BUSINESS | Pages 1
For second
GULF TIMES
In brief
QATAR | Diplomacy
Siege nations urged
to stop violations
The United Nations said on its
official website that six special
rapporteurs of its Human Rights
Council had sent official letters to
three countries of the blockade
— Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Bahrain — monitoring
all violations committed by each
country, based on reports received
by the international organisation
from some relevant organisations.
Page 12
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SPORT | Page 1
straight year,
Sadd beat
Al Khaliji posts 5.3% Rayyan for
rise in net profit to
QR169.6mn in Q1 spot in final
Emir attends Camel Race Festival
Minister lauds
success of US
economic tour
QNA
Raleigh, North Carolina
Forum witnesses
signing of a number
of agreements
T
he first phase of Qatar’s eco-
nomic tour of the United
States has been successful in
strengthening bilateral co-operation
in trade and investment, the Minis-
ter of Economy and Commerce HE
Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mo-
His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani attended yesterday parts hamed al-Thani has affirmed.
of the races dedicated to tribes’ members on day eight of the annual Arabian Camel Four US cities - Miami, Washing-
Racing Festival for the Sword of His Highness the Emir at Al Shahaniya racetrack. ton, DC, Charleston and Raleigh -
Yesterday’s competition was attended by a number of their excellencies sheikhs, were covered during the first leg of the
tribes’ members and racing fans. Sport Page 8 Qatar-US Economic Forum that was
kicked off in Miami on April 10.
On the occasion of the conclusion
Qatar welcomes N Korea’s pledge to freeze N-tests of the tour, the minister expressed
optimism about the positive results
The State of Qatar welcomed the achieve peace and stability in the achieved through the initiative.
announcement yesterday by North region and the world at large. “We have seen the success of the
Korean leader Kim Jong-un to freeze The statement expressed Qatar’s tour through our meetings with of-
nuclear tests, halt launch of missiles hope that Pyongyang would follow ficials, investors and corporate ex-
and close the nuclear test site in the its announcement by further steps ecutives from the US, and through a
north of the country. leading to the denuclearisation of meeting of Qatari businessmen and
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry North Korea, while reaffirming its full their American counterparts, who
said that the Korean declaration is a respect for international obligations, expressed their desire to co-operate
step that will pave the way for defusing all relevant UN Security Council with Qatari entrepreneurs in forging
tension on the Korean Peninsula and resolutions. - QNA Page 17 partnerships for investment projects
SUNDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 10796
April 22, 2018
Sha’baan 6, 1439 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals
in the two countries,” HE the Minister
said in a statement.
The tour witnessed the signing of a
number of agreements and memoran-
dums of understanding between Qa-
tari and US companies, he said.
HE Sheikh Ahmed said the United
States is one of the largest and most
important trading partners of Qatar,
where the volume of trade exchange
between the two countries is about $
6bn, and that the United States with
16% was the first source of Qatar’s
imports in 2017. More than 650 US
companies are operating in Qatar.
During the tour, the Minister of
Economy and Commerce held several
meetings with senior government of-
ficials, members of the US Congress,
World Bank officials, the Internation-
al Monetary Fund, businessmen and
senior corporate executives to expand
economic, co-operation between Qa-
tar and the United States.
In addition, the minister attended a
number of activities held on the side-
lines of the economic tour.
The MEC organised four economic
forums in Miami, Washington, Char-
leston and Raleigh in co-operation
with Qatar Chamber, American
Chamber of Commerce, Qatar Busi-
nessmen Association, Qatar-US Busi-
ness Council and a number of US of-
ficial bodies. Business Page 20
pu AT 19
bl
Q since
is
he R
d
A 78
in
Portman
backs out of
prize over
Netanyahu
AFP
Jerusalem
H
ollywood actress Natalie Port-
man said she was backing out
of a Jerusalem ceremony where
she was to receive a $2mn prize to
protest against the policies of Israel’s
prime minister.
“I chose not to attend because I did
not want to appear as endorsing Ben-
jamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving
a speech at the ceremony,” Portman
said in a statement posted late Friday
on Instagram.
The Genesis Prize Foundation said
that Portman had cancelled her partic-
ipation in a Jerusalem ceremony slated
for the end of June.
One of Portman’s representatives
informed the foundation that she was
troubled by “recent events” in Israel
and “does not feel comfortable partici-
pating in any public event in Israel,” the
foundation said.
‘Toy drone’ shot down
over Riyadh: officials
Saudi forces yesterday shot down an
unidentified toy drone that hovered
over a Riyadh neighbourhood home
to royal palaces, state media said,
prompting a security alarm in the
capital. Authorities firmly denied any
major security breach.
 Gulf Times
2 Sunday, April 22, 2018

QATAR
Sierra Leone president in Doha
FM holds talks with delegation of
Qatari-European Friendship Group
H
E the Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sheikh
Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-
Thani met in Doha yesterday
with a delegation of the Qatari-
European Friendship Group led
by Ramona Manescu, head of
the group.
Discussions during the meet-
ing dealt with relations and
prospects for co-operation be-
tween Qatar and the European
Union and means to strengthen
them as well as co-ordination of
positions towards regional and
international issues.
The Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Foreign Af-
fairs briefed the delegation on
developments of the Gulf cri-
sis, Qatar’s efforts to combat
extremism and terrorism, and
reviewed ways to bolster the
co-operation between Qatar HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani with a delegation of Qatari-European
and the European Union to Friendship Group in Doha.
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio arrived in Doha enhance security in the region
yesterday an official visit to Qatar. President Julius Maada Bio and the world. with the International Labor ber 2012. It includes European The main objective of the tar in various fields, to defend
and the accompanying delegation were welcomed upon arrival He also briefed the Euro- Organisation (ILO) testimony. members from different parties Group is to strengthen relations mutual interests and promote
at Hamad International Airport by HE the Minister of Transport pean delegation on the meas- The Qatari-European Friend- interested in the role of Qatar between the European Parlia- bilateral co-operation by organ-
and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti. ures taken by Qatar to improve ship Group was launched at the and its foreign, developmental, ment, in particular, the Euro- ising meetings and mutual visits
the conditions of employment European Parliament in Octo- educational and other policies. pean Union in general and Qa- between the two sides. (QNA)

US university honours Deputy PM

Benefits of studying in France outlined
O
fficials from the Ministry of
Education and Higher Educa-
tion and the French embassy
in Doha held yesterday an extensive
meeting with Qatari students of 12th
grade wishing to continue their higher
education in French universities.
The meeting focused on inform-
ing the students of the advantages,
opportunities and academic options
offered by the French universities,
their requirements and conditions
and how to apply for them, and oth-
er topics of interest to scholarship
students.
Ministry official Moza Ali al-Mu-
dahka said that such meetings and
events emphasise the strong co-op-
eration between Qatar and France in
the educational fields, and reflect the
country’s vision of openness to civi-
lisations and scientific and cultural
exchange among nations.
She exhorted the students to ad-
here to the noble Qatari values, the
identity of their country and its
reputation. She also urged them to
maintain order and respect the law,
thanking the parents of the students
for their great role in supporting their
children and encouraging them to
achieve the goals of the homeland.
For his part, the French ambassa-
dor to Qatar, Eric Chevallier, hailed
the deep bilateral ties in all fields,
pointing out the possibilities and op-
portunities in French universities in
all disciplines.
The meeting was also attended by
Qatar’s Permanent Representative
to Unesco Ali Zainal, who is also re-
sponsible for the university co-oper-
ation with France.
He reviewed the Qatari-French re-
lations at all levels. He also discussed
all the services the Qatari embassy in
Paris provides, which include housing
and health insurance. (QNA)

The Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, US, honoured HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence
Affairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah during his visit to the base in Montgomery, Alabama. The visit of HE Dr al-Attiyah
came in response to an invitation he had received from the Air University. During the visit, a honouring ceremony was
held for some of the university’s graduates who have reached senior command positions in their countries.

American Boy Scouts visit Al Udeid air base

The Qatari Emiri Air Force, represented by its air transport unit in co-ordination with the US Air Force, hosted
yesterday the Boy Scouts of America, one of the largest youth organisations in the United States. The Boy Scouts
participated in a scouting trip to Al Udeid air base. The trip included visits to the air transport’s section, automatic
sensors and support sections for flights, and aircraft maintenance buildings. The trip aims to support family ties and
highlight the role of the two forces in societal development by informing new generations of the role of the armed
forces and medicine in society.

QF, Ooredoo Group sign MoU to
support programmes for youths
H
E Sheikha Hind bint
Hamad al-Thani, vice-
chairperson and chief
executive officer of Qatar Foun-
dation (QF), and Sheikh Saud
bin Nasser al-Thani, Ooredoo
Group chief executive officer,
have signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) that will
see the two entities work to-
gether to benefit young people
and communities around the
world.
By leveraging their joint re-
sources and talent, the two
organisations will deliver ma-
jor social impact by support-
ing development programmes
for young people and offering
workshops and initiatives to
drive youth enterprise in the
Middle East, North Africa, and
South East Asia, QF has said in
a statement.
Together, QF and Oore-
doo Group will deploy QF’s
research and development
resources and Ooredoo’s in-
ternational network of young
consumers to develop origi-
nal content and new digital
experiences, with a particular
focus on the next generation.
There will be a specific focus
on engaging and deploying
young Qatari leaders aiming to
make a global impact.
HE Sheikha Hind said, “We
are delighted to be partner-
ing with Ooredoo Group on
a range of exciting initia-
tives through this agreement.
Young people are the single
most important investment
in our future, and at Qatar
Foundation we are commit-
ted to providing our students
with the knowledge, confi-
dence, and skills they need to
grow as global citizens.
HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani and Sheikh Saud bin Nasser al-Thani along with QF and Ooredoo officials at the event.
“Young people need to be
engaged, equipped, and em-
powered, and this collabora-
tion will serve as a platform
to provide additional learning
and internship opportuni-
ties, as well as real-world work
experiences, to the men and
women at Education City. This
in turn will help create a highly
competent and diverse work-
force that is fully supported to
serve the needs of our country
and beyond.”
As part of the agreement,
Ooredoo Group will offer in-
ternships to QF university stu-
dents, providing “appropriately
qualified students with exciting
opportunities in relevant de-
partments at Ooredoo Group”.
Together, the entities will also
champion a range of business
and entrepreneurship compe-
titions, workshops and events
driven or initiated by young
people.
Additionally, there will be ar-
rangements made to provide
the Ooredoo community with
access to QF institutions to en-
gage in volunteer opportuni-
ties, while encouraging Educa-
tion City students to actively
participate.
Sheikh Saud said, “This is
a visionary collaboration that
brings together two leading or-
ganisations to create new oppor-
tunities and new inspiration for
communities around the world,
and particularly for the next
generation. Our partnership
with QF will give us access to
data and studies, as well as con-
duct in-depth market research,
that will enable us to better cater
to our 160mn customers across
our footprint.
“This collaboration will help
us further enhance the data
experience for consumers and
businesses alike and offer them
innovative content and the lat-
est technologies based on their
needs.”
QATAR
Further, the MoU will see
relevant Ooredoo executive
committee members and
other official spokespeople
participate in future speak-
ing engagements across QF
campuses and schools. The
partnership will also allow
for the provision of support
to better understand Oore-
doo markets and customers,
as well as leverage expertise
to assist Ooredoo with policy
development.
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 3
Annual
report on
school
education
released
T
he Evaluation Department
at the Ministry of Educa-
tion and Higher Education
issued the 13th annual report
on education in Qatar, includ-
ing data and information for
many important aspects of the
country’s school education for
the academic year 2017/2016, as
well as selected comparative data
covering the years 2015 to 2017.
Omar Abdulaziz al-Ne’ma, di-
rector, Schools Evaluation Depart-
ment, said that the new edition
provides a quantitative vision of
the reality of education in Qatar
and the latest data in this context.
It includes accurate details of most
of the educational process and the
information. It provides a good
opportunity to analyse this infor-
mation and then discuss it to make
the right decisions in order to
achieve the desired development
of the education system to become
a true supporter of sustainable
development.
He called on all educators, re-
searchers and media professionals
to view the report on the website of
the Ministry of Education, and to
make maximum use of it, through
good reading of the valuable in-
formation contained there, and
conducting scientific studies and
research, especially as it includes
extensive, accurate and detailed
data on students, parents, teachers,
principals, educational services and
facilities, evaluation of practices
and teaching methods, homework,
academic achievement of students,
and other important information
about students’ attitudes and be-
haviour, the interaction and par-
ticipation of parents in schools, as
well as comparative information on
selected aspects for the academic
years 2015-2017. (QNA)
 Gulf Times
4 Sunday, April 22, 2018

QATAR
Foreign Ministry official meets Indian minister

Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi yesterday met with Minister of State in the
Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Vijay Kumar Singh, during his visit to New Delhi. The meeting reviewed bilateral
relations between the two countries, ways of boosting them and enhancing prospects for co-operation, in addition to
issues of common concern.
 Gulf Times
6 Sunday, April 22, 2018

QATAR
Strong winds, thundery rain expected in some parts
Strong winds are expected in parts of the
country today along with thundery rain
at times, the Qatar Met department
has said.
It is also likely to get warmer as the
weather office tweeted yesterday that
“southeasterly to southwesterly fresh to
strong winds are expected to affect the
country on Sunday, causing blowing dust
and low visibility along with a noticeable
rise in temperature, reaching the
AlBahie holds auction of rugs and carpets
early-40C levels in some areas”.
The weather office has also issued a
marine warning for thundershowers,
windy conditions and high seas today.
The wind speed may go up to 30 knots
inshore and 25 knots offshore, with the
sea level rising to 7ft during the
thundery rain.
The maximum temperature is expected
to be 42C in Abu Samra, 40C in Dukhan
and 36C in Doha.

An auction of exquisite rugs and intricate Botteh pattern, a late 20th

carpets, ‘Woven Stories: Persian -
Kashmiri - Tribal -Hereke’, was held at
AlBahie Auction House, Katara - the
Cultural Village yesterday evening.
According to information available
on the AlBahie website, the rugs and
carpets on offer included a fine Hereke
pure silk rug with intricate floral motif,
a fine Qum Qatafat pure silk rug with
century Royal blue Isfahan durri carpet,
a Blue Mosque dome design Pashmina
wool carpet, an early 20th century
Tabriz Mehdi Khan iconic Ardabil
design wool carpet, an Uzbek Suzani
rug naturally dyed with Indigo blue and
Maddar red, and a pure Kashmiri silk
carpet with Sufra design, among
others. PICTURE: Thajudheen
 Gulf Times
8 Sunday, April 22, 2018

QATAR
Sudan official praises Qatar
Governor of River Nile State, Hatim Al
Wassila al-Simani, yesterday praised the
role played by Qatar in bringing about
strategic partnership with the State of Qatar,
which he said was expanding at every
stage in a way that serves the interests of
Historian to speak on Western democracy
comprehensive development to his country the two peoples, and supporting global

after establishing lasting peace in Darfur.
In remarks to the Sudanese radio, he said
that Qatari achievements in Sudan are clear
and directly benefited people in all aspects
of life.
He added that Sudan is satisfied with the
P
stability by transforming the region into a rof John Dunn, emeritus pro-
global economic centre. The governor said fessor at King’s College in the
that his state, along with others, were a University of Cambridge, will
successful example of Qatari partnerships critically examine Western democ-
that had brought unprecedented economic racy in a lecture at Georgetown Uni-
transformations. versity in Qatar (GU-Q) today.
The public talk, titled ‘How Does
Western Democracy Stand Today?’,
will be held at 6pm at GU-Q’s Edu-
cation City campus.
Representative democracy is the
dominant political system of the
Western world and was recently
offered confidently to the globe at
large as the uniquely appropriate
form for modern government. But
does the experience of its working
over the last decade in its Western
heartlands require a less sanguine
assessment of its political capaci-
Prof John Dunn ties? Professor Dunn seeks to an-
swer this question facing contem-
porary world politics in the lecture,
GU-Q said in a statement.
Prof Dunn is a renowned his-
torian of political thought known
for his emphasis on viewing clas-
sic political texts in their historical
context and more recently, for his
critical reflections on democracy as
a political ideal.
“What I am going to talk about
in my lecture is how misguided
the way Western populations have
come to think about democracy
(and how it can be expected to work
politically over time) has become,”
he said. “It is an argument about
how to think politically, if you want
to understand politics better, and (I
hope) an application of it not just
to democracy as a distinct subject
matter, but also to judging just what
democracy has contributed to some
momentous recent political experi-
ences.”
Prof Dunn is the author of more
than a dozen books on themes as
diverse as Lockean liberalism, the
comparative politics of revolu-
tions, and state building in Africa.
Throughout his writings, he has
critically examined what has been
happening in the world through the
diffusion of democracy from West-
ern Europe to Asia, Africa, and the
Americas.
His research interests cover the
history of modern political thought,
revolutions, regime collapse and
reconstruction. He has taught in
countries across the globe, includ-
ing Ghana, India, the US and Japan.

Envoy presents
credentials
Somalia President
Mohamed Abdullahi
Mohamed Farmajo has
received the credentials
of Hassan Hamza Asad
Hashem as Qatar’s
ambassador extraordinary
and plenipotentiary to
Somalia.
During the meeting, the
ambassador conveyed
the greetings of His
Highness the Emir
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al-Thani to the Somali
president. The Somali
president conveyed his
greetings to the Emir
and wishes for Qatar’s
continued progress,
development and
prosperity. He also wished
the ambassador success
in the performance of
his duties, stressing
that he will provide
the ambassador all the
support to promote
bilateral relations
between the two
countries and closer
co-operation in various
fields.
 Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 9

QATAR

Oxford honour for Doha Bank CEO

D
oha Bank’s chief executive
officer was honoured with
the title ‘Honorary Profes-
sor of the Academic Union, Oxford,
UK’ during the recently held London
Summit of Leaders ‘Achievements
Forum 2018’ by the Europe Business
Assembly.
Dr R Seetharaman received the
award in the presence of key British
and world experts, members of the
Oxford Speakers Bureau, Academic
Union professors, corporate leaders,
investors, and like-minded profes-
sionals.
During the event, Dr Seetharaman
spoke on global carbon emissions.
Citing a recent IEA survey of global
carbon levels, he said global carbon
dioxide emissions surged to record
levels in 2017 after the landmark 2016
Paris climate agreement was signed.
“Asia accounted for two-thirds of
the increase in global carbon emis-
sions. Carbon dioxide emissions also
climbed in the EU by 1.5% in 2017,
Doha Bank CEO Dr R Seetharaman receives the title during the London Summit of Leaders mainly due to strong demand for oil
‘Achievements Forum 2018’. and gas. US carbon emissions in 2017
reported a decrease of 0.5% from
2017, while China’s economy emis-
sions increased by 1.7%.
“Green banking promotes envi-
ronmental-friendly practices and
reducing carbon footprint from the
banking activities. The carbon foot-
print will be different across various
geographies and economic sectors,
and hence country-wise and sector-
wise allocations should be explored.
Green banking is the solution for
sustainable development.”
Seetharaman said green banking,
green bonds, carbon finance, global
environmental facility, clean tech-
nology fund, feed in tariff, and pub-
lic private partnership (PPP) models
are some of the ways for financing.
He said a green bank finances the
deployment of renewable energy,
energy efficiency, and other clean
infrastructure projects. Green bonds
are bonds just like any other that
raise capital but for green projects.
Carbon finance provides a means of
leveraging new private and public
investment into projects that reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
Seetharaman said global envi-
ronmental facility requires that co-
finance from other public agencies
is provided for global environmental
facility projects as it expands the re-
sources available to finance environ-
mental objectives.
Clean technology fund conces-
sional financing focuses on large-
scale, country-initiated projects in
power sector, transport sector, and
energy efficiency. Feed-in tariffs are
payments to ordinary energy users
for the renewable energy they gener-
ate. PPPs are also emerging as a suc-
cessful business model within the
clean technology to create scale and
mobilise necessary funding, accord-
ing to Seetharaman.
On green banking initiatives by
Doha Bank, Dr Seetharaman said the
bank has promoted paperless bank-
ing, Internet banking, SMS banking,
phone banking, and ATM banking,
as well as online channels such as
Doha Souq, e-Remittances, and on-
line bill payments.
Doha Bank has launched ‘Green
credit card’ and green account and
also has a dedicated green banking
website, which integrates the bank’s
initiatives in promoting environ-
mental safety with the community
by reaching out to both the public
and private sectors.
He said Doha Bank conducted
‘Green Quiz’ with global warming
and climatic changes as a central
theme to spread awareness in vari-
ous countries across the globe.
Doha Bank was involved in project
financing for supporting the con-
struction of Qatar General Electric-
ity & Water Corporation’s Water
Security Mega Reservoirs Project.
It has also provided term loan for
Emirates Central Cooling Systems,
which provides Efficient District
Cooling Services to developments in
Dubai and the surrounding region.
Seetharaman said Doha Bank has
tracked developments pertaining to
various Conference of Parties meet-
ings of United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change.

Registrations open
for HEC Paris’
revamped course
H
EC Paris has an-
nounced that reg-
istrations have be-
gun for the next intake of
the Specialised Master’s in
Business Unit Management
(SBUM) degree programme,
which starts in July.
The updated version of
the programme includes a
core curriculum, profes-
sional thesis writing and
the flexibility to customise
the programme by following
one of three tracks aligned to
participants’ career aspira-
tions: General Management,
Marketing & Sales or Hu-
man Resources (HR) Man-
agement.
The 18-month programme
is designed for professionals
and entrepreneurs seeking to
enhance their leadership and
management skills or looking
at managing their own busi-
ness.
“With the new pro-
gramme architecture, we
will be able to serve Qatar
even better. The three tracks
on General Management,
Marketing & Sales, and HR
will allow leaders and man-
agers in Qatar to tailor their
learning journey even more,”
said Dr Wolfgang Amman,
academic director of the
programme.
The General Management
track is a learning journey from
the perspective of a business
Dr Wolfgang Amman
unit manager. It allows par-
ticipants to gain an in-depth
understanding of different
business environments and
leadership skills exploring
strategies for success.
The Marketing & Sales
track will enable partici-
pants to design, lead and
execute innovative solutions
to boost marketing and sales
performance.
Participants following the
HR Management track will
learn to design, direct and
implement best practices to
steer HR departments. They
will also discover how to
drive employee engagement
and contribute to corporate
and national visions.
A team of experts led by
Dr Amman will guide par-
ticipants through the core
curriculum that will give
them the opportunity to
learn international best
practices and focus on areas
of key importance for their
personal and professional
development.
Participants will benefit
from the valuable interac-
tion with the world-re-
nowned HEC Paris faculty,
including Professor Fran-
cois Railliet, who will lead
the HR Management track,
and Professor Christopher
Hogg, who will lead the
Marketing & Sales track.
An information session will
be held on April 25 at the HEC
Paris Doha Campus in Tor-
nado Tower. The interactive
event will include detailed in-
formation on the programme,
the admissions process and
financing options followed by
Q&A round.
Prospective SBUM par-
ticipants will be able to meet
the admissions team and
book an appointment ahead
of the next intake.
The next intake for the re-
vamped SBUM programme
will be in July. For further
details, one can contact
admissionsqatar@hec-q.
qf.org.qa
 Gulf Times
10 Sunday, April 22, 2018
QATAR
Health Minister attends HMC
annual mental health conclave
H
amad Medical Corpo-
ration (HMC) recently
hosted its fourth Annual
Symposium for Community
Mental Health Services in Qa-
tar, highlighting the importance
of providing community-based
mental healthcare and ensuring
integration with other health-
care services.
The opening ceremony,
which brought together around
200 mental health experts and
key stakeholders from across
the region, was held in the pres-
ence of HE the Minister of Pub-
lic Health Dr Hanan Mohamed
al-Kuwari.
HE Dr al-Kuwari said the an-
nual symposium provides an
important platform for stake-
holders to discuss a number of
topical issues, including the
need to balance hospital-based
mental health services with
community-based services.
She also highlighted mental
health and well-being as one
of the priority areas of the Na-
tional Health Strategy 2018-
2022, noting its specific focus
on encouraging people to speak
openly about mental health
conditions as part of removing
the associated stigma and en-
couraging early treatment.
“Good mental health and
well-being for the people of
Qatar, supported by integrated
mental health services that pro-
vide access to the right care,
at the right time, in the right
place, is a key tenet of the Public
Health Strategy. While substan-
tial investment has been made
to provide accessible, effective
and high-quality community-
based mental healthcare serv-
ices, collectively we still have
Abdullah AlNajjar elected chairman of AIB Executive Committee
Abdullah AlNajjar
Laduree opens second tea room in Doha
HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari and other dignitaries at the event.
Around 200 mental health experts and key stakeholders from across the region attended the symposium.
a significant task ahead of us,” proud to take a key role in pro-
said HE Dr al-Kuwari. viding a platform for dialogue
Mahmoud al-Raisi, chief among stakeholders, particu-
of HMC’s Continuing Care larly around the future devel-
Group, said as the main pro- opment of integrated mental
vider of specialist mental health services in Qatar.
healthcare in Qatar, HMC is “Mental health services in
A
bdullah AlNajjar, execu- of France Medias Monde, Anas-
tive director of Global tasia Ellis of Bloomberg Media
Brand and Communi- EMEA and Alexey Nikolov of RT.
cations at Al Jazeera, has been Commenting on his appoint-
elected as chairman of the Ex- ment, AlNajjar said: “It is an
ecutive Committee at the Asso- honour to be elected as chair-
ciation for International Broad- man of the Executive Commit-
casting (AIB) based in the UK. tee of the Association for In-
The board consists of a six- ternational Broadcasting and to
person Executive Committee serve the members of AIB along
that comprises public figures with board members and sen-
from leading media organisa- ior executives. I look forward
tions, including Klaus Berg- to bringing our diverse per-
mann of Deutsche Welle, Simon spectives and insights from the
Kendall of BBC, John Maguire Al Jazeera brand to the issues
Laduree has announced
the opening of its second
tea room in Doha. The new
Laduree tea room is located in
Doha Festival City overlooking
the Snow and Ski Park. The
opening ceremony, which
took place on April 19, was
attended by Sheikh Nawaf
bin Nasser al-Thani, David
Holder – chairman of Laduree
worldwide, as well as a
large number of prominent
ambassadors and diplomats.
A press statement describes
the Laduree tea room in Doha
Festival City as a “new place to
experience a unique Laduree
Qatar are undergoing significant
change in order to deliver care
that better meets the needs and
expectations of the communi-
ties we serve. This is the fourth
year we’ve organised this event
and our focus this year was to
affecting international broad-
casting organisations across the
world – particularly those that
impact press freedom – and ad-
vancing the cause of broadcast-
ers and journalists across the
world.”
This is the first time that a
chairman for the AIB has been
appointed from the Arab world
and also from Al Jazeera, the
first independent international
broadcaster based in the Arab
world. AIB is not-for-profit,
non-governmental trade as-
moment: the chefs of Laduree
have put all of their talent
and ‘savoir-faire’ to work,
creating an exclusive menu
of sweet and savoury dishes”.
“A place to discover the iconic
collection of macarons stored
in their most beautiful boxes,
the delicious viennoiseries
and pastries signed by our
executive ‘patisserie’ chefs
from Laduree Paris, and a lot
of other Laduree accessories
(shopping bags, teas,
perfumed candles and home
fragrances…),” the statement
noted. PICTURES: Jayaram,
supplied
bring together stakeholders
with a shared interest in work-
ing collaboratively to establish
a more seamless pathway for
our patients as they journey be-
tween different service provid-
ers,” said al-Raisi.
He added, “The event repre-
sented an important opportuni-
ty for key stakeholders to gather
and discuss challenges and les-
sons learned and for all of us to
encourage positive, open dia-
logue about mental health is-
sues and the direction we need
to take in developing future
support.”
A variety of health profes-
sionals from both public and
private sector providers, as well
as patients and their families,
social service workers and rep-
resentatives of community-
based organisations attended
the one-day event. It included
presentations on community
mental health services in Qatar,
the ‘Better Together’ initiative
and services available at Nau-
far and Sidra Medicine, and also
featured a speaker from Ireland
who detailed the modernisation
of mental health services in that
country.
Dr Mohamed Ali Siddig
Ahmed, senior consultant psy-
chiatrist and clinical director,
Community Mental Health
Services, emphasised the im-
portance of the symposium in
fostering partnerships among
organisations and individual
stakeholders across Qatar as
a strategy to successfully in-
tegrating community mental
healthcare with primary and
secondary healthcare services.
Dr Ahmed was also the lead
organiser of the symposium.
sociation that represents and
supports international televi-
sion and radio broadcasters and
online broadcasters. It also de-
fends, protects and supports
the media professionals.
AIB governance rests with
the Executive Committee,
elected from among the mem-
bership of the association. The
Executive Committee – which
has an important role within
AIB and is influential within the
global broadcasting industry –
is elected for a two-year period.
GREAT 2018 to gather
international AT experts
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
S
ome 55 experts and profes-
sionals in computer and
assistive technologies from
around the world will be taking
part in the second Gulf Region
Education Assistive Technology
(GREAT) conference, to be held
in Doha from tomorrow until
April 25.
In a press statement, Mada
Assistive Technology Cen-
tre said the “first-of-its-kind”
event this year will focus on four
main domains related to Inclu-
sive Computer Technology (ICT)
and Assistive Technology (AT):
education, independent living,
e-accessibility and innovation.
The ‘education domain’ will
highlight the use of AT in educa-
tion and discuss support in place
for children with autism and
hearing impairment while ‘e-
accessibility domain’ will tackle
various best practices in this
field such as digital platforms,
banking and gaming.
In addition, speakers will
present on how to create ac-
cessible prints with successful
case studies, according to Mada.
Meanwhile, the ‘independent
living domain’ will see work-
shops highlighting the impor-
tance of modern AT to improve
the lifestyle of elderly and people
with autism. Presenters will also
discuss how technology can help
people with disabilities (PWDs)
to gain access to employment
and have a better transportation
system.
Under the ‘innovation do-
main,’ Mada noted that cut-
ting-edge technology and new
innovations will be given em-
phasis. “GREAT aims to provide
a forum to share knowledge and
exchange expertise by bring-
ing together experts, end users,
frontline workers, innovators
and vendors to promote initia-
tive technologies, best practices,
implementation strategies, re-
search and education in AT and
accessibility,” said Mada’s com-
munications and marketing of-
ficer Mohamed al-Fehaida, who
is also the head of media for the
conference.
He noted that such conference
will be useful for mainstream
and special education teachers,
occupational therapists, tech-
nology professionals, medical
professionals who work with
PWDs, parents of children with
disabilities, physical therapists,
providers of AT products and in-
novators, among others.
Among the speakers include
Dr Dena al-Thani, assistant pro-
fessor, ICT, College of Science
Mohamed al-Fehaida
and Engineering at Hamad Bin
Khalifa University (HBKU); pro-
fessor Joselia Neves, acting head
of translation and interpreting
studies department, College of
Humanities and Social Sciences
at HBKU; Mohamed Hasan al-
Jefairi , Qatari inventor, entre-
preneur and author; Dr Chris-
topher Lee, executive director
of the AMAC Accessibility Re-
search Centre at the University
System of Georgia; Dr Ahmed K
Elmagarmid, executive director
of Qatar Computing Research
Institute; Brad Turner, vice-
president of Global Literacy for
Benetech; Michael J Brogioli,
executive director of Resna, the
rehabilitation engineering and
assistive technology society of
North America; and professor
Jonathan Hassell, accessibility
director of Open Inclusion.
The conference will feature
interactive zones such as the In-
novation Zone, which will shed
light on the upcoming Arabic
AT solutions that are developed
in collaboration with Mada, and
the Innovation Theatre, which
will provide intensive discus-
sions, inspiring innovators and
entrepreneurs to develop solu-
tions catering to the needs of
PWDs in Qatar and the region.
Meanwhile, the AT Exhibition
Zone will showcase 15 leading
exhibitors who will be demon-
strating a wide range of cutting-
edge AT products and serv-
ices while the Mada Zone will
present Mada’s work and con-
tributions on the core domains
of education, employment, and
community.
GREAT 2018 will also award
for the first time the best e-ac-
cessibility sites in Qatar, al-Fe-
haida said.
At the gala dinner on April 25,
the conference will see the grad-
uation of more than 60 AT super
users this year, dubbed as ‘in-
augural graduates’ from Hamad
Medical Corporation, Ministry
of Education and Higher Educa-
tion and Shafallah. International
artiste Lorelai Mosnegutu will
also perform as part of a cultural
event at the conference.
Rayyan clocks
1,288 transactions
for March
Al Rayyan Municipality’s
Technical Affairs Department
accomplished 1,288
transactions in March.
The building permits
section issued 219 building
permits, nine demolition
permits, 115 certificates
of completed buildings,
10 building maintenance
permits, and 84 excavation
permits. In addition, 606
announcement licences
were issued, 18 requests to
increase electricity loads,
12 applications for inquiry
about buildings were
handled, besides other
transactions.

