ber of the ecologist EELV party who is married to Housing Min-ister Emmanuelle Cosse, plans to sue the women for defamation, his lawyer Emmanuel Pierrat said.

The allegations are “menda-cious, defamatory and base-less,” Pierrat said in a statement.

“Sexual harassment and even more so sexual aggression are totally foreign” to Baupin, who is one of parliament’s six deputy speakers, he added.

Parliament speaker Claude Bartolone had summoned Baupin earlier yesterday and asked him to resign, the Nation-al Assembly said in a statement.

Baupin said in an e-mail to Bartolone seen by AFP that he was stepping down from the

position he has held for nearly four years in order to “best pre-pare my defence”.

The scandal adds to a series of sexual allegations against French politicians even after the spectacular fall from grace in May 2011 of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The latest high-profi le case involved Finance Minister Michel Sapin, accused in a book published in April of sexually harassing a journalist, an alle-gation he brushed off as “inex-act and slanderous”.

The four EELV party mem-bers made the allegations against the 41-year-old Baupin to French media.

EELV spokeswoman Sandrine Rousseau told the Mediapart website and France Inter radio that Baupin made an aggressive pass at her in October 2011 dur-ing a party meeting.

“At one point I wanted to take a break,” she said.

“Denis Baupin appeared in the corridor outside... He pinned me against the wall with his chest and tried to kiss me. I pushed him away vigorously.”

The encounter made Rous-seau “very uneasy”, she said.

“I immediately thought that it was absolutely not normal that this should happen to me. But I thought of it as sexual ag-gression much later,” she said.

Isabelle Attard, a former EELV deputy, said Baupin used to subject her to “almost daily harassment with provocative, salacious text messages” be-tween June 2012 and the end of 2013, when she left the party.

Two other elected Green party members, Elen Debost, who is deputy mayor of the cen-tral city of Le Mans, and Annie Lahmer, a member of the Paris regional government, have also accused Baupin of sexual im-propriety.

Debost said “a lot of people kept quiet so as not to harm his campaign”.

Lahmer says the incidents date back more than 15 years.

French law has a statute of limitations of three years in cases of sexual harassment or aggression, except when the al-leged victim is a minor, when it is longer.

Slovak offi cers shoot, injure Syrian migrant

Slovak customs off icers

injured a Syrian woman

yesterday when they shot

at a car carrying migrants

from Hungary into Slovakia,

authorities said.

Police in Europe have

sometimes used water can-

non and tear gas to prevent

migrants from crossing

borders but this may be the

first reported incident inside

the continent’s passport-free

Schengen zone where mi-

grants have been shot at.

The off icers stopped four

passenger cars entering

Slovakia from Hungary

early yesterday, the Financial

Administration that runs the

customs service said in a

press release.

Three cars complied with

an order to stop but the

fourth tried to escape and

endangered three off icers,

it said.

“The off icers fired warning

shots and when the car did

not stop they fired at the car,

injuring one person,” it said,

without further details.

A hospital in Dunajska

Streda, southern Slovakia,

said the injured person was a

Syrian woman aged about 26

and that she was in a stable

condition after undergoing

surgery to remove a bullet

from her back.

The hospital said it had

also treated two migrants suf-

fering from dehydration.

The cars and the passen-

gers were handed over to the

border police, the Financial

Administration said.

Slovakia has so far seen

only a trickle of migrants

trying to cross its territory to

reach Germany, the favoured

destination for people fleeing

conflicts and poverty in the

Middle East and beyond.

But the government fears

tighter border controls by

neighbouring Austria could

prompt more migrants to use

Slovakia as a stepping stone

from Hungary as they head

west.

Russia marks WWII victory anniversary with military parade AFPMoscow

Russia yesterday staged a grandi-ose military parade through Mos-cow’s Red Square as part of na-

tionwide celebrations to mark 71 years since the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Some 10,000 troops, tanks and nu-clear missile systems swept across Red Square’s cobblestones in front of Presi-dent Vladimir Putin, senior offi cials and a handful of war veterans.

Putin addressed the troops, congrat-ulating them on a holiday that tradi-tionally unites Russians across political divides.

The Kremlin strongman also took the opportunity to call for the international community to unite in the fi ght against global terrorism.

“We must overcome this evil, and Russia is open to uniting forces with other states, it is ready to work on the creation of a modern, non-aligned in-ternational security system,” Putin said.

The parade on Red Square also saw military aircraft, including Su-35 fi ghter jets Russia uses in its bombing campaign in war-torn Syria, swoop over Moscow in a resounding fl y-by.

A smaller-scale parade was held on Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Syria, where Moscow is conducting air strikes it says are aimed at extremist groups like the Islamic State.

After the parade on Red Square, thou-sands of Muscovites marched through the Russian capital clutching fl ow-ers and portraits of their relatives who fought in World War II in a Kremlin-backed campaign known as the “Im-mortal Regiment.”

Putin led the procession, holding a portrait of his father Vladimir.

Police said some 400,000 people took part in the march and that more lo-cals were joining the rally.

Several similar marches were held in cities across Russia including Saint Pe-tersburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok.

May 9 festivities also took place in some former Soviet republics.

In Ukraine’s war-ravaged east, pro-Russian rebels paraded tanks and heavy weaponry banned under a frail truce.

Donetsk, the insurgents’ de facto

capital, runs along the 30km wide buff er zone that is meant to be free of large weapons under a repeatedly-broken peace agreement signed in February 2015.

Western leaders last year snubbed invitations to attend Moscow’s 70th an-niversary celebrations over the Ukraine crisis, leaving Putin to mark the day in the company of the leaders of China, Cuba and other Moscow-friendly fi g-ures.

This year, Kazakh President Nursul-tan Nazarbayev sat beside Putin at the Moscow parade, but other foreign lead-ers were not among the guests.

An estimated 27mn of the former So-viet Union’s soldiers and civilians were killed in World War II and the Red Ar-my’s triumph in the war is viewed as a huge source of pride in Russia.

Russian T-14 tanks with the Armata Universal Combat Platform take part in the Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow yesterday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds the portrait of his father, war veteran Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, as he takes part in the Immortal Regiment march yesterday during Victory Day celebrations at Red Square in Moscow.

EUROPE19Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Austria chancellor quits as party members revolt ReutersVienna

Austrian Chancellor Werner Fay-mann resigned yesterday, bow-ing to a revolt from inside his

Social Democratic Party after it suff ered humiliating electoral defeat to a far right buoyed by Europe’s migration crisis.

Faymann’s surprise announcement marks the fall of a political survivor adept at compromises and about-faces that angered his party’s base in his more than seven years in power.

While his party’s popularity has been waning for years, the rising tide of pop-ulism that has carried anti-immigrant parties in countries, including Ger-many, during the migration crisis, has-tened his departure.

“Do I have full cover ... strong sup-port within the party? I must say the answer is no,” Faymann, 56, said in a statement.

“I draw the consequences from this low level of support and step down from my positions as party leader and federal chancellor,” he added.

Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterleh-ner, who heads the conservative People’s Party, which rules in coalition with the Social Democrats, said he saw no need for a snap election after the announce-ment, news agency APA reported.

“For us it was a big surprise as we believed the personnel debate at the Social Democrats had been done,” Con-servative Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling told reporters in Brussels.

As the anti-immigration Freedom Party is leading in opinion polls on more than 30%, the Social Democrats have lit-tle interest in a general election being held before the next one is due in 2018, as they would most likely lose the chancellorship.

With President Heinz Fischer, a former Social Democrat, still in offi ce until July, a Social Democrat is likely to take over from Mitterlehner, who will run the government on an interim basis.

Who Faymann’s successor in the Chancellery will be remained unclear,

but Vienna’s long-standing mayor, Michael Haeupl, said he would take over as head of the party on an interim basis.

Faymann paid the price for the fi rst round of Austria’s presidential elec-tion two weeks ago, when the Freedom Party’s candidate came fi rst on 35% and neither ruling party’s nominee made it into the May 22 run-off .

After the election, which produced the worst combined result for both rul-

ing parties since Austria’s president became directly elected in 1951, opposi-tion among the social democrats grew into open revolt.

Faymann, who rose through the ranks of the SPO apparatus in Vienna, came under pressure from some in his party over his government’s restrictions on immigration and asylum, which were widely seen as a late attempt to mimic far-right policies.

Austria took in around 90,000 asy-lum seekers in 2015, more than 1% of its population, as a wave of migrants, many fl eeing confl icts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, arrived in the republic of 8.5mn people.

Public fears linked to the migration cri-sis as well as dissatisfaction with the gov-ernment and rising unemployment have contributed to the Freedom Party’s rise.

Faymann, who once worked briefl y as

a taxi driver and did not earn a degree, was also criticised by party pragmatists for defending a ban on forming coali-tions with the FPO at the federal level.

The SPO’s leadership met on Monday afternoon to decide on a future course, including whether to open up to closer co-operation with the FPO. It was orig-inally supposed to consider replacing Faymann, but his surprise announce-ment came just hours earlier.

Austria President Heinz Fischer (right) entrusts Austria’s interim Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner with government functions in Vienna yesterday.

EU is our goal , says ErdoganReutersAnkara

Membership of the Eu-ropean Union remains Turkey’s strategic goal

and a deal to liberalise visas for Turks visiting the bloc should accelerate the accession process, President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.

His written statement ap-peared to be an attempt to clarify Ankara’s position days after Er-dogan said Turkey would not make changes to its terrorism laws required under a deal with the EU to curb migration, de-claring: “we’re going our way, you go yours”.

“EU membership, a strategic goal for Turkey, will be a source of stability and inspiration for the region,” Erdogan said in the statement, released to coincide with Europe Day.

“I hope that the agreed visa exemption (deal) will relieve some of the frustration caused by more than 50 years of wait-ing at the EU’s gates ... and that it accelerates Turkey’s accession process,” Erdogan said.

The EU has asked member states to grant visa-free travel to Turks in return for Ankara stop-ping migrants from reaching Eu-rope, but said Turkey still had to change some legislation, includ-ing bringing its terrorism laws in line with EU standards.

Turkey has repeatedly said that without visa liberalisation, there would be no migrant deal.

Concerns are rising in Europe that the deal - which has sharp-ly cut the number of migrants reaching the EU from Turkish shores - may collapse after last week’s announcement by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the main Turkish broker of the ac-cord, that he will step down amid tensions with Erdogan.

Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said yesterday that Ankara would de-velop the “necessary policies” on visa liberalisation with the EU and would implement them in line with Erdogan’s recent statements.

Erdogan’s reaffi rmation of Turkey’s EU aspirations comes amid growing unease within the 28-nation bloc about what is viewed as the Turkish presi-dent’s authoritarian style of leadership and his intolerance of media criticism.

Spaniard ‘live-streams’ 195kph Madrid drive

Spanish police have arrested a

young man who live-streamed

video of himself driving at

nearly twice the speed limit,

forcing other drivers to swerve

out of the way to avoid being

hit, police said yesterday.

The man posted several

videos he made on his mobile

phone using the live-streaming

app Periscope which show his

harrowing top-speed driving on

roads in Madrid at night, police

said in a statement.

In one clip he is seen driving

on a ring road that surrounds

the Spanish capital at over

195kph in an area where the

speed limit is 100kph, it added.

“Let’s go, 200 without any

problem. Let’s go. let’s go,” he

can be heard saying in the video

as his car quickly approaches

another vehicle.

Police arrested the man in

Rivas-Vaciamadrid located

just southeast of Madrid after

receiving several complaints

from people who had seen the

videos.

Authorities said he was

charged with dangerous driving,

but did not release the date of

his arrest.

“Besides the danger posed by

driving while using his mobile

telephone in videos that lasted

over 16 minutes, the detainee

performed manoeuvres at high

speed that forced other drivers

to switch lanes to avoid colli-

sions on at least four occasions,”

the statement said.

The authorities said it is

the first time that someone

has been arrested in Spain for

a crime involving Periscope,

which allows anyone to live-

stream an event through their

mobile phones.

Viewers of Periscope videos

can participate by sending car-

toon hearts across the video

feed and typing comments

which scroll across the screen

for all to see.

Belgium deploys troops as prison guards strike over budget cutsReuters Brussels

Belgium has called up the military to assist in prisons where guards have been on strike for two weeks

over what they say is dangerously low staffi ng due to budget cuts.

Six platoons of 30 soldiers have been mobilised to help police and the Red Cross who are currently at work in pris-ons in Brussels and the French-speak-ing region of Wallonia, where prison of-fi cers are striking.

Both the military and police are al-ready stretched, with increased patrols particularly in Brussels, where suicide bombers killed 32 people at the airport and on the metro on March 22.

The justice ministry said that some of the mobilised soldiers had been de-ployed at the three largest prisons - two in Brussels and one near the city of Liege.

Justice Minister Koen Geens pro-

posed on Friday recruiting 405 new prison offi cers this year to bring the total to some 7,000, the level at the end of 2015, and off ering some extra pay for more fl exible working practices.

Guards in all prisons rejected the pro-posal, union leaders said yesterday, add-ing the promised recruitment was inad-equate and would still leave the number of offi cers down from two years ago.

Conditions in the prisons have wors-ened and some inmates are not receiv-ing certain basic rights such as showers, three meals a day, family visits and ac-cess to lawyers.

Unions have said low staffi ng has limited access to courses and other ac-tivities that can help reduce violence and prevent prisoners from reoff ending.

“There’s been a lack of investment in the buildings, the infrastructure, in training, there’s overcrowding. Things haven’t been right for 10 years if not more,” said union federal secretary Michel Jacobs before a new meeting with the minister. A military vehicle is parked outside the Saint-Gilles prison in Brussels during a general strike of prison off icers.

Poland’s PiS ready to back Tusk for second EU term ReutersWarsaw

Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party will back former cen-trist prime minister Donald Tusk

for a second term as European Council president in a year’s time, a senior PiS fi gure said yesterday.

The pledge of support, made by Rys-zard Czarnecki who is vice-president of the European Parliament, came despite repeated criticism of Tusk by the PiS and appeared a deliberate move by the party to clear up any ambiguity on the issue.

Tusk wishes to stay in his Brussels job when his current two and a half year spell ends in May next year, EU sources say, and Czarnecki’s comment in a daily newspaper was certain to boost Tusk’s chances of doing that.

Until now it was not clear whether the PiS, which is led by Tusk’s political foe, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, would throw its weight behind him.

It has repeatedly said that Tusk was “politically” responsible for the 2010 plane crash which killed Poland’s president and Kaczynski’s twin broth-er, Lech.

Tusk was prime minister at the time and some in the PiS argue he is guilty of not ensuring the president’s safety.

