THURSDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10009

February 25, 2016Jumada I 16, 1437 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals GULF TIMES

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QATAR

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In brief

QATAR

REGION

ARAB WORLD

INTERNATIONAL

COMMENT

BUSINESS

CLASSIFIED

SPORTS

28, 29

1 – 8, 12 – 16

9 – 11

1 – 12

3 – 12, 31, 32

13

14

15 – 27

INDEX

SPORT | Page 1BUSINESS | Page 1

Qatar’s El Jaish defeat UAE’s Al Ain 2-1

Qapco close to fi nalising ethane expansion project

WORLD | Survey

Doha ranks among top 100 safe cities Mercer’s Quality of Living rankings 2016 places Doha among top 100 cities for personal safety of expatriates in the Middle East and Africa region. The host city of FIFA World Cup 2022 ranks 70th in this segment of the rankings. Only a handful of cities in this region place in the top 100 for personal safety – with Abu Dhabi ranking highest in 23rd place, followed by Muscat (29), Dubai (40) and Port Louis (59). Mercer has crowned the Austrian capital Vienna as the city with the best quality of living in the world. Dubai (75) continues to rank highest for quality of living across Africa and the Middle East, followed by Abu Dhabi (81) and Port Louis (83) in Mauritius. The South African cities of Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg rank 85th, 92nd, and 95th respectively.

REGION | Appreciation

Yemen hails Qatar’s supportive stance The Yemeni government has praised Qatar’s stances in support of Yemen on the political and relief fronts as well as its eff orts to enhance Yemen’s unity, security and stability. Speaking to QNA on the sidelines of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen conference, Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi said his governments appreciated “the honourable stances” of Qatar on the political, development, relief and humanitarian fronts. Page 10

Partnership to promote Qatar as art, sports hub Qatar Museums and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy sign a memorandum of understanding

Qatar will be promoted as a lead-ing global art, cultural and sporting hub, according to a

memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Qatar Museums (QM) and the Supreme Committee for Deliv-ery & Legacy (SC).

QM, under the patronage of its chairperson HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, is responsible for developing, promoting and sustaining Qatar’s cultural sector.

The SC is tasked with delivering the infrastructure required for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

The partnership, designed to build and strengthen the collaboration that already exists between the two organi-sations, will principally focus on shar-ing knowledge and expertise.

The SC will work with QM on both a consultancy and service delivery basis. At the same time, QM will support the SC in the development and evaluation of various projects, as well as delivering a number of events and workshops. QM will also be installing a number of art-works in all of the 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums as part of the collaboration.

The partnership will provide access for the SC to QM’s resources, facilities and institutions, and allow for joint promotional activities through various

channels, including social media and newsletters.

The SC recently organised work-shops at the Fire Station, the home of QM’s Artist in Residence Programme. The workshops were led by Qatari art-ist Faraj Daham and Saudi Arabian art-ist Saddiq Wasil.

Participants were inspired by the proposed stadium designs, along with the SC’s Al Rayyan Recycled Art Project, which will see deconstructed materials being used to create instal-lations within the new Al Rayyan Sta-dium and precinct. Attendance at the workshops exceeded expectations, while the work created was outstand-ing.

QM acting CEO Mansoor bin Eb-rahim al-Mahmoud said: “At Qatar Museums, we have always been a great supporter of the SC’s work and this commitment will strengthen the ca-pabilities of both our organisations. Together we share a similar purpose, which is to show that Qatar is open to the world and we look forward to work-ing together more closely in support of this aim.”

The SC’s assistant secretary gen-eral for Tournament Aff airs, Nasser al-Khater said: “We are proud to be working closely together with Qatar Museums, and this MoU further illus-trates the extent to which we are com-mitted to employing the power of sport and culture to enhance Qatar’s hosting capabilities.”

30mn-year-old rock found under World Cup stadium

Rock samples up to 30mn-year-old have

been unearthed under one of the Qatar

2022 World Cup stadiums, the

The Supreme Committee for Delivery &

Legacy (SC) said yesterday.

The “Dukhan rock” was found during

construction of the 40,000-capacity

Qatar Foundation Stadium, which is set to

host matches up to the quarter-final stage

in six years’ time. Off icials have called it an

“extraordinary find”.

“As we dug down deeper on site, we came

across interesting and distinct colour

bandings on the rock formations,” said

SC’s Competition Venues project manager

Eid al-Qahtani .

Samples were then taken of the rock,

which dated it back to approximately up

to 30mn years ago.

“We discovered that the rocks in question

originated under water, forming a layer

known as the middle-Eocene epoch. This

is an extraordinary find,” he added.

“We decided to conduct further research

into the ‘Dukhan rock’ which has been

identified by a site investigation and

geotechnical study.”

Excavation at the site reached 17m in

depth.

Some eight stadiums will be used for the

competition in Qatar, including the Qatar

Foundation Stadium.

Traffi c cameras record more than 600 violations More than 600 violations have

been registered for off ences such as overtaking from the

right, changing lanes at intersections and stopping in the yellow box, with the help of cameras, the Ministry of In-terior (MoI) has said.

In a post on its Facebook page, the MoI said these off ences could now be caught by cameras and radars installed specially for this purpose at intersec-tions and signals.

“From now, there is no need for the presence of traffi c police or patrols to monitor these violations. More than 600 violations of overtaking from the right, changing lanes at intersections and stopping in the yellow box have been registered until now,” the MoI post explained.

The Traffi c Safety and Engineering Department at the ministry recently started imposing fi nes for the above-mentioned off ences with the help of these cameras.

“We urge all motorists to strictly abide by traffi c regula-tions for your safety and to avoid

getting fi ned,” the MoI said.The surveillance cameras, installed

on several roads across Qatar, would augment monitoring of a number of traffi c violations and enhance road safety, Gulf Times had reported in Oc-tober last year.

The new cameras have been installed as part of the “Talaa” project, which aims to activate security surveillance cameras on streets and main roads in the country to monitor violations of all types, as specifi ed by the traffi c law, an MoI offi cial had said.

Meanwhile, the MoI – in another post on Facebook – has provided a slew of safe-driving tips, reminding motor-ists of the need to follow traffi c rules and comply with signals and signs, in-cluding marks on roads.

In particular, the ministry has said motorists should be careful while changing lanes to avoid accidents.

The MoI has advised that people should drive through the appropriate track in accordance with a car’s speed. Before changing lanes, one should use the signal and check for other vehicles

by looking in the mirrors and the blind spot. A motorist must also give way to vehicles in the lane s/he is moving into.

The ministry has reiterated that mo-torists should avoid overtaking from

the right and urged them to maintain suffi cient distance.

“We also advise motorists not to use mobile phone while driving to avoid crashes,” the post said.

The recently-installed cameras help record violations such as overtaking from the right, changing lanes at intersections and stopping in the yellow box. PICTURES: Ministry of Interior

The cameras have been installed on a number of key roads.

QNA, AFPDoha

The Ministry of Foreign Aff airs in Doha has called on all Qatari citizens not to travel to Leba-

non. In a statement yesterday, the min-

istry urged the citizens who are in Lebanon to leave for their own safety and contact the Qatari embassy in Beirut to provide them with the nec-essary facilities and assistance.

Earlier yesterday, in a statement cited by the offi cial Kuna news agency, the Kuwaiti embassy in Beirut also advised Kuwaitis to postpone any planned travel to Lebanon.

The mission said all citizens should leave “except in extreme cir-cumstances”, and advised those who stay to exercise caution and

avoid unspecifi ed, unsafe areas. Qatar and Kuwait join Saudi Arabia,

the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in issuing travel warnings for Leba-non.

Riyadh has also halted a $4bn mili-tary and police funding programme for Beirut in response to what it said were “hostile” positions linked to Hezbollah.

Riyadh’s ambassador in Lebanon, Ali Awad Assiri, said yesterday that Lebanon must apologise for failing to join other Arab nations in condemn-ing attacks on Saudi diplomatic mis-sions in Iran last month.

“This has upset the kingdom and (Lebanon) has to repair the error with wisdom and courage,” Assiri told AFP.

The attacks on Saudi mis-sions in Iran, which followed the kingdom’s execution of a terror-ist convict, prompted Riyadh to cut

diplomatic ties with Tehran. Syria’s war has exacerbated po-

litical rivalries within Lebanon, which has been without a president for al-most two years because of fi erce disa-greements between Hezbollah and its rivals.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of Yemen’s internationally-recognised government has accused Hezbollah of training Shia Houthi rebels and or-chestrating attacks on Saudi Arabia from Yemen.

The government has evidence of “Hezbollah’s involvement in the Houthi war on the Yemeni people,” Rajih Badi said in a statement to the offi cial sabanew.net agency.

Hezbollah militants are present in “the battlefi elds along the border with Saudi Arabia”, said Badi, urging “in-ternational legal measures” against the movement.

Qatar urges citizens to avoid Lebanon travel

Civilians walking past the rubble of damaged buildings in the rebel-held historic southern town of Bosra al-Sham, Deraa, Syria. US President Barack Obama yesterday expressed caution about a plan to stop fighting in Syria, while the main opposition group said it had yet to commit to the deal. Combatants are required to say whether they will agree to the “cessation of hostilities” by noon tomorrow, and to halt fighting at midnight on Saturday. The UN hopes the planned halt in the fighting will provide a breathing space for Syrian peace talks to resume. The last round in Geneva broke up earlier this month without progress after the Syrian government launched a Russian-backed off ensive on the city of Aleppo, where more fighting was reported yesterday. Page 14

Caution on ceasefire plan

QATAR3Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

FM holds talks with Bahraini leaders

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah met HE the Foreign

Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who paid a visit to the King-dom yesterday.

The Foreign Minister con-veyed the greetings of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Bahrain’s king and his wishes of fur-ther progress and prosperity for the Bahraini people.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah reciprocated the Emir’s greetings and wishes.

Talks dealt with the bi-lateral relations and means of enhancing them, in ad-dition to issues of common interest.

The meeting was at-tended by Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifah, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister,

and ministers, along with members of the delegation accompanying the Foreign Minister.

Meanwhile, Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Kha-lifah bin Salman al-Khalifah held a separate meeting with HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Ab-dulrahman al-Thani.

The meeting reviewed re-lations between Qatar and Bahrain and ways of devel-oping them in addition to issues of mutual interest.

The two sides reiterated the depth of the relations between Qatar and Bahrain, and the strong links be-tween the two peoples.

Separately, Bahrain’s

Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Khalifah also met HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.

They reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and means of en-hancing them, in addition to a number of regional and international issues.

QNAManama

Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah holding talks with HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.

Qatar-Ethiopia joint committee meets

The Qatari-Ethiopian Joint Technical Com-mittee held its second

meeting here yesterday. The Qatari side was head-

ed by Director of Department of International Technical Co-operation of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs ambassa-

dor Tariq bin Ali al-Ansari in presence of representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce , Ministry of Administrative Develop-ment, Ministry of Labour and Social Aff airs, Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment, Qatar Investment Authority,Qatar Develop-ment Fund, Nebras Power, Qatar Petroleum and General Authority of Civil Aviation.

The Ethiopian side was led by the Director General of Middle Eastern Aff airs at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign aff airs ambassador Siraj Rashid and representd by several ministries and or-ganisations.

Talks during the meet-ing focused on bilateral re-lations between Qatar and Ethiopia, notablly in eco-nomic and development

fi elds in addition to invest-ment opportunities in the Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Aff airs Regassa Kefale met ambassador Tariq bin Ali al-Ansari here yesterday.

They discussed ways to enhance the work of the Qa-tari -Ethiopian joint techni-cal committee for the inter-ests of the two countries.

QNAAddis Ababa

QATAR

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 20166

Under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs held a ceremony to honour 134 graduates who praticiapted

in a skills development programme for supervisory and high-ranking positions. At the ceremony that was held at the ministry, HE the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs Dr Issa Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi thanked the Prime Minister

for sponsoring the event, saying that this reflects the importance attached by the government under the wise leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to build Qatari leaders in a way that promotes the performance of government institutions.

Ministry honours 134 graduates

Indian siblings die in Doha road accident

Indian expatriate siblings Mohamed Junidhul Nibrash (22) and Najmal Rishvan (19) died in a road traffi c accident when their SUV overturned in the Ain Khalid area late in the night on Tuesday, sources told Gulf Times.

It is learnt that they were the only children of their parents, hailing from Kerala’s Kozhikode district. Their father Sakir Maliakkal is director of Barzan Real Estate, Doha.

The brothers were assisting their father in the business. Both were raised in Qatar and studied in a local Indian school. The bodies were re-patriated last night for burial at their native place.

Meanwhile, Jaimon Joseph (36), another Indian expatri-ate who was under treatment for a self-infl icted critical in-

jury, passed away late in the evening on Monday. He was working in a local hospitality group.

Joseph had come to Qatar from Thodupuzha in Kerala. Arrangements are underway to send his body home.

Mohamed Nibrash and Najmal Rishvan

Qatar aims to achieve‘peace and security’

HE the Advisory Council Speak-er Mohamed bin

Mubarak al-Khulaifi has stressed that Qatar, under the leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha-mad al-Thani, always aims to achieve peace, security and stability and works to fi ght terrorism and uproot it regionally and globally.

Addressing the opening session of the fi rst confer-ence for Arab parliament speakers that kicked off yes-terday at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, al-Khulaifi said Qatar has host-ed several conferences and meetings that serve the Arab and Islamic issues.

Al-Khulaifi said the con-ference is taking place amid challenging circumstances regionally and globally that

compel Arab parliamentar-ians to spare no eff ort in discussing the best ways to overcome them.

He called for conceptual-ising a joint parliamentary vision on sustainable devel-opment and the role of Arab parliaments in this regard, noting that the prime target for sustainable development is to reconcile economic development and environ-mental conservation while preserving the rights of fu-ture generations in natural resources.

The Advisory Council speaker said terrorism is a threat that has no religion or homeland, describing it as an abhorrent plague that threatens the lives of in-nocent peoples and strips societies of their sense of security and safety, stress-ing that the whole world has a collective responsibility to uproot it and dry up its sources.

QNACairo

The Cabinet yesterday approved a draft law dealing with various

aspects of private institu-tions for public benefi t.

The draft law is meant to replace Law No 21 of 2006 pertaining to such institu-tions within the framework of the modernisation of leg-islations, the offi cial Qatar News Agency reported.

The draft law identifi es such institutions as those created by one or more per-sons to achieve a purpose, or more, with regard to public benefi t, without the aim of earning a profi t. It in-cludes provisions related to the terms of establishment of such institutions, which stipulate that the founder must be a Qatari citizen. The consent of the Coun-cil of Ministers is required

for non-Qataris to become founders.

Further, the draft law provides that the institu-tion must have a minimum capital of QR2mn as well as appropriate headquarters to conduct its activities.

After the regular weekly meeting chaired by HE the Prime Minister and Minis-ter of Interior Sheikh Ab-dullah bin Nasser bin Kha-lifa al-Thani at Emiri Diwan yesterday, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Min-ister of State for Cabinet Aff airs Ahmed bin Abdul-lah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud said the Cabinet approved a proposal to amend the Council of Ministers’ Reso-lution No 34 of 2015 on the governmental committee for co-ordinating confer-ences and events, through

the addition of a repre-sentative from the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs as vice-chairman.

The committee will con-sider government agen-cies’ proposals for holding conferences and events in the country and express its opinion on their benefi ts to the State.

It will also co-ordinate with the authorities con-cerned on hosting confer-ences, meetings, festivals, exhibitions and various events in the State that have been approved, fi x their dates and prepare an annual scheme and schedule, QNA reported.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet approved the Council of Ministers’ draft decision to form a tenders and auctions committee at the Ministry

of Transport and Commu-nications.

Further, the Cabinet took necessary measures for the ratifi cation of some agree-ments between the govern-ments of Qatar and Turkey. These are a co-operation agreement on the develop-ment of public fi nance man-agement, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual recognition of cer-tifi cates of eligibility for sea workers and an MoU in the fi eld of environment.

It also reviewed a draft decision of HE the Minister of Higher Education on the implementation of some provisions of Law No 18 of 2015 regulating the practice of educational services, and took the appropriate deci-sion.

The Cabinet also re-viewed a letter by the Tax Appeal Committee at the Ministry of Finance per-taining to a report on the committee’s work and took the appropriate decision.

QATAR

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201610

Precautionary recall

Product Weight Expiry datesSnickers Miniatures 150g Dec 4, ‘16 – Jan 8, ‘17Mars Minis 144g Dec 11, ‘16 – Jan 8, ‘17Mars Minis 270g Dec 11, ‘16 – Jan 8, ‘17Mars Miniatures 150g Dec 4, ‘16 – Jan 1, ‘17Best of Our Minis 710g Sep 11, ‘16 – Nov 13, ‘16Best of Our Minis 500g Sep 4, ‘16 – Nov 13, ‘16

Yemeni minister praises Qatar’s role in relief eff ort

The conference on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen concluded in Doha

yesterday with Yemeni Minister for Local Administration and Chairman of the Higher Com-mittee for Relief, Abdalrguib Fath, hailing the eff orts of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha-mad al-Thani, the Qatari gov-ernment and the people to sup-port his country.

The conference, entitled “Hu-manitarian Crisis in Yemen....Challenges and Prospects for Humanitarian Response”, saw at least 90 regional and internation-al humanitarian organisations and more than 150 experts and spe-cialists in relief and humanitarian fi elds taking part in the event or-ganised by Qatar Charity.

The tree-day conference dis-

cussed the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, exchange of informa-tion, and follow-up mechanisms for determining needs of the Yemenis and the distribution of aid according to geographic ar-eas, among other things.

The sessions and workshops of the conference focused on as-sessment of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, identifi cation of needs in multiple humanitarian sectors such as education, health, water and sanitation, livelihoods, economic empowerment, shelter,

food and protection. On the concluding day, yes-

terday, a high-level meeting was held to review the outcomes, launch new initiatives, partner-ships, alliances and co-ordinate fi eld actors.

Representatives of the organi-sations and the conference or-ganisers highlighted the event’s success in shedding light on the humanitarian crisis.

In his closing address, Yemeni minister Fath described the con-ference’s aims as humanitarian

‘par excellence’ and committed to neutrality, transparency and responsibility to support about 27mn Yemenis suff ering from a real disaster.

He noted in this context that 21mn Yemenis accounting 82 % of the country’s population need humanitarian aid of various kinds, including 14mn people who need healthcare.

About 2,800,000 Yemenis are displaced in various provinces and more than 3mn children are out of school, he said while not-ing that various educational in-stitutions have been destroyed.

Dr Ahmad Mohamed al-Mu-raikhi, Director of International Development Department at the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs, stressed Qatar’s fi rm commit-ment to stand by the Yemeni people during its humanitarian plight. Qatar has and will spare no eff ort in supporting the Yem-eni people cause, he said.

QNADoha

Ministry allays fears over Mars chocolates in Qatar

The Ministry of Pub-lic Health (MoPH) has announced that it has

taken all the necessary meas-ures to ensure that the local market is free from chocolate products of Mars Incorporated, produced in the Netherlands, which are said to contain plas-tic pieces.

Quoting offi cial statements from Mars Incorporated in the GCC region and the local dis-tributor of the company in Qa-tar, the MoPH said none of the aff ected products has been dis-tributed in the local market.

“Besides, only 100 cartons have entered the country and all of them have been seized be-fore distribution,” according to a statement from the ministry.

The MoPH has sent a circular to all ports of entry in the coun-try to retain any related cargo to make sure that it is safe and fi t for human consumption.

The chocolate products in-cluded in the warning are

Snickers Minis, Snickers Mini-atures, Mars Mini, Mars Mini-ature and Best of Our Minis, all of which are produced in the Netherlands and carry the barcodes 5000159473996, 4011100037915, 5000159474931 and 4011100023710.

Meanwhile, Mars Gulf, in-cluding the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman markets, has decided to have a precautionary recall of a selection of Snickers (Minia-tures), Mars (Minis and Mini-atures) and Best of Our Minis products made in the Nether-lands after fi nding a piece of red plastic in one Snickers bar

purchased in Germany. The statement said it was

a voluntary measure taken by Mars to avoid any possibility of health hazards that may be caused by the presence of pieces of plastic.

Mars Gulf also pointed out that it was an isolated incident, limited to certain products made in the Netherlands.

“This incident has no im-pact on any of our same choc-olate brands or products other than mentioned already or produced in other countries regardless of format, size, batches or packaging,” the statement added.

Traffi c diversion in Mesaimeer

Diversion on Temporary truck route

A temporary closure will be in place be-tween Mesaimeer

Passport and Immigration and near the entrance of Al Jazeera Academy (as shown in the map).

The closure will be imple-mented in four phases: The fi rst phase: From 11pm today and 4am on Sunday (Febru-ary 28).

The second phase is from 11pm on March 3 to 4am on March 6. The third phase: From 11pm on March 10 and 4am on March 13.

The fourth phase: From 11pm on March 17 to 4am on March 20.

The vehicles travelling to Abu Hamour, Ain Khalid,

the Wholesale Market, and Al Thumama areas will have

to use Rawdat Al Khail Street or the alternatives routes.

A temporary closure and diversion on both directions for

a distance of 1.5km on the Temporary Truck Route from Dukhan Highway to-wards Lusail northbound (as shown in the map).

Ashghal will also close the roundabout located on the Temporary Truck Route and the two roads branching off it to Umm Al-Afai petrol station westbound and the access to Al Rayyan Stadium and Umm Al-Afai area east-bound. The diversion will begin tomorrow and may last six months.

During the period, traffi c will be diverted to a newly constructed two-lane dual carriageway and a rounda-bout adjacent to the closed road and roundabout on the western side (as shown on the attached map).

The speed limit will be re-duced to 60 kph throughout the diversion route to ensure the safety of the road users and workforce involved in project.

This diversion is required

to carry out construction works of an access line tun-nel which will pass through the New Orbital Highway and Truck Route Project - Salwa Road to North Relief Road (contract two).

Cabinet approves draft law on private non-profi t institutions

Delegates at the conference on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Customs expands single window electronic clearance system

The General Authority of Customs in Qatar (GAC) is expanding

and integrating Al Nadeeb, the recently launched single window electronic clear-ance system, with all minis-

tries and other government bodies, said an offi cial.

The soon to be launched Al Nadeeb II, currently un-der development, will fa-cilitate completion of cus-toms clearance procedures

even before the goods arrive in Qatar, said Mohamed Ahmad al-Mohannadi, op-erations and risk Analysis manager at GAC.

“The launch of Al Na-deeb has made Qatar number one in Arab world and tenth globally in the ease of customs procedures and regulations,” said al-Mohannadi. Qatar has been graded at 5.4 points.

The customs checkpoint at Abu Samra at the border with Saudi Arabia is also being integrated into the Al Nadeeb system, launched to provide advanced cus-toms services to customers in Qatar in line with global standards.

“Al Nadeeb has trans-formed Qatar into an active partner in facilitating glo-bal trading with the provi-sion of fully transparent customs environment en-suring security and safety through unique system for risk management and se-lectivity,” said al-Mohan-nadi.

“Under Al Nadeeb it takes only 15 minutes to fi nish cus-toms clearances under the system, reduces paper work and it has an inspection per-centage ratio of less than 5% ” added al- Mohannadi.

11Gulf TimesThursday, February 25, 2016

QATAR

Strong winds likely

Strong winds are ex-pected over most parts of the country

today, the Met depart-ment has said.

Off shore areas, too, are likely to experience strong winds along with high seas, according to the weather report.

The forecast for inshore areas says northwesterly winds will blow at speeds ranging from 12-22 knots, going up to 30 knots in some places at times.

Slight to blowing dust are also expected in some areas along with scattered clouds, and it will be rela-tively cold by night.

Northwesterly winds with speeds of 22-30 knots are expected in off shore areas, which may reach 35 knots at times. Partly cloudy conditions are also likely in these areas today along with a chance of scattered rain at fi rst, the weather offi ce has said, noting that the sea level may rise to 13ft at times.

Visibility, meanwhile, may drop to 2km or less in some places at times.

The minimum and max-imum temperatures in the country today are expected to be 17C and 28C, respec-tively, with the forecast for Doha being 20C and 26C.

Experts to take ‘healthy diet’ campaign to schools Organisers of the seventh

Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) will con-

duct a healthy food and nutri-tion awareness programme at 30 schools in the country to educate children about the benefi ts of a healthy diet.

Over the next two weeks, teams of representatives from Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Min-istry of Education, Your Health First, and Qatar Culinary Profes-sionals (QCP) will be visiting pri-mary and middle schools in Doha, Al Wakrah and Al Khor.

Nutritionists from Your Health First will help students distin-guish between healthy and un-healthy foods. They will also be briefed about their benefi ts and possible harm to people’s health.

QCP members will prepare healthy and tasty snacks in front of the students, helping them gain a visual understanding of where food comes from and an appre-ciation of healthy alternatives to common snacks.

“We wanted to create a bridge between the enormous eff ort made on National Sport Day to help people kick-start a healthy lifestyle and the nation-wide food festival taking place in March,” QTA’s festivals and events director Mashal Shahbik said. “Culinary experiences are cultural, social, and entertaining,” she noted.

QTA is also in talks with the Ministry of Education to make special access to QIFF available to school children as a way of diver-sifying their experiences of food.

“We thank QTA for taking the initiative to educate our students about healthy eating, and we wish that this collaboration will con-tinue throughout the festival in a way that contributes to the wel-

fare of all Qatar’s citizens,” Minis-try of Education’s physical educa-tion specialist Faisal al-Badr said.

‘Sahtak Awalan; Your Health First,’ is an initiative developed in partnership between the Ministry of Public Health and Weill Cornel Medicine in Qatar that uses me-dia, digital, and grassroots cam-paigns to make information about healthy lifestyles and preventive measures easily accessible to the local community.

“This new initiative is a won-derful opportunity for Your Health First to continue its work

with young people, ensuring they remain fi t and healthy and are able to meet the challenges of Qatar National Vision 2030,” WCM-Q’s chief communications offi cer Nesreen al-Rifai said.

“Educating children about the benefi ts of a healthy diet and pro-viding them with the knowledge to make informed choices per-fectly complements the mission and vision of Your Health First,” she added.

School children will also be treated to live demonstrations by Ghanem al-Sulaiti, a young engi-

neer who is also passionate about health and nutrition, as well as chefs from the Armenian restau-rant Mamig.

“Our aim is to bring together a group of professional chefs who are going to teach young students how to eat right and, in doing so, become a responsible member of the community,” Qatar Culinary professionals chairman Baran Yu-cel said.

“Any food that requires en-hancing by the use of chemical substances is dangerous to our children’s health,” he noted. “In

order to improve the health of our families, we advise members of the community to stay away from processed food and to go organic.”

QIFF was fi rst organised by QTA in 2010 to showcase Qatar’s mul-tiple food, beverage and hospital-ity off erings from varied cultures.

QTA and co-host Qatar Airways have confi rmed that this year will see the festival experience extend-ing to a week-long event (March 22 to 28), and the addition of sat-ellite festival experiences at many of the country’s other landmarks and eateries.

Nutritionists speak to children about the benefits of a healthy diet.

QATAR

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201612

DFI announces 33 projects for Qumra Doha Film Institute (DFI)

has announced the 33 projects from 19 coun-

tries selected to take part in the second edition of Qumra, slated to begin in Doha on March 4.

Directors and producers at-tached to 13 narrative feature fi lms, 10 feature documentaries and 10 short fi lms will partici-pate in the six-day programme of bespoke industry sessions de-signed to progress their projects and prepare them for interna-tional markets.

The emphasis is on support-ing fi rst-and-second-time fi lm-makers with projects in devel-opment and post-production. There are 15 projects from Qatar-based fi lmmakers, 12 from the Middle East North Africa (Mena) region and six from the rest of the world.

While 11 of the 33 projects are feature fi lms in development, 12 are in post-production and 10 are short fi lms in development.

Twenty of the feature projects are alumni of the DFI’s grants programme and three are by independent fi lmmakers from Qatar. Of the 10 short projects, seven are by Qatari fi lmmakers and three by Qatar-based fi lm-makers identifi ed through the DFI’s ongoing engagement with local industry.

DFI chief executive offi cer Fatma al-Remaihi said an inten-sive programme has been pre-pared for the project delegates so as to inspire them creatively and support them in navigating the evolving landscape of the fi lm industry.

New to this year’s edition is the Qumra Shorts Programme, a dedicated strand designed to ad-dress the unique requirements of short fi lms in development,

To the Ends of the Earth by Hamida Issa (Qatar) is about a Qatari woman travelling on an environmental expedition to Antarctica.

The Mimosas by Oliver Laxe (Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar), is set in the Atlas Mountains in the past, where a caravan searches for the path to take a Sufi master home to die.

during which 10 Qatar-based fi lmmakers will present their projects to a group of interna-tional industry professionals, including script consultants, producers, lab representatives, programmers and buyers, all of whom are experts in the short form.

The 10 short fi lmmakers have been supported by the DFI in various ways throughout their careers and many are alumni of its educational initiatives, work-shops and funding programmes.

Kashta by AJ al-Thani has been supported by the DFI’s grants programme and Amer: The Arabian Legend by Jassim al-Rumaihi is supported by the Qa-tari Film Fund, the newly estab-lished funding and development programme for Qatari fi lmmak-ers, announced last year.

Directors and producers will attend the sessions in Doha where they will be linked with more than 100 experts from all facets of the fi lm industry, including representatives from leading in-ternational fi lm festivals, fund-ing bodies, sales, production and distribution companies along with development specialists and script consultants.

