18 hindustantimes H INDUSTAN TIMES , NEW D EL HI

TU ES DAY, FEBRUARY 1 2, 2019

world HALF OF THEIR ELECTION CAMPAIGNS ARE BASED ON ANTI-PAKISTAN RHETORIC.

ONCE THE ELECTIONS ARE OVER, WE HOPE THAT THEIR BEHAVIOUR WILL BE BETTER
> ASAD UMAR , Pakistan finance minister, expressing hope that ties with India will improve after polls

FiercefightingforISstronghold
photooftheday

LAST STAND Seven children among

16 killed in airstrikes; US likely weeks
away from withdrawal of ground troops
Agencies hold in eastern Syria, with the n Screengrab from video REUTERS
letters@hindustantimes.com besieged militants fighting back

CHINA RELEASES
n

using suicide car bombs, snipers

BEIRUT: US-led coalition’s air and booby traps. The capture of
strikesonthelastjihadistpocket theIS-heldvillageofBaghouzand

n Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks to mark the 40th

inSyriaonMondaykilled16civil-
ians,includingatleastsevenchil-
nearbyareaswouldmarktheend
ofafour-yearglobalwartoendIS’ UIGHUR POET’S
anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran on Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians marked the occasion, waving
nationl flags and chanting “Death to America”.
dren, a war monitor said.
Eight women and one elderly
man were also among the civil-
territorialholdoverlargepartsof
Syria and Iraq, where the group
established its self-proclaimed
‘VIDEO’ TO PROVE
HE IS NOT DEAD
REUTERS
ians killed while trying to flee “caliphate” in 2014.
shortstories towards the Iraqi border, said TheUnited Statesislikely just
RamiAbdelRahman,theheadof weeks away from starting the
Associated Press
POMPEO TRIP MARKS US RE-ENGAGEMENT theBritain-basedSyrianObserv-
atory for Human Rights.
withdrawal of ground troops
from Syria ordered by President letters@hindustantimes.com
WITH OVERLOOKED CENTRAL EUROPE
n

Thecoalitionwasnotimmedi- Donald Trump, the top US com-

BUDAPEST :When US secretary of state Mike Pompeo visits Hungary, ately available for comment, but mander overseeing American BEIJING/ANKARA: Beijing on Mon-
Slovakia and Poland this week he wants to make up for a lack of US engage- has repeatedly said it does its forcesintheMiddleEasthassaid. n Women and children flee the last tiny pocket of Islamic State territory in Baghuz, eastern Syria. AFP day condemned Turkey over its