But in an opinion piece carried yes-terday by the daily newspaper Rzeczp-ospolita, Czarnecki said the PiS would stick to an “unwritten rule of Polish politics,” that the Polish government should always back Poles in top posts abroad.

“If Tusk does not become head of the European Council again, it will not be due to the Law and Justice govern-ment’s actions, but due to the lack of support from other countries. He will have ours,” Czarnecki said.

Tusk’s Civic Platform party (PO), now the second-largest parliamentary force after losing to PiS last October, greeted Czarnecki’s announcement sceptically.

“Jaroslaw Kaczynski prefers for Tusk to be in (Brussels), and not in Poland, because he is traumatised by eight election losses,” Malgorzata Ki-dawa-Blonska, a prominent PO politi-cian told private radio Zet, referring to a string of PO’s election victories un-der the former leader. “He always lost to Tusk, so he doesn’t want him here.”

The plane crash which killed presi-dent Lech Kaczynski and a large number of high-rank offi cials took place near Smolensk, western Rus-sia, close to the place where Stalinist secret police forces shot some of the 22,000 Polish offi cers and intellectuals they executed in 1940.

While the crash initially united Poles in grief, it has since given rise to bitter domestic political divisions.

An inquiry by Tusk’s government returned a verdict of pilot error but since coming to power, PiS has reo-pened the investigation, saying an on-board explosion could have caused the crash.

OSCE says open to sending armed monitors to UkraineReutersKiev

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which is monitoring a fragile ceasefi re

in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine, is open to sending armed personnel there, but only if that is agreed by all sides, its chief said yesterday.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier’s comments are a measure of the threat to unarmed staff observing a cease-fi re between Ukrainian forces and Rus-sian-backed separatists that is constantly violated, killing soldiers and civilians.

During a trip to Kiev, Zannier said monitors had been threatened, shot at, had their access restricted, and har-assed - mainly on the rebel side.

The OSCE’s current mandate in Ukraine is as an unarmed civilian mis-sion to monitor and help implement the ceasefi re. Zannier said various pro-posals had been fl oated to beef up the OSCE’s presence but nothing concrete had emerged yet.

“There are some ideas for a police con-

tingent, there are some others for ‘let’s give a weapon to the monitors’, especially on the contact zone,” Zannier said.

“So I am very open to be supportive. In the OSCE we have potentially the ability of having a more robust kind of opera-tions,” he said, adding: “We need to have consensus so everybody has to agree.”

The February 2015 Minsk ceasefi re deal has failed to completely halt a con-fl ict that is now in its third year and has killed more than 9,000 people.

After a relative lull towards the end of last year, there has been a sharp rise in the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers. Some 20 were killed in April alone, compared with fi ve in January. Both sides accuse the other of violating the terms of the truce, which includes a pullback of heavy weapons.

Zannier said the OSCE had counted 1,000 ceasefi re violations on Sunday alone, while in some areas the enemy lines had moved closer to each other, some-times being only 100m to 150m apart.

“For us to be eff ective, we need also the people on the ground to be more cooperative and to have access to eve-rywhere we want to go.”

Legislator’s police custody extended

ABVP stages rally outside Jadavpur varsity

A court in Hyderabad yesterday postponed to May 25 sentencing of industrialist Vijay Mallya in cheque bounce cases filed by the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. The court, which was expected to pronounce its orders yesterday, again put off sentencing Mallya as he did not appear, said GMR’s lawyer Ashok Reddy. The court, which had convicted Mallya and an official of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines on April 20, had earlier adjourned the orders on May 5 on the same grounds. The liquor baron was convicted under the Negotiable Instruments Act in two cases relating to bouncing of two cheques of Rs5mn each.

Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda yesterday defended his government’s decision to re-allot prime land in Sector 6 of Panchkula to Congress-linked Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The senior Congress leader also accused the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of acting like a “sahyogi dal” (alliance partner) of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rather than playing the role of an opposition party. “There is nothing wrong in the decision to re-allot land to AJL. There was no loss to the government or any agency. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is a ‘no-profit-no-loss’ organisation,” Hooda said in Chandigarh yesterday. The AJL is also linked to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Thousands of people were stranded in Manipur’s capital Imphal yesterday as drivers of light passenger vehicles declared an indefinite strike over taxes. Activists armed with stones and bamboo sticks gathered at all important crossings to ensure that no driver plies his vehicle in violation of the decision to go on strike. The activists forced passengers to disembark from the vehicles. People were seen searching for alternative sources of travel. The strike is in protest against the government policy of tax payment and increased tax rates, enforced by the Joint Administrative Council of Under 5 Tonne Passenger Services Association from Sunday. Several auto-rickshaws and other light vehicles were damaged for violating the association’s resolution.

Hyderabad court puts off Mallya’s sentence

Hooda defends AJLland deal decision

Transport strike aff ects life in Manipur

JUDICIARY CONTROVERSYPROTEST

A court yesterday remanded Goa legislator Atanasio Monserrate, accused of raping a teenager, to three more days in police custody. Monserrate was arrested for allegedly drugging, raping and ‘purchasing’ the girl for Rs5mn from a woman, who had in turn allegedly bought her from her mother. Monserrate was arrested along with the mother of the victim on Thursday, while the other woman, Rosy Ferro, was arrested on Sunday. Monserrate is an independent legislator, but was elected on a Congress ticket in the 2012 state assembly election. He has served as a minister in the cabinets of Congress as well as Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance governments over the last decade.

INVESTIGATION CONFRONTATION

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad yesterday slammed left-leaning students for turning Jadavpur University into a “hub of anti-national activities”, and took out a protest rally outside the institution. The rally comes days after the screening of Vivek Agnihotri’s controversial Buddha in a Traff ic Jam triggered clashes and caused tension on the campus on Friday. The police therefore took no chances and fortified the university putting up barricades at the entrances. Carrying the Indian tricolours and shouting slogans, ABVP activists took out the rally from Gol Park to the Jadavpur police station. “The leftists have turned the university into a den of anti-national activities. Forgetting their own country, they raise pro-Pakistan slogans. This rally is to condemn their anti-nationalism,” said ABVP leader Subir Haldar.

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 2016

INDIA20

High price dampens Akshaya Tritiya gold sales

BJP hits outat Nitish over‘road ragedeath’ of teen Jungle raj returning to Bihar, says state’s opposition

IANSNew Delhi

A teenager’s murder in Bi-har’s Gaya town, allegedly by the son of a ruling party

legislator, reverberated within and outside parliament yesterday as the Bharatiya Janata Party at-tacked Chief Minister Nitish Ku-mar for allowing the “return of jungle raj.”

Taking a dig at Nitish Kumar, Telecom Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told re-porters outside parliament that the chief minister nurtured the ambition to become the prime minister but was letting law and order in Bihar slip out of control.

“There is no vacancy for the prime minister’s post for many years. Nitish Kumar, please focus on governance in Bihar,” Prasad said.

Several BJP members raised the issue of law and order in Bi-har in the Lok Sabha, particularly highlighting the killing of Aditya Sachdeva on Saturday by Rocky Yadav, the son of ruling Janata Dal-United legislator Manorama Devi.

As BJP members Ashwini Choubey from Bhagalpur and Janardan Singh Sigriwal (Ma-harajganj) raised the issue, they faced protests from members of the Nitish Kumar-led JD-U and Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

While Sigriwal cited Aditya’s murder, Choubey said there was a rape incident lately at Sultan-ganj near Bhagalpur as the state

is moving towards “jungle raj.”“Since the formation of this

government, crime is increasing every day. Recent example is of Gaya, where a teenager was killed for just overtaking (the car of ac-cused Rocky Yadav). The law and order is at its worst in the state,” Sigriwal said.

Choubey said: “A few days back, supporters of an RJD MP carried out a robbery in Sultan-gunj and an attempt was made to rape a woman. Her father was shot at. Jungle raj is back in the state. Political murders are oc-curring.”

Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu) Yadav, an expelled RJD member, also expressed concern over what he said was the deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar.

He demanded that the state government be dismissed.

“In Nalanda, the home district of Nitish Kumar, an eight-year-old child was kidnapped. Crimi-nal incidents have reached a new high ever since this government took over. This government must be dismissed to save Bihar,” he said.

Aditya, the teenaged son of a businessman, was shot dead on Saturday allegedly by Rocky Ya-dav, 30, for overtaking his sport utility vehicle on the Bodh Gaya-Gaya road.

Rocky’s father Bindi Yadav, a criminal-turned-politician, was with him in the car along with a bodyguard when the shooting took place.

While Rocky is absconding, his father and the bodyguard were arrested. They were remanded in judicial custody by a court yes-terday.

The BJP yesterday called for

a shutdown in Gaya to protest against the killing.

Hundreds of slogan-shouting BJP leaders and workers took to the streets of Gaya demanding the arrest of Rocky Yadav.

“Police must arrest the accused without delay and take convincing action in this case,” said opposi-tion leader Prem Kumar, who rep-resents Gaya town in the assembly.

The BJP workers asked shop-keepers to down shutters, burnt tyres, blocked roads and urged people to support the shutdown.

“It is a 100% shutdown in Gaya town. Vehicles are not run-ning. People are angry with what happened to Aditya and his fam-ily,” Prem Kumar said.

Police said preliminary inves-tigation shows that Rocky fl ew into a fi t of rage after Aditya al-legedly did not let his Land Rover pass. The row resulted in the teenager being shot dead.

Meanwhile Nitish Kumar said his government will not spare anyone found guilty of the killing as no one is above the rule of law.

“The law will take its course and a manhunt is on for the ac-cused,” the chief minister said.

He said no one can stop crimi-nal incidents but action has been taken against people found guilty of them in Bihar. “This is the real rule of law... when action taken against criminals,” he said.

He said nobody can be allowed to take the law in their hands. “We have directed police offi cials concerned to take strict action and nobody can escape the law, whoever he or she may be.”

Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav said that proper action would be taken against anyone found guilty.

Kerala policequestionsister ofmurderedwoman IANSPerambavoor, Kerala

Media frenzy prevailed here yesterday morning when Deepa, the sister

of murdered Dalit law student Jisha, was asked to accompany a police team for questioning be-fore being let off .

Scotching rumours that the po-lice were looking for her friend, a migrant labourer, Deepa, who has been attending on her ailing moth-er in hospital, later said: “They took me because I wanted to take a few clothes and my bank pass book. It was safe to go with the women po-lice offi cers. I don’t know why the media is speculating.”

The development came 12 days after Jisha’s mutilated body was found by her mother Rajeshwari. The murder of the 30-year-old law student led to widespread public outrage, with claims that she was sexually assaulted.

The police have been looking into Deepa’s phone call list. There have been reports that she had made several phone calls, as was confi rmed by her uncle who was also questioned by the police.

Over two dozen people have been questioned by the police so far. While the police have been claiming that they were close to cracking the murder mystery, so far no one has been arrested.

The police are now looking for a migrant labourer known as ‘Bhaya’. According to the police, Jisha was murdered around 5.45pm on April 28 after she was sexually assault-ed. Her mutilated body was later found by her mother.

The incident has been com-pared with the 2012 brutal gang-rape and murder of a paramedical student in Delhi.

Amid massive media outcry, top political leaders have been making a beeline to visit Jisha’s traumatised mother in hospital.

In poll-bound Kerala, Jisha’s murder has become a major is-sue, with opposition parties ac-cusing the government and the police of inaction. The ruling Congress-led government has announced compensation for Jisha’s family. But that has so far failed to address public outrage.

BJP activists stage a demonstration against the death of Aditya Sachdeva, the son of a businessman who was allegedly shot dead by Rocky Yadav, son of a JD-U legislator in Gaya yesterday.

IANSNew Delhi/Bengaluru/Chennai/Kolkata

Jewellers across India saw tep-id sales throughout the day on Akshaya Tritiya yesterday

due to a surge in prices.“So far we have seen 10% sales

growth in value terms. But in volume terms it is fl attish as gold prices have shot up quite a bit in the last two months, and today it is hovering over Rs30,000 per 10g in the national capital,” P C Jeweller managing director Bal-ram Garg told said in New Delhi.

He said that the price of the yellow metal was around Rs26,000 per 10g two months ago. But as the price of the pre-cious yellow metal has gone up in the international market it has shot up in India as well.

Last year on Akshaya Tritiya, the gold price was in the range of Rs27,000 per 10g of 24 karat gold, while this year it is over Rs30,300.

“This year for a change we are seeing more sales of jewellery and not coins on Akshaya Triti-ya,” Garg said.

Akshaya Tritiya is a holy day for Hindus and Jains. It is be-lieved to bring good luck and success and is considered an aus-picious day to bring home gold.

“Indians mark Akshaya Tritiya as an occasion to purchase gold and the initial feedback from the trade is an increase in demand, where both wedding jewellery as well as investment products like coins and bars, have done well. We believe consumer sen-timent towards gold as a savings instrument remains positive and the long term fundamentals of the gold market remain intact,” said Somasundaram P R, manag-ing director, India, World Gold Council.

“Compared to last year’s Ak-shaya Tritiya, this year sales are down by 30-40%. The reason mainly seems to be election and the checking of vehicles by of-fi cials of the Election Commis-sion. Sales of jewellery are high as compared to the coins,” Jay-antilal Challani, president of the Chennai Jewellers and Diamond Merchants Association said.

The Tamil Nadu assembly elections are on May 16.

Diptesh Dey, a store manager

at M P Jewellers in Kolkata said: “Buoyed by discounting of-fer, jewellers are experiencing around 10-15% growth in gold sales. But jewellers and custom-ers both are confused with a fl uc-tuating nature of the gold price. Customers are reluctant to revise their budget according to higher prevailing prices.”

“We have seen a steady footfall in the stores throughout the day but due to the high price, buying level is relatively less. We have not noticed any extraordinary buying spree. By and large, sales are expected to touch the growth of around 20% what it achieved last year,” Subir Sen of B C Sen Jewellers said in Kolkata.

“We have been witnessing a steady surge in sales during Ak-shaya Tritiya each year. Custom-er response has been remarkable over the last few days with sales peaking on the day of Akshaya Tritiya. There has been a strong shift in jewellery buying behav-iour as more and more people are now exploring the online channel as a trustworthy option for fi ne jewellery,” online portal Bluestone.com’s chief operating offi cer Arvind Singhal said.

A salesman waits for customers inside a jewellery showroom on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold buying festival, in Kolkata, yesterday.

More rebelssurrender IANSShillong

Fourteen more rebels of the outlawed Garo National Lib-eration Army (GNLA) sur-

rendered yesterday to Meghalaya Home Minister Roshan Warjri.

A police spokesman said among those who laid down their arms was Belding Ch Marak alias Rakkam, the “Finance Secretary” of the outfi t and “Area Commander” Mathew Ch Marak alias Sacheng of Chokpot bordering Bangladesh.