The Qumra Projects delegates will also attend daily master classes and screenings presented by fi ve Qumra Masters who rep-resent some of the leading fi g-ures in world cinema today.

The 2016 Qumra Masters are: Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey), Naomi Kawase (Japan), Joshua Oppenheimer (US), James Scha-mus (US), Aleksandr Sokurov (Russia). Each Master will be matched to a selection of Qumra projects to participate in dedi-cated mentoring sessions with the emerging fi lmmakers.

A scene from White Sun by Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal, The Netherlands, Qatar). The film is a drama about life in a Nepali mountain village in the wake of the decade-long armed conflict.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars posts 21% rise in Qatar sales Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Doha has been recog-nised for its stellar per-

formance in 2015, winning an impressive 11 accolades at the Rolls-Royce annual Regional Dealer Awards for the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and South America, held in Doha.

Following the announce-ment of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars global sales results last month, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha, the sole distributor of the brand in Qatar, had also revealed that it achieved a re-markable 21% increase in sales in 2015, placing it amongst the top fi ve dealerships globally for the brand for the fi rst time ever.

The news comes following the announcement from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars that 2015 was another record-breaking year of sales in the Middle East, with a 4% growth in overall sales meaning that the region maintains its position as the second largest in the world for the brand, representing around a quarter of its worldwide volumes.

The awards ceremony was attended by Alfardan Group president and chief execu-

tive offi cer Omar Alfardan. Commenting on the stel-lar performance, Ihab Allam, general manager, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha, said: “To re-ceive such fantastic accolades among our regional colleagues, in our own home country, gives us a great sense of pride and honour. We try to embody Rolls-Royce’s ethos of striving for excellence across all aspects of our business and this type of recognition further fuels our commitment to the brand, and towards our discerning clients in Qatar; as we always strive to off er the very best to them – from sales, aftersales and beyond.”

To begin with, the team was awarded for its outstanding performance with accolades for Regional Sales Dealer of the Year and Best Phantom Sales Dealer received.

Following that, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha also received awards for Highest Year on Year Sales Growth - recording the highest sales growth across all Rolls-Royce models compared to 2014 - as well as eight certif-icates for outstanding achieve-ments in brand management awarded to Tarek Moataz, Rolls-Royce brand manager in Qatar, in sales awarded to Has-an Al Khansa and Sameer Ma-lik, aftersales awarded to Chris Weglinski, deputy general manager for aftersales services and his team comprised of Ri-chard Martin and Fawzan Saad, and marketing and public rela-tions awarded to the marketing manager, Ziad Boghdady.

“Our achievements could not have been possible without the dedication and passion of our entire team. We look for-ward to continuing drive the brand forward amongst our discerning clientele, and with the unparalleled customer service off ered at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha under the Alfardan Group, we have no doubt that our success will continue throughout 2016 and beyond,” added Allam.

The award winners and off icials of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha with Omar Alfardan at the ceremony.

“To receive such fantastic accolades among our regional colleagues, in our own home country, gives us a great sense of pride and honour”

Danilo Milan Porteria (coupon number 484118) won a 2016 model Toyota Land Cruiser in the third raff le draw of a sales promotion by Family Food Centre (FFC) at its Al Nasr branch yesterday. Ministry of Economy and Commerce off icial Abdulla Eisa al-Enzi supervised the draw.

FFC draw winner named

QU students launch annual Cultural Village

The Student Activities Department at Qatar University (QU) yes-

terday launched its ninth annual Cultural Village.

The event themed “Old is Gold” will take place on February 28 to March 3 and will feature 29 booths. It will also include exhibi-tions and cultural activi-ties such as shows featur-ing traditional and folkloric customs, music, and plays.

Dr Khalid al-Khanji, QU vice president for student aff airs, said: “Cultures from around the world meet under the umbrella of QU. This event refl ects the true meaning of humanity and unity, as we aim to en-gage our students in carry-ing out a message of peace.”

He added: “The event promotes the spirit of friendship among students from diff erent nations and cultures at a time when

the world around us is be-ing aff ected by confl ict and instability.”

Abdullah al-Yafei, as-sociate vice president for student life and services, said: “Enriching the stu-dent community is one of our aims at QU. This annual event refl ects the future vi-sion of the university in its aim to graduate students who appreciate and extend the message of peace and humanity to the world.”

Salwa Zainal, section head of events and campus activities, noted that the theme of this year’s event aims to connect students with their past. “This brings students from dif-ferent countries together and teaches them lifelong skills such as volunteerism, teamwork, organisation, interpersonal relations and problem-solving,” she said.

QAC takes part in Katara exhibitionQatar Aeronautical College (QAC) took part in the exhibition ‘My Future in My Career’ held at Katara - the Cultural Village under the supervision of Al Bayan Preparatory for Girls Independent School. At least 21 universities,

colleges and institutions took part in the exhibition in order to help students in choosing a university or college after completing their secondary level and know the possible prospects of employment by the participating institutions.

REGION

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016

13

Yemen govt says Hezbollahfi ghting alongside Houthis Reuters Riyadh

Yemen’s government ac-cused the Lebanese Shia Muslim militia Hezbol-

lah yesterday of training Houthi forces, fi ghting alongside them and planning attacks in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen’s government and its Gulf partners have long accused Hezbollah’s ally Iran of back-ing the Houthis and seeking to transform the group into a repli-ca of the Lebanese militia to use as a proxy against Saudi Arabia.

Its latest assertion, in a state-ment carried by offi cial media, is based on “many documents and physical evidence”, found in

military positions abandoned by the Houthis, which it said Hez-bollah would not be able to deny.

Both Iran and Hezbollah reject accusations they have provided military aid to the Houthis.

A video recording that Saudi offi cials gave to Reuters and other media and purported to show a Hezbollah operative with the nickname “Abu Saleh al-Libnani (Lebanese)” sitting in a tent discussing tactics with Houthi fi ghters last summer.

Most of the video was muted, but during one of the brief seg-ments with sound he was shown saying “I have a special operation in the heart of Riyadh”.

Asked by one of those listen-ing if it would be a suicide op-

eration, he answered “maybe a suicide operation. What we do is suicide operations.”

Reuters could not independ-ently verify the content of the video or the identity of the man named as Abu Saleh, who spoke in Arabic with a Lebanese accent.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition against the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in a bid to re-store the internationally recog-nised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Although both Iran and Hez-bollah have given vocal support to the Houthis, dismissed Hadi’s government as illegitimate and condemned Saudi involvement in the civil war, they deny giving the group military aid.

Bahrain opposition leadersentenced to one-year jail Reuters Dubai

A prominent Bahraini op-position fi gure was sen-tenced to a year in jail

yesterday on charges of insulting the kingdom’s ruling system in a speech last year, his defence law-yer said.

But the court cleared Ibrahim Sharif, former head of the secu-lar National Democratic Action Society, or Waad, of the more se-rious charge of calling for regime change through illegal means, the lawyer, Mohamed Ahmed, told Reuters by telephone.

The public prosecution, in a statement on social media that did not refer to Sharif by name,

said a suspect was convicted of “insulting the constitutional system in the country and mock-ing it” but cleared him of calling for regime change in violation of the constitution.

“The prosecution is currently studying the reasons for the rul-ing to acquit the suspect of some charges and to look into the pos-sibility of appealing it if legal basis were found for that,” the prosecution said.

Sharif was freed in June last year by royal pardon after serving more than four years in jail for his role in an uprising demand-ing political reforms in the Gulf Arab island nation. He was Waad leader at the time of his arrest in March 2011.

Bahrain says the opposition

has a sectarian agenda and is backed by Shia power Iran. Shia groups deny those charges and Waad says it is secular.

In a speech to Muslim scholars, newspaper editors and members of the Shura Council this week, Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah al-Khalifah an-nounced a series of measures to curb what he described as the expansion of Iranian-inspired militancy in Bahrain.

Those included setting up a committee to monitor fi nan-cial transaction of individuals and organisations, restricting citizens aged between 14 and 18 from confl ict zones and protect-ing places of worship “from re-ligious and political extremism and incitement”.

A handout picture released by Dubai Airport Authority yesterday shows a view of a new extension, Concourse D, that would raise the annual capacity of the world’s busiest airport for international travel to 90mn passengers.

Dubai airport’s new extension to raise capacity AFPDubai

Dubai International, al-ready the world’s busiest airport by international

passenger traffi c, opened a new extension yesterday that will raise its annual capacity to 90mn passengers.

The opening of Concourse D is the “result of a $1.2bn invest-

ment to enhance service and boost capacity for the more than 70 international airlines,” Dubai Airports said in a statement.

British Airways was the first airline to use the new con-course, connected by train to Terminal 1.

“Today we also announce our 2016 forecast which projects 85mn passengers will visit Dubai International this year,” said Du-bai Airports CEO Paul Griffi ths.

Dubai International said it re-mained the world’s busiest air-port for international travel in 2015 with more than 78mn pas-sengers passing through.

Dubai fi rst announced it had overtaken Britain’s Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international passengers last year, after 70.4mn interna-tional travellers passed through in 2014.

Situated on transcontinental

air routes, Dubai is one of several Gulf-based airports to experi-ence prodigious growth in recent years.

Around 100 airlines fl y to more than 240 destinations from the international hub, which is also home to carrier Emirates.

Dubai’s second airport, Al-Maktoum International, opened in 2013 and will be capable of re-ceiving 120mn passengers a year once fully operational.

Stray bulletkills Indianafter Saudiraid: source AFPDubai

Stray bullets killed an Indi-an labourer and wounded three others in Saudi Ara-

bia after a security operation that killed a wanted Bahraini, an Indian community source said yesterday.

“Terrorist” suspect Ali Mah-moud Ali Abdullah was shot dead after opening fi re on offi c-ers sent to arrest him on Tuesday afternoon at a farm in the town of Awamiya, the interior minis-try announced.

The labourer was killed and three other Indians were wounded when “a few bullets entered the room” where they were staying, the Indian source said, asking for anonymity.

Two of the wounded sus-tained minor injuries while the third was apparently hit in the shoulder, the source added.

Interior ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki told AFP in Riyadh that “in the op-eration we carried out there were no casualties” other than the suspect.

A hospital reported hav-ing taken in one dead Indian and three wounded at 1:00am yesterday, well after the secu-rity operation had ended, the spokesman said.

“I don’t see any link,” he said. “It’s being investigated by the police.”

Ibrahim AlMugaiteeb, presi-dent of the Human Rights First Society-Saudi Arabia, said there was “very heavy” shooting in Awamiya on Tuesday.

“It was an exchange of fi re” with the surrounding district of Qatif, he said.

Iranians stand next to the list of main conservative parties’ candidates ahead of parliamentary elections in downtown Tehran yesterday.

Ahead of vote,Iran’s leaderwarns ofWestern ‘plot’ ReutersTehran

Iran’s leader warned vot-ers yesterday the West was plotting pit centrists close

to President Hassan Rouhani against conservative hardliners in an election that could shape the Islamic Republic for years to come.

In remarks refl ecting an abiding mistrust of Rouha-ni’s rapprochement with the West, supreme leader Ayatol-lah Ali Khamenei said he was confi dent Iranians would vote in favour of keeping Iran’s anti-Western stance tomor-row in the fi rst elections since last year’s nuclear accord with world powers.

Rouhani’s allies, who hope the deal will hasten Iran’s open-ing up to the world after years of sanctions, have come under in-creasing pressure in the election campaign from hardliners who accuse them of links to Western powers including the US and Britain.

Those accusations seek to tap into Iranians’ wariness of Western motives and memo-ries of a 1953 coup against na-tionalist prime minister Mo-hamed Mossadegh that was orchestrated by the US and Britain and strengthened the Shah’s rule.

Rouhani yesterday denied ac-cusations from hardliners that the candidates close to him were affi liated with Western powers, calling it an insult to the intel-ligence of Iranians.

In remarks on his offi cial website, Khamenei was quoted as saying he was certain the US

had concocted a plot after the nuclear deal to “infi ltrate” the Islamic Republic.

“When I talked about a US infi ltration plot, it made some people in the country frustrat-ed,” said the Shia clerical leader, who has fi nal say on all major state policy in Iran.

“They complain (about) why we talk about infi ltration all the time ... But this is a real plot. Sometimes even the infi ltrators don’t know they are a part of it,” he said.

“One of the enemy’s ruses is to portray a false dichotomy between a pro-government and anti-government parliament,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

“The nation does not want a pro- or anti-government par-liament, but rather a strong and faithful parliament that is aware of its duties and is not in-timidated by the US,” he said at a rally in the city of Najafabad.

Supporters of Rouhani, bu-oyed by Iran’s nuclear deal, aim to gain infl uence in the elec-tions for the 290-seat parlia-ment and the 88-member As-sembly of Experts, which will choose the country’s next su-preme leader.

But potential detente with the West has alarmed hardliners, who have seen a fl ood of Euro-pean trade and investment del-egations arrive in Tehran to dis-cuss possible deals in the wake of the nuclear agreement.

Since then, hardline security offi cials have arrested dozens of artists, journalists and busi-nessmen, including Iranians holding joint US or British citi-zenship, as part of a crackdown on “Western infi ltration”.

Rouhani had criticised the ar-rests before, saying some “play with the infi ltration word” to pursue their own political goals.

Moves by hardliners to block moderate candidates and por-tray them as stooges of the West have soured the mood in the fi -nal days of campaigning, and Rouhani complained yesterday of a public discourse rife with “abuse, accusations and in-sults”.

Addressing political activists, former president Hashemi Raf-sanjani, one of Rouhani’s most powerful allies, said Rouhani’s election in 2013 “was Iranians’ fi rst step to bring the country back to a path of moderation”.

“I hope people take the sec-ond step in Friday’s elections,” he said.

In an apparent reference to hardliners’ accusations that moderates were under Western infl uence, Rafsanjani said in a statement published on ISNA news agency: “Labelling rivals, in order to turn people’s hopes into despair, has no results.”

“The Iranians ... will prove that they are seeking Iran’s po-litical independence and will say no to colonialism, extrem-ism and tyranny.”

Rouhani has called for a high turnout, even though half of the candidates, mostly moder-ates and reformists, were dis-qualifi ed by a hardline watchdog body, the Guardian Council.

Rouhani’s government signed a deal with six powers includ-ing the US last July under which Iran curbed nuclear activities that might have been applied to developing atom bombs, and secured a lifting of economic sanctions in return.

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016

ARAB WORLD14

Sisi says Russian plane downed by ‘terrorism’ AFPCairo

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi acknowl-edged for the fi rst time yes-

terday that “terrorism” caused a Russian plane crash in the Sinai Peninsula in October that killed 224 people.

“Has terrorism ended? No... Whoever downed that plane, what did he want? Just to hit tour-ism? No. To hit relations. To hit

relations with Russia,” Sisi said in a speech.

Sisi had previously dismissed as “propaganda” a claim by the Islamic State (IS) militant group that it downed the airliner on Oc-tober 31.

The group said it smuggled a bomb on board the plane in the airport of Sharm El Sheikh, a Si-nai resort popular with Russian holidaymakers.

Russia had quickly concluded that a bomb brought down the airliner, and suspended fl ights to

Egypt. Britain also stopped fl ights to Sharm El Sheikh.

The attack dealt a major set-back to Sisi, who had been at pains to revive the country’s tourism industry and impose control over the restive Sinai Peninsula.

Militants there have killed hun-dreds of policemen and soldiers since Sisi, then army chief, over-threw Islamist president Moham-ed Mursi in 2013.

Egypt has set up a committee to investigate the attack, and pre-viously insisted it be allowed to

fi nish its probe before any conclu-sions were made.

Egyptian media outlets have dismissed suggestions that a bomb was the cause as part of a Western “conspiracy” aimed at harming the country’s tourism sector.

The A321 airliner, operated by Russia’s Metrojet and bound for Saint Petersburg, broke up mid-air over the Sinai, minutes after take-off .

The wreckage fell several kilo-metres across North Sinai - the

bastion of the Egyptian branch of IS.

The group said it bombed the plane in revenge for Russian air strikes in Syria.

On November 17, Russia’s Pres-ident Vladimir Putin announced that Russian investigators had found evidence of a bomb on board, and vowed to punish the attackers.

“We will search for them any-where they might hide. We will fi nd them in any part of the world and punish them,” he said.

Russian security chief Alexan-der Bortnikov said the passenger jet was brought down by a bomb with a force equivalent to 1kg (2lb) of TNT.

Egypt has since hired a British fi rm to review security at airports, including procedures to check passengers and baggage, and se-curity equipment in the airport.

Millions of tourists, mostly Britons and Russians, fl ock to Sharm El Sheikh and other Egyp-tian resorts attracted by its beach-es, warm weather and diving sites.

In November and December, the tourism sector lost E£2.2bn ($280mn) a month primarily due to the Russian and British fl ight bans.

Overall tourist arrivals fell sharply in 2015 to about 9.3mn, from 15mn in 2010. Revenues from tourism slumped 15% year-on-year to $6.1bn in 2015.

Tourism had never recovered after an 18-day uprising unseated veteran president Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, setting off months of unrest.

Pressure builds ahead of Syria truce deadline AFPDamascus

Pressure was building on Syria’s warring sides yes-terday to abide by a partial

ceasefi re brokered by Moscow and Washington that is due to take eff ect this weekend.

Russia and the US have set a deadline of midnight Damas-cus time (2200 GMT) Friday for the “cessation of hostilities” between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and non-militant rebel forces.

The deal - which excludes the Islamic State (IS) group and oth-er Sunni extremists - marks the biggest diplomatic push yet to help end Syria’s violence.

But US President Barack Obama sounded a note of caution yesterday.

“We are very cautious about raising expectations on this,” Obama said in the Oval Offi ce, where he was hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

“The situation on the ground is diffi cult” he said. “But we have seen modest progress over the course of the last week or so with respect to humanitarian access to populations that are threatened.”

Russia and the US are on op-posing sides of the confl ict, with Moscow backing Assad and Washington supporting the opposition, but the two powers have been making a concerted push for the ceasefi re to be re-spected.

The Kremlin said that Assad had assured President Vladimir Putin of his government’s readi-ness to abide by the deal.

The two leaders discussed the agreement in a phone call, the Kremlin said, and Assad noted that the proposals were an “im-portant step in the direction of a political settlement”.

Assad “confi rmed the readi-ness of the Syrian government to facilitate the establishment of a ceasefi re,” it said yesterday.

Putin and Assad “stressed the importance of continuing an uncompromising fi ght” against IS, Al Nusra Front and “other terrorist groups,” the Kremlin said.

The agreement allows mili-tary action to continue against IS, which seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, the Al Qaeda affi liated Al Nusra and other militant groups.

Syria’s army said it will ex-clude the bastion of Daraya near Damascus from the ceasefi re be-cause rebel forces there included militants.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis, meanwhile, said that gains by US-backed fi ghters in northeast Syria were paving the way for an assault on Raqa, the IS de facto capital in the country.

A Palestinian man uses a rope to climb over a section of Israel’s controversial barrier that separates the West Bank city of Al-Ram from east Jerusalem yesterday. Many Palestinians from the West Bank cross illegally into Israel daily in search for work.

‘Friendly fi re’ kills soldier during West Bank attack

100 Libya MPs back unity govt, demand new vote

AFPJerusalem

An Israeli military offi cer was killed yesterday when fellow soldiers acciden-

tally shot him while opening fi re at a Palestinian who tried to stab him in the occupied West Bank, offi cials said.

The Palestinian was moder-ately wounded in the incident at the Gush Etzion junction, a ma-jor intersection near a large bloc of Israeli settlements.

The reserve offi cer was a member of the air force and was wearing his uniform at the time, a military spokeswoman said. It was not clear if he was carrying a weapon.

The offi cer, named as Captain Eliav Gelman, 30, was on duty but not stationed in the area and was likely on his way elsewhere, the spokeswoman said.

Palestinian media identifi ed the attacker as 26-year-old Mamdou Yousef Amro from Dura, near the West Bank city of Hebron.

“An assailant attempted to stab Captain Gelman at the Gush Etzion junction,” the military said in a statement.

“(Military) forces at the scene responded, and in order to thwart the attack fi red towards the as-sailant. Initial investigation sug-gests that Captain Gelman was injured as a result of the fi re.”

It said he later died of his in-juries.

A wave of Palestinian knife,

gun and car-ramming assaults that erupted in October has claimed the lives of 28 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean.

The violence has also seen 176 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, most while carrying out attacks but others during clashes and demonstrations, according to an AFP count.

The Etzion bloc of Jewish set-tlements, in the southern West Bank between Bethlehem and the fl ashpoint city of Hebron, has been a focal point of the unrest.

Gelman was from Karmei Tzur settlement, which is part of the Etzion bloc.

Gush Etzion junction is a ma-jor hub for hitchhiking soldiers and settlers on the road between

Hebron and Jerusalem. Gelman was the second soldier

killed in a week. On February 18, off -duty sol-

dier Tuvia Weissman, 21, a dual Israeli-US citizen, was stabbed to death at a supermarket in an Israeli industrial zone in the West Bank.

He was unarmed at the time, and this week the military or-dered soldiers to carry their guns with them when off -duty to al-low them to intervene in case of an attack.

Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupa-tion and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace eff orts and their own fractured leadership have fed the unrest.

AFPTripoli

A majority of law-makers from Libya’s internationally rec-

ognised parliament said yesterday that they sup-ported a UN-backed unity government but had faced intimidation before a con-fi dence vote.

The parliament, located in the eastern town of To-bruk, was unable to hold the vote on Tuesday for the new government line-up because it lacked a quorum.

In a petition seen by AFP, 100 of the parliament’s 176 members said they sup-ported a unity government but were “forcibly prevent-ed” from voting on Tues-day after receiving threats.

“We, 100 members of the House of Representa-tives, confi rm... our agree-ment on the proposed cabinet line-up,” the law-makers said.

“We need to decide on an appropriate place for a new parliament session as it has become impossible to hold one” in Tobruk.

Oil-rich Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when the

recognised government was forced from Tripoli after a militia alliance in-cluding Islamists overran the capital.

The UN has been push-ing both sides to back a unity government. The UN’s Libya envoy Martin Kobler said it was “unac-ceptable” that lawmakers had been threatened.

“Parliamentarians have to decide freely,” he said in a statement, demanding that “the parliamentary process is unhindered and conducted in an environ-ment free from threats or intimidation.”

A Presidential Coun-cil, born of a UN-brokered agreement in December between a minority of members of the rival par-liaments, last week put for-ward a unity government of 18 members.

A previous cabinet line-up of 32 ministers proposed by premier-designate Fayez al-Sarraj was reject-ed by the Tobruk parlia-ment as being too large.

According to the parlia-ment’s website, 99 law-makers would need to vote in favour of the new unity government for it to receive the legislature’s approval.

UN carries out fi rst humanitarian airdrop in Syria The UN yesterday carried out its first humanitarian airdrop in Syria to reach thousands of peo-ple facing severe food shortages in a city besieged by Islamic State militants. “Earlier this morning, a WFP plane dropped the first cargo of 21 tonnes of items into Deir Ezzor,” in eastern Syria, UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said.

Reports from aid teams on the ground confirm that “pallets have landed in the target area as planned”, he told a UN Secu-rity Council called to discuss the humanitarian crisis. UN agencies are working to scale up aid deliveries to Syria before a cessation of hostilities enters into force at midnight Friday to shore up peace eff orts.

AFRICA15Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

South Africa ‘crisis’ budget hikes taxes AFPPretoria

South Africa’s fi nance minister yesterday hiked taxes and targeted what he called wasteful and cor-

rupt government spending in a “crisis” budget aimed at staving off a ratings downgrade to junk status.

Africa’s most developed economy is struggling with shrinking growth, un-employment running at 25%, and wide-spread poverty.

“We cannot spend money we do not have. We cannot borrow beyond our ability to repay,” minister Pravin Gord-han told parliament. “Until we can ig-nite growth and generate more revenue, we have to be tough on ourselves.”

In a press conference before he de-livered the budget, Gordhan was even more direct.

“There is no doubt about the fact that we are in crisis,” he said.

The local rand currency fell by 2.25% against the dollar shortly after the min-ister spoke to parliament.

“I expected a much fi rmer austerity budget,” Mohamed Nalla, head of stra-tegic research at Nedbank, told AFP. “This budget will not be enough to help us avoid a credit downgrade in the near future, but it may have helped us buy a bit of time.”

Presenting the budget, Gordhan an-nounced greater co-operation with the private sector in an eff ort to boost growth, which he forecast would drop to below 1% this year.

Although he denied moving towards privatisation, the minister opened the way for private sector investment in under-performing state-owned enter-prises.

These include the loss-making na-tional carrier South African Airways, long a target of government critics.

Increased taxes on excise duties, cap-

ital gains, fuel, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco and environmental levies are expected to bring in an extra 18bn rand ($1.18bn).

Personal income tax was not in-creased, but “current taxes on wealth are under review”, Gordhan said.

The government spending ceiling will be cut by 25bn rand ($1.64bn) over the next three years, mainly by trimming posts in the bloated public service.

Government corruption will be tack-led through a crackdown on tender

processes, while wasteful expenditure clamps will extend to a downgrade in the value of cars bought for politicians.

Abuses in the private sector will also be targeted.

“We will continue to act aggres-sively against the evasion of tax through transfer pricing abuses, misuse of tax treaties and illegal money fl ows”, Gord-han said.

Winning the confi dence of the rat-ings agencies - which help determine how much countries pay to borrow

money - was made more diffi cult when President Jacob Zuma shocked markets in December by fi ring two fi nance min-isters within four days.

Gordhan, who was widely respected when he held the position from 2009 to 2014, was recalled in a panicked at-tempt to limit the damage to the coun-try’s credibility.

In an immediate reaction to the budget, the main opposition Party, the Democratic Alliance, said the minis-ter had “announced no signifi cant new measures to boost economic growth and create jobs.”

Gordhan faced the diffi cult balancing act of trying to please both the fi nancial world and a government facing voters in municipal elections this year.

He said in his press conference that spending cuts would be made without aff ecting social services.

South Africa is regularly rocked by protests over service delivery for the poor, and in the past year the unrest has spread to university campuses with stu-dents pressing for free education.

Gordhan announced an extra 16bn rand ($1.05bn) for higher education, saying “we are crafting solutions to the voices of students regarding fees and housing”.

A central objective of the budget was to stabilise debt as a percentage of GDP, he said.

“Net national debt is projected to stabilise at 46.2% of GDP in 2017/18, and to decline after that.”

Eff orts are also being made to rein in the budget defi cit, which is expected to be 3.2% of GDP this year on total spend-ing of 1,324bn rand ($86.9bn), declining to 2.4% in 2018/19.

Apart from policy missteps, the re-source-rich economy has been hard hit by falling commodity prices on reduced demand by China, and an agricultural sector hobbled by the worst drought in more than a century.

South Africa’s Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan(right) walks to Parliament in Cape Town yesterday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Democratic Republic of the Congo President Joseph Kabila arrive for the Great Lakes Private Sector Investment Conference in Kinshasa.

Business push

US training African police to counter new militant threats By Emma Farge, Reuters Thies, Senegal

Ahead of a drill to teach West African police about forensics by blowing up a car fi lled with

crash test dummies posing as suicide bombers, FBI agents met an unexpect-ed question: why bother to investigate if the militants are already dead?

The query from a Senegalese offi cer demonstrates the steep learning curve for the region’s security forces if they are to keep pace with increasingly bra-zen and sophisticated militants mov-ing in from the north-central Sahara and possibly Libya.

Since Islamic State’s entry into Libya last year, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has responded with a series of attacks to bolster its claim of primacy in the western Sahara.

Western governments worry the Is-lamic State presence in Africa may lead to ties with West Africa’s Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the group last year, and could herald a drive south. Some Al Qaeda-linked brigades also appear to be merging.

Refl ecting the changing threat and af-ter major attacks in the last four months in Mali and Burkina Faso in which at least 50 people, including many Westerners, were killed, this year’s annual ‘Flintlock’ counter-terrorism exercises have in-cluded police training for the fi rst time.

Recent West African eff orts have re-vealed blunders, security sources say. So many people touched an assault rifl e used by militants in the Bamako attack, for example, that it was impos-sible to take fi ngerprints.

In January, an AQIM death row fu-gitive who fl ed Mauritania via Senegal was able to travel 500km before being stopped in Guinea, acquiring arms and accomplices on the way, thanks in part to bungled communication between Senegalese and Mauritanian offi cials, a Senegalese security source said.

US experts say three main short-falls need to be addressed: intelligence, cross-border cooperation and reaction times.

“In most African countries the ca-pacity to respond to these sorts of in-cidents is middle-of-the-road at best,” said a senior US military offi cer, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of his remarks. “But they are very eager to learn.”

Security experts report a growing sophistication since last year in the tactics and weaponry used by AQIM

and associated groups, which they say may be born of competition with Is-lamic State.

An armoured suicide truck, albeit a makeshift one, was used in an attack on a UN base in Kidal in northern Mali that killed seven peacekeepers this month.

Boko Haram suicide vests now often include hidden cell phones so they can be remotely detonated and increasing-ly resemble those used in the Middle East, weapons experts say.

As the threat grows, there are signs the US is increasing its commitments.

Already, there are up to 1,200 spe-cial operations forces on the continent, providing training, operating drones and, very rarely, intervening directly such as in the Ouagadougou siege.