Pentagon chief in Afghanistan

ment that opened the door to more Chinese and Russian influence in central utmost to avoid targeting civil- US Army General Joseph Votel, claim thatacelebrated musician
Europe, administration officials say. On a tour that includes a conference on ians. The Kurdish-led Syrian headoftheUSCentralCommand, from China’s Turkic Muslim
the Middle East where Washington hopes to build a coalition against Iran, Democratic Forces(SDF)on Sat- cautioned that the exact timing Uighur ethnic group has died in
Pompeo begins on Monday in Budapest, the Hungarian capital that last saw urday announced the final push would dependon the situationin custody, releasing a brief video
a secretary of state in 2011 when Hillary Clinton visited. On Tuesday he will to expel hundreds of diehard Syria. The US military has Reuters region. Ghani’s government has Decemberoverpolicydifferences clip that it said proved he was
be in Bratislava, Slovakia, for the first such high-level visit in 20 years. jihadists from their last patch of already started withdrawing n letters@hindustantimes.com been shut out of the peace talks with US President Donald alive and in good health.
Washington is concerned about China’s growing presence, in particular the territory in eastern Syria on the equipment from Syria. Asked betweenTalibannegotiatorsand Trump, said he could not make Foreign ministry spokes-
expansion of Huawei Technologies, in Hungary and Poland. REUTERS Iraq border. whetherthewithdrawalofAmer- KABUL :Acting US defence secre- USenvoys,withthehardlineIsla- anyguaranteesbecauseUSpeace woman Hua Chunying said the
The SDF estimates that up to ica’s more than 2,000 troops tary Patrick Shanahan said on mist movement branding it a US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was videoofAbdurehimHeyitissued
Brexit: PM May rejects Venezuela’s Guaido warns 600 IS fighters could still remain would begin in days or weeks, Monday it was important for the puppet.Kabulisconcernedthata leading the talks. “The US mili- by state media showed Turkey’s
customs union compromise military on blocked aid inside, most of them foreigners. Votelsaid:“Probablyweeks.But Afghan government to be sharp drawdown of US forces taryhasstrongsecurityinterests statement was an “absurd lie.”
Nineteen IS fighters were killed again, it will all be driven by the includedintalkstoendthecoun- could lead to chaos in the region. intheregion.(The)presencewill “The Turkish side has made a
LONDON :British PM Theresa May CARACAS : Opposition leader Juan in clashes with the SDF on Mon- situation on the ground.” try’s17-yearwar,aninvolvement “It is important that the evolve out of those discussions,” very bad mistake which is quite
has rejected the idea of targeting Guaido, recognized by some 50
day, the monitor said. “In terms of the withdrawal ... that the Taliban has so far Afghan government is involved Shanahan said. irresponsible. We express firm
a customs union with the EU, countries as Venezuela’s interim
TheKurdish-ledforcelostnine I think we’re right on track with rejected. indiscussionsregardingAfghan- He said the aim of his trip was opposition to this,” Hua told
dashing hopes from some that president, warned the military
she could shift her Brexit policy to Sunday that blocking humanitar- fightersduringbattleswithjihad- where we wanted to be,” Votel Shanahan, making his first istan,” Shanahan told reporters togetanunderstandingofthesit- reporters at a daily briefing.
win over the opposition Labour ian aid from entering the country ists, the Observatory said. toldreporterstravelingwithhim trip to Afghanistan in his new travelling with him on the previ- uation on the ground from com- China has filed a formal com-
Party. May and her government is a “crime against humanity.” The SDF does not usually during a trip to the Middle East. role, met US troops and Afghan ously unannounced trip. “The manders and then brief Trump plaint and called on Turkey to
have repeatedly said membership Medicine and food sent by the US divulge casualty figures until “Moving people is easier than President Ashraf Ghani. He said Afghans have to decide what onhisfindings.Shanahan’smeet- reveal the source of its informa-
of a customs union would prevent has been blocked for three days weeks or months later. moving equipment and so what he had so far not received any Afghanistan looks like in the ingwithGhanicoveredarangeof tion, Hua said.
it having an independent trade on the border in Cucuta, Colom- There was fierce fighting we’re trying to do right now is direction to reduce the nearly future. It’s not about the US, it is defence issues important to the Heyithadreportedlybeensen-
policy - something they have bia, after Venezuelan soldiers betweenUS-backedSyrianforces again (to) kind of clear out those 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan, about Afghanistan.” bilateral relationship, Pentagon tenced to eight years over one of
promoted as one of the main closed a bridge linking the two and the Islamic State group materials, that equipment, that but noted what he called strong Shanahan, who took over the spokesman Commander Sean his songs. Hua said he had been
economic benefits of leaving the countries. Guaido has offered around the extremists’ last foot- we do not need.” US security interests in the job after Jim Mattis quit in Robertson said. takenincustodyforendangering
EU. REUTERS amnesty for any members of the national security and his case

US moves to suspend or cut

armed forces who disavow was under investigation.
US warships sail near Maduro -- but the military ThedustupoverTurkey’scrit-
disputed SCS islands leadership still publicly backs the icism contrasts with the close
WASHINGTON :The US sailed two president. AFP
economic relationship between

tariff preferences for India

warships close to the disputed
islands in the South China Sea on
Monday to challenge China’s
excessive maritime claim, accord-
ing to a media report which said
the move is certain to draw the ire
of Beijing. The guided-missile
destroyers sailed within 12
nautical miles of the Spratly
Islands as part of what the US
Navy calls a “freedom of naviga-
tion operation”. PTI
Indonesia police apologise
for using snake on suspect
Pilots’ strike leaves
passengers stranded
SINGAPORE :A shortage of pilots
has caused chaos for thousands of
passengers during peak travel
season in the region, as cockpit
crew complaining of overwork
extended a strike at Taiwan’s
biggest carrier to a fourth day.
Since the pilots’ union of China
Airlines Ltd decided to stay away
from work starting early February
8, the carrier has scrapped more
than 60 flights, including 26 for
Yashwant Raj
n yashwant.raj@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON: The US trade repre-
sentative’sofficeisreportedtobe
close to notifying Congress its
intention to either remove India
fromthelistofcountriesthatben-
n Hakeem al-Araibi’s case had drawn global attention. AFP efit from a zero-tariff system for
both the USTR and the depart-
mentofcommercetoarequestfor
confirmation or denial of the
report.
The US imported $5.6 billion
worthofgoods fromIndiain 2017
under this programme aimed at
helping developing economies.
This is more than 10% of total
Trumphasweighedinperson-
ally to press India to reduce tar-
iffs, pickingon Harley-Davidson
motorcycles and Bourbons—
both relatively insignificant US
exports to India, worth $1.17 mil-
lion and $5.7 mn respectively.
The GSP review, and the deci-
sion to remove India from GSP,
the two countries. Turkey
dependsonChinesefinancingfor
major infrastructure projects,
while China sees Turkey as an
important link in its gargantuan
Belt and Road project to expand
its economic reach abroad.
Turkey’s claim of Heyit’s
death came in a foreign ministry
statement on Saturday calling
China’s treatment of Uighurs “a
great cause of shame for human-
ity” — a rareshow ofpubliccriti-
cism by a majority Muslim

