BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 WTO agrees to Qatar’s request to decide on lawsuit against Saudi Special One Mourinho sacked by United pu d he R is A 78 bl AT 19 Q since in GULF TIMES WEDNESDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 11037 December 19, 2018 Rabia II 12, 1440 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Power, glory and prosperity zAmir and Father Amir attend Qatar National Day parade zGrand celebrations mark National Day QNA Doha H is Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa alThani yesterday led the Qatar National Day celebrations which were marked across the country on a grand scale. The Amir and the Father Amir attended the 11th National Day Parade in the afternoon on Doha Corniche. HE Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Khalifa al-Thani; the Amir’s Personal Representative His Highness Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani; His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani; His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani; and HE Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa al-Thani were present. The parade was also attended by HE the Advisory Council Speaker Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, a number of sheikhs and ministers, state guests including Tunisian Defence Minister Abdelkrim Zbidi, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, US Air Forces Central Command at Al Udeid Base Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella, Kuwait Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff General Sheikh Abdullah al-Nawaf al-Sabah, Italian Carabinieri Forces Commander in Chief Brigadier General Giovanni Nistri, British Royal Air Force Deputy Commander of Operations Air Marshal Stuart Atha, Algeria’s First Military Region Commander Major General Sidan Ali, Royal Moroccan Army’s Colonel Jido Abu Zeid and Sandhurst Royal Military Academy Commandant General Arthur Denaro. Members of the Advisory Council, Central Municipal Council, heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Qatar and number of senior officers of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior, as well as dignitaries and scores of citizens and residents witnessed the parade. The show began with the National Anthem, followed by verses from the Holy Qur’an. Eighteen artillery rounds were fired to mark the National Day. The parade began with aerial dis- plays of various types of warplanes, combat helicopters, cargo aircraft, and aerobatics teams followed by an entrance by armed forces’ armoured vehicles, tanks, missile defence systems, military police equipment, anti-terrorism equipment, military communications, a maritime show featuring the Amiri Naval Forces’ striking boats and modern naval vessels. The Amiri Land Forces also participated along with the Amiri Air Forces and Naval Forces. Teams from the Ministry of Interior and Civil Defence took part in the parade as Internal Security Forces “Lekhwiya” paratroopers descended from the sky, in addition to a show of modern armoured vehicles and military equipment. The Amir and the Father Amir participated in Qatar’s Ardha in Amiri Diwan yard on the Doha Corniche, to celebrate the National Day. HE Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Khalifa alThani, His Highness Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, a number of sheikhs, ministers, members of the Advisory Council, dignitaries, and citizens also participated. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani attending the National Day Parade along with other dignitaries yesterday on Doha Corniche. More Qatar National Day parade and celebration stories and pictures on Pages 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 28 His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani tweeted yesterday on the occasion of the National Day: “I congratulate all the people of Qatar, citizens and expatriates, on the occasion of the National Day… I ask Allah Almighty to keep His great blessings on our country regarding security, safety, and stability, and grant the aspirations of our people for more power, glory and prosperity. Happy National Day for all.” Amir meets Pakistan army chief His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met, at his office in Al Bahr Palace yesterday, with the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and his accompanying delegation on the occasion of their visit to the country. At the beginning of the meeting, the Pakistani army chief congratulated the Amir and the people of Qatar on the occasion of the National Day. During the meeting, they reviewed co-operation relations between Qatar and Pakistan and ways to enhance them, and exchanged views on regional and international developments. Page 2 His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani interacts with people who had thronged the Doha Corniche to witness Qatar National Day parade. 2 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Qatar-Pakistan ties reviewed PM meets European Parliament delegation HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his accompanying delegation on the occasion of their visit to Qatar. During the meeting, they reviewed relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them, and discussed regional and international developments of common concern. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday met the head of the European Parliament Committee for Relations with the Arabian Peninsula, Michele Alliot-Marie, and a number of European Parliament members on the occasion of their visit to Qatar. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of cooperation between Qatar and the European Parliament and means to develop it, in addition to issues of common concern. Heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Qatar watch the parade staged on the occasion of Qatar National Day on the Doha Corniche yesterday. Turkish envoy praises strength of ties with Qatar QNA Doha A s Qatar commemorates and pays tribute to its founding fathers, Turkey’s ambassador to Qatar Fikret Ozer has said that National Day is the best occasion to strengthen the spirit of national pride, solidarity and historical awareness. He added in remarks made to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of Qatar’s National Day celebrations that National Days also bring people from different countries together, including high-level officials and diplomatic corps, to serve as a venue of inter-cultural dialogue. “Given our deep-rooted cultural ties and excellent bilateral relations in every field, the National Day of Qatar is of particular importance for both the government and people of Turkey. “In my capacity as the Turkish ambassador to Qatar, I would like to celebrate the National Day of the friendly State of Qatar and extend my best wishes to our Qatari brothers and sisters on this occasion,” the ambassador said. The ambassador discussed Qatar’s achievements in recent years and said that they made the country a success story. He added that these successes turned the country into an important actor on the international arena. He highlighted that the recent achievements in terms of selfsufficiency particularly in dairy and poultry products are appreciated by not only by the Qatari people but all the leading actors of international community. Turkish and (below) Italian contingents participating in the National Day parade. PICTURES: Shaji Kayamkulam Netherlands envoy greets Qatar on National Day A mbassador of the Netherlands to Qatar, Bahia Tahzib-Lie, congratulated Qatar, its leadership and people on the occasion of National Day. She said that national days are festive occasions that bind people and communities, in remarks made to Qatar News Agency (QNA). She noted that as the country celebrates another national day, Qatar is rapidly strengthening, consolidating and diversifying its national and international ties and products. She added that Qatar is also diversifying the country’s economy by creating a balance between an oil-based and a knowledge-based economy. She expressed her optimism that, through determination and national will, the country will succeed in reaching those goals. “The State of Qatar is rapidly evolving and is continuously modernising its country. It has made great and conscious progress on worker welfare. Qatar has proved to the world that it can develop in a rapid time. It is encouraging to witness the evolving empowerment of women and girls. There is a wealth of untapped potential. The Netherlands is committed to enthusiastically work with Qatar towards its further promotion,” the ambassador said. On ties, the ambassador said that The Netherlands is keen on being Qatar’s partner for peace and justice. She stressed that The Netherlands treasures its partnership with Qatar, both now and in the years ahead. “Qatar and the Netherlands share striking similarities. They are both small in size, with great ambition, always looking for innovation and our royal families are loved in our countries. It is great to see that Qatar and the Netherlands connect so well in a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, energy and sports. The bilateral relations between Qatar and the Netherlands are strong and we look forward to improving them and to assist Qatar in the ambitious National Vision 2030. The Netherlands is committed to be a long-term sustainable economic partner,” the ambassador said. - QNA Qatar calls for Palestinian unity against Israeli attrocity Qatar called on the Palestinians to unite ahead of any other interest in the struggle against occupation. This came in a speech by Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League, Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz al-Sahlawi, at an Arab league meeting He said that the Palestinian cause was facing many risks, highlighting the recent decision in Australia to recognise West Al Quds as a capital of Israel and neglecting all the international resolutions on the issue. He described the decision as irresponsible. He also highlighted the position of the newly-elected Brazilian president, who will recognise Al Quds as a capital of Israel and intends to move the embassy from Tel Aviv. Turkey’s ambassador to Qatar Fikret Ozer The ambassador also stressed how, despite different economic and political challenges over the past two years, Qatar has successfully been following the path of economic progress and social development. He highlighted the mega infrastructure projects that have been implemented within the framework of 2030 vision and FIFA 2022 World Cup preparations, as well as the significant steps taken to increase economic diversification, self-sufficiency and industrial production. Ozer discussed Qatar’s foreign policy and said that it can be characterised by its multilateralism, use of soft power in diplomacy and its mediation efforts for settling various disputes in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The ambassador noted that Qatar’s method is the one needed in the world today, given the increase in use of hard power, violence and general unpredictability. “Turkey and Qatar’s foreign policies share the same principles in terms of mediation ef- forts and humanitarian diplomacy. As such, we have a large room for further co-operation and co-ordination under the platforms such as OIC Contact Group of Friends of Mediation and UN Initiative of the Alliance of the Civilizations. “Similarly, Qatar’s growing link with international organisations beyond its region, such as the OSCE and Nato brings our countries closer under multilateral institutions,” the ambassador said. On bilateral ties, the ambassador said that Turkey and Qatar enjoy excellent relations in all fields. He added that a reflection of that was the frequent high-level bilateral visits make important contribution to keep this momentum. “Turkey and Qatar support each other in the face of major challenges. In this context, Turkish people will not forget the backing of Qatar and Qatari people during and after the heinous coup attempt on 15 July and the more recent attempts for devaluating Turkish lira. Similarly, Turkey rushed to the aid of Qatar when it faced an economic blockade in June 2017, which led to a greater integration of our economies,” the ambassador said. He discussed trade ties and expressed his delight at how they were progressing. He highlighted that joint institutional mechanisms such as the Supreme Strategic Committee, which was convened four times and resulted in 45 agreements and 4 joint declarations, set the necessary framework to boost the bilateral relations in every field. EAA signs pact with UN body E ducation Above All (EAA) Foundation signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at the 2018 Doha Forum which concluded on Sunday. The agreement is on Humanitarian Assistance for Strengthened Access to Data on Education in Emergencies, Conflict and Insecurity supported by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD). Among those present were QFFD director general Khalifa bin Jassim al-Kuwari and OCHA’s humanitarian affairs under-secretary general and emergency relief co-ordinator Mark Lowcock. This is the second consecutive year of collaboration between EAA and OCHA to strengthen access to Data on Education in Emergencies, Conflict and Insecurity. In tune with their con- certed efforts, EAA and OCHA’s education related data project will highlight how attacks against education during times of conflict and insecurity deprive children of their right to education. Lowcock, said: “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with EAA because we believe that there is an urgent need for faster progress to safeguard the right to education of children in conflict zones. We look forward to working with EAA on this project to promote the use and insights from this data with a wider set of humanitarian partners. OCHA and EAA share the same vision to ensure that accurate data is available for use by decisionmakers during armed conflict and in humanitarian situations to protect the right to education, to prevent further conflict and to ensure that post-conflict societies can harness the power of education to build peace.” Following the signing agreement, a workshop was organised by EAA, QCRI and OCHA under the theme “Conflicting information and education”. Speakers discussed as how the United Nations, governments, civil society organisations, academics, and other stakeholders can work together to improve global data on attacks on education, with a particular focus on the use of humanitarian technology to solve global challenges in collecting data on education and conflict. The workshop also discussed in depth on topics such as “Protecting Education”, “The Impact of Technology for Social Good”, as well as the “Artificial Intelligence”. The workshop concluded with Q&A session by the audience. EAA is a global education foundation established in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Qatar’s embassy in Kuwait celebrates National Day Ambassador of Qatar to Kuwait, Bandar bin Mohamed al-Attiyah held a reception to celebrate the Qatar National Day. The reception was attended by Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khalid al-Hamad al-Sabah, Kuwait’s former prime minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohamed al-Ahmad al-Sabah, several ministers, members of the national assembly, senior officials, members of diplomatic and consular corps and international organisations. 3 4 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR HBKU Press publishes book on Gulf crisis H amad Bin Khalifa University Press’ (HBKU Press) latest published title, The Gulf Crisis: The View from Qatar, officially launched at this year’s Doha Forum, which concluded on Sunday. The book takes an in-depth look at the socio-economic factors of the blockade against Qatar through the writings of its 16 authors, led by editor Rory Miller, PhD, Professor of Government at Georgetown University in Qatar. The book chronicles and assesses the blockade against several economic, political, social, international, and mediabased factors. The panel at the Doha Forum included presentations from several contributors of the book who highlighted their areas of expertise, including Gerd Nonneman, PhD, Professor of International Relations and Gulf Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar, who presented a foreign policy analysis perspective; Tareq al-Ansari, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Science, Engineering and Sustainable Development at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, who spoke about food security; Jocelyn Sage Mitchell, PhD, Assistant Professor in Residence at Northwestern University in Qatar who spoke about domestic policy opportunities; and Mohamed Evren Tok, PhD, Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean for Innovation and Com- The Gulf Crisis: The View from Qatar was officially launched at Doha Forum. munity Advancement, College of Islamic Studies and Public Policy in Islam at Hamad Bin Khalifa University who spoke about entrepreneurship and economic resilience. “The main driver of this project was the realisation in the first few months of the crisis that the embargo was a major turning point in the history of the modern Gulf and that the commentary on the embargo was mainly coming from outside the region,” explains Miller. “All the contributors are local experts in their respective fields and were working on the issues that they deal with in the volume long before the embargo began – domestic politics, religion, cultural policy, translation studies, media and journalism, International Relations theory and regional studies, energy se- curity, food and cyber security. “We ended up with contributors representing six QF institutions: Georgetown University in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar, University College London in Qatar and the Museums Authority, Texas A&M University at Qatar, and Hamad Bin Khalifa University. As such, one of the great advantages and appeals of this volume is that all the chapters do an excellent job in locating the blockade in the wider disciplinary, historical, political and social context.” HBKU Press saw in the book its unique perspective due to the inclusion of contributions by Qatar-based experts only and in the service it provided in charting the first year of the crisis in real time in a number of areas, both in articles and pictures. “The book is essentially a marker of history,” says Bachar Chebaro, executive director of HBKU Press. “It is an accurate and thorough representation of the blockade from Qatar’s perspective, and it espouses HBKU Press’s commitment for providing a platform for local perspectives and narratives on international affairs.” Senior editor Fakhri Saleh said, “It is written in a reader-friendly manner that provides a valuable context for the blockade. It is perfect for those who want to know about the roots of the crisis as well as the more immediate aspects in terms of Qatar’s domestic and foreign policy perspective. QFFD, QC sign $3mn pact with UNHCR for displaced Yemenis Q atar Fund for Development (QFFD), Qatar Charity (QC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have signed an agreement to provide shelter to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yemen, at a total cost of $3mn. The agreement was signed by Misfer Hamad al-Shahwani, deputy director-general of QFFD’s Development Projects Department; Mohamed Ali alGhamdi, assistant to QC’s CEO in the Governance and Institutional Development Sector; and Amin Awad, UNHCR director for the Middle East and North Africa Bureau and Regional Refugee Co-ordinator for Syria and Iraq. The agreement came within the framework of the efforts made by QFFD and QC to support the response of UNHCR to the humanitarian needs of the Yemeni people suffering from difficult humanitarian conditions due to the ongoing crisis in the country, and to meet the basic needs of the affected Yemenis in line with the assessment of humanitarian sectors in the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2018, a statement noted. The agreement aims at providing rental assistance to IDPs, returnees and local communities Officials at the agreement-signing ceremony. in Yemen to support sustainable return, promote the reconstruction of damaged homes and provide services for these people. The project is expected to benefit more than 26,000 people in the governorates of Abyan, Lahij and Hodeidah. Al-Shahwani said: “We are proud of the strong and strategic partnerships that we are building with Qatar Charity to support Qatar’s effective efforts under its wise government, which consistently calls for attaching attention to humanitarian action and providing assistance to the needy around the world, including refugees. Al-Ghamdi expressed pride at the continuous co-ordination with QFFD to contribute to supporting Qatari humanitarian efforts across the world, and highlighting its bright and pioneering role in the field of international development at the regional and global levels. “This agreement underscores the strength of the strategic partnership and significant coordination between QC and QFFD. At the same time, the agreement reflects the size and strength of the growing strategic partnership with the UNHCR, signed in Geneva last year, he said. “This agreement reflects the great co-operation between QFFD, QC and international humanitarian actors, which has grown significantly in the past few years. It strengthens the co-operation initiative between the three parties to achieve the common humanitarian goals related to helping and protecting displaced persons and refugees across the world.” Al-Ghamdi stressed that QC is one of the top funding partners of UNHCR at the level of NGOs. He also underlined QC’s desire to maintain this ranking to further enhancing its presence at the level of co-operation to serve humanitarian issues, especially with the increasing number of displaced people and refugees throughout the world in recent years due to the high frequency of conflicts in many areas. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Awad applauded Qatar’s significant role on the humanitarian level throughout the world and also noted the role of QFFD and QC in this regard. “We value UNHCR’s partnership with the humanitarian actors in Qatar, particularly Qatar Charity. We are very pleased with the significant progress that our collaboration has achieved in recent years”, said Awad. ICBF to hold free medical camp for workers I ndian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF), a charitable organisation under the patronage of the Indian embassy, is organising, in association with the Ministry of Public Health, their 36th Free Medial Camp for workers on Friday at the Medical Commission premises in Abu Hamour from 7.30am to 1.30pm. The objective is to provide free medical assistance to workers/ labourers from various labour camps and companies in Doha and Industrial Area. Registrations are in progress. Spot registrations are also allowed for those directly visiting the camp on the day. A team of dedicated special- ist doctors from Indian Doctors Club and other medical entities in Qatar will volunteer for the medical camp. There will be general physicians, specialist doctors and dentist. Paramedical services will also be available. Wellcare group will be providing pharmaceutical support and free medicines. The ‘Yoga in Doha’ group will be conducting Yoga sessions for all the workers throughout the camp. The Medical Camp will be inaugurated by the Indian ambassador P Kumaran. Indian Embassy Help Desk and the Labour section representatives will be present at the location to attend to the workers’ concerns and queries. Al Muftah named ‘Car Rental of the Year’ Q atar’s first car rental company, Al Muftah Rent A Car, was awarded as ‘Car Rental of the Year’ for the Middle Eastern Region at the 4th Middle East Hospitality Excellence awards recently in Dubai. More than 1,000 candidates entered the race to be nominated as one of the best in their category. The selections were on the basis of online voting. Fazil Hameed and Ziad Usman from the top management of Al Muftah Rent A Car attended the function. This was the first time Al Muftah was nominated for the awards. In fact, Al Muftah was the only company from Qatar to be nominated and beat six other finalists to bag the coveted title. Al Muftah Rent A Car has been operational for close to five decades and is one of the largest car rental players within the region. Al Muftah has also been previously recognised by CHA International, Dubai as the ‘Best Local Brand’ Car Rental for seven years in a row. Al Muftah Rent A Car managing director AK Usman described the honour as a people’s choice award and thanked customers who have placed their trust and faith in the brand for the last 47 years. “One of the biggest assets of Al Muftah’s growth Fazil Hameed and Ziad Usman receive the award. since inception has been its persistent focus to provide high standards of service and quality. We have placed customer satisfaction as the Cornerstone for success,” he explained. “We would also like to thank our chairman Abdul Rahman Muftah al-Muftah and vice chairman Ibrahim Muftah al-Muftah for imparting a visionary leadership and and providing all the support to achieve excellence,” Usman added. QC distributes winter aid to displaced Syrians Q atar Charity (QC) said it had distributed blankets, food baskets and hygiene kits to displaced and affected people inside Syria, benefiting more than 126,000 persons. This is to be followed by another distribution of aid by the charity. The distribution of assistance came with the support from benefactors in Qatar as part of the ‘Below Zero’ campaign launched by QC to provide the winter requirements for the needy, Qatar Charity said in a statement. The distributed aid included 2,500 blankets, 3,000 family hygiene kits, 3,000 ready-to-eat meals and 700 basic food baskets, benefiting some 126,000 people belonging to displaced and poor families. QC will next distribute 17,200 food baskets, 7,000 ready meals, 3,114 family winter clothes, 15,000 family personal clothes, 40,000 winter blankets, 8,300 litres of fuel for heating and 7,000 hygiene kits, the statement notes. The distributed items include 2,500 blankets, 3,000 hygiene kits, 3,000 meals and 700 basic food baskets. Qatar Charity launched its ‘Below Zero’ winter campaign under the slogan ‘Share the warmth” last month to help the displaced, refugees and the needy in nine countries cope with the cold of winter. On this occasion, a delegation from QC has distributed 2,850 food baskets to all families living in the camp, and sent 20 trucks loaded with food baskets into Syria to be distributed to displaced Syrians. Another 60 trucks will be despatched for the same purpose by the end of December. The campaign aims to raise QR66mn to provide the necessary winter needs for 800,000 people in three main areas – food, shelter and heating. The targeted people will be given food baskets, winter clothes, blankets, heaters, fuel, tents, caravans (prefabricated housing units), mattresses, pillows and hygiene items. The campaign focuses on the displaced, refugees and those affected in countries going through exceptional circumstances such as Syria, Palestine and Iraq. It also concentrates on the poor in Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where temperatures fall below zero degree Celsius. In order to reach out to the largest number of displaced people, refugees and those in need, QC has urged people in Qatar to continue supporting its ‘Below Zero’ campaign. Donations in favour of the campaign can be made through QC’s website and app. Donors can also request a ‘home collector’ through QC’s app or dial the charity’s hotline, 44667711, to make their contributions. Donations to the ‘Below Zero’ campaign can also be made through its 25 branches within the country and 92 collection points in commercial complexes. Mobile donations can also be made. To send QR100, QR200 and QR500, one can send an SMS with code (B0) to 92642, 92015, and 92428, respectively. 