“I wanted to live a normal life after facing the hardships in the jungles and disunity among GNLA cadres,” Rakkam, who led the oth-ers to surrender, said at the State Police headquarters here.

The rebels deposited four AK and one HK rifl es, pistols, gre-nade, 144 rounds of ammunition, four wireless handsets and in-criminating documents.

“The surrender of the fi nance secretary will have an adverse impact on the functioning of the GNLA as he is the key person to distribute money for sustain-ing his cadres,” Meghalaya police chief Rajiv Mehta said.

21Gulf TimesTuesday, May 10, 2016

INDIA

Drought-hit statesseek more funds IANSNew Delhi

Ten more states have ap-proached the central government for ad-

ditional funds in the form of drought relief packages sanc-tioned to Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

Rajasthan is the latest en-try to the lot and submitted a memorandum yesterday ask-ing for central assistance of around Rs18bn to tackle the drought in the state, an offi cial from the central agriculture ministry said.

Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Haryana and Jharkhand are the other states that have asked for additional funds to compen-sate their drought-hit farmers, the offi cial said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned Rs15.40bn to Karnataka and Rs9.34bn to Uttar Pradesh when he met

the respective chief ministers on Saturday. These amounts are in addition to the funds released by the central govern-ment as part of the National Disaster Response Fund for the two states.

Modi also met Maharash-tra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take stock of the drought situation in the state. The amount sanctioned to the state has not been made offi cial yet.

Over 27,000 of the total 43,000 villages in Maharash-tra are reeling under drought of varying severity this year, while in Odisha, 27 out of the total 30 districts have been of-fi cially declared drought hit.

The Telangana government has also declared 231 of its 443 administrative blocks as drought-aff ected. Chief Min-ister K Chandrasekhar Rao is also expected to meet the prime minister later this week and apprise him about the sit-uation in his state, agriculture ministry offi cials said.

Disqualifi ed legislators can’t vote, says court IANSNew Delhi

The Supreme Court yester-day said nine disqualifi ed rebel Congress legislators

in Uttarakhand will not be able to vote in the fl oor test by ousted chief minister Harish Rawat to-day.

The court also issued a no-tice to Uttarakhand assembly speaker and said the next hear-ing on a petition by the rebels would be heard on July 12. The notice has also been issued to Congress lawmaker Indira Hri-dayesh on whose complaint Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had disqualifi ed the nine, led by the former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Appearing for the legisla-tors, senior lawyer C A Sunda-ram urged the court to put delay the disqualifi cation in the same manner it has asked that the President’s Rule be kept in abey-

ance for two-and-half hours to-day to have the fl oor test.

He said if the court was testing the ground reality, then the nine should be allowed to vote.

The court however told Sun-daram that the order to keep in abeyance the President’s Rule was taken following consensus between the contending par-ties.

The court, which had earlier said that ‘Principal Secretary, Legislative Assembly’, Jaidev Singh would be present as a “neutral perceptionist” at the time of the voting on the con-fi dence motion, now directed that the “principal secretary, legislative and parliamentary aff airs who belongs to the cadre of the district judge shall remain present to conduct the aff airs with perceptible objectivity and singularity of purpose of neu-trality along with the secretary, legislative assembly.”

“We ingeminate it that we have so directed so that no party

can raise a cavil with regard to the process of voting,” the court said.

This reiteration came by way of clarifi cation as Jaidev Singh in a communication to the cen-tral government had said that he could not act in pursuance to the court’s May 6 order since his designation had been wrongly mentioned as there was no post of principal secretary, legislative assembly.

In Dehradun, the ousted chief minister expressed confi dence that he would win the confi -dence motion.

“All the 34 MLAs whom we paraded to the governor are still with us,” Rawat told reporters after the Supreme Court order.

“It is the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) who should think from where they would get the rest of six MLAs to prove majority in the house,” Rawat said, add-ing: “It (BJP) can only prove their majority by indulging in horse-trading.”

India is my home, this is where I will die: Sonia IANSThiruvananthapuram

Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday de-scribed herself as “the

daughter-in-law of Indira Gan-dhi” and said she would die only in India.

“Yes, I was born in Italy. But in 1968 I came to India as the daughter-in-law of (then prime minister) Indira Gandhi,” Gandhi told an election rally here in an emotion-choked voice.

“It is now 48 years that I have been in India. This is my home and this is my country,” she told the thousands gathered to listen to her.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday taunted Gandhi on her Italian origins while ad-dressing election meetings.

Before winding up her speech, Gandhi told the crowds that she wanted to share some personal things. “It’s nothing political,” she said.

Gandhi said that for the past 48 years, the Rashtriya Swayam-sewak Sangh (RSS), the Bharati-ya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties had been taunting her.

“I wish to say I am very proud of my parents who have been al-ways honest. Yes, I have relatives in Italy; I have a 93-year-old mother and two sisters.”

In an obvious reference to In-dira Gandhi and her late husband Rajiv Gandhi, she said: “The blood of my loved ones is min-gled in this country, which is also my country. It will be here that I will breathe my last and my ash-es will be mingled with my loved ones here.”

The Congress chief said Modi was free to go to any length to question her credentials.

“But he will never be able to take away my commitment to my country. I cannot expect Modi to understand my feelings, but not you,” she said.

Gandhi arrived in Kerala yes-

terday evening. After addressing a rally at Thrissur, she fl ew to the capital city.

In her speeches, she urged the people to vote for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the Con-gress-led government which she said had done “an excellent job” and needed a second term.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front would only take Kerala back “through wrong policies,” Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha witnessed several adjournments yesterday following noisy scenes as the Congress accused Modi of lying and using the AgustaWest-land row as an election issue.

A little after the house met, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad quoted a newspaper report from an election rally addressed by Modi in Kerala and said the government was using the VVIP helicopter deal to malign the Congress.

“We discussed AgustaWest-land in both houses. In neither house did anyone say that UPA leaders took money. Neither has the (Italian) court said that UPA leaders took money,” Azad said.

“We have been saying from the beginning that the purpose (be-hind the Agusta row) is not to dis-cuss the issue inside the house, but to use it outside the house and use it in the elections to ma-lign the Congress leadership. It is similar to what happened in the 1980s with Bofors,” said Azad.

“The issue is being raised be-cause it is being used against the Congress in the elections,” Azad said.

He read out a newspaper re-port which quoted Modi as saying at an election rally that a United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leader took money in the purchase of the helicopters.

“Why didn’t the prime minis-ter speak in either house? When it was decided that there should be action, why is he making it an election issue?”

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley display the educational degree certificates of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a press conference in New Delhi yesterday.

BJP makes PM’s degreepublic as row heats up Kejriwal must apologise, says Shah

AgenciesNew Delhi

The ruling Bharatiya Jana-ta Party yesterday made public Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s university degree certifi cates, in a bid to disprove allegations by the op-position Aam Aadmi Party that he had fabricated his qualifi ca-tions.

Since winning an election in the national capital last year, AAP leadfer and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has stepped up his attacks on Modi.

Kejriwal has not said why Modi would want to claim a fake degree but the allegations, which set off frenzied specula-tion on social media, struck a nerve in the BJP, upset about the

risk to his reputation. Modi has often cited the jour-

ney from his humble beginnings as a tea vendor’s son to national leader to win support from the country’s poor. Having a degree fi ts the narrative of a man with the grit and determination to succeed.

Senior BJP leaders held aloft what they said were Modi’s de-grees, a Bachelor of Arts from Delhi University and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Gu-jarat University, in his home state.

“It is very unfortunate that we have to clarify the prime minister’s educational qualifi -cation,” party president Amit Shah told a news conference in New Delhi at which he was fl anked by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Spokesmen for the two uni-versities declined to comment on whether Modi’s degree cer-tifi cates were genuine.

Kejriwal says he has evidence Modi misappropriated the de-grees of someone with the same name.

An AAP spokesman stood by the accusations, saying there were inconsistencies in the dates and names on Modi’s degrees.

“We are happy to have an il-literate prime minister,” said Vikas Yogi. “But not a prime minister who lies about his de-grees.”

The BJP distributed pho-tocopies of the certifi cates to journalists, with its offi cials saying Kejriwal should apolo-gise to the country for doubting Modi’s credentials.

“The degrees are in the pub-lic domain, but such allegations debase our political discourse,” said party president Shah.

“If you (Kejriwal) did not have any proof how did you make such an allegation? You have tried to spread lies. You must

apologise publicly to the na-tion,” Shah said.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to hold such a press con-ference at all,” Shah added.

Jaitley, Modi’s top lieutenant, accused Kejriwal of attempting to mislead voters instead of get-ting on with the job of govern-ing the Indian capital.

The fi nance minister taunted Kejriwal and said the allega-tions against the prime minister come from a party whose “leg-islators are being prosecuted for disclosing fake degrees.”

He was referring to AAP’s Ji-tender Singh Tomar who lost his job as a Delhi minister after his arrest over his fake degree. Another AAP legislator is under the scanner over her education-al qualifi cation.

The Congress Party, which suff ered a drubbing at the gen-eral election, has also weighed into the controversy, claiming

Modi should “come clean” on the issue.

“The papers presented be-fore the media by BJP chief Amit Shah and Finance Minis-ter Arun Jaitley say that Modi passed third year of his BA de-gree course in 1979, whereas the degree certifi cate shows he graduated a year before in 1978,” Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.

“How can this be possible? If a person gets mark sheet for the fi nal year in 1979, how can he get his degree a year before?” he said.

The Congress leader said Modi kept his educational qualifi cations a mystery during his days as Gujarat chief minis-ter by not answering any of the queries on the issue.

Social media lit up yesterday over the controversy, with many users sympathetic to Modi, and with #kejriwalsaysorry trend-ing on Twitter.

Ousted chief minister Harish Rawat prays at the Tapkeshwar temple in Dehradun on the eve of a vote of confidence.

Smell of death hangs over Kerala town a month after fi re tragedy IANSParavur, Kerala

A month after a devastating fi reworks tragedy killed 110 people here, one can

still smell sulphur in the air at the Puttingal Devi Temple. No won-der no one here is ready to forget the April 10 disaster - or forgive those they think were responsible for the loss of innocent lives.

Twelve people remain under treatment at the Thiruvanan-

thapuram Medical College which received 172 injured in the im-mediate aftermath of the mas-sive fi res and explosions.

Police say 43 people have been arrested and are in judicial cus-tody. They include 14 temple committee members as well as workers and contractors who or-ganised the fi reworks show.

“We are yet to decide the charges to be put against the ar-rested people,” Additional Di-rector General of Police S Anan-thakrishnan said.

The disaster occurred when a worker involved in lighting the fi reworks ran into a concrete building where a live cracker ac-cidentally fell on a heap of stored powerful fi reworks.

Within seconds, the entire lot exploded with a deafening roar, bringing down the building and scattering large chunks of con-crete and steel beams in all di-rections like bullets.

A total of 110 people died and more than 400 were injured.

Police Sub Inspector R Rad-

hakrishnan said: “The smell of sulphur is still here despite the rains. The smell is strong when the sun beats down. We are pro-viding security as the roof of the building that stores the temple valuables was blown away.”

The Kerala High Court is monitoring the Crime Branch investigation. Ananthakrishnan is set to submit his report to the court when it reopens after va-cation next week.

Sarada, 74, who lives barely 50m from the temple, said she

had been complaining to the temple management for years about the dangers and pollution from the annual fi reworks show.

On April 8, unable to put up with the noise of the exploding fi reworks, she moved to a friend’s house. Sarada’s son Harish Ku-mar, 47, said the temple offi cials never paid heed to people’s wor-ries about the powerful chemi-cals used in the fi recrackers.

So this time some residents approached Kollam District Col-lector A Shinemol.

Recalling the fateful night, Kumar said he saw a piece of fi reworks land on the face of a young boy. The face started to bleed.

“I took him to a nearby house and gave him fi rst aid. When I returned to where I was earlier, I could not believe my eyes.

“The concrete building that stored the fi reworks was up in fl ames and all I could hear were screams of people in agony.”

Kumar carried nine bleed-ing people to vehicles to be

rushed to hospitals. “Some were breathing, some were not. I saw the district collector at the spot. I heard her ask the police repeatedly: ‘Who gave you the sanction to conduct these fi re-works?’”

In the morning, Kumar saw two concrete buildings razed to rubble. “We could see two bod-ies under the rubble.”

Now, every day, around 7 in the evening, the temple bells ring. A few people make a bee-line for the day’s fi nal prayers.

22 Gulf TimesTuesday, May 10, 2016

LATIN AMERICA

DetainedVenezuelafi rst lady’snephewsget help ReutersNew York

Two nephews of Venezue-la’s fi rst lady facing US charges that they con-

spired to import cocaine into the US are getting their defence costs paid for by an unnamed third party, prosecutors said.

In a letter fi led in the Manhat-tan federal court, prosecutors asked a US judge to pose ques-tions to Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores about their legal fees at a hearing this Thursday.

Both men are nephews of Ven-ezuelan President Nicolas Madu-ro’s wife, Cilia Flores, and in the last two months brought on large, prominent US law fi rms to defend them against charges stemming from their arrests in November.

Prosecutors asked US district judge Paul Crotty to inquire whether a potential confl ict of interest exists due to a third party paying their fees and ask Campo Flores and Flores de Fre-itas if they waive it.

A confl ict could mean it was “conceivable that the third party could persuade counsel to avoid seeking leniency by having their client attempt to co-operate, or to advise their client to refrain from testifying in his own de-fence,” prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to ask who is paying their lawyers, who believe such a ques-tion is unnecessary, the letter said.

John Zach, a lawyer for Cam-po Flores at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, declined comment. David Rody, a lawyer for Flores de Freitas at Sidley Austin LLP, also declined comment.

The case is the latest in a se-ries of enforcement actions and investigations by US authori-ties that have linked individu-als connected to the Venezuelan government to drug traffi cking.

The nephews’ case marked an embarrassment to Maduro when it was unveiled last year. Flores in January called the arrest of her nephews a “kidnapping.”

Panama shuts border crossing to Cubans AFPPanama City

Panama yesterday slammed shut its border crossing with Colombia to Cuban

migrants, becoming the third Central American country to halt access to an unrelenting exodus of Cubans trying to reach the US.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela’s announcement that Cubans without visas will no longer be permitted entry comes as nearly 4,000 other Cuban migrants began depart-ing Panama on daily fl ights to northern Mexico.

Those Cubans had become stranded in Panama following moves late last year by Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the next two countries north of Panama, to bar entry to Cubans. Thousands of Cubans are leaving their is-land, typically by fl ying to Ecua-dor or other countries in South America to make a long overland trek through Central America and Mexico to get to the US.