Alfardan Automobiles
unveils all-new BMW X2
A
lfardan Automobiles, the of-
ficial BMW Group importer
in Qatar, has welcomed the
eagerly anticipated BMW X2 to its
showroom.
With a design “oozing individu-
ality from every pore and a sporty
suspension set-up, the BMW X2
pushes back boundaries, puts a fire-
work under old habits and brings
previously uncharted levels of driv-
ing pleasure to this vehicle seg-
ment” at Mall of Qatar, Alfardan
Automobiles has said in a state-
ment.
“We have been waiting with great
enthusiasm to reveal the all-new
BMW X2 to the Qatari market and
are thrilled that it’s finally here. This
Sports Activity Coupe truly goes
above and beyond any rival past or
present in bringing joy and driving
pleasure to the segment,” Alfardan
Automobiles general manager Rabih
Ataya said.
“It’s a car that appeals primarily
to a young, extrovert and active tar-
get group who value individuality
and genuine fun at the wheel. We
invite everyone to join us for the
grand unveiling to get themselves
acquainted with the new model,” he
added.
The engine offered from launch is
the BMW X2 sDrive20i petrol mod-
el, which comes with 141kW/192hp
(fuel consumption combined: 5.9-
5.5 l/100km; CO2 emissions com-
bined: 134-126 g/km). The bold,
uncompromising nature of the new
BMW X2 is evident at first sight.
This vehicle stands out from the
crowd in any setting. Even next to
Ezdan Holding Group joins
Cityscape with mega projects
E
zdan Holding Group and its
subsidiaries will participate
in the seventh edition of City-
scape Qatar, which will be held at
the Doha Exhibition and Conven-
tion Centre from today until April
25. The group will exhibit a “myr-
iad of its giant property, hotel and
commercial projects, coupled with
competitive promotional packages
to trigger a boom in the local mar-
ket”, it was announced in a state-
ment.
Ezdan’s participation at City-
scape is part of the running pro-
motional leasing campaign for
Ezdan Oasis, a mega realty project
spread over 1mn sq m in Al Wukair.
It boasts of 9,346 multi-purpose
units, offering a variety of spacious,
furnished residential units, as well
as 577 different commercial units,
including restaurants, cafes, phar-
macies, bakeries and state-of-the-
art amenities.
In addition, the project encloses
two schools operated by Newton
International School Group, LuLu
Hypermarket, clubs and sports
courts. The green space accounts
for 35% of the project, rendering
Ezdan Oasis to be a fully-integrated
living and working environment for
all communities.
Ezdan Holding Group has always
Birla Public School launches
career development centre
By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter
B
irla Public School (BPS) has
launched a career develop-
ment centre named Disha -
Directing and Inspiring Students
Holistic Advancement.
The centre, in association with
India-based career counselling or-
ganisation Admizzionz Campuz,
will provide a series of initiatives
covering information dissemina-
tion, training and individualised
counselling to parents and students
of the school from classes IX to XII.
The details of the programme
were announced yesterday at a
press meeting attended by A P
Sharma, principal of the school;
Pradeep Narayanan, managing
director, Admizzionz Campuz;
Shirley Rappai, senior vice-prin-
cipal, BPS; and Radhika Rele, vice-
A colourful performance marked the unveiling of the all-new BMW X2 at
Mall of Qatar. PICTURES: Jayaram
The all-new BMW X2.
its bigger brothers, the BMW X4
and X6, the BMW X2 makes a whol-
ly distinctive impression.
The main contributing factor here
is the car’s exterior design, which
essentially combines the fast-mov-
Ezdan’s participation at Cityscape is part of the running promotional leasing
campaign for Ezdan Oasis.
been keen to ensure a powerful
presence at Cityscape. The event
gives room for participants and ex-
hibitors to share with the public and
other exhibitors the latest residen-
tial, commercial and hotel projects.
Cityscape Qatar 2018 acts a direct
communication platform for Ezdan
Real Estate Company, a subsidi-
ary of Ezdan Holding Group, which
runs the leasing of the group’s
properties. The event represents
an opportunity for highlighting
Officials at the press conference. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam
principal in charge of the career
development centre.
“Disha aims to assess students’
career interests and guide them
on choosing career options that
are aligned with their interests.
It will help them choose the sub-
ject streams and combinations for
classes XI and XII and will provide
an overview of the career options
from 2025 onwards,” said Sharma.
ing body language and low-slung
proportions of a coupe with the
robust construction of a BMW X
model. “The BMW X2 represents an
expression of modern and extrovert
vehicle dynamics,” said Adrian van
the promotions to the exhibition’s
audience, visitors and interested
parties, covering all properties and
residential compounds in Doha, Al
Wakrah and Al Wukair, as well as
Ezdan’s residential compounds.
Through its different com-
pounds, Ezdan features its comfort-
able accommodation options and a
variety of services and facilities. It
also provides tenants with an inte-
grated rental service called ‘Sakin’,
which brings to customers smart
“The programme involves, stu-
dents, parents and teachers. Right
from class IX, the students will be
assessed according to their tastes
and talents and will be guided to
higher education choices accord-
ing to their abilities. This will help
the students identify their graduate
level options,” added Sharma.
“Our role is to provide informa-
tion dissemination, training and
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 11
QATAR
Results of QNB-Babyshop
drawing contest announced
T
he winners of the QNB-Babyshop
children’s drawing competition,
‘Expressions Season 3’, were an-
nounced at a function held in Al Asmakh
Mall, Al Sadd, on Friday. The event was
Chuateco – first prize, Nandana Bijuku-
mar – second prize, and Shreyee Bhow-
mick – third prize.
QNB Group was the main sponsor of the
third season of ‘Expressions’, a large-scale
Hooydonk, senior vice-president, judged by Pratibha Pai, Salwa Hamdy, drawing contest for children in Qatar or-
BMW Group Design, in describing Yolanda Mercado and Udaya Shankar. ganised by Babyshop.
the new BMW X2. “Its standalone The winners were felicitated by Santosh During the function at Al Asmakh Mall,
vehicle concept brings a new, fresh Pai, COO of Landmark Group Qatar; Yousef QNB presented the winners with special
and exciting facet of the BMW to the Jassim Fakhroo, head of External Commu- prizes as recognition of their distinctive
compact segment.” nication at QNB; and Abdullah Mohamed paintings.
On the road, the BMW X2 has the Arbabi, senior officer – CSR, QNB. As a main sponsor of the event that
poise of an athlete in peak condi- The winners are as follows: category brought together more than 4,500 chil-
tion. This is true for the basic ver- 5-7 years, theme ‘Cartoon Character’: dren, QNB said it “affirms its keenness
sion and even more so for M Sport Shamita Adiga - first prize, Viha Laljani to support creativity in young talents in
and M Sport X models. The BMW - second prize, and Malek Eslam - third Qatar within its various corporate social
X2 M Sport X combines design ele- prize; category 8-10 years, theme: ‘I Love responsibility (CSR) initiatives and pro-
ments from BMW M and the BMW Qatar’: Bindiya Pramod – first prize, grammes”.
X family. Edrick Ryle Evangelista – second prize, The event has provided an excellent
Above all, it is the BMW X2’s and Roukaya Jendoubi – third prize; platform for kids to portray their creativ-
proportions that create its expres- and category 11-14 years, theme ‘Creat- ity, explore themselves and exhibit their
sive, dynamic demeanour. It is ing Wealth by Saving Money’: Deserey talents before a wide audience.
shorter and more than seven cen-
timetres lower than the BMW X1
yet has the same wheelbase. Fea-
turing short overhangs, it also has
a stretched, coupe-style roofline
and slim window graphic. Many of
the design details emphasise the
BMW X2’s standalone nature while
simultaneously and unequivocally
signalling its membership of the X
family.
The time-honoured BMW kidney
grille is just one example, turning
the familiar trapezoidal shape on
its head and instead widening from
top to bottom. This is the first time
this design detail has seen the light
of day on a modern BMW. Anoth-
er striking detail more typical of a
BMW coupe is the placement of the
brand logo on the C-pillars. Remi-
niscent of legendary BMW models
such as the 2000 CS and 3.0 CSL,
this is another element that under-
scores the sporting aspirations of
the BMW X2.
Babyshop and QNB officials with the winners.
solutions to facilitate contracting,
leasing, and requesting mainte-
nance. Through Cityscape, Ezdan
Holding will spotlight the diversity
of its real estate experience, which
goes beyond 55 years, offering a
range of residential, hotel and urban
developments, including schools, in
addition to multiple construction
projects.
This also will give participants
and visitors the opportunity to
learn about the experience of Ezdan
Mall, one of the leading companies
in the management and operation
of malls. It currently manages and
operates Ezdan Mall Al Gharaffa,
Ezdan Mall Al Wakrah and Ezdan
Mall Al Wukair.
At its pavilion, Ezdan will high-
light the experience of Ezdan Ho-
tels, one of the group’s pioneering
companies in the realm of hotels.
It operates Ezdan Hotel West Bay,
comprising 3,000 hotel rooms and
suites, and the 24-storey The Curve
Hotel, comprising 600 rooms and
hotel suites, in which the Group
holds a strategic stake. Moreover,
it manages and owns Ezdan Palace
Hotel, which is a unique architec-
tural and engineering icon, com-
prising 194 rooms and suites. These
hotels include high-end brands in
restaurants and cafes.
individualised counselling to the
students of class IX and onwards as
well as their parents. The students
also will be provided alerts on ad-
missions to various universities and
the criteria for admission to such
universities. This will help them be
prepared to face any challenges dur-
ing the school days and opt for the
right programme for their univer-
sity studies,” Narayanan said.
 Gulf Times
12 Sunday, April 22, 2018

QATAR/REGION/ARAB WORLD
UN special rapporteurs urge siege nations to stop violations
QNA protection of the right to free- in letters addressed to each of cerned. Based on the reports and for which they should abide tional and regional instruments the protection of the human
New York dom of opinion and expression them, to take all measures to reaching the United Nations, by their membership of the in- in this context. rights of workers employed by
and the Special Rapporteur stop the humanitarian viola- the rapporteurs pointed out ternational community. They confirmed that replies Qatari nationals in their territo-
on the right of everyone to the tions they caused and to ensure that, as a result of the meas- At the same time, they warned they would receive from the ries, without discrimination on

T
he United Nations said
on its official website that
six special rapporteurs
of its Human Rights Council
had sent official letters to three
countries of the blockade —
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Bahrain — moni-
toring all violations committed
by each country, based on re-
ports received by the interna-
tional organisation from some
relevant organisations.
The six rapporteurs who ad-
dressed the blockading coun-
tries were the Special Rap-
porteur on the promotion and
enjoyment of the highest at-
tainable standard of physical
and mental health, as well as
the Special Rapporteur on the
human rights of migrants, the
Special Rapporteur on contem-
porary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance, the Special
Rapporteur on the promotion
and protection of human rights
while countering terrorism, and
the Special Rapporteur on the
right to education.
The special rapporteurs
urged the three countries, Saudi
Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain,
prevention of their recurrence,
and to take all necessary steps to
respect the rights of people af-
fected by the current Gulf crisis.
According to the content of
the six messages published by
the United Nations on its web-
site, the Special Rapporteurs
were keen to include a detailed
and accurate account in each
country’s letter, supported by
the figures and statistics re-
ceived by the United Nations
on all violations of the rights
of citizens and residents of the
State of Qatar as well as the
nationals of the countries con-
ures taken by the countries of
the blockade, it caused preju-
dice to the most fundamental
human rights of Qatari citizens
and their citizens, in particular
their right to movement and
residence, family reunification,
education, employment, free-
dom of expression, health and
the right to property.
The letters of the Special
Rapporteurs were keen to re-
mind the blockading countries
of their international obliga-
tions and the need to respect
the various international laws
and charters they have signed,
that any person responsible for
the violations monitored would
be held accountable as a result of
the blockade.
They called upon the blockad-
ing countries, based on several
observations that they had made,
to inform them of any additional
information and any comments
they might have regarding the
charges against them and the
measures taken to ensure non-
dispersal of mixed families, to
ensure their right to health, ac-
cess to education without dis-
crimination on any basis, as well
as their compliance with interna-
governments of the blockading
countries would be publicised in
a report to be submitted to the
Human Rights Council for con-
sideration.
In their letter to Saudi Arabia,
the Special Rapporteurs urged
the Saudi government to provide
them with information on the
measures they have taken within
their territories to ensure the
right of Qatari citizens to practice
their religious rites without dis-
crimination.
The Special Rapporteurs also
enquired about the measures
taken by the kingdom to ensure
any grounds.
The content of the letters
sent by the Special Rapporteurs
of the United Nations Human
Rights Council to the govern-
ments of the siege countries re-
flects the official report of the
United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights, which
condemned the violations of the
siege countries accusing them of
taking unilateral and discrimina-
tory measures against citizens
and residents of the State of Qa-
tar, which did not exclude even
the citizens and residents of the
siege countries themselves.

Experts take
samples from
site of alleged
Syria gas attack Assad’s government, too, has found in many organs,” Hay said.
AFP
Beirut repeatedly denied using toxic The “White Helmets”, a Syrian
weapons, and accused the West rescue force that works in op-
of “fabricating” the claim to jus- position-held areas, said it had UN ambassadors pose for a group photo for a UN Security Council meeting at Backakra outside Ystad, southern Sweden, yesterday.

I
nvestigators from the glo-
bal chemical arms watchdog
collected samples yesterday
from the site of a suspected gas
attack in Syria two weeks ago,
after security concerns delayed
their probe.
Gruesome footage of the al-
leged toxic attack on April 7 in
the town of Douma, just outside
Damascus, horrified the world
and prompted unprecedented
Western strikes on Syrian mili-
tary installations.
Just hours after the joint mis-
sile strikes, a team from the Or-
ganisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) ar-
rived in Syria to investigate the
claims.
But they had been unable to
access Douma itself, which fell
tify bombing Syria.
Medics and first responders in
the town say more than 40 peo-
ple were killed on the night of
April 7, reporting foaming at the
mouth, pinpoint pupils and dif-
ficulty breathing.
Investigators reached Syria a
week later at the country’s invi-
tation, arriving just hours after
a co-ordinated wave of French,
American and British missile
strikes.
But they spent a week in the
capital, unable to access Douma
just a few miles to the east, even
as groups of journalists visited
the town on government tours.
Western powers slammed
Syrian and Russian authorities,
saying proof that chemicals were
used in Douma was probably be-
given the OPCW details on the Back row from left: Bolivia’s Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz, China’s Ma Zhaoxu, Ivory Coast’s Ibrahim Toure, Equatorial Guinea’s Anatolio
burial site of the Douma victims. Ndong Mba, Sweden’ Olof Skoog, Ethiopia’s Tekeda Alemu, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, France’s Francois Delattre,
But a top official from Jaish al- Kazakhstan’s Kairat Umarov, Kuwait’s Mansour Ayyad al-Otaibi and Netherlands’ Karel JG van Oosterom. Front row from left: US’ Nikki
Islam, the rebel group that con- Haley, Britain’s Karen Pierce, Peru’s Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, UN General-Secretary Antonio Guterres, Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan
trolled Douma during the alleged Lofven, Russia’s Vassily Nebenzia and Poland’s Joanna Wronecka.
chemical attack, accused the re-
gime of raiding the graves.
The OPCW does not have a
mandate to establish who is re-
sponsible for chemical attacks.
The joint OPCW-UN task-
force that did was shut down by
Russia last year after it blamed
Security Council meets in
Syria’s regime for another gas
attack.
Experts say it may take be-
tween two and three weeks to
analyse evidence collected in
remote Swedish farmhouse
Douma. AFP marskjold, the United Nations’ “Hopefully there will be to reconnect with the power
The town was the last in the Backakra second secretary-general who some new ideas on the table and of diplomacy.
Eastern Ghouta suburb to fall to died in a plane crash in Africa I think it’ll be on those tracks: “It’s a place to roll up our
Syria’s regime, after a blistering in 1961. the humanitarian situation, the sleeves, take off our jackets

from rebel hands into joint Syr-
ian and Russian control after the
suspected chemical attack.
United Nations security ex-
perts deployed to the town on
Tuesday to check it was safe, but
were forced to pull out after an
explosion went off and they were
shot at.
Investigators finally collected
evidence from the site for the
first time yesterday, the OPCW
said.
“The samples collected will
be transported to the OPCW
Laboratory in Rijswijk and then
dispatched for analysis to the
OPCW’s designated labs,” the
body said in a statement, adding
it could plan another visit.
Russia’s foreign ministry had
earlier announced the inspectors
reached Douma after guarantees
by Syria and its own forces, and
said it expected them to carry
out an “impartial investigation”.
Moscow, a key ally of President
Bashar al-Assad, has said its own
probe into the events in Douma
found no traces of chemical use.
ing hidden.
“It seems likely that this at-
titude is intended to make proof
and material evidence linked to
the chemical attack disappear,”
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le
Drian said yesterday, shortly
before the OPCW got access to
Douma.
Analysts say that if toxic
chemicals were used, OPCW
inspectors would still be able to
find important traces in clothes,
walls, rocks and soil in Douma,
although their potency decreas-
es with time.
“Nerve agents like sarin can be
present in the environment for
many weeks after use and par-
ticularly if you look near the site
where a weapon has exploded,”
said Alastair Hay, professor of
environmental toxicology at the
University of Leeds.
Crucial evidence can also lin-
ger in victims’ blood, urine and
organs.
“Autopsy samples, if avail-
able, will provide invaluable evi-
dence and nerve agents can be
two-month offensive backed by
Russia.
Since securing Ghouta, Syrian
troops have shifted their focus to
a pocket of territory in southern
Damascus still held by the Is-
lamic State group.
Heavy air strikes pounded the
Yarmuk Palestinian camp and
adjacent Hajar al-Aswad district
yesterday.
Syria’s conflict has killed
350,000 people and defied UN
peacemaking efforts since it
erupted in 2011 with protests
against Assad.
Yesterday, the 15 UN Secu-
rity Council ambassadors and
UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres were huddling in Swe-
den, a non-permanent member
of the body, to try to hash out a
solution.
It was a first for the Council,
which normally holds its annual
brainstorming session in upstate
New York.
But the US ambassador to the
UN, Nikki Haley, said the council
was “still deadlocked.” Page 14
T
he UN Security Council
met in a secluded farm-
house on the southern
tip of Sweden yesterday in a bid
to overcome deep divisions over
how to end the war in Syria.
In a first for the Security
Council, which normally holds
its annual brainstorming ses-
sion in upstate New York, the
15 ambassadors and UN Secre-
tary-General Antonio Guterres
were this year invited to hold an
informal meeting in Backakra
by Sweden, a non-permanent
member of the body.
The United Nations’ special
envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mis-
tura, is expected today.
“We still face a very seri-
ous divide on that (Syria) mat-
ter,” Guterres said as he arrived
along with the ambassadors.
“We really need to find a way
in relation to the violation of
international law that the use of
chemical weapons represents,”
he added.
The farmhouse is the sum-
mer residence of Dag Ham-
Situated in the heart of a
nature reserve, just a stone’s
throw from the Baltic Sea, the
farmhouse consists of four
buildings around a courtyard
and has been completely reno-
vated in recent years.
The southern wing serves
as the summer residence for
the Swedish Academy which
awards the Nobel Literature
Prize.
With both New York and Da-
mascus thousands of kilome-
tres away, the council is explor-
ing “the means to strengthen
and make more effective United
Nations peacekeeping mis-
sions,” the Swedish govern-
ment said.
Swedish Foreign Minister
Margot Wallstrom welcomed
the decision to hold the meet-
ing in Sweden, “where there
is a long tradition of peaceful
conflict prevention and reso-
lution”.But she warned against
being too hopeful the Syrian is-
sue would be resolved over the
weekend.
chemical weapons,” she said.
But “not even the beauti-
ful settings like these can solve
all the problems”, the minister
added.
Nikki Haley, the US ambas-
sador to the UN, said on the
Syria issue: “We’re not having
that much success, we’re still
deadlocked.
“Retreats like this are very
important — to get away from
New York sometimes and dis-
cuss these things in a way that
we can really try and find a so-
lution.”
British ambassador Karen
Pierce said: “We are deter-
mined to try and find a work-
able solution, so we will keep
doing that with our Russian
colleagues.”
While the war in Syria is not
the only topic of the delib-
erations, it is high up on the
agenda because it was an issue
that divided council members
deeply in recent months.
Skau said Backakra was a
“fitting and inspiring venue”
and ties and come up with
some real and meaningful
ways forward,” he said.
Air strikes by the US, UK
and France on April 14 tar-
geted three sites, which the
countries argued were used
by the Syrian regime of Bashar
al-Assad for a chemical weap-
ons programme.
Syria has been accused of
using chemical weapons in an
attack a week earlier in Dou-
ma, the last rebel stronghold
near Damascus.
Assad and Russian allies
have denied that Syria was
responsible for the attack,
which according to rescuers,
left more than 40 people dead.
But the Western powers in-
sist that the Syrian regime had
crossed a red line.
The air strikes, conducted
without a Security Council
resolution, have led to fierce
tensions between Russia and
the other permanent coun-
cil members, the US, France,
Britain and China.