Last week, the US launched its sec-ond set of air strikes in Libya in three months in what risk management con-sultancy Signal Risk’s director Ryan Cummings called a “point of depar-ture” from a strategy previously char-acterised by a limited appetite for of-fensive roles in Africa.

Washington is proposing $200mn in new military spending for North and West Africa. Both the US and France, which has 3,500 troops in the region, intend to boost support to regional se-

curity body Group of Five Sahel, diplo-mats and offi cials say.

Three sources familiar with the agreement told Reuters that the US and Senegal had agreed a new accord granting rights to establish a base here in case of an emergency.

Intelligence sharing among the dif-ferent countries of West Africa will be key, security offi cials said.

The US plans to set up the fi rst of many “intelligence fusion” centres at the headquarters for a regional anti-Boko Haram task force in Chad to allow countries to share sensitive informa-tion in a secure environment.

“If we continue to invest in the de-velopment of regional platforms, it will pay huge dividends over the next year, but it cannot be done without a comprehensive approach,” said Com-mander for Special Operations Com-mand Africa Brigadier General Donald Bolduc.

Overcoming suspicions between neighbours and historic rivals will be a challenge, however.

“The sharing of intelligence between neighbours is not where it should be and this is critically important,” said a Western intelligence source at Flint-lock.

Senegalese off icers gather near an ‘exploded vehicle’ at a military range during the US-led Flintlock training exercises in Thies, Senegal.

One in fi ve African kids denied access to vaccines AFPAddis Ababa

One in fi ve children in Africa do not receive basic life-saving vaccines, despite the

continent making great strides on immunisation, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report yesterday.

The report noted a dramatic rise in child vaccination rates, from 57% in 2000 to 80% in 2014, but said more needed to be done to prevent the spread of diseases such as mea-sles, rubella and neonatal tetanus that have been virtually eradicated in some parts of the world but re-main prevalent and deadly in Africa.

“We can and must do more to pro-tect all our children from devastating illnesses - not only because it is our responsibility to ensure healthier futures for our citizens, but also be-cause it is a smart economic deci-sion,” said Kesetebirhan Admasu, health minister of Ethiopia which is hosting a two-day summit on immu-nisation in Africa from today.

“For Africa to achieve its full po-tential and secure a bright future, we must unite to ensure that every child on the continent receives the vaccines he or she needs to survive and thrive,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

“It is unacceptable that one in fi ve African children lack access to life-saving vaccines, and this report is an urgent wake-up call to Africans of all walks of life and at every level,” she said.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acro-nym MSF, said global pharmaceu-tical companies should be taken to task for charging “infl ated vaccine prices” that keep the drugs out of reach of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

“If vaccine prices continue to spi-ral out of control, we will continue to see countries in Africa and around the world faced with diffi cult deci-sions about which deadly diseases they can and can’t aff ord to protect their children against,” said Myriam Henkens, MSF’s international med-ical co-ordinator.

AMERICAS

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201616

Trump rivals look for answers ReutersWashington

Businessman Donald Trump inched closer to the US Republican presidential

nomination after easily outdis-tancing his rivals in the Nevada caucuses on Tuesday, giving him his third win in four early nomi-nating contests.

Trump won Nevada by a mar-gin of 22 percentage points, gar-nering 45.9% of the vote, the state Republican Party said after 100% of all precincts reported results. That gave him at least 12 of the 30 delegates at stake, which would bring his total to at least 79 be-fore February ends, according to the Associated Press.

While more than 1,200 are needed to secure the Republican presidential nomination, Trump has built a formidable head start over his main rivals, US senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Ru-bio of Florida.

Rubio eked out another sec-ond-place showing with 23.9% of the vote, and Cruz again came in a close third with 21.4%. Each gained at least fi ve delegates, the AP reported.

Finishing at the bottom of the heap were retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 4.8% of the vote and Ohio Governor John Kasich with 3.6%.

Broadcast networks called Ne-vada for Trump almost immedi-ately after voting ended, with the state Republican Party confi rm-ing the victory soon afterward.

Trump’s decisive win is likely

to further frustrate Republican establishment fi gures who, less than a month ago, were hoping that the outspoken billionaire’s insurgent candidacy was stalled after he lost the opening nomi-nating contest in Iowa to Cruz.

But since then, Trump has tallied wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and now Nevada, with a suite of southern states ahead on March 1, so-called Su-per Tuesday.

“If you listen to the pundits, we weren’t expected to win too much, and now we’re winning, winning, winning the country,” Trump said at a victory rally in Las Vegas.

Polls suggest Trump will do well in many of those Super Tuesday states, placing further pressure on Cruz and Rubio, as well as Carson and Kasich, who were not factors in Nevada.

“These guys have to fi gure out how to turn their fi re on Trump,” said Ford O’Connell, a Repub-lican strategist in Washington. Absent that, he said: “Which one is going to get out of this fi eld?”

In the run-up to Nevada, most of Trump’s rivals left him alone, preferring to tussle with each other to try to be the last sur-viving challenger to the front-runner.

Not long after Trump’s win was certifi ed in Nevada, Cruz’s campaign released a statement criticizing Rubio for not win-ning the state. It did not mention Trump at all.

Rubio, who has emerged as the Republican establishment’s favourite to derail Trump’s

progress, can take some solace in fi nishing second.

But that also has to be viewed as somewhat of a setback con-sidering that he had frequently campaigned in Nevada, having lived there for years as a child.

A Cuban-American, he had attempted to rally the support of the state’s large Latino popula-tion.

Rubio had also benefi ted from Saturday’s departure of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush from the race. That brought an in-fl ux of new funds, a bevy of en-dorsements and a wealth of me-dia attention. But none of it was enough to overtake Trump.

Meanwhile, Cruz has been fac-ing mounting questions about the viability of his campaign since he won in Iowa. Trump has made serious inroads among his core base of conservative sup-porters, draining anti-govern-ment hardliners and evangelicals.

Cruz targeted Nevada’s fi erce libertarian wing, appealing di-rectly to those who supported local rancher Cliven Bundy’s armed protest against the federal government in 2014 and a more recent one that Bundy’s sons staged at a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon. But that, too, was not enough.

The upcoming March 1 prima-ry in Cruz’s home state of Texas is looming as a make-or-break mo-ment for him.

Aiding his cause, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott en-dorsed Cruz in a video that ap-peared on Wednesday, CNN re-ported.

Despite early reports on so-cial media of procedural irregu-larities at many Nevada caucus sites, the Republican National Committee and the party’s state

chapter said voting ran smoothly. Higher-than-normal turnout was reported, although histori-cally, few of the state’s citizens take part.

Nevada’s contest had been viewed as a test of whether Trump had organizational might to match his star power. Unlike in primaries, caucus results depend

more on a campaign’s success in motivating supporters to partici-pate. Trump’s failure to do that in Iowa was viewed as contributing to his defeat there.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he addresses supporters at a night rally in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Three die as twisters slam into Gulf Coast states ReutersWinston-Salem, North Carolina

A storm system packing damaging winds and pos-sible tornadoes was ex-

pected to hit the Carolinas late yesterday, a day after twisters killed at least three people and left a path of destruction in Gulf Coast states.

Meteorologists issued severe thunderstorm alerts as wind gusts exceeding 120kph could cause damage similar to a tor-nado.

“The likelihood for pockets of straight-line wind damage occurring across central North Carolina today is a near certain-ty,” the National Weather Serv-ice in Raleigh said, adding the risk for multiple tornadoes was “fairly high.”

Schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida cancelled classes or shifted hours ahead of predicted severe weather in those states.

In Louisiana and Mississippi, National Weather Service teams surveyed damage wrought by at least seven tornadoes on Tues-day.

“This is one of our bigger out-breaks we’ve ever had,” said Ken Graham, meteorologist in charge for the service’s offi ce in Slidell, Louisiana. “It’s a pretty big deal.”

Hardest hit in Louisiana was the Mississippi River hamlet of Convent, where 90% of the es-

timated 160 mobile homes at the Sugar Hill trailer park were de-molished, state police superin-tendent Colonel Mike Edmonson told a news conference.

“This is some of the worst damage that I’ve seen in my 36 years with the state police,” Ed-monson said.

Governor John Bel Edwards said two people were known to have died at the trailer park and two or three others were reported unaccounted for. Rescue crews with dogs combed through de-bris searching for anyone who might have been trapped.

Authorities said they hoped the missing might turn up later in area hospitals or elsewhere among the survivors in Convent, located about 100km west of New Orleans.

“These travel trailers were picked up, thrown a consider-able distance and just mangled,” Edwards said after surveying the damage. He said it was “a minor miracle” the casualty toll was not higher because most of the trailers were occupied when the storm hit.

The National Weather Service confi rmed one other fatality near the southern Mississippi town of Purvis, where a mobile home was destroyed.

Acadian ambulance services in Louisiana said it had transported 31 people to area hospitals in St. James Parish, most of them from the trailer park, and fi ve others from neighbouring parishes, ac-

cording to the agency’s Twitter feed.

There were additional reports of survivors being taken to hos-pitals in private cars, and other ambulance operators were re-sponding to the emergency, indi-cating the tally of injuries would likely climb higher.

The governor declared a state of emergency in seven parishes that bore the brunt of the storms.

The storm system posed a con-tinuing tornado threat as it swept east through the night across Mississippi and into Alabama, said Mike Eff erson, a meteor-ologist at the National Weather Service in New Orleans.

Tens of thousands of custom-ers were without power in Loui-siana at the height of the storms, according to Entergy Louisiana, the main electricity supplier in the area.

In Louisiana’s Assumption Parish, a tornado knocked down a water tower and damaged homes, said Deputy Robert Mar-tin of the sheriff ’s offi ce.

Up to 20 homes were reported destroyed, and fi refi ghters res-cued residents with minor inju-ries from four homes, said John Boudreaux, director of Homeland Security and Emergency Prepar-edness in Assumption Parish.

Residents reported damage to homes from tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as the system barrel-led across the US South, Eff erson said. An Assumption Parish Sheriff ’s Off ice handout photo released yesterday shows debris from a damaged water tower.

Serial killer’s book is pulled by publisher ReutersToronto

A book by one of Canada’s most infamous serial killers, Robert Pickton, who was

convicted in 2007 of killing drug addicts and prostitutes and butch-ering their remains at his pig farm, has been pulled by its publisher.

News of the book and its avail-ability through online retailer Amazon had sparked outrage in Canada and government offi cials had pledged to stop Pickton, 66, from profi ting from its sale.

Colorado-based Outskirts Press said it has ceased publication of the book and has asked Amazon to remove the book from its website.

“We have a long-standing policy of not working with, nor publishing work by, incarcerated individuals,” the publisher said in a statement emailed on Tuesday. “Outskirts

Press apologises to the families of the victims for any additional heartache this may have caused.”

The publisher said Pickton misrepresented himself by seek-ing to publish the book using the name of a diff erent person as the author. The memoir was no longer available on Amazon.

The book had been listed as a memoir by Pickton, 66, who is serving a life sentence at a prison in the Canadian province of Brit-ish Columbia.

Calling himself “the fall guy” on the book’s jacket, Pickton had noted he is accused of murder-ing “between six and 49 women” and is fi nally telling his story.

Negative reviews of the book had piled up on Amazon’s web-site, with many urging publisher Outskirts Press and Amazon to withdraw the book.

Amazon could not be reached for comment.

Mother jailed for throwing autistic son off bridge

An Oregon woman has been

sentenced to life in prison for

throwing her autistic 6-year-old

son to his death from a bridge in

the coastal town of Newport in

2014, the Oregonian newspaper

reported on Tuesday.

Jillian McCabe, 36, pleaded

guilty to murder in a Lincoln

County court on Monday, the

newspaper reported.

Citing District Attorney

Michelle Branam, the newspa-

per reported that McCabe left

a trail online that showed she

had planned the act for weeks,

researched legal defences based

upon findings of insanity and ap-

peared to fake mental illness.

Local broadcaster KGW

quoted Branam as saying that

McCabe’s Google searches prior

to her son’s death included: “Can

you die from falling 133 feet into

water?”

Authorities say McCabe called

police on November 3, 2014, to

report that she had tossed her

son London from the Yaquina

Bay Bridge in Newport, a town

of some 10,000 about 175km

southwest of Portland.

The US Coast Guard sent two

boats and a helicopter to help

search for London before his

body was spotted in the water

near the Embarcadero Resort,

about a mile from the bridge, by

a diner about four hours after

she reported the incident, police

said.

A website previously set up

by McCabe to seek financial

aid, helpmatt.org, described her

family as facing financial chal-

lenges after a brain injury landed

her husband in hospital for four

months last year and left him

unemployed upon his release.

McCabe’s admission of guilt

followed a plea deal under which

prosecutors agreed to drop

additional charges of aggra-

vated murder and manslaughter.

McCabe can seek parole after

serving 25 years in prison, the

newspaper reported.

She was previously scheduled

to face trial in August.

Branam did not immediately

respond to requests for com-

ment. An attorney for McCabe

could not immediately be

reached.

Texas hospitals claim developing rapid test for deadly Zika virusReutersAustin

Two major Texas health centres have developed what they are calling the

country’s fi rst hospital-based, rapid test for the Zika virus that can produce results in a matter of hours, the hospitals said on Tuesday.

Researchers at Texas Chil-dren’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital developed the test that detects the genetic material of the Zika virus, which can speed diagnosis and treat-ment, they said in a statement.

“With travel-associated cases of the Zika virus becom-ing more prevalent in the US, coupled with the looming in-crease in mosquito exposure during spring and summer months, we must be prepared

for a surge of Zika testing de-mand,” said James Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s and leader of test development team.

The test is designed to cut down on testing time, which can take days or even weeks. Typically the testing would be done by state health agen-cies equipped to do so or fed-eral authorities such as the US Centres for Disease Control of Prevention.

Work on the test started in January and it is available only at the two hospitals for now. But the researchers are looking at allowing others to tap into its testing.

“We are defi nitely support-ive of labs bringing up the abil-ity to test for Zika virus across the state,” Texas Depart-ment of State Health Services spokeswoman Carrie Williams

said. The agency expects to augment its own testing abili-ties by the end of the week.

The Zika virus has been re-ported as having been trans-mitted by mosquito in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, but in the continental US the only cases reported so far are associated with travel abroad.

Brazil is worst hit in the cur-rent Zika outbreak, which has spread to more than 30 coun-tries and territories, most of them in the Americas.

Texas Children’s Hospital is a not-for-profi t health care or-ganization affi liated with Bay-lor College of Medicine, while Houston Methodist comprises an academic medical centre in the Texas Medical Centre and six community hospitals serv-ing the Greater Houston area, according to the hospitals’ websites.

Anti-graft agency urged to continue Najib probe ReutersKuala Lumpur

Malaysia’s anti-graft agency yesterday said an external review

panel had asked it to continue investigations into a donation of $681mn received by Prime Min-ister Najib Razak, despite an or-der by the country’s top lawyer to close the case.

Last month, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali closed all investigations of Na-jib, after reviewing investiga-tion reports from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the transfer of $681mn into Najib’s personal bank account.

Apandi said the funds trans-ferred into Najib’s account were a donation from Saudi Arabia’s royal family, and added that no further action needed to be taken.

Najib has been buffeted for months by allegations of graft at 1MDB and revelations of the transfer, adding to a sense of crisis in a country under eco-nomic duress from slumping oil prices and a sliding currency.

Najib has denied any wrong-doing, saying the funds were a

political donation and he did not take any money for person-al gain. The scandal had been “an unnecessary distraction”, he said, after being cleared by Apandi last month.

MACC sought a review of that decision, and on Wednes-day it said the review panel had recommended it continue in-vestigations into the transfer of funds, as they were “still in-complete”.

“Since MACC’s investigation into the alleged 2.6bn ringgit donation case is still incom-plete, the panel recommended to MACC that it continues its investigation on the case,” the agency said in a statement.

It did not say if it would act on the recommendation, and gave no further details.

Apandi had no immediate comment, a spokesman for the attorney-general’s office told Reuters in a text message.

A spokesman for the prime minister’s office declined to comment when contacted by telephone.

The eight-member review panel includes former civil servants, corporate figures, academics and lawyers.

The panel monitors MACC investigations, but lacks the power to enforce its recom-mendations.

The panel also advised the anti-graft agency to seek the help of the attorney-general in obtaining mutual legal assist-ance to get further evidence and documents from banks overseas. The anti-graft agen-cy said the panel also recom-mended that investigation pa-pers on SRC

International, a 1MDB sub-sidiary investigated for alleged misappropriation of funds, be resubmitted to the attorney-general for review.

MACC has not revealed its findings or indicated whether any wrongdoing was involved, saying any decision to take fur-ther action would be up to the attorney-general.

Najib enjoys the backing of most of the powerful divi-sion chiefs in his ruling United Malays National Organisation party, and most of his critics concede that he cannot be un-seated.

In moves that were widely seen as stamping out dis-sent last year, he sacked his critical deputy prime minis-ter, replaced the former attor-ney-general with Apandi and cracked down on opposition leaders and academics.

Najib has said his reshuffle was necessary to maintain gov-ernment unity.

Singapore’s pampered felines get a ‘purrfect’ lifeAFPSingapore

Cats who are tired of the rat race in fast-paced Singapore have a new

high-end leisure option — a top-of-the-range hotel com-plete with designer beds, Rob-erto Cavalli wallpaper and Swarovski crystal-studded din-ing ware.

The Purrfection Suites are the ultimate in luxury for fussy felines looking for some quality downtime in the most upmar-ket surroundings.

Purifi ed air is pumped into

every room, while some even boast classical music on a Sensurround system to help stressed cats unwind.

The 14-room extension — exclusively for cats — is part of The Wagington, Singapore’s fi rst fi ve-star dog hotel housed in a converted British colonial-era bungalow in the heart of the city-state’s diplomatic quarter.

The Wagington owner Estelle Tayler said that since the open-ing of the dog hotel in 2014, cat owners have clamoured for a similar style of upmarket lodg-ing for their pets.

“We decided to make a wing dedicated just for our feline

friends, with its own private entrance,” Tayler said.

Apart from lodgings, the hotel off ers grooming and spa services at additional cost. It plans to introduce “in-room dining” featuring home-cooked food. While their feline friends remain mostly indoors, The Wagington’s doggy guests can frolic in the outdoor bone-shaped swimming pool and work up a sweat on treadmills.

Pets are a pampered lot in Sin-gapore, one of Asia’s richest cit-ies.

One businessman off ers weekend boat cruises for pets and their owners. Pets also have

their own obituary section in the country’s leading English lan-guage newspaper.

Room and board in the Purr-fection Suites begins at Sg$39 ($28) per night. Lawyer Jolene Lim, 26, checked her seven-month-old Persian cat into a cabin suite for fi ve nights when she went on holiday this month.

“For many people, their pets are like their children. I defi nitely want to give her the best and whatever makes her comfort-able,” Lim said.

“If I’m going off on a holiday and having fun, I want her to feel comfortable and have fun and be at ease as well.”

A staff places sand in a litter tray for a pet cat in the Purrfection Suite at the Wagington luxury pet hotel in Singapore yesterday.

ASEAN17

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016

Myanmar backpedals on ban

on Bagan temple climbing AFPYangon

Myanmar has backpedalled on a ban on climbing temples at the tourist hot spot of Bagan, following fears visitors would no

longer be able to enjoy the ancient capital’s famed sunsets.

The Ministry of Culture on Monday barred visi-tors from clambering over the monuments.

But by late Tuesday it had revised the order to let tourists ascend fi ve of the largest pagodas — in a fi eld of more than 3,000 Buddhist structures.

“We would like to replace the statement about banning the climbing of pagodas with an amend-ment exempting fi ve designated pagodas in Bagan,” the ministry said on its Facebook page.

But both statements slammed temple-climbing tourists for “culturally disgraceful” acts “such as wearing inappropriate clothing, dancing and sleeping (on the monuments)”.

The sudden ban had surprised tour operators and prompted concern that their businesses would take

a hit. In its updated post the ministry stressed that the regulation was aimed at conserving the Bud-dhist ruins, many of which are crumbling and over-grown.

The statement also warned that safety was a concern, citing the case of an American tourist who was hospitalised earlier this week after falling from one of the pagodas.

“Bagan’s ancient buildings have been there for many years and we are concerned about damaging the pagodas and the danger of hurting people,” the ministry said.

Bagan’s vast fi eld of temples, built in the 10th and 14th centuries, are worshipped as holy sites in the Buddhist-majority country.

Once considered an off -the-beaten-path des-tination for intrepid travellers, Bagan’s popularity on the tourist circuit has surged since Myanmar opened up its borders in 2011 following decades of isolation under military rule.

Tourism has since taken off , with the number of foreign visitors doubling in the past fi ve years.

Myanmar is eager to see Bagan listed as a Unesco world heritage site. A pet cat looks out from its Purrfection Suite at the Wagington luxury pet hotel.

Indonesia plans to close all red-light districts in the country by 2019, an off icial said yesterday, stepping up a campaign against prostitution after a controversial push to clear up a brothel area of Jakarta. The government will instruct local authorities to shut down an estimated 100 red-light districts across the country, said Sonny Manalu, a senior off icial at the social aff airs ministry. “We believe that red-light districts will aff ect children who live nearby negatively,” he said. “Prostitution can never be erased from the Earth but we must try to stop it corrupting our youth.” The move comes after a weeks-long push to close down one of the capital’s most notorious red-light districts, called Kalijodo, and replace the il-legal brothels and bars with parks. Jakarta authorities decided to take action after a fatal car accident early this month blamed on a man who had been drinking in the riverside shanty. But the plan has angered residents, as many are set to be evicted and see their houses demolished in the coming days.

Indonesia plans to close all red-light districts by 2019

CRACKDOWN

Uber makes fi rst two-wheeler foray with Bangkok motorbikes AFPBangkok

Uber off ered its fi rst motorbike taxi serv-ice yesterday, launch-

ing a pilot scheme in Bangkok which could spread across Asia as it takes on chief re-gional rival Grab Taxi.

Motorbikes have long been a popular commuting option in the Thai capital, which has horrendous traffic jams due to increased car ownership and poor city planning.

Ubiquitous motorbike taxi drivers, found at stands across the city wearing bright orange jackets, weave in and out of stalled traffic with both skill and knuckle-whit-ening speed.

An Uber motorbike which collects passengers from their office or home could prove popular with commuters. But

Uber will be up against both Singapore-based Grab Taxi, which began offering a Bang-kok motorbike service along-side its cabs last year, and the tens of thousands of regular motorbike taxi drivers who jealously guard their patches.

“I’m really excited to say Thailand is the first country to launch a two-wheeled mo-torcycle product in all of our cities,” Douglas Ma, Uber’s head of Asia expansion, told reporters.

The US company has be-come one of the world’s most valuable startups, worth an estimated $50bn and with a presence in 68 countries.

But it has faced regulatory hurdles and protests from established taxi operators in most locations where it has launched.

Both Uber and Grab Taxi have shaken up the taxi in-dustry in Bangkok, providing

an alternative to the capital’s often mercurial cabbies who routinely decline fares or refuse to use their meters.

The company will initially roll out the bikes in three commercial districts and says the fares should be cheaper than regular motorbike taxis.

Uber will focus on Thai-land but does not rule out launching similar services in other traffic-clogged Asian megacities like Jakarta and Manila.

“This is the first time we’re doing it in any market in the world, so our hope is to de-velop it and innovate it,” Ma said.

“If it makes sense, ab-solutely we want to look at other markets.” Ma declined to say how many motorbike drivers the company had al-ready signed up but said it was in the thousands.

At a stand in the com-mercial district of Chidlom, motorbike taxi driver Winai Bunprueng said he was un-likely to join up.

“If I joined the app and I refused to go, they would reprimand or sack me — but for me now, if I can’t agree with passengers on the pric-es, I won’t go,” the 37-year-old said.

Chalerm Changthong-madan, head of the Associa-tion of Taxi Motorcyclists of Thailand, said he was con-cerned by the arrival of start-up competitors.

“I think it will bring con-flict among people who do these jobs,” he said.

Drought-hit Thailand told to cut rice production

AFPBangkok

Thailand’s prime minister yesterday told farmers to cultivate less rice to help

the country manage its inten-sifying water crisis, as experts called this year’s drought the worst in decades.

Prayut Chan-O-Cha, the junta leader who grabbed power in a military coup two years ago, said his administra-tion was working on a 20-year strategy to diversify the coun-try’s agricultural sector, which has long relied on irrigation-intensive rice production.

Thailand is one of the world’s top rice exporters, but four consecutive years of below-average rainfall has drained water reserves and left irriga-tion channels in the heart of the country dry.

Many rice farmers are cur-rently unable to muster enough

water to plant second crops, shaving their incomes and plunging many into debt.

“We have to find measures to motivate rice farmers to change to other crops (than rice),” Prayut told reporters yester-day, adding that management of Thailand’s “limited” water resources must be at the core of agricultural planning.

Thailand is expected to pro-duce around 25mn tonnes of rice this year, he added, with-out revealing how much less rice will be grown in the com-ing years. Water reserves across the country have dipped below last year’s levels, which were already considered a record low, according to the irrigation department.

Anond Sanidvongs, a Thai-land-based climate expert, said 2016 is shaping up to be the driest in decades.

“The drought problem this year is probably the worst in 40 to 50 years,” he said.

“I’m really excited to say Thailand is the fi rst country to launch a two-wheeled motorcycle product in all of our cities”

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201618

A hologram depicting people marching is projected during a ‘hologram-style’ rally organised by human rights group Amnesty International to demand freedom of assembly in central Seoul, South Korea, yesterday.

Virtual protest

Beijing sends fi ghter jets to S China Sea AgenciesWashington

China has deployed fi ghter jets to the same contested island in the South China Sea to which it also has sent

surface-to-air missiles, US offi cials said.Citing two unnamed US offi cials, Fox

News said US intelligence services had spotted Chinese Shenyang J-11 and Xian JH-7 warplanes on Woody Island in the disputed Paracel Islands chain over the past few days.

Navy Captain Darryn James, a spokes-man for US Pacifi c Command, confi rmed the report but noted that Chinese fi ghter jets have previously used the island.

Woody Island, which is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, has had an op-erational airfi eld since the 1990s but it was upgraded last year to accommodate the J-11.

“We are still concerned that the Chinese continue to put advanced arms systems on this disputed territory,” James said Tues-day.

Asked about the jets at a regular brief-ing yesterday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying neither con-fi rmed nor denied their existence.

Hua said only that China’s activities in the Paracels all fell within the scope of its sovereign territory and were therefore “in accordance with the principles of heaven and earth, and beyond reproach”.

“While you’re paying attention to Chi-na, have you also paid attention to all the other coastal countries that have occu-pied China’s islands and reefs in the past

decades and deployed radar and advanced weapons there?” she asked.

The deployment was reported as US secretary of state John Kerry hosted his Chinese counterpart, foreign minister Wang Yi, in Washington.

Last week China confi rmed it had placed “weapons” on Woody Island, de-fending what it said was its sovereign right to do so.

A US offi cial told AFP that Beijing has deployed surface-to-air missiles on the island, apparently HQ-9s which have a range of about 200km.

Wang had been scheduled to visit the Pentagon earlier Tuesday but the visit was cancelled due to a “scheduling confl ict”, offi cials said.

On Monday the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies released satellite imagery showing what appeared to be a high-frequency ra-dar installation under construction on an artifi cial island on Cuarteron Reef in the Spratlys, a group of islands south of the Paracels which is also the subject of ter-ritorial disputes.

China’s land reclamation and military buildup in the South China Sea have drawn international condemnation and

the United States has said it will con-tinue to sail through waters claimed by Beijing.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Tai-wan have rival claims.

On Tuesday admiral Harry Harris, head of the US pacifi c command, that China was “clearly militarising” the South China Sea.

Harris said he believed China’s deploy-ment of surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, new radars on Cuarteron Reef in the Spratlys and its building of airstrips were “actions that are changing, in my opinion, the operational landscape in the South China Sea”.

China’s offi cial Xinhua news agency, in an English language commentary, said the “hype” about China’s “so-called militari-sation” failed to mention that China had for many years deployed defensive meas-ures on Woody Island.

“For the South China Sea waters to be calm, Washington should fi rst stop its ugly practice of smearing China and avoid any move that stirs up tension in the region,” it said.

Chinese troops patrol near a sign on the Spratlys. The sign reads ”Nansha is our national land, sacred and inviolable”.

Radio fl ash traced to galaxy 6bn light-years awayAgenciesCanberra

For nine years, astronomers have been trying to pin-point the origins of myste-

rious radio fl ashes which erupt briefl y and violently in the fara-way Universe.

Yesterday, a team said they had, for the fi rst time, traced one such fl ash to a galaxy about six billion light-years from Earth.

Invisible to the human eye, fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio wave fl ashes which last a fraction of a second and emit as much en-ergy in a millisecond as the Sun in about 10,000 years.

Scientists still don’t know what causes them.

“Our discovery opens the way to working out what makes these bursts,” said Simon Johnston of Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, which took part in the project.

Only 17 FRBs have been de-tected since the phenomenon was fi rst discovered in 2007, though more than 10,000 are be-lieved to happen every day.

Some have speculated they may be alien signals.

“Nope! Sorry,” study lead au-

thor Evan Keane of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation said of this theory.

A much likelier source of the FRB observed on April 18, 2015, he said, was the collision of two ultra-dense neutron stars.

The burst was detected by

CSIRO’s Parke’s radio telescope in eastern Australia.