Under a US law dating back to the Cold War, Cubans who reach US soil are given privileged en-

try and a fast track to residency. For the past two decades, the

US Coast Guard has sent back to Cuba any migrants intercepted at sea trying to cross the narrow Florida Strait. That made the overland route a more promising way to get into the US.

Nicaragua - a close ally of Havana - closed its border to Cubans in November. Costa Rica followed suit a month later to prevent a backlog on its own territory, leaving the thousands of Cubans to pile up in Panama with no easy route north.

“Given the decision of other countries in central America, specifi cally Nicaragua and Costa Rica, we have taken the diffi cult decision to close the border with Colombia in the area of Puerto Obaldia and other border points to irregular migrants,” Varela said.

Puerto Obaldia, a Caribbean seaside border port serves as the only real point of entry from Colombia, relying on boat trans-port to get across.

The rest of the Panamanian-Colombian border is thick jun-gle rising from swamps, with no roads. Foot passage is possible, but extremely diffi cult and hazardous.

Macri allies feel the heatas graft probe grows ReutersBuenos Aires

A judicial probe of pos-sible corruption during Argentina’s last govern-

ment is also threatening the new administration as some of President Mauricio Macri’s own allies face investigation.

Macri, a centre-rightist, took over as president in De-cember from outgoing leftist Cristina Fernandez, pledging to root out corruption as well as implement sweeping market-friendly economic reforms.

Investigations have already led to the arrest of a Fernandez ally and landed the ex-president in court for questioning. But now questions are also being asked of some close to Macri, threatening to taint his image.

Iecsa, a construction fi rm that is part of the Macri fam-ily empire and controlled by his cousin Angel Calcaterra, is one of nearly 100 companies in Argentina being investigated as part of Brazil’s growing “Car

Wash” scandal, an Argentine judicial source close to the case said.

The source did not provide specifi cs of the Iecsa case, but the “Car Wash” probe has fo-cused on kickbacks and other irregularities in bloated con-tracts at state oil fi rm Petrobras.

A source close to Iecsa said the company “has never been notifi ed of any investigation”.

Government anti-money laundering and anti-corrup-tion offi cials, newly-appointed by Macri, are pushing to inves-tigate corruption under Fern-andez’s administration.

They have encouraged whistleblowers to come for-ward and off ered lighter pun-ishments for wrongdoers in exchange for information.

Macri has kept his distance from the probes.

“I will permit, stand back and work with it when needed, but justice has to work inde-pendently,” said Macri this week.

Still, Fernandez is portray-ing herself as the victim of

persecution. “They can call me to testify 20 times. They can imprison me. But they will not be able to silence me,” she told cheering supporters after tes-tifying about charges against the central bank for selling US dollar futures at below-market rates during her presidency.

Daniel Scioli, the opposition leader and Fernandez ally who lost to Macri in the presidential election, has warned against a witch-hunt.

“We hope politics does not become judicialised and that the justice system does not be-come politicised,” he said.

Argentine media are closely following the twists and turns of the corruption allegations that have become known as the ‘K money road’, an allusion to Fernandez’s deceased hus-band and ex-president Nestor Kirchner and their ‘Kirchneri-sta’ movement.

Prosecutors are probing a complex web of cases linked to property entrepreneur Lazaro Baez, a close ally of both Fern-andez and Kirchner.

Rousseff ousterhits snag asimpeachmentvote annulled AFPBrasilia

The impeachment of Bra-zilian President Dilma Rousseff was thrown

into confusion yesterday when the acting speaker of the lower house of Congress annulled an April vote by lawmakers that launched the process.

Just days before the senate seemed near-certain to suspend Rousseff for six months and open an impeachment trial, the new leader of the lower house threw a spanner in the works - the latest twist in the political crisis roiling the country.

Waldir Maranhao, the interim speaker, wrote in an order that a new vote in the lower house should take place on whether to impeach Rousseff in the coming days - following fi ve offi cial ses-sions in the chamber.

The cancellation of the lower house vote was ordered in re-sponse to a request by Rousseff ’s solicitor general, who had chal-lenged its legitimacy.

However, it was not immedi-ately clear how the chaotic new developments would play out.

The senate had been due to start its own voting process tomorrow, with a majority ex-pected to back suspension of Rousseff .

Once suspended, she would face a trial lasting months, with a two-thirds majority needed eventually to eject her from of-fi ce.

It was unclear whether the senate would recognise Ma-ranhao’s order or whether the Supreme Court would step in to decide.

In the fi rst reaction from the

senate, the head of the cham-ber’s impeachment committee, Raimundo Lira, said that the vote would go ahead as planned, regardless of Maranhao’s inter-vention. However there was no immediate word from the pow-erful senate president, Renan Calheiros.

A delighted-looking Rousseff interrupted a speech to support-ers to say that she’d just got news of her impeachment hitting a roadblock.

“I don’t know the conse-quences. Please be cautious,” she said, calling on her backers to “defend democracy.”

The impeachment battle has taken so many unexpected twists that Brazilians refer to it as a re-al-life version of the Netfl ix po-litical drama House of Cards.

Rousseff , from the leftist Workers’ Party, is accused of illegally manipulating govern-ment budget accounts during her 2014 re-election battle to mask the seriousness of eco-nomic problems. But she says the process has been twisted into a coup by right-wingers in the second year of her second term.

Her removal had been look-ing increasingly certain after the lower house voted in mid-April by an overwhelming major-ity to send her case to the senate for trial.

In the senate, around 50 of the 81 senators have said they planned to vote in favour of an impeachment trial, well over the simple major-ity needed to open the process.

The vote result had been expected on Thursday, fol-lowed shortly af-

terwards by Rousseff ’s departure from the presidential offi ces. Ministers have reportedly al-ready been clearing their desks.

Adding to the confusion, Ma-ranhao, the man at the centre of the latest episode, is little-known to most Brazilians.

He took the post of speaker only last week as a replacement for Eduardo Cunha, the veteran speaker and architect of the con-troversial impeachment drive who was forced by the Supreme Court to stand down over cor-ruption charges.

The political crisis comes on top of the deepest recession in decades in Latin America’s big-gest economy, just three months before it hosts the Olympic Games in Rio from August 5 to 21.

The aff air has heightened ten-sions in Brazil, which is in the midst of a giant corruption scan-dal involving state oil company Petrobras that has implicated numerous politicians including allies and enemies of Rousseff .

Rousseff has not been for-mally accused of corruption like many of her rivals. But prosecu-tors have called for her to be in-vestigated for allegedly trying to obstruct a probe into the Petro-

bras aff air. Among the high-profi le

suspects are Cunha and her presidential pred-ecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

If Rousseff is suspend-ed, she would

be replaced by her vice-president-t u r n e d -e n e m y,

M i c h e l Temer.

Police and army personnel in riot gear clash with activists of the People’s and Indigenous organisations Civic Council (COPIN) protesting the murder of indigenous environmentalist Berta Caceres, in Tegucigalpa, yesterday. Four people were arrested and sent to prison in Honduras over the murder of the high-profile indigenous activist earlier this year.

Honduras unrest

Morales address

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia, yesterday.

Mexican drug boss Guzman’s extradition to US approved ReutersMexico City

A Mexican judge has ruled that drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman can be

extradited to face charges in the US, the country’s federal court authority said yesterday, days after he was moved to a prison on the US border.

Early on Saturday, Guzman was moved to a high security prison in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez on the US border, and a senior Mexican security offi cial said the kingpin’s extra-dition was in motion and would happen by mid-year.

Eduardo Sanchez, a spokes-man for Mexico’s presidency, said Guzman’s transfer to the state of Chihuahua was due to

upgrades at his previous loca-tion, the Altiplano jail in central Mexico, and not part of an eff ort to deport him to the US.

Guzman, boss of the power-ful Sinaloa Cartel, was for years the world’s most wanted drug traffi cker until his capture by Mexican Marines in February 2014. He then embarrassed the government by escaping from prison through a tunnel last July.

The government recaptured him in January and President Enrique Pena Nieto said soon af-terwards that he had taken steps to ensure Guzman was extradit-ed as soon as possible.

He faces charges ranging from money laundering to drug traf-fi cking, kidnapping and murder in cities that include Chicago, Miami and New York.

Juan Pablo Badillo, one of

Guzman’s lawyers, said his cli-ent’s legal situation was still being processed and that to ex-tradite him now would be a vio-lation of his human rights.

Badillo said there were nine appeals pending against Guz-man’s extradition. However, government officials have said in private that the decision to extradite the drug lord is es-sentially a political decision

dependent on the president. A government source said

yesterday nothing was likely to happen to Guzman for weeks.

A Chihuahua state offi cial, who also asked to remain anon-ymous, said the presence of a US consulate in Ciudad Juarez meant Guzman’s handover could be processed faster than through the US embassy. He said he be-lieved Guzman would be moved

to the United States in a matter of weeks.

Just across the border from Ciudad Juarez is the US Fort Bliss military base, where Guzman could be taken.

Earlier this year, Reuters re-ported that prosecutors in El Paso, the city on the other side of the border from Ciudad Juarez, had staked a claim to try Guzman if he is extradited.

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN23Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Models on the ramp on the last day of Bridal Couture Week in Karachi on Sunday.

Bridal fashion

A farmer collects wheat at a field on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Gathering the crop

Confusion among US troops on Afghan roleReutersKabul

Amid fi erce fi ghting after the Tali-ban captured the northern Afghan city of Kunduz last year, US spe-

cial forces advisers repeatedly asked their commanders how far they were allowed to go to help local troops retake the city.

They got no answer, according to wit-nesses interviewed in a recently declas-sifi ed, heavily redacted Pentagon report that lays bare the confusion over rules of engagement governing the mission in Af-ghanistan.

As the Taliban insurgency gathers strength, avoiding enemy fi re has become increasingly diffi cult for advisers, who have been acting as consultants rather than combatants since Nato forces for-mally ceased fi ghting at the end of 2014.

In the heat of the battle, lines can be blurred, and the problem is not exclusive to Afghanistan: questions have arisen over the role of US troops in Iraq after a US Navy Seal was killed by Islamic State this month.

“’How far do you want to go?’ is not a proper response to ‘How far do you want us to go?’” one special forces member told investigators in a report into the US air strikes on a hospital in Kunduz that killed 42 medical staff , patients and caretakers.

That incident was the biggest single tragedy of the brief capitulation of Kunduz to Taliban militants, and there is no sug-gestion that the mistake was the result of a lack of clarity over the rules of engage-ment.

But the 700-page report, much of it blacked out for security reasons, sheds light on how the rules are not fully under-

stood, even by some troops on the ground, compromising the mission to stabilise the nation and defeat a worsening Islamist in-surgency.

The issues exposed in the report are likely to be considered by the new US commander in Afghanistan, general John Nicholson, as he prepares to makes rec-ommendations in the coming weeks that may clarify or expand the level of combat support the US-led training mission can provide.

“It’s not a strategy and, in fact, it’s a rec-ipe for disaster in that kind of kinetic envi-ronment,” said the soldier, who, like others in the report, was not identifi ed.

He added that his unit, whose role was to advise and assist Afghan forces without engaging in combat, asked three times for commanders to clarify the rules governing their mission.

“Sadly, the only sounds audible were the sounds of crickets ... though those were hard to hear over the gunfi re.”

While acknowledging a lingering “lack of understanding in the West” about the US and Nato role in Afghanistan, US mili-tary spokesman brigadier general Charles Cleveland denied there was confusion among troops over the broader mission.

More than 9,000 US soldiers were “re-trained” on the rules of engagement fol-lowing missteps in Kunduz, in an eff ort to reduce future misunderstandings, he said.

Critics say the confusion comes from political expediency, because US leaders are keen to portray the Afghan operation as designed mainly to help local forces fi ght for themselves.

“The rules of engagement are trapped in the jaws of political confusion about the mission,” a senior Western offi cial told Reuters.

Until the end of 2014, when their com-bat role offi cially ended, Nato forces in Afghanistan peaked at more than 130,000 troops, most of them American. Nato’s presence today is a fraction of the size.

Around 10,000 US troops are divided between the Nato train-and-assist mis-sion called Resolute Support and a US-only counter-terrorism operation against militant groups that include Al Qaeda and Islamic State but not the Taliban.

Under publicly declared rules of en-gagement, US advisers in Resolute Sup-port generally cannot attack Taliban tar-gets except in self defence.

As government forces have struggled, however, the defi nition of “self defence” has appeared less sharply defi ned, with some US air strikes conducted to defend partnered Afghan units.

The Kunduz report indicates at least some US troops have been sent into battle with questions unanswered.

The Green Beret complained that fail-ure to provide clear guidance represented “moral cowardice”, and that political lead-ers intentionally keep the mission vague.

That allows them to “reap the rewards of success without facing the responsibil-ity of failure,” he added.

Soldiers pleaded for “clearer guidance” and more clarifi cation of overly compli-cated rules, according to investigators.

The Pentagon has not fully publicised rules governing the use of force by US troops, who may be called upon to act un-der either type of mission, sometimes in the same battle.

In the four days leading up to the hospi-tal attack, US special forces called in nine close air support strikes under the author-ity of counter-terrorism, and 13 under Resolute Support, according to the report.

As part of self-defence, coalition troops have “some latitude” in calling air strikes on militant targets that may not be direct-ly attacking them, but could soon pose a threat, Cleveland said.

Last year the Pentagon announced that Afghan forces could be helped under ex-treme conditions.

Additionally, under a “Person with Designated Special Status” classifi cation, Afghan units operating closely with inter-national advisers can be protected by air strikes as if they were coalition forces, ac-cording to Cleveland.

Further complicating matters are counter-terrorism rules that allow strikes against Al Qaeda, as well as militants linked to Islamic State which did not ex-ist when the US military intervened in Af-ghanistan in 2001, but not the Taliban.

In recent weeks US commanders in Af-ghanistan have reported that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are working more closely to-gether, signalling that the dominant Tali-ban group could once again be attacked by more air strikes.

Calling the authorities in Afghanistan “exceptionally complex,” previous train-ing had failed to prevent confusion, the Kunduz report found.

Afghan soldiers fire artillery during a battle with Taliban insurgents in Kunduz.

Hydro planfi nance tobe securedthis month InternewsIslamabad

Pakistan’s 969MW Nee-lum-Jhelum Hydropow-er Project (NJHP) will

achive “fi nancial closure” this month with the federal gov-ernment set to sign a $1.53bn loan agreement soon with local banks’ consortium and Chi-nese Exim Bank, a top offi cial said yesterday.

Expected to be completed next year, this project would become the country’s fourth largest hydropower plant and help overcome energy shortage that have hindered Pakistan’s economic growth for years. Government’s estimates show that every year, energy short-age eats into the country’s GDP growth.