POLITICS
Iran vows ‘expected, unexpected’ moves
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday Iran’s atomic
agency was ready with “expected and unexpected” reactions
if the United States pulls out of a multinational nuclear deal,
as US President Donald Trump has threatened to do. “Our
atomic energy organisation is fully prepared...for actions that
they expect and actions they do not expect,” Rouhani said,
without elaborating in a speech carried by state television,
referring to a possible decision by Trump to leave the accord
next month. The deal reached between Iran, the United
States and five other world powers put curbs on Iran’s nuclear
programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Washington
had been having “intense” discussions with European allies
ahead of the May 12 deadline, when US sanctions against
Iran will resume unless Trump issues new waivers to suspend
them. “Iran has several options if the United States leaves the
nuclear deal. Tehran’s reaction to America’s withdrawal of
the deal will be unpleasant,” Iranian state TV quoted Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif as saying in New York.
CONFLICT
Red Cross worker killed in south Yemen
A Lebanese Red Cross employee was gunned down in his
car in war-torn Yemen’s southern city of Taiz yesterday, the
ICRC announced. “I’m shocked, outraged and profoundly
saddened by the killing of my colleague and friend Hanna
Lahoud,” tweeted Robert Mardini, Middle East director for
the International Committee of the Red Cross.
 Gulf Times
14 Sunday, April 22, 2018
ARAB WORLD
Family accuses spy agency of
killing Palestinian in Malaysia
AFP
Gaza City
T
he family of a Palestin-
ian professor and Hamas
member accused Israel’s
Mossad spy agency of assas-
sinating him on the streets of
Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Malaysian authorities said
Fadi Mohamed al-Batsh, 35, was
killed by two suspects believed
to have ties with a foreign in-
telligence agency in a drive-by
shooting on his way to dawn
prayers.
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi, quoted by the state-
run Bernama news agency, said
Batsh was “an electrical engi-
neer and an expert at making
rockets”. The Palestinian was
“believed to have become a li-
ability for a country hostile to
Palestine”, said Ahmad Zahid,
who is in charge of Malaysia’s
security.
The professor was to have left
for Turkey yesterday to attend
an international conference, the
minister said.
He said Malaysian police
would request the help of Inter-
pol to track down the suspects,
believed to be European nation-
als.
In a statement from the Ha-
mas-ruled Gaza Strip, the vic-
tim’s family said: “We accuse
the Mossad of being behind the
assassination.”
The Palestinian movement
said Batsh, a research scientist
specialising in energy issues,
was one of its members. Hamas
did not directly accuse Israel,
which carries out air strikes
in retaliation for cross-border
Tunisia reopens
consulate in Tripoli
Reuters
Tripoli
T
unisia has reopened its
consulate in the Libyan
capital, the Libya for-
eign ministry said yesterday,
the latest mission to return to
Tripoli.
Most embassies left Tripoli
in 2014 when heavy fighting
broke out between rival fac-
tions and few came back when
a UN-backed administration
took office in 2016.
The Tunisian consulate re-
sumed work after talks be-
tween the two countries, the
Libyan foreign ministry said.
The Tunisian foreign minis-
try declined to comment, but
a diplomatic source confirmed
the move.
Tunisian had closed its mis-
sion 2015 after ten staff were
kidnapped.
In recent weeks some West-
Inside the mission to rid the world of chemical arms
AFP
Rijswijk, Netherlands
M
ichael Barrett has an
old-fashioned flip
phone.
But when his hotline rings, he
has three hours to ready equip-
ment for experts on a danger-
ous mission to probe if toxic
weapons have been unleashed
— again.
As appalling images of pan-
icked children and adults ap-
parently victims of poison gas or
cruel nerve agents go viral, the
labs and the equipment store of
the world’s global chemical arms
watchdog hum with activity.
Tucked away in a small indus-
trial zone in the Dutch suburb of
Rijswijk, the two-storey build-
ing, with about 20 staff, has been
key to the two decades of pains-
taking work by the Organisation
for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate
the world’s toxic arms stock-
piles.
A picture taken yesterday shows men holding up a poster portrait of 35-year-old Palestinian professor
and Hamas member Fadi Mohamed al-Batsh who was killed early in the day in Malaysia, outside his
family’s house in Jabalia in the northern Gaza strip.
rocket fire by fighters in Gaza,
of killing him, but it called
Batsh a “martyr” — a term
used for people killed by Israeli
forces.
Contacted by AFP, an Israeli
official refused to comment.
Kuala Lumpur police chief
Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said
one of the two suspects on
ern embassies have sent diplo-
mats for longer stays to Tripoli
as security has improved, al-
though few stay full time on
the ground.
The Italian and Turkish em-
bassies as well as the UN mis-
sion are among the few open.
Tripoli is formally run by a
Government of National Ac-
cord backed by the UN but in
reality controlled by a patch-
work of armed groups.
Big street clashes between
rival groups have ended, but
several rockets which hit
Tripoli airport this week were a
reminder that security remains
shaky.
The UN has been trying to
meditate to produce a national
government and end the rift
between the administration in
Tripoli and a rival one in the
east, part of a conflict gripping
the oil producer since the top-
pling of Muammar Gaddafi in
2011.
It was here that the team, now
in Syria waiting for access to
Douma where either chlorine or
sarin gas were allegedly used on
civilians on April 7, began their
mission.
As the clamour grows for an-
swers, any samples they collect
will be sealed and brought back
here, under a strictly monitored
chain of custody, for further
analysis and verification.
A former soldier, Barrett has
spent 21 years at the OPCW since
its first beginnings, training and
equipping those who volunteer
to travel to the world’s most toxic
hotspots.
He’s even deployed himself.
“Of course you get nervous,
if you don’t there’s something
wrong,” said the now 61-year-
old, who in recent years has seen
the timeline for preparing for
missions getting “shorter and
shorter.”
From carbon-impregnated
protection suits to elephant-
sized rubber boots to cover
shoes, sophisticated detectors,
a high-powered motorcycle
“fired 10 shots, four of which
hit the lecturer in the head and
body. He died on the spot.”
“The police also found two
empty bullet shells there,” the
police chief said, according to
Bernama.
He said that footage from
closed-circuit television cam-
Dead teen ignored mother’s warning
Reuters
Gaza
F
ourteen-year-old Mo-
hamed Ayoub ignored his
mother’s objection and
slipped away to join this week’s
protest along the Gaza-Israel
border, just hours after Israel’s
military dropped leaflets in his
Gaza village warning residents to
stay away.
A few hours later, the teenager
was killed by an Israeli bullet to
the head, Palestinian health of-
ficials said.
“He asked his aunt to tell me
he would be back in an hour,”
said his mother, Raeda, who in-
stead buried her son late on Fri-
day.
His death brought to 35 the
number of Palestinians killed
since border clashes intensified
on March 30 in an ongoing pro-
test known as “The Great March
of Return” — evoking a longtime
call for refugees to regain ances-
tral homes in what is now Israel.
A man tries on an air permeable charcoal impregnated suit,
combined with a respirator (or gas mask), rubber boots and three
layers of gloves during a simulation at the OPCW headquarters in
The Hague, The Netherlands.
satellite phones and medical kits
bristling with vials of antidotes
to the world’s deadliest nerve
agents, all the equipment has to
be checked and double-checked.
“Can you imagine if you had
a respirator, a gas mask, and the
valve was in the wrong way?”
said Barrett wryly, principal
Relatives of a Palestinian electrical engineer Fadi al-Batsh, who was shot to death in Malaysia, mourn
outside his family house in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian representa-
eras near the scene of the tive in Malaysia, Anwar al-
shooting showed that the as- Agha, said that Batsh, who was
sailants waited for around 20 married and a father of three,
minutes in the area before at- was a lecturer in electrical en-
tacking. “We believe the lec- gineering who had lived in Ma-
turer was their target because laysia for the past 10 years.
two other individuals walked by Asked if Mossad could be
the place earlier unharmed. We responsible for his killing, he
will view the recordings of all the said: “I cannot comment on
CCTV in the area,” he said. this. We have to wait for the of-
The mother of Mohamed Ayoub, 14, a Palestinian boy who was shot
dead by Israeli troops during clashes at the Israel-Gaza border, shows
her son’s photo at her house in the northern Gaza Strip, yesterday.
For a month, clashes had hurled burning tyres and tried to
erupted at the demonstrations damage the fence.
and Israeli soldiers had used live Israel says it is doing what it
fire to keep Palestinian crowds must to defend its borders and
away from its border fence. accuses Hamas, which rules
On Friday, Ayoub had been Gaza, of staging riots and us-
among the thousands who gath- ing the crowds as cover to try to
ered to protest, some of whom carry out attacks.
used catapults and sling-shots Hamas denies this.
to launch stones at Israeli forces, Israel’s use of live fire has
leashing of a rare nerve agent
last month in the sleepy British
town of Salisbury, the focus here
remains on protecting the team
and preserving the integrity of
science. No detail can be over-
looked. Even a pinprick hole in a
glove could prove fatal if a deadly
nerve agent seeped through the
skin to attack a person’s nervous
system.
VX, the deadliest nerve agent
ever invented, can kill within 20
minutes.
Despite some 7,000 official
missions — 10,000 if you count
training missions — in 21 years, it
is a source of pride that no team
member has ever been affected
by a chemical weapon.
This dangerous and methodi-
logistics technician and team cal work by the OPCW, which
leader for the equipment store, has around 400 staff, has suc-
as he gave AFP an exclusive tour. ceeded in eliminating some 96%
Amid political claim and of the world’s toxic arms stock-
counter-claim about chemi- piles.
cal weapons use in Syria, where A feat which won it the Nobel
chlorine gas and mustard gas Peace Prize in 2013.
have both been proven to have OPCW director general Ahmet
been used, as well as the un- Uzumcu praised his staff then,
ficial investigation.”
The Batsh family urged Ma-
laysian authorities to “arrest
those responsible for killing him
before they flee”, and asked for
the return home of his body to
Jabalia in northern Gaza, where
mourners gathered in front of
their home.
The Mossad is believed to have
assassinated Palestinian fight-
drawn international criticism
and Ayoub’s death received spe-
cial attention.
“It is outrageous to shoot at
children! How does the killing of
a child in Gaza today help peace?
It doesn’t! It fuels anger and
breeds more killing.
Children must be protected
from violence, not exposed to it,”
UN Middle East envoy Nickolay
Mladenov wrote on Twitter.
US
Middle East envoy Jason
Greenblatt put out his own
tweet: “A full investigation by
Israel of Mohamed Ayoub’s
death is underway so that we will
be able to understand what hap-
pened. As we mourn the tragic
loss of a young life, we must all
resolve to avoid causing more
suffering by responses to his
death.”
An Israeli military spokes-
woman would not comment on
whether an investigation had
been opened. Ayoub’s family said
friends of their son told them he
was not among stone throw-
saying they had “shouldered an
onerous but noble task” work-
ing with “quiet determination
to rid the world of these heinous
weapons.”
“One of the most dangerous
jobs in the OPCW is an analyti-
cal chemist, because they’ve got
to take the sample,” said Barrett.
Many are scientists who be-
fore joining the OPCW may nev-
er even have used a gas mask.
Now they can be working in
war zones.
And in 2012, a new piece of
equipment was added to already
heavy bags — body armour made
of kevlar in case they come under
fire.
Once on site, a team of experts
which can vary between two to
25 members, scans the area with
flame photometric detectors or
ion mobility spectrometers to
detect any toxic agents.
Paper tests, like litmus tests,
can also warn of the presence of
nerve or blister agents.
Working under tight time
constraints, sometimes with less
ers and scientists in the past,
but has never confirmed such
operations. Hamas has accused
Mossad of assassinating one of
its drone experts — Mohamed
Zouari — in Tunisia in 2016, and
the spy agency is also believed
to have been behind the 2010
murder of top Hamas fighter
Mahmud al-Mabhuh in a Dubai
hotel.
ers.The protests are expected to
peak in mid-May when, accord-
ing to Hamas leader Ismail Hani-
yeh, the Gaza scenes would be
replicated elsewhere on Israel’s
frontiers.
More than 2mn Palestin-
ians are packed into the narrow
coastal enclave.
Israel withdrew its troops and
settlers from Gaza in 2005 but
maintains tight control of its
land and sea borders.
Egypt also restricts movement
in and out of Gaza on its border.
Matthias Schmale, the Gaza
director of operations of the
United Nations Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA), which pro-
vides aid to over half of Gaza’s
population, said Ayoub was the
third student of UN-run schools
to be killed in recent weeks.
“Deeply disturbing news
that child killed yesterday was
yet another student at UNRWA
school — two others were killed
previously,” Schamale wrote on
Twitter. “Children should never
be targets.”
than 20 minutes, they gather
environmental samples, such
as plants or soil, or even rubber
window seals which can hold
evidence of any contamination
for weeks.
Biomedical samples like blood
and urine from alleged victims
are also key, and in some cases
tissue from the dead will also be
taken. “We prefer to take sam-
ples from survivors, because
those can be interviewed, they
can tell their story, which can be
fact-checked from others,” said
Marc-Michael Blum, the head of
the OPCW laboratory.
Blood samples are best, Blum
says, revealing some nerve
agents or blister agents like mus-
tard leave little traces for weeks,
even up to three months, hiding
in people’s bodies.
“We are looking for specific
biomarkers in blood. You don’t
normally find an intact agent,
but rather it has metabolised,”
he explained. “Even weeks after
exposure these markers are still
there and you can find them.”
 Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 15

AFRICA
Illegal gold
miners
invade
Grace
Mugabe’s
farm
Reuters
Mazowe

A
farm owned by Robert
Mugabe’s wife Grace is
at the centre of a legal
dispute after hundreds of ille-
gal gold miners invaded parts of
the property and started mining
gold.
A Reuters photographer saw
hundreds of illegal miners dig-
ging for gold at the Smithfield
citrus farm using picks and
shovels, the tools of choice for
most illegal miners in Zimbabwe.
Once guarded by armed po-
lice, the farm is now dotted with
illegal diggers whose quest for
gold has left open shafts and Madagascar opposition demonstrators chant slogans as they protest against new electoral laws in Antananarivo, yesterday.
tunnels and uprooted some fruit
trees at Smithfield, 40km north
of the capital Harare.
Mugabe was forced to resign

One dead, 16 injured

in November following a de facto
military coup, but during his 37-
year rule he and Grace and their
allies forcibly grabbed several
farms from white farmers under
the government’s controversial
land reform programme.
In a sign of how the once pow-

in Madagascar protest
erful 94-year-old Mugabe and
his wife have fallen, the illegal
miners at Smithfield last month
told Grace that she no longer had
any power to evict them, the pri-
vately owned NewsDay newspa-
per reported.
“We are not going anywhere. AFP
We are artisanal miners and we Antananarivo
will be contributing to the sur-
vival of the economy since we

will be selling our gold to (state-
owned) Fidelity (Refinery and
Printers),” one of the diggers told
Reuters at the farm two weeks
ago. “This is open pit mining and
we are not damaging the envi-
ronment at all,” he said, declin-
ing to be named.
Fidelity Printers and Refiners
is the sole buyer of all gold pro-
duced in Zimbabwe, irrespective
of its origin.
“We would not want to get
involved in the disputes, that
area is covered by the Ministry
of Mines which issues mining
licences,” Fidelity head of gold
operations Mehluleli Dube said.
“Ours is to buy gold and we
have agents in that area who buy
gold on our behalf. Our approach
is to have agents in some areas
because we can’t be everywhere
were gold is produced.”
The Ministry of Mines has
said it cannot interfere with an
issue that is before the court.
Neither Grace Mugabe nor
her lawyer could be reached for
comment.
She filed a theft report last
month with the police against
the illegal miners but this has not
stopped the miners.
Two gold miners who say they
own gold claims at the farm,
have filed court applications
against Grace Mugabe to stop
her from interfering with mining
operations at the farm.
O
ne person died and 16
others were injured in
clashes between Mada-
gascar’s security forces and
thousands of opposition ac-
tivists protesting against new
election laws ahead of a vote
later this year in the politically-
volatile island nation.
“We received 17 wounded to-
day, one of whom succumbed
to his wounds,” Olivat Alison
Aimee Rakoto, head of the hos-
pital HJRA in Antanannarivo,
said
He did not specify if the in-
jured were protesters or police.
Authorities had earlier in the
week declared the protest ille-
gal but opposition activists de-
fied the order and forged ahead
with the demonstration which
saw thousands throng a public
square outside city hall in the
capital of Antananarivo.
Clashes erupted after police
fired teargas to try to disperse Police clash with protesters during an opposition demonstration against a draft electoral law adopted by Madagascar’s National Assembly in Antananarivo. Right: Riot police
the protesters as the crowd grew fire teargas canisters to disperse opposition demonstrators.
and overwhelmed the security
forces, occupying the square, an wanting to muzzle it through Rajaonarimampianina is out zafimanantsoa said. Elected Both were barred from run- Ravalomanana was over-
AFP reporter at the scene said. new electoral laws in the run-up of the country on official busi- in 2013, Rajaonarimampi- ning in 2013 and their parties thrown in 2009 after an army
Some of the opposition sup- to presidential and legislative ness, according to his office, anina has not yet announced were behind yesterday’s pro- mutiny that allowed Rajoelina
porters reacted by hurling rocks elections due to be held in late which did not specify where he whether he will stand for re- tests. — then Antananarivo mayor
at the officers. November or December. was. election. The Indian Ocean island na- — to become the country’s un-
There was no immediate The opposition claims that “The message to the presi- But two former heads of state tion endured several years of elected transition president un-
comment from authorities on three new laws, adopted earlier dent of the republic who is have already mooted runs: Marc turmoil after Ravalomanana til 2014.
the protests. this month, favour the ruling out of the country, is that it Ravalomanana, who was presi- was ousted as president in a Rajaonarimampianina’s ar-
The opposition has accused party and put in place obstacles would be good that you remain dent from 2002 to 2009, and 2009 coup that led to the with- rival in power brought an end to
the government of President to the disadvantage of oppo- where you are,” an opposition Andry Rajoelina, who removed drawal of foreign investment a long series of political crises in
Hery Rajaonarimampianina of nents. lawmaker Hanitriniaina Ra- him during a coup. and donor money. Madagascar.

Security challenges loom over Buhari’s re-election bid

AFP tancy in South Africa, noted the am within his first term,” said flared again in the past two years. Amaechi Nwokolo, from the
Kano violence “now accounts for more Cummings. The group recently Buhari has been criticised Roman Institute of International
civilian casualties than the Boko gave a clear indication of the for failing to stop the violence, Studies in Abuja, said Buhari,
Haram insurgency and may con- threat it still poses by abduct- which according to some es- whose candidacy still needs to

M
uhamadu Buhari’s
pledge to end Boko
Haram’s insurgency in
northeast Nigeria played a large
part in his 2015 presidential
election victory.
With elections approaching
next year and Buhari,75, having
declared his intention to seek a
second, four-year term, the ex-
tent to which he has done that is
coming under increasing scru-
tiny.
But as Africa’s most popu-
lous nation gears up for months
of hard campaigning before the
vote in February 2019, the former
military ruler is not just facing
questions about Boko Haram.
In recent months there has
been a resurgence of clashes
between farmers and nomadic
herders — and a heavily po-
liticised reaction — which could
have an impact on polling.
Ryan Cummings, Africa ana-
lyst at the Signal Risk consul-
tinue to do so in the foreseeable
future”.
Elsewhere, criminal violence
and kidnappings for ransom in
some northern states have in-
creased, while tensions persist
from pro-Biafran separatists in
the southeast.
In the 12 months before the
last election, Boko Haram fight-
ers ran riot across northeast
Nigeria, capturing swathes of
territory with the military seem-
ingly unable to respond.
Buhari, who headed a military
government in the 1980s, was
seen as a better bet to end the vi-
olence, which has killed at least
20,000 since 2009.
He has achieved that to an ex-
tent but persistent attacks have
undermined his repeated asser-
tion that the militants have been
virtually defeated.
“It is fair to say that President
Buhari has failed in delivering on
his promise to defeat Boko Har-
ing 112 schoolgirls from Dapchi
in Yobe state in almost a carbon
copy of the Chibok kidnapping
in 2014.
Buhari secured massive sup-
port across the mainly Muslim
north in 2015.
That looks unlikely to change
significantly in 2019.
In the north’s biggest city and
most populous state, Kano — a
key election prize because of its
size — people said Buhari had
their vote for weakening Boko
Haram.
But they warned he needed
to take action against security
threats elsewhere.
“That is where he is going to
face his toughest challenge,” said
Abdulhadi Ahmad, a garment
trader.
Violence in the decades-old
dispute between herders and
nomadic farmers in the central
states of Benue, Taraba, Na-
sarawa, Plateau and Kogi has
timates has killed more than
2,000 since the start of this year.
It will be a key issue in central
states, where the Muslim north
meets the mainly Christian
south, that typically swing be-
tween parties.
In Benue, the head of the
state’s tribal leaders, Chief Ed-
ward Ujege, said Buhari “does
not deserve a single vote...be-
cause he has failed to give us se-
curity”.
The conflict, which is driven
by land and resources, has been
seen largely through the prism
of Nigeria’s ethnic and religious
identity politics.
The president of the ethnic
Tiv Youths Organisation, Timo-
thy Hembaor, indicated patron-
age will play a part: people in
Benue will back Benue’s APC
governor, even if he moves party,
he said.
Buhari “shouldn’t even come
here to campaign”, he added.
be endorsed by his party, had al-
ready “most likely lost the vote
in Benue”, an APC state.
“He may not win in many
of the states that have gone up
in flames and many people are
going to use that against him
around the country,” added the
security analyst.
Ndi Kato, a campaigner for
indigenous people in the cen-
tral states, said the attacks put a
way of life under threat and the
government’s lack of action had
caused outrage.
“We feel we cannot have four
more years of this,” she said,
adding there was “zero political
will” to end the violence, which
has made tens of thousands peo-
ple homeless.
“All things being equal the
Middle Belt won’t be voting for
this government. However, we
don’t know who they will be Nigeria’s President Muhamadu Buhari (centre) arrives to attend The
voting for — and that is another Queen’s Dinner during The Commonwealth Heads of Government
problem.” Meeting (CHOGM), at Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday.
 Gulf Times
16 Sunday, April 22, 2018

AMERICA
Smallville
Tributes paid actress
charged

at funeral of with sex

trafficking

Barbara Bush
AFP
Washington

Reuters political dynasties, who died on
Houston Tuesday at age 92.
Bush, the wife of the 41st
president of the United States,
former secretary of state Hil-
lary Clinton, and former first
lady Michelle Obama were all on
hand for the service.
A
n actress from the popu-
Former US president George H W Bush, in a wheelchair, is pushed by former president lar TV series Smallville
George W Bush, behind the coffin of his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush. has been arrested on sex
trafficking charges for allegedly
father left the White House. recruiting women to a purported
“I was very happy on that day self-help group which forced
in 1945, but I’m even happier to- them to have sex with its leader,
day,” he read, as his 93-year-old US prosecutors say.

F
ormer first lady Barbara
Bush was remembered at
her funeral yesterday as
a formidable but caring figure
whose devotion to her family
was matched only by her com-
mitment to public service.
“She was our teacher and role
model in how to live a life of pur-
pose and meaning,” one of her
four sons, former Florida gover-
nor and 2016 presidential candi-
date Jeb Bush, told the crowded
Houston church.
He then drew laughs with a
nod to Bush’s famously sharp
tongue: “She called her style
a benevolent dictatorship, but
honestly, it wasn’t all that be-
nevolent.”
Some 1,500 mourners, in-
cluding governors, senators and
former US presidents, gathered
at a televised but invitation-
only service at the church to pay
tribute to the matriarch of one of
the country’s most prominent
George H W Bush, and the
mother of the 43rd, George W
Bush, was lauded as an inspira-
tion both to the country and her
loved ones, a woman who leav-
ened a strong sense of decency
and honour with a self-depre-
cating wit she employed to great
effect.
“She was candid and com-
forting, steadfast and straight-
forward, honest and loving,”
said the historian and author Jon
Meacham, who wrote a biog-
raphy of George H W Bush and
was one of three eulogists whom
Barbara Bush herself selected
before her death.
“Barbara Bush and George
Bush put country above party,
the common good above po-
litical gain and service to others
above the settling of scores,” he
said.
Former presidents Barack
Obama and Bill Clinton, cur-
rent first lady Melania Trump,
President Donald Trump, who
clashed with the Bush family
during his 2016 campaign, did
not travel to Houston.
The White House said this
week that he wanted to avoid
disrupting the service with add-
ed security.
In a Twitter post, Trump said
his “thoughts and prayers are
with the entire Bush family”.
Former president Jimmy
Carter was overseas and unable
to attend.
Barbara Bush’s long-time
friend, Susan Baker, the wife of
former secretary of state James
Baker, described her in a eulogy
as a “tough but loving enforcer”
whose 73-year marriage to her
husband was a real-life fairy
tale.
George H W Bush would write
a letter to his wife on each wed-
ding anniversary, Jeb Bush said,
before reading aloud one such
letter from 1994, a year after his
father squeezed his eyes shut
and wept. “You have given me
joy that few men know ... I have
climbed perhaps the highest
mountain in the world, but even
that cannot hold a candle to be-
ing Barbara’s husband.”
Hours before the service,
guests arrived at a different
church several miles away to be
bussed to the venue, walking
past a throng of media.
Bush made it possible for her
husband to have “the arc of his
life”, said Karl Rove, who served
as a chief political adviser for
George W Bush.
As the service ended, Bush’s
grandsons bore her casket out of
the church, with George W Bush
pushing his father in a wheel-
chair directly behind it.
Barbara Bush will be buried
on the grounds of the George H
W Bush Library and Museum at
Texas A&M University in College
Station, next to her daughter,
The Obamas greet First Lady Melania Trump at the St Martin’s
Episcopal Church in Houston.
Robin, who died of leukaemia at
the age of three.
The motorcade carrying her
body will traverse both George
Bush Drive and Barbara Bush
Drive on its way to the burial
site.
Members of the public paid
their respects on Friday, when
Bush lay in repose at the church.
George H W Bush, seated in a
wheelchair in front of the casket,
greeted mourners in turn with a
handshake.
Allison Mack, 35, who was ar-
rested on Friday, recruited wom-
en for what was described as a
female mentorship group, US
attorney Richard Donoghue said
in a statement from the Justice
Department.
“The victims were then ex-
ploited, both sexually and for
their labor, to the defendants’
benefit,” the prosecutor said.
The leader of the group was
one Keith Raniere, who is also
known as “Vanguard”, the state-
ment said.
Many of the women were
branded with a symbol contain-
ing the initials of the leader of
the group, which was based in
Albany in upstate New York.
Raniere was arrested on sex
trafficking charges in Mexico in
March.
During the past 20 years,
“Raniere established a series
of purported self-help pro-
grammes within his umbrella
organisation, called ‘Nxivm’
(pronounced NEX-i-um),” the
statement said.
It has operated centres in the

Trump attacks New York Times journalist over Cohen article
Trump lashed out on Twitter has called the raids a “witch
after Maggie Haberman hunt” perpetrated by his own
contributed to a story justice department.
suggesting Cohen might The Cohen raid was report-
co-operate with federal edly the result of a referral to
investigators New York authorities by Rob-
ert Mueller, the special counsel
By Lauren Gambino investigating Russian election
Guardian News & Media interference and alleged collu-
sion between Trump aides and
Moscow.
of the Times under the headline
“Punching Bag For President
Now Has Clout” – Haberman,
Sharon LaFraniere and Danny
Hakim report that the attorney,
who is known for his unflinch-
ingly loyalty to Trump, could
face devastating legal fees if not
criminal charges, a reality that
may sway him to work with fed-
eral agents.
Trump appeared to refer to
Nunberg in his second tweet of
the morning: “They use non-
existent ‘sources’ and a drunk/
drugged up loser who hates
Michael, a fine person with a
wonderful family. Michael is a
businessman for his own ac-
count/lawyer who I have always
liked & respected.
“Most people will flip if the
United States, Mexico, Canada
and South America.
It featured a pyramid scheme,
as courses cost thousands of
dollars each and participants
were encouraged to pay for addi-
tional classes and recruit others
in order to rise within the ranks.
Mack is accused of co-cre-
ating a Nxivm programme that
recruited actors.
“As detailed in court filings,
in 2015, Raniere created a secret
society within Nxivm called
‘DOS’, an acronym that stands

D
onald Trump lashed out
yesterday at the New York
Times journalist Maggie
Haberman, after she contrib-
uted to a story that suggested
his long-time lawyer and fixer
might co-operate with federal
investigators.
“The New York Times and a
third-rate reporter named Mag-
gie Habberman [sic] known as a
Crooked H[illary Clinton] flun-
kie who I don’t speak to and have
nothing to do with, are going out
of their way to destroy Michael
Cohen and his relationship with
me in the hope that he will ‘flip’,”
Trump wrote.
In a subsequent tweet, the
president corrected his spelling.
Haberman responded on
Twitter, writing: “When I was
reporting this story, I said to
Trump: not pleased
one person who’s observed the
Cohen-Trump relationship that
Trump has been abusive to him.
The person replied, ‘He’s abu-
sive to everybody’.”
Last week, federal agents
seized business records, e-mails
and other documents during
raids of Cohen’s office, hotel
room and home.
The material retrieved report-
edly included documents related
to a payment Cohen made in
2016 to silence a pornographic
film actor, Stormy Daniels, from
going public about an alleged af-
fair with Trump.
A payment made to a Playboy
model who also claims to have
had an affair with Trump, Karen
McDougal, was also at issue.
Trump denies the affairs and
Trump has denied collusion
and obstruction of justice.
Haberman, who has been
called the “Trump whisperer”
for her deeply sourced report-
ing on the president, was part
of a team that this week won a
Pulitzer prize for national re-
porting.
The Pulitzer was awarded
jointly with the Washington Post
for “deeply sourced, relentlessly
reported coverage in the public
interest that dramatically fur-
thered the nation’s understand-
ing of Russian interference in the
2016 presidential election and
its connections to the Trump
campaign, the president-elect’s
transition team and his eventual
administration”.
In the Cohen story – which
was published on the front page
The article quotes Sam Nun-
berg, a former aide to Trump
who worked with Cohen, and
most recently went on a bizarre
media blitz in which he insisted
that he would defy subpoena
from special counsel Robert
Mueller.
Days later Nunberg reversed
course and appeared for his
scheduled grand jury appear-
ance.
“Ironically, Michael now
holds the leverage over Trump,”
Nunberg told the Times, adding
that Trump had long taken Co-
hen “for granted”.
“Whenever anyone complains
to me about Trump screwing
them over, my reflexive response
is that person has nothing to
complain about compared to
Michael,” Nunberg said.
Government lets them out of
trouble, even if it means lying or
making up stories. Sorry, I don’t
see Michael doing that despite
the horrible Witch Hunt and the
dishonest media!”
Cohen told Vanity Fair in Sep-
tember that he would “take a
bullet” for his boss.
He apparently attempted to
apologise to Melania Trump
about the pain he caused by
making the $130,000 payment
to Daniels, whose birth name is
Stephanie Clifford.
The president spent yesterday
morning at Trump International
Golf Club in West Palm Beach,
Florida, while his wife flew to
Houston to attend the funeral of
former first lady Barbara Bush.
Photographers captured
Trump looking at his phone.
for a Latin phrase that loosely
translates to ‘Lord/Master of the
Obedient Female Companions’,
or ‘The Vow’. DOS operated with
levels of women ‘slaves’ headed
by ‘masters’.”
The “slaves” were expected to
become “masters” by recruit-
ing their own “slaves”, who then
“owed service not only to their
own masters but also to masters
above them in the DOS pyra-
mid,” the statement charged.
Women were told that the
organisation would help then
get rid of their weaknesses, and
Raniere’s position was not re-
vealed to new recruits.
Those seeking to join DOS
were required to provide collat-
eral such as nude photos, dam-
aging information about family
or friends, or rights to assets.