JAKARTA: Indonesian police have
apologised and vowed action
after officers draped a snake
around the neck of a suspect to
Thailand releases
Monday, taking the total to 10%of imports or suspend its benefits IndiangoodsUSimportedin2017. could come up in discussions nation. China has interned an
its scheduled operations, accord- over continuing differences on TheUSannouncedareviewof withUScommercesecretaryWil- estimated 1 million Uighurs and
ing to Jason Liu, a spokesman for trade issues. India’s continued eligibility for bur Ross during his visit to New otherMuslimminoritiesinre-ed-
the company. The airline has lost A60-daynoticetotheCongress theprogramme in April2018,cit- Delhi this week, even though his ucation camps, where they are

Bahraini footballer
make him confess in Papua. The NT$78 million ($2.5 million) in is being prepared to convey ingmarket accessconcerns, spe- departmentisnotconductingthe forced to renounce Islam and
man was being questioned for a sales after 60 services from Feb. 8 USTR’sintentiontoremoveIndia cifically for dairy and medical review. swearfealtytorulingCommunist
theft. AGENCIES to 10 were cut. BLOOMBERG from the Generalized System of devices. Multiple roundsoftalks Indian officials familiar with PartyleaderXi Jinping.Turkish
Preferences(GSP) orreducedthe betweenIndianandUStradeoffi- the GSP discussions have long foreign ministry spokesman
BANGKOK: Thailand on Monday “There are no grounds to hold number of goods covered, Polit- cials were held to address them acknowledged that the hawkish Hami Aksoy said it was “no
inthenews freed a jailed refugee Bahraini him anymore. It is his right to ico reported on Monday. Media and other issues that arose from leadership of the USTR has been longer a secret” that China has
footballer with residency status decidewherehewillgonext.Heis reports had said earlier that a PresidentDonaldTrump’stariffs keen to remove India from the arbitrarily detained more thana

SALMAN RUSHDIE
I don’t want to live in hiding, says writer, 30 years
inAustralia,afterBahrainaban-
doned its bid to seek his extradi-
tion, and immigration officials
after fatwa from Iran over his controversial book said he was immediately driven
to the airport.
afreeman,”saidChatchomAka-
pin, an official in the Thai Attor-
ney-General’s office.
A Reuters witness said Araibi
was seen leaving the Bangkok
decisionisexpectedintwoweeks.
There has been no official
announcement yet of any kind
and a response is awaited from
onsteel andaluminium imports.
Developments on e-commerce
and data localisation have been
added to the discussions.
programmeandtookout$70mil-
lion worth of Indian goods
imported under the programme
million Uighurs in “concentra-
tion camps.” He said the Turkic
Muslim population faced “sys-
last November. tematic assimilation” in China.

1
After decades spent in the shadow of a death
sentence pronounced by Ayatollah Ruhollah HakeemAlAraibi,25,whofled remandprisoninacarandimmi-
Khomeini, Salman Rushdie is quietly defiant. “I Bahrainin 2014 andreceived ref- grationofficialssaidhewashead- S H O W B I Z A W A R D S S E A S O N
ugee status in Australia, was ingforthemaininternationalair-

Grammys give nod Roma wins Bafta

don’t want to live hidden away,” he said
arrestedinNovemberlastyearat port in the Thai capital.