Under the proposed agree-ment with the consortium of 16-member local banks led by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), the federal govern-ment will guarantee Rs100bn (around $960mn) worth of 10-year Sukuk (Islamic bonds)-the investment certifi cates that follow religious princi-ples and without interest pay-ments.

The draft agreement is fi nal, and the water and power devel-opment Aauthority (Wapda) will sign it with the consortium on behalf of Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) by May 2016.

For the foreign exchange component of the project, a $576mn loan agreement will also be signed with the Chinese Exim Bank this month.

However, to fulfi ll the legal requirements, the ministry of water and power has sent the agreement documents with Exim bank to the ministry of law and justice for vetting. Once, these are cleared, we will sign it, CEO of the project gen-eral (retired) Muhamad Zubair said.

“By this month, the project will achieve its fi nancial close after signing loan agreements with the local banks’ consor-tium and Chinese Exim Bank,” Wapda chairman Zafar Meh-mood said.

Interestingly, the project has so far achieved more than 80% physical progress, but is yet to achieve its fi nancial close.

“Wapda is confi dent of com-pleting the fi rst generating unit of the project in mid-2017 and rest of the three units in phased manner by December 2017.”

When the chairman was asked about the impact of In-dia’s diverting water for its own Kishenganga hydroelectric project after the Hague’s Per-manent Court of Arbitration (PCA), ruled in its favour in the fi nal verdict on December 20, 2013, he said: “It will have a minimal impact, as according to the verdict, India can divert

water for power generation but will have to maintain minimum environmental fl ow of nine cubic metre per second in the river in winter.”

Whereas, in four months of summer, water fl ow is always high and almost all four tur-bines will be running of the project, but in winter, water fl ow reduces, so the operation of turbines too. In other hy-dropower projects too, in win-ter, most of the turbines are kept idle due to low water level while in summer all are always operational.

Except from delay in the project due to unavailability of funds, the rupee-dollar parity was one of the instrumentals in ballooning cost.

A decade ago, when the project was started, a US dollar was of around 43 rupees and now it is more than 100 rupees.

“IDC component of the project will be more than Rs200bn [almost half of the project cost]. Had the project funded in time, it would have been completed much earlier and with lower IDC compo-nent,” the chairman said when asked about IDC volume.

The IDC is the interest that accumulates on a loan that fi -nances the construction of the building.

It is calculated until the project begins to generate rev-enue. As three-fourth of the project is from debt fi nancing, so is its IDC, a senior offi cial in planning commission said.

The Neelum-Jhelum Hy-dropower Project is being constructed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Ninety per cent of the project is underground. It has four units with 242.25 megawatts each.

The project was fi rst ap-proved in 1989 and after im-proving its design, tunnels length generation capacity, it was intended to begin in 2002 and be completed in 2008, but signifi cant delay was experi-enced and then rising cost.

Since 2002, the project PC-I has been revised for three times, while its cost has been revised for fourth time which is yet to be completed.

The cost for Neelum-Jhelum approved by Ecnec on Janu-ary 22, 2011, was Rs84.5bn. Its PC-I was revised to Rs274.88bn on July 4, 2013 af-ter changes in already applied OBE/DBE (operating/designed basis earthquake) parameters and increased component of providing security to Chinese and expatriate staff of consult-ants. In December 2015, the PC-I was again upward revised and the Ecnec approved its Rs404.32 bn cost. —Internews

The federal government will guarantee Rs100bn ($960mn) worth of 10-year Sukuk

US backs sale of F-16s to Pakistan: State department offi cial tells congressInternewsIslamabad

The US state department has informed congress that it wants to retain the fl exibility that foreign assistance provides, to do business with Pakistan.

“It is critical that the state department maintains the fl ex-ibility to provide assistance for Pakistan that advances US in-terests,” said a department offi cial when asked how the recent congressional restrictions could aff ect US-Pakistan relations.

“We seek aid for Pakistan because it’s in our interests; it advances our broader security interests, and meets critical humanitarian and development needs,” the offi cial said.

The offi cial pointed out that the state department’s assist-ance request for fi scal 2017 was down by over 60% from the high point earlier in the decade (2010).

“We think the funding level requested is appropriate and in our interest,” he added.

The US congress recently stopped the administration from using its foreign military fi nancing (FMF) facility to enable Pakistan to buy eight F-16s. Also, a congressional panel en-dorsed a draft bill to block $450 million in aid to Pakistan for failing to take action against the Haqqani network.

The restrictions have strained relations between the Unit-ed States and Pakistan that were getting back to normal after

years of tensions. The recent developments also show that Pakistan has not won back the friends it has lost on Capitol Hill since 2011.

Pakistan reacted to the congressional restrictions by pledg-ing to buy aircraft from other sources, apparently China, and rejected the claim that it was allowing militant groups to use its territory for carrying out attacks in Afghanistan.

“As a general matter, the department of state would oppose conditions on assistance that would limit the president and secretary of state’s ability to provide assistance in the best interests of the United States,” said the state department of-fi cial.

The offi cial noted that while Congress had not sought to block the sale, key members had made it clear that they ob-jected to using FMF to support the sale.

“Given the Congressional objections, we have told the Pa-kistanis that they should put forward national funds for the purchase,” the offi cial said.

When asked what the state department was doing to deal with the situation caused by the congressional restrictions, he said: “I would prefer to keep the details of our conversa-tions with the Hill and Pakistan on this issue private.”

But “we support the sale, and we will continue to work with Congress. However, we have told the Pakistanis that they should put forward national funds for the purchase, given Congressional objections”, he added.

Duterte poised to win presidential election AFPManila

Anti-establishment fi re-brand Rodrigo Duterte was heading yesterday

for a huge win in the Philippine presidential elections, according to a poll monitor, after an incen-diary campaign dominated by his profanity-laced threats to kill criminals.

Duterte, the longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, has hypnotized millions with his vows of brutal-but-quick solutions to the nation’s twin plagues of crime and poverty, which many believe have wors-ened despite strong economic growth in recent years.

Duterte had 38.72% of the vote, with 75% of the to-tal counted, according to the PPCRV, a Catholic Church-run poll monitor accredited by the government to tally the ballots.

That put him 5.3mn votes, or about 16 percentage points, ahead of his nearest rival, ad-ministration candidate Mar Roxas.

“He’s almost a sure winner now,” prominent political ana-lyst Ramon Casiple said.

Before the results came out, Duterte was already speaking like a winner as he called for ri-valries to be put aside following one of the nation’s most bitter and divisive campaigns in the Philippines’ history.

“I want to reach out my hand and let us begin the healing now,” Duterte told reporters in Davao, the nation’s third-biggest city, which he has ruled for most of the past two decades.

However, he said he would not proclaim himself the victor until it was offi cial.

“I am not there until I am there, and that is the when last vote is counted and you are de-clared a winner. At this time it would be presumptuous of me,” he said.

Roxas had 22.39% of the vote, while Senator Grace Poe trailed closely in third, according to the PPCRV.

In the Philippines, a winner is decided simply by whomever gets the most votes.

Duterte, a pugnacious 71-year-old, surged from out-sider to the top of surveys with cuss-fi lled vows to kill tens of thousands of criminals, threats to establish one-man rule if lawmakers disobeyed him and promises to embrace communist rebels.

He also boasted repeatedly about his Viagra-fuelled af-fairs, while promising voters his mistresses would not cost a lot because he kept them in cheap boarding houses.

Duterte caused further dis-gust in international diplomatic circles with a joke that he wanted to rape an Australian missionary who was killed in a 1989 Philip-pine prison riot, and by using an expletive against the Pope.

Departing President Benigno Aquino, whose mother led the democracy movement that ousted Ferdinand Marcos three decades ago, had warned repeat-edly the nation was at risk of succumbing to another dictator-ship.

“I need your help to stop the return of terror in our land. I cannot do it alone,” Aquino said in an appeal to voters in a fi nal rally on Saturday in Manila for Roxas, his preferred successor and fellow Liberal Party stal-wart.

In his fi nal rally on Saturday, Duterte repeated to tens of thou-sands of cheering fans his plans to end crime within six months of starting his presidency.

“Forget the laws on human rights,” said Duterte, who has been accused of running vigi-lante death squads in Davao.

“If I make it to the presiden-

tial palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because as the mayor, I’d kill you.”

Aquino, who is limited by the constitution to a single term of six years, had overseen average annual economic growth of 6% and won international plaudits

for trying to tackle corruption. However, his critics said he

had done little to change an economic model that favours an extraordinarily small number of families that control nearly all key industries, and has led to one of Asia’s biggest rich-poor divides. This criticism appeared to have hurt Roxas, a member of the wealthy classes.

Another key message of Du-terte’s campaign was his pledge to take on the elite, even though his vice presidential running mate was from one of the na-tion’s richest and most power-ful families. Poe, the adopted daughter of movie stars, had seen her popularity slide after critics pointed to her taking US citizenship then later giving it up.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, the early favourite, was in a dis-tant fourth place, according to the poll monitor, after crumbling under the weight of a barrage of corruption allegations.

In an intriguing sub-plot, former dictator Marcos’ son and namesake had a slight lead in the race to be elected vice president, according to the poll monitor, which would cement a remark-able political comeback for his family. Page 28

Key facts on Philippine elections

The Philippines has held the na-tional elections yesterday, follow-ing six years of strong economic growth under President Benigno Aquino who nevertheless has been criticised for failing to fix a devastating rich-poor divide. Below are key facts and figures on the Philippines and its politi-cal system:

The country and its political system

The Philippines became an independent nation in 1946, following more than 400 years as a colony of either Spain or the US. National languages are Filipino and English.

Its system of government is a US-style democracy with a president, a bicameral legislature and an independent judiciary. A president is limited by the con-stitution to a single term of six years. Presidents and vice presi-dents are elected separately. A new constitution was written after a “People Power” revolu-tion ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

People and poverty The developing nation is

plagued with widespread pov-erty, various insurgencies and corruption.

Unemployment is high and about 26% of its 102mn people live on roughly $1.30 a day or less. About 10% of the popula-tion lives overseas, seeking a better life abroad.

Elite rule The country is run by remark-

ably few political families. A

study released in April showed 70% of members of Congress belonged to a political dynasty.

Political activists and analysts say elite rule and celebrity politics are set to be deeply entrenched in these elections. They cite as an example the likely dominance of powerful politicians’ relatives of the 12 available Senate seats. Boxing hero Manny Pacquaio is also likely to win a Senate seat.

Election figuresA total of 18,083 posts are

being contested, most of which are local positions such as on town councils. There are also 1,634 town mayoral posts up for grabs, and 81 provincial gover-norships.

Half of the 24 seats in the Senate are also on off er, as are all the seats in the 286-member lower house.

There are 54mn Filipinos aged 18 or over who may vote. Voting is non-compulsory but elections since the fall of Marcos in 1986 have had high turnouts, averag-ing 76%.

Violence Philippine politics has a long

history of violence. Politi-cians, particularly at local and provincial levels, are willing to bribe, intimidate or kill to ensure they win. Rebels also carry out attacks to extort money from political candidates.

At least 15 people have been killed in election-related violence this year, according to police.

People queue up to cast their votes for the presidential election at a polling station in Manila yesterday.Presidential frontrunner and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he is interviewed by reporters at a hotel in Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao yesterday.

President Benigno Aquino casting his vote in Tarlac town, north of Manila.

Presidential candidate and senator Grace Poe shows to media her voter’s receipt after casting her ballot inside a classroom at a polling precinct during a national election in San Juan, Metro Manila.

Call for summit to solve South China Sea spat The presumptive winner of the Philippine election yesterday said that if he became president he would settle rows over the South China Sea with multilat-eral talks that would include allies the US, Japan and Australia as well as claimant nations. Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of Davao City, said China should respect the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone granted to coastal states under international law and should team up with the Philippines to jointly exploit off shore oil and gas. “I would say to China, ‘do not claim anything here and I will not insist also that it is ours’. But then I will just keep (turn) a blind eye,” he told reporters, as results of an unoff icial vote count came in showing him winning a hefty 40% of the votes. “If you want joint ventures, fine, we can get the gas and the oil,” he said. “I believe in sharing.” Tensions between the Philippines and China have risen as an international tribunal in the Hague pre-pares to deliver a ruling in the next few months in a case lodged by Manila in 2013 that could undermine Beijing’s claims to 90% of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court’s authority.

Duterte, 71, has puzzled diplomats with what has so far been a contradictory position on how he would deal with China’s assertiveness and a blockade by its coastguard of waters and islands claimed by the Philippines. During one presidential debate he said he would call for dialogue with Beijing, but moments later added he would ride a jet ski to disputed Spratly islands oc-cupied by China and plant a Philippine flag there. But yesterday he said that talks were needed be-tween claimant countries -- the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China -- plus big pow-ers like the US, Australia and Japan. “They would want a multilateral roundtable discussion, probably this year,” he said of Western countries. “I do not think anyone is interested in going to war. Although we are allies with America, we will agree to, say, multilateral participation.” China’s dominant presence in disputed waters has complicated protracted Philippine eff orts to exploit oil and gas in coastal waters by local firms, which operate mostly with foreign partners.

10 dead across nation in polling day violence AFPManila

At least 10 people died across the Philippines in election day violence

yesterday, as gunmen attacked polling stations, ambushed vehi-cles and stole vote counting ma-chines, police said.

However authorities described the violence as isolated incidents and that the overall conduct of the elections -- which will see tens of millions of people cast their votes for president and

18,000 other positions — was peaceful.

In the worst attack, seven peo-ple were shot dead in an ambush before dawn in Rosario, a town just outside of Manila known for political violence, Chief Inspec-tor Jonathan del Rosario, spokes-man for a national police election monitoring task force, said.

In Guindulungan, a small im-poverished town in the strife-torn southern Philippine prov-ince of Maguindanao, where warlord-politicians have their own private armies, a voter was shot dead inside a polling sta-

tion, police said. A bystander was also killed when a grenade was launched at a market in Cotaba-to, a major city in the south that neighbours Maguindanao, as people were casting their votes, police said.

In the nearby town of Sultan Kudarat, a stronghold of the na-tion’s biggest rebel group, 20 men forced their way into a vot-ing centre and carted away voting machines, police chief Senior In-spector Esmael Madin said.

In the northern province of Abra, infamous for politicians killing each other, armed sup-

porters of rival mayoral candi-dates shot at each other, leaving one person dead and two wound-ed, provincial police spokes-woman Marcy Grace Marron told AFP by telephone.

Police arrested two men and two women with guns after the fi ghting in the mountainous town of Lagayan, 350 kilometres north of Manila, Marron added.

Still, elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the vio-lence would not impact the re-sult, noting they had taken place in known “hot spots” where extra security forces were in place.

Military spokesman Colonel Noel Detoyato also voiced little alarm.