Activists and stars launch NoRA to battle the National Rifle Association

Student anti-gun activists vow to keep A group of activists and celebrities have launched a
new campaign targeting the National Rifle Association
(NRA).
“We might just sue the pants off the NRA.”
The activist David Hogg, one of the survivors of the
Parkland shooting, has called for a boycott of the

momentum alive over the summer

The No Rifle Association Initiative (NoRA), backed by
students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school
in Parkland, Florida – where 17 people were shot dead
in February – and celebrities including Alec Baldwin,
Amy Schumer and Jimmy Kimmel, aims to “shine a
Reuters spread it around, everybody’s bright light on the bloody hands of the NRA and the
Los Angeles around so it’s kind of easier to politicians they purchase”.
show up,” said Vivian Reynoso, The move comes as thousands of students walked out
17, a junior at Tucson High Mag- of classes on Friday, the 19th anniversary of the Colum-
investment companies BlackRock and Vanguard.
The companies are “two of the biggest investors in
gun manufacturers; if you use them, feel free to let
them know”, Hogg – who is writing a book, #NeverA-
gain: A New Generation Draws the Line – wrote on
Twitter, posting the hashtags #boycottvanguard and
#boycottblackrock.
According to CNN, BlackRock is the top shareholder
in the gun manufacturers Sturm Ruger and American

L
eaders of the student-led
anti-gun movement, who
inspired classroom walk-
outs across the country on the
19th anniversary of the Colum-
bine High School massacre, say
that they plan to maintain their
activism through the long sum-
mer break.
This week’s protests marked
the second mass student walkout
since a 19-year-old opened fire at
a Parkland, Florida high school in
February, killing 17 people.
It signalled the emergence of
a growing national campaign led
by young people to lessen gun
violence and toughen laws on
firearms sales.
However, the movement faces
a major early challenge as the
traditional three-month summer
break approaches for most US
public schools at a critical mo-
ment in their bid to be heard by
politicians in their home states
and Washington, DC.
“The reason why this has been
so huge (is that) we’re in school,
we talk to our classmates, we
net School in Tucson, Arizona,
who helped organise rallies for
both nationwide demonstrations
in the past month.
“Of course you fear (losing the
momentum),” said Reynoso, who
like her peers in the campaign
was born a year or more after the
Columbine shootings. “I’m pret-
ty sure even the Parkland victims
are afraid of that. That’s why we
need to be pushing, even if it’s
summer, to keep telling people to
keep talking about the issue and
not to forget to about it.”
In the nearly two decades since
Columbine seniors Eric Har-
ris and Dylan Klebold went on a
shooting rampage in 1999, kill-
ing 12 students and a teacher be-
fore committing suicide, school
shootings have become almost
commonplace in the United
States.
Students at Columbine, which
has not held classes on April 20
since the massacre, did not take
part in the walkout, and were en-
couraged to do community serv-
ice instead.
bine shooting, calling for gun control reform. Outdoor Brands, and the second-largest shareholder in
NoRA says it will mobilise people to vote out NRA-fund- Vista Outdoor (VSTO).
ed candidates in the November midterm elections. Vanguard is the second-biggest Sturm Ruger share-
Its website offers information on registering to vote holder.
and contacting lawmakers. A spokeswoman for Vanguard said the company is
“We’re going to plaster the nation with the faces of meeting with gun manufacturers and distributors
those who take NRA blood money with posters created to discuss how it could “mitigate the risks that their
by iconic artist Bradley Theodore,” a statement said. products pose and how they plan to help prevent such
“We’re going to show up at the NRA convention in Dal- tragedies from happening again”. – By Adam
las and make them wish they stayed home. Gabbatt/Guardian News & Media
gun ownership, either at the state ments,” said Adam Winkler, a Friday’s walkouts, though
or federal level. professor of constitutional law at smaller in scale, signalled the
As anger fades over the Park- the University of California, Los determination of the students to
land shootings, the test for stu- Angeles. press on with their movement.
dents will be in organising for “We’ve seen these kids take a “The way we’re viewing the
Yorktown High School junior Zoe Coutlakis holds a sign on the West gun reform. real leadership role on this issue,” summer right now is it’s really an
Lawn of the US Capitol after rallying on Friday with several hundred Many of the protests featured said Winkler, author of a history opportunity to put in a lot of work
fellow students to call for stricter gun laws. voter registration drives, with of the debate over gun control on some really big plans we have
students aiming to make it a ma- in America. “Whether they can going for the return to school in
Even as students prepared for The debate over guns in Amer- jor issue for midterm elections in sustain it not remains to be seen.” August,” said Gavin Pierce, 21,
Friday’s protests wearing orange, ica, where the right to bear arms November. The March 24 “March For Our a college junior studying film in
the colour of the anti-gun move- is protected under the Second “Who knows whether they Lives” rallies in cities across the Los Angeles and an organiser of
ment, news began trickling out Amendment of the Constitution, maintain the energy or not but United States were some of the the “March for Our Lives” pro-
that a 17-year-old student had has raged nearly since the na- there are historic examples of biggest US youth demonstra- gun control group.
been wounded in a shooting at a tion’s founding. student-led movements that tions in decades, with hundreds “Everyone is really eager to
high school near Ocala, Florida, The students hope to succeed have played an important role of thousands of young Ameri- keep this going and to keep on
some 225 miles northwest of where other activists have failed in moving things forward, (for cans and their supporters taking organising until we see real
Parkland. in enacting stricter legislation on example) the Civil rights move- to the streets. change,” Pierce said.

Malaysian forensic police collect evidence in the area where a Palestinian scientist was assassinated in
Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
N
Palestinian lecturer
shot dead in Malaysia
Reuters
Kuala Lumpur
T
wo unidentified men shot
dead a Palestinian man in
Kuala Lumpur yesterday,
Malaysian and Palestinian au-
thorities reported, and Malay-
sia’s deputy prime minister said
the suspects were believed to be
linked to a foreign intelligence
service.
Kuala Lumpur police chief
Mazlan Lazim said two men on a
motorcycle fired 10 shots at the
35-year-old victim, killing him
on the spot.
“Preliminary investigations
found four gunshot wounds on
the victim’s body. Two bullet
slugs were found at the scene of
the incident,” Mazlan said in a
statement.
When contacted later by Reu-
ters, Mazlan declined to com-
ment on reports that the victim
was a member of the Palestinian
Islamist group Hamas or had
been targeted by hitmen. “It’s
too early to say, we are still in-
vestigating all aspects.”
Palestine’s ambassador to
Malaysia Anwar al-Agha later
identified the victim as Pales-
tinian Fadi al-Batsh, an engi-
neering lecturer, but declined
to say if he was a member of
Hamas.
Witnesses at the scene had
told him that the two suspects
had “European features”, the
ambassador told Reuters. Ma-
laysian Deputy Prime Minister
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the
suspects were believed to be Eu-
ropeans with links to a foreign
intelligence agency, state news
agency Bernama reported.
He added the victim had links
with foreign intelligence and
was active in pro-Palestinian
China carries out
aircraft carrier
drills in Pacific
AFP
Beijing
C
hina has carried out
aircraft carrier drills
in the Pacific, its navy
said yesterday, ramping up
tensions with Taiwan over its
military exercises in the sen-
sitive region.
Beijing’s sole aircraft car-
rier and two destroyer ships
carried out “offensive and
defensive drills to test their
combat muscle” on Friday,
China’s navy said on its offi-
cial microblog site on Weibo.
The exercises took place
in an area east of the Bashi
Channel, which runs between
Taiwan and the Philippines, it
said.
China sees democratical-
ly-governed Taiwan as a ren-
egade part of its territory to
be brought back into the fold
and has not ruled out reunifi-
cation by force.
In Beijing’s latest mili-
tary drills, photos showed
J-15 fighters waiting to take
off from the Liaoning air-
craft carrier. The Jinan and
Changchun destroyer ships
also participated in the train-
ing.
Taiwan has accused China
of “saber rattling” after Chi-
nese bombers and spy planes
flew around Taiwan Thurs-
Police work in a cordoned off area after two unidentified men shot
dead a Palestinian man in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
non-governmental organisa-
tions, describing him as an ex-
pert in electrical engineering
and rocket-building.
The victim could have been
seen as “a liability for a country
that is an enemy of Palestine,”
Zahid was quoted as saying by
Bernama.
Hamas, which exercises de
facto control over Gaza, said one
of its members was “assassi-
nated” in Malaysia but stopped
short of accusing Israel’s secret
service of carrying out the kill-
ing.
A Hamas statement said Batsh
was “assassinated at treacher-
ous hands on Saturday...as he
walked for the dawn prayers.”
Batsh’s uncle Jamal al-Batsh,
speaking to Reuters in the
Jabalya town in northern Gaza
Strip, said he believed the killing
was the work of Israel’s Mos-
sad espionage service. Officials
in Israel declined to comment.
When asked who he blamed, he
replied: “The Israeli Mossad.
day, and the Chinese navy
conducted live-fire drills off
the Taiwan Strait a day ear-
lier. “China has deliberately
manipulated (the exercise) to
pressure and harass Taiwan in
an attempt to spark tensions
between the two sides and
in the region,” Chiu Chui-
cheng of Taiwan’s Mainland
Affairs Council told a regular
briefing Thursday. “(We) will
never bow down to any mili-
tary threat and incentive.”
Beijing has stepped up
military patrols around Tai-
wan and used diplomatic
pressure to isolate it interna-
tionally since pro-independ-
ence President Tsai Ing-wen
took office.
Chinese President Xi Jin-
ping observed the navy’s
largest-ever military dis-
play this month in the South
China Sea, which involved 76
fighter jets and a flotilla of 48
warships and submarines.
Beijing has also been an-
gered by Washington’s arms
sales to Taipei, and China
protested last month af-
ter President Donald Trump
signed a bill allowing top-
level US officials to travel to
Taiwan.
Washington switched dip-
lomatic recognition from
Taiwan to China in 1979 but
maintains trade relations
with the island.
The Israeli Mossad stood behind
the assassination of educated
people and intellectuals because
Israel knows Palestine will be
liberated by scientists.”
“Therefore, they tracked this
young educated man.”
Batsh was a lecturer at Uni-
versiti Kuala Lumpur, special-
ising in power engineering,
according to the university. A
Palestinian in Malaysia who
knew Batsh told Reuters on
condition of anonymity that
the victim was also an imam at
a mosque close to his residence.
In recent weeks, tensions
have been running high at the
Gaza-Israel border as Palestin-
ians have ramped up protests
demanding the right to return to
their former homeland.
Israel’s use of live fire has
drawn international criticism
but the Israeli government says
it is protecting its borders and
takes such action when protest-
ers come too close to the border
fence.
Close encounter
Seagulls surround a man who was buried by his friends in sand and crackers at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Japanese PM sends offering to controversial war shrine
DPA
Tokyo
J
apanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offer-
ing to the controversial Yasu-
kuni Shrine in Tokyo yesterday,
Kim promises no
more nuclear or
missile tests
AFP
Seoul
orth Korean leader Kim
Jong-un said he would
halt nuclear tests and in-
tercontinental missile launches,
in an announcement welcomed
by US President Donald Trump
ahead of a much-anticipated
summit between the two men.
Pyongyang’s declaration yes-
terday, long sought by Washing-
ton, will be seen as a crucial step
in the fast diplomatic dance on
and around the Korean penin-
sula.
It comes less than a week be-
fore the North Korean leader
meets South Korean President
Moon Jae-in for a summit in the
Demilitarised Zone that divides
the peninsula, ahead of the ea-
gerly-awaited encounter with
Trump himself.
But Kim gave no indication
Pyongyang might be willing to
give up its nuclear weapons,
or the missiles with which it
can reach the mainland United
States.
The North had successfully
developed its arsenal, includ-
ing miniaturising warheads
to fit them on to missiles, Kim
said, and so “no nuclear test
and intermediate-range and
inter-continental ballistic
rocket test-fire are necessary
for the DPRK now”. As such the
North’s nuclear testing site was
no longer needed, he told the
central committee of the ruling
Workers’ Party, according to the
official KCNA news agency.
The party decided that nucle-
ar blasts and ICBM launches will
cease as of Saturday — the North
has not carried any out since No-
vember — and the atomic test site
at Punggye-ri will be dismantled
to “transparently guarantee” the
end of testing.
Within minutes of the report
being issued, Trump tweeted:
“This is very good news for
North Korea and the World – big
progress! Look forward to our
Summit.” Seoul too welcomed
the announcement, calling it
“meaningful progress” towards
the denuclearisation of the Ko-
rean peninsula.
But Kim offered no sign he
might be willing to give up what
he called the North’s “treasured
prompting criticism from South
Korea. Abe is expected to refrain
from visiting the 149-year-old
war memorial during its three-
day spring festival from yester-
day. The shrine has been a source
of diplomatic tension with other
Asian countries as it honours
ASIA/AUSTRALASIA
A man watches a television news showing a footage of Kim Jong-un, at a railway station in Seoul.
sword”, saying its possession of
nuclear weapons was “the firm
guarantee by which our descend-
ants can enjoy the most dignified
and happiest life in the world”.
Pyongyang has made rapid
technological progress in its
weapons programmes under
Kim, which has seen it subjected
to increasingly strict sanctions
by the UN Security Council, the
United States, the European Un-
ion, South Korea and others.
Last year, it carried out its
sixth nuclear blast, by far its
most powerful to date, while Kim
and Trump traded threats of war
and personal insults as tensions
ramped up.
Even when there was an ex-
tended pause in testing, US of-
ficials said that it could not
be interpreted as a halt with-
out an explicit statement from
Pyongyang.
South Korean envoys have
previously cited Kim as promis-
ing no more tests, but Saturday’s
news is the first such announce-
ment directly by Pyongyang. An-
alysts cautioned that the decla-
ration was promising but limited.
“Certainly this is a positive
development,” said Daniel Pink-
ston of Troy University. “It’s a
necessary but not sufficient step
the spirits of Japan’s 2.46mn
war dead, including 14 Class-A
war criminals from World War
II. About 70 Japanese lawmakers
visited the shrine on Friday, one
day ahead of the festival.
Seoul criticised Abe’s move
and the lawmakers’ visit to the
in North Korea returning to its
past non-proliferation commit-
ments.”
And Christopher Green of the
International Crisis Group add-
ed on Twitter: “I don’t see how
North Korean statement consti-
tutes a step toward denuclearisa-
tion. It is a moratorium on test-
ing, but recommits North Korea
to nuclear weapons status.”
Japan— which has seen mis-
siles fly over its territory — gave
a mixed response, with Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe offering a
cautious welcome but his de-
fence minister saying North Ko-
rea did not mention the short- or
medium-range missiles that put
Tokyo within reach.
Beijing said it believed the
move would “help to promote
the process of denuclearisation
and attempts to find a political
settlement” on the peninsula.
UN chief Antonio Guterres
hailed Kim’s announcement as
“a positive step forward” on the
path towards denuclearisation.
The EU also welcomed it while
Russia said it was “an important
step towards the future easing of
tensions” on the peninsula.
The formal declaration of an
end to testing comes after Kim
reiterated the North’s nuclear
site. South Korea “expresses its
deep concerns and regret over
Japanese government and parlia-
mentary officials sending an of-
fering to or visiting the Yasukuni
Shrine that glorifies its history of
colonial-era invasion and wars
of aggression,” the South Korean
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 17
status in his New Year speech
and said he had a nuclear button
on his desk – prompting Trump
to tweet that he had a bigger one
of his own.
Events have moved rapidly
since then, catalysed by the Win-
ter Olympics in the South, and
Seoul is now pushing for a peace
treaty to formally end the Korean
War, raising hopes that a settle-
ment can finally be reached on
the peninsula. But there is a long
way to go and Moon himself ac-
knowledged this week that the
“devil is in the details”.
The US is seeking the com-
plete, verifiable and irrevers-
ible denuclearisation of the
North, while according to Moon,
Pyongyang wants security guar-
antees, potentially leaving much
space for disagreement.
The North has long demanded
the withdrawal of US troops from
the peninsula and an end to its
nuclear umbrella over South Ko-
rea, something unthinkable in
Washington.
But Kim told the Workers’
Party meeting: “A fresh climate
of detente and peace is being cre-
ated on the Korean peninsula and
the region and dramatic changes
are being made in the interna-
tional political landscape.”
Dragon boat
accident kills
11 in southern
China
Eleven people were killed
yesterday and six others are
missing after two dragon boats
capsized in southern China,
state-run Xinhua news agency
said. Rowers on board the two
long, narrow kayak-like boats
were practising for a race in
Taohua River in the city of Gui-
lin when the accident occurred
Saturday afternoon, tipping 57
people into the water. Some
40 people have been pulled
out of the water alive and
rescue work continues, Xinhua
said. Authorities in Guilin said
villagers had organised a prac-
tice session without notifying
police, and that two organisers
were detained. Races are held
nationwide every year to mark
the dragon boat festival, which
falls on the fifth day of the fifth
month of the Chinese lunar cal-
endar, or the summer solstice.
The festival pays tribute to the
ancient poet Qu Yuan who,
legend has it, drowned himself
in protest against being falsely
accused of treason.
Foreign Ministry said in a state-
ment on Saturday, Yonhap News
agency reported. Seoul urged
Tokyo to reflect on and atone for
its past deeds and step up efforts
to gain trust from neighbouring
countries and the international
community, the report said.
 Gulf Times
18 Sunday, April 22, 2018
BRITAIN
Windrush victims will
be compensated: May
PM tells Commonwealth
leaders she will do ‘whatever
it takes’ to resolve anxieties
and problems
By Heather Stewart, Peter
Walker, Amelia Gentleman
and Kevin Rawlinson
Guardian News & Media
T
heresa May has reassured
Commonwealth leaders
that members of the Win-
drush generation who had suf-
fered “anxieties and problems”
as a result of the government’s
immigration rules would be paid
compensation.
The prime minister said she
had given Caribbean leaders an
“absolute commitment” at a
meeting earlier this week that
“the UK will do whatever it takes
including, where appropriate,
payment of compensation, to
resolve the anxieties and prob-
lems that some of the Windrush
generation have suffered”.
She added: “These people are
British. They are part of us; they
helped to build Britain and we
are all the stronger for their con-
tributions.”
May was speaking late on Fri-
day at the closing press confer-
ence for the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM) in London, which has
been overshadowed by the treat-
ment of the Windrush genera-
tion.
Queen marks 92nd birthday with concert
AFP
London
Q
ueen Elizabeth II marked
her 92nd birthday yes-
terday with traditional
gun salutes and a Common-
wealth-themed charity con-
cert featuring Tom Jones, Kylie
Minogue, and Shaggy.
Horse-drawn guns fired 41
times in Hyde Park and 62 times
at the Tower of London, while at
Windsor Castle, the band played
Happy Birthday during the
changing of the guard.
In the evening, the mon-
arch and her family attended a
concert with performers from
around the Commonwealth, the
53-nation grouping which held
its summit in London this week.
Australia’s Kylie, Cana-
dian pop chart-topper Shawn
Mendes, South African all-male
choir Ladysmith Black Mam-
bazo, and US-Jamaican reggae
star Shaggy were to join British
stars including Jones, Craig Dav-
id, and Sting.
The queen usually celebrates
her birthday in private, saving
the pomp for her official birth-
day in June.
The concert at the Royal Al-
bert Hall will raise money for a
new youth charity, The Queen’s
Commonwealth Trust.
The monarch’s grandson
Prince Harry, who will marry US
actress Meghan Markle at Wind-
sor on May 19, is the trust’s new
president and gave a speech at
the concert.
The queen has been the sym-
bolic head of the Common-
wealth since her father king
George VI’s death in 1952, but
its leaders agreed on Friday that
her son and heir Prince Charles
should succeed her.
The summit was overshad-
owed by a row over Britain’s
treatment of Caribbean immi-
grants, while Charles himself
also came under scrutiny (see
lead story).
A non-white writer, Anita
Sethi, claimed he joked about
whether she was really from the
British city of Manchester when
they met at a Commonwealth
meeting this week.
Sethi – whose mother was
born in Guyana – said that
Charles asked her where she was
from and when she replied, said:
“Well, you don’t look like it!”
and laughed.
She wrote in the Guardian
that she felt humiliated and an-
gry, adding that “some people,
including the prince, urgently
need a history lesson about im-
migration”.
She has been under intense
pressure to provide more reas-
surance – and pay compensation
– to the affected individuals,
some of whom have lost homes
and jobs and been threatened
with deportation.
Labour MP David Lammy and
Jamaican Prime Minister An-
drew Holness are among those
to have called for compensation.
Speaking to reporters after
the press conference, the prime
minister of Grenada, Keith
Mitchell, said he believed May
and the UK government should
be doing more to address the
situation.
“I think there’s no question,”
he said. “Clearly it’s something
which is vibrating strongly in
the Caribbean region as a whole.
Many of our people came here
and helped to build Britain, un-
der conditions that were set for
them.
“For me, it’s very unfair for
them to be treated in the way
they have been treated. The
word compensation came out
today – that was highly signifi-
cant, extremely important.
“It’s not just, ‘I’m sorry’. Peo-
ple lost a lot, people suffered
a lot of pain, and they must be
given an opportunity to correct
this – some serious compensa-
tion.
“If not the person, if they’ve
gone, then the families who have
suffered, too.”
Asked if May should accept
Queen Elizabeth, surrounded by members of the royal family, waves
during the special concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Below: Kylie Minogue performs during the special concert.
her “hostile environment” im-
migration policy was a mistake,
Mitchell praised the prime min-
ister for pledging to address the
crisis.
He said: “I think the fact she
has addressed it is indicating
that Britain and the policy they
enunciated initially was not
the right one. And therefore by
making the statement she made
today, I think she’s heading in
the right direction. And I’ll give
her credit for making the right
turn.”
Reacting to May’s announce-
ment, Sarah O’Connor, 57, who
moved to Britain from Jamaica 51
years ago when she was six, and
faced bankruptcy after she was
unable to take up a new job last
year because she had no papers,
said she was interested to hear
about compensation but mainly
felt rage with the government at
the emerging scandal.
“It makes me feel so angry
that you have to go through all
the anxiety, depression and feel-
ing scared for it all to come to the
surface,” she said. “People must
have known in the Home Office
that Windrush children were
suffering and they pushed it in
under the table. I’m appalled.”
She said that she had had no
idea that other people were suf-
fering in the same way that she
was.
“It’s good more people are
standing up and saying this is
what is happening to me. Before
cases have gone to a dedicated
team of officials have been given
permanent residence status.
Later, the shadow home sec-
retary, Diane Abbott, addressed
a Windrush rally in Brixton,
south London, telling them
that the home secretary, Amber
Rudd, and May, should not be
apologising over the scandal.
“You know why? Because you
only apologise when you make a
mistake,” she said. “They knew
what they were doing.”
The government “knew the
consequences of that hostile
climate would affect black peo-
ple, whether or not they had im-
migration issues”, Abbott said,
adding that ministers “thought
they could get away with it; they
thought nobody would care”.
She demanded to know how
many people were being held
in detention centres and how
many had been removed from
the country.
A woman is seen among placards at an event on Friday in Windrush She said those in detention
Square to show solidarity with the Windrush generation, in the must be released and those who
Brixton district of London. had been removed must be invit-
ed to come back – and be com-
they were too scared to any- forgotten once the interest dies pensated by the government.
thing, now they are standing up down, and the whole thing gets “Think what it means: you
for their rights.” swept under the carpet.” are separated from your families
Judy Griffith, 63, who flew The promise of compensation and your friends, you are sepa-
from Barbados in 1963 when came as it was revealed that the rated often from your healthcare
she was nine, said she is scepti- number of people who had con- treatment.
cal of the government’s com- tacted the Home Office’s hel- “You are humiliated. And
mitment to resolving this. “I am pline set up to offer support for they did not care that they were
concerned it will end up like the members of the Windrush gen- humiliating people who helped
Grenfell fire. The government is eration had risen to 232. to rebuild this country after the
making promises which then get The first four people whose second world war.”
Shaggy and Sting at the concert.
Below: Members of the Honourable Artillery Company fire a
62-gun salute across the River Thames to mark the 92nd birthday
of Queen Elizabeth, at the Tower of London.
Three-year-old drowns in swimming pool at gym
A three-year-old boy has drowned in a swimming Detective Inspector James Entwistle said: “This
pool at a gym in Leeds, West Yorkshire police appears to be a tragic accident and our thoughts
said. are with the boy’s family at this extremely
Officers were called to the David Lloyd club difficult time.
about 9.45am yesterday, following a report that a “While there is nothing to suggest that the death
child had drowned. was suspicious, we do have a duty to investigate
He was taken to Leeds general infirmary where the circumstances of what has happened.
he was later pronounced dead. “We understand that there were a number of
Police said that they are investigating the people in the pool at the time who have left
circumstances that led to his “drowning-related the area prior to police arriving at the scene.
injuries”, but the incident was being treated as an We would ask these people to come forward to
accident and they appealed for anyone who was give their accounts of what they have seen and
in the pool at the time to contact them. heard.”
Care for
13,000
Britons
at risk
By Zoe Wood
Guardian News & Media
T
he care of more than
13,000 elderly and vul-
nerable Britons could be
thrown into turmoil after one of
the biggest providers of home
care visits in the UK warned it
would go bust unless creditors
backed a rescue plan.
Allied Healthcare, which has
contracts with 150 local authori-
ties and also provides out-of-
hours services for the National
Health Service (NHS), is asking
for breathing space on its financ-
es after cashflow problems that
have been triggered in part by an
£11mn bill for back pay owed to
sleep-in care workers.
The loss-making company
has 12,000 employees and cares
for 13,500 people in their homes
via a network of 83 branches
around the country.
According to the Allied web-
site, it is the country’s largest
domiciliary care business, twice
the size of its nearest competitor.
Its Primecare division pro-
vides primary and urgent
healthcare services, including
NHS 111 telephony services, GP-
led medical centres and end-of-
life care.
It also provides healthcare
services in a number of secure
settings including prisons, im-
migration centres and secure
training centres.
Allied was bought by the Ger-
man private equity firm Aurelius
in a £19mn deal in December
2015 but it has struggled against
a backdrop of local authority
funding cuts.
In a letter to creditors seen by
the Guardian, its chief executive,
Luca Warnke, said it had “signif-
icant funding pressures on our
customers that have impacted
on their ability to deliver finan-
cially viable health and social
care services”.
It added that it had taken the
decision to pursue a company
voluntary arrangement (CVA),
an insolvency procedure that
will enable it to agree a payment
plan with creditors that include
landlords and members of its
pension schemes.
It expects to file for the proce-
dure tomorrow.
Warnke blamed rising agency
labour costs for its woes, point-
ing to the shortage of doctors and
nurses since the Brexit vote as
well as a potential £11mn bill for
backdated “sleep in” payments
depending on HMRC (Her Maj-
esty’s Revenue and Customs)’s
calculation of the pay period.
Last year the government
changed its guidance on how
sleep-in carers should be paid,
advising that they were entitled
to earn the national minimum
wage for the entirety of the time
they were present in a house
rather than just a flat rate.
At that time some charities
warned it could cost the sector
£400mn and potentially bank-
rupt many social care charities
and providers.
The company said in a state-
ment: “As with many independ-
ent providers in the UK health
and social care sector, Allied
Healthcare has been operating
in a highly challenging environ-
ment for a sustained period of
time, which has placed pressure
on the company.
“As a result of these challeng-
es, Allied Healthcare has taken
the decision to pursue a com-
pany voluntary arrangement as
part of a prospective business
plan that will ensure safe conti-
nuity of care across our UK-wide
operations, place the company
on a sustainable long-term foot-
ing and maximise repayments to
creditors.
“The proposed CVA will not
impact on the safe continuity of
care that Allied Healthcare pro-
vides across the United King-
dom,” it said.
“Allied Healthcare will con-
tinue to trade safely and it re-
mains business as usual for Al-
lied Healthcare employees and
customers.”
The company insisted that
there are currently no plans for
redundancies or branch clo-
sures.
A spokesman for the Local
Government Association (LGA),
which represents local authori-
ties, insisted that councils have
“robust” contingency plans in
place to manage the care of indi-
viduals if necessary if the com-
pany were to fail.