2
The novelist’s life changed forever on February 14, 1989, when Iran’s aBangkokairportwhileonahon- Rights group Amnesty Inter-
spiritual leader ordered Rushdie’s execution after branding his novel eymoon trip, following an Inter- national, which lobbied for his

to women, diversity best movie honour

The Satanic Verses blasphemous. Tehran renewed the fatwa year pol notice issued at Bahrain’s release, later said Araibi had
after year request. However, the Middle arrived at the airport.
East nation has withdrawn the It was not immediately clear

3
Rushdie spent 13 years living under a false name and constant police request, prompting a Thai court when or why Bahrain withdrew
protection. “I was 41 back then, now I am 71. Things are fine now,” he to approve a motion by prosecu- its request. A Bahrain govern- LOSANGELES: Aboldstreakoffemi- art out there -- she made history LONDON:Netflix black-and-white
had said last year. tors to drop the case against the mentspokesmandeclinedtogive nism ran through the Grammys as the first solo woman to win a production Roma triumphed at
footballer, Thai officials said. details. REUTERS galaaswomenartistsdominated Grammy for Best Rap Album for the Bafta film awards, boosting
inthecompetitionandonthecon- her debut Invasion of Privacy. OscarhopesfortheUSstreaming

Saudi prince likely to stay at

cert stage while rappers Cardi B The trembling star, fresh off a giant whose rise poses a serious

Hungary: Life-long andChildishGambinodelivered

a history-making night for hip-
rousing performance of her hit
Money, delivered an emotional
challenge to the conventional
Hollywood business model.

tax exemption for

hop. speech alongside her husband The cinematic love letter to

PM’s residence during Pak trip

Gambino,themusicalalterego Offset of the rap trio Migos about director Alfonso Cuaron’s 1970s
of actor Donald Glover, posted making the album in the early childhood in Mexico City beat

Imtiaz Ahmad
n letters@hindustantimes.com
ISLAMABAD : Saudi crown prince
MohammadBinSalmanwillvisit
Pakistan on Saturday for a two-
day trip, accompanied by a large
number of businessman and
high-ranking officials.
Officialshavehintedhemaybe
staying at Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s residence for security
reasons. Localmediareportedon
Mondaythatthesecurityteamof
the crown prince has already
arrived in Islamabad prior to his
visit. The Saudi officials visited
differentplacesinthe capitaland
reviewedsecurityarrangements.
A record investment package
is being prepared by Saudi Ara-
women with 4 kids
BUDAPEST: Hungary’s govern-
ment is greatly increasing finan-
cial aid and subsidies for families
with several children, the coun-
try’s prime minister has said.
The measures announced by
Viktor Orban during his “state of
the nation” speech are meant to
encourage women to have more
children and reverse Hungary’s
population decline.
The benefits include a lifetime
personal income-tax exemption
for women who give birth and
n A red-carpet welcome awaits the prince in Pakistan. AFP raise at least four children; a sub-
sidy of 2.5 million forints ($8,825)
toward the purchase a seven-
SAUDIS DON’T KNOW WHERE JAMAL seat vehicle for families with
KHASHOGGI’S BODY IS, SAYS MINISTER three or more children; and a
low-interest loan of 10 million
four big wins for his provocative
hit This Is America, but did not
attendtheceremonyinLosAnge-
les on Sunday. In any event, the
nightbelongedto the ladies. One
year after they were largely
snubbedinmajorcategories,and
the head of the Recording Acad-
emy sparked outrage for telling
them to “step up,” they made
their presence felt and heard.
Country star Kacey Mus-
gravesnabbedfourprizesinclud-
inganupsetwinfortopAlbum of
theYearhonourforGoldenHour.
English synth-pop star Dua Lipa
bested a crowded field of female
talent to take home the Grammy
for Best New Artist. “I guess this
year we really stepped up,” she
said. And rap’s woman of the
momentCardiBcertainlyputher
days of her pregnancy. Gam-
bino’swinmarkedthefirsttimea
rap track won either Song of the
Year, which honours best song-
writing,ortheRecordoftheYear
award for best overall song.
Musgraves’thirdstudioalbum
bested a crowded field of heavy-
weights for top honours includ-
ingrappersKendrickLamarand
Drake -- both of whom ended the
night with just one win each.
Gambino and Lamar skipped
theceremony,butDrakeshowed
up, and vented his frustration
over a common complaint that
black hip-hop artists are not
alwaysgiventheirdue. “Weplay
in an opinion-based sport, not a
factual-based sport,” Drake said
as he accepted his awardfor Best
Rap Song for God’s Plan. AFP
black comedy The Favourite to
win best film and best director.
“I’m seriously touched this
film has been received the way
it’s been received,” Cuaron said
at a star-studded ceremony on
SundayinLondon’sRoyalAlbert
Hall.
Romadentedexpectationsofa
clean sweep by The Favourite,
which picked up best actress for
Olivia Colman as Queen Anne
and best supporting actress for
Rachel Weisz playing her confi-
dante and lover.
Colman, 45, was up against
GlennClose(TheWife)andLady
Gaga (A Star is Born) -- the same
power duo she will face at the
Oscars on February 24, with
Close so far the clear frontrun-
ner. Last year’s Bafta ceremony
n Alfonso Cuaron with Best Film
and Best Director awards. AP
saw Hollywood stars paint the
redcarpetblackinsolidaritywith
the#MeToomovement.The2019
edition has also been tinged by
scandal.
Bafta removed Bohemian
RhapsodydirectorBryanSinger
from the Queen biopic’s citation
in the outstanding British film
nomination “in light of recent
very serious allegations”.
Rami Malek’s portrayal of the
late Queen frontman Freddie
Mercury earned him the best
actor award, however.
Best supporting actor at the
BaftaswenttoMahershalaAlifor
Green Book. AFP