“There are isolated incidents. (They) had minimal eff ect on the conduct of the elections,” he said.

Fifteen people had been con-fi rmed killed in pre-election vio-lence since the start of the year, according to the national police poll monitoring taskforce.

Political violence is a long-standing problem in the Philip-pines, fuelled by lax gun laws, corrupt security forces and po-litical “dynasties” that often have their security forces.

Policemen checking a man at a checkpoint along a highway in Datu Unsay town, Maguindanao province, on the southern island of Mindanao.

24 Gulf TimesTuesday, May 10, 2016

PHILIPPINES

SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL25Gulf Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

SWIFT blamed for making BB vulnerable to hackers Bangladesh’s central bank

became more vulnerable to hackers when techni-

cians from SWIFT, the global fi nancial network, connected a new bank transaction system to SWIFT messaging three months before a $81mn cyber heist, Bangladeshi police and a bank offi cial alleged.

The technicians introduced the vulnerabilities when they connected SWIFT to Bangla-desh’s fi rst real-time gross set-tlement (RTGS) system, said Mohammad Shah Alam, the head of the criminal investiga-tion department of the Bangla-desh police who is leading the probe into one of the biggest cyber heists in the world.

“We found a lot of loopholes,” Alam said in an interview in Dhaka. “The changes caused much more risk for Bangladesh Bank (BB).”

He and a senior central bank offi cial said the SWIFT em-ployees made missteps in con-necting the RTGS to the central bank’s messaging platform.

The technicians did not ap-

pear to have followed their own procedures to ensure the system was secure, according to the Bangladesh Bank offi cial, who said he was not authorised to publicly comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Because of this, SWIFT mes-saging at the central bank was widely accessible, including re-mote access with only a simple password, police said. It had no fi rewalls and only a rudimentary switch.

“It was the responsibility of SWIFT to check for weaknesses once they had set up the system. But it does not appear to have been done,” said the bank offi cial.

SWIFT’s chief spokeswoman Natasha de Teran said she had no comment on the allegations by authorities in Bangladesh. She also declined comment on any aspect of the Bangladesh project, including whether the fi rm had deployed any employ-ees or outside contractors to Bangladesh Bank.

Reuters was not able to in-dependently verify the allega-tions by Bangladeshi offi cials about the SWIFT technicians. If they are validated, however, that could undermine confi -dence in the co-operative that is

the backbone of global fi nancial transactions.

The offi cials in Dhaka dis-cussed their fi ndings with Reu-ters ahead of a meeting this week in Basel, Switzerland where Bangladesh Bank offi cials have said their governor and a lawyer appointed by the bank will discuss recovery of about $81mn stolen by the hackers with the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a senior executive from SWIFT.

Bangladesh Bank offi cials have said they believed SWIFT, and the New York Fed, bear some responsibility for the February cyber heist. SWIFT has declined comment on that claim.

The RTGS, which enables domestic banks and the central bank to settle large transfers be-tween themselves, was installed at Bangladesh Bank in October last year and then connected to SWIFT. In February, hackers sent fraudulent messages, os-tensibly from the central bank in Dhaka, on the SWIFT system to the New York Fed seeking to transfer nearly $1bn from Bang-ladesh Bank’s account there.

Most of the transfers were blocked but about $81mn was sent to a bank in the Philippines

and much of that money re-mains missing.

A spokesman for Bangladesh Bank declined comment on the investigation into the heist.

He said, however, that RTGS continued to work well, noting that a large number of coun-tries use SWIFT messaging for similar systems. “There is no inherent risk in this,” he said.

According to the Bangladeshi police, the technicians linked the RTGS to SWIFT computers on the same network as about 5,000 central bank comput-ers that are accessible from the open Internet.

Instead, they should have set up a separate local area network, or LAN, that could not connect to the rest of the bank or the Internet, police said.

The technicians also failed to install a fi rewall between the RTGS and the SWIFT room so that the bank could block ma-licious traffi c from coming into the facility.

When they installed a net-working switch to control ac-cess to SWIFT, they chose to use a rudimentary old one they had found unused in the bank, rath-er than a more sophisticated, managed switch that gave the

bank the ability to control accessto the network, police said.

During the job, the techni-cians set up a wireless con-nection so they could access computers in the locked SWIFT room from other offi ces inside the bank. When they fi nished, they failed to disconnect the remote access, which was only secured with a simple password, police and the bank offi cial said.

They also failed to disable a USB port on the computer at-tached to the SWIFT system, as is usual for critical networks to prevent malicious software from being installed through a tainted thumb drive, police said.

Police did not provide any ev-idence for any of the assertions.

But another central bank of-fi cial familiar with the SWIFT room operations confi rmed that the port was “active” until the heist came to light. He had no explanation.

The hackers used malicious software to modify the SWIFT messaging software to help hide their tracks.

Bangladeshi police said they have asked SWIFT to facili-tate interviews with the SWIFT technicians. “Whether it is in-tentional or negligence, we are

trying to fi nd out,” said Alam. SWIFT, or the Society for

Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is used by about 8,000 banks around the world to order funds transfers and other communications. It is connected to RTGS systems in-stalled at scores of banks world-wide, and there have been no reports of problems elsewhere with connections between those two systems.

The US FBI, which is leading investigations into the case, has made no comment so far.

New York Fed executive Ri-chard Dzina said at a confer-ence last week that bank work-ers “acted properly” in releasing the funds. The system was pen-etrated, he said, because the hackers had acquired valid credentials to order the transfers

Former central bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin, who is heading an internal probe by Bangladesh Bank into the heist, said SWIFT needed to review its technology in the wake of the heist.

“It seems to be a case of ex-treme carelessness,” he said. He declined to provide more details saying a fi nal report was due in the next few weeks.

ReutersDhaka/Boston

Pak envoy summoned over Nizami remarks

Bangladesh yesterday sum-moned Pakistan’s High Commissioner Shuja Alam

after Islamabad expressed con-cern over the death penalty given to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Mo-tiur Rahman Nizami over “war crimes”.

A Bangladesh apex court ver-dict paves the way for Nizami’s execution over his involve-ment in the crimes committed during the 1971 war that led to Bangladesh’s independence.

Bangladeshi foreign secretary Mizanur Rahman summoned Alam. A foreign ministry offi cial told Xinhua that a “protest note” was handed over to the Pakistan envoy.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry expressed “deep concern” over the dismissal of Nizami’s fi -nal review petition against his death sentence by Bangladesh’s Supreme Court.

Nizami was indicted in 2012 with 16 charges of crimes against humanity, including looting, mass killings, arson, rape and forcefully converting people to Muslims during the 1971 war.

Verdict text released: The Bangladesh Supreme Court (SC) yesterday released the full text of its verdict rejecting the re-view petition of Jamaat-e-Isla-mi chief Nizami, thus uphold-ing the death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

The written verdicts were released after the four judges – Chief Justice Surendra Ku-mar Sinha, Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foyez Siddique - of the Supreme Court bench signed the copies of the verdicts turning down the peti-tion to review its earlier order upholding the death sentence for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

Additional registrar Sab-bir Foyez said a copy of the full verdict was sent to the ICT yes-terday. Thereafter it would be forwarded to the jail authorities through the tribunal, he said.

With presidential clemency the only option left for him to avail, speculation is growing that Nizami is set to soon meet the same fate as three of his fel-low erstwhile leaders of Jamaat - Qader Molla, A H M Qamruz-zaman, Ali Ahsan Mujahid, - and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

Earlier, Nizami was shifted to Dhaka Central Jail from Kash-impur Central Jail in Gazipur on Sunday night.

IANSDhaka

Nepal president presents policies for new year

With due focus on im-plementing the new constitution, car-

rying out post-earthquake re-construction and holding local elections, Nepal’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari presented the government’s policies and programmes for the upcoming fi scal year, in the parliament.

“The upcoming fi scal will be marked as the year of constitu-tion implementation and of jour-ney towards prosperity,” Kath-mandu Post quoted President Bhandari as saying while pre-senting the document yesterday.

However, with the absence of a deal with the Madhesi parties, who have opposed several pro-visions of the new constitution,

the implementation seems to be diffi cult.

The politico-economic doc-ument has focused on formula-tion of new laws and regulations in line with the new constitu-tion and restructuring of local bodies and administrative units under the seven provinces. The top priority has been given to the passing of 138 new laws, which is essential for enforcing the charter.

The document vowed to ad-dress “genuine demands” of the Madhesis, but laid out no road-map. Lawmakers affi liated with the Madhesi Morcha boycotted the address citing the govern-ment’s “lack of interest” in ad-dressing the grievances of the Madhesi people.

The 32-page document de-scribed the economic loss the country faced due to the devas-

AgenciesKathmandu

Bidhya Devi Bhandari inspects the guard of honour before presenting the government’s annual policy and programme for the next fiscal year 2016/17 at parliament in Kathmandu. The document mainly focused on the implementation of the constitution and federalism and the acceleration of post-quake reconstructions.

tating earthquakes last year, fol-lowed by months of agitation in the plains and a blockade of the southern border at length. The document, however, was short on detailed plans for recovery.

The document also highlighted the signing of historic trade and transit agreement with China, and amendment to 193 laws as major

achievements of the government in the past seven months.

Apart from commencement of the distribution of the fi rst installment of grants for re-construction of houses, formal beginning of the reconstruc-tion of heritage sites and public property were also mentioned.

Plans to implement the agree-

ments signed with India and China during the offi cial visits of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli were also highlighted.

The policy has set a timeline to complete the reconstruction of all the earthquake-damaged structures within fi ve years.

The government has an-nounced to hold elections at

the local bodies, which have been without elected repre-sentatives for the last 14 years, in November-December.

The government has announced development plans for each of the seven provinces besides laying emphasis on compulsory and free education to be realised gradually up to the twelfth grade.

Govt denies rumours of expelling Indian envoy

Nepal has rubbished ru-mours of plans to ex-pel Indian ambassador

Ranjit Rae following the can-cellation of President Bidhya Devi Bhandrai’s visit to New Delhi and the recall of its envoy from New Delhi.

Rumours were in circulation in Kathmandu since Sunday that the government was pre-paring to declare Rae, who was

said to have breached several diplomatic norms - including the Vienna Convention - per-sona non-grata (PNG), mean-ing his diplomatic immunity would be withdrawn.

The rumours gained ground after Prime Minister K P Shar-ma Oli cancelled Bhandari’s visit and recalled Nepal’s am-bassador to India Deep Kumar Uphadhya apparently in re-taliation of India’s supposed hand in toppling his govern-ment.

After some media outlets

reported that a closed door meeting at Oli’s residence discussed possibility of de-claring Rae PNG, this simul-taneously created turmoil in New Delhi and Kathmandu prompting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa to issue a state-ment on Sunday evening say-ing: “Some media speculation regarding Nepal government mulling expulsion of Indian ambassador Rae is baseless and is aimed at damaging Ne-pal-India relations.”

IANSKathmandu

Writ plea against Oli-Dahal dealIANSKathmandu

A writ petition was yes-terday fi led in Nepal’s Supreme Court against

the nine-point agreement reached last week between Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and UCPN (Maoist) chairper-son Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The joint writ fi led by law-yers Ananta Raj Luitel, Kedar

Luitel, Manoj Khadka, Pravindra Raj Joshi and Rudra Pathak has named the government and Of-fi ce of Prime Minister and Coun-cil of Ministers as the defend-ants, said the Kathmandu Post.

The petitioners in the writ demanded issuance of a man-damus order to stop the two-party agreement from being enforced.

The writ argues that the agreement was made against the principle of independ-

ent judiciary and also without abiding by the constitution.

CPN-UML chairperson and Prime Minister Oli and UCPN (Maoist) chairperson Dahal had on May 5 signed a nine-point agreement to supposedly strengthen the ruling alliance.

The deal came about after Dahal gave up his bid to topple the Oli government and form a government with support from the main opposition Nepali Congress.

As climate shifts, tradition threatens Lanka rice harvest

In mid-April, at the same time of year as their families have done for generations,

Sri Lanka’s paddy farmers start-ed cultivating their rice fi elds.

But this year, that may be too late.

President Maithripala Sirisena has warned Sri Lanka’s farmers that they may run out of water before their crops are ready to harvest. Devotion to tradition - in particular, planting spring crops after a traditional New Year’s holiday in mid-April - could now prove devastating, he said.

But many farmers are so far not convinced that old schedules need to change to match new cli-mate patterns - a problem many countries around the world face as they try to adjust to changing weather patterns.

Ranjith Sumanadasa, 50, a paddy farmer from Rajanganaya region in Sri Lanka’s north-cen-tral province, has been cultivating his rice for close to four decades based on traditional timetables.

“I learned from my father that after the March harvest we will celebrate Avurudhu, and then prepare the fi elds around a week or two later, then the wa-

ter comes,” he said. “There is no other way I know of.”

In early April, at a public rally in his native Polonnaruwa dis-trict, Sirisena explained how he had tried to convince Sri Lanka’s rice farmers to start cultivating a few weeks earlier than nor-mal, to take advantage of recent rains that had fi lled some of the country’s reservoirs almost to capacity.

Sticking to the traditional timetable, he said, would mean losing much of that needed wa-ter to evaporation.

“I instructed the Water Man-agement Committee to release water for paddy farmers as soon as possible,” Sirisena said on April 2. “But the paddy farm-ers remain unmoved. They want to start the cultivation after the (traditional) New Year.”

Rains during the last weeks of March fi lled some reservoirs in the north and central parts of the country. As authorities released water from hydropower reser-voirs to generate electricity, they also sent some to the smaller ir-rigation reservoirs to water rice fi elds, in the hopes the farmers would take advantage and use it right away.

But farmers instead waited over two weeks before using it, Sirisena said. With the island

experiencing temperatures be-tween 2 degrees Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius above average, according to the Meteorological Department, some of that water was lost.

“Because of the hot tempera-tures we are losing hundreds of cubic metres of water daily due to evaporation,” the president told the gathering in Polonnaruwa District. “You have to reconsider getting into the fi elds before the end of the month,” he pleaded.

When Sirisena spoke to the country’s paddy farmers in early April, the main irrigation tanks in the north central and central provinces were at around 80% capacity. But by the third week of April - when farmers wanted to start watering their crops - the levels had dropped by 20%, offi cials said.

Water management offi cials estimate that close to 300mn litres of water were evaporat-ing daily across Sri Lanka. That could mean trouble for the pad-dy farms, which cover over 10% of the country’s land area.

“You will have to bear respon-sibility if there is a water short-age mid-season,” the president told farmers.

To make matters worse, Sri Lanka has experienced below-average rains across most of the

island through April, according to the Met Department. May is also predicted to be unseasonably dry.