Macedonia ‘getting closer’ to solving name row’
AFP
Skopje
M
acedonia has never been
closer to solving its 25-
year name row with
Greece, but even if it fails Skopje
will continue to integrate with
Europe, its premier says.
“I believe that we have never
had better circumstances to find
a complete solution that will last
for centuries and will remain for-
ever,” Prime Minister Zoran Zaev
told AFP in an interview.
Moscow
slams US
over prima
ballerina’s
visa woes
AFP
Moscow
T A
he Russian foreign min-
istry has slammed the US
for refusing an entry visa
to a prima ballerina at the coun-
try’s Bolshoi Theatre.
“It did not come to this even
during the Cold War. On the
contrary, the arts, including
ballet, always helped us to un-
derstand each other better,” the
foreign ministry said. “However,
today influential forces in the US
interested in pressuring Russia
as much as possible do not stop
at anything.”
The foreign ministry blamed
the US for arts exchanges be-
tween the two countries being
called off.
“They are trying to fence
Americans off from Russians
with a visa wall, making trips to
the US for our citizens practi-
cally impossible,” the statement
said.
Russian agencies this week
reported Olga Smirnova, a prime
ballerina at the Bolshoi, had been
refused a US visa, weeks after a
round of tit-for-tat diplomatic
expulsions led to a reduction in
embassy staff members.
Smirnova and another Bolshoi
dancer, Jacopi Tissi, were due to
perform at the Lincoln Centre in
New York tomorrow, but were
refused a work visa by the US
Department of Immigration, the
Ria Novosti news agency said.
Smirnova is a rising star at the
world renowned ballet company,
who made her name in Russia
with lead roles in ballets such as
Swan Lake.
The US embassy in Moscow
has been drastically reduced in
strength since the diplomatic
expulsions, the first of which
were announced by Britain in
mid-March.
They followed the poisoning
in Britain of former Russian spy
Sergei Skripal and his daugh-
ter Yulia as well as accusations
of Russian interference in last
year’s US election.
The US consul in Russia,
Lawrence Toby, said in the Ne-
zavisimaya Gazeta newspaper
on Thursday that the issuing of
emergency visas to Russian ath-
letes and pilots could no longer
be guaranteed due to lack of
staff.
According to the newspaper,
the time required to secure a US
visa in Moscow is currently 250
days and it is impossible to reg-
ister for a new appointment be-
fore the end of the year.
Polish teachers
rally over wages
Several thousand teachers rallied
in Warsaw yesterday demanding
wage hikes, a week after
Poland’s right-wing government
announced a raft of generous
spending measures in other
sectors ahead of local elections.
Public sector wages, especially
in education and healthcare,
have long been notoriously low
in Poland, a 2004 EU member of
38mn people, where the average
gross monthly salary is around
5,000 zloty (€1,200, $1,500).
“We’re fed up with the disregard
for teachers, we’re fed up
with pitiful teachers’ salaries,”
Slawomir Broniarz, head of the
ZNP Polish Teachers’ Union, told
protesters who blared horns
and beat drums in front of the
education ministry.
The long-running name dis-
pute between Macedonia and
EU-member Greece dates back to
1991 when Skopje declared inde-
pendence following the collapse
of communist Yugoslavia.
Athens objects to Macedo-
nia’s name because it has its own
northern province called Mac-
edonia, and fears it may imply
territorial ambitions.
“If the dispute is not solved,
the world will not end,” Zaev
said. “We will bring Europe here
to Skopje (the capital).
“And we will push a European
Armenia protest leader
will only discuss PM exit
AFP
Yerevan
rmenia’s political crisis
deepened yesterday as
demonstrations contin-
ued and protest leader Nikol
Pashinyan said he was only pre-
pared to discuss the exit of the
country’s newly elected prime
minister, former president Serzh
Sarkisian.
“We are only ready to discuss
the conditions of his departure,”
news agencies quoted Pashinyan
as saying after Sarkisian called
on the opposition to enter into
talks with authorities.
“This won’t be a dialogue, as
I already said, we do not want
vendetta and we wish to secure
the transfer of power to the
people while avoiding shock as
much as possible,” Pashinyan
was quoted as saying.
Protests against Sarkissian’s
rule entered their ninth day
on Saturday as several thou-
sand people flocked to Republic
Square in the city centre of the
capital Yerevan.
President Armen Sarkisian –
no relation to Serzh – met Pash-
inyan yesterday afternoon at the
demonstration, an AFP journal-
ist said.
Flanked by bodyguards Presi-
dent Sarkisian shook hands with
the opposition leader and the
pair spoke for about 10 minutes.
Fans in Stockholm honour
life, music of late DJ Avicii
DPA
Stockholm
H
undreds of fans packed
a central Stockholm
square yesterday to pay
tribute to Tim Bergling, better
known as the Swedish DJ Avicii,
one day after the 28-year-old
house musician was found dead
in Muscat, Oman.
The impromptu gathering
at Sergels Torg in the Swedish
capital, webcast by broadcaster
SVT and other outlets, opened
with a moment of silence.
Some in the crowd danced
and formed hearts with their
hands when Levels, Somewhere
in Stockholm, and other songs
by Bergling were played.
Born on September 8, 1989,
the Stockholm native began to
DJ as a teen.
After his first single was re-
leased in 2007, Bergling became
known for hits such as Levels,
Sunshine, and Wake Me Up.
Earlier yesterday, police in
Oman said they did not sus-
pect foul play in connection
with Bergling’s death, Swedish
broadcaster SVT reported.
“We have all the information,
we know what happened but we
will not release it to media,” a
police spokesperson told SVT.
Authorities were not search-
ing for suspects and “do not
suspect any crime”, the report
said.
Under the stage name Avicii,
Bergling’s international break-
through came in 2011 with the
single Levels, which became a
world hit.
agenda one way or another.”
Because of the dispute, Mac-
edonia was forced to join the
United Nations under the name
the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM).
Greek veto threats have also
hampered Skopje’s bid to become
a member of the European Union
and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (Nato) military al-
liance.
UN mediated talks to settle the
row have resumed since Zaev’s
Social Democrats won elections
last year, ousting the nationalist
Demonstrators waved Arme-
nian flags and blocked streets,
disrupting traffic in the capital.
Police said that they had made
84 arrests so far in the after-
noon, and more than 230 people
were arrested on Friday.
Rallies were also planned in
other cities such as Gyumri,
Ararat and Artashat.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Min-
siter Serzh Sarkisian sought a
“political dialogue” with the
protest leader.
“I am deeply concerned about
the unfolding internal political
events.
In order to avoid irreversible
consequences, I call on deputy
Nikol Pashinyan to sit at the
table of political dialogue and
negotiation,” the 63-year-old
leader said in a statement.
Opposition supporters de-
nounce Serzh Sarkisian’s efforts
to remain in power as prime
minister after a decade serving
as president.
At a 30,000-strong rally in
Yerevan on Friday evening, Pa-
shinyan laid out his demands for
the authorities.
“First, Sarkisian resigns. Sec-
ond, parliament elects a new
prime minister that represents
the people. Third, it forms a
temporary government.
“Fourth, they schedule par-
liamentary elections. We will
enter negotiations around these
demands,” he said, calling Serzh
Fans of Avicii (right) gather to
honour him at Sergels Torg in
central Stockholm.
The musician went on to col-
laborate with Madonna, Cold-
play, Wyclef Jean and Robbie
Williams, among other artists.
Though he stopped touring
and performing live in 2016,
Bergling had continued to
record music and work as a pro-
ducer until his death.
“So Sad ....... So Tragic. Good
Bye Dear Sweet Tim. Gone too
Soon,” Madonna wrote on Twit-
ter.
Other tributes by music pro-
fessionals were made on social
media, and several night clubs
in Stockholm held a moment of
VMRO-DPMNE party of Nikola
Gruevski after more than ten
years in power.
The negotiations have made
progress after Macedonia agreed
in February to change the name
of the capital’s Alexander the
Great airport to Skopje Interna-
tional Airport, in a goodwill ges-
ture to Greece.
Macedonia had also been ac-
cused of appropriating symbols
and figures that are historically
considered part of Greek culture,
such as Alexander the Great.
The motorway linking Mac-
Serzh Sarkisian
Sarkisian a “political corpse”.
“The whole world can see this
is a people’s velvet revolution,
which very soon will be victori-
ous,” Pashinyan told the rally.
Demonstrators held up plac-
ards reading “Sarkisian is a dic-
tator”.
“I believe we will win this time
because when the youth is on the
street the police can do nothing,”
Hovik Haranyan, a 25-year-old
protester blocking traffic, told
AFP yesterday. “Our generation
has the right to live in a func-
tioning country.”
Opposition supporters have
criticised the 63-year-old leader
over poverty, corruption and the
influence of powerful oligarchs.
silence at midnight in tribute to
Bergling’s music.
“We wanted to honour Tim,
for years he has provided mu-
sic for our dance floors,” Rob-
ert Hallstrand, who owns the
Stockholm night spots Rose and
edonia with Greece was also re-
named the Friendship Highway.
Zaev said that he is “satisfied”
that “a huge part of the issues”
between Macedonia and Greece
had been solved and that he was
optimistic about a final deal.
He has previously said that an
agreement could be reached by
the summer.
However, the 43-year-old de-
clined to go into details about the
ongoing talks, saying “it could
destroy the entire process”.
Earlier this week the Euro-
pean Commission recommended
Armenian police officers remove a vehicle during a protest rally in
central Yerevan.
A former military officer,
Serzh Sarkisian has been in
charge of the landlocked South
Caucasus nation of 2.9mn peo-
ple for a decade.
Under a new parliamentary
system of government, lawmak-
ers elected Serzh Sarkisian as
prime minister last week after
he served a decade as president
from 2008.
Fou was quoted as telling daily
Aftonbladet.
Swedish Prime Minister Ste-
fan Lofven posted on Instagram:
“He was one of Sweden’s great-
est musical wonders in modern
times.”
EUROPE
opening EU accession talks with
Skopje, an EU candidate since
2005, in a development Zaev de-
scribed as “encouraging”.
“This is a message of open
doors. That is very important for
Macedonia,” he said, adding that
more than 75% of Macedonians
are in favour of the country’s in-
tegration into the EU and Nato.
However, “that does not mean
that we should not improve co-
operation with other countries,
including the Russian Federa-
tion”, Zaev said.
Russia has openly objected to
Constitutional amendments
approved in 2015 have trans-
ferred power from the presiden-
cy to the premier.
After Serzh Sarkisian was first
elected in 2008, 10 people were
killed and hundreds more were
injured in bloody clashes be-
tween police and supporters of
the defeated opposition candi-
date.
Emergency rule
good for economy,
says Erdogan
Reuters
Istanbul
B
usinesses should wel-
come Turkey’s state of
emergency because it
guards against terrorism and
prevents workers from going
out on strike, President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.
Parliament this week voted
to extend the state of emer-
gency, introduced following a
failed coup in July 2016, for a
further three months.
It is the seventh such exten-
sion of emergency rule, which
lets Erdogan and the govern-
ment bypass parliament in
passing new laws and allows
them to suspend rights and
freedoms.
The extensions have been
roundly criticised by human
rights groups and Turkey’s
Western allies.
The country’s main business
lobby, TUSIAD, this week re-
newed its call for a swift end to
emergency rule.
“The state of emergency
only affects terrorists. Now
it’s preventing labour strikes,
such as the Bursa strike, which
we stopped right away. It’s a
struggle against terrorism,”
Erdogan said in a speech to the
DEIK business lobby, which
represents Turkey’s private
sector overseas.
“When our business peo-
ple say the state of emergency
should be lifted, it upsets us ...
we will continue extending it
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 19
the aspirations of fellow Slavic
countries in the Balkans to join
Nato, most recently when Mon-
tenegro became a member in
mid-2017.
“I want to improve co-oper-
ation with Russia,” Zaev said.
“(But) the Russian Federation
should know that for us there is
no alternative to Nato and the
European Union. We will remain
focused on that path.
“That is our absolute right, our
expectation and how we view the
future of this country and the
people that live here.”
Nikol Pashinyan
for the peace of our country,
yes we will, for the 10th time if
necessary.”
Earlier this year authorities
stopped workers in the north-
western city of Bursa, home to
the auto industry and a hub for
textile manufacturing, from
going out on strike.
Under emergency rule,
strikes, protests and displays of
civil disobedience can be shut
down on security grounds.
This week Erdogan set snap
presidential and parliamentary
elections for June, bringing
them forward by more than a
year in a move that may have
left the opposition ill-prepared
to credibly challenge him.
The United States this week
said it had concerns about
Turkey’s ability to hold free
and fair elections under emer-
gency rule, comments that
Ankara dismissed.
The UN last month called
for an end to the state of emer-
gency, saying that it had led
to “massive and serious” hu-
man rights violations in largely
Kurdish southeastern Turkey,
including killings and torture.
Turkey slammed that report
as rife with unfounded allega-
tions.
Ankara says its measures are
necessary, given the severity of
the security threats it faces.
More than 160,000 peo-
ple have been detained since
the failed coup and a similar
number of civil servants sacked
from their jobs, the United Na-
tions has said.
 Gulf Times
20 Sunday, April 22, 2018

INDIA
TERRORISM
No parole for Salem
to get married
The Maharashtra government yesterday rejected
an application by incarcerated mafia don Abu
Salem seeking 45 days parole for getting married,
officials said in Mumbai. Salem, sentenced to life
imprisonment, had applied in March for parole
for his second marriage with Sayed Bahar Kauser
alias Heena. The marriage was fixed for May 5 in
Mumbai. He had provided the names and details of
two cousins who were willing to stand guarantee
for him. Salem - a close confidante of absconding
mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar - was in
September 2017 sentenced to life for his role in the
March 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai which
killed 257 and wounded over 700.
MYSTERY
Decomposed body may
be of Latvian woman
A decomposed body recovered from near Kovalam
has been identified as that of Latvian woman Liga
Skromane who went missing in March, police
said yesterday. The body was identified by her
sister and a friend, they said, adding however, a
detailed forensic examination would be done to
scientifically confirm this. The head was found
lying away from the body in a marshy place.
Late on Friday, fishermen found the body in
highly decomposed state and alerted the police.
Yesterday, Skromane’s sister and friend arrived
and identified the body from her dress and hair.
Skromane had come to Kerala along with her sister
Ilzie for ayurvedic treatment.
INVESTIGATION
DRI busts diesel
smuggling racket
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)
has busted a diesel smuggling racket in the
guise of mineral spirit by some operators based
in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,
officials said yesterday. Diesel is a restricted
commodity for import as per the Foreign Trade
Policy and can be imported only by oil marketing
companies. In a statement, the Finance Ministry
said the diesel was being brought from Dubai
in huge quantities regularly through containers
at Chennai Port for further illegal sale in Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Searches
were carried out by DRI officials in Hyderabad
and Chennai.
ALLEGATION
Sportswoman accuses
doctor of rape
A prominent international level sportswoman from
Maharashtra has accused a Karnataka doctor of
raping her for two years, police said. According to
the police, the complaint was received earlier this
week from the 33-year-old sportswoman against a
doctor living in Gulbarga town in north Karnataka.
“The complainant has said the accused has
repeatedly raped for over two years with hopes of
marriage and then reneging on his promise. The
accused is absconding and we are on the lookout,”
the police said. The victim said she came in touch
with the doctor via social media in December 2016
and after sometime, he visited Kolhapur to meet
her.
EDUCATION
More than 7,000 students
visit IIT Delhi Open House
More than 7,000 students visited the Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) as it
opened its gates to school children yesterday,
showcasing a number of innovations and
technologies it developed in the last one
year. A number of devises and gadgets were
displayed at the 14th Open House, organised
by the premier institute, which included
flexicrutch, a special crutch to ease walking
for disabled, nasal filters to block pollutants,
and biodegradable tableware made of rice
straw. “I really liked the event. Especially the
hologram,” said Lakshya, a class 12 student of
Adarsh Public School, Dwarka.

Govt okays
plan to seize
properties of
AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh, Renuka Choudhary of the Congress, Yashwant Sinha, RJP’s Tejashwi Yadav and BJP MP Satrughan
Sinha join hands at a meeting of the Rashtra Manch in Patna yesterday.
rich fugitives
Agencies India to face trial for scheduled ceeding prior to the declaration,
New Delhi offences,” the government said the alleged fugitive economic of-
in a statement. fender returns to India and sub-

Yashwant Sinha quits BJP, T

he central cabinet yes-
terday approved an or-
dinance that
empower authorities to seize
would
According to the ordinance, a
special court set up under anti-
money laundering laws will have
to declare a suspect fugitive eco-
nomic offender before authori-
mits to the appropriate jurisdic-
tional court, proceedings under
the proposed act would cease by
law.
“All necessary constitutional

says democracy in danger properties of super-rich fugi-

tives whose economic offences
or crimes involve sums over
Rs1bn ($15mn).
The move comes as the coun-
ties can seize property.
A fugitive economic offender
is described as a person against
whom an arrest warrant has been
issued in respect of a scheduled
safeguards in terms of providing
hearing to the person through
counsel, allowing him time to file
a reply, serving notice of sum-
mons to him, whether in India
Agencies “From today, my relationship Aged 80 and no longer ac- tees given to them in the con- try reels from a series of banking offence and who has left India in or abroad and appeal to the high
Patna with BJP is over. I’m severing tive in electoral politics, Sinha stitution were threatened. scandals, including a $2bn fraud a bid to avoid criminal prosecu- court have been provided for,”
my ties with the party,” Sinha has criticised the Modi govern- Sinha, whose son is a junior at state-run Punjab National tion, or being abroad, refuses to the sources said.
said. ment on a range of issues, most minister for aviation, derided Bank that was uncovered in Feb- return to India to face criminal The proposed ordinance,

O
ne of India’s best known
politicians, former fi-
nance and foreign min-
ister Yashwant Sinha, quit the
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) yesterday, saying Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s party
was undermining democratic
institutions.
Sinha, who served as a min-
ister in the first BJP-led gov-
ernments headed by Atal Bihari
Vajpayee in the late 1990s and
early 2000s, has frequently
spoken out over how the party
has evolved since then.
“Democracy in India is in
grave danger,” Sinha said, an-
nouncing his decision to quit at
a meeting of a new political ac-
tion group attended by several
opposition politicians in Patna,
the capital of Bihar.
“I’m not going to be a mem-
ber of any other political party,”
he said, adding, “My friends
and I will lead a movement to
save democracy in India.”
“I am not an aspirant for
any top post and I am making
it clear here that I am not at all
interested to seek any post,” he
added.
Sinha attended the meet-
ing of the Rashtra Manch along
with BJP MP Satrughan Sinha,
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Te-
jashwi Yadav, Congress leader
Renuka Choudhary and Aam
Aadmi Party leaders Sanjay
Singh and Ashutosh.
Sinha delivered his broadside
as Modi prepares to lead the BJP
into a general election due by
next year, with high hopes of
securing a second term.
recently through an open letter
published earlier this week.
In that letter, Sinha urged the
prime minister to speak and act
more forcefully on vital issues,
including the recent horrific
rapes that have reflected badly
on the BJP.
In one case party members
had appeared to support the
Hindu men accused of rap-
ing an eight-year-old Muslim
girl, and in another case in the
northern state of Uttar Pradesh
a BJP lawmaker is alleged to
have raped a teenager.
Sinha also said that India’s
religious minorities had be-
come alienated, and the weak-
est sections of society, the
scheduled castes and tribes had
been “exposed to atrocities as
never before” and the guaran-
the government for making
“tall claims” over India’s status
as the world’s fastest growing
major economy.
Aside from the plight of
farmers and small businesses,
high youth unemployment, and
an increase in banks’ bad loans,
Sinha noted savings and invest-
ment had fallen drastically over
the past four years.
Sinha had also taken issue with
the government over Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court Dipak Misra.
Four Supreme Court judges
made an unprecedented move
by publicly airing their misgiv-
ings over Misra in January.
On Friday, seven opposition
parties moved to have Misra
impeached for bending to po-
litical pressure and other short-
falls in his conduct.
ruary.
Mumbai jewellers Nirav Modi
and his uncle Mehul Choksi are
prime suspects in the case and a
special court of the Central Bu-
reau of Investigations (CBI) this
month issued non-bailable war-
rants against them.
But authorities say the two
men left the country before the
fraud was uncovered.
Modi and Choksi have denied
the allegations against them.
Following the executive or-
der, or ordinance, investigating
agencies will be able to confis-
cate the properties of fugitives in
such cases.
“The ordinance is expected
to re-establish the rule of law
with respect to the fugitive
economic offenders as they
would be forced to return to
prosecution.
A scheduled offence refers to
a list of economic offences con-
tained in the schedule to this or-
dinance.
Further, in order to ensure that
courts are not over-burdened
with such cases, only those cases
where the total value involved in
such offences is Rs1bn or more,
is within the purview of the or-
dinance.
According to sources, the
ordinance would also help the
banks and other financial in-
stitutions to achieve higher re-
covery from financial defaults
committed by such fugitive eco-
nomic offenders, improving the
financial health of such institu-
tions.
However, if at any point of
time in the course of the pro-
among other things, provides for
making an application before the
Special Court for a declaration
that an individual is a fugitive
economic offender; attachment
of the property of a fugitive eco-
nomic offender and proceeds of
crime and issue of a notice by the
Special Court to the individual
alleged to be a fugitive economic
offender.
It also provides for confis-
cation of the property of an
individual declared as a fu-
gitive economic offender or
even the proceeds of crime;
disentitlement of the fugi-
tive economic offender from
defending any civil claim and
appointment of an adminis-
trator to manage and dispose
of the confiscated property
under the act.

Police officer

Tax officials seize cash, gold transferred

amid custody
death probe
in election-bound Karnataka A senior police officer was
yesterday was transferred amid
an investigation into a custodial
IANS death in Ernakulam district.
Bengaluru Superintendent of Police A V
George was already in the news
as he was involved in the arrest of

I
ncome Tax officials seized
Rs41mn in cash and 4.52kg gold
jewellery valued at Rs13mn dur-
ing raids conducted over the last
three weeks in poll-bound Karna-
taka, an official said yesterday.
“Of the Rs4.13 crore (Rs41.3mn)
seized, Rs4.03 crore is in Rs2,000
and Rs500 currency notes, with
Bengaluru accounting for Rs2.47
crore and Ballari Rs55 lakh,” Joint
Director of Income Tax Depart-
ment G Ramesh said in a statement.
The rich mining Ballari town is
330km from Bengaluru.
Election to the 225-member
Karnataka assembly will be held on
May 12 across the southern state,
with the vote count on May 15.
“We have stepped up surveil-
lance and monitoring of activities
in view of the state assembly elec-
tion. Seizure in higher denomina-
tion raises eyebrows, as people are
finding difficulty in drawing cash
from banks and ATMs due to its
shortage in some parts of the coun-
try,” Ramesh said.
A man was arrested with
Rs1.6mn in cash at one of the air-
ports without valid proof of its
source.
“A follow-up action against the
accused person led to the detection
and seizure of additional Rs37 lakhs
in his Mumbai premises. We have
seized all the cash amounting to
Rs53.50 lakh,” Ramesh said.
Uday Garudachar of the Bharatiya Janata Party, accompanied by party
leader Ananth Kumar and supporters, arrives to file nomination papers for
the Karnataka Assembly election in Bengaluru on April 20.
During the raid, the officials
seized Rs5.5mn in cash from a per-
son who got the money from con-
tractor paid. His confession re-
vealed the contractor had evaded
tax of Rs160mn.
In another case, household
articles valued at Rs95mn in-
tended for distribution was
found in a warehouse near
Mysuru.
“We have set up a 24x7 con-
trol room in Bengaluru to receive
election-related complaints from
the public and other state agencies.
Strike teams have also been formed
with powers in all the 30 districts to
act,” said Ramesh.
PDP leader Abdul Nasir Madany a
few years ago, probed the actress
kidnap case, which led to the arrest
of superstar Dileep and a few other
high profile cases.
He was tight-lipped when asked
if he felt the transfer was a
disciplinary action against him.
Already a sub-inspector of police
and the three policemen who
first took into custody the victim
- Sreejith, 26 - have been arrested
and according to informed police
sources, more action against
police officials, including George,
is imminent.
The policemen arrested all are directly
under the charge of George and just
before their arrest, the three of them,
in a video later shown on TV channels,
had expressed fears they would be
made scapegoats to save top officers.
State Congress president M
M Hassan has demanded that
George be suspended. and
Leader of Opposition Ramesh
Chennithala will stage a 24
hour fast tomorrow in Kochi
demanding a Central Bureau
of Investigation probe into the
custodial death.
Trouble started for Sreejith
after 56-year-old Vasudevan
committed suicide.
According to sources, Vasudevan
hanged himself after a group of
men barged into his house and
threatened him.
 Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 21

INDIA

Impeachment
move suicidal
and dangerous,
say experts
IANS retary general said while agree-
New Delhi ing to the views of Justice Reddy
who said the entire move was
fraught with dangers.

S
everal legal luminaries and
a constitutional expert
yesterday criticised the
opposition’s move to impeach
Chief Justice of India Dipak
Misra, describing it as “unfor-
tunate”, “suicidal” and “danger-
ous”.
Former chief justice of India
T S Thakur dubbed the situation
“unfortunate”, while former Su-
preme Court judge B Sudershan
Reddy termed it “suicidal and
dangerous”.
Former Lok Sabha secretary
general Subhash C Kashyap said
Justice Reddy said the im-
peachment move had a definite
political coating and it can’t be
otherwise.
“Any impeachment motion”,
Justice Reddy said, “is definitely
political in its nature. In any im-
peachment proceedings politics
can’t be avoided.”
“But in the present case, they Police officers present Harshsai Gurjar, who is accused of sexual
are dragging – may be uninten- attack and murder of an 11-year-old girl, before the media at a crime
tionally – the judiciary into par- A woman holds a placard during a protest against the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, near branch office in Ahmedabad, yesterday. The postmortem revealed
ty politics, which is dangerous.” Jammu, in Guwahati, yesterday. the girl had been tortured, raped, strangled and smothered.
Justice J Chelameswar – one
of the four most senior apex
court judges who went public on

Govt approves death

the move was “pure party poli-
tics”.
Kashyap said that under the
constitution, only the president
can be impeached and Article 124
only speaks about the removal of
a judge for misconduct or proven
January 12 with their grievances
over its functioning – had said
that impeachment was not an
answer for every problem in the
higher judiciary.
“I do not know why the nation
is obsessed with impeachment.

penalty for child rape

incapacity. “There is nothing like
impeachment of a judge.”
Former Delhi High Court
judge R S Sodhi, a practising
senior counsel in the Supreme
Court, said it was the “most im-
mature move” and a “political
hara-kiri” by the Congress that
betrays logic.
Congress-led seven op-
position parties on April 20
Impeachment can’t be an an-
swer to everything. There have
to be other mechanisms in place
to deal with such problems,”
Justice Chelameswar had said in
an interaction with TV host Ka-
ran Thapar.
Describing the Congress ac- Agencies convicted rapists were also bid to force her nomad commu- di’s home state of Gujarat. India, with many accusing po-
tion as “the most immature New Delhi toughened. nity out of a Hindu-dominated The postmortem revealed the lice of being slack in cases in-
move” it had committed in its “The ordinance will be sent to area of Jammu. girl had been tortured, raped, volving influential people.
history, Justice Sodhi said: “I am the president for his consent,” Public anger boiled over after strangled and smothered. Modi’s government faced

met Rajya Sabha Chairman M
Venkaiah Naidu and submitted
an impeachment motion for the
removal of the chief justice on
charges of “misbehaviour”.
Pointing out that he found no
substance in the charges, former
apex court judge Reddy said in
Hyderabad that “it is suicidal
on part of the political parties
which have moved the impeach-
ment motion”.
Prima facie, he claimed,
“there is no material to establish
the charge of any misbehaviour
on part of the chief justice”, add-
ing that “irregularities do not
amount to misbehaviour”.
Former CJI Thakur, while re-
fusing to go into the details, said:
“This is very unfortunate that
the top judiciary is faced with
such crisis.”
An authority on parliamentary
rules and procedures, Kashyap
said the impeachment move was
“not likely to succeed at all”.
“It is purely party politics. The
purpose seems to be to embar-
rass the judiciary and the gov-
ernment - the party in power. It
is not likely to pass (muster) at
all,” the former Lok Sabha sec-
sorry that the Grand Old Party
has committed hara-kiri.”
He said that the Congress had
targeted the judiciary – the only
organ of the State which has
credibility – and it would hurt
the country.
Meanwhile, the Congress hit
back at Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley over his remarks terming
the impeachment move as a “re-
venge petition”, and said it was
important to be “right” than to
be on the “right side of powers”.
In a series of tweets, Congress
leader Randeep Singh Surjewala
said that Congress government
had followed the constitutional
procedure under the Judges In-
quiry Act for removal of Justice
Sourmitra Sen of Calcutta High
Court and attached a video
showing Jailtey supporting the
impeachment move.
“Mr Jaitley, when you argued
for the impeachment of Justice
Sen, no one accused you of ‘re-
venge politics’. Instead the UPA
government followed the con-
stitutional procedure under the
Judges Inquiry Act. It seems
your stand on the matter is this,”
he said referring to the video.
T
he government yesterday
approved the death pen-
alty for child rapists, after
the gang-rape and murder of an
eight-year-old girl and a series
of other horrific sexual assaults
caused nationwide outrage.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi called a cabinet meeting
to pass the measure yesterday
on his return from the Com-
monwealth summit, officials
said.
Protests have erupted across
India in recent days over the
rape and killing of the young girl
by a group of men in Jammu and
Kashmir, increasing pressure on
Modi to take action.
The attack sent out the sort
of shockwaves that shook the
country after the equally hor-
rific gang-rape of a Delhi stu-
dent on a bus in 2012, which
made headlines around the
world.
The cabinet approved the or-
dinance amending laws on sex-
ual violence to allow for capital
punishment for those convicted
of raping children below the age
of 12, an official said.
Minimum jail sentences for
the official said on condition of
anonymity.
The president’s approval is
seen as a formality.
The new decree requires tri-
als involving child victims to be
completed in two months after
an arrest, unusually speedy for
India where the wheels of jus-
tice turn slowly.
The order will remain in ef-
fect for a period of six months
from the president’s approval,
or until parliament votes the
changes into law.
In recent months, four states
have already introduced similar
legislation in state assemblies
to approve the death penalty for
child rapists.
India has the death penalty
for the most brutal murders and
terror attacks.
But the sentences are rarely
carried out and are often struck
down on appeal by higher
courts.
India carried out its last
hanging in 2015 of a 1993 Mum-
bai bombing convict.
The recent protests began af-
ter police accused eight Hindu
men of raping a Muslim girl in a
police last week made public
how the girl was drugged, re-
peatedly raped while held cap-
tive for five days at a temple and
then beaten to death.
India previously introduced
tougher laws in 2013 after the
brutal New Delhi gang-rape.
The incident triggered weeks
of street protests and global
condemnation.
But sexual violence, includ-
ing against children, remains
unabated in India, with some
11,000 child rape cases reported
in 2015.
A 2014 UN report said one in
three rape victims in India was
a minor.
Yesterday, police in Madhya
Pradesh arrested a man over
the rape and murder of a four-
month-old girl.
The infant’s blood soaked
body was found on Friday in a
building in Indore city hours af-
ter she went missing.
Police said the suspect was
a distant relative of the victim
and had targeted the child after
an argument with her mother.
A sexual attack on an 11-year-
old girl was also reported in Mo-
Modi’s failure to speak out
soon enough during the lat-
est bout of public anger fuelled
criticism that his government
was not doing enough to protect
women.
With a general election due
next year, Modi moved swiftly
to remedy that negative percep-
tion by holding the emergency
cabinet meeting as soon as he
returned yesterday morning.
Activists say lax implemen-
tation of laws and snail-paced
trials fuel the “rape culture” in
DCW chief Maliwal to end fast today
Delhi Commission for Women
chief Swati Maliwal, whose
indefinite hunger strike to
demand death for rapists of
children continued for the
ninth day yesterday, said she
would end her fast at 2pm
today. “I’m ending the fast, but
the struggle will go on,” the
Aam Aadmi Party leader said
while announcing her decision.
Earlier in the day, she said
she would continue her fast
criticism after one his party
members in Uttar Pradesh was
accused by a teenager of raping
her.
The Bharatiya Janata Party
legislator remained free for al-
most a year after police rejected
pleas from the victim to file a
rape case against him.
He was finally arrested last
week after the teenager tried to
set herself on fire outside the
residence of Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath, triggering a wave of
protests.
till the time an ordinance on
the death penalty for rapists
of children below the age of
12 – which was approved by
the cabinet yesterday – was
not promulgated. Maliwal has
been on fast since April 13
in support of her demand in
the wake of rape and murder
of an eight-year-old girl in
Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua
in January and other similar
sexual attacks elsewhere.