6 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Crowds throng Vodafone Village Thousands of community members visited Katara on Monday for the first day of performances and events supported by Vodafone Qatar to celebrate Qatar National Day. A hugely popular performance, which featured 300 drones and an opera show called ‘Citizens and Expats – We Are One’ was the centrepiece of Vodafone’s activities at Katara, as well as ‘Vodafone Village’. The activities were designed to provide something for everyone while blending traditional and cultural experiences with digital activities. Highlights of the event supported by Vodafone also included multicultural performances and water projections. Vodafone Qatar is the strategic telecommunications partner to Katara Cultural Village for Qatar National Day. Giant billboard unveiled at Qatargas headquarters Q atargas has celebrated Qatar National Day (QND) with employees at multiple locations throughout Qatar, and at the company’s liaison offices in South Korea, Japan, Thailand and China. In support of QND, a giant billboard measuring 102m by 74m was unveiled at Qatargas’ headquarters in Doha. The billboard features Qatar’s national flag and one of the most prominent architectural monuments in Doha – the arches of Interchange 5/6. The iconic arches symbolise the country’s resilience and ability to overcome challenges. Inscribed with the national day slogan ‘Qatar Will Remain Free’, the billboard includes a quotation from the country’s founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani. Qatargas liaison offices around the world celebrated QND with ceremonies and media advertisements wishing the government and people of Qa- tar continued peace and prosperity. A unique global energy operator in terms of size, service and reliability, Qatargas operates 14 LNG (liquefied natural gas) trains with a production capacity of 77mn tonnes per annum, two helium refineries that make Qatar the world’s largest exporter of helium and the second largest producer, two of the world’s largest condensate refineries, and the world’s largest charted fleet of LNG vessels. The giant billboard being displayed at the Qatargas headquarters. Roads adorned with lights in Porto Arabia and other areas United Development Company (UDC), the master developer of The Pearl-Qatar and Gewan Islands, has decorated the roads spanning the areas of Porto Arabia, Medina Centrale and Qanat Quartier precincts, in honour of Qatar National Day. Palm trees, along The Pearl-Qatar’s Boulevard, have been adorned with colourful lights to provide a truly celebratory atmosphere, which both residents and visitors can enjoy until Saturday (December 22). Moreover, decorations and light installations were mounted on The Pearl-Qatar’s main roundabout and across Porto Arabia’s roundabouts, in bright colours with vibrant motifs. These designs and decorations serve to underscore UDC’s commitment to its strategy and plans to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030 by supporting the development of the tourism and leisure sectors, and engaging with the local community. Palm trees have been decorated with colourful lights to provide a truly celebratory atmosphere. QIB employees host national event Q IB held an event yesterday celebrating Qatar National Day. The QIB’s national day event took place in QIB’s headquarters in Grand Hamad Street, which was attended by the bank’s executive management and employees. QIB chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani said, “QIB is proud to see its employees take part in the National Day celebrations. The bank views it as an integral part of its mission as the nation’s leading Islamic Bank.” He continued: “QIB is the gold sponsor of National Day celebrations across the country. Encouraging our employees to partake in such events is yet another testament to our commitment towards our beloved Qatar.” “The National Day is an QIB’s national day event took place at the bank’s headquarters in Grand Hamad Street. occasion that is close to our hearts; and, for that reason, it is celebrated by all our employees – citizens and residents alike. Our event is also part of our effort to promote interaction within the community by actively partaking in events and initiatives that serve the local community in Qatar; thus, reaffirming the leading role we play as part of our national contribution.” “As we celebrate the Qatar National Day, on behalf of QIB, I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations and wishes to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani. We wish Qatar continued success and progress in the future,” concluded Sheikh Jassim. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Qatar Foundation tent proudly showcases a nation’s progress Q atar Foundation (QF) has commemorated this year’s Qatar National Day through a series of events and activities designed to promote local culture, preserve Qatar’s rich traditions, and demonstrate national pride. The QF celebrations, which include hosting a tent at Darb Al Saai and lighting its headquarters at Education City in maroon, have been centred on the overarching Qatar National Day theme of ‘together for our homeland’. Khalifa E al-Kubaisi, media relations manager, QF, said: “Qatar Foundation’s annual Qatar National Day celebrations are an opportunity to reaffirm our sense of unity. By bringing together members of our community, Qatar Foundation continues to strive to build a better future and unlock human potential with the aim of addressing local and international challenges. “This national occasion is an opportunity for us to take pride in all that we have accomplished together, and inspires us to continue to achieve in order to support Qatar on its journey to becoming a diversified, competitive, and sustainable economy.” QF’s Darb Al Saai tent aims to showcase QF’s contribution to the development of Qatar across its core mission areas of education, science, and community development. Some of this year’s highlights include the Akhlaquna Award’s dedication wall, where visitors are able to note morals and values that best represent Qatar and its people, and the National Reading Campaign corner, which, through activities such as storytelling sessions and word puzzles, aims to inspire a love for reading in children. QF’s Darb Al Saai tent highlights the foundation’s core mission areas of education, science, and community development. Since opening on December 12, the tent has attracted thousands of visitors, including a number of dignitaries. Mohamed al-Hajri, a visitor to the QF tent, said: “This is my first visit to the Qatar Foundation tent in Darb Al Saai, and what makes the tent really stand out is how proud QF is of the progress that Qatar has made over the past years, and its aspirations for the future.” Aysha al-Jassim, another visitor to the QF tent this year, said: “I’m impressed at the variety of activities on offer at the Qatar Foundation tent. I hope that when my children grow up, they get the opportunity to study at Qatar Foundation, and experience these activities first-hand, within their classrooms.” Boudor al-Shammari, who also experienced the QF-organised activities on offer at Darb Al Saai, said: “Every year, Qatar Foundation amazes us with a range of meaningful and educational activities in its tent. I came with my family, and we had the opportunity to participate in a variety of experiences. It has been truly wonderful.” QF’s Darb Al Saai activities will continue until tomorrow (Thursday, December 20). The tent is open to the public today from 9am-1pm, 3.30pm-10pm. The timings for tomorrow are 9am1pm, and 3.30pm-11pm. 7 8 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Scenes from Qatar National Day parade Dignitaries at the agreement signing between QAC and ENAC. More than 900 participants attend ICAO symposium T he ICAO 5th Global Aviation Training and TrainAir Plus Symposium concluded its activities in Doha recently with “huge success”, the organisers said. The three-day event was attended by more than 900 participants from member states of ICAO. The symposium provided a forum where ICAO member states and training organisations came together to forge new partnership opportunities in aviation training, and at the same time increase their awareness of key near- and long-term capacity-building priorities for global air transport. During the event, attendees participated in seven panel sessions, two workshops and 28 speeches with 33 global experts discussing a variety of topics related to building aviation training intelligence. The symposium also facilitated committee meetings on the sidelines for the TrainAir Plus Student Committee and Association of African Aviation Training Organisations. The symposium also included networking sessions dedicated to fostering collaboration between member organisations in order to find training partners that suit their needs. Sheikh Jabor bin Hamad M al-Thani, director-general of Qatar Aeronautical College (QAC), said: “We are proud and delighted to have hosted the global civil aviation community in Doha, and are looking forward to contributing to the growth and development of the aviation industry through educating and qualifying the next generation of aviation professionals.” During the symposium, QAC signed a partnership agreement with Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC) to offer Advanced Masters in Aviation Safety Management to students and aviation professionals in Qatar. The Advanced Masters programme is the “only one of its kind” that has ICAO accreditation and will be taught for the first time in the world at Qatar Aeronautical College, according to a press statement. Sheikh Jabor concluded: “We will continue to play an active role in supporting ICAO and the global aviation community as Qatar further develops its position as a leading aviation industry hub in the region.” Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 9 QATAR AMIR AND FATHER AMIR ATTEND NATIONAL DAY PARADE Residents express loyalty to Qatar’s leadership By Ayman Adly Staff Reporter Q atar residents turned out in huge numbers to take part in the National Day celebrations yesterday, in an awesome display of their affection and loyalty to the country and its leadership, with many holding up the National Flag alongside the image of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. In particular, many people flocked to the Doha Corniche, the venue of the National Day parade hours ahead of the scheduled time to witness the different formations of Qatari troops and forces and military equipment, with some displayed for the first time. At the conclusion of the parade, spectators were very happy when the Amir walked to them and greeted many of them by shaking hands. The atmosphere was full of enthusiasm and joy as people waved the Qatar flag and the image of the Amir, while voicing their love using various phrases of support and appreciation. On the social media, the video of the National Day parade was shared by a good number of people through different groups with many comments praising the country for its stability, security, prosperity and the good standard of living enjoyed by all residents. People from all walks of life and various nations converged on the Doha Corniche yesterday to witness the Qatar National Day festivities. PICTURES: Jayan Orma Ahead of the occasion, Qatar National Day items were in high demand at all the outlets across the country. These were also on display on many vehicles across the country’s roads. A large number of such vehicles passed through Doha Corniche with young people of different nationalities expressing their happiness and joy. Some of them stressed that they consider Qatar as their second home, as they have enjoyed good living conditions and excellent opportunities of growth offered in the country for all, regardless of their backgrounds. Wassim, an expatriate from Lebanon, said: “I’ve been living in Qatar for many years and I cannot find words good enough to express gratitude for the country and what I have enjoyed here throughout the years. On this occasion, I see that the country has given many people from different parts of the world great opportunities to improve their lives.” Many others from various walks and places, voiced similar feelings towards the country, stressing that throughout the last few years in particular, Qatar has made greater achievements in different fields despite the unjust blockade imposed on the country since June 5, 2017 by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Children dressed in the Qatar colours. Flags in Qatar colours and with images of His Highness the Amir were waved by many residents at the Doha Corniche. Bahrain and Egypt. They said that the National Day celebrations this year are true to its motto that “Qatar will remain free”, which also sends out a strong message that the country is prospering and going forward at a faster rate under the wise leadership of the Amir. 10 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Friendship Parade, fireworks crown National Day events at Aspire Zone Q atar, unperturbed by the ongoing unjust blockade, celebrated National Day yesterday with great fervour and patriotism, holding an array of cultural events and activities across the country and abroad under the motto: ‘As long as it is proven by our deeds ... Qatar remains free’. The parade on the Doha Corniche, attended by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and a number of other dignitaries was the highlight of the day. Apart from the celebrations in Qatar embassies around the world, the National Day this year also witnessed numerous events and cultural activities and performances taking place in various locations across the country. Aspire Zone Foundation, for the first time, organised a unique fireworks display on Monday night at Aspire Park, fascinating thousands of spectators. A large number of people took part in the Friendship Parade that was held at Aspire Zone on Monday. The activity was held by the Organising Committee of the Qatar National Day celebrations in order to highlight the unity and love for Qatar among expatriate communities. Be- sides the committee, the activity was organised by the Protocol Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic missions and accredited offices. At Darb Al Saai, about 30 entities from government and non-governmental sectors are taking part in several cultural and entertainment activities, which attracted a large number of visitors since its opening on December 12. Katara – the Cultural Village organised over 45 events and activities for nine days to mark this year’s National Day, drawing huge crowds from various communities. The ‘Citizens and expats — we are one’ opera, which concludes today, was among the highlights of the celebrations. Katara also unveiled its hightech Al Thuraya planetariumthe first astronomical dome in the country - yesterday. It was attended by Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti and HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, several diplomats and dignitaries, marking a significant achievement for Qatar. A parachute jump by Qatar’s special forces is also expected to attract a large number of visitors today from 4pm, including a 10-minute fireworks backed by some 500 drones. A view of the Friendship Parade at Aspire Zone. (Supplied picture) Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti and HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, along with other dignitaries, at the unveiling of Al Thuraya planetarium yesterday. PICTURES: Ram Chand Jets fly in formation over the Doha Corniche at the Qatar National Day celebrations yesterday. PICTURES: Jayan Orma The planetarium will feature a huge 22m screen, equipped with state-of-the-art digital projectors featuring 2D and 3D tutorial shows. Hercules C-130 cargo planes fly during a military parade to mark Qatar’s National Day yesterday. Beechcraft Texan II fly during a military parade to mark Qatar’s National Day yesterday. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Pride and might on display at National Day parade Paratroopers from the Qatari Armed Forces take part in the National Day celebrations on the Doha Corniche yesterday. PICTURES: Shaji Kayamkulam 11 12 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Qatar’s missions celebrate National Day Q atar’s embassies and diplomatic missions marked the National Day, which is celebrated on December 18 of every year, in commemoration of the state’s founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani, under the theme “As long as it was proven by our deeds...Qatar will remain free.” Their excellencies, Heads of Diplomatic, Consular and Representative Missions of Qatar abroad, extended greetings and congratulations to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa alThani, and the Qatari people on this occasion, wishing Qatar further progress and prosperity. The Qatari diplomatic celebrations in the capitals and cities of the world were attended by a high level official and public representation that reflected Qatar’s distinguished relations with these countries. In New York, The Permanent Delegation of Qatar to the United Nations in New York hosted a reception marking the National Day at the Lincoln Cultural Centre. The reception was attended by Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Doha Film Institute, and Founder of Reach Out To Asia HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. It was also attended by High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations, Nasser bin Abdulaziz al-Nasr, Deputy SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations Amina Mohamed, President of the United Nations General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa, and US Representative from New York Carolyn Maloney. HE Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani, welcomed the guests, and said in a speech that the National Day is a very special occasion for the Qatari people, as the founder of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani, united the country on the day in 1878, before it ultimately gained independence in 1971. For her part, HE the Chairperson of Qatar Museums Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani congratulated His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. She said that keeping this memory alive is a tribute to founding moment of the modern Qatari state. She reviewed the achievements made by Qatar in the areas of economic development, education and enhancing the role and status of women. Sheikha Mayassa highlighted the rights enjoyed by women in the fields of employment, wages, equal opportunities and the high-ranking positions as well as their role in the national economy. She discussed Qatar’s interest in arts and heritage, and focused on the national museum that will be opened in the Spring of 2019. She described the museum as an embodiment of Qataris’ pride in their national identity, and a bridge linking the past and history to the present in all its diversity and openness to the world. Sheikha Mayassa also said that the museum was a testament to the country’s continued investment in arts. She also highlighted the blockade imposed by some neighbouring states based on unfounded allegations, and said that the blockade helped unite the people and residents of Qatar around the leadership and government of the country. Meanwhile, HE al-Nasr said: “Celebrating the National Day reminded us of the achievements of Qatar. He added that Qatar is a small country in terms of geography, but one that has made great achievements in the last 30 years in many fields, such as education. He also focused on Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup 2022 for the first time in the Arab region. Qatari music composer Dana al-Fardan introduced Qatari artist Aisha Sayed alZayani and Juilliard Orchestra who played a number of national songs. A large number of permanent representatives of UN HE the Chairperson of Qatar Museums Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani delivering a speech on the occasion of Qatar National Day in New York. Right: Sheikha Al Mayassa interacting with guests on the occasion. Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations, HE Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani, with Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohamed, and other guests on the occasion of Qatar National Day in New York. Qatar’s ambassador to the United States Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani receiving guests at a ceremony to mark Qatar National Day at the Library of Congress. member-states attended the ceremony along with representatives of consular missions in New York, a large number of diplomatic corps members and staff of UN. z United States of America The country’s embassy in the United States hosted a reception on the occasion of Qatar National Day at the Library of Congress. More than a thousand people attended the function. Ambassador Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani welcomed a number of ranking officials at the US administration and at the US Congress led by the candidate for majority leader Nancy Pelosi, Scott Taylor, Ruben Gallego, Sheila Jackson Lee, and a number of former congressmen such as Nick Rahall, and Jim Moran, in addition to diplomats and Qatari citizens and student in the US. The ambassador said that the National Day celebration is an occasion for Qataris to express their pride at their culture and traditions. He expressed gratitude to representatives Nancy Pelosi, Scott Taylor, and Ruben Gallego who focused on the importance of the strategic partnership between the two countries as they share goals of establishing peace, stability, and prosperity for the two peoples. The ambassador stressed that Qatar and the United States enjoy a strong partnership in various sectors, especially in the cultural, political, defence, counter-terrorism, trade and investment fields. The ambassador also announced that the two sides will hold their annual strategic dialogue next month, as they look to give ties in all fields a push. He stressed that ties go beyond the military sector and extend to economy and trade, with Qatar becoming one of the main economic partners of the United States in the Middle-East. In the context of economic partnership, the ambassador highlighted the announcement made by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and pledged to invest $45bn in the US economy by 2020 in key sectors such as infrastructure, technology and real estate. He also discussed QP’s announcement of investing $20bn in American oil and gas fields over the next five years. For her part, Congresswom- an Nancy Pelosi praised in her speech during the ceremony the role played by the ambassador in improving ties between Qatar and the US. Taylor noted that Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser succeeded on the cultural level in establishing important institutions such as Qatar Foundation, which hosts six American universities. As for security co-operation, he said that billions of dollars were spent to counter-terrorism. He also highlighted Qatar’s announcement of plans to expand the military base, thanking Qatar for hosting 13,000 US and coalition troops in the biggest airbase in the region. Gallego, meanwhile, stressed that it was important for the United States to have a strong and independent partner like Qatar. The ceremony also included showing video clips of Qatar’s aim to realise Qatar National Vision 2030. Meanwhile, the Consul General of Qatar in Los Angeles Khalid bin Yousif al-Sada hosted a reception ceremony on the occasion of the National Day. The Consul General of Qatar in Los Angeles Khalid bin Yousif al-Sada hosted a reception ceremony on the occasion of the National Day. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 13 QATAR Qatar’s missions celebrate National Day From Page 12 The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Government of California and Los Angeles, the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Los Angeles, as well as a large number of dignitaries and executives of some companies, businessmen and Qatari citizens in the city, in addition to Assistant Military Attache to the US, Captain Nasser bin Mohamed al-Thani. In a speech, the Consul General of Qatar in Los Angeles praised the friendly relations between the State of Qatar and the United States and Qatar’s comprehensive renaissance at all levels under the wise leadership and patronage of His Highness the Amir. z Germany In Berlin, Qatar’s ambassador to Germany, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, hosted a reception on the occasion of Qatar National Day. The function was attended by more than 400 senior representatives of official, political, parliamentary, diplomatic and economic institutions as well as a number of heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Germany and Qatari nationals in Germany. In his speech during the ceremony, ambassador Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman alThani, underlined the significance of the commemoration of the founding of Qatar by the founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani. He said the celebration of the National Day is a celebration of the achievements made through the process of construction and development to date, under the leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, he added. zUnited Kingdom In London, ambassador of Qatar to the United Kingdom, Youssef bin Ali al-Khater held a reception on the occasion of Qatar’s National Day. The function was attended by Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans Tobias Ellwood, and Member of Parliament Alistair Carmichael. In addition to a number of Arab and foreign ambassadors, media personalities, businessmen, and academics who also attended. zBelgium In Brussels, Qatar’s ambassador to Belgium and head of its missions to the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) Abdulrahman bin Mohamed al-Khulaifi held a reception on the occasion of the National Day. The function was attended by a number of ranking officials, and heads of Arab and foreign diplomatic missions. zSudan In Khartoum, Qatar’s ambassador to Sudan Abdulrahman bin Ali al-Kubaisi held a reception on the occasion of the National Day of the State. The ceremony was attended by Representative of the Sudanese President and Minister of Oil and Gas Azhari Abdulqader and a number of ambassadors, military attaches and political and intellectual leaders. Al-Kubaisi said in a speech that Qatar has achieved a comprehensive renaissance in all walks of life and the prospects for a promising future, reviewing the State’s rich history of achievements in this regard. zIndia Ambassador of Qatar to India Mohamed bin Khater al-Khater held a reception on the occasion of National Day in Delhi. The ceremony was attended by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh as guest of honour, representative of the Indian government, a number of Indian officials, political and intellectual figures as well as business leaders, heads of diplomatic missions accredited to New Delhi, corporate executives, journalists, media and business representatives, civil society leaders and clerics. z Philippines Qatar’s ambassador to Philippines Ali bin Ibrahim alMalki held a reception on the occasion of the National Day Qatar’s ambassador to Germany, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, at a reception hosted on the occasion of Qatar National Day in Berlin. Ambassador of Qatar to the United Kingdom, Youssef bin Ali al-Khater, held a reception on the occasion of Qatar’s National Day in London. Ambassador of Qatar to India Mohamed bin Khater al-Khater with other dignitaries and guests at a reception on the occasion of Qatar National Day, in New Delhi. Qatar’s ambassador to Philippines Ali bin Ibrahim al-Malki held a reception on the occasion of the National Day of the State in Manila. Ambassador Sultan bin Salmeen al-Mansouri hosted a reception ceremony on the occasion of Qatar National Day in Beijing. of the State in Manila. The ceremony was attended by Assistant Secretary at the Office of Middle East and African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of the Philippines Leslie Baja, as honorary guest, Chief of Presidential Protocol Robert Eric Borje, representing the Philippine President, and Philippine Senator Aquilino Pimentel III in addition to a number of heads and members of diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited to the Philippines, Philippine Foreign Ministry officials and businessmen. The ceremony included a documentary video showing the history of Qatar and the comprehensive renaissance it has achieved in various fields. On the sidelines of the ceremony was a mini-exhibition of photographs, which includes pictures of the landmarks of the renaissance of development in Qatar and preparations for hosting the 2022 World Cup. zBangladesh In Dhaka, ambassador of Qatar Ahmed bin Mohamed alDhaimi, held a reception on the occasion of the Qatar National Day. A number of government officials, politicians, businessmen and a number of members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Bangladesh, attended the ceremony. Qatar Airways and Qatar Charity participated in the ceremony with films and photographs on the history of Qatar. zCanada In Ottawa, ambassador of Qatar to Canada Saoud bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud held a reception ceremony to mark National Day celebrations. The function was attended by a number of military leaders, parliament