An alert was triggered for oth-er telescopes to follow up, and within hours CSIRO’s Compact Array detected an “afterglow” of the fl ash.

Then to Hawaii, where Japan’s

Subaru optical telescope looked at where the afterglow -- which last-ed for about six days -- came from.

“This involved zooming in by 1,000 times over what we can do with just one telescope,” Keane told AFP.

The galaxy identifi ed as the

source of the signal is an ellipti-cal one, not spiral like our own Milky Way.

It is about 70,000 light-years wide and has a mass equivalent to about 100 billion Sun-sized stars.

The team said their break-through also shed light on an-other long-standing science question — that of the “missing matter”.

The Universe is thought to be made up of about 70% dark ener-gy, 25% undetectable dark mat-ter, and only about 5% ordinary matter — the stuff of which plan-ets, stars and humans are made.

Problem is, astronomers have only ever been able to account for about half the ordinary matter — the rest is referred to as “miss-ing”.

In the latest study, the team could determine the FRB’s travel distance and how long it would have taken in a vacuum.

Any delay would indicate that the wave had to have travelled through particles of matter in the space between its source galaxy and ours.

“Space is not completely empty, just very low density,” ex-plained Keane.

“So we thought that matter

was there, but we hadn’t been able to see it before. As it delays the FRB signal in a way we can see, we can fi gure it out.”

On the basis of these fi ndings, “we have found the missing mat-ter”, contended Keane.

The research was published in the science journal Nature.

The Parkes telescope which was also used to broadcast live vision of man’s fi rst steps on the moon in 1969 has found hun-dreds of new galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way by using an innovative receiver that meas-ures radio waves.

Scientists at the Parkes tel-escope, 355km west of Sydney, said they had detected 883 gal-axies, a third of which had never been seen before. The fi ndings were reported in the latest issue of Astronomical Journal under the title ‘The Parkes HI Zone of Avoidance Survey’.

“Hundreds of new galaxies were discovered, using the same tel-escope that was used to broadcast the TV pictures from Apollo 11,” said Lister Staveley-Smith, a pro-fessor at the University of Western Australia’s International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.

“The electronic technology at the back end is substantially dif-

ferent and that is why we can still keep using these old telescopes,” he said.

The discoveries occurred as the scientists were investigat-ing the region’s close proximity to the Great Attractor, a gravity anomaly in intergalactic space.

The Great Attractor appears to be drawing the Milky Way towards it with a gravitational force equivalent more than 2mnkph.

Using radio waves has allowed scientists to see beyond dust and stars in the Milky Way that had previously blocked the view of telescopes, the study showed.

Staveley-Smith, the lead au-thor on the Astronomical Jour-nal, said scientists have been trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious Great Attractor since major deviations from universal expansion were fi rst discovered in the 1970s and 1980s.

“It’s a missing part of the jig-saw puzzle, which is the struc-ture of our local universe,” said Michael Burton, a professor at the University of New South Wales’ Physics School.

“They have managed to pierce through it and complete the pic-ture of what our part of the uni-verse looks like.”

An artist’s impression of galaxies found in the Zone of Avoidance behind the Milky Way.

US, China see progress on UN resolution

North Korea team ‘on labour investigation tour’

AFPWashington

The United States and China have made progress toward a draft

UN sanctions resolution against North Korea for its re-cent nuclear tests and push it to the negotiating table.

After talks in Washington, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry said the draft was still being “evaluated” by offi -cials before being submitted to the UN Security Council.

But both powers vowed that they would not accept a nu-clear-armed North Korea and expressed confi dence the reso-lution would be strong enough to force Kim Jong-Un’s govern-ment to reconsider its strategy.

China wants its neighbour to halt its weapons programme - most recently shown by the January 6 test of an atomic bomb Pyongyang claims was a new thermonuclear device - and return to six-party inter-national talks.

But Beijing has been more cautious than Washington in its approach.

Nevertheless, Wang said his talks with Kerry had made

progress in agreeing on a draft sanctions resolution to be pre-sented to the full UN Security Council.

“We do not accept the DPRK’s nuclear missile pro-gramme and we do not rec-ognise the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state,” he said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s offi cial name.

“Important progress has been made in the consulta-tions and we are looking at the possibility of reaching agree-ment on a draft resolution and passing it in the near future.”

Both men said the goal of the resolution is not to worsen the standoff with Kim Jong-un’s regime, but to persuade it to resume talks on ending his nuclear program.

“We have made signifi cant progress, it has been very constructive in the last days,” Kerry said.

“And there is no question that if the resolution is ap-proved, it will go beyond any-thing that we have previously passed,” he added.

“I believe that what we are considering is signifi cant but, as I say, it is in the appropriate evaluative stages and we both hope that this can move for-ward very soon.”

A North Korean team is understood to be on a tour of Middle East

countries where North Korean workers are employed in some projects.

The “investigation” team is reported to be consisting of six persons, according to diplomatic sources. Such del-egations used to make such tours to investigate the work-ers’ conditions in the past too. “But at those times the teams used to be composed of just two or three persons only,” the sources said. “But this time, the number is said to be around six.”

There are reported to be around 9,000 North Koreans working in various Middle East countries, mainly con-struction projects.

Remittances from these workers are an important source of foreign exchange for North Korea which is fac-ing tougher sanctions after its rocket launch and nuclear test recently.

The inspection team will look into the workers’ activi-ties and lifestyles, according to the sources who said some of the labourers were complain-

ing about this. The team will especially look into activities that are considered as anti-national by North Korea.

The Financial Times news-paper once cited an NGO es-timate that the North Korean government earns $1.5bn to $2.3bn a year from contract labour employed in foreign countries.

Western media reports have accused the North Korean government of sending work-ers abroad and of confi scating most of the wages.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans are being sent to work abroad in conditions that amount to forced labour, to circumvent United Na-tions sanctions and earn up to $2.3bn in foreign currency for the country, a UN investigator had said late last year.

Marzuki Darusman, the special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, said in a report to the UN General As-sembly and at a news confer-ence on October 28, 2015 that the workers were being used as a new source of income, with North Korea facing a “really tight fi nancial and economic situation”.

Beijing continues to expand its military presence on the islands

BRITAIN19Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

PM launchesattack on Corbyn’s appearance David Cameron has

launched a highly personal attack on Jeremy Corbyn

by saying that his mother would expect the Labour leader to wear a proper suit, do up his tie and sing the national anthem.

The prime minister highlighted the thinking of his mother after a Labour MP shouted out in the Commons chamber that Mary Cameron should be asked about the NHS after she signed a peti-tion opposing cuts to children’s centres.

In response to the Labour MP, the prime minister said: “Ask my mother? I think I know what my mother would say. I think she’d look across the dispatch box and she’d say: put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem.”

Corbyn immediately hit back and cited his late mother, Naomi, a peace campaigner. He said: “Talk-ing of motherly advice. My late mother would have said: stand up for the principle of a health serv-ice free at the point of use because that is what she dedicated her life to, as did many people of her gen-eration.”

The prime minister’s comments marked a new low in his attacks on Corbyn by making derogatory re-marks about his appearance.

Until now the prime minister has focused on what he regards as the folly of the Labour leader’s political beliefs, ranging from his support for unilateral nuclear disarmament to his equivocal re-

sponse to questions about what the security forces should do in the event of a Bataclan-style attack in Britain.

But the prime minister believes that his mother, a retired JP, speaks for middle Britain in believing that a mainstream political leader needs to wear a sharp suit and tie. Corbyn’s trousers are invariably baggy and his shirts can be ill-fi tting.

Cameron rounded off his per-sonal attack on Corbyn with a new fl ank in his political attack, as he highlighted the appointment of Damian McBride , who was forced to resign as Gordon Brown’s former communications director after off ering support for a website that would have launched personal attacks on Tories, as an adviser to the shadow defence secretary, Emily Thornberry.

The prime minister said: “To be fair to the Labour party, they have got an answer (on defence). They’re not going to spend 2%, they’re not going to renew our Tri-dent submarines, but they come up with a really brilliant answer. They are bringing back, as their spokesman and spin doctor, Dam-ian McBride six months after say-ing: ‘We can win in 2020 but only if we spend the next fi ve years build-ing this movement and putting forward a vision for the new kind of politics - honest, kinder and more caring’. Six months on Dam-ian McBride is back. That says it all.”

The criticisms of Corbyn’s per-sonal appearance came as the two leaders engaged in testy exchanges on the NHS, which saw them both seek to claim the mantle of Nye

Bevan. The prime minister said that Labour’s postwar minister for health, who founded the NHS, would support the government’s manifesto pledge to provide a con-sistent service across the NHS.

Cameron said: “I think if Nye Bevan was here today he’d want a seven-day NHS because he knew the NHS was for patients up and down our country.”

Corbyn replied: “Nye Bevan would be turning in his grave if he could hear the prime minister’s at-titude towards the NHS. He was the man with vision who wanted a health service for the good of all.”

The Labour leader had earlier accused the government of us-ing “misrepresented research” to show an increase in mortality rates over the weekend.

Corbyn quoted the authors of a report cited by the prime minister and the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. The report, published in the British Medical Journal last year, highlighted the fact that more deaths occur within 30 days of admission to hospitals between Fridays and Mondays. Corbyn said the authors had said it is rash and misleading to say the deaths are avoidable.

The prime minister, who ac-cused the British Medical Asso-ciation of promoting inaccurate statistics in a campaign of scare-mongering, used a sleight of hand to wrongfoot Corbyn. The prime minister said it was wrong to ac-cuse the health secretary of saying there were excess deaths of 6,000 at weekends, because the actual fi gure was 11,000 “now we have had time to go into these fi gures in more detail”.

Hopes fade for three missing Didcot staff

Emergency crews searching for three people missing af-ter part of a disused power

station collapsed have not picked up “any clear signs of life”.

One person was killed and fi ve others hospitalised after a build-ing at the Didcot A site in south Oxfordshire came down at around 4pm on Tuesday while it was be-ing prepared for demolition.

A further 50 people were treat-ed for dust inhalation as emer-gency crews with sniff er dogs worked into the night searching for the missing. Oxfordshire as-sistant chief fi re offi cer Simon Furlong said: “We haven’t picked up any clear signs of life. We are continuing to search and locate the missing persons and we are working hard with the other agencies.” He added that safety concerns are hampering the op-eration. “This is a very diffi cult situation with a very unstable structure,” he said.

“The safety of emergency serv-ice personnel has to remain our priority, while recognising how hard this must be for families

waiting for news of loved ones. Our sympathies are with them, and the family of the person who died here on Tuesday.”

A 100-metre cordon has been placed around the remains of the steel and concrete building as the operation continues. Deputy chief fi re offi cer Nathan Travis described the site as “challeng-ing”. He said: “The building is potentially 10 storeys high — half of that building has collapsed, so you have got a rubble pile which is approximately 20 to 30 feet deep at the moment.

“The search will be consider-able due to the instability of the site. We expect the search to con-tinue ... possibly into the coming days.” Asked about the chances of fi nding those missing alive, he said: “At the moment I can’t give you any details on that but it is a substantial collapse of a build-ing.”

The Health and Safety Execu-tive said two investigators were continuing to work with police. Didcot A opened in 1970 as a coal-fi red power station and was later converted so it could also generate power from natural gas. It ceased generation in March 2013.

Clarkson pays £100,000

to settle suit over assault

Jeremy Clarkson, the former host of the BBC’s hugely popu-lar Top Gear motoring show,

apologised and settled a lawsuit yesterday with the member of the production team he physically at-tacked in an incident which cost him his job.

Clarkson, who built a global fan base as presenter of the pro-gramme, struck and verbally abused Oisin Tymon during fi lm-ing, leading the BBC to announce last March it would not be renew-ing his contract.

The outspoken presenter, a friend of Prime Minister David Cameron, has now agreed to pay Tymon damages to settle a racial discrimination and injury claim, a sum amounting to more than £100,000 according to BBC News.

“I would like to say sorry, once again, to Oisin Tymon for the in-cident and its regrettable after-math,” Clarkson said in a state-ment issued through Tymon’s lawyers.

“I want to reiterate that none of this was in any way his fault. I would also like to make it clear that the abuse he has suff ered since the incident is unwarranted and I am sorry too that he has had to go through that.”

Lawyers for Tymon, who was left bleeding and in need of hospi-tal treatment after the fracas with Clarkson, said the case was settled and the producer wanted to focus on his BBC work.

“Oisin is keen to put the matter behind him now that it has been

brought to a close,” his lawyer Paul Daniels said.

Clarkson became the popu-lar face of Top Gear, aired in 200 countries, by mixing a passion for cars with blunt banter and swagger that often generated controversy and caused off ence.

He had been on a fi nal warning from the BBC over accusations he had used racist language while fi lming the show when the inci-dent with Tymon occurred.

Clarkson has since signed an exclusive deal to present a new motoring show for Amazon’s subscription service alongside his former Top Gear co-presenters Ri-chard Hammond and James May.

Top Gear will continue fronted by British radio and TV presenter Chris Evans with Matt LeBlanc, former star of 1990s US hit com-edy Friends, among the new pre-senting line-up.

“We are pleased that matters have now been resolved,” said the BBC in a statement. “Oisin is a valued member of the BBC who behaved with huge integrity in dealing with the very diffi cult cir-cumstances last year.”

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, waves to the crowds after visiting The Art Room at Wester Hailes Education Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland, yesterday. The Art Room opened its first Scottish room in 2014. The charity works with children to increase their self-esteem, self-confidence and independence through art.

Duchess visits Edinburgh charity

Guardian News and MediaLondon

ReutersLondon

London Evening StandardLondon

EU dealcould bereversed, says Gove

Britain’s deal with the Euro-pean Union on new mem-bership terms could be un-

done by the European Court of Justice despite support from all member states, Justice Secretary Michael Gove - a leading member of the “Leave” campaign - told the BBC. Prime Minister David Cameron’s Downing Street offi ce rejected the argument, saying the deal was an irreversible decision in international law that required the European court to take it into account.

Gove, considered a policy heav-yweight in the cabinet, is a close friend and political ally of Cam-eron, but the men are on opposite sides of the debate ahead of a June 23 referendum on whether to stay in or withdraw from the EU.

Gove does not have the popu-lar appeal of London Mayor Boris Johnson, the most prominent member of the ruling Conserva-tive Party to come out in favour of a “Brexit”, but as justice secretary, Gove’s views on legal issues will carry weight. “The facts are that the European Court of Justice is not bound by this agreement until treaties are changed and we don’t know when that will be,” Gove told the BBC in an interview broadcast yesterday morning.

He said Cameron was “ab-solutely right that this is a deal between 28 nations all of whom believe it” and said that the prime minister had “not been misleading anyone”.

“I do think it’s important that people also realise that the Euro-pean Court of Justice stands above every nation state, and ultimately it will decide on the basis of the treaties and this deal is not yet in the treaties,” Gove said.

Downing Street issued a state-ment rejecting Gove’s line of argu-ment. “It is not true that this deal is not legally binding. Britain’s new settlement in the EU has legal force and is an irreversible International Law Decision that requires the European Court of Justice to take it into account,” it said.

ReutersLondon

Part of the collapsed building is illuminated by emergency services as they work at the decommissioned power station.

93,000 London voters drop off register ahead of mayoral polls

Nearly 100,000 London-ers have disappeared off the electoral register just

weeks before the mayoral election, fi gures yesterday revealed.

Despite the capital’s growing population, the number of regis-tered voters for local polls fell by 93,244, from 5,738,498 in 2014 to

5,645,254 as of December 1, 2015. An even more dramatic decline

was seen among 16 and 17-year-olds in London who will turn 18 within the next two years — down by 3,261 from 33,997 in 2014 to 30,736 as of December.

The fi gures are the fi rst using only the controversial system of individual electoral registration which was pushed through by the government a year early in the face of strong opposition. It was

brought in to tackle voter fraud and clean up the register, replac-ing the old system of registration by household.

But MPs, peers and electoral experts warned that it risked dis-enfranchising hundreds of thou-sands of people across the country as it would make it less likely that they would register.

London’s population has been growing so the number of electors would have been expected to rise.

So the number of voters who have been taken off the London register is likely to be signifi cantly more than 100,000.

The borough with the biggest fall was Redbridge, down 8.7%, followed by Kensington and Chel-sea, 8.2% and Hackney, 6.6%.

The fi gures sparked an imme-diate plea from Labour’s mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan to London-ers to register to vote on May 5 to choose Boris Johnson’s successor.

He said: “Despite the warnings that their plans would see Lon-doners lose their vote, including from the independent Electoral Commission, they’ve arrogantly ploughed on regardless. My mes-sage to Londoners is clear: it is more important than ever that you register to vote and have your say. Don’t let the Tories take your vote away.”

Liberal Democrat mayoral con-tender Caroline Pidgeon added:

“The government was warned about the risks to the electoral register of removing so many vot-ers earlier than planned.

“The result is a hundred thou-sand voters won’t have a say in May’s elections. It is a shameful railroading of our democracy by the Conservatives.”

The drops could be down to “churn” in voters, demographic changes, voting fraud, and more foreign owners of properties who

do not vote in the UK. The Cabinet Offi ce said indi-

vidual registration was “an essen-tial measure” to tackle electoral fraud and to take “ghost voters” off the register.

“We have worked hard with lo-cal authorities to clean up the reg-ister — any entries removed will be people who have moved house, died or never existed because they were registered fraudulently,” said a spokeswoman.

London Evening StandardLondon

“I would like to say sorry, once again, to Oisin Tymon for the incident and its regrettable aft ermath”

EUROPE

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201620

Spain’s anti-austerity party Podemos has dealt a blow to the country’s Social-

ists – racing to try and form a coalition government following inconclusive elections – when they suspended negotiations with them.

Podemos made the an-nouncement after the Socialists signed a deal with centrist party Ciudadanos, which Podemos’s Inigo Errejon told a news con-ference “prevents the possibility of forming a pluralistic govern-ment of change”.

The support of the party is vital to Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez as he seeks enough backing from lawmakers to become prime minister when they vote for or against his pro-

gramme for government next week.

This was now “doomed to failure” by the agreement, Er-rejon added.

Even with Podemos’s sup-port, he would still be short of the tally needed, which means Spain still has no government in sight nearly 10 weeks after the elections.

Earlier yesterday, the Social-ists’ Senate spokesman Oscar Lopez described the agree-ment between them and Ciu-dadanos as “a fi rst deal”, adding on Spanish radio, “there are way more groupings that can make (Sanchez’s) investiture possible”.

Sanchez and Ciudadanos chief Albert Rivera shook hands to applause after signing the agreement, which centres on what a new government led by the Socialists would look like.

It includes proposals for ma-

jor judicial reforms, including changing the constitution to modify rules governing lawmak-ers’ immunity from prosecution, as demanded by Rivera in return for backing Sanchez.

It also puts forward social reforms such as bringing back Spain’s prized universal health-care system, which has suff ered from major spending cuts over the past years of austerity.

Spain has been mired in po-litical deadlock since Decem-ber elections resulted in a hung parliament split among four main parties, none of which has enough seats to govern alone.

The ruling conservative Pop-ular Party (PP) won the most seats but fell short of an absolute majority.

The party’s leader, acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy, gave up attempts to form a gov-ernment after he failed to get

support from other parties fed up with austerity and the cor-ruption scandals plaguing his grouping.

King Felipe VI then asked runner-up Sanchez, whose So-cialists won 89 seats out of 350, to form a government, but he too has struggled to form an al-liance.

“It wasn’t easy for the So-cialist party and Ciudadanos – which have diff erent projects – to be able to put what unites them ... above what separates them,” Rivera told reporters.

Even with Ciudadanos, which won 40 seats, Sanchez still does not have enough votes and will therefore need the backing of other parties – a diffi cult task as all have confl icting agendas.

Anti-austerity party Po-demos, an ally of Greece’s ruling Syriza, won 65 seats and would therefore be a valuable partner.

But the long-established So-cialists are wary of joining forces with an upstart party born just two years ago out of anger over austerity, and which ultimately seeks to supplant it.

The two parties are also deep-ly divided over Catalonia’s inde-pendence movement.

Although it does not want to see Spain split, Podemos backs the idea of a Scotland-style ref-erendum in the northeastern re-gion.

Sanchez, however, is resolute-ly against this.

And crucially, Podemos has previously refused to enter a government that would also in-clude Ciudadanos, pushing in-stead for a left-wing coalition with its leader Pablo Iglesias as deputy prime minister.

The PP meanwhile has said it will vote against any govern-ment it does not lead.

Sanchez, therefore, faces an uphill struggle next week to win parliament’s backing.

He needs an absolute majority – 176 ballots – in the fi rst vote of confi dence due to take place on March 2.

That is almost certain to fail, leading to another vote 48 hours later, in which he would only re-quire a simple majority.

Failing that, the country could be forced to return to the polls by the summer.

As Spain emerges from a se-vere economic crisis, many say fresh elections would be a dis-aster for the country, particu-larly as opinion polls suggest the outcome of a new election would by and large be the same as that held in December.

On Tuesday, Spanish business leaders warned that going to the polls again would be an “incom-prehensible failure”.

One step forward, one step back in Spain crisisAFPMadrid

Police used tear gas and wa-ter cannon to disperse a protest yesterday against

an almost three-month military operation and curfew in the ma-jority Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey.

The fi ring of tear-gas canis-ters fi lled the air with smoke at the protest in Diyarbakir, whose central Sur district has been un-

der curfew since December 2, an AFP photographer said.

Some protesters threw stones at police while a journalist with the pro-Kurdish Dicle news agency was lightly injured by a tear-gas canister.

Turkish security forces im-

posed the curfew and began the military operation in a bid to root out Kurdistan Workers Par-ty (PKK) rebels from Sur.

According to the military, 234 PKK militants have been killed in Sur during the operation.

Kurdish activists reject these

fi gures and say dozens of civil-ians have been caught in the crossfi re while the area’s histori-cal heritage has been hit by ir-reparable damage.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Turkish general staff Hulusi Akar arrived in Diyarbakir on an

unannounced visit to inspect the operation in Sur, the army said.

One Turkish soldier was killed yesterday in clashes with the PKK, it added.

The operations mark a new escalation in half a year of fi ght-ing with the PKK since a two-

and-a-half year truce collapsed.The PKK launched a formal

insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fi ghting for independence although it now presses more for greater au-tonomy and rights for the coun-try’s largest ethnic minority.

Turkish police disperse protest against curfewAFPDiyarbakir

Left: Kurdish boys who earn a living collecting garbage run as Turkish police use water cannon during a demonstration in Diyarbakir against government-imposed curfews on areas of southeastern Turkey.

Dicle News Agency (DIHA) journalist Ayse Surme grimaces after she was struck by a tear-gas canister during a demonstration in Diyarbakir.

The Turkish government has ordered a halt to con-struction work on a gold

mine in a town near the Black Sea until the legal process is ex-hausted, in a rare concession to environmental protesters.

Yesterday Prime Minister Ah-met Davutoglu hosted in the cap-ital Ankara a delegation from the Black Sea region to discuss con-troversial plans to build the gold and copper mine in the town of Cerrattepe in the Artvin region.

The premier hailed the two-hour meeting as “productive” and said that the government gave some assurances to the del-egation for a peaceful solution to the stand-off .

“First of all, the mine opera-tor will suspend its activities at Cerrattepe until a court verdict is delivered,” Davutoglu told a rally in the central Anatolian province of Konya after the meeting.

He told the rally in Konya – a bastion of his ruling AKP party – that everyone would then respect the court’s decision.

The project has been the sub-ject of numerous legal com-plaints although it was not im-mediately clear which specifi c case Davutoglu was referring to.

Davutoglu assured that his government was open to any “well-intentioned” proposal to protect Artvin’s natural fabric.

But the prime minister warned: “We will restore public order within the rules of a state governed by rule of law. And within this framework, if a wrong step is taken we will do what’s necessary.”

Over the past weeks, thou-sands of Artvin residents have held protests against the project which would see an ancient for-est razed to the ground.

While the suspension means the project could still ultimately go ahead, the decision marks a rare victory for Turkey’s envi-ronmental movement.

After protesters held nightly vigils in Artvin to protest against the project, the situation in the city was currently calm with ac-tivists awaiting the return of the participants in the Ankara meet-ing, an AFP photographer said.

Police had at the weekend fi red tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters seeking to block the start of the construction work.

At least 26 were hurt in the clashes.

The conglomerate behind the project is the Cengiz Holding company, with its chief executive

Mehmet Cengiz seen as a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The area close to the border with Georgia is seen as one of the most environmentally important in the country with its wet cli-mate creating a lush landscape of extraordinary beauty.

But environmental organisa-tions have branded the planned mine “illegal” and said it would ruin the surroundings.

Erdogan and the Turkish gov-ernment are very wary of envi-ronmentally-motivated protests after grassroots demonstrations in 2013 against the redevelop-ment of Gezi Park in Istanbul’s Taksim Square snowballed into an uprising against his rule.

Turkey suspends gold mine projectAFPAnkara

People hold up their smartphones as they take part in a demonstration late on Tuesday in Artvin, northeastern Turkey, to protest the plan to build a gold and copper mine in the ecologically pristine area.

Italy seeks more access to Egyptian murder probeReuters/DPARome

Italy said yesterday that Egyptian investigators should hand over the evi-

dence they had uncovered in the death of an Italian graduate stu-dent who was tortured and killed in Cairo.

Giulio Regeni, 28, disappeared in January and his battered body was found in a ditch at the be-ginning of this month.

Egypt invited Italian investi-gators to take part in the probe, but judicial sources in Rome say the collaboration has been lim-ited.

“Co-operation with our in-vestigative team can be and must be more eff ective. It cannot be only formal,” Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said during parliament’s question time.

He said Italy wanted access to specifi c evidence.

“Italian investigators must have access to audio and video documentation, medical test results and the legal documents from the Giza prosecutor’s of-fi ce,” he said.

Regeni had been research-ing independent trade unions in Egypt and written articles criti-cal of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government, prompting speculation that he was killed in the hands of Egyptian security forces.

Earlier yesterday, Egypt’s in-terior ministry said that there were still several possible sce-narios for the murder, but it did not mention the involvement of the security forces as a hypoth-esis.

The ministry said however that the murder may have been motivated by personal venge-ance.

The investigative team in charge of the case has not yet discovered the perpetrators, said the ministry in a statement on the initial fi ndings.

“However the available data and fi ndings put forward several possibilities including crimi-nal suspicions or revenge for personal reasons,” the ministry statement said

Italian media have suggested that Regeni, who moved to Cairo in September for research into labour issues, was kidnapped and murdered by Egyptian secu-rity forces for having links with trade unions and other opposi-tion groups.

Benedetto Della Vedova, Ita-ly’s junior foreign aff airs minis-ter, told parliament earlier this month that there were bruises, burn marks and cuts to Regeni’s shoulders and chest – acts that amounted to “torture”.

The Egyptian authorities have denied any responsibility for the death.

The Egyptian interior min-istry said in the statement that the Italian media’s jumping to conclusions and “deluding pub-lic opinion ... with no basis” is negatively impacting the inves-tigation.

Human rights campaigners are planning to stage a sit-in protest outside the Egyptian embassy in Rome today, mark-ing one month since Regeni went missing.

Italy has signifi cant economic interests in Egypt, including the development of the giant Zohr gas fi eld off the North African coast being developed by Italy’s state oil producer Eni.

No regrets, says Turk suing own wifeA Turkish man who filed a criminal complaint against his wife for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that he was sorry his marriage was broken but had no regrets for defending a leader he said had transformed Turkey.Truck driver Ali Dinc, from the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, filed the complaint against his wife last Friday, saying she had repeatedly insulted Erdogan with “unspeakable obscenities” during his televised speeches.Insulting the Turkish president is a crime punishable by up to four years in jail.“One day I said enough is enough. I will record your insults and I will file a legal complaint. She said: ‘Turn on the recorder so I can repeat them’,” Dinc told Reuters.He did not say exactly what his wife’s insults were.Dinc denied his actions were motivated by revenge.“I would do it again. I loved her, but I don’t love her anymore. If she’d only have insulted me, I could have accepted that. But I can’t accept her insults against Erdogan,” he said.

Without reductions in planet-warming emissions, blistering

heatwaves of the strength that now typically occur once every 20 years could happen annu-ally on 60% of the Earth’s land areas by 2075, scientists have warned.

And intense heatwaves – de-fi ned as three exceptionally hot days in a row – will become far more extreme if greenhouse gas emissions continue un-checked, said a new study pub-lished in the journal Climatic Change.

The researchers said that a worsening of extreme heat could have potentially deadly eff ects.

“Imagine the hottest day that you can remember and instead of 42° Celsius (107.6° Fahrenheit), it’s now 45° C (113° F).

“That’s going to have a dan-gerous impact on the poor, the old and the very young, who are typically the ones dying in heatwaves,” said Michael Weh-ner of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States.

The researchers warn that by 2050, heatwaves that hap-pen on average once in 20 years would be at least 3° C (5.4° F) hotter on 60% of the Earth’s land areas than now.

In 10% of the world, they would be at least 5° C hotter, the researchers said.

In December, around 195 countries agreed a new United Nations deal to try to restrain the rise in global average tem-peratures to “well below” 2° Celsius (3.6° F) above pre-in-dustrial levels.

However, the emissions re-ductions they have pledged so far are not enough to meet that goal.

The new research – part of a larger project to quan-tify how emission reductions could aff ect health, agricul-ture, hurricanes, sea level rise and drought – determined that stringent mitigation measures could reduce heatwaves sig-nifi cantly.