BJP seeks action against TDP leader

IANS action against Balakrishna. N T Rama Rao, spared no words in “If you have heart, you should
Vijayawada Balakrishna on Friday described targeting Modi. listen to the heart beat of the Telugu
Modi as a “gaddar” (traitor) and Reminding the prime minister’s people. Not just Andhra, the entire
“namak haram” (cheat) for going past as a tea-seller, the TDP lead- India is against you. The time has

T
he Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) yesterday demanded
action against senior Telugu
actor and Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
legislator N Balakrishna for using
objectionable language while target-
ing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A delegation of BJP leaders called
on Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L
Narasimhan in Visakhapatnam and
urged him to take serious note of the
language used by Balakrishna.
The BJP delegation, led by Vish-
nukumar Raju, submitted a memo-
randum to the governor demanding
back on the promise of granting
special category status to Andhra
Pradesh. He also used some more
unparliamentary words, evoking
strong condemnation from the BJP.
The actor, who is a member of
the state assembly, was addressing
a meeting in Vijayawada where his
brother-in-law and Chief Minister
N Chandrababu Naidu staged a day-
long fast to protest against the cen-
tral government for doing injustice
to the state.
Balakrishna, the younger son of
legendary actor and TDP founder
er said Modi had treated Andhra
Pradesh like a fly struggling for sur-
vival in a cup of hot tea.
“Instead of rescuing it, he chose
to take into his mouth and chew it,”
he said.
He predicted that the BJP would
not win even a single seat in Andhra
Pradesh in the next elections.
“You are trying to play Sikhandi (a
character in Mahabharata) politics
by taking the help of our rivals to at-
tack the TDP. But your cheap politics
won’t work here. You cannot suc-
ceed in your attempts,” he said.
come when they will beat you re-
peatedly and chase you, wherever
you go. You cannot escape even if
you go and sit in a bunker,” said
Balakrishna.
The actor also accused Modi of
trying to gain grip over Andhra
Pradesh as he had done in Gujarat.
“But remember Modji, Andhra
Pradesh is not Gujarat. Your tricks
do not work here. The Telugu peo-
ple are courageous. They showed
their power when the Congress gov-
ernment in Delhi tried to pull down
NTR government in 1984.”

Gandhi family loyalist

in Rae Bareli joins BJP
IANS Narendra Modi will retain power
Lucknow for a second term after the 2019
Lok Sabha elections.
Singh claimed that no one

A
confidante of former
Congress president and
Rae Bareli MP Sonia Gan-
dhi yesterday joined the Bharati-
ya Janata Party in the presence of
party chief Amit Shah.
Dinesh Pratap Singh said he
was disappointed at what he got
in return from the Congress for
his loyalty for so many years.
He said Prime Minister
from the Gandhi family, not even
the United Progressive Alliance
chairperson’s daughter Priyanka
Vadra, will be able to win Lok
Sabha elections from Rae Bareli
in future. BJP chief Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and other party
He thanked the BJP for what he leaders wave to supporters at a public rally in Rae Bareli yesterday.
called “grooming and develop-
ing” the constituency, which oth- held the seat for decades. chairman Avdhesh Singh said to enjoy consider-
erwise should have been done by His younger broth- also joined the BJP. able clout in the Gandhi
the Congress leaders when they er and Zila Panchayat The two brothers are family bastion.
 Gulf Times
22 Sunday, April 22, 2018
AMERICAS
Cuban leadership
changes, but
that’s all for now
AFP
Havana
C
uba’s president may no
longer be named Castro,
but the communist sys-
tem that Fidel and Raul cement-
ed over the course of decades is
not going anywhere, at least not
soon.
Raul Castro, 86, and his new
successor as president, Miguel
Diaz-Canel, 57, will ensure that
it survives even if more pro-
market reforms are badly need-
ed.
Indeed, his relinquishing the
presidency after 60 years of
Castro rule, while important, is
not expected to shake up Cuba
in any major way, at least over
the short term.
In a historic changing of the
guard on Thursday, both the
old president and the new one
insisted the regime will live
on, with Castro retaining the
key position of head of the all-
powerful communist party until
2021.
In his first speech as presi-
dent, Diaz-Canel, a career party
loyalist, said Castro “will still
preside over decisions of major
importance for the present and
future of the nation.”
“There is no room for a tran-
sition that ignores the legacy of
so many years of struggle,” said
Diaz-Canel.
The Council of State, the su-
preme executive body that he
oversees, got some new faces at
Thursday’s meeting of the Na-
tional Assembly.
But some representatives
of the old guard retained their
seats.
They include Salvador Valdes
Mesa, 72, Leopoldo Cintra Frias,
76, or Ramiro Valdes, 85.
So “it is hard to imagine sud-
Death toll in Nicaragua
protests rises to six
Reuters
Managua
A
t least six people have
died in violent protests in
Nicaragua over changes
to social security, the Red Cross
said yesterday, as pressure in-
creased on the government of
President Daniel Ortega to halt
the bloodshed.
Nicaraguans have been
protesting since Wednesday
against the changes that in-
crease worker contributions and
lower pensions, sparking one of
the biggest crises in the admin-
istration of Ortega, a former
Marxist guerrilla.
Lissett Guido, a spokeswom-
an for the Red Cross of Nicara-
Colombia border teems as Venezuelans ‘without anything’ flee crisis
By Dylan Baddour
Cucuta, Colombia
O
utside a church in the
Colombian border city of
Cucuta, Martha Carba-
jalino flips nervously through a
pile of papers in her hands, stand-
ing with dozens of other migrant
Venezuelan parents hoping to en-
rol their undocumented children
into school.
Like some 1.5mn other people
in the last two years, Carbajalino,
46, fled the hunger and violence of
economic collapse and a political
crisis in Venezuela.
A month ago she, along with
her son and her mother, disabled
by a stroke, crossed the border to
scrape a living in Cucuta, a city re-
ceiving many of the Venezuelans
leaving their homeland.
Colombian President Juan
Manuel Santos has described the
situation in Venezuela, with its
denly change and reform will
occur at an accelerated pace,”
said Peter Hakim of a Washing-
ton-based think tank called the
Inter-American Dialogue.
If the communist system is
here to stay for now, changes in
Cuba — where people make an
average of $30 a month — are
necessary and some are already
in place.
Castro used his farewell
speech to announce consti-
tutional reforms to adapt the
charter to “political, economic
and social transformations”
that have taken place in Cuba.
These changes, which could
include the creation of the job of
prime minister, will be submit-
ted to a referendum.
But Castro did not go into de-
tail, and he insisted in any case
that Cuban socialism is “irrevo-
cable” and the role of the com-
munist party will not change.
Diaz-Canel is an electrical
engineer by training and is no
specialist in economics.
But his main task will be to
press ahead with reforms that
have introduced at least a taste
of market-style economic life in
a system where the state calls all
the shots and people live on next
to nothing.
These timid changes ushered
in by Raul Castro must go even
further to shore up an economy
that is stagnant — it grew only
1.6% in 2017 — and heavily de-
pendent on imports and aid
from ally Venezuela, which now
has huge economic woes of its
own.
The most urgent tasks are to
unify the currency system —
Cuba has two kinds of peso —
and decentralise the economy
and political system, said Ar-
turo Lopez-Levy, a Cuba expert
at the University of Texas, Rio
Grande Valley.
gua, said in total five people had
died in Managua and another
in the municipality of Tipitapa,
northeast of the capital.
“Most deaths were due to
firearms,” she said.
Guido could not confirm lo-
cal media reports that at least
10 people had died, and said
any other fatalities must have
occurred in areas the Red Cross
had not reached.
Dozens of people have also
been injured as police used tear
gas and rubber bullets to dis-
perse demonstrations.
Managua’s streets were
largely calm early yesterday
morning.
A Cold War antagonist of the
United States, Ortega served
a single term as president the
hyperinflation and severe reces-
sion, as a “humanitarian crisis.”
Colombia was spending millions
of dollars to support the migrants,
he said during a recent visit to the
border.
Carbajalino hopes to get Luis
Angel, her seven-year-old son
who likes to draw robots, into
school, but she cannot figure out
how.
“I knock on doors, and no one
opens for me,” she said through
tears outside offices of the Sca-
labrini International Migration
Network, a Catholic organisation
for migrant aid.
“I don’t have anywhere to go
and here, they say, they give help,”
Carbajalino said.
Thousands of Venezuelan chil-
dren in Cucuta are not going to
school, spending their days alone,
following their parents, selling
items on the streets or begging.
Every day more arrive.
About 40,000 Venezuelans
“The hardest part will be to
confront the political conse-
quences of those reforms and
the pressure these might trigger
for yet another wave of change,”
he added.
As to the dual-currency sys-
tem, unique in the world and
a source of distortion in the
economy, Castro admitted it has
given Cuban leaders “serious
headaches” for years.
To those who think Cuba
might follow the paths of former
strictly communist countries
like Vietnam or China, Diaz-
Canel warned there is no chance
of capitalism being restored in
Cuba.
“This legislature will defend
the revolution and work toward
perfecting it,” he said.
“It is not going to happen
overnight,” Cuban political sci-
entist Esteban Morales said of
the idea of more reform.
As Cubans wait to see the
makeup of the next cabinet of
ministers, a decision that has
been put off until July, many are
watching for the kind of rela-
tionship that develops between
Castro and Diaz-Canel.
For the first time in decades,
the president of the Council of
State and the Council of Minis-
ters will not also head the com-
munist party.
“Obviously Raul’s behavior
will be viewed closely but if he
undermines Diaz-Canel that
will be seen as Raul admitting
having made the wrong choice.
And also suggest the very idea of
a smooth transition was being
challenged,” said Paul Webster
Hare, a professor of interna-
tional relations at Boston Uni-
versity and former British am-
bassador to Cuba.
“So Raul has invested a lot in
Diaz-Canel and needs him to
survive.”
1980s and has held office con-
tinuously since his return to
power in 2007.
Through a mix of socialist
policies and capitalism, Ortega
has delivered a period of sta-
ble growth while tightening his
hold on the levers of power.
That has led critics to accuse
him of attempting to establish a
family dictatorship.
Vice President Rosario Muril-
lo, Ortega’s wife, told local radio
that police reported at least six
people dead in the protests.
She said the government was
prepared to engage in “dia-
logue” with employers to end
the dispute.
At least 28 police have been
injured in the violence, Murillo
said.
were legally entering Colombia
each month at the end of 2017, ac-
cording to Colombian authorities,
with thousands more thought to
enter illegally.
All along the Venezuelan bor-
der, towns are struggling to cope.
Last week, leaders of Brazil’s
state of Roraima asked the Su-
preme Court for permission to
close its border temporarily to halt
the mass arrival.
While many Venezuelans with
the means to migrate legally fled
years ago, those leaving today are
often seeking jobs to send money
to families back home.
Few seek political asylum.
Aid groups and authorities
warn poverty plus lack of school-
ing or daily supervision will push
children into the ranks of Colom-
bia’s organised crime groups.
“If you don’t educate a child,
you can’t correct that.
You totally change the tra-
jectory of their life,” said Yadira
Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel (right) shakes hands with
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the Revolution Palace in
Havana on Friday.
Maduro pays visit to
new Cuban president
AFP
Havana
V
enezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro arrived
in Havana on Friday to
meet with Cuba’s new president
and ratify his struggling nation’s
ties with one of its few remain-
ing allies.
He acted quickly — just a day
after decades of Castro rule
ended and long time party loyal-
ist Miguel Diaz-Canel assumed
power as president.
Cuba for years has been heav-
ily dependent on cut-rate Ven-
ezuelan oil in exchange for as-
sistance in the form of Cuban
Gas blast at Chile
hospital kills three
DPA
Mexico City
A
t least three people have
died in a gas explosion at
a hospital in the city of
Concepcion in Chile, the local
chief of police told media yester-
day.
Speaking to the Cooperativa
radio station, Rodrigo Medina
said others had also been injured
in the explosion.
Photos circulating on other
media showed severe damage to
buildings.
Galeano, Norwegian Refugee
Council manager for Colombia’s
border areas.
“Many kids end up being easy
subjects for criminal or armed
groups.”
In January, Colombia enacted
a national decree allowing all for-
eign children to register and at-
tend school while they sort out
their documents and legal status.
But for children of undocu-
mented Venezuelans, getting
passports is virtually impossible.
“We know that Venezuela isn’t
helping at all. They aren’t giving
out passports,” said Jonathan Me-
jia, the official in charge of school
enrolment in Cucuta, a city of
about 670,000 people.
“We need support from the na-
tional government in this process
of legalisation of documents,” he
told the Thomson Reuters Foun-
dation.
Colombia has born the brunt of
the exodus of Venezuelans fleeing
doctors working in the oil-rich
but economically troubled
South American country.
Before leaving Caracas, Ma-
duro said he would be making
“a working visit, one of broth-
erhood, to give an embrace of
solidarity and support” to Diaz-
Canel.
“I come with lots of energy to
keep working together,” Maduro
said in arrival remarks after he
was received by Foreign Minister
Bruno Rodriguez, local news re-
ports said.
Maduro is seeking re-elec-
tion on May 20 among voters
grappling with hyper-infla-
tion and shortages of food and
medicine.
Mayor Alvaro Ortiz told the La
Tercera newspaper that there had
been a gas leak in the hospital be-
fore the explosion.
A gas company had checked
the pipes and ordered an evacua-
tion of the hospital.
The explosion happened as
the doctors and patients were re-
turning to the building, he said.
The Clinica Sanatorio Aleman
was founded in 1997 by German-
born physicians in Concepcion in
central Chile, south-west of the
capital Santiago.
The hospital says it is one of
the biggest in the region.
their once prosperous nation - the
number living within its borders
jumped by 62% in the second half
of last year to more than 550,000.
In Cucuta, nearly 4,000 foreign
students, mostly Venezuelans,
have registered for school.
But no one knows how many
children of struggling families re-
main out of school, according to
Father Francesco Bortignon, di-
rector of the local Scalabrini mis-
sion.
“School is not a priority,” the
priest said. “The priority is food.”
Cesar Gil, 51, sells coffee from
a streetcart with his four young
children in tow.
On a typical day, they leave their
rented room before dawn and re-
turn after dark with earnings of
about $5.
They survive on fried potatoes
and corn cakes.
Gil had enrolled his children, all
undocumented, in school in Cu-
cuta.
IMF: Venezuela’s
collapse one of
the worst in
modern history
AFP
Washington
V
enezuela’s economic
collapse ranks as one of
the worst in modern his-
tory, an International Monetary
Fund official said on Friday.
With an expected contraction
of 15% this year, and 45% over
the last five years, the collapse
ranks among the most extreme
of the past half-century, said
Alejandro Werner, director of
the IMF’s Western Hemisphere
Department.
“It is one of the worst eco-
nomic crises we have seen in
modern economic history,”
Werner told reporters.
The country also faces hyper-
inflation, with prices expected
to rise 13,000%, he said during
the spring meetings of the IMF
and World Bank in Washington.
The oil-rich nation has seen
a “spectacular” drop in crude
production falling by half in the
last 18 months, he said, which is
a major problem for the cash-
poor economy.
The country saw deadly pro-
tests last year, and people strug-
gle with scarcities of basic food
and medicine.
The International Organisa-
tion for Migration says nearly
a million Venezuelans have left
the country over the past two
years. Many head to Brazil, Co-
lombia and Panama, and often
beyond.
Washington has imposed
tough financial sanctions on
Venezuelan officials and enti-
ties, which prevent them from
accessing international credit
through US markets, speeding
the economic ruin in the once
prosperous South American
country.
The European Union and
Switzerland have frozen the
assets of senior Venezuelan of-
ficials, in response to human
rights concerns.
Meanwhile, Brazilian author-
ities and aid groups are rush-
ing to help tens of thousands
of Venezuelan refugees before
the start of the rainy season in
northern Roraima state this
Firefighters work inside a clinic, after an explosion by an apparent
gas leak, that resulted in death, injuries and serious damage to
building’s structure in Concepcion, Chile, yesterday.
But the principal called police
a week later when Gil was late to
pick them up at the end of the day.
“They do it because we are Ven-
ezuelans,” Gil said.
Fearing trouble with authori-
ties, he withdrew his children
from school.
Venezuelans in the schools are
stretching Cucuta’s resources
and more funds are needed from
the national government to hire
teachers, according to Mejia.
Some of the city’s 59 schools
have taken more than 220 new
students without adding teachers,
Mejia said.
Some locals have stepped in,
such as three police officers who
volunteered to teach two weekly
classes.
“If they don’t study, it’s more
likely they end up as delinquents
in the street,” said Jessica Sepulve-
da, communications officer with
the Cucuta police.
In the hills outside Cucuta,
month, even as government
leaders clash over a request to
close the border.
On Friday, a UN-backed
centre opened in Boa Vista, the
capital of Brazil’s Roraima state,
to help migrants fleeing Ven-
ezuela’s economic and political
crisis with getting documents
and applying for refugee status.
More than 800 Venezuelans
arrive in northern Brazil daily,
the government has said.
The UN refugee agency UN-
HCR said the centre would pro-
vide consolidated information
for refugees, most of whom do
not know the immigration rules
and must visit several govern-
ment offices.
“(It’s purpose is) to establish
a reference for these people so
that they can seek all informa-
tion in one place — and at the
same time to unburden the pub-
lic services,” said Luiz Fernando
Godinho Santos, a spokesman
for the UNHCR in Brazil.
He said the centre would also
direct Venezuelans to shelters,
help them to integrate in Bra-
zil, and give information about
health services and procedures
to be taken in case of violence
and gender issues.
Boa Vista authorities say
50,000 refugees have arrived in
the provincial capital since last
year, representing around 15%
of its population.
That influx has affected
housing, health and education
services in Brazil’s poorest state
capital.
The UN centre’s opening fol-
lows Wednesday’s announce-
ment by the federal government
that it would build five shelters
to house 2,000 refugees in Boa
Vista, doubling current capac-
ity, and a shelter for 500 people
in the border town of Pacaraima.
That came after Roraima’s
governor controversially asked
the Supreme Court on April 13
to shut the border crossing until
orderly immigration procedures
could be put in place, and for the
federal government to step up
assistance to the state.
In response, President Michel
Temer said closing the border
was “unthinkable”.
about 630 students attend a six-
classroom school in two daily
shifts.
Three years ago there were 400.
The area is dotted with concrete
and wood homes filled with Ven-
ezuelan families.
Some live in meagre shelters of
scavenged materials.
“They arrive here without any-
thing, without pencil or paper,”
said Arley Laguado, head of the
Juan Bautista primary school,
which is part of the Scalabrini
mission.
“They live between four sticks
and a green tarp with six people.”
Yadira Albernia, the school sec-
retary who interviews new fami-
lies, said many arriving students
lag their Colombian peers in edu-
cation.
One nine-year-old Venezue-
lan arrived having never been in
school, and a 12-year-old tested at
the level of a seven-year-old, Al-
bernia said.
 Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 23

PAKISTAN
Pakistan
receives
award for
Generals, judges accused
efforts to
empower
women
of ‘silencing’ ex-premier
The drama around Pakistan’s said Waheed Murad, a journalist the army for almost half of its The unannounced blockade
former prime minister Nawaz who works for a private televi- history. of Geo television started after
Sharif continues to grow, sion channel and runs his own Sharif has remained the coun- alleged coercion by agents of
Internews with media outlets engaging blog. try’s most popular politician and the army’s spy agency against
London in widespread censorship of “It looks like the army and the pulled tens of thousands of sup- distributors, according to two
his defiance of the military judiciary together want to con- porters at political rallies, where cable operators in the city of
trol the media in the run-up to he has criticised his ouster and Rawalpindi.

T
he government of Pa-
kistan has received the
Commonwealth Govern-
ment Award for Women’s Eco-
By Zia Khan, DPA elections scheduled this sum- the army for “engineering” poli- “They threatened us to sus-
Islamabad mer,” said Murad, whose writing tics. pend Geo or face consequences,”
has been considered critical of A provincial court this week one cable operator who spoke
the military. ordered the media regulator to anonymously said in reference

nomic Empowerment.
The award was jointly given by
the Commonwealth Business-
women’s Network and Global
Citizen to the government of Pa-
kistan in recognition of the work
and impact in the area of wom-
en’s empowerment, says a press
release issued here yesterday.
The government of Pakistan
was acknowledged for secur-
ing passage of the Anti-Honour
Killings Bill in 2016 into leg-
islation and to be able to forge
an effective coalition of parlia-
mentarians, NGOs, civil soci-
ety, academia and media who
all supported it in this landmark
achievement.
The award was received by a
representative of the Pakistan
high commission on behalf of
Islamabad.
The award was presented dur-
ing 3rd Commonwealth Busi-
nesswomen Awards ceremony
on April 18, on the sidelines of
the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM)
in London.
The Commonwealth Busi-
nesswomen’s Network is an
accredited organisation focus-
ing on women’s leadership and
economic empowerment that is
W
hen Pakistan’s former
prime minister Nawaz
Sharif addressed a
seminar in the capital Islamabad
this week, broadcasters lives-
treamed his speech as they do
with all leaders.
It ran to script until he started
to speak about his removal from
office by the Supreme Court last
year, a topic that promised criti-
cism of the military and the ju-
diciary.
Half the broadcasters abrupt-
ly ended their coverage and the
rest muted Sharif’s voice to
block his remarks against the
country’s generals and judges.
It marked the first such col-
lective surrender by otherwise
dynamic media.
“It was a worse kind of cen-
sorship and has no justification,”
More women speak up against singer Ali Zafar
Internews
Karachi
The journalist decried the re- block speeches by Sharif and his
cent ban on Geo, the country’s party leaders, including succes-
most viewed television channel, sor Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
for giving airtime to Sharif, seen The court said that the move
as strongest of voices against the was to pre-empt the criticism
military’s alleged engineering of of “national institutions”, a term
Pakistan’s politics. used for the army and the judi-
Sharif was removed as prime ciary.
minister by the Supreme Court The order was criticised by
in July last year on corruption television commentators and
allegations that also involved his experts as a violation of the
children. constitution, which guarantees
The same court later removed freedom of speech to every in-
him as head of his Pakistan dividual.
Muslim League party before this Prominent journalist Kamran
month banning him from poli- Khan, who works for Dunya tel-
tics for life. evision, said that the order vio-
Analysts say that the former lates basic human rights.
prime minister may have been “I wonder how can a court is-
the target of collusion between sue such a verdict?” Khan asked.
the generals and judges due to “This demonstrates that Sharif
his demand for a civilian su- and his party are being singled
premacy in a country ruled by out.”
“Comments that would make
your skin crawl and make you
feel objectified are not to be re-
duced to ‘a joke’,” Ghani wrote.
to the agents of the Inter Serv-
ices Intelligence (ISI), which is
often blamed for coercion and
intimidation.
Cable operators run a coun-
trywide network of distribution.
The move comes amid reports
the powerful military is seeking
to silence criticism of its alleged
influence on Pakistan’s politics.
“Our broadcast was inter-
rupted... in most areas,” the
Geo network’s president Imran
Aslam said, adding that “it is like
economic strangulation”.
The cable operators have now
started restoring Geo, but a
journalist with the channel said
that the military allowed it back
on air only after a deal.
“We are back but not our
sting, which should be the hall-
mark of a media house,” said the
go up the side of my waist … I
don’t want to be too explicit,”
she wrote: “I felt it, and I knew
what happened. I thought I
Nawaz Sharif: remains the country’s most popular politician.
journalist, who requested ano-
nymity.
It is not first time media is
being muzzled in Pakistan, said
Imtiaz Alam, official of South
Asia Free Media Association,
a regional body that works for
freedom of expression.
Former military ruler Ayub
Khan purged independent
newspapers with laws that at-
tracted international criticism in
the 1960s.
Another general, Ziaul Haq,
tried to impose Islamisation on
media by forcing female an-
was molested by Zafar during a
fundraising event in Washing-
ton DC.
While many celebrities tried
chors to wear headscarves in the
1980s, Alam said.
More recently, General Pervez
Musharraf took television chan-
nels off-air for criticising the
military.
In 2007, a mob supporting
Musharraf fired bullets at jour-
nalists from the private Aaj Tele-
vision channel, which criticised
the general for removing the
country’s top judge.
Journalist Murad sees more
coercion as the election draws
near: “It seems there will be
more troubles in the future.”
Islamabad’s Golra
railways museum
to be extended
The Pakistan Railways Heritage
Museum, located in Golra,
southeast of the Margalla Hills
in the federal capital, is being
expanded with the addition of a

recognised by 53 governments
across five continents.
It brings together around
50,000 women working to en-
courage, enable and embed
women in leadership and wom-
en’s economic empowerment
through trade, talent and train-
ing.
Another accolade, the Com-
monwealth Company of the Year
Award, was conferred upon En-
gro Foods (Pakistan) in recog-
nition of it having a significant
impact on women’s economic
empowerment in the organisa-
tion and the wider community.
The award was received by
Nageen Rizvi, Engro Foods head
of corporate communications
and sustainability. She is also
the regional leader for Asia at
the Commonwealth Business-
women’s Network.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met Brit-
ish Prime Minister Theresa May
at Windsor Castle on the side-
lines of the 25th CHOGM yes-
terday.
Zafar: not going to take things
lying down.
A
day after popular singer,
actress and model Mee-
sha Shafi alleged in a
tweet that actor and singer Ali
Zafar had harassed her, many
women stepped forward and
claimed they had had similar
experiences.
However, Zafar continued to
maintain that he had not com-
mitted any wrongdoing and
said he would take the actress
to court.
The allegations were trend-
ing yesterday across social
media in Pakistan after Shafi’s
lengthy message on the social
media website.
Makeup artist and painter
Leena Ghani tweeted in support
of Shafi, thanking her for her
bravery and shared her #MeToo
story.
“[Ali Zafar’s] behaviour
shows a clear lack of respect
for women. Inappropriate con-
tact, groping, sexual comments
should not fall in the grey area
between humour and inde-
cency.
“In most cases, women like
myself run from a situation and
hope to God you never cross
paths again. And when by some
misfortune, you do, you hide
from him,” she added. “Hop-
ing that his sleazy eyes and
hands don’t find you again. His
hands don’t run up and down
your waist or hold you too tight
while you desperately try to
wiggle and run.
“The memories of the times
when Ali thought he could get
away by saying vulgar things
still disgust me.”
Blogger Humna Raza re-
counted her experience of be-
ing inappropriately touched
when she met the Mere Brother
Ki Dulhan star at a public event.
She claimed that when she
asked him for a selfie, he didn’t
say anything but smirked and
gestured by opening one of his
arms, which she assumed was
a “yes”.
“I came and stood right next
to him and was about to click
the photo when I felt his hand
misunderstood, and was think-
ing things – lol (laugh out loud)
– but I also knew. I was lying to
myself. I knew what had just
happened.”
Raza went on to say that she
told her friends about the in-
cident but was not sure if they
believed her.
Journalist Maham Javaid de-
scribed an encounter her cousin
had with the singer and com-
mended Shafi for reminding
everyone that women’s stories
should be aired properly.
“Ali Zafar tried to kiss my
cousin and pull my cousin into
a restroom with him. Luckily
my cousin’s friends were there
to push Ali Zafar off,” she wrote.
“This was on a boat on the way
to a party at the Yacht Club be-
tween 2004 [and] 2005.
“In those days such sexual
harassment was such a non-
issue and simultaneously such
a taboo that we hardly spoke
about it.”
A Twitter user by the name
of Sofi alleged that a volunteer
to distance themselves from the
issue, Urwa Hocane, Armeena
Khan, Mahira Khan, and Osman
Khalid Butt spoke up.
“The sick mentality of those
commenting on an issue as se-
rious as sexual harassment as
casually as they are just shows
where the root of this problem
exists – in our minds. We will
continue to breed harassers for
as long as we continue to de-
sensitise this issue,” Mahira
Khan tweeted.
In a tweet, journalist Reham
Khan expressed her support for
Shafi.
Meanwhile, former journal-
ist Fareshteh Aslam, who now
heads a PR and communica-
tions firm, tweeted: “It’s been
a difficult 24 hours. Ali Zafar
has been a preferred working
choice for over a decade; he’s
intense about work, principled
and delivered over and above
expectation. Never expected
to hear this about him. Ali and
force? There’s more to this
#MeToo.”
gallery for showcasing railway
relics and memorabilia dating
back to the British rule.
Renovation work on the museum
was inaugurated yesterday by
Railways Minister Saad Rafique.
The Golra station was established
in 1882 and was upgraded as a
junction in 1912. The museum
was established in 2003.
PM urged to name
new airport after
Benazir Bhutto
Former Senate chairman Raza
Rabbani has urged Prime Minister
Shahid Khaqan Abbassi to name
the new Islamabad International
Airport after Benazir Bhutto.
In a letter written to Abbassi,
Rabbani cited a statement by
adviser to the PM on Aviation
Mehtab Abbassi that Benazir
Bhutto International Airport will
henceforth at its new premises
be called Islamabad International
Airport.