In 2014, a similar spell of dry weather hit Sri Lanka’s rice farmers, resulting in a harvest of 3.3mn tonnes, 17% less than the year before. Although Sri Lanka’s farmers are aware of the shift in the country’s climate patterns - and the potentially dire consequences - many refuse to change the way they farm.

Sri Lanka’s paddy farmers have long followed a cultivation schedule based on two monsoon seasons: Maha, between No-vember and March, and Yala, be-tween April and October. Based on that timetable, paddy farmers begin to prepare their fi elds for cultivation only after Avurudhu, the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year that falls between April 13 and April 14.

According to Namal Karu-naratne, national organiser of the All Ceylon Peasants’ Fed-eration, the country’s monsoons used to bring around 4.5mn metric tonnes of rain each year.

But the seasonal rains have be-come unreliable, with one study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology suggesting rainfall over the Indian subcontinent has decreased between 20 and 30% over the last century.

Reuters Rajanganaya

Making the right pass at a crucial moment made Michel Platini one of the world’s greatest footballers, but poor timing cost his place as one of the most powerful men in sport.

The 60-year-old Frenchman, who quit as UEFA president yesterday after failing to overturn a ban from world football, regularly battled back from injury and other blows to star in some of football’s most dramatic moments as a player. Escaping FIFA’s corruption turmoil has been a trick too far.

The time between his work as an adviser to FIFA president Sepp Blatter between 1999 and 2002 and a two million Swiss francs ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) payment he received in 2011 was not great tactics.

FIFA banned him for eight years saying the reason for the payment stretched credibility. This was cut to six years on appeal. The Court of Arbitration cut it to four years yesterday, but said it also doubted the “legitimacy” of the payment.

Platini angrily said the decision was intended to stop him from standing as FIFA president in four years. But now his time in world football politics is over.

The grandson of Italian migrants, Platini was born and brought up in the small steel town of Joeuf in eastern France. His father Aldo was a local maths teacher and football coach.

Platini won the French Cup with Nancy, a league title with St Etienne and was lured to Juventus in 1982. In Turin, the

genius playmaker won two Serie A titles and a European Cup.

The passes were always inch-perfect and for a time, Platini was one of the greatest players in the world. He won the 1984 European Championship with France and the Ballon d’Or in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

After his retirement, he was co-chairman of the 1998 World Cup

organising committee in France and was an infl uential backer of Sepp Blatter’s bid to take over the FIFA presidency in 1998.

Platini became vice-president of the French Football Federation in 2001 and scored his fi rst major political victory when he took charge of UEFA in 2007 — shoving out long-time leader Lennart Johansson in the fi rst round of voting.

For years he seemed Blatter’s anointed successor. Chung Mong-Joon, the South Korean tycoon and former FIFA vice-president, said there was a “father and son” relationship between the two.

The distance between them grew as scandal engulfed FIFA under Blatter’s imperial rule.

But for three years from 1999 Platini was an adviser to world football’s leader. Their version is that they reached an oral agreement on the salary of one million Swiss francs a year, which was not all paid at the time.

FIFA knew nothing about the deal however, and Swiss prosecutors deemed a two million Swiss franc transfer in 2011 to be a “disloyal payment”.

He also courted controversy over his refusal to hand back a watch worth more than $25,000 that was gifted to him by the Brazilian Football Confederation at last year’s World Cup.

“I’m a well-educated person. I don’t return gifts,” said Platini after FIFA called for all watches given to executive members to be handed back over a breach of ethics rules. Again the timing was doubtful.

In football, as in many sports, timing is important. It holds true in sports administration too.

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In football, as in many sports, timing is important. It holds true in sports administration too

Corruption is a menace to development, human dignity, and global security

By William J Burns and Mike MullenWashington

Pope Francis has called corruption “the gangrene of a people”. US Secretary of State John Kerry has labelled it a

“radicaliser”, because it “destroys faith in legitimate authority”. And British Prime Minister David Cameron has described it as “one of the greatest enemies of progress in our time”.

Corruption, put simply, is the abuse of public offi ce for personal gain. As leaders increasingly recognise, it is a menace to development, human dignity, and global security. At the anti-corruption summit in London on May 12, world leaders – together with representatives from business and civil society – will have a critical opportunity to act on this recognition.

Corruption is decried across cultures and throughout history. It has existed as long as government has; but, like other crimes, it has grown increasingly sophisticated over the last several decades, with devastating eff ects on the well-being and dignity of countless innocent citizens.

For starters, corruption cripples prospects for development. When, say, public-procurement fraud is rampant, or royalties for natural resources are stolen at the source, or the private sector is monopolised by a narrow network of cronies, populations are unable to realise their potential.

But corruption also has another, less-recognised impact.

As citizens watch their leaders enrich themselves at the expense of the population, they become

increasingly frustrated and angry – sentiments that can lead to civil unrest and violent confl ict.

Many current international security crises are rooted in this dynamic. Indignation at the highhanded behaviour of a corrupt police offi cer helped to drive a Tunisian fruit seller to set himself on fi re in 2010, touching off revolutions across the Arab world.

Protesters demanded that specifi c ministers be arrested and put on trial, and they called for the return of pilfered assets – demands that were rarely met.

In places where government offi cials enjoy (and often fl aunt) their enrichment and impunity, extremist groups exploit citizens’ outrage. The only way to restore public integrity, these groups assert, is by means of a rigidly applied code of personal conduct. With no viable recourse – and no avenue for peaceful appeal – such language has grown increasingly persuasive.

It is clear that corruption must be combated. What is less clear is how to do it. In a world of competing demands, corrupt governments may seem to serve vital purposes. One deploys soldiers to the fi ght against terrorism; another provides critical energy supplies or access to raw materials. Leaders must inevitably contend with diffi cult tradeoff s.

To determine the best approach in each specifi c case, governments must analyse the problem more eff ectively, which means improving the collection of intelligence and data. As security expert Sarah Chayes argues in Against

Corruption, the volume of essays that the British government will publish to accompany the summit, corruption today is structured practice.

It is the work of sophisticated networks, not unlike organised crime (with which corrupt agents are often integrated). Governments must study these activities and their consequences the same way they study transnational criminal or terrorist organisations.

Armed with such assessments, donor countries must structure assistance in a way that mitigates corruption risks. Military or development assistance is not apolitical. Programmes must be tailored to ensure that funds are not captured by kleptocratic elites.

This means that anti-corruption efforts can no longer be shunted off to under-resourced specialists; they must be central to the planning of major development initiatives or the sale of costly weapons systems. Recipient governments must understand that funding will dry up if they continue to squander or steal it.

In fact, corruption and its implications must inform the way Western offi cials interact with their counterparts in the developing world. The departments that we spent our careers serving – the US State Department and the US Department of Defense – set great store by building relationships.

Diplomats depend on these relationships to advance their national interests, and professional ties between military offi cers are sometimes the only channels that weather political storms. But diplomats and military brass alike should be willing to take a step back when appropriate, condition their interactions, and make use of available leverage – even at the risk of a counterpart’s wrath.

But, as recent revelations about purveyors of shell companies or bribery by intermediaries demonstrate, much of the real leverage is to be found at home – in the domestic fi nancial and property industries, in public relations and law fi rms that burnish kleptocrats’ images, and in universities that educate corrupt offi cials’ children and solicit their donations.

The application of the US Racketeer Infl uenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) Act to indict offi cers of FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, shows how focusing on Western service providers can curb corruption among foreign offi cials.

Another important tool in the fight against corruption will be technological innovation, which can reduce opportunities for wrongdoing, empower citizens to highlight illegal practices, and enhance government transparency and accountability.

Strides have already been made in a number of areas, from electronic voter registration to electronic payments for civil servants. While technology is no panacea, when paired with wise policy reforms, it can make a meaningful contribution to the fi ght for good governance.

None of these suggestions will be easy to implement. But, to address many of the crises currently besetting the world, a strong focus on combating corruption is vital.

Our hope is that the upcoming conference in London demonstrates the unity of purpose and commitment to action that is so badly needed. - Project Syndicate

William J Burns, former US deputy secretary of state, is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Admiral Mike Mullen was chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff .

Global eff orts vital to combat corruption

Does greener always sell better? By Cass R Sunstein and Simon HedlinLos Angeles Times/TNS

Consumers judge environmentally-friendly goods and services on the basis of stereotypes, which

often turn out to be wrong. As one might expect, green stereotypes are frequently positive, and lead people to perceive green goods as better than they actually are - but sometimes green stereotypes are negative, which producers and public offi cials ought to keep in mind as they try to nudge the market in a more sustainable direction.

Take organic food as an example. An experimental study by researchers at Cornell University looked at the eff ect of labelling processed food as organic. The participants were recruited from a shopping mall in Ithaca, New York, and were asked to taste pairs of food samples, such as cookies, potato chips and yoghurt.

One item in each pair was labelled “organic” and the other item was labelled “regular” - although the items in fact were identical (and, incidentally, organically produced). When participants compared the otherwise indistinguishable samples, they generally were willing to pay more for those with organic labels - and also guessed that they had a lower calorie count. The organic labels even made participants estimate that the food samples had higher fi bre content

and were more nutritious.People’s tendency to let an

impression created in one area infl uence their opinion in another area is often called a “halo eff ect”. This cognitive bias appears in countless situations in our everyday lives, and it has been repeatedly demonstrated in pro-environmental contexts.

The same coff ee, for example, typically is found to taste better if it is labelled “eco-friendly”. One experiment even concluded that the colour green makes a diff erence; candy bars with a green, rather than a red, calorie label made participants perceive the former as more healthful, even though the two labels clearly showed the same calorie content.

Marketing experts of course have long been aware of halo eff ects. People who read nutrition labels have probably come across the term evaporated cane juice. According to many experts, evaporated cane juice is just sugar. Whether or not that’s entirely accurate - there’s a dispute - producers use the term because they think it’s more appealing to consumers, in part because it sounds more natural.

Consumers, however, do not always

prefer to go green. An NPR-Thomson Reuters Health Poll found that about a third of Americans actually favour non-organic over organic food. The primary reason behind this preference? They assume that organic options are more expensive.

In some situations, eco-friendly products may be stereotyped as less eff ective or of lower quality. In one study, participants were asked to judge the eff ectiveness of a fi ctitious formula drink to combat starvation. The drink was described as either organic or not.

Oddly, those who rated themselves as highly environmentally concerned were in fact more likely to say they thought the drink described as organic would be less eff ective than the conventional one.

Recent research we conducted demonstrates a much larger point, bearing directly on current climate change initiatives: Consumers may well leap to negative conclusions about environmentally-friendly energy programmes. In a study published last week, we asked 1,245 Americans about their views on green energy. Through an online survey, we presented participants with a choice among hypothetical energy programmes.

One group was off ered the option of enrolling in a new programme off ered by the state government that would provide households with electricity from eco-friendly sources. Another group was off ered exactly the same

programme, but we added a sentence stating that the cost and quality would be identical to that of their current energy provider.

We found that participants were substantially more likely to state that they wanted to enroll when we highlighted the identical cost and quality of the green energy programme. By itself, that result is not so surprising, but it has two important implications.

First, many people seemed to have assumed, without any evidence, that green energy, as such, would come at a higher price and/or be of lower quality.

Second, simply making it clear that the price and quality would be identical to a less environmentally-friendly option eased many people’s qualms.

Green, then, is perceived as better - unless it isn’t. Some wrongly project desirable characteristics onto environmentally-friendly goods and services; others wrongly do the opposite. Producers and policymakers beware: There’s no guarantee that green labelling, in the absence of basic clarifying information, will entice consumers.

Cass R Sunstein, the former administrator of the White House Offi ce of Information and Regulatory Aff airs, is a professor at Harvard Law School and author of The World According to Star Wars. Twitter: @CassSunstein. Simon Hedlin is a public policy researcher and a contributor to the Economist. Twitter: @simonhedlin.

Platini’s pass too far brings his downfall

Corruption, put simply, is the abuse of public offi ce for personal gain

Marketing experts of course have long been aware of halo eff ects

COMMENT

Playwright Carlos Celdran’s acclaimed new play, Ten Million, a coming-of-age tale set in a time of national turmoil, makes it to the stage in a Cuba that is slowly but steadilychanging

By Alexandre GrosboisAFP/Havana

Scene: 1970s Cuba. A boy growing up in the tumultuous aftermath of Fidel Castro’s revolution is torn between

his communist mother and alienated middle-class father, seeking to fi nd his own way in a world turned upside down by history.

This is the story of Cuban playwright Carlos Celdran’s acclaimed new play, Ten million, a coming-of-age tale set in a time of national turmoil that has finally made it to the stage, decades later, in a Cuba that is slowly but steadily changing.

Celdran, 52, takes a searing look at the fallout of the 1959 revolution, something that could never have made it past the communist government’s censors in the era the play depicts.

“Cuban theatre has changed, just like Cuban society, which has opened up to more controversial and complex visions of itself,” Celdran told AFP.

The play takes its title from Castro’s ambitious campaign in 1970 to harvest 10mn tons of sugar, the cash crop the island depended on for its economic survival.

After Cold War enmity cost Cuba its biggest trade partner, the US, Castro ordered a nationwide mobilisation

to reach the record-shattering sugar target.

The project embodied all the hope of the revolution. And its ultimate failure would come to embody its disappointments.

The central character, played by 26-year-old actor Daniel Romero, is a youth with no name whose mother throws herself into the campaign, joining the crews of students and factory workers dispatched to swing machetes in the sweltering cane fi elds.

Described as a “toughness fanatic”, she rejects her fragile, introverted son, sending him to boarding school to

be indoctrinated with revolutionary ideals.

As the years go by and adolescence sets in, he fi nds refuge in books and his fi rst boyish romances, before childhood abruptly ends with the turn of the decade.

In 1980, his father is one of thousands of asylum-seekers who storm the Peruvian embassy in Havana, triggering an international crisis.

After days of diplomatic wrangling, Castro agrees to let them leave for the US, throwing in some prisoners and mental patients for good measure.

In the build-up to the mass exodus

- known as the Mariel boatlift - the young man is forced to go hector the “traitors” outside the embassy.

But even as he marches with the jeering crowd of communist party faithful, he secretly hopes to catch a last glimpse of his beloved father.

Thirty years will go by before he sees him again.

Ironically, his mother makes the same exodus several years after his father, abandoning both her son and her communist ideals.

Celdran wrote the highly autobiographical play more than a decade ago.

“It was born slowly and inadvertently. It was like I needed (to write it),” he said.

But for years, he kept it to himself for personal reasons, he said.

Now he has fi nally brought it to the stage at the state-run and -funded Argos Theatre, a 100-seat venue that he directs and which sits just off Havana’s iconic Revolution Square.