“The study shows that ag-gressive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions will translate into sizable benefi ts, starting in the middle of the century, for both the number and in-tensity of extreme heat events,” said Claudia Tebaldi of the Na-tional Centre for Atmospheric Research, where the project is based.

“Even though heatwaves are on the rise, we still have time to avoid a large portion of the im-pacts,” she added.

The study said that, even with strong action to curb cli-mate change, nearly a fi fth of global land areas would still suff er intense heatwaves yearly in 2075.

Experts warn of heatwave ‘every year’ReutersBarcelona

EUROPE21Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Migrants cradling young children blocked a Greek motorway yester-

day demanding onward passage to Macedonia, part of a growing bottleneck of refugees stranded by new border controls that have put Athens on a collision course with its EU peers.

Families chanted “We want to go” after police stopped their convoy at Tempe in central Greece and authorities elsewhere in the country stepped up meas-

ures to control the fl ow of people trying to reach more prosperous nations further north.

Reuters journalists saw hun-dreds gathered at petrol stations and motels along the 530km (330-mile) route from Athens to Macedonia, where guards pe-riodically opened the border, letting 100 people through at a time.

Facing the problem of cater-ing to more than ten times that number of new arrivals daily, Greece escalated protests against that restriction and others im-posed by countries along Eu-rope’s main land migration route.

“It’s scandalous ... that fi ve police chiefs can overturn a de-cision of European Union prime ministers,” Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told Reuters in Athens.

Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia imposed controls after the heads of their police forces met last week.

Austrian Foreign Minister Se-bastian Kurz brushed off criti-cism of his country’s plans to impose daily caps on migrants, saying yesterday that Greece needed to do more to reduce the fl ow.

More than one million mi-

grants and refugees passed through Greece last year, many fl eeing confl ict in Syria and Af-ghanistan.

Another 1,600 arrived on the mainland from outlying islands bordering Turkey yesterday morning, and two Greek govern-ment offi cials said there were an estimated 20,000 stranded in the country.

“When there is a bottleneck, the bottle could break, and where we had a controlled movement of individuals ... a broken bottle could result in an uncontrolled, illegal infl ux,” Mouzalas said.

A senior offi cial of the UN

refugee agency UNHCR said the restrictions fl ew in the face of refugee protection laws.

“(They) ...probably go against even European rules and regula-tions and certainly against basic refugee protection laws,” UN-HCR head Filippo Grandi told re-porters in Athens.

In a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras expressed “deep displeasure” at the failure of EU member states to meet their commitments, a statement from his offi ce said.

Balkan decisions to halt the fl ow would escalate, and not re-

duce, illegal migration, Minister Mouzalas added.

Meanwhile, Greek police had orders to stop buses carrying mi-grants to Idomeni, at the border with Macedonia.

One driver in a convoy of eight buses told Reuters they were stopped by police and asked to sleep at a stadium on Tuesday night.

About 1,000 people were gathered in a fi eld at the frontier yesterday, 24 hours after anoth-er group of migrants had been rounded up and removed from the area by Greek authorities.

At Athens’ Piraeus port, Syr-

ian migrant Hasan Frnjari com-plained that the authorities had told him to stay there until fur-ther notice.

“We came here in the morn-ing and don’t know what to do because we want to continue to Macedonia. Now they tell us the borders are closed,” said the 23-year-old marketing student from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. “I don’t think they re-ally understand the cause we left from Syria, in Aleppo people are in danger. The city is under con-stant shelling. You walk in the street and you can die, just like that.”

Greek motorway blocked as bottleneck growsReutersIdomeni, Greece

Austria has warned that the EU’s future was at stake as it pressed Balkan states,

in the absence of an eff ective common response by the bloc, to reduce the infl ux of migrants despite fears of a humanitarian crisis.

Further undermining the Eu-ropean Union’s hopes to get a grip on the situation, Hungary meanwhile announced a refer-endum on Brussels’ troubled scheme to share out migrants among the 28-nation group via mandatory quotas.

“We have to reduce the infl ux now. This is a question of surviv-al for the EU,” Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said after talks in Vienna with countries on the well-trodden west Balkans route north from Greece.

Greece, where thousands of Afghans have been held up at the border with Macedonia, angrily protested at being excluded from the ministerial meeting, under-scoring the deep rifts within the EU.

A joint statement from the participants said that after hun-dreds of thousands of people trekked through the Balkans last year, many ending up in Ger-many, Sweden and also Austria, the infl ow must be “massively reduced”.

The talks come after fi gures

showed over 110,000 people ar-riving in Greece and Italy so far this year alone – 413 perishing in the attempt – following more than one million arrivals in 2015.

Amnesty International hit out yesterday at Europe’s “shameful” response, saying that most EU countries had “simply decided that the protection of their bor-ders is more important than the protection of the rights of refu-gees”.

Vienna has come under fi re for organising yesterday’s talks, not least from Greece, and for im-posing last week daily limits on the number of migrants who can apply for asylum in Austria or transit to other countries.

But despite sharp criticism also from Germany, Vienna says that it has no choice because the

EU has failed to get off the ground any eff ective common strategy.

“I am optimistic that we can reach a joint EU response. The question is when,” Mikl-Leitner told a news conference. “We want to generate pressure so that the EU can reach a solution.”

So far joint EU eff orts to halt the infl ux, including a deal with Turkey – the subject of a March 7 special summit – to stem the mass exodus of migrants across the sea to Greece, have failed to bear fruit.

An EU scheme agreed in Sep-tember to relocate 160,000 peo-ple among EU nations under mandatory quotas, has seen just 598 relocated so far, with former communist members of the bloc opposing the plan and fi ling legal challenges.

Hungarian Premier Viktor Or-ban, announcing yesterday plans for the so-far undated referen-dum, said that Brussels has no right to “redraw Europe’s cultur-al and religious identity”.

As a result of the EU’s fail-ures, countries throughout the western Balkans have begun uni-laterally to impose restrictions, sparked by Austria’s much-crit-icised daily migrant limits.

Macedonia has closed its fron-tier to Afghans and introduced more stringent document checks for Syrians and Iraqis seeking to travel to northern and western Europe.

“We did not take a unilateral decision,” Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki told Germany’s Bild daily in an inter-view published yesterday. “We reacted because of the actions of other countries.”

As a result, around 3,000 peo-ple were waiting yesterday at the Idomeni crossing point between Greece and Macedonia, police said, with the Macedonians al-lowing 860 people through over-night.

Greek authorities were at-tempting to take hundreds by bus back to Athens, but were being

hindered by a blockade of mo-torways by farmers protesting for weeks about tax and pension reforms.

Yiannis Mouzalas, Greece’s minister responsable for migra-tion, said that there were cur-rently some 12,000 migrants stuck in the country, with hun-dreds more arriving every day.

EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Dutch Migration Minister Klaas Dijkhoff said on Tuesday that they were “concerned” by the developments and by the “hu-manitarian crisis that might un-fold”.

Their fears were echoed by

Filippo Grandi, the new head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR on a visit on Tuesday to the Greek island of Lesbos, where many of the migrants who survive the perilous sea crossing from Tur-key come ashore.

“I am very worried about the news that we are getting about increasing closures of European borders along the Balkans route because that will create further chaos and confusion,” Grandi said.

Austrian offi cials said that the conclusions of the talks would be presented to a meeting of EU in-terior and justice ministers today in Brussels.

EU survival is at stake in migrant crisis: AustriaAFPVienna

A migrant holds a child yesterday after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border in Gevgelija, Macedonia.

A migrant child stands inside a tent at the Macedonian-Serbian border near the village of Tabanovce, Macedonia.

Foreign and interior ministers of west Balkan countries and Austria meet at the ‘Managing Migration together’ conference at the Austrian interior ministry in Vienna.

Austria tells Germany: Make your mind up on migrant crisis

Austria has accused Germany of sending mixed

messages on immigration, saying that Berlin should

decide between supporting Greece in letting migrants

continue their journey into Europe and telling other

countries not to let too many people through.

Germany, which took in more than a million migrants

last year, most of whom passed through Austria, has

pushed for common European measures to address

the continent’s migration crisis.

Austria, which has taken in a similar proportion of

asylum-seekers relative to its population, said last

week that it would cap the number of migrants passing

through its southern border at 3,200 a day and limit

daily asylum claims there to 80.

The move, co-ordinated with countries on the main

migrant route into Europe through the Balkans, drew a

warning from Berlin against unilateral measures.

Germany also said it did not want to bear the brunt of

the influx.

“Germany has to decide what signals Germany wants

to send,” Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leit-

ner told a news conference at a meeting with her coun-

terparts from Balkan countries aimed at co-ordinating

border restrictions.

“Currently they are sending the following signals: that

they are allowing Greece to agree to the open-door

policy, and on the other hand they are demanding that

Austria stop all those who want to travel to Germany or

reduce the quota of 3,200,” Mikl-Leitner added.

Berlin could not both support Greece in letting those

arriving from Turkey travel further into Europe unhin-

dered and call on other countries to restrict the flow,

Mikl-Leitner said.

“These are simply diff erent signals – on the one hand

stop, on the other sending a signal to Greece that the

waving through of migrants should carry on,” she said.

“One must choose one of those strategies.,” Mikl-

Leitner said.

Top cop admits Cologne attackers may never be caught AFPCologne

German courts has tried three North African men for crimes committed on

New Year’s Eve in Cologne when hundreds of women reported be-ing sexually assaulted or robbed.

But the city’s police chief conceded that most perpetra-tors may never be caught over the spate of groping and other attacks that infl amed public de-bate about a huge infl ux of refu-gees and migrants.

In the fi rst of three trials, a court in the western city sen-tenced a 23-year-old Moroccan man who admitted to stealing a woman’s mobile phone to a sus-pended six-month jail term and a €100 ($110) fi ne.

In two more cases, also dealing with property crimes not sexual assaults, a 22-year-old Tunisian man and an 18-year-old Moroc-can man were accused of steal-ing a man’s camera in the melee outside Cologne’s main railway station and Gothic cathedral.

Far-right populist groups have capitalised on the crimes by rail-ing against “sex jihadists” and “rapefugees” in street rallies.

Cologne police have been harshly criticised for failing to stop the chaos and then denying it for several days.

The city’s former police chief Wolfgang Albers was suspended in a bid to restore public confi -dence in the force.

Police have received hundreds of criminal complaints over the violence.

They have identifi ed 75 sus-pects, and arrested 13 for sus-pected property crimes but only one for sexual assault.

Police chief Juergen Math-ies told the BBC most of the sex assailants may never be caught, given the poor quality of surveil-lance camera footage and a lack of reliable eyewitness testimony.

“The CCTV footage is not good enough to clearly identify sexual assaults,” he said. “We can see some thefts but that’s all. We are relying on witness ac-counts and victims identifying their attackers.”

An abattoir in southern France was shut down on Tuesday pending an in-

vestigation after an animal rights group released a video purport-edly showing abuse of livestock at the facility.

The group, L214, published the four-minute video on its website, claiming to have secretly fi lmed it at the abattoir in Le Vigan, in France’s southern Gard region, which is certifi ed as “organic”.

Scenes include employees ta-sering livestock, hurling sheep against barriers, hanging pigs by one leg, and pulling a cow by one horn.

Cattle and pigs are supposed

to be stunned to death before their throats are slit, but can be seen still moving as they are be-ing bled.

The agency that manages the abattoir said it was closed until further notice and staff had been suspended.

It said an internal investiga-tion would be conducted.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll denounced what he called “intolerable practices”, saying that they would be “punished as they should be”, and announced that national veterinary investi-gators would team up with local prosecutors.

Animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot weighed in on the af-fair, saying Le Foll “should be ashamed” for his inaction over livestock abuse.

The former fi lm star also de-nounced the “sadism of per-verted unsupervised employees, a scandalous, unacceptable cru-elty that makes you throw up”.

Bardot, 81, recalled that she had demanded that surveillance cameras be set up in abattoirs na-tionwide after a similar video in October was published by L214 – the group’s name refers to a 1976 legal clause establishing that an-imals are “sentient beings”.

The small Le Vigan slaugh-terhouse processes between 300 and 350 tonnes of meat a year from around 100 livestock farm-ers in the region.

French pop singer Nili Hadida says on the video: “Even in an abattoir that emphasises organic and local (production), the ani-mals suff er as they die.”

French abattoir shut down over video of alleged animal abuse AFPLe Vigan, France Italy’s highest court has

nullifi ed a regional law in Lombardy dubbed “anti-

mosque” by critics, easing regu-lations on the construction of places of worship in the coun-try’s north.

The law, drawn up by the anti-immigrant party Northern League and voted in at the start of 2015, tightened rules regard-

ing all religious buildings, but was widely believed to target the wealthy region’s Muslim com-munity.

It required new places of wor-ship fi t into the “architecture of the Lombard landscape” and be voted in by local referendum.

It also stipulated the religion in question be offi cially recog-nised by the state – which Islam is not, because it lacks a signed agreement with the govern-ment.

According to the interior

ministry, at the start of 2015 there were 1.6mn Muslims in Italy, 26.5% of whom lived in Lombardy, which boasts the country’s oldest and second largest mosque.

While there are over 700 places of Islamic worship in the country, there are only six offi -cial mosques, with many Mus-lims instead praying together in make-shift areas in a growing phenomenon the ministry dubs “garage mosques”.

The high court has yet to

publish the motives of its rul-ing, but the government had previously denounced the law as going against “the exercise of fundamental rights of religious freedom” and the principle of equality among citizens.

“The left cheers Allahu Ak-bar,” Northern League hard-liner and the region’s president Roberto Maroni said on Twit-ter, while Matteo Salvini, the League’s president, posted his “congratulations to the Islamic court” on its ruling.

‘Anti-mosque’ law annulled by highest court AFPRome

French teacher arrested for lying over attack by Islamic State militantsA Jewish teacher in France who claimed he was attacked by Islamic State (IS) militants was taken into custody yesterday, accused of lying to police.The man invited the press to his house in Marseille in southern France the day after the supposed attack in December, saying that he

had been beaten by three men claiming to represent the militant group.But a police source confirmed yesterday that the man had been arrested for allegedly fabricating the story.He is not the only French teacher to be accused of lying about an IS attack.

In January, a nursery school teacher was sent for psychiatric tests after admitting he lied about an attack in his classroom.The 45-year-old man in Aubervilliers, northeast of Paris, initially said that a man had burst into his classroom and cut him with a box cutter and scissors.

Jolt to YSR Congress as another MLA joins TDP

Banarasi brocade sarisexhibition in Delhi

Blockades, which are almost a way of life in Manipur, could soon become a thing of the past with the inauguration of a broad gauge railway line to Jirbam, some 220km from Imphal that will enable the state to stockpile rice, fuel and other essentials as these will no longer have to be transported by road. The arrival of the first goods train from Silchar over the weekend with 1,250 tonnes of rice means that truckers will no longer have to drive down to Dimapur in Nagland to pick up the food grains on a highway that is often prone to blockades. This apart, they will be saving some 30km each way.

Traff ic was restored on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway yesterday which was closed for four days after an attack by militants in Pampore town of south Kashmir. Markets remained closed for the fourth day in Pampore, 10km from Srinagar city, but the traff ic was restored through the town. Protests rocked Pampore town for three days after a fierce gunfight between three guerrillas holed up in the Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) and security forces. Nine people were killed in the 48-hour long gunfight. The victims were a civilian, three army soldiers, two paramilitary troopers, and three rebels belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Just days ahead of the national budget, the Assam unit of the Congress yesterday took to the streets protesting against the ‘indiff erent attitude’ of the central government to discontinue with the special category status for northeastern states. Assam Congress president Anjan Dutta led the protest rally from the Latasil playground to the off ice of the deputy commissioner of Kamrup Metro district in Kachari area, and submitted a memorandum to be handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding fulfilment of various demands. “It was a whimsical decision of the central government to discontinue the special category state status from Assam and other northeastern states,” he said.

Manipur to beat roadblockades with train

Traff ic restored on Srinagar highway

Congress demands special status for NE

SERVICE MILITANCYPROTEST

In yet another setback to the YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh, one more legislator has switched loyalties to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Jayaramulu, a member of the assembly from Budvel in Kadapa district, met Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada yesterday and formally joined the TDP. The legislator told reporters that he was impressed by the development works undertaken by the TDP-led government. He said nobody influenced him to join the TDP. The development comes two days after four legislators of the only opposition party in the state decided to join the TDP. The lawmakers said they joined the TDP for the development of their respective constituencies and also the state.

POLITICS EVENT

An exhibition of Banarasi brocade saris titled “Atoot Dor - Unbroken Thread” will held in New Delhi starting today. The two-month-long event will be held at the National Museum in collaboration with India Foundation for the Arts, Bengaluru. It will exhibit 100 objects under six sections which will include contemporary pieces from eminent designers and brands like Ritu Kumar, Rahul Mishra and Ashdeen in collaboration with Goodearth, Jaypore and Asian Paints. The highlight of the exhibition will be an exclusive range of products on display by Kumar, while tracing their origins, repertoire and contemporary expressions. These products are presented both as textiles for personal adornment and as cultural artefacts produced, circulated and appreciated globally.

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016

INDIA22

Haryana nowcalm; traderscount cost of Jat protests Disruption has been huge, with at least 850 trains cancelled, 500 factories closed and business losses estimated at as much as $5bn by one regional lobby group

AgenciesChandigarh

Haryana remained calm yesterday, with peo-ple pouring out of their

homes in violence-hit districts and supplies of essential com-modities restored.

Shops and business estab-lishments, which survived the wrath of the Jat community riot-ers in the last few days, opened in Rohtak, Bhiwani, Jind, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Hisar, Panipat and other districts.

Traders were counting the cost of more than a week of ri-oting and looting during which shops were burned, road and rail links blocked, and water sup-plies to metropolitan Delhi were cut.

Leaders of the Jat community reached a deal late on Monday to end protests that paralysed Haryana and cut water to Delhi. State police said main highways reopened to traffi c yesterday.

Days of rioting and looting across Haryana by the Jat com-munity challenged Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi’s promise of better days for Indians who elected him in 2014 with the largest majority in three dec-ades.

In Rohtak, the epicentre of the violence by Jats demanding more government jobs and college places, traders said they faced ruin.

“I had two showrooms on the road - both were fi rst looted and then set on fi re. I have nothing left now,” Anil Kumar said.

Kumar appealed to Modi and

to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for compensation: “Are we not humans? Don’t our votes count? Why did they not have any mercy on us? Don’t we pay our taxes?”

Modi has remained silent throughout the worst social un-rest of his 20 months in offi ce, while the federal and Haryana governments - both run by his Bharatiya Janata Party - have struggled to cope.

Thousands of troops were deployed to quell the protests, which fl ared on Monday near Sonipat when a freight train was torched and, according to news reports, police shot dead three protesters. Jats also attacked buses in neighbouring Rajas-than.

Disruption has been huge, with at least 850 trains cancelled, 500 factories closed and busi-ness losses estimated at as much as $5bn by one regional lobby group. India’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, shut two facto-ries at the weekend because its supply of components was dis-rupted.

The army retook control of a canal that supplies three-fi fths of the Delhi’s water on Monday. A key sluice gate was reopened, but protesters sought to cut off the

water supply at another location. “The canal was damaged by

protesters and repair work will have to be done,” Delhi’s Water Resources Minister Kapil Mishra said. “The water crisis will con-tinue for a few more days.”

Political developments in the state shifted to Delhi where all of BJP’s Haryana MPs were called to meet Parliamentary Aff airs Min-ister M Venkaiah Naidu.

Khattar and some other min-isters and legislators are also camping in Delhi.

Non-Jat leaders within the BJP are upset with the party leader-ship for bowing before the de-mands of the protesters.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) said yesterday the BJP government in the state and Congress leaders were responsi-ble for the mindless violence.

“A case should be registered against Bhupinder Singh Hooda as his close aide Varinder Singh was caught on audio tape try-ing to instigate violence,” a party leader said.

The police later registered a case against Singh.

In the audio tape of a phone conversation, Singh allegedly tells another person to activate youth in Sirsa district to take part in the Jat protests.

Dance helps traffi cking victims to heal: study ReutersMumbai

Classical Indian dance could be an eff ective form of therapy for victims of

human traffi cking and sexual violence, helping them to over-come their traumatic experienc-es and gain confi dence, a pilot study has shown.

The six-month study of 50 female survivors in Kolkata and Mumbai found that dance movement therapy helped ease anxiety, depression, anger and post-traumatic stress when used alongside traditional counselling and other rehabilitation eff orts.

“Often, in the rehabilitation of victims of traffi cking and sexual violence, the impact on the body can be overlooked,” said Sohini

Chakraborty, the founder and di-rector of Kolkata Sanved, a chari-ty which carried out the research.

“Dance is about the body, and the women are somewhat famil-iar with these dance forms, so we can help them heal and create a more positive body image,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foun-dation.

The rehabilitation of victims in India is often inadequate and in-consistent in a culture that does not encourage women to speak up or seek counselling, women’s rights groups say.

Yet gender-based violence re-mains high in the country, with more than 330,000 reported cases of crimes against women in 2014, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

The biggest ever survey of the health of human traffi cking vic-

tims last year found high levels of abuse and severe physical and psychological health problems among survivors in Southeast Asia.

The notion of dance as therapy has been increasingly recognised over the years, due to the eff orts of institutions such as the Amer-ican Dance Therapy Association, founded in 1966. Studies have shown it enhances the emotion-al, cognitive, physical and social well-being of the individual.

Indian dance forms are uniquely suited to therapy, Chakraborty said, citing the en-ergetic footwork of Kathak.

Kathak can help release anger, while the elaborate hand and eye movements in Bharatnatyam can help express a range of emotions, she said. Folk dances can also en-courage bonding, she added.

Men peeing in public ‘felicitated’ Police in Hyderabad have launched a unique drive to stop public urination by embarrassing off enders by garlanding them with flowers and taking their photos. Fed up with the menace in the city, an international IT hub, traff ic police inspector T Ramaswamy hit upon the idea recently. Some 60 off enders had been “felicitated” in the drive, dubbed “Shame Garland” by the local press, since last Thursday, he said. “When we notice someone relieving himself near street corners or footpaths, we approach him and greet him with a garland. We then request him to use public toilets. “This is people-friendly policing and has proven eff ective. Violators generally feel guilty and promise they will never pee in public again,” he said. The campaign had raised public awareness about sanitation and personal hygiene and it could be extended to other city areas, he added.

Tamil NaduCM’s fans get tattoos for her birthday AFPChennai

Supporters of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayala-lithaa queued up yester-

day to get tattoos of the hugely popular leader to mark her 68th birthday.

Special prayers were also of-fered at temples in the state and phone lines were set up by her party so fans could send in their best wishes.

Amma, as Jayalalithaa is called, has long enjoyed a cult following in prosperous Tamil Nadu where she has won three terms as chief minister since 1991.

Birthday wishes poured in for Jayalalithaa, who faces a state election this year, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“May Almighty bless her with a long life, fi lled with good health,” the premier tweeted.

Suppporter V Kanniga, from Chennai, said she decided to have Jayalalithaa’s face tattooed on her arm to show devotion to the leader.

“It was painful but now I am happy,” the 54-year-old said, adding that her husband also has one. “I can show my forearm proudly to the party functionar-ies and my relatives,” she said, at a special tattoo stall set up by Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.

Tattoo artist V Chandanku-mar said most people preferred to ink their arms, but some asked for her face on their chests and backs.

Mass weddings have also been taking place, with brides and grooms wearing armbands with her photo, according to the CNN-IBN TV news website.

Jayalalithaa has earned the loyalty of her supporters with a series of populist schemes over the years, including giving away gold, goats and kitchen appli-ances at election time.

But she has also drawn accu-sations of corruption and an au-tocratic governing style. She re-turned as chief minister last year after being cleared of illegally amassing wealth while in offi ce.

Her party is the third largest in the parliament.

Protesters stage a demonstration outside former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s residence in Rohtak yesterday. They accused a close Hooda aide of instigating violence during the Jat protests.

Nalini Sriharan, convicted for life in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, is escorted by police as she arrives at her home in Chennai yesterday. She was granted a day’s parole to participate in the final rites of her father, a retired police inspector, who died yesterday.

Day’s parole for Nalini

Protesters damaging public property must pay: SC

The Supreme Court yesterday

said it would lay down guidelines

to act against people damag-

ing public property and holding

people to ransom during protests

as it wondered where the country

was heading. Protesters can’t

destroy public property and hold

everything to ransom to get their

demands met, Justices Jagdish

Singh Khehar and C Nagap-

pan said underlining that those

involved in destruction of public

property would not escape the

consequences of their actions.

“What is happening? Where is our

country (headed for?) One cannot

burn the country’s property. You

can agitate peacefully. But what

is this? - burning and ransacking”,

the court said with an obvious

reference to the recent Jat agita-

tion in Haryana which resulted in

damage and destruction of public

property, dislocation of public

transport including disruption

of water supply to the national

capital.

INDIA23Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

New app off ersexam tutoring

400 Bihar students expelledfor cheating in board exams

Silence amid unrest raises questions over Modi’s leadership

Court postpones JNU student’s bail hearing

Congress, BJPtrade barbs over JNU row,student death

IANSBengaluru

A B e n g a l u r u - b a s e d start-up has launched a smartphone app for

school students to instant-ly clarify subject-related doubts from experts who have passed out of top in-stitutions in the run-up to annual board exams that are round the corner.

Available on Google Play Store and scheduled to be free for a month to all students who sign up until March 31, the 24x7 HashLearn Now app helps students get one-on-one tutoring in mathematics, physics and chemistry from experts who went to Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)

and Birla Institute of Technol-ogy and Science (BITS).

“Our vision is to provide a high-quality private tu-tor to every student at scale, on-demand and at an af-fordable price - the holy grail of test prep,” Jayadev Gopalakrishnan, CEO of HashLearn, said in statement.

HashLearn Now covers all school board examination and national entrance tests for students from classes 8 to 12.

The app learning entails a student choosing a topic and uploading an image of the problem he wants to be taught to start the session.

Instantly the student gets connected to a subject expert who deciphers the problem. The student can rate the tutor and complete the process.

IANSPatna

More than 400 students caught cheating in Class 12 exams were

expelled in Bihar yesterday and dozens of people who helped them to cheat were arrested, of-fi cials said.

“The students were expelled on charge of adopting unfair means,” a Bihar School Exami-nation Board offi cial said.

The highest number of stu-dents caught cheating and ex-pelled was 40 in Sheikhpura dis-trict followed by 29 in Jehanabad and 17 in Rohtas.

The authorities have taken tough measures to ensure the exams are held in a proper way.

Around 70,000 offi cials, in-

cluding teachers and policemen, have been deployed around exam centres, said Hariharnath Jha, an offi cial of the Bihar School Ex-amination Board.

The centres are also moni-tored by CCTV cameras.

The authorities have de-cided to impose a fi ne of up to Rs10,000 on students found using unfair means and punish guardians found helping their children to cheat.

Parents, guardians or friends found helping students to cheat would be sent to jail, they said.

Nearly 1.16mn students ap-peared for Class 12 exams at 1,109 centres across the state yesterday.

Students caught cheat-ing would be expelled for three years. Earlier, the board debarred them only for a year, Jha said.

New Education Minister Ashok Choudhary had on sev-eral occasions spoken about stringent arrangements to check cheating in the board exam.

But despite the elaborate ar-rangements, reports of cheating came from many districts.

There were reports of students vandalising a school in Chhapra after they were not allowed to copy.

People were shown climbing a school building in Vaishali dis-trict to provide chits to exami-nees at a centre.

Mass cheating has been re-ported in Bihar for years and has become an annual aff air that hogs the headlines every year in March as reports and visuals surface of guardians and friends helping the students.

ReutersNew Delhi

Amid the clamour of unrest sweeping university cam-puses and the northern state

of Haryana, Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi has decided on a strategy that risks emboldening political op-ponents: silence is golden.

Advisers describe a leader who is on top of events, but who pre-fers not to get sucked into rowdy debate on India’s public square.

In recent weeks, thousands of

students have protested across the country over the arrest of a student leader of the Jawahar-lal Nahru University for alleged sedition, while anger among the powerful Jat community over caste-based job quotas spilled into deadly clashes in Haryana.

“He (Modi) believes that his popularity comes from being seen as a serious politician who gets on with his work,” said a leader of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He does not believe in giving a running commentary.”

An adviser said that Modi, 65, would instead give a sober assessment of recent unrest to parliament, which convened yesterday for its budget session in a climate of confrontation that is likely to further stall his ambi-tious economic reform agenda.

Modi’s reticence, also evident during fl oods last year and a high profi le attack by militants in early 2016, has undermined the image of a decisive leader who swept to power in May, 2014, defeating a Congress government led by the taciturn Manmohan Singh.

“The silence raises questions about being on top of your brief,” said Milan Vaishnav, an associ-ate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“That conversation has be-gun: Modi is a person who we thought was a decider; a CEO-like leader. But if we are now get-ting signals that he is not neces-sarily the eff ective administrator we thought he was, that is be-coming a problem.”

A new opinion poll showed Modi’s popularity holding up, while Congress has bounced

back from its dire election show-ing of 2014, validating a strategy of blocking reforms and latching on to protests as they fl are up.

If a general election were held now, Modi’s BJP-led alliance would win, but with a sharply re-duced majority. Congress would double its seat share, according to the poll for India Today maga-zine published last week.