Three attempts to reform civil service failed Terrorism fatalities decreased in

Internews
Islamabad
tee could finalise anything in
writing, the term of the com-
mittee expired on April 11, and
all the hard work was lost.
ats and directorates of the Cabi-
net of Pakistan.
However, only 202, or 2.09%,
passed.
Senator Shah and other sena-
tors held discussion on the issue
Pakistan by 40%, says US report
at length but the panel met the
similar fate for time constraint. Internews Baluchistan, Sindh, Khyber Pa- Baluchistan reported 98 miss-

E
fforts made by three dif- The committee had discussed This was the lowest percent- He said that if the committees Islamabad khtunkhwa (KP), and the Feder- ing, Sindh 50 missing, Fata 48
ferent bodies to reform key issues about civil servants, age of successful students since are reconstituted then he would ally Administered Tribal Areas missing, the Islamabad Capital
structure of civil service including their postings and 2011, leaving both students see if the matter could be taken (Fata). Territory 45 missing, Azad Jam-

and the recruitment process of
civil servants in Pakistan have
not yielded any fruit and been
put into cold storage.
It was the government and
two special parliamentary com-
mittees that took steps to reform
the bureaucracy and improve
the way it is being inducted,
trained, and made to execute.
Several bureaucrats hoped to
see some changes in “archaic
bureaucratic system” after these
apparent efforts but have ex-
pressed disappointment over
the zero outcome.
It was in 2017 when the then-
Senate chairperson Raza Rab-
bani formed two special com-
mittees within a short span of
time – the Senate Committee on
Federal Public Service Commis-
sion (FPSC) Report of 2015, and
the Senate Committee to Review
Civil Servants Act 1973.
The Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) leader Farooq H Naek was
chairperson of the first commit-
tee to review civil servants act.
The committee held over half
a dozen meetings and detailed
discussions with the Establish-
ment Division and officials of
the FPSC and law and justice
ministry.
However, before the commit-
transfers for a minimum time of
three years in a ministry so that
the official could connect with
the department.
The committee had also held
detailed discussion on pro-
motion criteria and the way
central selection board is held
for promotion from grade-18
to grade-19, and grade-19 to
grade-20.
It had recommended that
there should be no arbitrary
marks that become a blackmail-
ing tool during the board meet-
ing.
According to an official privy
to those meetings, it was an
important opportunity many
would yearn for in coming years.
“It seemed there would be
some genuine changes in the
bureaucratic system but we lost
it,” said the official, who was not
authorised to talk to media.
The second committee was
also formed by Senate to review
the FPSC report of 2015.
According to that report, as
many as 9,643 candidates sat
the written test of the Central
Superior Services (CSS), the
permanent bureaucratic au-
thority responsible for running
the civilian bureaucratic opera-
tions and government secretari-
and public all over the country
shocked.
The committee started look-
ing into the mandate, structure,
syllabus and mode of examina-
tion to see if it met the contem-
porary needs of governance and
in delivery of services and other
relevant matters.
It invited human resources
specialists and corporate ex-
perts to improve the structure
of the FPSC commission and
its working mechanism which it
had termed in its first meetings
as “outdated”.
Senator Muzaffar Husain
Shah was its chairperson.
The committee had recom-
mended starting specialised and
separate exams for 12 civil serv-
ice groups held under the FPSC.
It was of the view that any
candidate taking an exam must
have a specialised group and the
same should follow even if he
joins civil service.
The committee also suggest-
ed a screening test for the CSS
aspirants.
The committee had car-
ried out comparative studies of
competitive examinations in re-
gional and developed countries
such as India, Bangladesh, the
UK and Canada.
up again.
“I would like to carry it for-
ward,” he said but the tradition
in parliament is the other way
round and new agenda items are
taken after the formation of new
committees.
One of the major efforts in
civil service reforms and im-
provement of the governance
structure within civil services
was initiated in 2014 and com-
pleted in 2016.
However, political wrangling
and bureaucratic red tape got in
the way, sending the matter into
cold storage.
The reform process eventual-
ly lost steam after interest at the
top level faded as the political
upheaval in the country during
this time killed the ambitious
plan to revamp civil service
structure.
So far, the country’s civil
services have witnessed as many
as 38 major reform initiatives
between 1947 and 2018.
A senior official in the Estab-
lishment Division said the the
dream of reforms had shattered
and it would take more than a
year for the next government to
start with such efforts.
“It’s more than disappoint-
ing,” he lamented.
T
errorism fatalities in Paki-
stan decreased by almost
40% between 2016 and
2017, says a US State Department
report released yesterday.
The department’s annual
country report on human rights
notes that at the end of October
2017, terrorism fatalities in Paki-
stan stood at 1,084, in compari-
son with 1,803 fatalities in the
full year 2016.
The data, collected for the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
(SATP), indicated a 39.878% de-
crease, which would have im-
proved further if data for the last
two months of 2017 were also
included.
The US report points out that
terrorist violence and human
rights abuses by non-state ac-
tors contributed to human rights
problems in the country.
“The military sustained sig-
nificant campaigns against mili-
tant and terrorist groups. Nev-
ertheless, violence, abuse, and
social and religious intolerance
by militant organisations and
other non-state actors, both lo-
cal and foreign, contributed to
a culture of lawlessness in some
parts of the country,” the report
adds.
This was more obvious in
The State Department report
also highlights the issue of forced
disappearances in Pakistan, not-
ing that in 2017, “there were kid-
nappings and forced disappear-
ances of persons from various
backgrounds in nearly all areas
of the country. Some police and
security forces reportedly held
prisoners incommunicado and
refused to disclose their loca-
tion”.
The report mentions disap-
pearance of Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) party workers
in Karachi and of nationalists in
interior Sindh, Baluchistan, and
KP.
The report also alleges that
dozens of political workers and
activists were kidnapped, tor-
tured and killed in all these plac-
es.
The US State Department
notes that the Commission of
Inquiry on Enforced Disappear-
ances received 4,608 missing
person cases.
The commission claimed to
have closed 3,076 of those cases,
while 1,532 remained open.
Data from the commission
showed the number of persons
reported missing was highest
in KP (751 missing), followed by
Punjab (245 missing).
mu and Kashmir (AJK) 14 miss-
ing, and Gilgit-Baltistan, five
missing.
The most significant hu-
man rights issues identified in
the report include extrajudicial
and targeted killings, disappear-
ances, torture, lack of rule of law
and frequent mob violence and
vigilante justice with limited ac-
countability.
Additional problems identified
in the report are arbitrary deten-
tion, lengthy pre-trial detention,
a lack of judicial independence in
the lower courts, governmental
infringement on citizens’ privacy
rights, harassment of journalists,
and high-profile attacks against
journalists and media organisa-
tions.
Government restrictions on
the freedom of assembly, free-
dom of movement and freedom
of religion and discrimination
against religious minorities, and
sectarian violence have also con-
tinued.
Corruption within the govern-
ment and police, lack of criminal
investigations or accountabil-
ity for cases related to rape, vi-
olence-based on gender, gender
identity and sexual orientation,
and sexual harassment remain
problems.
 Gulf Times
24 Sunday, April 22, 2018
PHILIPPINES
Campaign to protect environment
Members of green groups, Nilad and Earth Island Institute march around Arroceros Forest Park in Manila to call for the conservation and preservation of green spaces in the city.
Anti-dengue vaccination
‘ruled out for two years’
Manila Times
Manila
T
he Department of Health
(DOH) has scrapped the
controversial anti-den-
gue vaccine from its immunisa-
tion programme, at least for the
next two years, an official said
on Friday, months after it has
been linked to a series of deaths,
mostly of children, following a
disclosure by its manufacturer
that it was unsafe for first-time
victims of the mosquito-borne
illness.
Health Undersecretary Ro-
Tough life
Workers at a factory in Paranaque City sort charcoal bricks before packing them in sacks in
preparation for delivery to various public markets in the metro. Exposed to hazardous fumes
from the charcoal, these workers perform their tasks without safety wear and protective masks.
Actor Diaz held in buy-bust operation
By Frederick Silverio
Manila Times
M
ovie and television ac-
tor Julio Diaz and his
companion were ar-
rested in a buy-bust in Mey-
cauayan City, Bulacan, before
dawn on Friday.
Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat
Jr., Bulacan Police provincial di-
rector, said the actor, Mariano de
Leon Calongje in real life, 59, and
his companion Ronald Gomez,
35, were arrested after selling a
sachet of shabu to a poseur buyer
for P500.
They were busted at about
1am on Friday at Ambuklao Vil-
lacor, Barangay Langka, in Mey-
cauayan City.
lando Domingo said the DoH de-
cision on Dengvaxia was based
on a World Health Organisation
(WHO) and Strategic Advisory
Group of Expert (SAGE) on Im-
munisation recommendation for
a screening strategy before ad-
ministering the vaccine.
“It strengthens our position
to stop the vaccination and that
Dengvaxia should not be in-
cluded in the mass immunisa-
tion programme. I don’t think it
will change in one to two years,”
he said.
The Health official also said
the technology for screening
on the serostatus of future vac-
Diaz, 59, was listed as a high
value target for drugs by the Bu-
lacan Police Provincial Office.
Seized from their possession
were four more sachets of shabu,
weighing about 12 grams, with
an estimated P60,000 street
value, drug paraphernalia and
the P500 marked money.
The arrested suspects and the
confiscated pieces of evidence
were brought to the Bulacan
Crime Laboratory Office for ex-
amination.
Appropriate criminal com-
plaints against Diaz and Gomez
are being prepared for filing in
court.
Supt. Santos Mera, Mey-
cauayan acting chief of police,
said Diaz voluntarily presented
himself in July 2016 to clear his
cinees would take some time be-
fore it could become available.
“When we say that pre-
screening is needed, you have to
understand that there is no Rap-
id Diagnostic Test (RDT) that is
available right now. There is no
RDT that is licensed or validated
to be used in pre-screening for
vaccination,” he said.
“And even the WHO and SAGE
I think, recognise the fact that it
would probably take another one
to two years before validated test
or screening that will be avail-
able for point-of-care so there is
no commercially available RDTs
right now,” he added.
name, after he was listed on
the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse
Council (Badac) watch list.
Diaz admitted to have been an
illegal drug user but stopped af-
ter he underwent surgery caused
by brain aneurysm in April 2016.
He denied that he is engaged
in selling shabu.
His name appeared on the
drug watch list submitted by
Chairman Igmedio Lunaria of
Barangay Langka.
The actor is known for his
roles in the 1980s and the 1990s
movies Bayani in 1992 and Sakay
in 1993, according to news site,
www.spot.ph.
He appeared in two critically
acclaimed films in 2015: Zig
Dulay’s Bambanti and Brillante
Mendoza’s Taklub, it said.
Domingo further said that
even if a screening process was
developed for the serostatus of
the vaccinees, it should still be
tested for sensitivity and ability
to detect previous dengue infec-
tions.
“So at this time, if you need to
screen patients, there is no way
to pre-screen them right now,”
he said.
The DoH suspended the
mass anti-dengue immunisa-
tion programme in 2017 follow-
ing a health advisory from drug
manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur
that Dengvaxia may cause severe
dengue on patients who acquire
Poe, Duterte’s daughter
top poll for senatorial run
By Catherine S Valente
Manila Times
R
e-electionist and return-
ing senators led the lat-
est pre-election survey
that also placed the President’s
daughter, Davao City Mayor
Sara Duterte, in the so-called
“Magic 12” for the 2019 senato-
rial poll.
Senators Grace Poe, Cynthia
Villar and former senator and
now Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano
topped the survey conducted by
Pulse Asia from March 23 to 28.
Duterte ranked sixth, after
re-electionists Nancy Binay and
Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara.
Completing the Top 12 were
Senate President Aquilino
“Koko” Pimentel, former sena-
tors Sergio Osmena, Manuel
“Lito” Lapid, and Jose “Jin-
ggoy” Estrada, broadcaster
Erwin Tulfo, and former Phil-
ippine National Police chief Ro-
nald “Bato” De la Rosa.
Poe – the frontrunner in the
2010 senatorial elections who
lost her bid for the presidency
in 2016 – was the choice of
70.8% of survey respondents.
She was followed by Villar
with 55.6%, Cayetano with
53.9%, Binay with 45.8%,
Angara with 44.9% and Duterte
with 43.8%.
Pimentel got 39.8%, followed
by Osmena with 38%, Tulfo
with 36.7%, Lapid with 33.8%,
De la Rosa with 33.1%, and Es-
trada with 32.8%.
Trailing in the survey were
Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos
(32.2%), Sen. Paolo Benigno
“Bam” Aquino (30.5%), Sen.
Jose Victor Ejercito (29.0%),
and television personalities
Robin Padilla (26.2%), Ted
Failon (25.6%) and Jose Sixto
“Dingdong” Dantes (16.8%).
Politicians Herbert Bautista
(26.2%), Manuel “Mar” Roxas
the disease for the first time.
The dengue immunisation pro-
gramme was initiated in 2016 as
a school-based programme un-
der then Health secretary Janette
Garin. An estimated 830,000 in-
dividuals, mostly children, were
inoculated with the vaccine.
Without admitting to any
wrongdoing, Sanofi reimbursed
the DOH the amount of P1.16bn
for unused doses of Dengvaxia but
refused to return the full P3bn,
which the government paid for
the vaccine.
The DoH has ordered the filing
of a civil case for damages against
the French pharmaceutical giant.
Grace Poe (left) and Sara Duterte
(25.4%), Teofisto “TG” Gu-
ingona (17.5%), Rex Gatchal-
ian (16.7%), Francis Tolen-
tino (14.6%), Francisco “Isko
Moreno” Domagoso (13.9%),
Karlo Alexei Nograles (10.6%)
and Lucy Torres-Gomez (8.1%)
ranked low on the list.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s
former environment secretary
Gina Lopez got 14%, Palace
spokesman Harry Roque Jr had
8.7%, while Presidential
Communications
Martin Andanar got 8.4%.
Secretary
Special Assistant to the
President Christopher “Bong”
Go got 5.9%, while Presiden-
tial Communications Assistant
Secretary Margaux “Mocha”
Uson received 1.3%.
The results showed that only
4.5% of Filipinos did not ex-
press support for any of the 58
personalities included in the
Pulse survey.
Less than one percent of re-
spondents refused to identify
the senatorial candidates they
planned to vote for, and to not
knowing whom to vote for in
the May 2019 senatorial race.
The survey, conducted using
face-to-face interviews with
1,200 adults aged 18 years old
and above, had error an margin
of + or – 3% at the 95% confi-
dence level. Subnational esti-
mates’ error margin stood at +
Duque claims
charges ‘malicious
and oppressive’
By Kenneth Hare Hernandez
Manila Times
H
ealth Secretary Fran-
cisco Duque has said
a case filed against him
by the Public Attorney’s Office
(PAO) before the Department
of Justice (DoJ) was “malicious
and oppressive.”
“The case filed by the Public
Attorney’s Office is malicious
and oppressive. Atty. Acosta’s
actions are clearly unbecom-
ing of a public official and their
counter-productive effects are
prejudicial to the best inter-
ests of the service,” Duque told
a news briefing.
Persida Acosta heads the
PAO. Duque was among the
38 respondents in a case filed
earlier this week by the Public
Attorney’s Office in behalf of
the parents of 13-year-old Ab-
bie Hedia.
Hedia had her first dose
of anti-dengue vaccine
Dengvaxia on November 17,
2017 and, on February 10, she
died from septic shock, viral
encephalitis, acute gastroen-
teritis and severe dehydration.
“While we are focusing
on ensuring the health and
wellness of the more than
837,000 children who received
Dengvaxia, I will nonetheless
answer these baseless allega-
tions,” Duque said.
Statements made by the
PAO on the Dengvaxia issue,
according to the Health secre-
tary, can negatively affect oth-
er immunisation programmes
such as that on measles.
The DoH will launch a mea-
sles vaccination drive in the
coming months.
“The (department) will
continue its efforts to at-
tend to the health concerns
of children vaccinated with
Dengvaxia. While this recent
case filed by the PAO is coun-
ter-productive, we need to
move forward to ensure that
gaps in Dengvaxia vaccination
are addressed and that other
important health programs of
the DoH continue to serve the
or – 6% at the 95% confidence
level. Five re-electionist sena-
tors belonging to the majority
bloc are likely to be included in
the “final” list of the senato-
rial slate of the ruling Partido
Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng
Bayan (PDP-Laban) in the 2019
midterm elections for support-
ing the Duterte administra-
tion’s legislative agenda.
Senate President Aquilino
Pimentel made the remark on
Friday in a television interview
when asked whether re-elec-
tionist senators Juan Edgardo
Angara, Nancy Binay, Joseph
Victor Ejercito, Grace Poe, and
Cynthia Villar will eventually
land on the final list of PDP-La-
ban’s candidates in next year’s
senatorial race.
“It is quite definite that
they will seek reelection. And
they’ve got good standing if
you look at the surveys. All the
reasons are present to include
them (in the PDP-Laban sena-
torial slate),” he said.
“We passed a lot of laws
which were among the prom-
ises of President Duterte during
the campaign,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel on Thursday said
that aside from the five re-elec-
tionist senators, the following
were being considered to form
part of the PDP-Laban senato-
rial team: congressmen Robert
needs of our people,” Duque
said.
He questioned why he was
among the respondents and
former Health Secretary Pau-
lyn Ubial was not.
“What they (PAO) are say-
ing is that Secretary Paulyn
Ubial stopped the Dengvaxia
vaccination sometime in 2016.
She never stopped it, she con-
tinued it,” Duque said.
“I’m wondering why I’m
being impleaded but not Sec-
retary Ubial. I think she is
equally liable because she
continued it despite knowing
the red flags,” he added.
Ubial, according to Duque,
expanded the dengue im-
munisation programme to
include community-based
vaccination in July 2017 from
former Health Secretary Janet
Garin’s initial school-based
programme.
He said he was the one who
ordered the immediate sus-
pension of the dengue immu-
nisation programme on De-
cember 1, 2017, after learning
of the Sanofi Pasteur’s health
advisory on the possible side
effects on November 29, 2017.
“After Sanofi announced
that Dengvaxia poses addi-
tional risks to seronegative
recipients, I immediately sus-
pended the programme,” Du-
que added.
He said it was also under his
term that the government was
able to refund P1.16bn worth
of unused vials of the vaccine.
“The first thing we’ll do is
to first answer all these allega-
tions before the Department
of Justice. And that depends
on the ExeComm (executive
committee) on what the deci-
sion will be if there is a possi-
bility of filing counter-charg-
es,” Duque added.
The government suspend-
ed its dengue immunisation
programme after Sanofi Pas-
teur, the maker of Dengvaxia,
warned in November last year
that the vaccine may cause
severe dengue to those who
have never been exposed to the
dengue virus.
Ace Barbers, Alfredo Benitez,
Karlo Nograles, Zajid Man-
gudadatu, Geraldine Roman,
Rey Umali, Pia Cayetano, Spe-
cial Assistant to the President
Christopher “Bong” Go, Palace
spokesman Harry Roque Jr.,
Presidential Political Adviser
Francis Tolentino, Presidential
Communications Office As-
sistant Secretary Mocha Uson,
former interior secretary Rafael
Alunan, journalist Jiggy Mani-
cad and singer-composer Fred-
die Aguilar.
To qualify for inclusion in the
PDP-Laban senatorial slate,
candidates must support feder-
alism, Pimentel said.
“Otherwise, we will be out
of tune in the campaign (trail).
For example, one speaker will
express support for federalism
and then the next speaker will
give hints against federalism.
That is not acceptable,” he said.
Angara on Friday said: “We
are very grateful for the posi-
tive result of the latest (Pulse)
survey showing us among the
winners’ circle and it will defi-
nitely serve as an inspiration to
work harder for our country-
men, and to push for better laws
and policy reforms.”
Ejercito believes his good
standing in the survey will fur-
ther give him an advantage over
other aspirants to be included in
the PDP-Laban senatorial slate.
“It will help.” “But the challenge
is having two siblings (running
for the Senate in 2019),” Ejer-
cito said in a text message, re-
ferring to former senator Jose
“Jinggoy” Estrada. “It’s quite
difficult. Even in local elections,
people just choose one.”
Pimentel said retired nation-
al police chief and now Bureau
of Corrections chief Ronald
“Bato” De la Rosa was not on
the list because the latter did
not express his intention to seek
a Senate seat next year.

Bangladesh limited right to
peaceful rally in 2017: US
Agencies
Dhaka
T
he United States in its an-
nual report on global hu-
man rights has said the
Awami League government in
Bangladesh limited the lawful
right to peaceful assembly, local
media reported.
Referring to human rights
NGOs, US Acting Secretary of
State John J Sullivan said in the
report on Bangladesh’s human
rights situation in 2017 that
authorities “continued using
approval provisions to disal-
low gatherings by opposition
groups”.
Sullivan mentioned the BNP
as the main opposition and
Jamaat as an NGO, which was
Bangladesh
premier meets
British Queen
Agencies
Dhaka
B
angladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina joined the
British Queen’s Dinner at
Buckingham Palace in London
on Thursday night.
The premier exchanged greet-
ings with Queen Elizabeth II
and Prince Charles during the
banquet on Thursday night.
The queen hosted the dinner
for the Commonwealth Heads of
Government.
Prime Minister Hasina at-
tended different sessions of the
meeting on Thursday and Friday
as well.
Hasina in list of most influential
people: Prime Minister Hasi-
na has made it to the list of
Time magazine’s 100 most
influential people of 2018.
“Bearing the legacy of her fa-
ther, who led Bangladesh’s Lib-
eration War, Hasina has never
been afraid of a fight. So when
Railway line with China a
priority: Nepal minister
Agencies
Kathmandu
F
oreign Minister Pradeep
Kumar Gyawali has said
that developing cross-
border railways between Nepal
and China is a priority for the
Nepal government.
Delivering a lecture on Ne-
pal-China Relations and Devel-
opment Projects in the Trans-
Himalayan Region at Sichuwan
University in Chengdu, Minis-
ter Gyawali appreciated China’s
efforts at forging co-operative
links between the countries in
the region and beyond under
the framework of Belt and Road
Initiatives (BRI), Nepal foreign
ministry said in a statement in
Kathmandu.
Minister Gyawali also appre-
ciated the role of the BRI as an
initiative aimed at addressing
the infrastructural and struc-
tural bottlenecks of develop-
ment. “Building cross-border
infrastructure is very impor-
tant for landlocked countries
like ours. We expect the BRI to
contribute to our development
efforts,” he said. “Additionally,
connectivity will help Nepal
exploit the full potentials of its
economic possibilities. Con-
nectivity lies at the core of all
development activities.”
Gyawali said that Nepal and
China can work together in
promoting economic activities
in the Himalayan belt by creat-
once a political party. The offi-
cial opposition party, the Jatiya
Party, which had 36 elected
seats, was also part of the ruling
coalition, he added.
“Occasionally, police or rul-
ing party activists used force to
disperse demonstrations,” the
report says.
It says police prevented op-
position party members from
holding events on multiple oc-
casions in 2017.
It gives as an example the
police denial of permission to
the ‘labour committee’ of the
BNP to hold a rally in Dhaka
acknowledging Labour Day on
May 1.
G ove r n m e n t - a f f i l i a te d
groups, however, were allowed
to host public events, it adds.
He also condemned what he
several hundred thousand eth-
nic Rohingya refugees started
streaming into Bangladesh last
August to escape atrocities by
the Myanmar army, she accepted
the humanitarian challenge,” lo-
cal media reported, citing South
Asia director for Human Rights
Watch Meenakshi Ganguly, as
writing about her in the Time.
“An impoverished country,
Bangladesh had not welcomed
massive influxes of refugees in
the past, but she could hard-
ly turn back the traumatised
victims of ethnic cleansing,”
Ganguly wrote further.
United States President Donald
Trump, French President Em-
manuel Macron, North Korea
Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un,
Chinese President Xi Jinping and
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe have also made it to the list.
According to the report, busi-
ness magazine Forbes in 2015
put her on a list of 100 most
powerful women in the world.
Pradeep Kumar Gyawali attends a meeting at the Zhongnanhai
Leadership Compound in Beijing recently.
ing systems of value-chains to
their mutual advantage as the
two countries share geographi-
cal proximity and the proposed
cross-border infrastructural
projects are set to bring them
further closer. “I believe that
China’s enormous manufac-
turing base, advanced tech-
nology and its huge domestic
market, together with Nepal’s
rich natural, geographical and
locational resources, will cre-
ate the right mix of value chain
and complement the continued
economic growth,” he said.
The Nepal foreign minister
also said there is a prospect of
huge co-operation between
SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL
“Occasionally, police or
ruling party activists
used force to disperse
demonstrations”
called “ethnic cleansing” of
Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar,
and said those responsible for
attacks against the Rohingya
should be held accountable.
The report says police did not
allow members of the Jamaat-
e-Islami to meet, even for pri-
vate or indoor meetings.
It gives the detention of nine
Jamaat members, including its
chief Maqbul Ahmed, secretary
general Shafiqur Rahman and
several other top leaders of the
party, on charges of devising
plans to create instability in the
country.
The US published the coun-
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth greets Sheikh Hasina in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace as she
hosts a dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, Britain.
Nepal and China in the agri-
culture sector. “Dissemination
of Chinese agricultural tech-
nologies in Nepal can raise the
overall production, crop yields
and raise incomes for farmers
including for those who rely on
high-altitude and high-value
farming,” he said, adding that
mechanisation of agriculture in
Nepal’s fertile land will enable
Nepal to increase exports and
create employment.
Minister Gyawali said that
Nepal and China need to work
together to realise the vast po-
tential for development that
Nepal’s abundant natural re-
sources and China’s booming
try-wise reports on Friday, la-
belling China, Russia, Iran and
North Korea as “morally rep-
rehensible” governments that
it said violated human rights
within their borders on a daily
basis, making them “forces of
instability”.
In the 41-page report on
Bangladesh, Sullivan said the
government accused BNP and
Jamaat leaders of violence,
criminal and terrorism charges
in a number of cases while the
Awami League-affiliated or-
ganisations like its student wing
Bangladesh Chhatra League
“reportedly carried out violence
and intimidation around the
country with impunity”.
The report says human rights
groups and media reported that
disappearances and kidnap-
enterprise sector offer. “Chi-
nese investors may utilize the
investment opportunities in
Nepal for mutual benefits,” he
said, while assuring that Ne-
pal government is fully com-
mitted to providing security to
Chinese investors. The foreign
minister also highlighted the
prospect of tourism between
Nepal and China.
Gyawali was on a five-day of-
ficial visit to China.
Minister Gyawali also held
a meeting with the governor
of the People’s Government of
Sichuan Province, Dr Yin Li, in
Chengdu.
According to the ministry
of foreign affairs, the two sides
discussed the historical con-
nections, geographical prox-
imity and cultural similarities
between Nepal and the Sichuan
Province of China, and men-
tioned the role of Chengdu as
an important gateway between
Nepal and China.
During his stay in Chengdu,
Gyawali met with leaders of Si-
chuan Investment Group, which
has made joint-investments in
Nepal’s hydropower sector.
He assured that the Nepal
government was committed to
creating conducive environ-
ment for Chinese businessmen
and investors in Nepal, and
would take necessary measures
for facilitating investments
in sectors such as energy and
hydropower, agriculture and
manufacturing, among others.
pings continued, some “com-
mitted by security services”.
“The government made lim-
ited efforts to prevent or inves-
tigate such acts,” Sullivan said
and added, “Following alleged
disappearances, security forces
released some individuals with-
out charge, arrested some, some
were found dead, and others
were never found.”
The report says the sons of
three former opposition politi-
cians convicted of war crimes
by Bangladesh’s International
Crimes Tribunal disappeared in
August 2016.
One of them returned after
seven months but two others
remained missing at year’s end,
according to the report.
It says the government re-
peatedly denied the incidents
Wildlife experts help Nepal town get rid of monkey menace
Authorities in eastern Nepal’s
Dhankuta town have sought
Indian wildlife specialists’ help
to capture monkeys, who have
damaged crops in the region
and become a menace for the
people, officials said yesterday.
Several people from Dhankuta
municipality and adjoining
villages fled the area after
hundreds of monkeys damaged
their crops and even physically
attacked some of them, the
official said.
“We have brought eight
monkey trackers from Utter
New Year game
A mahout rides an elephant past spectators during traditional games held to mark the Sinhala and
Tamil New Year in Homagama near Colombo yesterday. The new year marked by both the majority
Sinhalese and minority Tamil population fell on April 14.
of enforced disappearance and
claimed the victims were hiding
of their own accord.
Sullivan also said violent at-
tacks against religious minority
communities continued, “appar-
ently motivated by transnational
violent extremism as well as eco-
nomic and political reasons”.
He mentioned the November
11 attack on Hindu homes in
Rangpur by local Muslims in re-
sponse to a rumoured Facebook
post demeaning religion.
He also mentioned the 2016
police attack on ethnic minority
group Santal in Gaibandha, for
which the High Court in Feb-
ruary 2017 ordered the govern-
ment to relieve a police officer
of his duties for failure to co-
operate with a judicial inquiry
into the attack.
IMF sees Lanka
growth at 4%
Reuters
Colombo
S
ri Lanka’s economic
growth will rebound to 4%
this year from a 16-year
low in 2017, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) said late
on Friday, but urged more re-
forms of state-owned enterpris-
es (SOEs) to temper fiscal risks
and bolster the nation’s defences
to external shocks.
After a brief review of mac-
roeconomic policies linked to a
$1.5bn IMF loan, the Washing-
ton-based global lender said all
the end-December quantitative
performance criteria under the
loan programme had been met.
Manuela Goretti, the IMF
mission chief for Sri Lanka,
said Sri Lankan authorities have
successfully advanced fiscal
consolidation and strengthened
international reserves.
Goretti said a recovery is
underway as agriculture has
started to rebound and food
prices decelerated, adding that
“real GDP growth is expected
to reach 4%” in 2018.
However, the IMF’s growth
estimate is below the Sri
Pradesh in India, who are
paid Rs2,500 per monkey for
catching the simians,” said
Naresh Kumar, chairman, ward
No. 6 of the municipality.
During the local elections
last year, the voters had
sought commitment from the
candidates on controlling the
wildlife in the area.
He said the municipality had
allocated Rs500,000 to fight
the monkeys and an additional
Rs500,000 were also provided
for it, but the situation only
worsened.
Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 25
Lanka pledges
contribution to
Commonwealth
fund
Sri Lanka pledged financial
contribution to the small states
trade financial facility of the
Commonwealth to support the
small states to access global
markets, the finance ministry said
yesterday.
Finance Minister Mangala
Samaraweera has signed an
agreement for this purpose on the
sidelines of the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting
(CHOGM) in London on Tuesday.
The move was initiated at the
CHOGM Summit held in Colombo
in 2013.
“It is expected that the
Commonwealth Small States
will have access to $300mn of
incremental trade finance over
a three-year period from this
programme. As an anchor investor,
Sri Lanka has donated more than
$1.5mn towards this fund since
2015,” the ministry said.
Samaraweera said Sri Lanka’s
pledge towards this scheme
reflects the Sri Lankan
government’s commitment to
espousing the values and the spirit
of the organisation.
Other countries supporting this
endeavour by pledging financial
commitment include India,
Mauritius and Malta.
Lankan central bank’s forecast
of around 5%.
Goretti said the global lender
is expected to consider Sri Lan-
ka’s request for completion of
the fourth loan review in June
2018 after a cabinet approval of
an automatic fuel pricing mech-
anism to meet one of the IMF’s
loan conditions.
The IMF also said the $81bn
economy remains vulnerable
to adverse shocks given the
still sizeable public debt, large
refinancing needs, and low
external buffers.
“Further efforts remain need-
ed to strengthen governance and
mitigate fiscal risks from state-
owned enterprises (SOEs),”
Goretti said in a statement.
“....sustaining the re-
form momentum is critical
to strengthen the resilience
of the economy to shocks
and promoting inclusive and
strong growth.”
Sri Lanka’s economic growth
cooled sharply to 3.1% last year,
from 4.5% in 2016, the lowest
since 2001 as agriculture took
a major blow from repeated
floods and droughts while tight
monetary and fiscal policies
also crimped demand.
So far, 205 monkeys have been
taken under control of with the
help of the monkey trackers,
who aim to catch some 600
simians within a couple of
months to relieve the locals of
the menace, Kumar said.
The municipality has
launched a two-week long
campaign to catch the
monkeys. The monkeys will
be kept in a bamboo cage
before being freed in the
nearby forest.
More funds will be allocated for
the purpose next year, he said.
 Gulf Times
26 Sunday, April 22, 2018