Ten Million arrives just as Cuba is turning the page on the events it portrays by slowly reopening to the world, most notably by restoring ties with the US.

The play does not point fi ngers or take sides in its treatment of Cuban history, approaching it instead through emotion and personal experience.

That seems to have struck a chord with theatregoers.

“Never in all the years I have worked in the theatre in this country have I seen an audience react like they react to this play. There’s such a special communion with the audience,” said actor Caleb Casas, who plays the father.

“I think we all see this as something special for all of us that Carlos wrote, that he brought out over such a long period of time. He has fi ltered it and it’s there, every thing, every word, makes an impression on the audience.”

Every Cuban has lived the events depicted in the play, directly or vicariously. Performances are often pierced by sobs from the audience, according to the cast.

“For me, it’s like an exorcism,” said Waldo Franco, who plays the narrator.

“Every night I free myself from a diff erent demon I’ve kept inside.”

Play wrestles with past in changing Cuba

Live issues

The damage of a toxic work environment

Letters

By Marie G McIntyreTribune News Service

QUESTION: I recently left a company where the environment was extremely toxic.

Management had a group of favourites, and anyone outside the inner circle could quickly become a target. There was absolutely no trust among the staff . Because our behaviour was constantly scrutinised, I never dared to voice an opinion about anything.

Fortunately, my new company has a totally diff erent culture, with managers who are encouraging and helpful. However, I can’t seem to get over my previous experience. I frequently feel paranoid and fi nd it diffi cult to trust anyone.

How can I forget the past and become a normal employee?

ANSWER: The aftermath of working in a toxic organisation can be

similar to post-traumatic stress. Many people carry the emotional baggage to their next workplace, where fear-based reactions can easily damage new relationships and create a self-fulfi lling prophecy. So you need to fi x this problem as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, you have already taken the fi rst step towards recovery by recognising that your self-protective impulses are no longer rational or necessary. Next, you can begin to modify your behaviour by identifying the specifi c situations which trigger your anxiety. This will allow you to decide in advance on a healthier response.

If you have helpful and trustworthy colleagues, you might even consider requesting some feedback, without elaborating on your earlier troubles.

For example: “One thing I really love about this company is the emphasis on teamwork. In my last job, collaboration was actually discouraged, and everyone operated independently. Now I’m learning to be a team player, so if I can improve, please let me know.”

Altering established patterns can be tough. But if you become more open and trusting, your colleagues are likely to respond in kind, thereby reinforcing your new behaviours. Before long, you should begin to feel more comfortable in this warm and supportive environment.

Don’t play games while you work

Q: I recently got in trouble for playing a game on my mobile phone. In the business club where I work, maintaining a professional image is extremely important. While working the registration table at a club event, I began playing the game during a slow period. One of our managers saw me and immediately e-mailed my boss.

Although I know my behaviour was unprofessional, I believe this manager was out to get me. If he was so concerned about the club’s

image, he could have spoken to me personally and told me to put away the phone. Should I talk to my boss about the manager’s hostile attitude?

A: The only thing you should tell your boss is that the game-playing was inappropriate and will never happen again. Criticising the guy who reported you would just make a bad situation worse.

Correctly or not, this manager apparently felt that contacting your boss was preferable to approaching you directly. Mentally tagging him as “hostile” or “out to get you” will only lead to future problems. So instead of overreacting, put aside your resentment and just regard this incident as a valuable lesson learned.

Marie G McIntyre is a workplace coach and the author of Secrets to Winning at Office Politics. Send in questions and get free coaching tips at http://www.yourofficecoach.com, or follow her on Twitter @officecoach

Bus stop appealto MowasalatDear Sir,

Mowasalat’s public transport service is growing day by day in Qatar, with a steady increase in the number of people using it. The company, at this crucial juncture in its growth, should welcome public suggestions and consider them to further improve and expand its services.

Mowasalat now has no bus stop between the Jaidah fl yover and the Midmac roundabout. A few bus drivers do stop near the Jarir store out of kindness for people waiting there but most of them don’t stop because it is not an offi cially-declared stop.

Commuters hope that Mowasalat would establish a proper bus stop near the Jarir store or at some other point between Jarir and the Midmac roundabout. It will be very useful for a large number of people.

The irony is that while Mowasalat’s highly-trumpeted transport service on the Salwa Road is running with almost empty buses, people are walking in dusty and hot weather looking desperately for a ride on the route.

Azeez Manjiyil(Address supplied)

An ideal agenda for Modi visitDear Sir,

First and foremost, I thank Gulf Times for publishing my letter “Indian expatriates look forward to Modi’s visit” (Gulf Times, April 4), supporting the idea of his visit to Qatar. Now as per the latest reports, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Qatar soon and we, the expatriates from the South Asian country, are all excited to receive him and to share with him our experience, expectations, aspirations and ambitions.

Nevertheless, at this juncture, I am concerned that Modi’s visit and audience should not be restricted to those who are occupying coveted positions from the Indian community. Instead, Modi must interact with Indian workers from various levels as he has done in Saudi Arabia during his recent visit there.

He should also meet with Indians who have contributed to the workers’ welfare and are active in community service. This will enable the Indian premier to understand the real situation and to take measures as required for improving the overall scenario.

I am quite confident that with able, dedicated and top-notch professionals in the Indian embassy and active co-ordination by the ministry of foreign affairs headed by none other than Sushma Swaraj, the impending visit of the Indian PM will bring joy, cheers and overall

benefits to all concerned. The trip will help the economies

of both Qatar and India to come still closer and reach new heights with their proven synergies.

V Kalyanaraman(e-mail address supplied)

Cuban actors Daniel Romero and Maridelmis Marin performing during a rehearsal of Ten Million at Argos Theatre in Havana.

Please send usyour lettersBy e-mail editor@gulf-times.comFax 44350474Or Post Letters to the EditorGulf TimesP O Box 2888Doha, Qatar

All letters, which are subject to editing, should have the name of the writer, address and phone number. The writer’s name and address may be withheld by request.

Gulf Times Tuesday, May 10, 2016 27

Cuban theatre director Carlos Celdran, right, watches the last rehearsal of his play Ten Million at Argos Theatre in Havana. The play revolves around a boy growing up in the tumultuous aftermath of Fidel Castro’s revolution is torn between his communist mother and alienated middle-class father, seeking to find his own way in a world turned upside down by history.

Three-day forecast

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OFFSHORE DOHAWind: SW-NW 05-15/20 KTWaves: 2-4/6 Feet

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26/17

Charming Charlie’s new store opens at Ezdan Mall Women’s contempo-

rary jewellery and accessory retailer

Charming Charlie recently hosted a launch event at its Ezdan Mall store.

The store was officially in-augurated by Ilona Shtrom, commercial attache at the US embassy in Doha.

The 2,900sqft store is op-erated by Charming Charlie’s international licensing part-ner Apparel Group, which has planned further growth for the brand in the Middle East this

year, according to a statement.The Charming Charlie store

in Doha offers a full range of products, including fashion jewellery, handbags, apparel, small leather goods, scarves, watches, sunglasses, a special occasion collection and more.

Each location showcases the brand’s newest retail concept with “signature double doors in vibrant pink lacquer and a residential-style interior that mixes feminine, mid-century accents with luxe materials and whimsical details”, the state-

ment said. “We’re thrilled to be introducing the Charm-ing Charlie brand to Qatar,” said Charlie Chanaratsopon, founder and CEO of Charming Charlie.

“As one of the world’s com-mercial capitals, Doha is an essential market for our ex-panding footprint in the Mid-dle East. It’s exciting to bring Charming Charlie’s colour-ful palette of accessories and playful shopping experience to more women throughout the world.”

Charming Charlie is a wom-en’s contemporary jewel-lery and accessories retailer that offers “unrivalled value through high-quality style and an accessible price”, the state-ment added.

Launched in 2004 by Chanaratsopon, the brand is known for merchandising its broad assortment of product by colour. Charming Charlie has more than 350 global re-tail stores across the US, Can-ada, the Middle East and the Philippines. Dignitaries and off icials at the store’s inauguration.

Philippine embassy in Qatar sees ‘signifi cant’ turnout of voters By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

The Philippine embassy in Doha has achieved “a sig-nifi cant 35.02% turnout of

voters” in the presidential elec-tion with a total of 15,956 votes cast in the month-long overseas voting in Qatar.

“The turnout is the second highest in the GCC after Bahrain and the third highest in the Mid-dle East and North Africa region after Bahrain and Israel,” ambas-sador Wilfredo Santos told the media before the start of the of-fi cial counting yesterday at the chancery.

“I think it is the highest turn-out ever achieved in the history of overseas voting in Qatar. I am very pleased with the turnout of this 2016 national elections here,” the envoy said.

“We were able to meet our targets and at the start of the election, the Commission on Elections and the Department of Foreign Aff airs expected an 80% turnout,” Santos noted.

That assessment was later re-vised to 50% and I think this 35% turnout is higher than the actual worldwide turnout of 30%.”

“This is a very good develop-ment.”

As of press time, embassy offi -cials who served as Special Board of Election Inspectors were still in the process of consolidating the results of the election at the chancery.

Santos believes the 2016 na-tional election proved that vot-ers are well informed largely due to having direct access to information through social media.

The debates organised dur-ing the campaign season also enabled them to be more in-

formed especially about the platform of the candidates, he said. “This provided them with an opinion with what these candidates will do for the next six years of their administra-tion,” Santos added.

About the presidential front-runner, he believes that Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte had an impact because he “seems to generate interest among over-seas Filipino workers and part of the youth.”

The envoy expects the new leadership to effect improve-ments in the lives of Filipinos and the economic conditions of the country, which are rea-

sons for running for public of-fice.

While these promises have to be carried out, he said Filipinos have to unite behind whoever will be elected.

“The time for all of these poli-ticking is over and the will of the people will have to be followed, the voice of the people has been heard, and once the results will be offi cially announced, I think all of us will have to unite,” he stressed.

About the main legacy of the Aquino administration, Santos said the president was able to achieve high rates of economic growth. He point-

ed out that Aquino’s drive against corruption is sig-nificant given the fact that the Philippines was scrapped from the bad reputation of be-ing one of the corrupt coun-tries in the world.

Aquino has done a lot on im-proving defence by upgrading military capability, according to the envoy.

“That will allow us to maintain minimum credible defence to the procurement of equipment including mili-tary jets for our air force and other warships for our navy,” he added.

“The economy under the

president is very stable, we were able to become a destina-tion for investment and trade,

and also tourism picked up, which is something I hope we can continue since everything

is looking bright for the Phil-ippines in terms of economic performance,” Santos added.

A 35.02% turnout of voters has been seen for the 2016 Philippine national elections

Ambassador Wilfredo Santos and other embassy off icials prepare for the off icial counting of the overseas voting in Qatar yesterday. Right: Embassy off icials and staff who served as Special Board of Election Inspectors start tabulating the results of the month-long overseas voting. PICTURES: Joey Aguilar

Majority of OFWs favour Duterte for president: Gulf Times survey

An overwhelming majority of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar favour Rody Duterte as the next president of the Philippines, an on-line survey conducted by Gulf Times revealed. Of the people who participated, about 56% voted in favour of Duterte. Participants were asked a simple question: “As an overseas Filipino worker in Qatar, who will you vote for president in the elections slated for May 9?” The question was posted on the Gulf Times website and Twitter page.

The following is the percentage of votes polled by the other candidates: Grace Poe - 10 %, Jejomar Binay - 4 %, Mar Roxas - 19 % , Miriam D Santiago – 13% (website) and Grace Poe 15%, Jejomar Binay - 7 %, Mar Roxas - 19 % (Twitter).Anti-establishment firebrand Rodrigo Duterte was set to secure a huge win in yesterday’s Philippine presidential elections, according to the PPCRV, a Catholic Church-run poll monitor accredited by the government to tally the votes.

The Salesman among DFI-supported fi lms to screen at Cannes

The Salesman, written and directed by celebrated fi lmmaker Asghar Farhadi

and co-fi nanced by Doha Film Institute (DFI), will mark its world premiere in the offi cial competition of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Six other fi lms supported by the DFI Grants programme have been offi cially selected to screen in key sections at the global fi lm event running from May 11 to 22.

The Salesman is produced by Memento Films Production and Asghar Farhadi Production, in co-production with Arte France Cinema and in association with DFI, Memento Films Distribu-tion and Arte France.

Forced out of their apartment due to dangerous works on a neighbouring building, Emad and Rana move into a new fl at in the centre of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant will dramatically change the young couple’s life. The Salesman stars Shahab Hosseini (A Separation) and Taraneh Alidoosti (About Elly).

Fatma al-Remaihi, CEO of DFI, said: “We are delighted

that seven fi lms supported by the institute have been offi cially selected at Cannes this year. The selection of The Salesman in the festival’s offi cial competition section is an achievement we are all very excited about as it adds to our pride in partnering with international productions that set new benchmarks in excel-lence in fi lmmaking.”

Among the six DFI grantee fi lms, two have been selected for the Un Certain Regard sec-tion – Apprentice (Singapore, Germany, France, Hong Kong,

Qatar) written and directed by Boo Junfeng, and Dogs (Roma-nia, France, Bulgaria, Qatar) by Bogdan Florian Mirica.

Showcased in the Direc-tors’ Fortnight is Divines (Mo-rocco, France, Qatar), directed by Houda Benyamina. The re-maining three DFI grantee fi lms will compete for top honours in the Critics Week, includ-ing Mimosas (Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar) by Oliver Laxe, Tramontane (Lebanon, France, UAE, Qatar) by Vatche Boul-ghourjian and Diamond Island

(Cambodia, France, Germany, Qatar) by Davy Chou.

As part of Qatar’s presence in Cannes, DFI is also presenting a special Made in Qatar (MIQ) showcase of short fi lms at the Cannes’ Short Film Corner, a section of the festival dedicated to showcasing fi lms from more than 90 countries to thousands of accredited industry guests, festival selectors and short fi lm industry specialists.

The line-up includes winners of the Best Documentary Film and Best Narrative Film at Ajyal 2015, The Palm Tree by Jassim al-Remaihi and Asfoora by Ma-yar Hamdan, respectively, Good as New by Jasser Alagha, Yellow Nights by Abdullah al-Mulla, The Notebook by Amna al-Binali, Light Sounds by Karem Kamel, Veganize it by Khalid Salim, To My Mother by Amina Ahmed al-Bloshi and Inside Out by Fahad al-Obaidly.

Since premiering at Ajyal in 2015, the MIQ package has screened at Clermont Ferrand and Berlinale and is also sched-uled to screen in Sarajevo and several other festivals on the in-ternational circuit later this year. A still from The Salesman.

A still from Mimosas.

28 Gulf TimesTuesday, May 10, 2016

QATAR