Modi’s silence on unforeseen events contrasts with his repu-tation as an eff ective communi-cator, through rousing speeches and social media, when broad-

casting his vision of inclusive growth and development for In-dia’s 1.3bn people.

When he does retreat from public view, aides have been known to step in, not always with happy consequences.

After the arrest for sedition JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh circulated a fake tweet that falsely suggested a campus protest had the support of a no-torious Pakistani militant.

Delhi’s police chief showed no remorse when offi cers failed

to prevent lawyers manhandling Kumar in court, while Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani backed a decision to fl y Indian fl ags, from 207ft fl ag-poles, on campuses across the country as a reminder to “anti-national” elements.

Meanwhile, the unrest has revived Congress’ leader-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi, who has joined students on the bar-ricades and shows no signs of ending opposition to a key tax reform that has been blocked in parliament.

Police seek fresh remand of Kanhaiya Kumar

IANSNew Delhi

The Delhi High Court yesterday postponed to February 29 the bail plea

hearing of Jawaharlal Nahru University student leader Kan-haiya Kumar, arrested on sedi-tion charges.

The court decision came after Delhi police said they will seek Kumar’s fresh remand to “un-earth any larger conspiracy”.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the police, told Justice Prati-bha Rani that they were moving a remand application to seek Kumar’s police custody for the third time, to confront him with

fellow students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya who sur-rendered on Tuesday night.

Three other students - Ashutosh Kumar, Rama Naga and Anant Prakash Narayan - facing the same charges, are yet to surrender.

Mehta said the police remand of Kumar, who is in judicial cus-tody until March 2, is required to confront him with Khalid and Bhattacharya and “unearth any larger conspiracy”.

“Since two JNU students sur-rendered last night, we need to confront them with Kanhaiya,” Mehta said.

Allowing police to move the remand application, Justice Pratibha Rani said: “We have to ensure that they don’t suff er any scratch, that’s my only concern.”

The police said if Kumar was released on bail, “he may create

law and order problems by con-ducting meetings in his support, hampering arrest of other ac-cused people.”

Kumar “did not co-operate at all during the course of the in-terrogation”, they said.

They also said the police were looking into the “linkage be-tween Kanhaiya and some for-eign elements with their mouths covered” who were present dur-ing the February 9 event at the university.

Kumar was arrested and charged with sedition on Febru-ary 12 after the event held on the university campus against the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He allegedly shouted anti-India slogans at the event.

Khalid and Bhattacharya, along with three others, went into hiding on February 12 when

Kumar was arrested. They sur-rendered on Tuesday night.

The police said Kumar, if re-leased on bail, “may infl uence witnesses and also hamper the investigation”.

“It would send a wrong sig-nal to the students’ community across the country that such anti-India activities can be con-ducted with immunity.”

“He (Kumar) may become the rallying point to encourage such anti-India movements which would not only spread disaf-fection but would also be con-temptuous since the conviction recorded by the Supreme Court is being termed judicial killing,” the report said.

The police further said: “It is an open secret that the aforesaid conduct of holding an event on February 9 has not only rami-fi cations within India, it has an

international impact as well.”During the hearing, Justice

Pratibha Rani made it clear that the police have the statutory right to seek Kumar’s remand till February 27.

Meanwhile, Khalid and Bhat-tacharya who were grilled for fi ve hours in police custody de-nied raising “anti-national” slo-gans, a police source said.

According to sources, the stu-dents told the police that the event was held without permis-sion and pro-separatists slo-gans may have been raised at the gathering.

“Ashutosh managed the post-er and banners of the programme while a person Riyaz decided the slogans to be raised at the event. A girl volunteer managed so-cial media and networking for the event,” an offi cial who knew about the interrogation said.

IANSNew Delhi

Parliament yesterday witnessed heated ar-guments over the Ja-

waharlal Nehru University (JNU) row and the death of a research scholar of Hyderabad University.

Initiating a discussion in the Lokj Sabha, the lower house, the Congress accused the cen-tral government of using gov-ernment machinery for crush-ing the voices of those who are opposed to the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. But the BJP hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for standing with anti-nationals.

“Inside parliament, the min-isters of this government take oath of constitution and out-side they crush it. Using gov-ernment machinery they are crushing the voices of those who oppose the ideology of RSS,” Congress chief whip Jyo-tiraditya Scindia said.

“They targeted Kanhaiya Ku-mar, the student’s union leader just because he was opposed to the ideology of RSS and had de-feated an ABVP candidate in JNU election,” he added.

ABVP, the Akhil Bharatiya Vi-dyarthi Parishad (ABVP), is the students’ wing of the BJP.

The Congress MP from Guna in Madhya Pradesh also ac-cused the BJP-led government of creating an atmosphere of intolerance in the country, al-leging that efforts were un-derway to crush any opposing point of view.

“What we have seen in the last two years is an atmosphere of in-tolerance in the country. There is every possible attempt to crush opposing viewpoint,” Scindia said.

He said the government wants a particular thinking to prevail.

Scindia demanded action against Human Resources Development Minister Sm-riti Irani and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya over the suicide of Dalit research schol-

ar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad University.

Participating in the debate BJP member Anurag Thakur accused Gandhi of standing with anti-nationals and said the Congress would have to decide whether they were with the martyrs of the country or with those who support terrorists like Afzal Guru.

Targeting the Congress and its vice president, Thakur said: “Your leader goes and sym-pathises with those who were celebrating Afzal Guru as a martyr.”

However, during his speech, the BJP leader didn’t say a single word about Rohith Vemula, the research scholar of Hyderabad University who committed sui-cide alleging harassment.

The JNU has been on the boil after a police crackdown on students accused of shouting anti-India slogans, while Hy-derabad Central University had erupted in protests against al-leged harassment of Dalit stu-dents following the suicide on January 17 of Vemula, who was one of five students suspend-ed for clashing with an ABVP leader.

Vemula’s death created uproar in the Rajya Sabha too, as Bahu-jan Samaj Party members raised slogans against the government and angry exchanges were seen in the upper house.

The issue was raised by BSP leader Mayawati.

“This is not the first time a Dalit student has commit-ted suicide,” the BSP leader said.

“Rohith Vemula was an Ambedkar supporter. The RSS did not like this, he was exploit-ed,” Mayawati said referring to B R Ambedkar, the author of the Constitution who was a Dalit.

This was followed by sloga-neering by BSP members, who called the government “anti-Dalit”.

Amid the din, the Rajya Sab-ha was adjourned five times in the pre-lunch session, and when the house met at 2pm, angry exchanges were wit-nessed between Mayawati and Irani.

Activists from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student’s wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), raise their hands and shout slogans during a protest march in New Delhi yesterday. Thousands of ABVP members carried out the march against “anti-national sloganeering” raised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.

Off icials frisk students before they were allowed to enter an examination centre in Patna yesterday.

LATIN AMERICA

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201624

Colombia topcourt bans mining in rare ecosystem Guardian News and MediaBogota

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ruled against a controversial legal loop-

hole permitting oil, gas and min-ing operations in the country’s paramos - high altitude eco-systems.

Colombia’s paramos are the most extensive on earth and supply more than 70% of the country’s population with water, according to the Bogota-based Alexander von Humboldt Insti-tute.

The loophole is in a June 2015 law implementing Colombia’s “National Development Plan 2014-18.”

The law prohibits “agricul-tural activities” and the “explo-ration for or exploitation of non-renewable natural resources”, as well as the “construction of oil and gas refi neries”, in paramos, but then states that mining op-erations which have contracts and environmental licences dat-ing to before February 9, 2010, or oil and gas operations with con-tracts and licences dating to be-fore June 16, 2011, are exempted.

This was challenged by four congressmen, three lawyers and 12 representatives from a coali-tion called the Cumbre Agraria, Campesina, Etnica y Popular, who argued that the loophole vi-olates rights to the environment, water and Colombia’s patrimony because of the impacts oil, gas and mining operations would have on the paramos’ vegetation, soil, sub-soil and water.

On February 8 the court’s rul-ing, which was made public on Thursday, deemed three para-graphs relating to the loophole in the June 2015 law “unconsti-tutional” - or “inexequible” in Colombian Spanish.

“Paramo eco-systems exist in very few places in the world and Colombia is privileged to be the country that has the highest number of paramos globally,” senator Alberto Cas-tillo, one of the plaintiffs, told the Guardian.

“Because of this, we believe that the absolute ban on natu-

ral resource extraction that we now have in Colombia is of great magnitude and should delight the world.”

“It’s a ruling that will make history,” says senator Ivan Cepe-da, another plaintiff . “The court went further than we hoped, without a doubt. (Mining and oil and gas operations in the para-mos) is a serious abuse against natural resources, especially the fundamental right to water.”

“The court’s ruling is a major advance in environmental mat-ters with which we are satis-fied,” Viviana Tacha, another plaintiff and an adviser to sena-tor Castillo, told the Guardian. “No doubt about it, it’s a vic-tory for the entire country and for the communities resisting the imposition of a develop-ment model based on natural resource extraction which fails to take into account the en-vironment and local people. Given global concern about cli-mate change, the protection of the paramos by the court is one of the most important recent decisions on environmental matters.”

According to a communique by the court issued on February 8, the off ending three paragraphs “ignore the constitutional duty to protect areas of special eco-logical importance (and) put at risk the fundamental rights of the entire population to access good quality water.”

The communique says the court arrived at its decision after “analysing the state’s power to intervene in the economy and its duty to protect areas of special ecological importance, weighing them up against economic free-dom and the rights of individuals to exploit the state’s resources.” It concluded that, in this case, the former overrides the latter for three reasons: the current lack of protection of paramos; the “fundamental role” played by paramos in regulating the coun-try’s drinking water cycle and providing cheap, high-quality water to 70% of the population; and the particular vulnerability of paramos due to their “relative isolation”, low temperatures and low oxygen levels.

Morales accepts defeatin term limit referendum ReutersLa Paz

Bolivian President Evo Mo-rales acknowledged de-feat in a referendum that

would have cleared the way for him to run for a fourth term in 2019, saying in a speech yester-day that he would respect the decision of the people.

Morales, a leftist who was fi rst elected in 2006 and is now in his third term, had tried to persuade Bolivians that the constitution should be changed to allow him another run for the presidency.

Most polls ahead of the refer-endum suggested a narrow win was likely, given Morales’ solid support among those who credit

him with slashing poverty in Bo-livia, South America’s poorest country when ranked by gross domestic product per capita.

But in the end, with more than 99% of votes counted, the “no” side had 51.3% to the “yes” side’s 48.7%, Bolivia’s electoral com-mission said.

“We respect the results ... we have lost a battle, but we’re not defeated,” Morales said in a tel-evised speech from the presi-dential palace.

The rejection is another blow to South America’s once domi-nant populist leftist bloc, which has lost steam as voters have tired of cronyism and tumbling commodities prices have pro-vided less income to fuel gov-ernment spending.

In Bolivia, one-time coca grower Morales has spent a natural gas windfall on welfare programmes and infrastruc-ture. The once marginalised in-digenous Aymara, to which he belongs, have particularly ben-efi ted.

The president blamed the ref-erendum loss on discrimination and a smear campaign or “dirty war” by the right-wing opposi-tion.

In recent weeks, his popu-larity has been damaged by revelations that a company that employs an ex-girlfriend had won lucrative govern-ment contracts. The problem was compounded when photos emerged showing the couple together last year, although he

had said the relationship ended in 2007.

Accusations of corruption have been levelled in the past against his Movement to Social-ism (MAS) party, but Morales himself has always risen above it.

The referendum result prompted celebrations in Santa Cruz, where criticism of Morales has been fi ercest, and the ‘no’ vote won by a wider margin. La Paz, the capital, remained quiet.

Carlos Mesa, a former Boliv-ian president, tweeted: “What the vote of Bolivians has said is that there are no indispensa-ble people, just indispensable causes.”

What lies ahead is uncertain, said political analyst Ivan Arias,

with no clear anointed succes-sor to Morales nor an opposition alternative.

“I fear that the MAS will be-gin warring internally,” he said, adding that the opposition, which had coalesced around the anti-Morales “no” movement, needed to fi nd a new, positive focus.

Morales himself did not de-tail what he expected to happen next, other than to say: “It’s not the moment to talk about suc-cessors ... there’s lots of time for that.”

Analysts and supporters pointed to his acceptance of defeat as setting him part from Venezuela’s fi rebrand leftist Hugo Chavez, often seen as a key infl uence.

Civil servants demonstrate against the government of Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, yesterday.

Anger at Macri government

Rousseff gains approvaldespite corruption: poll ReutersBrasilia

Approval of President Dilma Rousseff ’s government has nudged higher amid

recession and a massive corrup-tion scandal, though a majority of Brazilians still want to see her impeached, a new poll showed yesterday.

The CNT/MDA survey sug-gested that Rousseff ’s opponents might have more trouble than they reckoned rallying public support for their bid to impeach her de-spite a severe economic slump and a graft investigation that is getting closer to the president.

The number of Brazilians who favour Rousseff ’s impeachment has slipped to 55.6% from 62.8% in July, while 40.3% now oppose impeaching her, compared with 32.1% in July, the poll said.

Those considering her govern-ment “bad” or “terrible” dropped

to 62.4% from 70% in October, while those who view it as “great” or “good” has risen slightly to 11.4% from 8.8%.

The poll - which surveyed 2,002 people and had a 2.2% margin of error - was conducted between February 18 and 21, before the ar-rest of Rousseff ’s top political ad-visor and campaign strategist Joao Santana brought the corruption scandal one step closer to her.

Police arrested Santana on Tuesday for allegedly receiv-ing off -shore payments from the proceeds of a graft and bribery scheme surrounding state-run oil company Petrobras.

Opposition parties jumped on Santana’s arrest to try to reignite support for Rousseff ’s impeach-ment in demonstrations that fi z-zled out last year. The lower house of Congress has yet to decide on a request to impeach the president.

The investigation of Santana has increased the risk that Rousseff ’s re-election in 2014 could be invali-

dated by Brazil’s top electoral court if evidence emerges that bribe money was used to fund her campaign.

Dozens of politicians in Rouss-eff ’s governing coalition are being investigated for receiving kick-backs paid from overpriced Petro-bras contracts fi xed by Brazil’s leading engineering fi rms.

While Rousseff is not under in-vestigation, her mentor and prede-cessor as president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is being probed for allegedly hiding ownership of a luxury coastal resort apartment that belonging to a construction fi rm implicated in the Petrobras scandal.

The CNT/MDA poll found that more than two in every three Bra-zilians hold Lula, and to a lesser extent Rousseff , responsible for the corruption at Petrobras.

On Tuesday evening, oppo-nents of Rousseff ’s Workers’ Party banged on pots and pans in several major cities to protest the broad-cast of a political ad that defended Lula’s record.

Colombian peacetalks ‘back on track’ ReutersHavana

The two countries sponsor-ing Colombian peace talks said negotiations were

back on track yesterday after they were thrown into disarray last week when rebel negotiators appeared in public escorted by armed and uniformed guerrillas.

“An agreement has been reached to overcome recent dif-fi culties and normalise the con-versations between the parties at the table in Havana,” said the statement read by representa-tives of Cuba and Norway, the so-called guarantors of the Co-lombian talks.

An accord was reached after the foreign ministers of Cuba and Norway intervened with Colom-bian government and rebel nego-tiators, the statement said.

The government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and leftist rebels of the Revolu-tionary Armed Forces of Colom-

bia, or Farc, have been negotiat-ing a peace deal for more than three years in Havana and have a self-imposed March 23 deadline to reach a comprehensive pact.

Norway provides diplomatic support and Cuba serves as host for the negotiations. The US, which has poured billions of dol-lars into Colombia to fi ght the il-licit drugs trade, is also support-ing the talks behind the scenes through a special envoy.

Both the government and the rebels had indicated the March 23 deadline will likely be missed.

More discord erupted following last week’s display by the rebels, which the Colombian government saw as a provocation.

Three members of the Farc negotiating team had been given permission to travel to northern La Guajira province to explain details of an accord to Farc mem-bers, but the government said they violated the terms under which they were allowed to re-turn by participating in public events with armed fi ghters.

Mario Baldetti (centre), brother of Guatemala’s former vice-president Roxana Baldetti, is escorted to court in Villa Nueva municipality, 25km south of Guatemala City. Mario Baldetti and 12 others were arrested on suspicion of fraud involving contracting an Israeli company to clean up a lake, police said.

Accused of graft

Ramon Castro, the eldest brother of President Raul Castro and revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, has died at the age of 91, off icial media reported. The eldest brother, a farmer who was not a mem-ber of the government, nonetheless influenced agricultural policies after the 1959 revolution. “Comrade Ramon Castro Ruz passed away in the capital at the age of 91... his remains have been cremated and will be returned to his birthplace,” a news announcer said, without giving a cause of death. The eldest Castro had already held the honorific of “Heroic Worker of the Republic of Cuba.” His death follows that of the president’s sister, Angela, who died in Havana in 2012.

The Panamanian government said it had agreed the cancellation of a $125mn radar contract with a subsidiary of Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA that had become mired in a dispute over alleged corrup-tion. After flagging suspected bribery and saying the radar equipment did not meet requirements, the government last year sought the approval of Panama’s Supreme Court to cancel the contract with Finmeccanica unit Selex. The deal was signed in 2010 under former president Ricardo Martinelli. President Juan Carlos Varela, who has been locked in a bitter feud with Martinelli since succeeding him in 2014, told a news conference the contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Brazilian police in the state of Minas Gerais accused six Samarco executives and one contractor of murder in connection with the deaths of 19 people caused by a burst tailings dam at a mine in November. The Samarco chief executive at the time of the incident, Ricardo Vescovi, was among those accused. In Brazil only prosecutors, and not police, can formally bring criminal charges but public accusations often anticipate charges being filed. The police, in a statement, accused the mine executives of “qualified homicide,” the murder charge that carries the heaviest sentence in Brazil of 12 to 30 years in prison.

Swiss authorities have arrested a Brazilian citizen linked to a criminal investigation into suspected bribes paid to former directors at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Swiss federal prosecutors said yesterday. Brazilian prosecutors said the Swiss had arrested Fernando Migliaccio da Silva, an executive with engineering group Odebrecht SA, one of the largest companies at the centre of a price fixing and political kickback scandal. The arrest could provide more evidence against Latin America’s largest engineering firm and its former chief executive Marcelo Odebrecht, who is standing trial for corruption and money laundering in Brazil.

Panama has started direct flights to Mexico for more than 1,000 US-bound Cuban migrants who have been stuck in the country since Cen-tral American borders were closed to them late last year. It emphasised that the flights were a “limited” and “exceptional” measure. They mir-rored flights Costa Rica has been carrying out since January, for some 8,000 Cubans who had been stuck on its territory. The Cubans aim to get to the US where a Cold War-era law allows them easy entry and a fast-track to residency. Panama said the flights were only for Cubans already in the country, not for any future arriv-als.

Panama cancels radar contract

Seven accused of murder over Samarco dam burst

Fidel and Raul’s brother, Ramon Castro, dies at 91

Swiss detain Braziliancitizen in Petrobras probe

Cuban migrants flown to Mexico

OBITUARY DECISIONLEGAL LAW AND ORDER MIGRATION

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN25Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Russia gives Afghanistan 10,000 Kalashnikovs

Russia delivered 10,000 Kalashnikovs to the Af-ghan government yester-

day, with offi cials saying they were for the fi ght “against ter-rorism”, a day after Kabul hosted talks on reviving the peace proc-ess with the Taliban.

The assault rifl es, delivered with pomp at a ceremony on the tarmac at Kabul’s military air-port, will be directly transferred to security forces, said President Ashraf Ghani’s national security adviser Hanif Atmar.

“We are trying to continue our eff orts for peace, but in the meantime our nation should have the ability to defend itself,” Atmar said.

He said “international terror-ism” in Afghanistan was a threat not only to the country and the region, but also to “our friends in Russia”.

Despite the $60bn spent by Washington over more than 14 years to equip and train the Afghan security forces, they have struggled to contain the resurgent Taliban.

Kabul is trying to resume a

dialogue with the militants, and after talks with the US, China and Pakistan on Tuesday said it expects to relaunch the stalled peace process by early March.

Russia is not part of the quar-tet. In a recent interview with state news agency Ria Novosti, Zamir Kabulov, the Kremlin’s special representative to Af-ghanistan, described Washing-

ton’s eff orts to restore peace as “futile”.

At yesterday’s ceremony Rus-sia’s ambassador in Kabul Alex-ander Mantitski said co-opera-tion between his country, Nato and the United States in Afghan-istan ended in April 2014 “at the initiative of the West”.

The decision was taken in re-taliation for Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

However the diplomat said Moscow would continue to co-operate directly with its Afghan partner.

Russia remains concerned about the growing infl uence of Islamic State in the east of the country, where the group counts fi ghters from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — two former Soviet republics bordering Afghanistan — in its ranks.

AFPKabul

India’s right move to allow Pathankot probe team visit: Daily

India has made the right move to allow the Pathankot terror attack probe team’s

visit, said a Pakistani daily yes-terday.

An editorial “Pathankot de-velopments” in the Daily Times said that Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) on Foreign Af-fairs Sartaj Aziz has elucidated on the progress of investiga-tions into the Pathankot at-tack, which took place on the

Indian airbase, on January 2, leaving seven dead and several injured.

After a First Investigation Report (FIR) was registered on Friday by Punjab police’s coun-ter-terrorism department, In-dian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that it was an insuffi cient step and that Paki-stan should take legal action to India’s satisfaction.

Aziz asserted that the FIR could not have been taken on the basis of inadequate evidence, es-pecially considering it is a cross-border terrorist attack, which

is why it had been delayed. He said that the FIR had enabled Pakistan to visit the Pathankot airbase.

“Contrary to the unequivo-cal refusal by the Indian de-fence minister earlier to allow Pakistan’s Special Investiga-tion Team (SIT) to visit the airbase, Indian authorities have now agreed to the visit. Aziz stated that the visit to the crime scene would only aid the expeditious investigation,” said the daily.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohamed (JeM) group has been

named by India as the principal instigator of the attack and its chief, Masood Azhar, the mas-termind.

Aziz confi rmed that “Azhar and a few other JeM operatives were under ‘protective custody’ and the moment evidence be-came available action would be taken against them”.

He also revealed that one of the mobile numbers provided by India had been found to be as-sociated to JeM’s headquarters, which have been sealed by the authorities.

The editorial noted that before

the Pathankot attack, “there was a clear thawing of tensions be-tween Pakistan and India, made possible by the growing amity of the premiers”.

“However, unfortunately, it appears from statements by offi -cials that India may well be going back to relying on suspicions as it did after the Mumbai attacks, which resulted in an impasse.

“While India has made the right move to allow the SIT’s visit, there is a need for mutual cognisance that to overcome the hurdles placed in the way to a diplomatic endeavour by the

spoilers, there is a need for more defi nitive action,” it added.

The daily observed that the “onus is on Pakistan to ensure that investigations are taken to their logical end and not bogged down by political to and fro in order to maintain the possibility of dialogue”.

“Indian authorities too need to tread with caution, realising that, ultimately, a solution can only come from dialogue, which will not be eff ective if the politi-cal atmosphere is soured by the disobliging demeanour of any party.”

IANSIslamabad Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday said that Pakistan was pursu-ing good relations with all its neighbours, including India, as mutual co-operation was vital for the socio-economic uplift of both the countries. He was speaking to Indian High Commissioner Gau-tam Bambawale who called on Sharif in Islamabad at the Prime Minister House. Sharif extended a very warm welcome to the newly appointed Indian High Commis-sioner and expressed confidence that he would work to bring the two countries closer. The Indian high commissioner and the premier exchanged views on Pakistan-India bilateral relations. Bambawale thanked the prime minister and expressed hope that his role would be beneficial in normalisation and strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif yesterday expressed satisfaction over the gains and eff ects of the ongoing military Zarb-e-Azb operation, and ac-knowledged the army’s resolve to fully eliminate terrorists from their sanctuary. General Raheel Sharif visited the country’s mountain-ous northwest region to review progress of the ongoing military Zarb-e-Azb operation against terrorists. Gen Sharif was briefed by Zarb-e-Azb operation com-mander that the deeply forested ravines of the Shawal Valley and area ahead of Data Khel that have been frequent infiltration routes of terrorists between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was now the last bastion of terrorists left in North Waziristan, said an Inter-Service Public Relations statement. Gen Sharif directed the forces to com-mence forthwith the last phase of the operation in North Waziristan which aims at clearing the rem-nants of terrorists from their hide-outs in deeply forested ravines, isolate them and indiscriminately sever their links with their abettors anywhere across the country .

The Pakistan Railways (PR) has expressed hope that the opera-tion of Samjhota Express will be resumed from today. However, off icials at the Lahore off ice of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation said that the Dosti Bus would resume its operation after clearance from Indian authorities. “Indian rail authori-ties have informed us that they operated a special train on the Uttar Pradesh route to transport more than 1,000 passengers to Delhi from Chandigarh,” said a R off icial involved in the operation of the international train that runs between Wagah and Attari on Tuesdays and Thursdays.Some 200 passengers got their seats reserved for Tuesday’s Samjhota Express.“Tickets issued to passen-gers for Tuesday would be valid for the next immediate journey,” said the off icer, adding that Samjhota Express had the capac-ity of around 500 passengers.

Islamabad administration has banned kite and pigeon flying to protect lives of the people and to keep the skies clear for fighter jets rehearsing for the Pakistan Day parade. Two separate notifications issued by Additional District Mag-istrate Abdul Sattar Isani banned kite and pigeon flying for two months in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). The notifications issued under Section 144 came into force at once. Manufacturing and selling kites and kite flying strings have also been prohibited. The notification said that the activity created “danger to human life and safety of the general public”. It also told the owners and occupants of all buildings not to allow use of their building for kite flying.

Pakistan desires good ties with neighbours: PM

Pakistan Army vows to eliminate terrorists

Indo-Pak train service may resume today

Kite, pigeon flying banned in Islamabad

DIPLOMACY

SECURITY

TRANSPORT

RECREATION

Russia urges Taliban to hold talks with govt

Russia is urging the Taliban to start direct talks with the central government in

Afghanistan and hopes that such negotiations will begin soon, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as say-ing yesterday.

“We are urging the Taliban to do this and we hope that they (talks) will start as soon as possi-ble to prevent the beginning of a new ‘combat season’,” said Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special envoy to Afghanistan.

Kabulov was commenting on a statement by the Afghan government’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, this month that Afghanistan expects to re-start peace talks with the Tali-ban within six months, pinning hopes on factions within the Islamist militant group which might be ready to give up vio-lence.

The Afghan Taliban said yes-terday they had not been offi -cially contacted by Kabul about the resumption of direct talks aimed at ending their confl ict.

The comment came a day af-ter the latest round of dialogue in the Afghan capital between offi -cials from Afghanistan, the Unit-ed States, China and Pakistan.

The representatives of the four states called on the mili-tants to return to the negotiating table and said they expect the

process to begin by the fi rst week of March.

“We are not aware of this, I cannot say anything regarding talks in Islamabad,” said the Is-lamist group’s spokesman Zabi-hullah Mujahid in a phone con-versation.

“We have not received any-thing offi cially in this regard, we only heard it from media.”

A fi rst round of direct talks with the Taliban took place in the Pakistani resort town of

Murree last July, but came to a standstill after the Kabul gov-ernment leaked news of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar two years before.

The announcement, and the appointment of his succes-sor Mullah Akhtar Mansour, accentuated divisions among the militants, with many holding Mansour responsi-ble for lying to them about Omar’s death.

A splinter group formed under

Mullah Rasool and challenged Mansour’s leadership.

But the disunity has not dent-ed the Taliban’s fi ghting ability.

The insurgents are waging an unprecedented winter campaign of violence across Afghanistan, underscoring a worsening secu-rity situation more than 14 years after their government in Kabul was toppled by a US-led inva-sion.

In January, during a seminar organised by the Pugwash peace

movement in Qatar, Taliban rep-resentatives called for their cad-res to be removed from US and UN blacklists which have frozen their assets and restricted their freedom of movement.

In addition, they have said talks cannot take place until the withdrawal of some 13,000 Nato troops still deployed in Afghani-stan.

“We have expressed our posi-tion clearly in the Pugwash con-ference,” Mujahid said.

Senior Russian diploamt is quoted as saying that he is hopeful that the direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government will ‘start soon’; Taliban say they are not aware of invitation to peace talks

AgenciesMoscow/Kabul

Afghan alleged former Taliban fighters carry their weapons before handing them over as part of a government peace and reconciliation process at a ceremony in Jalalabad yesterday. More than a dozen former Taliban fighters from Nazyan district of Nangarhar province handed over their weapons as part of a peace reconciliation programme.

Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Alexander Mantytskiy (left) hands over a AK-47 rifle to Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar (centre left) during a ceremony at a military airfield in Kabul.

125 refugees return to Kabul from Germany

A chartered airplane car-rying 125 Afghan refu-gees back from Germa-

ny landed in Kabul yesterday, with offi cials on hand eager to assure the returnees that they have a future in Afghanistan.

The refugees returned vol-untarily, in what is expected to be the fi rst of many such fl ights co-ordinated between the governments in Kabul and Berlin as well as the Interna-tional Organization for Migra-tion, according the German embassy in Kabul.

Seeking to escape the vio-lence and economic malaise that continue to grip their home country, Afghans make up a major portion of the hun-dreds of thousands of refugees who have been pouring into Europe, which has struggled to fi nd ways to accommodate the arrivals.