COMMENT
CHAIRMAN
Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka
Deputy Managing Editor
K T Chacko

P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar

editor@gulf-times.com
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GULF TIMES
Trump is taking a
smart calculated risk
with N Korea talks
In July 1971, US President Richard Nixon jolted the
international status quo - and set diplomatic nerves
worldwide fluttering - by announcing he would visit
China. “Never in history, to our knowledge, have
diplomatic relations progressed so fast from the Ping-
Pong table to the Presidency,” the Chicago Tribune
breathlessly observed.
Nixon’s bold overture reshaped the modern world and
has paid vast dividends to Washington, to Beijing and to
the general stability of global geopolitics.
Now another potentially seismic diplomatic event takes
Should child safety seats
be required on airplanes?
shape: President Donald Trump plans to clink glasses
with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Yes, the same
dictator Trump taunted on Twitter as “Little Rocket
Man.” Trump hopes to strike a deal with the North Korean
leader to relinquish his nuclear weapons arsenal.
What could go wrong? Just about everything, critics
say. Sceptics carp that Kim wins a huge propaganda
anywhere in the area, that lap child recommend that infants and small working with ICAO to improve safety
bonanza just by sitting down with the West’s leader By Mari A Schaefer
would have gone out that window,” said children be secured in a proper safety standards for child restraint seats across
without first promising concessions in return. The Philadelphia Inquirer
Brown, 77, in a phone interview from seat, none require it. the globe. So far, no country mandates
But Trump is taking a smart calculated risk. her Chicago-area home. Families generally decide to carry their use on airplanes, she said.

The main reason is that Trump doesn’t have any better
options to resolve
this conundrum
Trump has without military
plenty to offer action. Several
decades of patient
Kim in return American diplomacy,
from the Clinton
for surrendering administration in
nukes the 1990s through
those of Presidents
George W Bush and Barack Obama, failed to achieve the
key goal: to prevent North Korea from threatening the US
and the world with nuclear weapons. Kim now has up to
60, and he is intent on building more. He also has ballistic
missiles that could hit US cities with a nuclear payload.
The Trump-Kim summit is tentatively planned for late
May or June in a location to be determined. Meanwhile,
Trump is cleverly lowering expectations - here and in
Pyongyang - about what, if anything, the meeting may
yield. “If I think that it’s a meeting that is not going to be
fruitful, we’re not going to go,” he said. “If the meeting,
when I’m there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the
meeting.”
Should the two hit it off, Trump has plenty to offer
Kim in return for surrendering nukes. One bargaining
chip is a final peace treaty with South Korea, which is
also reportedly on the agenda of upcoming talks between
Seoul and Pyongyang.
Americans may be surprised to learn that the Korean
War technically isn’t over. Combat ended with an
armistice signed in 1953. But negotiations over a peace
treaty stalled.
A treaty now could eventually bring normal relations
and allow Pyongyang to escape Western sanctions.
But will Kim pay the price? Or does he merely seek to
upstage the master showman and keep building nukes?
The hermetically sealed Hermit Kingdom is mysterious:
Outsiders don’t know its arcane internal politics.
Could Trump dazzle the world with a foreign relations
master stroke? Sure. Nixon went to China and returned
triumphant. Not because he delivered a big deal, but
because he started a diplomatic process that eventually
opened China to the world.
True, Trump is no savvy foreign relations pro like Nixon.
He’s a deal-maker, blusterer and serial mind-changer. His
diplomatic manoeuvring is as subtle as a body slam.
This matchup could yield nothing more than bombast
and political theatre.
W
hen booking flights for
family vacations, many
parents of infants and
toddlers will do the
opposite of what international and
domestic airline regulatory agencies,
transportation safety agencies, and
many safety experts recommend.
They will plan to hold their children
in their laps, unrestrained.
But, if anything should reinforce
the need for child restraint seats on
airplanes, the recent emergency landing
of Southwest Flight 1380 should, said
Jan Brown, a former flight attendant
who survived the 1989 crash landing of
Philadelphia-bound United Flight 232,
which killed 111 passengers in Sioux
City, Iowa.
Last week, metal fragments from
an exploding engine shot into the
Southwest plane, which was cruising at
32,500ft. The force from the dramatic
change in cabin pressure partially
sucked passenger Jennifer Riordan, 43,
headfirst through a broken window.
Riordan, who had been wearing a seat
belt, died from blunt trauma to her
head, neck and torso. The plane, on
a scheduled flight from New York to
Dallas, made an emergency landing at
Philadelphia International Airport.
“If there had been a lap child
For 28 years, Brown has been fighting
to make child restraint seats mandatory
on all flights but has seen little support
from the airline industry.
In 1989, Brown was working on a
DC-10 airplane carrying 285 passengers
when a broken fan blade in a rear engine
disintegrated, causing a catastrophic
engine failure. When it came time
to land the crippled aircraft, flight
attendants instructed passengers to
adopt the crash position. Four parents,
including Sylvia Tsao, were instructed
to put their lap children on the floor, the
protocol at the time.
Tsao’s 22-month-old son, Evan,
got separated from his mother as
the plane somersaulted down the
runway. He died of smoke inhalation,
according to reports from the National
Transportation Safety Board.
“Everybody in his area survived,”
Brown said. “If he had been in a seat he
would have survived.”
What upsets Brown most is that
parents are given a false impression
of safety by the fact that children
under two are allowed to fly free and
unrestrained.
While the Federal Aviation
Administration, NTSB, International
Civil Aviation Organisation and most
airlines, including Southwest, strongly
children instead of buy them their own
seats because of the cost of another
seat, said Flaura Koplin Winston,
director of the Center for Child Injury
Prevention Studies at Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia.
What a lot of parents don’t realise
is that a child who doesn’t have a
dedicated airline seat also doesn’t have
a dedicated oxygen mask, she said.
Flying, however, is still far safer
than driving - a far more common
mode of transportation than air travel,
especially for kids. Though safety seats
are mandated in cars, the leading cause
of death for children is motor-vehicle
accidents, she said.
One alternative to hauling a
cumbersome child restraint seat
through airport security and onto a
plane is a harnesslike restraint, called
CARES. The restraint, made by AmSafe,
a manufacturer of safety restraint
products, is FAA-approved for children
weighing 22 to 44 pounds.
“We believe that the safest place for a
child under the age of 2 is in its own car
seat, strapped in,” said Taylor Garland,
spokeswoman for the Association of
Flight Attendants. That group has
maintained that position since the
United crash in 1989, she said.
Garland said the organisation is
Garland pointed to Emma
Tourtellotte, whose life likely was
saved by a child safety seat. After the
1997 engine explosion of Delta Air
Lines Flight 1288, debris flew through
the fuselage into the cabin, killing two
passengers. A section of the plane’s
panelling hit the wings of Tourtellotte’s
child seat.
David Tourtellotte, the child’s
father, testified in a 1997 congressional
hearing that he initially balked at wife
Kathleen’s wish to buy an extra seat.
“I thank God that I had the good
sense to listen to Kathleen,” Tourtellotte
testified. “Otherwise we might not have
Emma with us today.”
Matt Lykins, an aviation safety
investigator with Robson Forensic
experts, said engine explosions like
the one this week on Southwest
Flight 1380 are “extremely rare.” Not
all decompression events will equate
to what happened on Tuesday, he
said.
“Turbulence is a much more common
event than what they experienced with
Southwest,” he said. Lykins, a parent,
said he would buy a seat for a child
under two years.
“I see the aftermath of bad days
in aviation,” he said. - Tribune News
Service

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© 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Experts say the safest place for a child on an airplane is in a safety seat and not on a lap.
 Gulf Times
Sunday, April 22, 2018 27

COMMENT

Germany’s populist temptation
By Slawomir Sierakowski
Berlin
as something other than a German undermining European solidarity with
conservative. In fact, he has served as a respect to migrants and refugees.
sort of political godfather to Hungary’s Moreover, Germany will likely
authoritarian prime minister, Viktor block any substantive reform of

B
ecause populism is not an
ideology in itself, it can easily
appeal to mainstream political
parties seeking to shore up
flagging electoral support. There are
always politicians willing to mimic
populist slogans and methods to win
over voters, even if doing so divides
their own party. This has been proven
by Republicans in the United States,
Conservatives and Labourites in the
United Kingdom, and Les Republicains
under the new leadership of Laurent
Wauquiez in France.
But the most ominous manifestation
of this tendency can be found in
Germany’s Christian Democratic
Union/Christian Social Union.
The CDU/CSU’s weak showing in
last year’s parliamentary election,
combined with the unprecedented
gains by the populist Alternative fur
Deutschland (AfD), has created new
schisms within the party grouping.
Other than in the former communist
states of East Germany, the AfD’s
strongest performance was in the
CSU’s stronghold of Bavaria, which
will hold local elections in October.
Defending its right flank against
the AfD has thus become the CSU’s
foremost concern.
To that end, the CSU’s longtime
leader, Horst Seehofer, has already set
a new populist tone for the party. He
recently ceded the post of Bavaria’s
minister-president to an ambitious,
younger populist rival, Markus Soder.
And as the recently instated interior
minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
new grand coalition government, he
has sought to burnish his own populist
credentials, including by restoring
the word Heimat (homeland) to the
ministry’s name.
But Seehofer has always come across
Orban. And now he sees his own
opportunity.
Since the day the new German
government was sworn in, it has been
clear that Merkel’s trademark tactic
of neutralising potential critics by
including them in her cabinet would
no longer work. Seehofer immediately
launched a cold war within the
governing coalition.
In a March interview with the
tabloid Bild, Seehofer declared, in
perfect populist fashion, that, “Islam
does not belong to Germany.” The
purpose of such statements is to draw
lines within the government and
place himself on the side of the anti-
immigrant voters who turned out for
the AfD last year. Merkel, together with
almost all of Germany’s political class,
has had no choice but to push back.
At the same time, the AfD has lost
political ground on which to criticise
Seehofer and the CSU.
And Seehofer has remained on the
offensive. He seems to make public
comments on just about everything,
and always in a way that leaves the AfD
with nothing to add and undermines
Merkel without striking at her directly.
But, again, Seehofer’s “Eastern
European” behaviour does not come as
a total surprise. In March 2017, while
Merkel was preparing for her first
meeting with US President Donald
Trump, Seehofer went to Moscow to
cozy up to Russian President Vladimir
Putin. Since then, he has consistently
opposed all sanctions on Russia on any
grounds.
Seehofer has also spoken warmly
of Poland’s populist Law and
Justice (PiS) government, while
criticising the European Union for its
supposed affronts to Polish dignity.
He congratulated Orban for his
The CSU’s longtime leader, Horst Seehofer, has already set a new populist tone for the party.
overwhelming electoral victory earlier
this month, and his CSU colleague
Alexander Dobrindt openly refers to
Orban as “our friend.”
Under Seehofer’s leadership,
the CSU is shifting its focus from
economic to cultural disputes. This
is in keeping with the larger populist
trend in Europe, evident not just
in Hungary and Poland, but also in
the Czech Republic, Austria, the
Netherlands, and Italy, where the
populist Five Star Movement and the
right-wing League are vying to lead the
next government.
One result of Seehofer’s pitched
struggle with Merkel and the
German political establishment is
that the other government party,
the Social Democrats (SPD), has
all but disappeared from view. But,
whether he realises it or not, the AfD
will be the natural beneficiary of any
government blunders, given that it is
now the largest opposition party in the
Bundestag.
Still, even if Seehofer’s populist
gambit fails, he has already succeeded
in pulling the government to the right.
Germany is clearly acting to ease EU
pressure on Poland, Hungary, and
other Eastern European countries
that are flouting the rule of law and
the eurozone, thus squandering
the opportunity offered by French
President Emmanuel Macron. At this
point, Financial Times columnist
Wolfgang Munchau suggests, the
best scenario could well be another
economic crisis in the eurozone,
simply because that might finally
knock some sense into Germany.
Seehofer is bad news for Germany,
which is in greater need of dynamism,
openness, and courage than any
other European country. Germany’s
limited military capacity, over-
regulated service sector, and lack
of infrastructure investment all
indicate that it is lagging a decade
behind Eastern Europe on some key
development metrics, even if it is
Europe’s foremost economic power.
In Eastern European countries, one
can pay by credit card at any street
market, whereas in Germany, that
is often impossible even in the best
restaurants. Likewise, Germany ranks
42nd in the world in terms of Internet
speed, and its broadband infrastructure
would be embarrassing even to a
Ukrainian. For a country that has made
a fortune investing in Eastern Europe,
Germany’s relative backwardness in
these areas is stunning.
The fact that Seehofer is embracing
his inner populist does not necessarily
augur what Dobrindt has described as
a European “conservative revolution.”
But it does suggest that Orban and
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s
“illiberal counterrevolution” is gaining
momentum. – Project Syndicate
zSlawomir Sierakowski, founder of
the Krytyka Polityczna movement, is
Director of the Institute for Advanced
Study in Warsaw and a fellow at the
Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin.

A new chapter in Qatar’s connectivity story Three-day forecast

By Hamad Abdulla Jassim al-Thani
CEO, Vodafone Qatar
invested in recent years. Improved
network coverage and performance
has helped to deliver a world-class
customer experience predicated on
fast connection speeds, great mobile
coverage and unparalleled access
to video, social media and online
streaming.
And now we’re firmly focused
on enhancing Qatar’s fixed line
infrastructure as we move the
country towards becoming one of the
most connected in the world. We’re
accelerating the development of a vast
underground network of fibre cables
that will deliver an array of high-
speed, safe and secure products and
services to customers all over Qatar.
Such progress will develop further
in the country by enabling us to telephony and TV services bundled TODAY
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concentrate our efforts fully on together – customers have a great deal
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investments into fixed line and a to look forward to.
range of other steps that will move us In the past few months, we’ve made MONDAY
towards providing a converged digital great progress in building out fixed Maximum Temperature : 340c
ecosystem with smart solutions. They infrastructure in a number of locations Minimum Temperature : 260c
will underpin our ability to drive around the country. In doing so, we’ve TUESDAY
digital transformation in support of drawn on the very best of the Vodafone Maximum Temperature : 330c
the Qatar National Vision 2030. brand globally and the access to all the Minimum Temperature : 240c
For business customers, the advent services and support this provides, Fisherman's forecast
of our fixed line services will deliver presenting opportunities to develop
enormous benefits ranging from great technology for a better future.
WARNING
calling rates to international locations, We’re proud to be providing the Inshore : Expected strong wind at
superfast broadband and smarter and backbone and fixed infrastructure places/ thundery rain at
more competitive business solutions. to many of the country’s iconic times.
Offshore : Expected thundery rain
This will enable their people to developments, supporting the at places associated with
work faster and be more productive, products and services on which they strond wind and high sea.
improving business operations. Fast depend for the effective running of WEATHER
Inshore : Slight dust to blowing dust
speed networks and widespread their operations. at places and partly cloudy

T
he dynamism and pace
of development in Qatar
is impossible to ignore.
All around us new cities,
hospitals, stadiums and other major
infrastructure projects are proceeding
and faster as a result of significant
changes to our business that we
recently announced. These included
the extension of our licence by another
40 years to 2068 and a reduction
of share capital designed to deliver
connectivity produce incredible ideas,
innovations and technologies that
help make our lives easier, healthier,
smarter and more fulfilling. By rolling
out vast fixed line infrastructure, we’re
enabling the country’s most innovative
The result is that we’re to cloudy with c of sctd rain,
bringing sustainable and effective thundery at places.
competition to Qatar. This WIND
Inshore : Southeasterly-Southwester-
encourages further investment and ly 18-22/30 KT
ultimately delivers innovation and Offshrore : Southeasterly-Easterly
efficiency. The benefits to consumers 08-18/25 KT

at an incredible pace. And whilst it the long-term growth potential of businesses and organisations to build a and businesses are clear. Visibility : 04-8 KM
might be easier to spot the progress the company. Vodafone is now a better tomorrow. In the coming weeks we will be
taking place in full view above ground, 95% Qatari-owned company after For consumers, the possibilities announcing a series of exciting plans SEA STATE
Offshore : 3-5 FT, Rises to 7 FT
a crucial contributor to the country’s we announced Qatar Foundation’s are every bit as exciting. Fixed line and updates designed to accelerate
future success is taking shape just as purchase of Vodafone Group’s stake in services promises more choice, high Qatar’s journey towards becoming Around the region
rapidly below the surface. Vodafone Qatar. speeds and of course a vast array of one of the most connected and
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mobile network – thanks in large accelerate Vodafone Qatar’s future towards convergence – offering the world. The future is exciting, and
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part to more than QR1bn we have development as an industry leader mobile, fixed broadband, fixed we’ve never been more ready.
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Live issues
Nutrition affects cancer risk
By Barbara Quinn now), onions, garlic and artichokes.
The Monterey County Herald In addition, foods like oats,
barley, mushrooms, apples, pears,
raisins, peaches and plums contain

I
t’s been estimated that we could fermentable fibres, resistant starches
prevent more than half of all and other types of fibres that are Around the world
cancers if we would modify our apparently considered delicacies by Weather Weather
habits, especially those related our good gut microbes. When good today Max/min tomorrow Max/min
to smoking (don’t do it) and diet. And bacteria (probiotics) feed on these Athens Sunny 26/14 Sunny 26/13
one of every three cases of cancer can prebiotics, they produce substances Beirut Sunny 21/16 Sunny 23/17
be traced to what we eat (or don’t eat). that nourish the lining of the colon Bangkok P Cloudy 34/27 Sunny 36/28
Still, the evidence of what and how we and may also help shut down the road Berlin M Sunny 23/13 Showers 19/09
should eat to prevent cancer is at best that can lead to cancer. Cairo M Sunny 27/15 Sunny 28/16
inconsistent, according to a review The American Institute for Cancer Cape Town M Sunny 20/14 Rain 19/13
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Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. that alcohol should be shunned for Dhaka S T Storms 33/26 S T Storms 36/26
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pressed to find dietary components even small amounts can increase our Istanbul Sunny 17/11 Sunny 21/12
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- what some people call good bacteria the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research pea soup simmering in my Crock pot News Service
 Gulf Times
28 Sunday, April 22, 2018
QATAR
QM unveils new brand
for National Museum
Q
atar Museums (QM)
marked a major milestone
in the development of
the National Museum of Qatar
(NMoQ) yesterday by launch-
ing a new brand identity for the
iconic museum.
The new brand and logo will be
the centrepiece of an innovative
digital media campaign designed
to build maximum visibility and
awareness amongst the local
population for the museum and
all that it stands for.
New visual identity set to
become ubiquitous symbol
of the country’s past,
present and future
The beautiful logo design clev-
erly combines three doorways
evocative of the Old National
Museum, and which signify Qa-
tar’s past, present and future –
reflecting the museum’s central
narrative and what it has come
to symbolise. The design has
been painstakingly developed
by a team of brand and creative
experts at QM over the past few
months to do justice to the lay-
ers of meaning and significance
that NMoQ, its content and pro-
grammes hold for the country
and its people.
Through its striking colour,
eye-catching form and unmis-
Buthaina A al-Nuaimi, president of Pre-University Education, Qatar Foundation, and Fawzia al-Khater,
assistant undersecretary for Educational Affairs, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, at the event.
QF celebrates Heritage Day
Q
atar Foundation (QF) re-
cently celebrated its Na-
tional Programmes and
Heritage Day (NPHD) 2018 at the
Education City Student Centre.
Over the course of the two-
day event, students from QF
schools showcased their school
projects related to the National
Programmes, which include Is-
lamic Studies, Qatari History,
Arabic Language, and Qatari
Heritage – a programme unique
to QF schools. The event, organ-
ised by Pre-University Education
(PUE)’s Academic Affairs, part of
QF, brought together students
from Qatar Foundation schools
Students participate in the National Programmes and Heritage Day 2018
National Museum’s West view from the Doha Bay.
takable design, the new brand
makes a simple, adaptable and
powerful visual statement about
Qatar’s place in the world. The
to deliver performances and re-
search projects in line with PUE’s
vision of “Leading Learning”.
Abeer al- Khalifa, executive
director of Academic Affairs at
PUE, said: “Through this event,
we hope to inspire our students
to seek out knowledge, as doing
so will enable them to grow and
become active citizens within
their communities.
“I encourage all students to
find ways to promote and cele-
brate their heritage while explor-
ing different ways to best excel in
education and learning.”
Participating schools includ-
ed Qatar Academy Doha, Qatar
new brand and logo will feature in
an innovative digital promotional
campaign launched by QM and
running throughout April across
Academy Al Khor, Qatar Acad-
emy Wakrah, Qatar Academy
Sidra, Qatar Academy Msheireb,
Qatar Leadership Academy and
Awsaj Academy.
Awards were presented for
Best Theatrical Performance,
Best Student Initiative and Best
School Initiative. Additionally,
as part of the Al Munshid Com-
petition, students recited poems
to the audience, and the top three
performances were honoured.
PUE also welcomed represent-
atives from a number of private
and public organisations that
took part in the NPHD 2018 ac-
tivities.
digital and social media, in cin-
emas and television spots, as well
as print advertising.
Leading up to launch, a
Senyar winners felicitated for big catch
T
he seventh edition of
Senyar Festival con-
cluded yesterday at Ka-
tara - the Cultural Village. Dr
Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti,
Katara general manager, hon-
oured the winners amid a fes-
tive and celebratory atmos-
phere at the Katara beach.
The festival aimed at reviv-
ing the marine heritage and
tradition of Qatar and the re-
gion with regard to traditional
Learning the tricks of the trade.
Winners being honoured at the ceremony.
number of tell-tale ‘teaser’ posts
on social media have appeared in
the past few days to provide clues
to its unveiling and to build ex-
fishing methods while using
dhows. The competitions in-
cluded those for family teams
and youngsters in addition to
the main contests.
The team that won the first
place was able to catch 199.8kg
of fish, while the second one
got 192.4kg and the third
186.4kg. There were six oth-
er winning teams occupying
the fourth to 10th positions
in this category with vari-
citement and anticipation among
the public. To coincide with the
new brand, QM is also launching
an innovative marketing cam-
paign that puts members of the
local community at its heart.
The organisation has signed up
a series of individuals with inter-
esting stories, backgrounds and
personal experiences about the
National Museum and who em-
body Qatar’s past, present and
future. This collection of indi-
viduals represents the “Voices”
of NMoQ who, through their per-
spectives and personal connec-
tion with it, will help to tell the
story of the museum, the country
and its people.
A mixture of locals and expats,
the “Voices” of NMoQ come
from all corners of the communi-
ty and represent its full diversity
of backgrounds, histories and
stories. Their involvement in the
campaign will see them partici-
pate in a range of exciting oppor-
tunities, varied and interesting
and worthwhile activities, events
and engagements. “This beauti-
ful museum is a fitting celebra-
tion of Qatar’s culture, preserv-
ing and reconnecting visitors and
residents with the country’s tra-
ditions. It serves as the physical
manifestation of Qatar’s proud
identity, connecting the coun-
try’s history with its diverse and
ous quantities of fish caught
through traditional methods.
The first-place winner in the
largest fish category was able
to catch a king fish weighing
30kg.
Three winners of the family
team competition were award-
ed at the ceremony, while
the participating youngsters
each received a gift of a bag
containing necessary fishing
tools. The participating enti-
cosmopolitan present,” NMoQ
director Sheikha Amna bint Ab-
dulaziz bin Jassim al-Thani said.
“Our new brand launch and
accompanying campaign are the
perfect representation of its sig-
nificance and the ideal platform
for bringing it to the widest au-
dience possible,” Sheikha Amna
added.
The National Museum high-
lights QM’s commitment to ful-
filling the cultural goals of Qatar
National Vision 2030, contribut-
ing towards creating a strong and
sustainable cultural infrastruc-
ture for Qatar, helping to build
a diversified, knowledge-based
economy.
Designed by Pritzker Prize-
winning French architect Jean
Nouvel, the interlocking disc de-
sign was inspired by the desert
rose. It evokes the life of the Qa-
tari people between the desert
and the sea. Seemingly growing
organically out of the ground, the
museum’s structure surrounds
the Old Palace of Sheikh Abdul-
lah bin Jassim al-Thani. It is one
of most recognisable landmarks
in the country and serves as a
monument to a historic way of
life in Qatar.
Given its unique historical sig-
nificance for the country, it will
be a fitting central exhibit within
the National Museum.
ties were also honoured at the
concluding ceremony. These
included the Ministry of In-
terior, Internal Security Force
(Lekhwiya), Private Engineer-
ing Office, Qatar Petroleum,
Qatar TV, Kuwait TV and oth-
ers.
The organising commit-
tee praised the success of the
event at various levels as well
as the big turnout throughout
its various stages.