bia for Pakistan. This includes a Riyadh does not know the “We don’t know.” Jubeir said the forints ($35,300) for women ‘ART’-IFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
reported $10 billion refinery and location of dissident Jamal public prosecutor responsible for under age 40 who are marrying

The new Picasso? Meet Ai-Da, the robot artist

oil complex in the strategic Gwa-
dar Port.
The Saudi investments will
provide a welcome relief for the
cash-strapped country which is
seeking a bailout from the Inter-
national Monetary Fund. On
Monday, finance minister Asad
Umar said Pakistan is likely to
secure the IMF bailout, a day
afterPrimeMinisterImranKhan
metIMFchiefChristineLagarde
in Dubai.
A team of the crown prince's
personaldoctorsandadelegation
of Saudi media persons have
arrived for the coverage of the
visit.
Khashoggi’s body, despite having
detained the Saudi team that
murdered him, a high-ranking
foreign affairs official has said.
The dissident journalist was
dismembered after his murder on
October 2 in the Saudi consulate
in Istanbul, but his remains have
yet to be found.
Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of
state for foreign affairs, said the
murder was carried out by Saudi
officials “acting outside their
scope of authority” and that 11
people have been charged. But
asked where Khashoggi’s body is,
he told CBS’s Face the Nation,
the case had sought evidence
from Turkey but had received no
response.
In the same interview, the
minister denied any role by Saudi
Arabia in the leak of Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos’ private messages and
pictures to the American tabloid
National Enquirer.
“This is something between the
two parties, we have nothing to
do with it,” he said, denying the
kingdom had any role in the
publication of lurid texts between
Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren
Sánchez. “It sounds to me like a
soap opera,” he said. AGENCIES
for the first time. Orban, who has
made “zero tolerance” for immi-
gration his main theme in the
past four years and was elected
to a third consecutive term in
April, said the initiative is meant
to “ensure the survival of the
Hungarian nation.” “This is the
Hungarians’ answer, not immi-
gration,” Orban said. The prime
minister also listed some of his
government’s economic
achievements — such as low
unemployment — and vowed to
fight poverty. Orban accused the
leadership of the European
Union for wanting “to fill the
continent with migrants.” AP
n Ai-Da gets ready.
FALMOUTH: Can robots be cre-
ative? British gallery owner
Aidan Meller hopes to go
some way towards answer-
ing that question with Ai-Da,
who her makers say will be
able to draw people from
sight with a pencil in her
bionic hand.
Meller is overseeing the
final stages of her construc-
tion by engineers at Corn-
REUTERS wall-based Engineered Arts.
He calls Ai-Da - named
after British mathematician
and computer pioneer Ada
Lovelace - the world’s first
“AI ultra-realistic robot art-
ist”, and his ambition is for
her to perform like her
human equivalents. “She’s
going to actually be drawing
and we’re hoping to then
build technology for her to
paint,” Meller said after see-
ing Ai-Da’s prosthetic head
being carefully brought to
life by specialists individu-
ally attaching hairs to form
her eyebrows. “But also as a
performance artist she’ll be
able to engage with audien-
ces and actually get messa-
ges across.”
Ai-Da’s makers say she’ll
have a “RoboThespian” body
with expressive movements
and she will talk and answer
questions. REUTERS