Offi cials in Kabul greeted the returning refugees with

signs saying “Welcome back, Afghanistan needs you.”

“After a diffi cult way to Ger-many in the hands of people smugglers they realised their future is in Afghanistan and that they are needed in their home country,” the German embassy said in a statement.

Many Afghans made their way to Germany, but in recent months the German govern-ment has launched media campaigns to dissuade would-be refugees from making the trip, warning of dangerous hu-man traffi ckers and limited op-portunities in Europe.

Afghans were 27% of the more than 100,000 refugees who made the dangerous jour-ney across the Mediterranean Sea in January, second only to the number fl eeing war-torn Syria, according to data col-lected by the United Nations.

ReutersKabul

NCA expressessatisfaction over N-safety

Pakistan’s National Com-mand Authority (NCA) here yesterday stated that

nuclear deterrence is a factor in South Asia’s stability.

The authority, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, expressed its re-solve to maintain full spectrum deterrence, in line with the pol-icy of minimum credible deter-rence.

Ahead of the upcoming Nu-clear Security Summit to be held next month in Washington, Islamabad has ratifi ed the Con-vention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the only international legally binding un-dertaking in the area of physical protection of nuclear material.

“As a responsible nuclear state, Pakistan would con-tinue to contribute meaning-fully towards the global eff orts to improve nuclear security and nuclear non-proliferation meas-ures,” said a statement released by the NCA.

The NCA also comprehen-sively reviewed the safety and security mechanism of Paki-stan’s nuclear programme and expressed satisfaction on the measures in-place to ensure highly eff ective security of nu-clear assets.

While taking note of the growing conventional and stra-tegic weapons’ development in the region, the NCA expressed serious concerns over the ad-verse ramifi cations for peace and security on this account.

NCA reiterated its determina-tion to take all possible meas-ures to make national security robust, enabling it to eff ectively respond to the threats to nation-al security without indulging in arms race.

In previous meetings, NCA has noted with concern India’s rapidly expanding conventional military asymmetry and dan-gerous limited conventional war policy called Cold Start doctrine.

IANSIslamabad

The refugees returned voluntarily, in what is expected to be the fi rst of many such fl ights

PHILIPPINES

Gulf TimesThursday, February 25, 201626

Govt still seeks $1bn in Marcos wealth 30 years after his ouster ReutersManila

The Philippines is still seeking to recover about $1bn worth of assets ac-

cumulated by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos through 100 court cases at home and over-seas, a government official said yesterday.

“The task is not easy,” said Richard Amurao, head of an agency created in 1986 to re-cover funds from Marcos.

“The people holding these assets have been slowing us down. They have been using all sorts of delaying tactics to thwart our efforts.”

Marcos, who ruled the Southeast Asian country for about two decades, fled to Ha-waii 30 years ago this week af-ter a near bloodless popular re-volt. He died in exile three years later.

Reuters’ efforts yesterday to contact his wife, Imelda, and son Ferdinand Junior, to seek a response to the comments were unsuccessful.

Imelda has repeatedly said the family did not steal from the people and its wealth was acquired legally.

Amurao said that since the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) was created, it has recovered and given the treasury about $4bn.

In line with Philippine law, funds have been used mostly for land reform.

Based on a Hawaii court rul-ing, 10bn pesos ($210.04mn) was used to compensate about 10,000 victims of human rights abuses. The government hoped to raise $17.7mn from an auc-tion of some confiscated Mar-cos jewellery, property and stocks, sources said this month.

By unofficial estimates, Marcos had $10bn of assets.

“We don’t really know if the $10bn estimate is accurate but what we can tell you (about the $1bn now sought) is based from estimates of the court cases and from what we already re-covered,” Amurao said.

More than half of the court cases are civil lawsuits to re-cover shares, real estate, cash and jewellery, he said. A quar-

ter of the cases involve “behest loans” state-owned banks gave individuals with political con-nections to Marcos, he said.

Andres Bautista, a former PCGG chairman, said most of the cases under litigation are complicated and difficult be-cause government prosecutors could no longer locate wit-nesses and find documentary evidence.

“Some of the key players are also back in power,” Bautista said.

Members of Marcos’s family remain active in politics. His wife Imelda is a congresswom-an from Ilocos Norte, the po-litical base of the family where her eldest daughter is governor.

Her only son, Ferdinand Jun-ior, is a senator and running for vice president in the May elec-tion.

In independent polls, he is tied with another senator who’s the son of a former Mar-cos era minister.

Catholics urged to boycott Madonna concert ReutersManila

A Roman Catholic bishop in the Philippines yesterday urged the faithful to stay

away from American pop singer Madonna’s two-night concert in Manila, calling her music “sug-gestive” and her clothes “vulgar”.

Madonna, 57, is on a world tour to promote her 13th studio album, Rebel Heart, which combines her trademark sexually charged per-formance and lyrics.

She performs for two days including today in the same hall where Pope Francis met Filipino families a year ago.

“Why is the Catholic Philip-pines the favourite venue for blasphemy against God and the Holy Mother?” asked Ramon Arguelles, archbishop of Lipa City, south of the capital.

“Pinoys and all God-loving people should avoid sin and occasions of sin,” he said in a statement on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, referring to Fili-pinos. Roman Catholics make up about 80% of the Philippine population of more than 100mn and the church has strong in-fl uence, blocking legislation on the death penalty, divorce and same-sex marriage.

There was no immediate reply to telephone calls from Reuters seeking comment from the event organiser or Madonna, who ar-rived in Manila on Monday and visited Catholic-run orphan-ages, including one of the oldest, near the presidential palace.

Tickets for the concert can cost as much as 57,750 pesos ($1,211.84). Madonna is famed for her hits, Like A Virgin and Material Girl, but some of her music videos used religious symbols in ways the Roman Catholic prelates found off en-sive and disrespectful.

The performer’s concerts were among “subtle attacks of the evil one”, the bishop added, in an apparent reference to Sa-tan. In 2012, Arguelles also op-posed the Manila concert of Lady Gaga as the work of Satan.

A woman stands among photos taken of human rights victims during martial law, displayed at an experiential museum inside a military camp in Manila yesterday ahead of the 30th anniversary of People Power that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos on a wheelchair greets supporters after attending a Mass at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Paranaque city, Metro Manila yesterday, a day before the 30th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution.

Philippine boxing great Pacquiao hopes ‘to expose wickedness’ in political crusade AFPGeneral Santos

Manny Pacquiao still trains with the joy that has been a trade-mark of his spectacular boxing

career, but outside of the ring he speaks in ominous, Biblical tones about his po-litical crusade against wickedness.

The 37-year-old, who famously hauled himself out of poverty in the Philippines to become one of the world’s greatest and wealthiest boxers, is nearing retirement.

After a recent training session in his impoverished southern hometown of General Santos, Pacquiao said he was looking forward to hanging up his gloves after fi ghting Timothy Bradley in April, and pursuing a political career.

Pacquiao, already a congressman, is running for a Senate seat in May elec-tions — with an eye on an eventual presi-dential run — and his star power in a nation famed for its celebrity-obsessed politics is likely to see him win.

But the diminutive boxer, loved for so long in sporting circles for his friendly demeanour and reluctance to trash talk opponents, off ered no spirit of compro-mise to his political foes.

He couched his political ambitions with an intense religious fervour borne out of a late-career switch from a play-boy-lapsed Catholic to a devout evan-gelical Christian.

“My goal is to serve the people honest-ly and to expose the wickedness and de-testable things in God’s eye that most of the politicians do,” Pacquiao said when asked about his political ambitions.

Pacquiao’s newfound religious fury ignited a global controversy last week when he said homosexuals were “worse than animals”.

Even more infl ammatory comments were then posted on his Instagram ac-count, but quickly deleted as his advisers tried to limit the battering to his interna-tional reputation.

In the US — where Pacquiao has fought most of his bouts, earned the bulk of his

riches and long been a fan favourite — the response to Pacquiao’s comments was a mixture of shock and horror.

Nike, Pacquiao’s major global sponsor, cancelled its endorsement deal with him, describing his comments as “abhorrent”.

Asked by AFP to discuss his views on homosexuality and the international outrage, Pacquiao was unrepentant.

“I mean I am just telling what the Bible says. We believe God and then we should honour the word of God.”

Pacquiao’s religious fervour extends to other social issues — he is a public oppo-nent of divorce, abortion and contracep-tives.

As a congressman, he voted against a bill to give poor Filipinos free condoms and safe sex education.

It is a sharp turnaround on the sanctity of the family for Pacquiao, a father-of-fi ve whose wife used to speak publicly about his infi delities before he turned to

religion, and who was also well known for gambling and drinking.

“I do realise I was a weak person be-fore. If I had died the other year, I believe my soul would have ended in hell,” Pac-quiao told reporters in 2012, shortly after entering politics as a member of the na-tion’s lower house.

Pacquiao’s conservative social views are expected to help his quest to become leader of the Philippines, where about 80% of the 100mn people are Catholics.

Even his gay slurs are unlikely to hurt, according to Clarita Carlos, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines in Manila.

Carlos said was this not because peo-ple endorsed his views on homosexual-ity.

“We are a very, very tolerant society,” Carlos said.

She said it was rather because the tens of millions of poor Filipinos who

idolised Pacquiao, and were his natural political base, had more pressing issues to worry about.

“They barely have three meals a day so what do they care about these things. They care about food, they care about their homes,” she said.

Pacquiao’s political narrative is in-deed heavily focused on helping the poor, and in his home province he is genuinely loved by many for spending some of his fortune on his constituents.

In the interview with AFP, Pacquiao described his “joy and happiness” at personally funding new housing for more than 1,000 families in the south-ern Philippines. But the former street kid added he had a more important rea-son for voters to choose him.

“I have a pure heart,” he said. “I am serving with the guidance of the Lord and I am serving with the fear of the Lord.”

Philippine boxing legend Manny Pacquiao (centre) preparing for a training session with his staff at a gym in General Santos City in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

Endangered eagle

shot and wounded AFPManila

An endangered monkey-eating eagle which was released into the wild un-

der a conservation programme is now fi ghting for survival after being shot, a Philippine conser-vation group said yesterday.

The metre-long (3.3-foot) raptor, which preys on macaques and other small animals sharing its forest habitat, was shot at the weekend.

One man surrendered to the Philippine Eagle Foundation in Davao city on Mindanao island on Sunday and also handed over the injured bird, the Philippine Eagle Foundation said in a state-ment.

He, along with a second man, was turned over to the police. Both are under arrest.

“The wounded eagle is under observation but I cannot assess its survival chances at this time,” the foundation’s curator Anna Mae Sumaya said.

The foundation said the shooting shattered the bird’s right wing. It was unclear if the six-year-old male would ever fl y again.

Killing monkey-eating eagles is punishable by a 12-year prison term and a 1mn-peso ($21,000) fi ne, while wounding the species incurs a four-year prison term and a half million-peso fi ne.

The bird is famed for its elon-gated nape feathers that form into a shaggy crest. Its two-me-tre wingspan makes it one of the world’s largest eagles.

It is found nowhere except the Philippines, where it is the country’s national bird. About 600 of them are thought to be left in the wild.

This undated handout photo released by the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) shows workers treating an endangered monkey-eating eagle at the eagle centre in Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao.

SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL27

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016

Wreckage of plane carrying 23 peoplefound in Nepal

Rescuers have found the burnt-out wreckage of a passenger plane that

crashed into a mountainside in Nepal yesterday, killing all 23 people on board, offi cials said.

The Twin Otter turboprop aircraft lost contact with air traffi c control eight minutes af-ter taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara early yesterday.

The army had deployed heli-copters and foot soldiers to search Myagdi, a mountainous district around 220km (160 miles) west of Kathmandu, af-ter locals reported seeing pos-sible wreckage of the Tara Air plane.

Chief district offi cer Sagar

The Twin Otter turboprop aircraft loses contact with air traff ic control eight minutes after taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara

AFPKathmandu

Wreckage of Twin Otter plane, operated by private airline Tara Air, is pictured after it crashed due to bad weather in Myagdi, around 220km (160 miles) west of Kathmandu.

Popular fl ight route through Nepal’s mountains The Tara Air plane that crashed yesterday was on a short, regular flight through central Nepal’s mountains, but one that has proved treacherous in the past. The flight is only about 20 minutes long from tourist hub Pokhara to Jomsom, located on a mountainous plateau some 2,800m above sea level. In May 2012, 15 people died on an Agni Air flight on the same route, after the pilot complained of technical problems. There was another deadly crash in the same

area a year later, and another in the region in 1998. Jomsom is a popular destination with Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims going to the nearby Muktinath temple. It is also a trekking destination and gateway to the popular Annapurna mountains, but outside the trekking season - which next begins in March - the planes mostly carry local residents. Only small planes fly to Jomsom from Pokhara as the route

requires the planes to navigate passes in the steep terrain. Flights are scheduled for the early morning as the area is subject to strong winds in the afternoon. “If there are passengers, up to five flights go a day from Pokhara to Jomsom. But much depends on the weather,” said Dewananda Upadhyaya from the Civil Aviation Authority. Pokhara airport said in peak tourist season up to 12 flights can leave for Jomsom in a day.

Mani Pathak said there was “no possibility of survivors from the crash”, the latest in a series of fatal aviation accidents in the impoverished Himalayan nation.

“A small team has reached the crash site for an initial investigation,” said Pathak.

“It looks like the plane crashed into the hillside. The wreck-age was still in fl ames when the

team arrived and the bodies were scattered.”

The airline said the plane was carrying three crew and 20 pas-sengers, one a Chinese and one a Kuwaiti national.

All the others were from Nepal and two of them were children.

A statement on its website said weather conditions were good when the plane took off for Jom-

som, a popular trekking destina-tion in the Himalayas about 20 minutes’ fl ight from Pokhara.

Relatives of the victims gath-ered at Pokhara airport after hearing the news. But Pathak said a full team of rescuers would be unable to reach the crash site, which is around 16,000ft (4,900m) above sea level, yesterday.

“We are sending teams to bring down the bodies, but they have not arrived yet. It is not possible for a helicopter to land in the area,” he said.

“The weather is deteriorating and it might snow. It is unlikely they will be able to bring any-thing down today.”

Tara Air is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines, a private-ly-owned domestic carrier founded in 1998 which serv-ices many remote destinations across Nepal.

It suff ered its last fatal acci-dent in 2010 when a plane char-tered by a group of Bhutanese tourists crashed into a moun-tainside in eastern Nepal.

Air travel is popular in Ne-pal, which has only a limited road network. Many com-munities, particularly in

the mountains and hills, are accessible only on foot or by air.

Aviation expert Kunda Dixit said the fl ight path, which passes near two of the world’s highest peaks Dhaulagiri and Annapur-na, was prone to very strong winds.

“Most fl ights in the area fl y be-fore 9:30am because very strong winds pick up after that,” he said.

“It is very strange because it is a brand-new plane and the weather was clear in the morn-ing. The pilot is very experienced and focused on safety, I fl ew with him only 10 days ago.”

The country, which is still reeling from a devastating earth-quake last April, has in recent years suff ered a number of air disasters which dealt a blow to its tourist industry.

Most have been attributed

to inexperienced pilots, poor management and inadequate maintenance.

Two years ago a Twin Otter plane belonging to national car-rier Nepal Airlines crashed into a hillside shortly after taking off from Pokhara, killing all 18 people on board.

The country’s aviation sector has come under fi re from inter-national authorities and in 2013 the European Union blacklisted all Nepal’s airlines.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said at the time the country’s safety record “does not leave us any other choice”.

Nepal’s last major aviation ac-cident was last May when a US military helicopter helping with earthquake relief crashed in bad weather, killing six Marines and seven other people.

Jumbo row over gift to NZ premier

Sri Lanka gave visiting New Zealand Prime Minister John Key a baby elephant

yesterday, sparking anger from animal rights activists who said it was cruel to separate her from her family.

President Maithripala Sirise-na presented a deed of owner-ship for fi ve-year-old “Nandi” during a red-carpet welcome in Colombo for Key, who arrived for a two-day offi cial visit.

Nandi, born at Sri Lanka’s oldest elephant sanctuary, is the second bequeathed to New Zea-land in the last 12 months after baby “Anjalee” was also gifted to the Auckland Zoo.

“The fi rst elephant has gained 700 kilos (1,540 pounds) in one year,” Key told Sirisena at the ceremony.

“So, it is loving its life in New Zealand and I am sure its friend will have such a good time as well in New Zealand.”

Sri Lanka has a long history of giving elephants as presents, with China gifted three over the years, and two each for Ja-pan, South Korea, the Czech Republic and the United States.

But activists urged the gov-ernment to halt the practice, saying some of the animals had found it diffi cult to adapt to their new climates and without their families.

“We are very disappoint-ed,” Sagarika Rajakarunanay-ake, head of the Sathva Mithra (Friends of Animals) group,

AFPColombo

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, right, inspects cows at a farm during an opening ceremony of the Fonterra Demonstration Farm and Training Centre in Pannala Sri Lanka yesterday.

said. “We wrote three weeks ago asking the government to stop this practice. I think they don’t even read our letters.”

Nandi has been raised in a herd of 93 elephants in a co-conut grove at Pinnawala El-ephant Orphanage, about

80km (50 miles) east of Colombo. Local environmental lawyer

Jagath Gunawardana said the government had given away too many, describing the animals as sacred in the mainly Buddhist nation.

“There should be a stop to

these knee-jerk gifts of baby elephants,” Gunawardana said.

The government said the el-ephant was given in recognition of “excellent bilateral relations”.

Nandi is soon set to be fl own to Auckland, where mean an-nual temperatures of around

15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahren-heit) may come as a shock to a calf more used to the tropical 27 degree average in Sri Lanka.

New Zealand vets visited her recently to prepare her for the journey, a top local zoological offi cial said.

Lanka vows safe haven for tourists

The Sri Lankan govern-ment yesterday said it will take immediate

measures to provide a safe en-vironment for tourists to the island nation.

Tourism Minister John Am-aratunga said the government was concerned at the increas-ing number of complaints of exploitation and harassment of foreign tourists and warned to take stern action against those involved, Xinhua reported.

Amaratunga called on the police department to revamp the Tourist Police to suit the current needs.

“There is an increasing trend of complaints of harass-ment and exploitation of tour-ists, especially in the western and southern coastal belts and in the Cultural Triangle sites. The complaints range from monetary exploitation such as overcharging, short changing and theft to harass-ment by touts, salesmen, taxi drivers and even tour guides,” Amaratunga said.

“The emerging trend is

causing concern. With tourist arrivals hitting record fi gures, the number of complaints is also increasing. We plan to take stern measures so that the good name of the industry and the country is not spoilt by a few miscreants,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s tourism indus-try, which was once heav-ily scarred by a 30-year civil confl ict, has now emerged as the leading foreign exchange earner with an increasing number of tourists.

In January, arrivals rose 24.3% year-on-year to 194,280, boosted mainly by a massive infl ux of Chinese tourists.

China appears set to be the single largest tourist source for Sri Lanka, overtaking India, statistics from the Sri Lanka Tourism Board revealed.

Last year, Sri Lanka received almost 1.8mn tourists, up 17.8% from the previous year, largely due to a strong growth of Chinese visitors.

IANSColombo

“We plan to take stern measures so that the good name of the industry and the country is not spoilt by a few miscreants”

Surrender notices sent to BNP leader’s addresses: panel

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday informed

the High Court (HC) that no-tices regarding surrender and appeal in a money launder-ing case, have been sent to Dhaka and London addresses of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman.

After hearing the plea, the High Court division bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Amir Hos-sain set Thursday to pass further order in the case.

“I have told the court that

advertisements regarding his surrender and appeal have been published in two widely circulated dailies and sum-mons have been sent to his Dhaka and London address-es,” ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan told reporters yesterday.

The High Court on January 12 asked for issuing summon against Tarique, BNP senior vice president, in this case.

A special judge’s court on No-vember 17, 2013, cleared the BNP leader from the case, involving more than 200mn taka.

The ACC fi led the appeal on December 5, 2013, and the High Court on January 19, 2014, ac-cepted the appeal for hear-ing and asked the accused to

By Mizan RahmanDhaka

Tarique Rahman

surrender before the trial court.The anti-graft watchdog

fi led the case against Tarique and his business partner Gi-asuddin Al Mamun in Octo-ber 2009 for siphoning off the money to Singapore between 2003 and 2007.

On November 17, 2013, a Dhaka court acquitted Tar-ique and sentenced Mamun to seven years in jail and fi ned him 400mn taka in the case.

Another aftershock for Nepal

A 5.4 magnitude earthquake jolted Nepal yesterday af-ternoon creating panic in

the Himalayan country.The quake tremors, epicen-

tred in Sindhupalchowk district of central Nepal, were felt at 3.07pm (local time). The dis-trict was badly hit in the April 25 quake last year, the National Seismological Centre said.

People came out of their hous-es and offi ces screaming when the tremors were felt.

A total of 435 aftershocks above 4 on the Richter scale have been recorded in the Hima-layan nation during the past 10 months.

IANSKathmandu

Fair highlights love of printed books

With less than a week left until the end of Bangladesh’s largest

month-long annual book fair, thousands of all ages are still fl ocking daily to see and buy new books.

The overwhelming popular-ity of the fair more than suggest that people still have a deep love for books, with paper, ink and covers, rather than their mod-ern-day digital counterparts.

Many of those attending the fair have said they feel a pro-found sense of happiness and nostalgia as they inhale the fra-grance of a newly-printed book.

Amar Ekushey Boi Mela, which literally means “Im-mortal Twenty First Book Fair,” has been held since Febru-ary 1 in Dhaka’s Bangla Acad-emy premises and its adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan (garden), in commemoration of those who died fi ghting for Bengali language on February 21, 1952.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi-na inaugurated the month-long book fair. This year, a total of 651 stalls were allocated to 402 organisations, with the holiday weekend seeing a huge spike in book lovers rushing to the event.

On Friday evening, the Academy was packed with tens of thousands of book lovers.

The impressive foot fl ow was

evidenced by the hundreds of visitors who were waiting in long queues to enter Bangla-desh’s largest annual book fair, eager to buy books and other published materials.

The crowds were a testament to the ongoing romantic appeal of traditional books and other printed materials.

Rezauddin Stalin, a poet and a television personality, strongly believes that digital books could never replace the appeal of printed books.

“Books are something primi-tive and natural, like a footpath. Books can be touched and read whilst lying on bed. Books will continue to lead the way in es-tablishing a true knowledge-based society,” he said.

IANSDhaka

For most of his 17 years at the helm of FIFA, Sepp Blatter travelled the world to be feted like a head of state, with VIP treatment for his private jet, police escorts to whisk his limousine to the best hotel in town, and gala banquets in his honour.

Whoever is elected to succeed him as FIFA president in Zurich tomorrow will inherit a very diff erent organisation and a very diff erent job, where crisis management skills are more important than delivering grandiose speeches to fawning audiences.

And, far from providing a platform to dispense largesse in return for loyalty, the position should come with tougher demands and closer scrutiny, thanks to a set of institutional reforms set to be passed just before the next president is chosen.

Had it not been for the sensational arrests of FIFA offi cials on suspicion of corruption in Zurich last May at the behest of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Blatter would most likely have carried on in the same fashion until 2019.

Then, either Frenchman Michael Platini or Cayman Islander Jeff rey Webb, previously the heads of the European and North American soccer federations, UEFA and CONCACAF, would most likely have succeeded him in a smooth, co-ordinated transition. And Blatter would probably have been named honorary FIFA president, and indulged with a platform at big events.

But Webb, now under house arrest in the United States, is among the 41 individuals and entities that have been

indicted by the DOJ on corruption or fraud charges. And Platini and Blatter have been banned from the game for eight years by FIFA’s own Ethics Committee, caught up in the same whirlwind of legal and media scrutiny.

Itself under investigation from the DOJ and Swiss authorities, FIFA as an organisation badly needs

to rebuild its reputation, whichever of the fi ve candidates becomes president.

“Everyone recognises this is the last chance to get it right,” said one of the candidates, Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein. “We don’t want a situation where, two years down the line, more scandals come out.”

Top of the agenda will be implementing the reform package. The fact that it will be passed before the election largely deprives the new president of the chance to shape the organisation in his own image, while leaving him to manage a complex and untested new set of structures.

Blatter’s power was admittedly always far bigger than his formal constitutional role; the huge commercial success of the World Cup ensured a steady growth in revenue throughout his tenure and meant he could keep his support base happy by distributing development grants to federations around the world.

But the new system of oversights, with a full independent Audit and Compliance Committee and a revamped Finance Committee made up of members with genuine qualifi cations, should limit the scope for what Blatter’s critics labelled a “client system”.

Professor Alan Tomlinson of the University of Brighton in Britain, author of “FIFA - The Men, The Myths and The Money” and a long-time critic of FIFA, praised what he called “a quite radical set of principles and structural reformations”.

For the president, Tomlinson feels, that means implementing, with FIFA’s own staff , none of whom have been indicted, a strategy reached after debate in the FIFA Council and the committees. “It all sounds very boring, but it is how you could do it,” he says. Let’s wait and watch.

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Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016

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The new FIFA president will inherit a very diff erent organisation and a very diff erent job

The European integration project has helped to bring unprecedented stability and prosperity to much of the continent for nearly three-quarters of a century

By Richard N HaassNew York

The decision whether to remain part of the European Union is obviously one for the British people and their

elected representatives to make. But more than British and European interests will be aff ected by the outcome, so it is both legitimate and appropriate for other parties to weigh in.

So let me exercise my right as an outsider with a stake in what happens to express a clear opinion: From my perspective (and that of many other Americans), a decision by the United Kingdom to exit the EU would be undesirable – indeed, highly undesirable.

I am aware of the irony some are sure to note in this, given that the US’ own independence came about when the American colonies exited Great Britain. But that was then, and this is now, and the UK’s exit from Europe would be greeted with equal parts regret and concern by its closest ally.

There are several reasons for this. One reason why the US values its

ties to the UK as much as it does is the UK’s role in Europe. Britain is important not just as a bilateral partner, but because more often than not it can be counted on to argue for and support positions in Brussels consistent with, or at least not far from, those of the US.

The so-called “special relationship” has already become considerably less so in recent years, with parliament’s refusal until December to support military action in Syria taking a particularly heavy toll in this regard. Britain has become – and is widely perceived to be – a less dependable and less capable ally, and reality and perception would intensify if the UK were to take a step that would marginalise its role on the continent. It is hard to envision Brexit resulting in anything other than a more parochial and less infl uential UK.

In addition, an EU without the UK would be one in which Germany would have even more infl uence that it does now.

Such a preponderance of power cannot be healthy in the long run, as it will fuel resentment of Germany and likely leave the EU less willing and able to act together on the world scene. The result would be a weaker Europe at a

time when the US needs a stronger one.

Even worse, it is highly probable that Americans advocating for a reduced US role in the world would seize on Brexit as further evidence that traditional allies were not doing their fair share, and that a US facing growing defi cits and massive domestic needs should not be expected to make up the diff erence.

A simple reality must be kept in mind: The European integration project that began in the wake of World War II has helped to bring unprecedented stability and prosperity to much of the continent for nearly three-quarters of a century.

A British decision to sue for divorce would add to centrifugal forces already in evidence. Nationalism and populism, already on the rise for both economic and social reasons, would gather even more momentum. It is diffi cult to feel confi dent of the outcome, however uncertain that may be.

A decision by the British people to leave the EU would also put the question of Scotland’s independence squarely back on the agenda. Indeed, many in Scotland would argue for independence in order to remain an EU member – a popular refrain that could well result in a vote to secede from the UK.

To say the least, Americans would not welcome a diffi cult, controversial public debate with Scotland’s leaders over the stationing of nuclear weapons and submarines on their territory at a time when Russia is again seen as a threat to Europe.

Fragmentation would be unlikely to stop there. What happened in Scotland could well have ripple eff ects across what remained of the disunited United Kingdom.

In particular, Great Britain’s departure from the EU and Scotland’s departure from the UK would add to tensions in Northern Ireland between pro-UK Unionists and Republicans seeking to join Ireland.

Raising the profile of “final status” issues at a time when the two sides have shown themselves unable to face up to the past, or work together in the present, is not a recipe for progress.

Finally, Great Britain’s decision about its relationship with the EU will not happen in a vacuum. In fact, the timing could hardly be worse. Europe is already facing a perfect storm of fi scal strains, anaemic economic growth, massive infl ows of migrants and refugees and renewed Russian aggression.

As if that weren’t enough, there is the unravelling Middle East, advancing climate change, terrorism and now a new disease – the Zika virus – on the march.

There will also be a new US president elected this year. The last thing he or she will need is to have America’s closest partner distracted and drained by a diffi cult divorce. And that is what will happen if Brexit moves from possibility to reality. - Project Syndicate

Richard N Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, was a US envoy to the Northern Ireland peace negotiations.

Why Britain should stayin the European Union

Time for a carbon tax By Kemal Dervis and Karim FodaWashingtonne

Over the last few decades, oil prices have fl uctuated widely – ranging from $10 to $140 a barrel –

posing a challenge to producers and consumers alike. For policymakers, however, these fl uctuations present an opportunity to advance the key global objectives – refl ected in the Sustainable Development Goals adopted last September and the climate agreement reached in Paris in December – of mitigating climate change and building a more sustainable economy.

Recent oil-price fl uctuations resemble the classic cobweb model of microeconomic theory. High prices spur increased investment in oil. But, given long lags between exploration and exploitation, by the time the new output capacity actually comes on stream, substitution has already taken place, and demand often no longer justifi es the available supply.

At that point, prices fall, and exploration and investment decline as well, including for oil substitutes. When new shortages develop, prices begin rising again, and the cycle repeats.

The cycle will continue, though other factors – such as the steadily declining costs of renewable energy and the shift toward less energy-

intensive production processes – mean that it will probably spin within a lower range. In any case, a price increase is inevitable.

Against this background, today’s very low prices – below $35 a barrel at times since the beginning of this year – create a golden opportunity (which one of the authors has been recommending for over a year) to implement a variable carbon tax. The idea is simple: The tax would decrease gradually as oil prices rise, and then increase again when prices eventually come back down.

If the adjustments are asymmetric – larger increases when prices fall, and smaller decreases when prices rise – this system would gradually raise the overall carbon tax, even as it follows a counter-cyclical pattern. Such an incremental increase is what most models for controlling climate change call for.

Consider this scenario. Imagine that in December 2014, policymakers

introduced a tax of $100 per metric tonne of carbon (equivalent to a $27 tax on CO2). For American consumers, the immediate impact of this new tax – assuming its costs were passed fully onto consumers – would have been a $0.24 increase in the average national price of a gallon of gasoline, from $2.23 to $2.47, still far below the highs of 2007 and 2008.

If, since then, each $5 increase in the oil price brought a $30 per tonne decrease in the carbon tax, and each $5 decline brought a $45-per-tonne increase, the result would be a $0.91 diff erence between the standard market price and the actual tax-inclusive consumer price last month. That increase would have raised the carbon price substantially, providing governments with revenue – reaching $375 per tonne of carbon today – to apply to meeting fi scal priorities, all while cushioning the fall in gasoline prices caused by the steep decline in the price of crude.

While $375 per tonne is a very high price, refl ecting the particularly low price of oil today, even a lower carbon price – in the range of $150-250 per tonne – would be suffi cient to meet international climate goals over the next decade.

With this approach, policymakers could use the market to help propel their economies away from dependence on fossil fuels, redistributing producer surplus (profi ts) from oil producers to the

treasuries of importing countries, without placing too large or sudden a burden on consumers. In fact, by stabilising user costs, it would off er signifi cant gains.

The key to this strategy’s political feasibility is to launch it while prices are very low. Once it is in place, it will become a little-noticed, politically uncontroversial part of pricing for gasoline (and other products) – one that produces far-reaching benefi ts. Some of the revenue could be returned to the public in the form of tax cuts or research support.

Despite the obvious benefi ts of a variable carbon tax, no country has capitalised on today’s low oil prices to raise carbon prices in this or a similar form, though US President Barack Obama’s call for a tax on oil suggests that he recognises the opening low prices represent. This should change. The opportunity to implement a policy that is simultaneously sensible, fl exible, gentle, and eff ective in advancing national and global goals does not arise very often. Policymakers must seize it when it does. The time for a variable stabilising carbon tax is now. - Project Syndicate

Kemal Dervis, former minister of economic aff airs of Turkey and former administrator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is a vice president of the Brookings Institution. Karim Foda is a research analyst at the Brookings Institution.

FIFA’s top job: Less gravy train, more treadmill

One reason why the US values its ties to the UK as much as it does is the UK’s role in Europe

Recent oil-price fl uctuations resemble the classic cobweb model of microeconomic theory

European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker addressing the European Parliament on the outcome of the “Brexit” summit, in Brussels yesterday.

COMMENT

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 2016 29

There will be large knock-on eff ects on the real economy, including severe damage to developing countries’ growth prospects

By Joseph E Stiglitz and Hamid RashidNew York

Developing countries are bracing for a major slowdown this year. According to the UN report

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016, their growth will average only 3.8% this year – the lowest rate since the global fi nancial crisis in 2009 and matched in this century only by the recessionary year of 2001.

And what is important to bear in mind is that the slowdown in China and the deep recessions in the Russian Federation and Brazil only explain part of the broad falloff in growth.

True, falling demand for natural resources in China (which accounts for nearly half of global demand for base metals) has had a lot to do with the sharp declines in these prices, which have hit many developing and emerging economies in Latin America and Africa hard.

Indeed, the UN report lists 29 economies that are likely to be badly aff ected by China’s slowdown. And the collapse of oil prices by more than 60% since July 2014 has undermined the growth prospects of oil exporters.

The real worry, however, is not just falling commodity prices, but also massive capital outfl ows. During 2009-2014, developing countries collectively received a net capital infl ow of $2.2tn, partly owing to quantitative easing in advanced economies, which pushed interest rates there to near zero.

The search for higher yields drove investors and speculators to developing countries, where the infl ows increased leverage, propped up equity prices, and in some cases supported a commodity price boom. Market capitalisation in the Mumbai, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo and Shanghai stock exchanges, for example, nearly tripled in the years following the fi nancial crisis. Equity markets in other developing countries also witnessed similar dramatic increases during this period.

But the capital fl ows are now reversing, turning negative for the fi rst time since 2006, with net outfl ows from developing countries in 2015 exceeding $600bn – more than one-quarter of the infl ows they received during the previous six years.

The largest outfl ows have been through banking channels, with international banks reducing their gross credit exposures to developing countries by more than $800bn in 2015.

Capital outfl ows of this magnitude are likely to have myriad eff ects: drying up liquidity, increasing the costs of borrowing and debt service, weakening currencies, depleting reserves, and leading to decreases in equity and other asset prices.

There will be large knock-on eff ects on the real economy, including severe damage to developing countries’ growth prospects.

This is not the fi rst time that developing countries have faced the challenges of managing pro-cyclical hot capital, but the magnitudes this time are overwhelming. During the Asian fi nancial crisis, net outfl ows from the East Asian economies were only $12bn in 1997.

Of course, the East Asian economies today are better able to withstand such massive outfl ows, given their accumulation of international reserves since the fi nancial crisis in 1997. Indeed, the global stock of reserves

has more than tripled since the Asian fi nancial crisis.

China, for example, used nearly $500bn of its reserves in 2015 to fi ght capital outfl ows and prevent the renminbi’s sharp depreciation; but it still has more than $3tn in reserves.

The stockpile of reserves may partly explain why huge outfl ows have not triggered a full-blown fi nancial crisis in developing countries. But not all countries are so fortunate to have a large arsenal.

Once again, advocates of free mobility for destabilising short-term capital fl ows are being proven wrong. Many emerging markets recognized the dangers and tried to reduce capital infl ows.

South Korea, for example, has been using a series of macro-prudential measures since 2010, aimed at moderating pro-cyclical cross-border banking-sector liabilities. The measures taken were only partially successful, as the data above show. The question is, what should they do now?

Corporate sectors in developing countries, having increased their leverage with capital infl ows during the post-2008 period, are particularly vulnerable. Capital outfl ows will adversely aff ect their equity prices, push up their debt-to-equity ratios, and increase the likelihood of defaults. The problem is especially severe in commodity-exporting

developing economies, where fi rms borrowed extensively, expecting high commodity prices to persist.

Many developing-country governments failed to learn the lesson of earlier crises, which should have prompted regulations and taxes restricting and discouraging foreign-currency exposures. Now governments need to take quick action to avoid becoming liable for these exposures. Expedited debtor-friendly bankruptcy procedures could ensure quick restructuring and provide a framework for renegotiating debts.

Developing-country governments should also encourage the conversion of such debts to GDP-linked or other types of indexed bonds. Those with

high levels of foreign debt but with reserves should also consider buying back their sovereign debt in the international capital market, taking advantage of falling bond prices.

While reserves may provide some cushion for minimising the adverse eff ects of capital outfl ows, in most cases they will not be suffi cient. Developing countries should resist the temptation of raising interest rates to stem capital outfl ows.

Historically, interest-rate hikes have had little eff ect. In fact, because they hurt economic growth, further reducing countries’ ability to service external debts, higher interest rates can be counterproductive. Macro-prudential measures can discourage or delay capital outfl ows, but such measures, too, may be insuffi cient.

In some cases, it may be necessary to introduce selective, targeted, and time-bound capital controls to stem outfl ows, especially outfl ows through banking channels. This would entail, for example, restricting capital transfers between parent banks in developed countries and their subsidiaries or branches in developing countries.

Following the successful Malaysian example in 1997, developing countries could also temporarily suspend all capital withdrawals to stabilise capital fl ows and exchange rates. This is perhaps the only recourse for many developing countries to avoid a catastrophic fi nancial crisis. It is important that they act soon. - Project Syndicate

Joseph E Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in Economics, is University Professor at Columbia University and Chief Economist of the Roosevelt Institute. Hamid Rashid is chief of Global Economic Monitoring at the UN Department of Economic and Social Aff airs. The views expressed in the article do not represent the views of the UN or its member states.

Capital drain worries developing countries

Live issues

Is organic food healthier?

Letters

By Dr Luisa DillnerLondon

After publishing a study showing organic milk has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than ordinarily

farmed products, Professor Chris Seal braced himself for the backlash. There is nothing like a study highlighting the benefi ts, or lack thereof, of organic food, to cause a spat.

And Seal’s study in the British Journal of Nutrition last week (alongside another by him on meat that also shows higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids) certainly has its detractors.

The fact that the study was funded by the Sheepdrove Trust, a British charity that supports organic farming, hasn’t helped. Seal says the money paid for analysis only, and that the charity didn’t have any input into the research.

The study, a meta-analysis of 196 papers on milk (the other looked at 36 studies on meat), found that organic-grass-fed cows produced milk with 50% more omega-3 fatty acids than

that from ordinary dairy cows. These fatty acids are linked to reductions in heart disease.

But, while 50% sounds like a lot, full-fat milk is only 4% fat (semi skimmed is 2%) so this translates to an tiny amount more fatty acid in organic milk. Seal argues that if you added in organic cheese and butter, this would

increase. But others point out you could get more nutritional benefi t buying fruit and vegetables than hoovering up organic dairy produce.

There is no evidence that eating organic food makes a significant difference to your health. Seal’s paper has different findings to two meta-analyses in 2009 and 2012

that did not find a link between organic food and better health. Seal says his research has more studies that now make this link statistically significant – which is not the same as clinically significant.

To link organic food with better health, a study would need two groups of people randomly divided into those eating organic and those eating non-organic food – but they would have to eat the same foods as each other for months. Even then, you could only measure levels of markers of disease such as cholesterol levels or weight.

So don’t hold your breath. People say they buy organic food because it has fewer pesticides, antibiotics and additives. They also think organic production is kinder to animals and the soil.

A 2012 meta-analysis from Stanford did fi nd pesticides residues in non-organic food – but in safe amounts. It boils down to whether you believe in safe amounts or not – and if you can aff ord to avoid them.

But so far the research says that conventional healthy food has the same benefi ts as organic healthy food. - Guardian News and Media

FrustratingsituationDear Sir,

Traffi c jams are quite common on the access point to the D Ring Road from the Halolul Street these days. The situation is frustrating.

It takes a lot of eff orts and patience to reach the D Ring Road. I face the problem almost every day. The accompanying picture explains it all.

Anil(e-mail address supplied)

UN must get its act togetherDear Sir,

We are living in a time of chaos. Wars and genocide devastate vast tracts of land globally.

The United Nations has failed to refl ect the democratic aspiration of the world.

If the primary aim as envisaged by UN founders was to spare humanity from “the scourge of war”, then it would not be wrong to argue that it has failed. The

ongoing carnage in Syria is a bloody example. The UN remains powerless to bring an end to the Syrian crisis.

The situation is alarming and the outlook is bleak. The UN has to get its act together. And fast also.

Farouk Araiefarouk.araie@telkomsa.net

A case for uniform cut in oil output

Dear Sir,

I feel that the proposal to freeze oil output at the January level is not going to succeed in the long run because of increased production from Iran. The issues revolving around market share will be aggravated with the freezing of output. Instead, Opec and producers outside the group may set a target cut in percentage uniformly across the board.

Girish R Edathittagirionnet@rediff mail.com

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The long line of traff ic near the signals just after the Haloul roundabout on way to the D Ring Road.

Three-day forecast

TODAY

SATURDAY

High: 26 C

Low : 20 C

High: 27 C

Low: 20 C

Weather report

Around the region

Abu DhabiBaghdadDubaiKuwait CityManamaMuscatRiyadhTehran

Weather todayM SunnySunnySunnySunnyCloudyP CloudyP CloudySunny

Around the world

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Max/min19/1221/1434/2306/-128/1325/1832/2427/2116/1211/0729/2431/1607/-131/2303/-429/1311/0108/0130/2106/-432/2634/2209/02

Weather todayM SunnySunnyP CloudyRain&SnowSunnySunnyS T StormsS T StormsCloudyP CloudyT StormsP CloudyP CloudyP CloudyCloudySunnyCloudyM SunnyS T StormsSunnyP CloudySunny

Fishermen’s forecast

OFFSHORE DOHAWind: NW 22-30/35 KTWaves: 7-10/13 Feet

INSHORE DOHAWind: NW 12-22/30 KTWaves: 2-4/5 Feet

High: 28 C

Low: 18 C

FRIDAY

Slight dust to blowing dust at place with scattered clouds, relatively cold by night

M Sunny

M Sunny

Max/min28/1822/1028/1823/1522/1832/2426/1317/07

Weather tomorrowM SunnyM SunnySunnySunnyM SunnyM SunnyS ShowersP Cloudy

Max/min28/1724/1026/1825/1623/1730/2324/15

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Weather tomorrowP CloudySunnySunnyP CloudySunnyS ShowersM SunnyM SunnyP CloudyM SunnyS T StormsSunnyM CloudyP CloudyP CloudySunnyCloudyCloudyT StormsSunnyP CloudyP CloudyCloudy

20/09

QATAR

Gulf Times Thursday, February 25, 201630

Theme park ties up with QAKidzMondo Doha, one

of the indoor ‘edutain-ment’ theme parks, has

partnered with Qatar Airways (QA) to provide children with interactive learning experience starting in August.

“We are looking to create awareness in children through playful learning to unleash their imagination and crea-tivity,” said KidzHolding SAL chairman and KidzMondo concept founder Ali Kazma.

The partnership announce-ment ceremony yesterday was also attended by KidzMondo Doha general manager Nabil Barakat, QA senior vice presi-dent Ehab Amin and market-ing and corporate communi-cations senior vice president Salam al-Shawa.

KidzMondo Doha will of-fer children an opportunity to enact their dream roles as pi-lots and cabin crew, and get an understanding of the function-ing of the world-class airline within a specially adapted real aircraft model.

Children will also have the

chance to explore the plane, examine its diff erent parts, and become familiar with the daily tasks required of QA pilots and crew as they lead the global air space. Entrance fee will cost around QR110.

Kazma added that they will start promoting KidzMondo to the public in June. Besides, they will also visit schools, as well as various organisations in the country.

Barakat said they want to create a professional world for children to help them become well-versed individuals “by empowering them with knowl-edge, key skills and life-lessons in an entertaining way.”

Built around the concept of the ‘City of Education and Entertainment’, KidzMondo Doha features an interactive small-scale city developed for and managed solely by children between the age groups 2 and 14.

The self-suffi cient city in-cludes more than 80 real life simulation activities across diverse business environ-ments. It allows children to

dress up and role-play realistic tasks in a safe, interactive and meaningful environment.

The entertainment park, with its own economy and cur-rency, has been designed to provide a holistic experience to support physical and mental development amongst chil-dren, and help improve their self-esteem and confi dence.

“We have put a lot of eff orts to provide a realistic experience of being in control with one of the most successful airlines in the world, and also spotlight the in-fl ight details that have brought us to the pinnacle of this sector,” Amin said.

Built on a total indoor area of about 8000 m2, Kidz-Mondo Doha will partner with more than 60 brands that will sponsor various activities in the kids’ city and will open its doors in the Mall of Qatar.

The theme parks are ben-efi ting from a growing need across the world for unique experiences aimed at chil-dren and youth that combine entertainment and education.

KidzMondo and QA off icials at the partnership announcement ceremony yesterday. PICTURE: Nasar TK

School team wins Qatar leg of Volkswagen Tournament Local school football team

SEK has emerged victori-ous in the Qatar leg of the

2016 Volkswagen Junior Masters Tournament, a corporate social responsibility initiative from Q-Auto.

Along with the runners-up, Dutch School, they will now compete against 10 teams from across the Middle East in the regional fi nals, sched-uled to take place in Dubai on March 6 and 7.

Initiated as part of Q-Auto’s support to youth and sports in Qatar, the Volkswagen Junior Masters Tournament aims to connect young individuals with a passion for sport and encour-ages them to work together in a team, be active and stay healthy.

“The competition, now in its

sixth year in Doha, has gone from strength to strength and we are extremely proud to be the driv-ing force behind such an exhila-rating tournament,” said Yann Lassade, managing director, Volkswagen, at Q-Auto.

The other teams that com-peted in this year’s tournament, held at the Markhyia Football Academy, included SFQ, Qa-tar Foundation, Doha British School, German School, Future IFA, and Newton School.

Established by Volkswagen AG in 2004, the Junior Masters is an international youth tournament for boys under the age of 13 who compete in regional qualifi ca-tion rounds. Taking place in 23 countries worldwide, the event now includes more than 4,700 players and 333 teams.

SEK School team celebrating their winning the Qatar leg of the 2016 Volkswagen Junior Masters Tournament.

The biggest Adidas factory outlet in the GCC region is now open on Salwa Road, next to Jarir Bookstore, in Doha. With over 700sqm selling area, the new outlet will provide best off ers round the year in dedicated areas for men, women, children, originals and best buys.

Adidas factory outlet opens Sunny 2015-2016 models recalledThe Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Company, has announced a recall of Nissan Sunny 2015-2016 models for the possibility of a defect in the front signal light.The MEC said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicles’ 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 customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through the following channels: Hotline: 16001, e-mail: info@mec.gov.qa, Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar

QATAR31Gulf Times

Thursday, February 25, 2016

A delegation led by Sweden’s Minister for Higher Education and Research Helene Hellmark

Knutsson arrived in Doha yesterday on a state visit.

She is accompanied by 21 high-level representatives from top-ranked Swedish universities such as the Karo-linska Institute, the Lund Univer-sity, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), and the Chalmers University, as well as presidents of several Swedish national agencies for higher education and research.

In a press statement, Sweden’s Am-bassador to Qatar Ewa Polano said the two-day visit aims to promote, encour-age and develop direct co-operation between governmental agencies, in-stitutes, and universities in Qatar and Sweden in the fi elds of higher educa-tion and research.

“This is one of the most important offi cial visits from Sweden to Qatar during this year,” the Swedish ambas-sador stressed. “The timing is excellent because there is a big interest in Qatar at the moment to create partnerships with countries like Sweden.”

Polano said that the key message

from Minister Knutsson and the Swed-ish government during the visit would be: “Could Sweden be a role model for Qatar in the ongoing paradigm shift in the country away from oil and gas towards a knowledge-based society, where innovation and entrepreneur-ship are key factors to a continued prosperous future in Qatar?”

According to the envoy, Sweden is

highly ranked in global indexes on re-search and development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Polano noted that the World Eco-nomic Forum also ranks Sweden at number one in the fi eld of “Creative Economy”.

“These are highly relevant topics for both our countries, and I look forward to fruitful bilateral discussion during the visit of Minister Hellmark Knutsson to Doha,” the ambassador said.

The Swedish minister will be meet-ing Qatar University president Dr Has-san Rashid al-Derham and Minister of Education and Higher Education HE Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Ham-madi today.

Knutsson will also meet with various offi cials at the Qatar Foundation (QF), the Qatar National Research Fund and universities in the country.

She is also expected to attend the in-auguration of “The House of Sweden” exhibition at Hamad Bin Khalifa Stu-dent Centre.

The Swedish delegation will also take part in a brainstorming discussion with key representatives from the Qatar government, QF, universities, and the private sector at Katara – the Cultural Village, on “Innovation Entrepreneur-ship” and “How to Create Strategic Partnerships”.

Swedish team on Qatar visitBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

‘Video Games Live’ at the Qatar National Convention Centre on March 4 The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, will blend the emotion of live symphonic music with the distinctive sounds of video gaming in a bespoke multimedia concert experience entitled “Video Games Live”.The event will take place on March 4 at 8pm at the Qatar National Convention

Centre. Featuring synchronised lighting, electronic percussion, and an exclusive visual showcase of the most popular video games from past to present, “Video Games Live” will help introduce new audiences - families, video game enthusiasts and non-gamers - to the symphonic experience.Eimear Noone, the Irish composer with involvement in World of Warcraft,

Diablo, Metal Gear Solid, Starcraft 2, and Legends of Zelda, will conduct the performance.Ticket holders will also have access to pre- and post-show events.Tickets range from QR150 to QR500 and are available from qatarphilharmonicorchestra.org. More information is also available at videogameslive.com

Knutsson: leading the Swedish delegation.

QATAR

Gulf TimesThursday, February 25, 201632

Brazilian trader draws crowdswith focus on regional tastes By Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

Marcelo Albuquerque is a man of few words but has many deeds to his credit. The Brazilian jeweller, who made a beginning only a year ago

at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (DJWE 2016) last year, has now become one of the most sought after exhibitors here.

Unlike many other participants, his Belo Horizonte headquartered Goldesign company’s collections are not limited to rubies, diamonds, emerald and sapphire as many others seen at expos of this magnitude.

One would be amazed seeing his range of collections, made of such precious stones as amazonite, London blue, blue topaz, aquamarine, blue opal and tanzanite among others.

Adoring Albuquerque’s showcase at Alfardan Jew-ellery pavilion at the exhibition are a number of eye-catching creative designs, most of which are conceived, designed and created by his designer wife Ana Marcia, who is seen actively surrounded by the region’s re-sourceful clientele at their stall.

Albuquerque’s company which is perhaps one among the fi rst from the South American continent to start participating in the Doha expo, has an array of collec-tions that the region’s collectors are looking for.

Established only a little more than a decade ago, the entrepreneur realised the potential of the Doha mar-ket while attending another expo a few years ago in the GCC.

“The presence of a sizeable number of buyers from Doha at that exhibition made up my mind to focus on this market which has a number of high-end clients,” disclosed the Brazilian, who feels the locals have a pas-sion for possessing the best of the precious gems and stones at any cost.

Affl uent Qatari clients are a common sight across the world at major expos and their tastes are not confi ned to any particular stone. The tastes and interests of Gulf buyers diff er enormously from the rest of the world and they are always seen looking for something that is unique, exclusive and creative, said the jeweller who in-sists there should be a feeling of goodness all around for the recovery of the region’s market, from what is gener-ally perceived as an ongoing slowdown.

Ana Marcia, who has designed numerous creations at her gallery has a 60-member in-house team of skilled professionals to assist her in making ornaments to suit the interests of each region.

Marcelo Albuquerque and his wife Ana, sporting ornaments created in her own designs, at the Goldesign stall at Alfardan Jewellery pavilion yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram

Pari Gallery plans more Qatar outlets

By Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

Pari Gallery, a leading re-tail chain of several luxury goods in Qatar, will be

expanding its services by open-ing new outlets and adding new products in the coming years, said an offi cial of the group yes-terday.

Speaking to Gulf Times at the Pari Jewellery pavilion at Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition (DJWE) 2016, Salman Abdul Ra-him, general manger, Pari Gal-lery, Qatar, said that his com-pany will open two retail outlets soon in Doha.

He explained: “Now we have four outlets in the country. We are planning to open two more outlets by 2017. The new outlets will be opened in Mall of Qatar and North Gate Mall. As the new outlets are ready to be opened, we will also add more brands under our umbrella”

“We also plan to open new showrooms outside Doha. Most probably we will open an outlet in Al Khor and another one in Al Wakrah. Most of the new brands that will be added, will mainly be in watches and fashion acces-sories,” he said.

Abdul Rahim said his com-pany has added many new products this year at the DJWE. He said, “This year we have an attractive addition from Fendi which is a watch fi xed with spe-cial diamonds. When you turn the key of the watch, the colour of the dial changes from pink to blue to yellow and many more. Instead of buying many watch-es, one watch will give diff erent displays.”

Elaborating, he said, “The price of the watch is not very high. It is fi xed with diamonds of diff erent sizes and diff erent colours. We off er lifetime war-ranty for the product. It is an open guarantee and customers can repair it or avail other serv-ices at any time. They can visit any outlet of the company in the GCC and get the services.”

The offi cial pointed out that Pari Gallery caters to all cat-egories of people. “We have leading brand products start-ing from QR1,000 to millions and beyond. We are strong in fi ve categories namely jewel-lery, watches, fashion acces-sories, perfumes and make up materials,” he added.

Abdul Rahim also maintained that the Qatar market is very good and strong.

Salman Abdul Rahim

DeWitt’s elegant and priceless timepiecesBy Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

Just fi ve generations separated him from the all-powerful French monarch Napoleon Bo-

naparte.Jerome Napoleon de Witt is a re-

markably unique personality who seems more philosophical than most other entrepreneurs of his stature.

A watchmaker, who acquired skills and expertise, more by a pas-sion for learning something inno-vative and curious rather late, De-Witt is now an established brand, for the company’s truly creative, elegant and priceless timepieces.

“One could learn something new only when he or she is free and receptive to ideas,” he said, while recalling his single-minded deter-

mination in the beginning of this century to learn the art of watch-making. “All along my life, I have loved to dabble with complicated things and thus I developed a taste for creating mechanical timepieces that the world wanted to look at,” said de Witt.

Now his company, known by his family name, makes between 1,000 and 1,200 watches, each of which has left a lasting impression on his customers, all affl uent per-sonalities who alone can aff ord it.

“Every watch that we make has a series of novel features which would make it perform diff erently from the other,” insisted de Witt while pointing to a piece that he referred to as “Mathematical” class, displayed at his stall at Al-fardan Jewellery pavilion.

De Witt made his fi rst visit to Qatar way back in 1969 as a gen-

eral contractor and has been a witness to the changes occurring since then in every aspect of life. “I have always noticed that Qataris have all along possessed a passion to excel and secure the best in life. The same or even more enthusi-asm is there in the new generation as well.”

Now in the 14th year of his busi-ness of luxury, premium and lim-ited edition watches, de Witt is attending his sixth Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition, with col-lections ranging from QR35,000 to QR 200,000, at his stall.

Even while acknowledging that the recessionary trend in the global economy has hit all sorts of busi-nesses everywhere, the watch-maker however felt it will take some more time to realise its im-pact on the purchasing decisions of the region’s affl uent clients.

Jerome Napoleon de Witt at the DeWitt stall at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre during the DJWE 2016. PICTURE: Jayaram

Fifty One East showcases premium productsBy Joseph VargheseStaff Reporter

Fifty One East is showcas-ing a number of exquisite collections from premium

brands at the Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition (DJWE) 2016 being held at the Doha Ex-hibition and Convention Centre.

There is also a daily live mu-sical performance by interna-tionally renowned pianist Dora Deliyska at the pavilion of the organisation.

She is performing on a “But-terfl y” model piano by Ignaz Bosendorfer. The piano model, with its exceptional marquetry work, is a tribute to the magnifi -cent gardens of both the Schon-brunn and Hofburg Palaces and is an exceptional snapshot of nature.

The pavilion of the organisa-tion is displaying major luxury brands including three special wings for Rolex, Chanel and Boucheron, along with other brands including Azza Fahmy, Bremont, Brusi, Christian Ber-nard, Clerc,

H Moser & Cie, Hueb, JJeweles Milano, Luca Carati, Pasquale Bruni, Porsche Design, Tudor,

Yvan Tufenkjian and Zeades. Bader Abdullah al-Darwish,

chairman and managing direc-tor of Darwish Holding, said: “We consider participating in the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition as part of our herit-age now, after years of success-ful shows. It is with great pride that we are presenting our so-phisticated refi ned jewellery and unique timepiece collections during the prestigious event.”

During the DJWE 2016, the

only other exhibition that Rolex participates worldwide other than Baselworld, visitors can see a selection of the brand’s Basel-world 2015 collection including the new generation of its most prestigious model, the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date, known as the “presidents’ watch”.

Rolex will also present three exceptional versions of the Oys-ter Perpetual Datejust Pearl-master in a new 39mm size.The yellow or white gold models

combine Rolex’s watchmaking art with the captivating natu-ral charms of gold and coloured gemstones.

Another leading brand, Chanel will present Les Talis-mans de Chanel, its new high jewellry collection.

The new jewellery sets express their power through magnetic and solar jewels, fascinating, mysterious creations, and daz-zling and hypnotic sparkles.Chanel will also reveal unique

pieces for the fi rst time includ-ing the Lion Birman ring and the Lion Antique necklace.

International brand, Bouch-eron will present a scintillating high jewellery collection.

“The Bleu de Jodhpur” is a bold jewellery interpretation of the Blue City of Jodhpur, with Art Deco inspired features. The French Maison will also show-case the romantic, yet chic and contemporary, Quatre Radiant new collection to include the

Rose Gold Edition and small ver-sions in white and yellow gold.

Guests will also get to know the collections from celebrated Italian jeweller Pasquale Bruni. The newest collections released in Baselworld 2015, are a stun-ning tour de force combined with masterful techniques, au-dacious creativity and precious stones.

In addition, Pasquale Bruni will also present its latest Giar-dini Segreti collection.

Renowned pianist Dora Deliyska is performing daily on the “Butterfly” model piano by Ignaz Bosendorfer. An interior view of the Fifty One East pavilion. PICTURE: Jayaram

Bader Abdullah al-Darwish