members, diplomatic representatives accredited by Canada, Ambassador of Qatar to Australia Saad bin Abdullah al-Mohamoud receiving a dignitary at a reception on the occasion of Qatar National Day in Canberra. In Ottawa, ambassador of Qatar to Canada Saoud bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud held a reception ceremony to mark National Day celebrations. The Qatari embassy in Bangkok held a reception on the occasion of the National Day. academics, journalists, members of the Arab communities in Canada, and Qatari students who are pursuing their education in the country. In a speech, the ambassador reviewed the reality of the bilateral relations between Qatar and Canada and the efforts exerted by officials at the level of the two countries to enhance them and develop prospects for co-operation in various fields. He said that there are a number of Canadian citizens engaging currently in projects in Qatar in many sectors such as education, health, and industry. The ambassador also discussed the strong economic indicators of Qatar, despite facing the blockade for more than a year. zThailand The Qatari embassy in Bangkok held a reception on the occasion of the National Day. The event was attended by Adviser to the king of Thailand, a number of officials, public figures and businessmen, heads and members of diplomatic missions and regional, international and regional organisations accredited to Thailand, along with embassy members and a number of Qatari nationals in Thailand. Ambassador HE Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said in his speech that this year’s theme, taken from the national anthem, was the best portrayal of the crucial time the country is facing in its history. zAustralia In Canberra, ambassador of Qatar to Australia Saad bin Abdullah al-Mohamoud held a reception on the occasion of Qatar National Day. The event was attended by a number Australian officials representing different governmental sectors, parliament members, ambas- sadors of friendly countries accredited to Australia. zChina Ambassador Sultan bin Salmeen al-Mansouri hosted a reception ceremony on the occasion of Qatar National Day in Beijing. The celebration also coincided with the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. The event was attended by Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee at National People’s Congress and President of China-Arab Friendship Association Arken Imirbaki, a number of ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Communist party, as well as officials from the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China, and representatives of Qatari banks in China, students who study in the country, oil and gas companies, and major oil corporations. zMorocco In Rabat, Qatar’s ambassador to Morocco, Abdulla bin Falah al-Dosari, held a reception on the occasion of the of Qatar’s National Day. Prime Minister of Morocco Saadeddine Othmani attended the ceremony along with several ministers and heads and representatives of diplomatic missions zEcuador In Quito, ambassador of Qatar to Ecuador Mohamed bin Ali alMalki held a reception ceremony to mark National Day celebrations. Attending the function were Minister of Tourism Rosi Prado de Holguin, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Andreas Tiran, Director of Protocol Juan Holguin, along with members of the Arab and Muslim community in Quito. Similar events were held in other embassies and consulates of Qatar the world over. 14 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 REGION/ARAB WORLD/AFRICA CURBS CRITICISM VOTE MARITIME TRAGEDY South Africa regulators ban controversial advert Investigation decries army’s deadly post-vote crackdown Tension soars in Togo ahead of parliamentary election Crew kidnapped by pirates off Nigerian coast freed At least 18 die in province at initiation camps South African regulators yesterday banned a television advert that showed a black man discovering a foreign land and naming it “Europe”, ruling that colonisation was “not open for humorous exploitation”. The advert, for a chicken restaurant chain, tells a spoof story how the man leaves South Africa in 1650, sails overseas and, comes ashore and meets white local people wearing three-pointed hats and waistcoats. “Hola MaNgamla (Hello white folk). I like this place, I think I will call it... Europe,” the man says, sticking his spear into the ground. The Advertising Regulatory Board ruled that the commercial “trivialises an issue that is... upsetting for many South African people.” The Zimbabwean military’s use of live bullets to quell post-election violence in the summer was “disproportionate and unjustified”, according to an inquiry released yesterday. Six protesters and bystanders died and dozens were injured in violence after delays in announcing results that made Emmerson Mnangagwa the first elected head of state since Robert Mugabe’s removal from power last year. Most Zimbabweans had hoped the July 30 vote would end the country’s pariah status and help usher in an economic recovery. Instead, it plunged Zimbabwe into turmoil reminiscent of contested votes during Mugabe’s 37 years of rule. Togo tomorrow votes in legislative elections that are being boycotted by the main opposition after a year of political upheaval which saw demonstrators demanding President Faure Gnassingbe step down. A coalition of 14 opposition parties has said it will not take part, citing “irregularities” in preparations for the vote and calling for an overhaul of the electoral commission. It has also called for more transparency and constitutional reforms to limit the number of presidential terms. Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 after succeeding his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled the country with an iron first for 38 years. All of the crew kidnapped by pirates from a container ship off the coast of Nigeria in October, including eight Polish nationals, are safe and will be reunited with their families, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday. “We would like to thank the shipowner, its co-workers and advisers for their professional handling of this difficult matter. We are grateful also to the Nigerian authorities,” the statement said. The attackers targeted the MV Pomerenia Sky, a container ship owned by Midocean (IOM) Ltd and headed for the Nigerian port of Onne, in October. Kidnappings are common in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. Eighteen boys and young men have died in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province while attending male circumcision initiation camps, authorities said yesterday. They died from a variety of causes including “dehydration and septicemia,” Mamkeli Ngam, spokesman for the Eastern Cape Traditional Affairs Department,said. The young men were aged 17 to 20. “One initiate committed suicide and another was burned to death,” he added, noting the cause of the fire at the boy’s hut is still being investigated. Every year teenagers from South Africa’s Xhosa tribal group undergo a two-week initiation period, where they are circumcised by traditional leaders. Russia, Iran, Turkey back new Syria constitution body UN’s De Mistura says “extra mile to go” for credible body Reuters Geneva AFP Cairo R ussia, Iran and Turkey, supporters of the main sides in Syria’s complex civil war, yesterday failed to agree on the makeup of a UNsponsored Syrian Constitutional Committee but called for it to convene early next year to kick off a viable peace process. In a joint statement read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the trio met UN Syria peace envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva, they said the new initiative should be guided “by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement”. The foreign ministers of the three nations had hoped to seal their joint proposal on a committee — which could usher in elections — and win UN blessing for it. But the statement by the three made no mention of the composition of the panel, pointing to lingering disagreement over lists of candidates submitted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his rebel adversaries. Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking to Turkish state media, said only that the three powers had made “important contributions” to the creation of the panel and that suggested names were assessed. “The UN will of course carry out necessary work on the nominated names in the coming process,” Cavusoglu said. De Mistura, addressing a separate news conference, made clear the three powers had not nailed down a workable political forum yet, after years of abortive attempts at ending a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced around half of Syria’s pre-war 22mn Arab League urges Australia, Brazil to shift stance on Jerusalem T Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif shake hands as they attend a news conference after talks on forming a constitutional committee in Syria, at the United Nations in Geneva, yesterday. population. “I believe there is an extra mile to go in the marathon effort to ensure the necessary package for a credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee, and for including a balanced chairing arrangement and drafting body and voting threshold — to be established under UN auspices in Geneva.” De Mistura, who steps down on Dec 31 after four years, has struggled since January to clinch a deal on the identity of 150 members of the committee. De Mistura said he would brief UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today and the UN Security Council tomorrow. He expected his successor Geir Pedersen to build on his work and “focus on the purely political aspect” at the conflict’s end. President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the opposition fighting to topple him have each submitted a roster of 50 names. But Russia, Iran and Turkey have haggled over the final 50 members from civil society and “independent” backgrounds. Turkey supports rebels who control part of northwest Syria. A year ago, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described Assad as a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peacemaking efforts to continue with him. Cavusoglu said on Sunday that Turkey and other nations would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election. Assad, whose forces have reclaimed most of Syria with Russian and Iranian support apart from Idlib, a northwestern province, has clung to power throughout the conflict and is widely seen as being loath to yield power after it ends. The Damascus government has previously brushed off UNled efforts to set up a constitutional committee. he Arab League yesterday adopted a resolution calling on Australia and Brazil to “abide by international law” concerning the status of Jerusalem. It comes after Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro announced in November his intention to move his country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And on Saturday Australia announced its recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, although a contentious embassy shift from Tel Aviv will not occur until a peace settlement is achieved. Both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital. The Arab League decided yesterday to dispatch a “high-ranking delegation” to Brazil and Australia to inform officials there on the need to “abide by international law” concerning Jerusalem. The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting at the League’s Cairo headquarters attended by delegates from member countries. Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, declaring the entire city its “eternal and indivisible capital”, in a move not recognised by most of the international community. Palestinians claim the eastern part as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The Palestinian leadership has slammed Australia and Brazil over their plans. In December the US administration of President Donald Trump decided to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and declared the city Israel’s capital. The embassy was transferred in May in a move that sparked outrage in across the Arab and Muslim world. Most countries have avoided moving their embassies to Jerusalem to avoid hindering peace talks on the city’s final status. The Arab League also called on the UN Security Council to “assume its responsibilities by putting pressure on Israel...and stop its aggression against the Palestinian people”. Israel has carried out a string of operations in recent weeks after deadly attacks in the West Bank, also occupied by Israel since 1967. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “legalise” thousands of settlement homes considered unlawfully built, even by Israel. Yesterday he repeated his promise to “strengthen” settlement activity, during a visit to the site of a Thursday shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers. Israeli troops on Saturday demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of the May killing of a soldier. Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israelis, arguing it is a deterrent. Critics say it is counter-productive and amounts to collective punishment. POLITICS Haley calls for support for new Mideast peace plan AFP United Nations T he outgoing US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, yesterday called on Israelis and Palestinians to back a US peace plan to be unveiled in early 2019. Without revealing details of the plan, drawn up by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Haley said it was far longer than past proposals and included elements that would have previously been “unthinkable.” “Unlike previous attempts at addressing this conflict, this plan is not just a few pages, containing unspecific and unimaginative guidelines,” said Haley, who is due to leave her post at the end of December. “It is much longer. It contains much more thoughtful detail. It brings new elements to the discussion, taking advantage of the new world of technology we now live in,” she told a regularly session of the Security Council on the Middle East. “It embraces the reality that things can be done today that were previously unthinkable,” she added. “The critical question is whether the response will be any different.There are things in the plan that every party will like, and there are things in the plan that every party will not like,” said Haley, who will be replaced by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Haley said that if countries focus solely on parts of the plan that they do not like, “we would return back to the failed status quo of the last fifty years with no prospects for change.” But she said, “I assure you there is a lot for both sides to like.” Her comments were met with a measured response from European states. CRIME Suspect held after two tourists murdered Moroccan authorities yesterday arrested a suspect over the murder of two Scandinavian women in the High Atlas mountains, a popular trekking destination for tourists. Other suspects are being sought over the killings of the Danish and Norwegian hikers who were found dead on Monday with cuts to their necks, the interior ministry said. The bodies were discovered in an isolated mountainous area 10 kilometres from the tourist village of Imlil in the High Atlas range, near the Chamharouche shrine. Imlil is a starting point for trekking and climbing tours of Mount Toubkal, which at 4,167 metres is the highest summit in North Africa. The suspect was arrested in the former imperial city of Marrakesh, a tourist hub located at the foot of the mountains about 60 kilometres north of Imlil, and held in custody for questioning. Yemen’s Hodeidah calm after ceasefire takes effect AFP Sanaa Y emen’s flashpoint city of Hodeidah was calm yesterday as a ceasefire took effect and a team including members of the warring sides prepared to monitor the truce agreed at talks in Sweden. A lasting ceasefire would be a major step in efforts to end Yemen’s devastating war, which has killed thousands and left 14mn people on the brink of famine. The truce which came into force overnight was due to be followed by a team of observers deploying “within 24 hours”, a United Nations official said. The Redeployment Co-ordination Committee includes members of the Saudi-backed government and the Houthi rebels but is chaired by the UN, said the official who requested anonymity. “Both parties said publicly they are abiding by the ceasefire,” the official said. The observers are due to oversee the implementation of the truce, the withdrawal of both warring parties from Hodeidah city and the pullout of Houthis from its major ports. The committee chair is expected to report to the UN Security Council on a weekly Yemenis ride their motorcycles in a street in the town of Khokha in the western province of Hodeidah, yesterday. basis, as part of a diplomatic push to end the conflict which erupted in 2014. The war between the Houthi rebels and troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu UN to convene warring parties by video link The United Nations will convene Yemen’s warring parties by video link today to discuss the redeployment of all forces from Hodeidah city and three ports under a ceasefire deal agreed last week, a UN spokesman said. It will be the first meeting of a Redeployment Coordination Committee that oversees the ceasefire and withdrawal of forces, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. “It will include military/ security representatives from the two sides,” Dujarric told reporters. After a week of UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden, the Houthi group and Saudi-backed Yemen government foes agreed last Thursday to cease fighting in the Red Sea city and withdraw forces. “The full mutual redeployment of all forces from the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Saleef and Ras Isa shall be completed within a maximum period of 21 days after the cease-fire enters into force,” Dujarric said. Mansour Hadi escalated in 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition stepped in on the government’s side. Since then some 10,000 people have been killed, according to the World Health Organisation, but some rights groups believe the toll is far higher. The ceasefire was meant to enter into force at midnight (2100 GMT) on Monday but clashes continued until 03:00am, progovernment sources and residents said. Calm held yesterday morning in Hodeidah city, whose port is the gateway for the vast majority of imports to Yemen. “There has been complete calm since 03:00am Yemen time in the city of Hodeidah,” a military source loyal to the government said. Residents confirmed by phone that there has been no fighting between the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels since 03:00am. But it was not possible to determine if the halt in fighting was in response to the ceasefire or just a temporary stoppage. Residents said that daily fighting would usually be fierce in the evening and at night, before coming to a standstill at dawn. Lebanon set to get ‘new national unity govt in days’ Lebanon is on track to form a new national unity government in the next few days, politicians said yesterday, raising hopes for an end to more than seven months of wrangling that has darkened the outlook for its struggling economy. Efforts to form the new government, led by Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, have been obstructed by conflicting demands for cabinet seats that must be parcelled out in line with a finely balanced, sectarian political system. Heavily indebted and suffering from a stagnant economy, Lebanon is in dire need of an administration that can set about long-stalled reforms to put public debt on a sustainable footing. “Matters are moving quickly and if things stay like this without obstacles — and I don’t expect obstacles — the government will soon see the light,” Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a top security official involved in efforts to end the impasse, said in a televised news conference. POLITICS Woman shot dead at anti-Kabila protest One person died at a protest yesterday against the arrival of the “pro-Kabila” candidate in a city in central DR Congo, five days ahead of elections that will see the country emerge from the 17-year presidency of Joseph Kabila. The victim was a market woman who was shot in the head by soldiers after they opened fire on crowds in Tshikapa, a city in the restive central Kasai region, a local NGO said. It comes after at least one other person was killed and more than 80 injured in weekend clashes in the city. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 15 AMERICA Judge scolds Flynn for ‘traitorous’ behaviour AFP Washington P resident Donald Trump’s former national security chief has received a delay in sentencing for lying over Russian contacts, after a judge threatened him with stiff jail time and said: “You sold your country out.” Russia collusion investigation head Robert Mueller had proposed that Flynn receive no jail time for lying to investigators about his Moscow ties – and in his own pitch to the court last week, Flynn had requested the same. However, Judge Emmet Sullivan said that Flynn had behaved in a “traitorous” manner and suggested he was prepared to deliver a tough sentence to the former three-star general, saying Flynn’s crime as a key White House player was far beyond those that lower-level Trump campaign aides had committed. Sullivan gave Flynn the option to move ahead with sentencing, or put it off until the Mueller probe is more advanced and Flynn can better demonstrate his co-operation with the Russia collusion probe. “I want to be frank with you, this crime is very serious,” Sullivan said. “I’m not hiding my disgust, my disdain.” “Arguably, you sold your country out,” the judge said. Flynn was facing a standard sentence of zero to six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to lying to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators in January 2017, just after Trump became president, about his communications with thenRussian ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Mueller had told the court that no jail time was merited based on Flynn’s co-operation with the probe, including 19 interviews over the past year, and his long record of military service. However, Sullivan noted that Flynn had already avoided charges of violating laws on interference with US foreign policy and had skirted being included in Monday’s indictment of two AFP New York P Flynn: pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his ties with Moscow. Flynn business partners for illegally working for Turkey. “This case is in a category by itself right now,” Sullivan said. Flynn was one of the first to face charges in the sweeping Mueller investigation into possible collusion with Moscow in the 2016 election, reaching a plea deal announced just over one year ago. It remains unknown what Flynn has told investigators about Trump, whom he served in the White House for just weeks in 2017 before resigning in the wake of scandal. The former top aide was accused of hiding repeated contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US and accepting $530,000 from Turkey to illegally lobby for the country during the campaign. Trump has maintained that Flynn was tricked by FBI agents into lying as part of a broader scheme to damage his presidency. “The whole Russian Witch Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately,” he tweeted yesterday before Flynn’s sentencing. As a star Marine Flynn, 60, was credited for his battlefield intelligence operations and went on to become head of the powerful Defence Intelligence Agency. But he spent just two years in the position before being removed in 2014 by then-president Barack Obama for mismanagement. After that he moved into politics on the far-right and joined Trump’s election campaign as a senior adviser. In July 2016 he spoke at the Republican convention where he led a now-iconic, rousing chant of “lock her up” directed at Trump’s Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton. The US intelligence community had strongly opposed his postelection appointment as White House national security adviser, considering him as someone given to bizarre conspiracy theories and possibly compromised by the Russians. He had been paid several times to join Russian company events, most notably in December 2015 when he sat next to President Vladimir Putin at a gala for the country’s state-run RT television. In December 2016 he communicated numerous times with Kislyak, allegedly promising to lighten sanctions – a stance seen as undermining the policy of Obama, who was still president. Revelations of those discussions led to Mueller’s probe of his actions. Flynn may have angered investigators and the court last week when, echoing one of Trump’s longstanding allegations, he suggested that FBI agents tricked him into lying and alleged that the agents themselves had come under investigation. Mueller’s team sharply rebuffed Flynn, releasing the record of the interview and saying that there was “nothing” in the FBI’s actions that caused him to lie. Top US doctor urges ‘aggressive’ action against e-cigarette usage AFP Washington T he US Surgeon General has called for “aggressive” action against e-cigarette use, which he said has exploded to epidemic proportions among youth and puts their health and brain development at risk. “We must take aggressive steps to protect our children from Trump charity to be dissolved these highly potent products that risk exposing a new generation of young people to nicotine,” the top US doctor, Jerome Adams, said in a rare public advisory. “E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless,” he said, noting that “nicotine exposure during adolescence can harm the developing brain – which continues to develop until about age 25”. It is only the second public advisory by the surgeon general E-cigarette usage nearly doubles in high schools The percentage of high school seniors who used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days nearly doubled to 20.9% from last year, results of a survey released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed on Monday. The increase in vaping by 10th and 12th graders was the largest yearover-year jump for any substance ever measured by the survey, which started 44 years ago. The annual survey, which also measures use of other substances including marijuana, alcohol and opioids, questioned more than 44,000 students from 8th, 10th and 12th grades in US public and private schools. The percentage of high school students who used nicotine-based vaping devices, known as e-cigarettes, has risen by a third over the past year, the survey showed. E-cigarettes have been a divisive topic in the public health community. Some focus on the potential benefit of shifting lifelong smokers to less harmful nicotine products, while others fear it will create a new generation addicted to nicotine. Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration, facing mounting pressure to act on the rising popularity of vaping devices, announced sweeping new restrictions on flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The one-year rise in vaping were mirrored by changes in the perception of availability of e-cigarettes, the institute said in its report, with more 8th and 10th graders reporting that vaping devices and e-liquids containing nicotine were easier to obtain in 2018 than in 2017. E-cigarette makers, including San Francisco-based Juul Labs Inc, have also faced scrutiny from the FDA amid the increase in teenage use of the devices, which look like a USB flash drive and vaporise a flavoured liquid containing nicotine. since he took the post 16 months ago. The last advisory, in April, called for more people to carry the overdose antidote naloxone as the nation grapples with a record number of opioid overdoses. Vaping has also reached alltime high proportions among American kids. In the past year alone, e-cigarette use increased 78% among high school students – one in five of whom now say they vape, or use battery-powered devices to inhale nicotine liquids that are often fruit or candy flavoured, and highly addictive. In all, more than 3.6mn US youth, including one in 20 middle school students, currently use e-cigarettes. The surgeon general urged parents, doctors and educators to take a series of steps, including banning indoor vaping, and talking to kids about the dangers of e-cigarettes, mentioning by name the USB drive-shaped products made by JUUL. Dangers of e-cigarettes include harm to learning, memory, and attention, and putting kids at risk of future addiction. “In addition to nicotine, the aerosol that users inhale and exhale from e-cigarettes can potentially expose both themselves and bystanders to other harmful substances, including heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs,” said the advisory. Federal judge strikes down New York’s nunchaku ban A federal judge knocked down a New York state law banning nunchucks (nunchaku) that dated to the 1970s, when martial arts star Bruce Lee popularised them in his movies by whipping around the twin sticks linked by a chain. US District Court Judge Pamela Chen sided with an amateur martial artist who opposed the ban, reasoning that the right to bear arms protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution applies not just to firearms but also to nunchucks. The 44-year-old law that makes possession of “chuka sticks” a crime is “an unconstitutional restriction on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and are, therefore, void”, Chen wrote in a judgment rendered on Friday in US District Court in Brooklyn. The law was challenged by James Maloney, who claimed the ban prevented him from teaching his twin sons a martial arts form that used nunchucks. resident Donald Trump has agreed to close down his personal charity, the Trump Foundation, the New York attorney general said yesterday, accusing it of engaging in a “shocking pattern of illegality” to advance his political and business interests. The Trump Foundation would be dissolved and its remaining assets distributed to other charities under her supervision, attorney general Barbara Underwood said in a statement. Underwood said that there had been a “shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful co-ordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more”. “This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a chequebook to serve Mr Trump’s business and political interests,” she said in a statement. “This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone,” Underwood added. The New York attorney general filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation in June, accusing it of “persistently illegal conduct”. The lawsuit named the president, sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, and daughter Ivanka Trump, who were on the board of the foundation. “We’ll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law,” Underwood said. The lawsuit seeks $2.8mn in restitution and to bar Trump, Don Jr, Eric and Ivanka from serving on the boards of other New York non-profits. According to the lawsuit, Trump used foundation funds to settle lawsuits, promote his Trump-branded hotels, and for personal spending – including the purchase of a portrait that was displayed at one of his golf clubs. The civil lawsuit is one of many legal woes facing Trump, whose election campaign is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for possible collusion with Russia. Last week, Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in prison for paying hush money to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump and other crimes. In June, Trump branded the foundation lawsuit a “ridiculous case” drummed up by “sleazy New York Democrats” and vowed to fight it. “I won’t settle this case!” he tweeted. The lawsuit painted a picture of habitual misuse of foundation funds for years, signed off on by Trump, who was president of the thinly-staffed charity. Alleged abuses included providing foundation funds to a Florida political campaign, settling a 2007 lawsuit between the City of Palm Beach and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and settling a lawsuit by a golfer who took part in a Trump-sponsored charity event in 2012. There was so little oversight of the foundation, according to the lawsuit, that its board has not met since 1999, despite legal requirements for an annual board meeting to review its finances. President directs Pentagon to create ‘Space Command’ AFP Washington U S President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of “Space Command”, a new organisational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations. The command will be separate from Trump’s goal to build an entirely new branch of the military called “Space Force”, which has not received approval from Congress. “I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command,” Trump said in a memo to Defence Secretary Jim Mattis. Speaking at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida’s Cape Canaveral, Vice-President Mike Pence said that Space Command would integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military. “It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era,” Pence said. SpaceCom, as it will inevitably come to be known, will be the Pentagon’s 11th combatant command. America’s vast military divides the globe into various commands, such as Central Command in the Middle East or Indo-Pacific Command in Asia. The new Space Command would be on equal footing with these. It will require a new headquarters, as well as a commander and deputy commander who will need Senate approval. Trump in June said he wanted to create a “Space Force”, which would be a sixth and entirely new branch of the military alongside the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard. He insists such a move is necessary to tackle vulnerabilities in space and assert US dominance in orbit. However, its creation is not a done deal, as it needs to be approved by Congress, and the concept has met with some scepticism from lawmakers and defence officials wary of the cost Trump: said in June that he wanted to create a ‘Space Force’. and added bureaucracy. The creation of a new Space Force would also set off a turf war within the Pentagon, particularly with the Air Force, which currently is responsible for most space operations. Pence spoke to an audience in Florida, where he had been expecting to watch the launch of a SpaceX rocket carrying a new generation of satellite, ordered by the US Air Force, that are much harder for adversaries to jam. Additional “GPS III”, or third generation, satellites will be launched in the coming years, creating a new constellation of the orbiting craft. The Air Force asked for $1.5bn for fiscal year 2019 for the programme. Space plays a vital role in just about every aspect of modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of orbiting sensors and satellites, and the Pentagon has warned that countries like Russia and China are working to build anti-satellite capabilities. Yesterday’s launch was scrubbed at the last minute due to an issue with some sensor readings, SpaceX said (see accompanying report below). It has been rescheduled for this morning. In a series of tweets, Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the creation of Space Command is a “critical step” in America’s ability to manage space as a warfighting domain. “US Space Command will allow us to accelerate our space capabilities to defend our national interests and deter our adversaries,” he said. Shanahan added that the Pentagon is working on a legislative proposal that would meet Trump’s vision for a separate Space Force. SpaceX postpones US satellite launch Reuters Orlando, Florida E lon Musk’s SpaceX halted yesterday’s launch of a long-delayed navigation satellite for the US military, postponing for at least a day the space transportation company’s first designated national security mission for the United States. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a roughly $500mn global positioning system (GPS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin Corporation, was due to take off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral shortly after 9.30am local time (1730 GMT), but was stopped minutes before take-off. “This abort was triggered by the onboard Falcon 9 flight computer,” a SpaceX official narrating the launch sequence said, adding that SpaceX would attempt the launch this morning. SpaceX later tweeted that the Falcon 9 and payload remain healthy and cited an “out of family” reading on the rocket’s first stage sensors for the delay. US Vice-President Mike Pence, who travelled to Florida to watch the launch, announced afterward that President Donald Trump would direct the Pentagon to establish a “Space Command” to oversee America’s activities in space (see accompanying report above). The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled to launch a US Air Force navigation satellite, sits on Launch Complex 40 after the launch was postponed after an abort procedure was triggered by the onboard flight computer. The Space Command, the 11th such Combatant Command in the US military, comes as the United States seeks to grow its military footprint in space. A successful launch would be a significant victory for Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur who spent years trying to break into the market for lucrative military space launches, long dominated by Lockheed and Boeing. SpaceX sued the US Air Force in 2014 in protest over the military’s award of a multibilliondollar, non-compete contract for 36 rocket launches to United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed. SpaceX dropped the lawsuit in 2015 after the Air Force agreed to open up competition, according to SpaceX’s website. The next year, SpaceX won an $83mn Air Force contract to launch the GPS III satellite, which will have a lifespan of 15 years, Air Force spokesman William Russell said by phone. Yesterday’s launch was to be the first of 32 satellites in production by Lockheed under contracts worth a combined $12.6bn for the Air Force’s GPS III programme, Lockheed spokesman Chip Eschenfelder said. “Once fully operational, this latest generation of GPS satellites will bring new capabilities to users, including three times greater accuracy and up to eight times the anti-jamming capabilities,” said Russell. The GPS satellite launch was originally scheduled for 2014 but has been hobbled by production delays, the Air Force said. The next GPS III satellite will launch in mid-2019, Eschenfelder said, while subsequent satellites undergo testing in the company’s Colorado processing facility. The launch marks SpaceX’s first so-called National Security Space mission as defined by the United States military, SpaceX said. In 2017, the Hawthorne, California-based company launched payloads for the Department of Defence that were not designated as a National Security Space missions. 16 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 ASIA Lankan MPs defect from president to PM after row Reuters/IANS Colombo T hree lawmakers from Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s party defected to the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday after a dispute between the two leaders. The island nation was plunged into crisis in October after Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe with ex-president Mahinda Rajapakse, without the backing of parliament, leading to protests and downgrades of Sri Lanka’s debt. Rajapakse, best known for crushing a long-running insurgency in the north of the coun- try and drawing Sri Lanka closer to China, failed to win a parliamentary majority and resigned on Saturday as a government shutdown loomed. Wickremesinghe was then sworn in as prime minister for the fifth time in a remarkable comeback. “We joined the government... as the party and the country have been dragged into a difficult position,” Vijith Wijayamuni Soysa, one of the three lawmakers told parliament. With the latest defections, Wickremesinghe has the backing of 120 legislators in the 225-member parliament. On Thursday Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that Sirisena’s decision to dissolve parliament before the end of its term was unconstitutional, a judgement that eventually led to the return of Wickremesinghe as prime minister. Members of his ruling United National Party and at least six opposition MPs want to oust Sirisena through an impeachment, though that needs a twothirds majority in parliament. Rajapakse named opposition leader: Rajapakse, who resigned from the prime ministerial position on December 15, was appointed leader of the opposition by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday amid a row. Jayasuriya said since President Sirisena’s United People’s Freedom Alliance is the largest opposition party, he recognised Rajapakse as the leader of the opposition even as the ruling United National party (UNP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) objected to the decision. TNA lawmaker M A Sumanthiran said Rajapakse could not be appointed as he had resigned from the United People’s Freedom Alliance and joined the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He urged the speaker to appoint a committee to probe Rajapakse’s appointment. Sumanthiran was asked to hand over his complaints in writing to be considered on Friday. Rajapakse returned to parliament in 2015 as an ordinary member of parliament, an office he had held for decades before becoming president for two consecutive terms from 2005 until 2015. Mahinda Rajapakse, left, looks on during a parliament session after he was appointed the leader of the opposition in Colombo yesterday. Ex-Nepal PM dies DPA Kathmandu F ormer Nepalese prime minister Tulsi Giri died in Kathmandu yesterday at age 93, his wife said in a statement. His wife, Sarah Giri, said that he had been diagnosed with liver cancer a few years ago. A doctor by training, he started his political career with the Nepali Congress party. Giri became chairman of the Council of Ministers, a de facto prime ministerial position, for the first time in 1963 and was appointed again in 1964 and 1965. He served as prime minister from 1975-1977. Giri moved to Sri Lanka in 1979 but returned to Kathmandu in 2003 after king Gyanendra Shah, who became the monarch after the royal massacre in 2001, named him vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers. Giri had been leading a life away from the limelight after the royal government was toppled by a people’s movement in 2006. Bangladesh deploys troops amid tense poll campaign AFP Dhaka M Ohid Sarder removes nails from a tree trunk near a road in Jessore, a western district of Bangladesh. ore than 20,000 Bangladesh paramilitary guards were deployed across the country yesterday amid mounting deadly violence ahead of a December 30 general election. At least six people have been killed in clashes over the past week during the bitter campaigning between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) spokesman Mohsin Reza said 1,016 platoons had been deployed in a bid to reinforce campaign security. Officials said there were about 20 guards in each platoon. Election Commission secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said thousands more troops would be deployed from Saturday. The move came amid a worsening showdown between the two main parties who have accused each other of launching attacks. The BNP says its candidates and supporters have been at- Man with green thumb spruces up Bangladesh one tree at a time UN Council mulls AFP Jessore O hid Sarder prises a rusted nail from a tree and drops it into his bucket, another eyesore scrubbed from the countryside as he embarks on a one-man mission to clean up Bangladesh. The 53-year-old self-professed tree hugger has been riding his bicycle across the country, in a grassroots effort to free trees of the billboards and clutter nailed to their trunks. Trees in Bangladesh are often used as free advertising space, with every available inch of wood plastered with placards until the trunk is barely visible. The billboards might disintegrate over time but the nails remain embedded deep in the wood – agitating tree-lover Sarder, who has devoted his life to healing these wounds. “Trees have life. They feel pain just as we do,” the selfstyled conservationist said in Jessore district in the country’s southwest. “I have seen how these nails have killed trees, and how they are causing them pain.” Sarder grew up idolising Jag- dish Chandra Bose, a prominent Bengali botanist who wrote about the emotions of plants in the early decades of the 20th century. Inspired, Sarder began planting trees in Jhenaidah, his home district, and neighbouring Jessore, a passion he kept up for decades. But this year it occurred to him that planting trees was not enough – he needed to protect those already under threat. Traversing battered roads with a bicycle, bucket and a metal rod welded with prongs, Sarder began prying thick nails and spikes from abused trees across the country. Since he began his beautification drive in July he has collected more than 80kg (176 pounds) of them. “It looks easy, but it isn’t. It takes a lot of effort to pull out a rusted nail that has been there for years,” he said. It is arduous and thankless work. Often, he doubles back on a section of road to discover fresh billboards hammered into his beloved trees. “You know what breaks my heart the most? Most of these banners are advertising doctors, lawyers, tutors and other clinics,” he said. “They all are well educated. Why on earth can’t they refrain from destroying a tree?” Sarder often attracts crowds of curious onlookers as he goes about his work. “No one really does this work. People thought I was crazy,” he said. But sensing an opportunity to educate the public about his mission, he attached a placard to his bicycle extolling the benefits of trees and merits of conserving nature. “I try my best to explain the importance of having more trees and inspire them to plant and save more trees.” Sarder has appealed to local politicians to try and outlaw this form of vandalism, but has not had much success. But he intends to keep up the fight, saying a growing awareness of climate change and environmental conservation in his impoverished homeland could spur change in the future. Bangladesh, a low-lying riverine country of 160mn, is particularly prone to floods. Experts say trees, by soaking up water and reducing soil erosion, can help mitigate the devastation brought by yearly deluges. tacked by ruling party followers and accused the election commission of failing to ensure proper security. “At least four of our activists have been killed and thousands have been injured in attacks by government supporters,” Mohammad Salahuddin, a BNP official, said. He said 152 out of 300 opposition candidates have been attacked while campaigning. Salahuddin added that 8,732 activists, including 14 candidates, have been detained in the past month. The party blamed police for the death of one campaigner in Dhaka who fell to his death from a rooftop. Police have denied any involvement. Two Awami League activists were killed in brawls with opposition supporters last week. The BNP boycotted the 2014 national election, also marred by widespread violence, claiming that it was rigged by Hasina’s party. Hasina, accused of presiding over growing authoritarianism, is seeking a record fourth term in office. BNP leader Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, is serving a jail term for graft. Around 100mn voters have registered for this ballot. Walk in the garden Myanmar action Reuters United Nations T he UN Security Council is considering action to push Myanmar to work with the United Nations to address the Rohingya refugee crisis, although China and Russia have so far boycotted talks on a British-drafted resolution, diplomats have said. The draft resolution aims to put a timeline on Myanmar allowing the return of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh and addressing accountability, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state since August last year, when attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents triggered a military crackdown that the United Nations, the United States, Britain and others described as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies the accusations of ethnic cleansing. The draft resolution would warn that the 15-member Security Council could consider further steps, including sanctions, if there was not enough progress made by Myanmar, diplomats said. It would also ask UN officials to report back regularly to the council. It was unclear if or when the draft resolution could be put to a vote. A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass. “I think it’s inappropriate, untimely and useless,” Russian UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. China’s UN ambassador Ma Zhaoxu declined to comment. Myanmar’s UN ambassador Hau Do Suan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The draft was circulated to Council members late last month and diplomats said that there had been several rounds of discussions. Russia and China attended an initial meeting, but have not taken part in any further talks, diplomats said. Tourists walk in a flower field in Lopburi province of Thailand yesterday. Cambodian garment workers urge H&M to deliver living wage By Matt Blomberg, TRF Phnom Penh Y im Srey Neang and her colleagues are pleased to have garment factory jobs that are relatively stable and safe. They speak highly of their employers as representatives of 4,000 people toiling in a factory that supplies to fashion giant H&M from the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. But when conversation turns to the so-called “fair living wage,” the tone shifts: several factory workers begin firing off laundry lists of life’s necessities – food, shelter, education, healthcare – and their prices in an onslaught of discontent. “No, it’s not fair,” Srey Neang said on a tour of the factory organised by H&M, the world’s second biggest fashion retailer with more than 4,800 stores located in 71 countries. “Our salary does not allow us to save money – it’s barely enough to live.” Srey Neang is one of 1.6mn people worldwide working in factories that supply H&M – part of a global fashion industry that employs at least 60mn people – according to the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation (ILO). In an industry fuelled by cheap labour – mainly young women – the concept of a fair living wage aims for workers to move beyond living from paycheck to paycheck, where a single accident or emergency can plunge a family into financial crisis. In 2013, H&M pledged to overhaul its supply chain – seven months after poor conditions in the textile industry grabbed global attention when Rana Plaza, a seven-story commercial building in Bangladesh, collapsed – killing more than 1,100 people. Consumers and campaigners demanded action, but five years on the Swedish retailer – which reported a profit after tax of about $1.8bn for 2017 – is still wrestling with how to ensure a greater share goes to the workers making its clothes. While wages are rising on factory floors worldwide, David Savman, H&M’s global head of production, said that the number of factory workers receiving a living wage remained at “zero.” “Until workers’ unions and manufacturers agree on a figure, we do not know what a fair living wage is,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation during the factory visit. Some observers call for individual brands to narrow focus and take direct action to increase wages in their own supply chain, but Savman said such an approach would be unsustainable. “We don’t want to create an isolated bubble of fairness,” he said, adding that H&M wanted to see collective bargaining, where representatives of workers and employers negotiate a wage floor. H&M’s 2013 vow to tackle a problem that has been discussed for decades was a first for the textile industry – a five-year plan to overhaul pay structures and give workers more of a say. Five years on, at their “Fair Living Wage Summit” in Phnom Penh last week, H&M reported that it had exceeded targets for workers who had been educated on how to earn more and for employees who could elect their representatives. H&M says it wants workers at the negotiating table, head-tohead with factory bosses and without the influence of governments. Factory bosses are rightfully fearful of this, Savman said, so H&M has committed to “ringfencing” a living wage – removing wages from their purchasing negotiations with factory owners and covering any fluctuations that occur. “We want to insulate them from labour costs so that they are more confident to come to the table,” he said. Cambodia’s garment industry has been overhauled in recent years – with the monthly mini- mum wage set to rise to $182 next year from $61 in 2012. Yet a survey of garment workers by the Center for the Alliance of Labour and Human Rights found that while the average wage was significantly higher than the minimum, workers were still earning less than $1 an hour – and living month-to-month. Moeun Tola, the charity’s executive director, called for major brands to stop making excuses and improve workers’ pay. “If H&M really wants to pay a living wage, they can go directly to their supplier and make an agreement,” he said, adding that this could encourage competitors to follow suit. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 17 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA All lit up Trial of Indonesian accused of Kim Jong-nam murder on hold AFP Shah Alam T People walk under winter illuminations displayed with 1mn ‘Champagne Gold’ LED bulbs at Marunouchi business district in Tokyo. Japan to buy more stealth jets, radar to counter China, Russia Reuters Tokyo J apan will accelerate spending on advanced stealth fighters, long-range missiles and other equipment over the next five years to support US forces facing China’s military in the Western Pacific, two new government defence papers said. The plans are the clearest indication yet of Japan’s ambition to become a regional power as a military build-up by China and a resurgent Russia puts pressure on its US ally. “The United States remains the world’s most powerful nation, but national rivalries are surfacing and we recognise the importance of the strategic competition with both China and Russia as they challenge the regional order,” said a 10-year defence programme outline approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government yesterday. The United States, followed by China, North Korea and Russia, are the countries that most influenced Japan’s latest military thinking, the paper said. China, the world’s second biggest economy, is deploying more ships and aircraft to patrol waters near Japan, while North Korea has yet to fulfil a pledge to dismantle its nuclear and missile programmes. Russia, which continues to probe Japanese air defences, said on Monday it had built new barracks for troops on a northern island it captured from Japan at the end of World War II. Japan plans to buy 45 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, worth about $4bn, in addition to the 42 jets already on order, according to a separate five-year procurement plan approved yesterday. The new planes will include 18 short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) B variants of the F-35 that planners want to deploy on Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea. The islands are part of a chain stretching past Taiwan and down to the Philippines that has marked the limit of Chinese military dominance east of the disputed South China Sea. “Japan’s decision to acquire more F-35s is a testament to the aircraft’s transformational capability and its increasing role in promoting regional stability and enhancing the US-Japan security alliance,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement. The navy’s two large helicopter carriers, the Izumo and Kaga, will be modified for F-35B operations, the paper said. The 248-m (814 ft) long Izumoclass ships are as big as any of Japan’s aircraft carriers in World War II. They will need reinforced decks to withstand the heat blast from F-35 engines and could be fitted with ramps to aid short No one can ‘dictate’ China’s path: Xi AFP Beijing P resident Xi Jinping warned that no one can “dictate” China’s economic development path as the Communist Party marked 40 years of its historic “reform and opening up” policy amid a stern challenge from the United States. In a speech at the grandiose Great Hall of the People, Xi vowed to press ahead with economic reforms but made clear that Beijing will not deviate from its one-party system or take orders from any other country. “The great banner of socialism has always been flying high over the Chinese land,” Xi told the party faithful. “The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics,” he said. The commemoration of the reforms enacted under late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping on December 18, 1978, came as China is locked in diplomatic spats and a bruising trade war with the United States. The rivals have agreed to a 90-day truce as they seek to negotiate a solution, with the United States seeking a reduction in its massive trade deficit as well as deeper reforms in China to stop the alleged theft of intellectual property. Without directly referring to the United States, Xi said China “poses no threat” to any country but warned that it would not be pushed around. “No one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done,” Xi said. “We must resolutely reform what should and can be changed, we must resolutely not reform what shouldn’t and can’t be changed.” While Xi promised more reforms, he did not offer any specifics. The United States and Europe have long complained of lingering obstacles to fully entering China’s massive market while Chinese companies enjoy the benefits of open Western economies abroad. The reforms pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and turned China into the world’s second biggest economy. But it is currently facing a debt mountain and a slowing economy, which grew by 6.9% last year and is expected by the government to slow to around 6.5 percent this year. Deng’s reforms broke with the chaotic policies of his predecessor, Chairman Mao Zedong. Yesterday’s ceremony included the awarding of medals to more than 100 individuals whom the party recognised as key contributors to the country’s development, from people involved China’s President Xi Jinping awards a medal to an individual for his contribution to China’s development during a celebration meeting marking the 40th anniversary of China’s “reform and opening up” policy at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. in rural reform and poverty alleviation to China’s richest man, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, and retired NBA legend Yao Ming. China now boasts the most dollar billionaires in the world with 620, according to Shanghai-based magazine publisher Hurun Report. But the economic transformation has not brought changes to the Communist Party-controlled political system, with authorities harshly cracking down on the Tiananmen protests in 1989 and activists complaining of a deterioration of human rights in recent years. “Reform and opening up let the Communist Party maintain its dictatorship and let it keep its rule from collapsing after the Cold War and survive,” Beijingbased political analyst Wu Qiang told AFP. “I think China now is state capitalism under a oneparty dictatorship, or party-run capitalism,” he said. Wu said the trade war could be a chance for China to enact more changes. he trial of an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother was put on hold yesterday due to a row over witness statements, the latest delay in the case. Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam have been on trial for over a year, accused of murdering Kim Jong-nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. The brazen assassination in February last year shocked the world but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents. The women, in their 20s, went on trial together in October 2017 but proceedings have moved slowly due to the large numbers of witnesses and the fact hearings are held infrequently. The defence stage of Aisyah’s Kim Jong-nam trial had originally been due to begin in November but was delayed to January after her main lawyer fell ill. And yesterday’s proceedings in Aisyah’s case were temporarily halted when the High Court refused to grant her lawyers access to some witness statements, and they decided to appeal. Huong’s trial is due to resume in March and the court will rule Friday whether it will go ahead, or be put on hold with Aisyah’s. The prosecution stage of the trial, during which the women appeared for hearings together, wrapped up in August. The defence parts of their trials will be held separately. Aisyah’s lawyer Gooi Soon Seng said the witness statements were “essential” for the defence and he would appeal the ruling — a process that could take months. “Without (the statements) there would be a real miscarriage of justice. It would compromise our case,” he told reporters at the court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur. The seven statements are from witnesses including people who drove Kim Jong-nam around in Malaysia and acquaintances of Aisyah. Prosecutors have refused to hand them over, arguing they should not be made public. Under current laws, the women will be sentenced to death by hanging if convicted of murdering the estranged relative of the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un. Malaysia’s new government, which took power in May, has vowed to abolish capital punishment for all crimes, although parliament still needs to vote on the change. In this file photo, a Marine Corps pilot prepares for a vertical landing of Lockheed Martin F-35B stealth fighter aboard the USS Wasp amphibious assault carrier during their operation in the waters off Japan’s southernmost island of Okinawa earlier this year. take-offs, two defence ministry officials told Reuters. The new F-35 order may also help Japan avert a trade war with the United States. US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on Japanese car imports, thanked Abe for buying the F-35s when the two met at a summit in Argentina this month. Other US-made equipment on Japan’s shopping list includes two land-based Aegis Ashore air defence radars to defend against North Korean missiles, four Boeing Co KC-46 Pegasus refuelling planes to extend the range of Japanese aircraft, and nine NZ plans to tighten rules for short-term worker visas New Zealand announced plans to tighten rules for temporary worker visas to encourage firms to hire more local people and send more migrant workers to regions outside its main cities. The proposed new scheme would ramp up oversight of employers planning to hire migrants on temporary work visas, including checks to ensure no New Zealander could do the job instead. “Overall, the proposals will ensure that access to work visas is better matched to where there are genuine and high skill needs, and that the system provides more incentives and support for businesses to employ more New Zealanders,” Immigration Minister Iain LeesGalloway said. “The proposed changes represent a significant shift in how we operate our Immigration system in the best interests of the New Zealand economy and our regions,” he said in a statement. The government said it would accept consultation with affected businesses until March and make a final decision on the scheme in mid-2019. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour-led government took the helm in 2017 with a campaign promise to tighten up migration to ease infrastructure strains and a politically sensitive housing crisis. Overall Labour’s policies were forecast to reduce net migration by up to 30,000 from record levels of more than 70,000 annually. Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye early-warning planes. Japan plans to spend 25.5tn yen ($224.7bn) on military equipment over the next five years, 6.4% higher than the previous five-year plan. Costcutting will free up another 2tn yen for purchases, the procurement paper said. Japan only spends about 1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, but the size of its economy means it already has one of the world’s largest militaries. “The budget is increasing and there has been an acceleration to deploy capability as soon as possible,” Robert Morrissey, head of Raytheon Co’s unit in Japan, said this month. Wary of North Korean promises to abandon ballistic missile development, Japan’s military is buying longer-range Raytheon SM-3 interceptor missiles to strike enemy warheads in space. The defence papers assessed non-traditional military threats as well. A new joint-forces cyber unit will bolster Japan’s defences against cyber attacks. More electronic warfare capabilities are planned. Japan’s air force will also get its first space unit to help keep tabs on potential adversaries high above the Earth’s atmosphere. Embattled Australia PM eyes tax cuts before elections AFP Sydney F lagging in the polls and facing a rout in the May general election, Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison looked to shore up support yesterday, teasing AUS$9bn worth of tax cuts. “We support lower taxes,” said treasurer and deputy prime minister Josh Frydenberg, touting “important” tax decisions ahead. A midyear budget released Monday showed the government running a smaller deficit than expected and possible surplus next year. That amounts to a much-needed AUS$9.25bn (US$6.7bn) election war chest for Morrison. His conservative coalition is 10 points back in the polls and facing a thumping loss to centre-left Labor, according to a recent Newspoll survey. Hoping for a little Christmas cheer to improve his sagging fortunes, Morrison looks almost certain to dole out the goodies to sceptical voters. The government did not spell out what the tax cuts PM Scott Morrison. could be, but they were budgeted for in the fine print of the plan under “decisions taken but not yet announced.” “This is tax cuts (or possibly spending measures) due to be announced between now and next year’s election,” said Andrew Hanlan, an economist with Westpac. Experts said the smaller deficit was thanks to higher tax revenues stemming from stronger growth and higher commodity prices. Australia’s economy has been growing steadily for decades, but has started to slow amid trade disputes between China and the United States and domestic pressures. An election date has not yet been set, but it is widely expected by May next year. 18 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 BRITAIN RULING POLICY CRIME PEOPLE DECISION Court jails neo-Nazi couple who named child after Hitler Companies in England to pay packaging waste David Schwimmer lookalike skips summons Dying neighbour leaves girl 14 years of presents Head teacher banned for bullying staff A court yesterday sentenced a fanatical neoNazi couple who named their baby son after Adolf Hitler to prison for belonging to a group banned under anti-terror laws. Adam Thomas was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and his Portuguese partner Claudia Patatas to five years in prison by judge Melbourne Inman at Birmingham Crown Court. Thomas, 22, and Patatas, 38, were among six people sentenced for membership of National Action, which in 2016 became the first right-wing group to be banned under anti-terror laws. In his sentencing, Inman said the group had “horrific” goals. Companies and factories in England will have a legal obligation to foot the bill for the disposal or recycling of waste packaging they produce under new plans by the environment minister. Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to eradicate avoidable plastic waste by 2042 as a growing flood of plastic endangers life in the world’s oceans. “We can move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society, to one that looks at waste as a valuable resource,” Michael Gove, minister for the department of the environment, farming and rural affairs (DEFRA), said in a statement on the proposed overhaul to England’s waste system. A suspected thief whose image went viral because he resembles the Friends actor David Schwimmer has absconded from court. A district judge in Blackpool issued a warrant for the arrest of Abdulah Husseni yesterday after he failed to answer his court summons on charges of theft and fraud. Lancashire constabulary was inundated with comments from social media users in October after it posted an image of Husseni, who was wanted over the theft of a jacket, mobile phone and wallet. The image went viral as people noticed he looked like Ross Geller, Schwimmer’s character in the US sitcom. A family was left shocked to find their late elderly neighbour had left Christmas presents to give to their daughter for the next 14 years. Ken, who was in his late 80s, lived near to Owen and Caroline Williams in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, for the last two years. The couple said Ken “doted” on their two-year-old daughter Cadi. He died recently and on Monday evening, his daughter knocked on the Williams’ home to deliver the presents. “She was clutching this big bag plastic sack and I thought it was rubbish she was going to ask me to throw out,” said Owens. “But she said it was everything her dad had put away for Cadi. It was all of the Christmas presents he had bought for her.” A former head teacher has been banned from teaching after bullying staff and acting dishonestly. Neil Wilkinson-McKie resigned as chief executive of Cornwall’s Roseland Multi Academy Trust and head teacher of The Roseland Academy in 2016. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found his conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected”. It said it was particularly concerned by Wilkinson-McKie’s bullying and unfair treatment of his colleagues. Two teachers who gave evidence to the misconduct panel said they had left the profession because of his actions. Labour MPs seek emergency conference Government to activate full ‘no-deal’ Brexit preparations Guardian News and Media London A nti-Brexit Labour activists and MPs are calling on Jeremy Corbyn to convene a special conference as soon as possible to set out the party’s plans for the next few critical weeks. With Theresa May’s Brexit deal now due to come back to parliament for a vote in the week beginning January 14, campaigners are keen to ensure Corbyn consults Labour members about the next steps. Many would like him to shift immediately to a policy of supporting a second referendum. Labour for a People’s Vote, the group that was instrumental in ensuring Brexit was discussed at Labour’s annual conference in September, is calling for a halfday recall for members to endorse a policy of backing a second referendum. It has the support of Labour MPs including Alex Sobel, Paul Williams and Anna McMorrin. Williams, the MP for Stockton South, said: “Time is running out. Government, the NHS and businesses are spending billions of pounds putting into place no-deal contingencies. Waiting another month is just going to make things worse. Labour needs to change our policy. “We need an emergency party conference to amend our policy to take account of the situation we find ourselves in, not the situation that we envisaged back in September.” Mike Buckley, the director of Labour for a People’s Vote, said: “A special conference would allow Labour members, who overwhelmingly favour a new vote and keeping our EU membership, and trade unions, who represent 6mn people, to make clear their views on May’s deal and no-deal, and to decide on the best way forward, which we expect would be a public vote on the government’s deal versus Remain.” Manuel Cortes, the leader of the TSSA union, recently called for an emergency conference, to “clearly set out our Brexit stall in light of a very rapidly evolving situation”. Reuters London T Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, leaves his home in London yesterday. Briton held in Bali ‘faces 15 years in jail’ Guardian News and Media London A British man who was arrested in Bali for possession of cannabis oil says he is now living a “terrible nightmare” and faces a jail term of up to 15 years. Pip Holmes, 45, was arrested on December 3 for possession of what he described as “a tiny amount of THC oil”, which he had sent to himself in Indonesia to help with his arthritis pain. He was one of five people arrested by Indonesian police for alleged drug smuggling last week in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province. Indonesia has strict drug laws, with dozens of convicted smugglers currently on death row, including the British citizens Gareth Cashmore and Lindsay Sandiford. Holmes, from Cornwall, said police stated that the weight of the bottles he received in the post from a friend in Thailand was 31gm, which equates to around 3gm of cannabis oil. “I am guilty under Indonesian law of possession of narcotics, there’s no denying that,” he wrote on a website set up to raise $100,000 (£79,000) for his legal representation. “Even though medicinal THC is something so widely accepted elsewhere and it was such a small amount, I foolishly crossed the line in a very strict country. The only way now to ensure my sentence is something I will survive is to invest in the right legal representation and rehabilitation.” Holmes, who described himself as a painter and surfer, spent six days in a police cell before being transferred to a rehabilitation facility after his lawyers argued that he was a drug user rather than a drug trafficker. The Briton, whose two children live in the UK with his ex-wife, said: “For the last few days, each morning I have wok- en up in a terrible nightmare. I still can’t believe that I’m here and I feel sick with fear. “As it stands, I don’t know if I’m about to spend a few months in rehabilitation or if I’m about to face five to 15 years in Kerobokan – one of the toughest prisons on earth.” A statement on the fundraising website read: “Pip made a very grave error of judgment and is extremely sorry. As the people who love him, we simply can’t face watching him serve five to 15 years in one of the toughest prisons in the world or worse. “There is a legal team in Bali that can help him get into a rehab facility instead. There he would serve a few months and also get the help he needs. He doesn’t deserve a long sentence. He needs our help.” A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our staff are assisting a British man following his arrest in Bali and are in contact with his family, lawyer and the Indonesian authorities.” he government yesterday said it would implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full and begin telling businesses and citizens to prepare for the risk of leaving the European Union without an agreement. Those plans include setting aside space on ferries to ensure a regular flow of medical supplies and keeping 3,500 armed forces personnel ready to support the government with its contingency plans. With just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May is yet to win the support of a deeply divided parliament for the deal she struck last month with Brussels to maintain close ties with the bloc. She has said a delayed vote on her deal will take place in midJanuary, prompting some lawmakers to accuse her of trying to force parliament into backing her by running down the clock as the March 29 exit day approaches. No deal means there would be no transition so the exit would be abrupt, the nightmare scenario for international businesses and the dream of hard Brexiteers who want a decisive split. May, who last week survived a confidence vote in her Conservative Party, has warned lawmakers that the alternatives to her deal are leaving without an agreement or no Brexit. Her spokesman said while the government’s priority remained leaving with a deal, which was the most likely scenario, it would now implement its no-deal plans “in full”. Ship refloated “Cabinet agreed...we have now reached the point where we need to ramp up these preparations. This means we will now set in motion the remaining elements of our no-deal plans,” he said. “Cabinet also agreed to recommend businesses now also ensure they are similarly prepared, enacting their own nodeal plans as they judge necessary. Citizens should also prepare,” he added, saying that after no-deal guidance issued earlier this year, further detailed advice would be published soon. The opposition Labour Party’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said the government was “running down the clock”. “No-deal has never truly been a viable option, it is a political hoax, and deep down I think the government and this prime minister knows it,” he told parliament. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Philip Hammond said he had made more than £4.2bn available for Brexit planning since the 2016 referendum and would be allocating a further £2bn to government departments. Britain’s economy has slowed since the 2016 Brexit vote and there is no guarantee that businesses and consumers will retain tariff-free access to EU goods after leaving the bloc. The British Chambers of Commerce yesterday forecast that economic growth this year and in 2019 looks set to be the weakest since Britain emerged from recession in 2009, due to a freeze in business investment and weak consumer demand ahead of Brexit. Parliament is at an impasse 700,000 homes stuck with slow broadband Guardian News and Media London A A Russian bulk cargo ship that ran aground off southwest England yesterday has been successfully refloated and was towed out to open sea. The ship got grounded between the Swanpool and Gyllyngvase beaches near Falmouth in Cornwall at about 0540GMT. over Brexit, with factions pressing for different options for future ties, leaving without a deal or remaining in the EU. May is seeking assurances from the EU over the so-called Northern Irish “backstop” — an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border between the British province and EUmember Ireland that its critics fear will trap Britain in a customs union with the EU indefinitely. With the EU unlikely to offer concessions that would win over lawmakers and May repeatedly ruling out a second referendum, the risk of a no-deal has increased, a scenario that some businesses fear would be catastrophic for the world’s fifth largest economy. British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O is reviewing its UK-registered fleet and is re-flagging two vessels to keep EU tax arrangements ahead of Brexit, the company said. Housing Minister James Brokenshire told BBC Radio the government was making no-deal preparations “reluctantly.” “It’s not what we want to do, it’s not what we still expect to do because we want to see the deal secured,” he said. Mike Amey, head of sterling portfolios at fund management giant PIMCO, said there was “low probability” of no-deal as there was not a majority of lawmakers who would accept it. Britain would be more likely to extend or revoke its Article 50 notice to leave the EU, he said. May has so far ruled out doing either. The pound rose further away from 20-month lows yesterday, helped by a weaker dollar and hopes that May could avoid a no-deal Brexit. lmost 700,000 “forgotten homes” across the UK are unable to get sufficiently fast broadband to meet a typical family’s needs, such as watching Netflix, downloading films and browsing YouTube. Ofcom, the communications regulator, said 2% of UK homes and offices, about 677,000 properties, could not access broadband speeds of at least 10Mbps. This is the bare minimum deemed necessary to cope with modern internet requirements, from downloading a film on Sky to streaming music and watching services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Ofcom said rural families were being left behind where properties are far from the local exchanges that provide fast speeds. It said more than 73%, or 496,000, of the total “forgotten homes” were in rural areas. Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report found there had been a decline in the number of households and offices without the minimum speed connection, from 1.1mn last year. The number has been steadily decreasing in recent years, falling from 1.4mn in 2016 and 2.4m in 2015, as broadband providers continue to roll out services to rural premises. While the number of homes without access to basic speed internet is dwindling, there are likely to be a number that may never be reached using traditional infrastructure. “The rural broadband situation is looking rosier,” said Matt Powell, editor at Broadband Genie. “But the final 2% represents some of the areas which are hardest to reach with conventional broadband services. The most remote rural homes and businesses may need instead to look at wire-free alternatives such as satellite or 4G.” Mobile operator Three UK is aiming to launch a 5G wireless home broadband service in the second half of next year. Despite the almost UK-wide availability of minimum 10Mbps broadband, a recent report found that in reality more than a quarter of homes are on internet packages slower than that. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 19 BRITAIN Scotland police face new claims over custody deaths Guardian News and Media London S cottish ministers are facing fresh demands for an inquiry into deaths in custody after new doubts emerged about the case of Sheku Bayoh, who died after being restrained by police. The Scottish Labour MSP Claire Baker has tabled an emergency question at Holyrood asking for a government statement on the Bay- oh case after BBC Scotland broadcast previously unseen CCTV footage of his arrest three years ago that appeared to contradict police accounts of what took place. “The information revealed (by the BBC) raises serious questions that must be urgently answered and that is why I am seeking to raise these directly in parliament,” Baker said. “The Scottish government must commit to undertaking an inquiry into deaths in custody in Scotland. We can’t be complacent about the issues that have become evident. There are serious questions to be asked about the police response, the way in which deaths in custody are investigated, and how families are treated when they lose a loved one.” Bayoh died in hospital on May 3, 2015, after being restrained by a group of officers responding to reports of a man behaving erratically and waving a knife on residential streets in Kirkcaldy, Fife, that morning. He was not carrying a knife when challenged by police. The first officers on the scene used CS and pepper spray to attempt to subdue him, while one officer drew his baton. Bayoh’s death certificate records the cause of death as intoxication by ecstasy and another drug known as “flakka” while being restrained. His family believe unnecessary force was used to arrest Bayoh, a trainee gas engineer originally from Sierra Leone. They have been pressing for a full public inquiry into his death and for the prosecu- tion of officers involved in his arrest. It is understood that Scotland’s police complaints body, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, has recommended no action be taken against the officers involved. It is thought Scotland’s chief prosecutor, the lord advocate, James Wolffe QC, agrees with that conclusion but is waiting for the family to request an internal review of his findings before issuing a final decision. Aamer Anwar, the lawyer for the Bayoh family, said their review request would be submitted by Christmas and they expected that review to be concluded within the following month. “The family will accept nothing less than a public inquiry,” he said. “Anything less would be a further betrayal by the Scottish government.” A Scottish government spokesman said Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, was open-minded about holding the inquiries at a later date. “Any decision will be contingent on a final decision on criminal proceedings – it would not be appropriate for ministers to pre-empt that at this stage by commenting on any related matters,” the spokesman said. The BBC documentary said the CCTV footage contradicted police accounts of what took place, including claims issued by a lawyer for the Scottish Police Federation and police witnesses that Bayoh had “punched, kicked and stamped” on a female officer before he was restrained. 76% of women killed by men in 2017 knew killers: report Guardian News and Media London T hree-quarters of women killed by men in the UK in 2017 knew the perpetrator, according to a report on femicide. The Femicide Census, conducted by Women’s Aid and the campaigner Karen Ingala Smith, found that of the 139 women known to have been killed by men in the UK last year, 105 (76%) knew their killer. Thirty women were killed by strangers, with 21 of the 30 killed in terrorist attacks. The report found that 64 of the women, or 46%, were killed by a current or former intimate partner. Another 24 (17%) were killed by a man known to them – such as a colleague, neighbour or friend – while 17 (12%) were killed by a male family member, of whom 10 were killed by their son. The perpetrator’s relationship to the victim could not be established in four cases. A sharp instrument was used as a weapon in 66 cases, or 47%, while 82 (59%) were killed at home. More than half of women killed by a former partner were killed within the first month of separation; almost 90% of the same subset were killed within the first year of separation. For the first time, the Femicide Census collected data on “overkilling”, killings where the force or method used was greater than that required to kill the victim. “Overkilling” was evident in 58 (42%) of the cases. In one case, a victim was stabbed 175 times, while in others women were “hit 40 times with an axe”, “bludgeoned repeatedly” and “battered virtually beyond all recognition”. Ingala Smith, the chief executive of the domestic violence charity Nia, said: “The use of excessive violence or desecration after death challenges narratives of momentary loss of control that are especially prevalent in relation to domestic violence. “Instead it highlights the brutality and misogyny that men bring to their violence against women whether dead or alive and challenges benign rationales given by men which are often accepted and repeated in media coverage of the killings of women.” Smith said the report challenged widely held assumptions about the nature of violence in society. “The dominant perception of knife crime is one of young men and street violence yet the Femicide Census tells us that 47% of women were killed by knives or sharp objects; in fact, this is the most common method used by men to kill women,” she said. “It may also surprise some to learn that 40% of women killed by men were aged over 45 and 14% were over the age of 66. Where analyses of violent crime do not look at sex disaggregated data, violence against women continues to be overlooked and made invisible.” Katie Ghose, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, called on the government to ensure its domestic abuse bill, due to be published imminently, delivered both the legislation and the resources needed to respond effectively to domestic abuse. “Time and time again, we hear of cases where a woman has been killed by a man as an ‘isolated incident’; yet the latest Femicide Census report shows yet again that this is not the case,” she said. “The majority of these cases are not isolated incidents. There are too many similarities in the circumstances where women are killed by men.” Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, visits the Royal Variety Charity’s residential nursing and care home, Brinsworth House in Twickenham, south west London yesterday. Tabloids fall out of love with ‘Duchess Difficult’ AFP London T he honeymoon period for former actress and newlyminted British royal Meghan Markle, it seems, is over. Six months on from her fairytale wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor Castle, Meghan is faced with a daily barrage of tabloid headlines criticising her courtly manner and warning her against becoming “Duchess Difficult”. Pregnant Meghan was credited with breathing fresh air into the royal institution when she married Prince Harry in May, but a series of reported palace fallouts and resignations have raised Coke ‘targeting’ obese children with truck tour Daily Mail London C oca-Cola is targeting childhood obesity hotspots on its Christmas truck tour, a senior MP claimed. Half of the locations on the six-week schedule have above average numbers of overweight youngsters, Tom Watson’s analysis has found. They include Manchester, Birmingham and Greenwich in south-east London, where 41% of 11-year-olds are overweight or obese. Watson, who is Labour’s deputy leader, said: “I don’t think it’s too strong to say that Coke is poisoning our children with the sugar in their products. This Christmas tour is shamelessly marketed at kids and it almost seems like the company has picked areas with very high levels of child obesity and depravation. If Coke had any decency or awareness of the health impacts of their products they would stop giving out full-sugar drinks to children. The nation’s health cannot afford these kind of flagrant marketing stunts.” Running since 1995, the Christmas tour was inspired by Cola-Cola’s Holidays Are Coming advert. It deploys a 14-tonne truck from which staff hand out free 150ml cans of full-sugar Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero. The company insists no cans are handed to children under 12 but Labour officials claim young children were given regular Coke in Greenwich last weekend. Watson, who has managed to reverse his type 2 diabetes through weight loss, has written to Coca-Cola, to call for a rethink. “You should not be handing out free full-sugar Cokes to children anywhere, let alone handing them out to children in areas of high child obesity and dental decay,” he said. In Newcastle and in Croydon, south London, two other stops on the tour, 38% of children are overweight or obese. A 150ml can of Coke contains 15.9 grams of sugar, two thirds of the recommended daily allowance for children. A full-size 330ml can of the soft drink contains 35 grams, 45% above the recommended daily allowance. Nationally, 33.4% of 11-yearolds are either overweight or obese, up from 31.6% in 2008 when totals were first recorded. Figures released show that an amputation due to diabetes takes place on average every hour, a rate 20% higher than four years ago. Watson was able to beat his type 2 diabetes by losing seven stone, reducing his sugar intake and increasing exercise. He is now an anti-sugar campaigner and is urging people in February to cut out all fizzy drinks including diet brands that can induce sugar cravings. Coca-Cola has been contacted for comment. Last week it pointed out that its tour is focusing on its new Coke Zero Sugar brand; that no one under 12 is handed a free drink; and that less than half of the Coca-Cola now sold in the UK is the full sugar. questions about her methods. Senior courtiers have quit amid suggestions that Meghan is a demanding boss, firing off emails to staff in the early hours of the morning. Tabloids have reported she made sister-in-law Kate cry during preparations for the wedding. The family insists that Harry and Meghan’s plan to move out from next door to his brother Prince William and Kate is driven by the imminent arrival of their first child, but many believe it is a sign of a deteriorating relationship. Queen Elizabeth II was also believed to have been angered by Meghan asking to be loaned her emerald wedding tiara, according to newspaper reports. It emerged last week that highly-respected courtier Samantha Cohen would be leaving after Meghan’s baby is born next spring following 17 years of royal service. Another of Meghan’s assistants also resigned six months after the wedding, tabloids reported. To her supporters, the duchess is suffering blowback for her modernising ways and has become a scapegoat for the family’s underlying problems. “It is interesting how Meghan... has become such a lightning rod for so many controversies, from the royal family’s — shall we say — race issues to the British media’s obsession with pitting women against one Striking a pose another, with claims that she and Kate...are at one another’s throats,” wrote The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman. Royal expert Victoria Arbiter told US magazine Inside Edition that the rumours of Meghan being difficult were “founded from absolutely nothing.” Meghan’s estrangement from her father Thomas added fuel to the fire on Monday when he gave an interview calling for a reconciliation. He defended his daughter against claims that she was rude to staff, saying that “she’s always been polite”, but added that she “has always been very controlling”. The 74-year-old also accused her of “ghosting” him since they Beefeaters and staff at royal sites to strike AFP London B Britain’s Wales Secretary Alun Cairns poses for a photo with members of the Welsh Guards, a regiment of the Household Division’s Foot Guards, on the steps of 10 Downing Street in central London. fell out when he was found to have received payment for staged paparazzi photographs. He was talking to Piers Morgan, the journalist who last year wrote about being friends with the “amazing Meghan Markle”, but who says he is now shunned by her. Guardian writer Freeman said that Meghan had become “a high-profile example of some men’s inability to understand that women are allowed to say no. “We have men acting like they have some kind of right over a woman,” she wrote. As with many families, Christmas threatens to be an occasion when tensions boil over, and royal watchers are casting a keen eye on this year’s festivities. eefeaters and staff at some of Britain’s most famous royal sites including the Tower of London will start strikes later this week amid a dispute over pensions, their unions said. The staff and a small number of beefeaters — who are ceremonial guardians at the tower — voted “overwhelmingly” to walkout in ballots, according to the PCS and GMB unions. The actions will begin Friday with staff from Kensington Palace — where Princes William and Harry live with their families — Hampton Court Palace and the tower, they said. They will also then picket on the gates of the tower and at Hampton Court on January 8, GMB added. The royal sites are formally owned by the British monarchy but placed in trust and run by a charity, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP).The unions claim HRP has decided to replace employees’ final salary pensions with “an inferior” alternative. “HRP are jumping on a bandwagon which is seeing employers engaging in a race to the bottom, ending good final salary schemes and replacing them with risky cheaper defined contribution schemes,” said the GMB’s Mick Ainsley. “GMB members still at this late stage are willing to talk to HRP but the silence from HRP is deafening.” John Barnes, HRP chief executive, called the decision “disappointing” but insisted it would not lead to a change in policy. “We do not expect any industrial action to have a significant impact on the day-to-day operations of our sites,” he said, adding they would remain open on January 8. Beefeaters — members of the Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard, as they are formally known — live at the Tower of London, which was founded in the 11th century and is now a major tourist attraction. They date back to 1337, with their nickname thought to stem from the days when the yeoman warders were given a daily ration of meat. 20 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 EUROPE Putin lays out missile plans if US quits treaty AFP Moscow R ussian President Vladimir Putin has laid out plans for Moscow to develop mid-range missiles banned under a Cold War treaty with the United States if Washington abandons the deal. Tensions have raged over the fate of the IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), with US President Donald Trump promising to walk away from the agreement and Putin threatening a new arms race. Washington this month said that it would withdraw from the INF within 60 days if Russia did not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal. The bilateral agreement forbids ground-launched shortand intermediate-range missiles, but not those launched from the air or sea. Speaking at a defence ministry meeting, Putin said Rus- sia’s seaborne Kalibr and airlaunched Kh-101 cruise missiles – as well as the cutting-edge hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles – would be converted for ground launch if Washington ditches the treaty. “It probably won’t be very difficult to conduct appropriate research and development and put them on the ground if need be,” he said. The Russian president once again touted the Kinzhal missile, which he first unveiled as part of an array of next-generation nuclear weapons in his annual state-of-the-nation address earlier this year. “No one else has it yet,” he said. He said the deployment of Kalibr missiles during Moscow’s Syria campaign proved useful, allowing the military to fine-tune “this very promising” weapon. Putin also suggested that he is open to the idea of other countries joining the INF treaty or to Leaders blamed for rise in journalist murders: watchdog AFP Paris H atred whipped up by “unscrupulous politicians” has contributed to the shocking rise in the number of journalists murdered in 2018, a media watchdog said yesterday. Eighty journalists have been killed worldwide so far this year – most notably the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi – with 348 in jail and 60 more held hostage, according to figures from Reporters Without Borders (RSF, Reporters sans Frontieres). “Violence against journalists has reached unprecedented levels this year, and the situation is now critical,” said the organisation’s head, Christophe Deloire. “The hatred of journalists sometimes very openly proclaimed by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen ... has been reflected in this disturbing increase.” RSF did not directly point the finger at US President Donald Trump, who regularly rails against journalists and has branded some “enemies of the people”. But Deloire said “expressions of hatred legitimise violence, thereby undermining journalism and democracy itself”. The US also became the fifth deadliest country in the world for reporters in 2018 after the shooting of five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland in June. Afghanistan was the most dangerous country for journalists, with 15 killed including AFP’s Shah Marai, followed by Syria with 11 deaths and Mexico with nine. Deloire said the hate stirred up against journalists is “amplified by social networks, which bear heavy responsibility in this regard”. “Murders, imprisonment, hostage-taking and enforced disappearances have all increased,” he said, with the death toll of professional journalists up 15% after three years of a falling casualty rate. “Journalists have never before been subjected to as much violence and abusive treatment as in 2018,” Deloire said. The murders of Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and the young Slovak data journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend “highlighted the lengths to which press freedom’s enemies are prepared to go”, he said. Khashoggi’s murder in October caused an international outcry and showed the extremes to which “some people will go to silence ‘troublesome’ journalists”, RSF said. More than half of the journalists killed were deliberately targeted, the other 31 were caught in violence. The RSF report said the number of non-professionals killed almost doubled from seven in 2017 to 13 this year. It said citizen journalists now played a key role in helping get news from countries at war or with oppressive regimes, “where it is hard for professional journalists to operate”. The overall toll does not include 10 deaths of media workers that the RSF said it was still investigating. China continues to be the world’s top jailer of journalists, the report said, with 60 behind bars, 46 of them non-professional bloggers, some of whom are held in “inhuman conditions for nothing more than a post on social networks”. Egypt and Iran also made the blacklist of the worst offenders with 38 and 28 reporters and bloggers in prison respectively. The RSF condemned Egypt for the opaqueness of its military justice system, saying that 30 reporters in detention had not been tried and others are still held even after the courts ordered their release. Merkel receives Fulbright Prize German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to receive the Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, the Washington-based Fulbright Association announced yesterday. “With this award, the Fulbright Association honours Chancellor Merkel for her remarkable, compassionate leadership and her strong commitment to mutual understanding, international cooperation, and peace,” the non-profit association said. The award will be made in Berlin on January 28, taking place outside the United States for the first time in its 25-year history. Previous recipients include Nelson Mandela, former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and the organisation Doctors without Borders. According to the education and cultural exchange association, “the prize recognises and rewards outstanding contributions toward bringing peoples, cultures, or nations to greater understanding of others”. It is named for J William Fulbright, a former senator for the state of Arkansas. Putin: It probably won’t be very difficult to conduct appropriate research and development and put them (the seaborne Kalibr and air-launched Kh-101 cruise missiles – as well as cutting-edge hypersonic Kinzhal missiles) on the ground if need be. starting talks on a new agreement. Signed in 1987 by then-US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the treaty bans ground- launched missiles with a range of between 500km and 5,500km. The deal resolved a crisis over Soviet nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles targeting Western capitals, but put no restrictions on other major military actors like China. “Yes, indeed there are certain difficulties with this treaty,” Putin said. “Other countries possessing short- and intermediate-range missiles are not party to it. “But what prevents (us) from starting talks on their accession to the existing treaty or starting negotiating the parameters of a new treaty?” Putin has said about a dozen countries were producing missiles of the type banned by the INF treaty. Military expert Vasily Kashin said it would be fairly easy to convert Kalibr and Kh-101 cruise missiles for ground launch, though the Kinzhal hypersonic missile would need more work. “This is not a threat, this is what will be unavoidable if there is no treaty,” he said. He said ground-based intermediate-range missiles were cheaper, so Russia could place more of them in range of Eu- ropean targets, but added that Moscow wanted to keep the treaty to protect itself against a possible US attack. Defence expert Alexander Golts said he doubted it would be possible to rescue the agreement and that expecting China to join the deal was “absolutely unrealistic”. “This is 90% of China’s nuclear weapons capabilities,” he said. Former Cold War enemies Russia and the US have accused each other of being in breach of the agreement and Washington has said honouring it no longer made sense. Putin has said that Europe would be the main victim of a new US-Russia arms race. The European Union has urged Russia and the US to save the deal. A 60-day grace period – granted by the US as a concession to European partners – on the issue will expire in mid-February. Pope tells off politicians who blame migrants for every evil Reuters Vatican City P ope Francis has condemned nationalist leaders who blame migrants for their countries’ problems and themselves fostered mistrust in society by pursuing dishonest gain and xenophobic and racist policies. The 82-year-old Pope, who has made defence of migrants a plank of his papacy, made the comments in his message for the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace on January 1. It is sent to heads of state and government and international organisations. It comes at a time when immigration is one of the most contentious issues in countries such as the United States, Italy, Germany and Hungary. Francis has sparred with US President Donald Trump and Italian right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini over the rights of migrants. “Political addresses that tend to blame every evil on migrants and to deprive the poor of hope are unacceptable,” said the Pope, who did not mention any countries or leaders. He said today’s times are “marked by a climate of mistrust rooted in the fear of others or of strangers, or anxiety about one’s personal security”. Francis said it is sad that mistrust was “also seen at the This picture taken on Saturday shows Pope Francis looking at a globe of the Earth during an audience for children and families of the Santa Marta dispensary at the Vatican. political level, in attitudes of rejection or forms of nationalism that call into question the fraternity of which our globalised world has such great need”. Last week, the Pope praised the United Nation’s first Global Compact on Migration, which sets objectives for how the management of migration can be improved. A number of nations, including the United States, Italy, Hungary, and Poland did not attend the meeting in Morocco. Francis denounced a list of “vices” by politicians who he said undermines authentic democracy and brings disgrace to public life through various forms of corruption. Among these, he included misappropriation of public resources, dishonest gain, xenophobia, racism, lack of concern for the environment, and plundering of natural resources. He proposed eight “Beati- tudes of the Politician” – first formulated by the late Vietnamese Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan – as a guide for the behaviour of public office holders. These, he said, would set goals for politicians who, among other qualities, should have a deep understanding of their role, personally exemplify credibility, work for the common good and accomplish radical change. Navalny: They passed the law specially for me, but it’s them that should be jailed for it. Russia to fine activists if minors take part in protests Reuters Moscow R ussian lawmakers have approved draft legislation that would make it a jailable offence to call on teenagers to attend unauthorised street protests, a move Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said yesterday was designed to frustrate his own activity. Navalny, a 42-year-old lawyer who says he wants to succeed Vladimir Putin as president, has tried to win the support of a young demographic, including teenagers, some of whom have attended his nationwide antiKremlin protests. Police have sometimes dispersed his rallies using force and jailed hundreds of attendees, including teenagers, whose presence has drawn sharp criticism from the Kremlin which has accused Navalny of manipulating minors for political gain. The new legislation proposes introducing fines of up to 50,000 roubles ($750) or a jail sentence of up to 15 days for anyone calling on people aged under 18 to attend unauthorised protests. Companies or organisations that encourage minors to attend could be fined up to 500,000 roubles under the new law. Opposition activists who want to protest already face an array of restrictions, including a requirement to seek the authorities’ advance approval for the time and place of any rally. Authorities often flatly decline such requests for technical reasons or propose alternative venues in remote locations far from the public eye. Navalny wrote on Twitter that the draft bill showed how the authorities were moving to give themselves a new lever to hamstring his opposition activity. “They passed the law specially for me, but it’s them that should be jailed for it,” he wrote. The bill was approved in its third and final reading yesterday. It must be approved by the upper house of parliament before it is signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, something that is normally a formality. Chaos on highways as ‘yellow vests’ torch toll booths Reuters Paris F rench “yellow vest” protesters occupied highway toll booths, setting a number on fire and causing transport chaos in parts of the country just days before the Christmas holidays getaway. France’s biggest toll road operator, Vinci Autoroutes, said that there were demonstrations at about 40 sites along its network and that some highway intersections had been damaged, notably in tourist towns such as Avignon, Orange, Perpignan, and Agde. Protesters set fire overnight to the Bandol toll station, forcing the closure of the A50 highway between Marseille and Toulon, said Vinci, whose network is mainly in southern and western France. The Manosque station was also torched. Some 20 people were arrested yesterday following the blazes, while four others remain in cus- tody following fires on Saturday. “Motorists should take utmost care as they approach toll gates and motorway access ramps due to the presence of numerous pedestrians,” Vinci said in a statement. Several people have died in roadside accidents at yellow vest roadblocks in recent weeks, mostly at the many roundabouts blocked by groups of demonstrators. The “yellow vests” protesters – named after the fluorescent jackets French motorists must have in their cars – have blocked roads and roundabouts across France since mid-November. The demonstrations began as a protest against fuel tax increases, but have morphed into a wider backlash against the liberal economic policies of French President Emmanuel Macron. Protesters took to the streets of Paris and other cities on Saturday in a fifth weekend of demonstrations, though they were noticeably smaller than in previous weeks after Macron announced Workers of French construction group Vinci work near graffiti reading ‘Macron go away’ at a highway toll station that was set on fire on Monday night in Bandol, near Marseille, southern France. tax and salary concessions. Protesters angry about high fuel costs and new speed limits have also damaged or torched hundreds of traffic radars. Radars-auto.com estimated that by the middle of last week some 1,600 – about half of all French traffic radars – had been damaged. More than 250 have been entirely destroyed, it said. The French state will also lose several tens of millions of euros in revenues, it said, adding that in 2017 the radars had yielded on average €84mn per month. The interior ministry declined comment on the number of radars damaged, but said that minor damage cost on average €500 per radar to repair, with major damage costing up to €200,000. Fines for damaging radars can run as high as €75,000. “Even wrapping a radar in plastic or a yellow vest ... without destroying it is an offence,” a ministry official said. Vinci estimates the damages since the start of the protests will cost it “several tens of millions” of euros, not including lost revenue, as the protesters have allowed thousands of motorists onto the highways for free. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 21 INDIA CONTROVERSY DECISION CLAIM POLITICS EDUCATION Legislator caught on tape threatening magistrate Gujarat waives Rs6.25bn power dues Separatist leader alleges inhuman treatment in jail ‘All women’ political party launched School segregates students on caste lines A Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Fatehpur Sikri assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh has stirred a controversy after a video in which he can be seen threatening a subdivisional magistrate (SDM) in public went viral on social media. “You don’t know how powerful I am. I am an MLA,” BJP legislator Chaudhary Uday Bhan Singh is seen threatening Kiraoli SDM Garima Singh in the video. Chaudhary had gone to Agra to meet the SDM over issues faced by farmers demanding compensation over loss of crops due to a hailstorm earlier this year in April. District magistrate N G Ravi Kumar told mediapersons that an inquiry has been ordered. After newly formed Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments announced a waiver on farmers’ debts, the BJPruled Gujarat government, too, waived power dues worth Rs6.25bn. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani yesterday decided to forgo the dues of residential, commercial and agricultural power connections with immediate effect. Minister for Power Saurabh Patel said, “We have decided to waive all the dues from such power connections with immediate effect. There are more than 622,000 consumers with such connections, who will be able to avail of the onetime settlement by paying just Rs500. The Delhi High Court yesterday asked the central government and Tihar Jail authorities to respond to a plea alleging inhuman treatment to Kashmiri separatist leader Aasiya Andrabi and her associates inside the prison. The plea said Andrabi, who heads the proscribed Dukhtarane-Millat, and her aides are kept in solitary confinement. Justice Najmi Waziri posted the matter for January 14, 2019. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on November 14 filed a chargesheet against Andrabi and her associates Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen accusing them of waging war against the state and delivering hate speeches in Kashmir. A “National Women’s Party” was launched in New Delhi yesterday with the aim of ensuring 50% representation for women in Parliament and other places. The party’s national president Swetha Shetty said: “In a male-dominated political system, an all women’s party is important. Women and their issues are only raised during the mother’s day, the women’s day or during the election time. NWP will be a platform for women to raise their voices.” The party, which started its ground work in 2012, was launched with the aim of getting 50% reservation for women candidates in the Lok Sabha election, she said adding they have applied for registration with the Election Commission. The government launched an inquiry into a school in Bihar’s Vaishali district for segregating student based on religion and caste. The government-run GA Plus 2 School in Lalganj has been segregating students into different sections and rooms based on their religions and caste, Bihar Education Minister Krishnandan Prasad Verma said. He assured those found guilty would be punished. “It is against the law to divide students on the basis of their religion and caste in any school,” Verma said. School principal Meena Kumari claimed said such arrangements of segregation were made to ensure smooth working and implementation of different schemes. Modi hints at GST rebates, warns loan defaulters BJP lashes out as Rahul vows to pressure Modi to waive farm loans IANS Mumbai P rime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said the government is aiming to bring 99% of items below the 18% GST (general sales tax) slab and warned of stringent action against defaulters of bank loan and fugitives. “Before GST, registered enterprises numbered 6.5mn, which has now increased by 5.5mn. Today, the GST system has been established to a large extent and we are working towards a position where 99% items can be brought in the sub-18% slab,” said Modi. In a stern warning, the prime minister said economic fugitives and defaulters of bank loans would not be spared, and referred to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, and other changes that were helping prosecute those who earlier escaped the law. “Who would have thought four years ago that the main suspect of the (AgustaWestland) helicopter scam, Christian Michel, would be brought to India? “Earlier, when companies used to be unable to repay loans, nothing used to happen... they had a ‘protective shield’ from the ‘privileged family’... This has ended with the IBC,” Modi asserted in his address to the ‘Republic TV’s’ Surging India Economic Summit here. Modi also highlighted in detail the country’s achievements in the past nearly five years and said the nation has taken the first steps towards joining the ‘$5tn economy club’. He highlighted the achievements across major sectors, ranging from waterways to aviation, in the country’s progress towards to development. “Surging India – the two words are the expression of 1.3bn Indians. These are the feelings, vibrations which the world is witnessing. In the global society, India is moving ahead in a very fast manner. India’s image before the world is getting better with each passing day,” he said. IANS New Delhi T Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries, releases a book titled Timeless LAXMAN based on the famous cartoonist R K Laxman in Mumbai yesterday. he BJP yesterday said Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s remarks against Prime Minister Modi marked a new low in public discourse and alleged the Congress had indulged in “corruption and misgovernance” for the past 60 years to ensure that people of the country did not sleep. “I have come to understand that Rahul Gandhi will not allow Narendra Modi to sleep. This is a new low in public discourse. Nothing better is expected from Rahul Gandhi whose party ensured the people of the country did not sleep for 60 years by corruption, malgovernance and patronage of selected people,” said Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. His remarks came after Rahul said that the Congress and other opposition parties would not let Modi sleep till he waives farmers’ loans. Prasad also attacked Rahul over his remarks that “the guard is the thief.” “People of the country have given Modi the votes to be a ‘guard’ against corruption and he will do the job honestly. Whether it is Ottavio Quattrocchi or Christian Michel in some new form – our government will be look out for them,” he said. Rahul had accused the government of running away from discussion on the Rafale deal while calling demonetisation the “biggest scam in the world.” Talking to reporters at the Parliament House complex, Rahul accused Prime Minister Modi of favouritism in the Rafale deal and said there should be a joint parliamentary committee probe. “You said you want to discuss... so why are you running away? Come forward and tell us about Rafale and tell the country I n an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is yet to hold a press conference, his predecessor and Congress veteran Manmohan Singh yesterday said as prime minister, “he was never afraid of speaking to the press”. Speaking at the launch of his book Changing India, the former prime minister also asserted that the country was destined to become a major economic global power. “I was not the prime minister who was afraid of talking to the press. I met the press regularly, and on every foreign trip that I undertook, I had a press conference on return. There are large number of those press conferences which have been described in the book,” he said at the event. A set of five volumes, Changing India details the former premier’s life as an economist as well as his 10-year period at the helm of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. “People say I was a silent prime minister, but these volumes will speak for themselves. I don’t want to boast about my achievements as a prime minister, but the events that took place are well described in these volumes,” he said. Modi has not once faced the press ever since he became the prime minister in 2014. Talking about future of the country, Singh said despite all the hiccups, the country was destined to become a major global powerhouse. “The emergence of India as a major global power is one such idea whose time has come and no power on earth can stop such an idea,” said Singh, quoting Victor Hugo, whom he had quoted as the then finance minister during his historic 1991 budget speech. Asked if the farm loan waivers by the new Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were not bad economics, Singh said the commitments need to be fulfilled. “Whatever it is, the commitments that have been made have to be honoured,” he said speaking with media on the sidelines of the event. Commenting on the ongoing Reserve Bank of India turmoil, the former prime minister hoped that the government would find a way to work in “harmony” with the RBI. “We need a strong, independent RBI which has to work in close co-operation with the central government. I hope the RBI and the government will find ways to work in harmony,” Singh said. Earlier, he recalled how once on his advice, former prime minister Narasimha Rao bypassed the Cabinet decision to devalue the rupee. “He (Rao) signed on a handwritten note which I have preserved to this day,” he said, recalling many more anecdotes in his long journey within the Union government. were ignored. Our allegation is that the Congress is running away from debate on Rafale. “All your lies were uncovered by the French government and the Supreme Court. So, come forward and debate. We will look you in the eye and we are ready to debate with you on Rafale in both the Houses,” Prasad said challenging the Congress. Referring to Rahul’s concerns about farmers, he said: “The entire saga of the suffering of farmers in the Congress regime is too well-known.” On Rahul’s allegation that the government was working for the benefit of a few industrialists, Prasad said the Congress leader should not forget that fugitive industrialist Vijay Mallya was provided “loan restructuring” by the Congress-led government. “Nirav Modi and associates and many other diamond merchants were given the benefit in 2014 in violation of model code of conduct just a week before the Modi government came to power. We all are aware how phone banking had become the order of the day by allowing loans to even non-compliant groups. This has been the sad saga of the Congress,” said Prasad. BJP, Congress pledge freebies for Odisha voters The opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday promised to waive all farm loans in Odisha, if they are voted to power in the 2019 elections. “The party would waive the agricultural loans in the state if it comes to power in 2019 elections. Besides, the party would make provisions for interest-free loans to farmers,” said BJP state unit president Basant Panda. He alleged that there were gross irregularities in the paddy procurement centres in the state. The opposition Congress also tried to cash in on the farmers’ issue as it announced to write off the agriculture loans if voted to power in the ensuing elections. “The day Congress assumes power, it will announce a farm loan waiver. It is only because of the debacle in recent assembly elections the BJP has declared a waiver of farm loans,” said Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik. Punish those guilty of Gujarat riots: Kejriwal Was not afraid to speak to press as PM: Manmohan IANS New Delhi why you did not waive farmers’ loans... and also when you are going to do it,” he said. Rahul alleged that demonetisation was carried out to take money away from the poor and distribute it among friends of Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. “Demonetisation was the biggest scam in the world,” he said. Rahul, however, did not respond to BJP’s demand for his apology over sentencing of party leader Sajjan Kumar, who resigned yesterday. “I have made my position very clear on riots. This press conference is about farmers and the fact that Narendra Modi refuses to waive even a rupee of their loan,” he said. Prasad refuted Rahul’s allegation that government was running away from a debate on the Rafale deal, saying the Congress leader owed an apology after the Supreme Court dismissed four petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters. “We are ready for a debate. We want the Congress to show some courage to debate on Rafale. In the Congress cupboard, there are so many skeletons in defence purchases. We will discuss all of them openly and we will also discuss how important issues IANS New Delhi W Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the launch of his book Changing India in New Delhi yesterday. elcoming the sentencing of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday hoped that those involved in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots and the 2013 Muzaffarnagar violence are also punished. “I welcome the judgement of the high court on Kumar. Though it took 34 long years for the decision to come... better late than never,” Kejriwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. “I also hope that justice will be done for all the other mass murders which happened in the country after that, be it 2002 (Gujarat violence) or 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots... all such riots are carried out for political benefits,” he added. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor also hoped that all other politicians involved in the ‘Sikh genocide’ will get the “harshest of punishment”. Kejriwal said the people of the country want to live in peace, and Hindus and Muslims do not want to fight with each other. “Riots are carried out at the behest of political parties and political leaders. If exemplary punishments are given, no one would dare to do it in future,” he said. Meanwhile, AAP legislator Jarnail Singh said that a law should be brought against all mob lynching incidents and communal riots. Sajjan Kumar, a Congress veteran, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court on Monday in the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 after which Kumar quit the Congress party yesterday morning. Elected thrice to the Lok Sabha from the Outer Delhi constituency, the latest being 2004, Kumar had been sidelined by the party since 2009 when he was denied a ticket to contest the general elections following allegations of his involvement in the riots which the high court yesterday described as a “crime against humanity”. 22 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 INDIA POLITICS APPOINTMENT CONTROVERSY WEATHER WILDLIFE Akhilesh differs as DMK for Rahul as PM candidate Interim CBI director Rao promoted J&J baby powder claims ‘under consideration’ Thousands flee cyclone on east coast Train kills three lions in Gujarat Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M K Stalin’s pitch for Congress president Rahul Gandhi as candidate for the prime minister’s post in the 2019 elections continued to ruffle feathers with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying it may not be the opinion of the alliance. The DMK maintained it was within its rights to propose Rahul’s name as the real alternative to the BJP who was keen on imposing one culture, one religion and one language on the country. “The DMK doesn’t need anybody’s permission (to say that) ,” it said. DMK spokesperson Manu Sundaram said he was happy his leader’s proposal had set the cat among the BJP’s pigeons. Central Bureau of Investigation interim director M Nageswara Rao, who holds joint director post, was yesterday promoted to the rank of additional director, the ministry of personnel said. The appointment committee of the cabinet gave its nod to promote Rao, a 1986-batch Odisha cadre Indian Police Service officer, for the post “till the completion of his approved tenure in CBI, or until further orders, whichever is earlier”. Rao is handling charge of interim CBI director since the government’s October 23 order sending the agency’s director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana on forced leave following a spat between them over corruption charges. The federal drug regulator yesterday said a media report that Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that cancer-causing asbestos lurked in its baby powder was “under consideration”. A spokeswoman for the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) said it was too early to say if a formal investigation would be launched into the baby powder that is ubiquitous in many Indian homes, a potential market of 1.3bn people. K Bangarurajan, a senior official at the CDSCO, said powder samples were tested earlier but nothing wrong was found in them. “We tested samples in 2016, but no such thing was found in them,” Bangarurajan said. A powerful cyclone left one person dead and forced thousands to flee their homes on India’s east coast, officials said yesterday. Cyclone Phethai packed winds up to 90km per hour, felling thousands of trees and electricity pylons, and bringing heavy rains to the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh after making landfall on Monday. Officials said 10,600 people were moved to relief camps after being evacuated from the worst affected districts. The cyclone has since lost some strength and was moving westwards into the mainland, bringing heavy rains along its course. One person was killed due to heavy rains in Vijaywada, a state disaster management authority official said. Three endangered lions were killed after being run over by a train in Gir sanctuary in Gujarat, a forestry official said yesterday. “All three died on the spot. They included two lions aged around two years and one lioness also around the same age,” D T Vasavada said. He added that it would be investigated whether the train was travelling too fast and whether forest staff and trackers were negligent in their duties. “If found guilty, strict action will be taken against them,” he said. The animals were part of a sixstrong pride in the sanctuary in Gujarat, home to India’s entire population of around 500 wild Asiatic lions. Kamal Nath’s youth quota comments condemned IANS New Delhi C hief Minister Kamal Nath yesterday faced intense criticism from the BJP, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal for declaring that only those Madhya Pradesh industries that employ 70% locals can avail of state incentives. The chief minister said the presence of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrants deprived local youth of employment opportunities. While Congress president Rahul Gandhi declined to comment on the issue saying he was “unaware” of the issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gunned for him and Kamal Nath, accusing the Congress of indulging in “divisive politics”. “I am not aware about the issue. I have now been informed (about it) and I will study it and only then respond,” Rahul told the media here when asked to respond on the issue. Taking strong umbrage to Kamal Nath’s assertions, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya accused the Congress of playing divisive politics. “Kamal Nath was born in Uttar Pradesh and it doesn’t suit him to speak against people of the state where he was born. It is unfortunate that the Congress is indulging in divisive politics seeking to pit one region against the other,” said Vijayvargiya. Union Minister Giriraj Singh also demanded Kamal Nath’s and Rahul’s apology. “I want to ask the Congress whether they believe in federalism or not. Both Kamal Nath and Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the nation particularly to the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for the remarks,” said Singh. He added Kamal Nath was speaking the language of MNS chief Raj Thackeray. Singh’s colleagues Kiren Ri- jiju said the remarks were not acceptable while Ravi Shankar Prasad termed it as ‘unfortunate’. The BJP leaders also pointed out that Kamal Nath hailed from Uttar Pradesh and had settled down in Madhya Pradesh after doing business in West Bengal. Even non-BJP parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal criticised the new chief minister. “What Kamal Nath has said is very wrong. First people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were targeted in Maharashtra and now the same is happening in Madhya Pradesh, this is unfortunate,” Samajwadi Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said. Yadav said that by targeting the people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Kamal Nath is not doing any good and the Congress leader should realise that people from these two states play a pivotal role in formation of the central government. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha was also critical of the chief minister. “If what Kamal Nath said is true then the remarks are very unfortunate. Such things destroy the very idea of India and reflect a narrow political mindset. I would urge the Congress leaders to refrain from saying such things,” said the RJD spokesperson. Addressing the media after taking over as the chief minister, Kamal Nath had said: “The incentives that we give can be availed by the industries only when the 70% of the employment is local, from Madhya Pradesh. “There are many industries where people from others states are employed, from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh… I am not criticising them but our youth from Madhya Pradesh are denied jobs. “So industries which employ 70% local youths will only be able to avail the incentives,” he said on Monday. Released prisoner Hamid Ansari (centre) accompanied by his mother Fauzia Ansari, father Nehal Ansari (third right) and brother Dr Khalid Ansari (fourth right), arrives at the Wagah border yesterday. Mumbai man returns after six years in Pakistani jail IANS Attari/Wagah H amid Nehal Ansari, the man from Mumbai who was released from a Pakistani jail after six years for alleged espionage charges, crossed over to the Indian side at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab yesterday. A weary looking bespectacled Ansari in a jacket, muffler and a Pashtun cap, was welcomed by his parents, Nehal and Fauzia, who were waiting at the border along with a large contingent of India-Pakistan friendship activists and officials. President’s rule likely in Kashmir from tomorrow IANS New Delhi P resident’s rule is set to be imposed in Jammu and Kashmir from tomorrow as the governor’s rule expires in the state today, after six months, said government sources. The Centre is learnt to have recommended President’s rule after a report by governor Satya Pal Malik, officials said yesterday. A home ministry official said the Union cabinet has given its go-ahead for President’s rule after December 19. A communication from governor’s office was sent to the Central government and subsequently it was moved to the Union Cabinet for its nod. The official said President Ram Nath Kovind will have to issue a proclamation declaring that the powers of the legislature of the state shall be exercisable by or under the authority of parliament. The state plunged into a po- litical crisis in June this year after the Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government was reduced to a minority following withdrawal of support by the 25-member BJP in the state. Since the state has a separate Constitution, in such cases, six months of governor’s rule is compulsory under Article 92 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, under which all the legislative powers are vested with the governor. The Governor has to dissolve the legislative assembly after six months. The state then directly comes under President’s rule for another six months after which elections have to be held in the state. In case the elections are not declared, President’s rule can be extended by another six months. No presidential proclamation shall in any case remain in force for more than three years except for the intervention of election commission of India which has to certify that the continuance in force of the proclamation is necessary on account of difficulties in holding general elections to the legislative assembly. Malik on November 21 dissolved the 87-member state assembly after the PDP, supported by the Congress and their arch rivals National Conference, had staked their claim to form the government. Simultaneously, the twomember People’s Conference led by Sajjad Lone had also staked his claim to form a government with 25 members of the BJP and other 18 unknown members. The governor dissolved the assembly citing horse-trading and lack of stability to form a government as the reasons. Earlier Malik directed security forces to ensure safety of civilians during anti-militancy operations. Chairing a high-level security meeting in winter capital Jammu, the governor reviewed the security scenario in the state, including details of the counter-infiltration and counter-terrorist operations undertaken recently. Stepping on to the Indian side, the 33-year-old along with his family knelt down and touched the soil with their foreheads. As Ansari stood up, he first hugged his mother and then embraced his father in an emotional reunion. The three were then whisked away by the authorities without allowing any interaction with the media. In Mumbai, Bharatiya Janata Party activist and former legislator Krishna Hegde, who helped the family in the past few years, expressed happiness following Ansari’s return. “Very happy for Hamid, specially his parents who have worked very hard for his release and his family,” Hegde said. “It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end” He also thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and officials from both India and Pakistan. “A special mention should also be made for his lawyers, media and NGOs who have supported his parents for the Teachers protest past six years,” Hegde said. Pakistan had alleged that Ansari, an engineer, was an “Indian spy” who illegally entered the country. Islamabad accused him of involvement in anti-state crimes, forging documents, and jailed him. For the family, it was an ordeal since November 2012 when he left the country for Kabul for employment and then was reported “missing”. He reportedly became friendly with a Pakistan girl on social media and reached Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to save her from a forced marriage. On November 12, 2012, Ansari crossed over from Af- Probe ordered into Mumbai hospital fire IANS Mumbai T Teachers stage a demonstration in Kolkata yesterday to demanding a hike in their remuneration. ghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan where he was arrested by Pakistan intelligence. Later, a military court sentenced him to three years in jail, a term that he completed on December 15. On Monday, the external affairs ministry said it has received a note from Pakistan that they would be releasing Ansari today. “It is a matter of great relief, especially for the family members, that six years of incarceration of the Indian civilian in Pakistan jail is coming to an end,” ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. he Maharashtra government yesterday ordered a probe into the devastating fire in a Mumbai government hospital which claimed eight lives, an official said. Another 176 injured were being treated at various hospitals. At least 25 of them are said to be critical. The blaze broke out on Monday afternoon at the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital in MIDC, Andheri East, and spread to engulf the third and fourth floors. As per preliminary investigations, some material stored for renovation purposes caught fire. Suffocation was the cause for most of the deaths in the blaze. However, one patient was killed after panicking and jumping from the third floor of the hospital. While 142 injured are being treated in over half a dozen public and private hospitals, 26 have been discharged so far, the official. Chief Minister Devendra Fad- navis has apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the tragedy and spoke with Union Health Minister J P Nadda. The labour ministry has announced a Rs1mn compensation for the next of kin of the dead and between Rs100,000-Rs200,000 for the injured. A team of doctors from ESIC Delhi has been rushed to Mumbai to help with the calamity. The fire was first noticed near the operation theatre of the fivestorey hospital located at Marol MIDC, an industrial hub in Andheri east. The blaze, due to a suspected short-circuit, quickly spread trapping around 155 people in the building with a glass facade. While the firemen used ladders, other rescuers deployed ropes and saris tied together to bring down screaming victims trapped on the third and fourth floors of the hospital. Mumbai has witnessed over a dozen major fires in residential and commercial premises this year, claiming over 50 lives and injuring several hundreds, besides damaging to properties worth millions. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 23 LATIN AMERICA Woman jailed over childbirth set free By Nina Lakhani Guardian News & Media A One of the daughters of Maria Meza cries as she waits with her mother at the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego to be processed as asylum-seekers. Migrant family who fled tear gas at US border seeks asylum Reuters Tijuana, Mexico M embers of a group of Honduran migrants, which included a mother who had been photographed running with her daughters from tear gas several weeks ago, began seeking asylum at the US border with Mexico on Monday, according to a Reuters witness and lawyers for the group. The group comprised mostly teens but also included Maria Meza and her children, the lawyers said. The family appeared in a widely-circulated photograph taken by Reuters as they fled tear gas thrown by US authorities during a protest at the border last month when some migrants rushed the US fence. Sandra Cordero, from advocacy group Families Belong Together, which accompanied the migrants, said that eight unaccompanied minors are being processed for asylum. Meza and her family are also being processed, Cordero said. A system dubbed “metering” limits how many can ask for asylum each day at US ports of entry, leading to monthslong waits in Mexico for thousands of migrants fleeing violence in Central America. Sometimes US border authorities allow individuals considered vulnerable, such as unaccompanied minors, be processed more rapidly. Activists said the group on Monday fit that category. Democratic US Representatives Jimmy Gomez and Nanette Barragan, along with lawyers, accompanied the group at the Otay Mesa port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday afternoon, the Reuters witness said. US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents had said the port of entry was full, Gomez said. Surrounded by advocates and lawyers, the migrants sat by a metal turnstile, having gone beyond a sign marking the division between Mexico and the United States. But by Monday evening, after more than four hours waiting, CBP officials came to let several unaccompanied minors pass through. The asylum-seekers had been part of groups of thousands of migrants known as caravans that left from Central America and arrived in Tijuana in recent months. US President Donald Trump declared the caravans an “invasion” and sent several thousand troops to “harden” the border, including with barbed wire. Activists say metering is intended to deter asylum applicants by making the process arduous, while US officials maintain the system only exists to manage overcapacity at ports of entry. The CBP said in response to questions that this year it had seen a more than 100% increase in asylum-seekers processed at ports of entry and that it processed people as quickly as possible. “As we have done for several years, when our ports of entry reach capacity, we have to manage the queues and individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities.” Lawyers from Al Otro Lado were also with the children. The organisation has accompanied vulnerable groups to the border in order to request asylum, bypassing the semiformal list system that controls the numbers of migrants who try to enter each day. Earlier this month, a single mother and her nine-year-old daughter were able to ask for asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry only after a congresswoman – who was touring the port at the time – stepped in and told CBP officers that they were required to process them by law, according to Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director at the Immigrant Defenders Law Centre. rape victim who was charged with attempted murder in El Salvador after giving birth to her abuser’s baby has been found not guilty and freed from jail. Imelda Cortez, 20, has been in custody since April 2017 after giving birth in a latrine to a baby girl fathered by her abusive stepfather. She was facing 20 years in prison after prosecutors argued that failing to tell anyone about the pregnancy or seek medical attention for the baby amounted to attempted murder. The decision to prosecute Cortez, who suffered years of sexual abuse, had prompted outrage around the world. On Monday morning, prosecutors reduced the charge from attempted murder to abandonment – and offence which carries a 12-month jail term. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the court declared Cortez not guilty of any crime, and ruled she was free to go home. She always maintained her innocence, and that she did not know she was pregnant. Cortez walked free on Monday afternoon to elated chants of sí se pudo or “yes, she could” by 200 or so joyous supporters outside the courtroom. The ruling was welcomed by campaigners who called for urgent reform to save other women suffering the dire consequences of El Salvador’s total ban on abortion. “We are extremely happy, and thankful for everyone’s support. It took the whole world to make the judges and prosecutors see what we’ve been saying for years: an obstetric emergency is not a crime,” said Paula Avila-Guillen, the director of Latin America Initiatives at the New York-based Women’s Equality Centre and part of Cortez’s legal team. El Salvador is one of four countries where abortion is illegal in all circumstances, even if the woman is raped, her health or life is at risk, or if the foetus is seriously deformed. Abortion was criminalised 21 years ago, after legislators from across the political spectrum voted to strip women of their reproductive rights without any public debate or medical consultation about the consequences. The ban has led to a string of miscarriages of justice in a conservative, machista culture that enables the persecution of women. Most cases involve poor and single women from rural areas who are convicted on tenuous evidence after having a spontaneous obstetric gynaecological complication such as a miscarriage or stillbirth. Cortez was rushed to hospital after complaining of severe pain and bleeding heavily, where the emergency room doctor suspected an abortion and called the police. Cortez is accompanied by relatives after she was acquitted and released, outside the Judicial Centre for Sentencing in Usulutan, 90km from San Salvador. The police discovered the newborn girl, healthy and breathing, in the outdoor latrine. They took her to hospital where doctors found no evidence of physical harm. It was then that Cortez realised that she’d become pregnant as a result of being raped by her 70-year-old stepfather. After she was charged with the attempted murder of her daughter, her stepfather visited her in hospital, threatening to kill her, her siblings, and her mother if she reported the abuse. Another patient overheard and told a nurse, who called the police. At first, prosecutors accused Cortez of inventing the abuse to justify her crime, until a DNA test confirmed the baby’s paternity. Her stepfather was eventually detained, but has not been charged with any crime. During her 17-month pre-trial detention, Cortez was denied access to psychological support and never allowed to hold her baby daughter. Cortez is the sixth wrongly imprisoned woman freed so far this year thanks to dogged campaigns by national and international reproductive rights groups. Another 24 are still serving 15 to 30 years in jail. “We are very happy for Imelda but will not forget the other 24 women still in prison for suffering an obstetric complication. They must be released,” added lawyer Avila-Guillen. 600 homes lost in fire AFP Manaus, Brazil A Houses on fire are seen at Educandos neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the Amazon river, in the city of Manaus. huge fire blazed through 600 wooden homes built on stilts next to a river in Brazil’s Amazon region overnight, decimating a poor area of the city of Manaus but causing no deaths, authorities said yesterday. “It’s perhaps the biggest city fire in the history of Manaus,” said the deputy chief of the local emergency service, Hermogenes Rabelo. The inferno started late on Monday and was only brought under control shortly after midnight after a three-hour struggle by more than 100 firefighters, the security secretariat for Amazonas state said. Four people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation. The fire happened in Educandos, an impoverished and densely populated district near the centre of Manaus that sits on the Rio Negro, a river that joins up with the Amazon River to flow out to the Atlantic Ocean. ‘We’ve been forgotten’: Brazil’s Zika generation By Eugenia Logiuratto, AFP Rio de Janeiro W hen doctors told her that the six-monthold foetus she was carrying had severe brain damage caused by the Zika virus, Thamires Cristina Ferreira da Silva tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a bus in Rio de Janeiro. “I just wanted to finish it,” said the 29-year-old Brazilian, crying. But the bus driver “braked” in time and more than two years later, she is raising her son Miguel with the help of her husband Wallace, their families, and medical specialists. Miguel was the first child in Brazil to be diagnosed with the mosquito-borne illness, which at the time was an unremarked phenomenon but which soon grew to be the focus of a global health alert. Sa Silva touches her two-year-old son Miguel, who was born with microcephaly, as her husband holds him at their apartment in Belford Roxo, Rio de Janeiro State. “I feel that we’ve been totally forgotten,” da Silva said. Her son, aged two years and four months, suffers from microcephaly – a condition in which the brain does not develop properly and results in a smaller than normal head. He also has lissencephaly, where parts of the brain appear smooth, the rare Dandy-Walker syndrome that is characterised by deformation of the part of the brain that controls movement, kidney problems and epilepsy. Despite being cross-eyed, the toddler can see, and he reacts to family voices. But he is unable to walk, sit or lift his head. His parents follow a strict and costly regime that involves giving him six medicines every 12 hours and regular hospitalisations. “It’s difficult and it costs a lot. Families hide their child so society doesn’t see it. But us, we want to be part of society,” Wallace said. He works at night as a computer technician to help pay the countless bills racked up for Miguel’s care, including for his paediatrician, kidney doctor, physiotherapist, and psychomotor specialist, spread across three different hospitals. The Zika epidemic in Brazil that started in 2015 caused an exponential increase in the number of babies with microcephaly and other neurological defects, particularly in the northeast, the country’s poorest region. Between November 2015 and May 2018, the health ministry registered more than 3,000 cases linked to Zika infections during pregnancy. The government has taken several measures to assist mothers raising Zika-affected children, such as priority access to public housing and minimumwage payments for the poorest families. However, often they still face difficulties getting access to municipal services because of a lack of information or the complicated bureaucracy. “They do everything so you don’t come back. There is a lot of bureaucracy so you just give up because you are overwhelmed with so many things,” da Silva said. Initially, she and her husband contacted other families in the same situation to swap information and lobby authorities to make sure their rights were respected, such as the house they have just moved into in Rio. However, their standard of living and the attention they have managed to provide for Miguel is not the rule, they say – and espe- cially not for single mothers who have been abandoned by their partners. “Miguel makes us fight, not only for him but also for the families. Because we know how difficult it is. We know that many families have an absent father,” said Wallace. Paradoxically, the biggest difficulty they faced was not receiving complex medical treatments but basic paediatric attention. “In the public health system, doctors generally don’t know the congenital syndrome (of Zika). So they don’t manage to give basic paediatric care,” Wallace said. “Yet this same baby who has a congenital syndrome, who has microcephaly and other illnesses too will have, for instance, tooth pain and all those other normal problems other babies have.” The parents say that they would like to have more children. But they are all too aware of the constant attention and resources Miguel requires. So they are putting that off until da Silva completes a nursing course that she had to give up and is able to work again. For now, Miguel is their sole focus. When they can, they take him to children’s parties, and to the beach. For his last birthday, they invited other mothers with infants with microcephaly. There are, however, many low moments. In Miguel’s short life so far, he has already been admitted into intensive care eight times. They find succour in the advice they first received from doctors: never give up. “Live for today. Miguel could live for 10, 20 years – or two or three. But if you don’t live, you will feel frustrated in the future for all you didn’t experience, they told me,” da Silva said. “So I will bathe him, kiss him, take in his smell. Because at any moment they could put him in hospital.” 24 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 PAKISTAN Govt PR officers told to buck up Internews Islamabad S eemingly unsatisfied with the performance of its information team, the government has introduced performance evaluation criteria for public relations officers (PROs) at various ministries and divisions. The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Media, Iftikhar Durrani, recently held a meeting with PROs at the Press Information Department (PID), where he said the official machinery had failed to highlight a positive image of the government’s 100-day achievements, and that the performance of PROs needed to improve. Officials from the ministry of information have also complained to the special assistant that the ministries and the rele- vant officers do not share the required information with them. The meeting was attended by more than 25 PROs along with senior information ministry officials. One of the officials who attended the meeting said that Durrani “tried to convey the displeasure of the government over the poor performance of PROs and media officers”, while “information officers were blamed for not managing media reports that were not positive for the government”. Durrani finally decided that the principal information officer and Information Secretary Shafqat Jalil would hold fortnightly review meetings of the PROs, rather than on a monthly basis, to improve their performance. Another senior official said that Durrani wanted to introduce crash programmes for PROs to improve their linguistics and news-making skills. Officials present at the meeting also expressed their grievances. They informed the special assistant that senior officers posted in ministries and divisions were inclined to ignore the PROs, while important ministries do not allow them into important meetings, and information on key decisions were not provided to them for inclusion in press releases. “One of the officers also told the special assistant that many senior officers, belonging mainly to the Pakistan Administrative Services and Office Management Group, kept information to themselves, dealing directly with media persons,” one information officer said, adding: “We said it was a routine matter that more information is available with the media, therefore some- body must be telling them.” Senior information ministry officials told Durrani that all official statements and press releases are approved by senior officials from the relevant ministry or division, and that PROs have a limited role in the affair. The special assistant was also informed that some ministries and departments hire consultants on high salary packages for external communications, while PROs are blamed even when those ministries fail to highlight their own achievements. Durrani promised to address the issues facing information officers. However, one senior ministry officer said: “I have seen several governments in my career and everybody has one complaint that we, the information ministry team, were performing better under the previous government.” CPEC committee meeting in Beijing tomorrow Court tells private schools to submit revised fee invoices Internews Karachi T he Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed private schools to submit implementation reports to the court orders that restrained them from increasing their fees in excess of 5%. The report should also include the revised fee challans (invoices), reflecting the new fee structure after the reduction in the tuition fee. A three-member bench, comprising Justice Aqeel Abbasi, Justice Mohamed Ali Mazhar and Justice Ashraf Jahan, heard the contempt petition against the non-implementation of court orders regarding increments in tuition fees. The petitioner’s counsel maintained that the high court had earlier restrained the private schools from collecting fees in excess of the last notified fee structure before September 20, 2017, and also to reimburse any additional amount they may have charged since then. On December 13, the Supreme Court had heard a plea against the high court’s ruling, following which the SC had ordered private schools to reduce their fees by 20%. The counsel for the schools told the SHC that it remained “unclear” whether the Supreme Court order take effect from the day it was announced. The SHC, in its remarks, said that the Supreme Court’s order is 40 pages long, and that the point of it being “unclear” is unjustified. The court added that the orders arising from the contempt of court proceedings were not being acted upon. The schools’ counsel was given all instructions in a written form so that the order remained clear, the high court remarked, adding that this was a clear petition for contempt of court. The court warned that if the school owners failed to act upon the orders, the court may indict them. The SHC bench directed the schools’ counsel to submit a written response, detailing the steps taken for the implementation of court orders, before the next hearing. Meanwhile, the parents’ counsel maintained that the Sindh government had submitted incorrect information to the court. The court asked the petitioner’s counsel to submit a statement, highlighting the incorrect information provided by the Sindh government. In addition, the school owners were also ordered to inform the court about the steps taken for the implementation of its orders, dated September 20, 2017. In a dialogue with the private schools’ counsel, the court remarked that its order was not annulled by the Supreme Court, which is what the private school owners had been hoping for when they filed the review petition, but that they were still giving the school owners a chance. Justice Aqeel Abbasi, in his remarks, said: “You are not cooperating with the court even though you have been shown leniency several times.” He added that the court had ordered the schools’ managements to submit revised fee challans. “You must now give the documents in black and white so we can also order the parents to submit the fees,” he said. “You have modern systems and top auditors, but still you are not able to prepare the documents. Now we do not want just papers but also an affidavit,” Abbasi ordered. He added that until the Supreme Court released its orders, the schools must comply with the high court’s order. “Write whatever the amount comes after the 5% decrease and submit it to us,” he told the schools’ counsel. The hearing on the contempt petition was adjourned until tomorrow (December 20). ‘Govt will recover looted wealth’ Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that the government will recover the “looted” wealth from former finance minister Ishaq Dar. “Ishaq Dar will return, and the money he looted will be recovered. We are more eager for the money than Dar, though,” said the minister in a media talk at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce. Chaudhry claimed that the politics of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari have come to an end. “We have attained our political destination … now we are going for our desired financial destination,” he said. Chaudhry remarked that the opposition protests whenever the government talks about accountability. The minister said that the United States has expressed its gratitude to Pakistan for facilitating talks with the Afghan Taliban. “We are normalising our relations with the US. Pakistan’s global image is improving, and British Airways has resumed its operations. France has changed its travel advisory, and Germany is planning to,” he added. The 8th meeting of the Joint Co-ordination Committee on the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be held tomorrow (December 20). Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar is heading the delegation. During the meeting the two sides will discuss issues including the upgradation of the main railway line from Peshawar to Karachi, extension of Thakot-Raikot section of Karakorum Highway (KKH), and construction of a new international airport at Gwadar. Case registered against Sharif’s guards over attack on journalist Internews Islamabad I slamabad police have registered a first investigation report (FIR) against five persons, including the security guards of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, for assaulting a Samaa TV cameraman on Monday. TV footage had showed Syed Wajid Ali, the cameraman, lying on the ground outside the parliament building after a security guard allegedly shoved him for getting in the way of Sharif while recording footage of the politician. Another guard was then seen rushing towards the cameraman and kicking him in the face. The guard then leaves in one of the vehicles of the protocol. The cameraman, who lost consciousness in the attack, was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). According to doctors, Ali sustained injuries on his lip, where he was administered three stitches, and on his head. The FIR names three guards from Sharif’s convoy and two unknown assailants. The case has been registered under Sections 355 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, the cameraman said that he was attacked by two security guards while he was trying to take photographs of the former prime minister leaving the parliament building. “I became unconscious as a result of the (attack),” Ali is quoted as saying in the FIR. The incident happened in the Sharif: That is no way [to behave]. [But] the cameraman had hit the guard on his forehead with his equipment. presence of Usman Cheema, Wahab Kamran, and other journalists, the FIR added. Later, two of Sharif’s guards – identified as Mansub and Mohsin – were presented before a civil judge, who remanded the duo on judicial custody for 14 days. Sharif, while speaking to the media, described the incident as unfortunate and assured that “every measure will be taken in accordance with the law”. The former prime minister regretted the incident but claimed that the assaulted cameraman had first hit his guard with his camera. Elaborating on the incident, Sharif said that his chief security guard, Shakoor, was clearing the path for him as they headed for the car when the guard pushed the cameraman out of the way. “I objected to the way [the cameraman] was pushed out of the way … [and then] the cam- All in a day’s work eraman hit Shakoor’s forehead with his camera. Shakoor’s forehead started bleeding,” Nawaz told reporters. “I said, no need to react. I saw the [cameraman] getting pushed, my guard getting hit, after that I don’t know what happened, I was leaving,” the former premier said. “That is no way [to behave],” Sharif said. “[But] the cameraman had hit the guard on his forehead with his equipment.” “I will aid the investigation into the matter in every way possible, and I will also take action against the guards who are involved in this,” the PML-N supremo said, adding that he would never want to hurt the people who are reporting about him and his family “in this difficult time”. Speaking to journalists at the accountability court, he said that the incident should never have taken place. Imran targets 15mn bales of cotton Internews Islamabad P Flower vendors and buyers examine bundles of marigold at a market on the outskirts of Peshawar. More than 5,000 benefit from shelters in Lahore Internews Lahore M ore than 5,000 people have benefited from makeshift shelter homes set up by the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Lahore. Lahore Deputy Commissioner Saliha Saeed has released the data on shelter homes residents, which indicate that more than 5,000 homeless and migrant workers have spent their nights in the shelters since November 22. The district administration had set up five shelter homes near public transport terminals: Data Darbar, Thokar Niaz Baig, Badami Bagh Sabzi Mandi, Lari Adda, and Lahore Railway Station. Saeed said that the homes provided shelter for around 230 citizens on weekdays and nearly 300 people on the weekend. Meanwhile, the construction of permanent shelter homes is in full swing. She underscored that in general, people are happy with the services being offered to them. Saeed added that the Punjab Social Welfare Department, Civil Defence, and the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) had been deployed to ensure a comfortable environment at these shelters. In order to deal with change in weather conditions, she said that the district administration had also made alternate arrangements. Officials are also visiting these shelters to inspect the arrangements as well as the quality of food being offered to the residents. The deputy commissioner said that medical staff had also been deployed to provide checkup facilities to the residents. Doctors are available at the shelters between 6pm and 9pm. The provincial capital is home to more than 11mn, including approximately 200,000 homeless people, who spend their nights on footpaths, greenbelts, and parks even in the harshest of weather conditions. Thousands of migrant labourers, who visit the metropolis from adjoining districts to explore employment opportunities, have to spend their nights under open skies if they are unable to finding suitable work. A labourer from a village near Chishtian, Mohamed Ashiq, said that he had been working as a loader in Shahlam Market and Akbari Mandi. “Since the ongoing antiencroachment drive in the city, work opportunities have been reduced. The government has demolished hundreds of shops in Shahalam, which has badly affected us too. Sometimes, labourers don’t have money to buy food or pay for shared room space. “In such circumstances, we were earlier eating from Data Darbar langar (free food kitchen), and spent the night under flyovers or markets corridors. Now with these tents (shelters), our lives have been made easier this winter.” Other homeless people and migrant workers shared the story. Most of them are also asking the government to help them find work. They underlined that the government had provided them with shelter, but their children also need food. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that people living in Panah Gah (shelters) would be provided with treatment facilities for free. Keeping in view the utility of this project, shelters would also be established in other districts of the province in collaboration with philanthropists. rime Minister Imran Khan has asked the ministry of national food security and research to take measures to achieve the production target of 15mn bales of cotton. Chairing a meeting on the challenges being faced by the cotton industry, he emphasised the need for revamping research centres involved in seed registration, besides supporting farmers and assisting them in adopting modern practices. The prime minister further directed that the existing rules relating to bio-safety assessment of genetically-modified crops be reviewed to make them more simple, efficient, and timesaving. Minister for National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan and senior officials of the ministry informed Khan that even with the existing seed varieties, production could be enhanced to 15mn bales by incentivising farmers and helping them adopt the best practices and modern technologies. The prime minister approved the setting up of a working group, headed by Sultan, to revamp existing seed registration institutes to bring about improvements in their output. It was decided that a working group comprising of private sector seed companies and government sector regulators would also be constituted to simplify the seed certification system and find a solution which ensures that farmers are able to sift between the good and bad varieties and companies. Cotton is Pakistan’s second largest crop, planted on 6.66mn acres. Despite being the fourth biggest cotton producer in the world, the country was still importing raw cotton worth $1.2bn. The meeting was also attended by Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Nauman Ahmed Langrial, and national food security secretary Dr M Hashim Popalzai. Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 25 PHILIPPINES Group urges top court to void Bangsamoro law By Jomar Canlas Manila Times A group of constitutionalists and framers of the 1987 Constitution have petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which grants wider autonomy to Mindanao, illegal and unconstitutional. In a 37-page petition filed on Dec 11, 2018, the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) assailed the legality of Republic Act (RA) 11054 or the BOL, which forms the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as a result of a 2014 peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Philconsa, represented by lawyer Manuel Lazaro, is recognised by the high court as an expert on constitutional issues impressed with public interest or of transcendental importance. The association pointed out that the BOL violates Section 18 and 19 of Article X of the 1987 Constitution, which, it argued, authorised the enactment of only one organic act for Muslim Mindanao, RA 6734 passed in 1989 and amended by RA 9054 in 2001. Only an amendment to the Constitution will allow the creation of a new autonomous region, Philconsa said. Political participation through the ARMM was part of the 1996 final peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front, from which the MILF broke away. The BOL needs to go through a plebiscite before it is implemented, and there will be two days of voting in January and February 2019. Philconsa’s arguments are similar to those raised by the Manuel Lazaro Province of Sulu, through Governor Abdusakur Tan 2nd, in October. It said establishing a parliamentary form of government in the BAR would violate the doctrine of separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution. “Any exercise of power of the legislative and the executive departments or any of their respective functionaries beyond what is circumscribed by the Constitution and law is unconstitutional, and a nullity,” the Philconsa petition stated. It also cited the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution, which it said was crystal clear that the ARMM and the Cordilleras are the only autonomous regions recognised by the Charter. “It is indubitable the ARMM and the Cordilleras were created by the Constitution. They are the only autonomous regions recognised by the Constitution. The (BAR) was created by Congress in violation of the Constitution,” it said. “In light of the language of Article X of the Constitution and the clarifications that commission delegates Fr Joaquin Bernas and Blas Ople elicited, it is submitted that: (a) A Constitutional amendment is the only way to create a new and distinct autonomous region, such as the (BAR) in this case or to abolish an existing autonomous region, such as the ARMM; (b) Congress is prohibited or has no authority or jurisdiction to create other autonomous regions; (c) Congress cannot defy or supplant the Constitution; and (d) Congress cannot amend the provisions of the Constitution,” it said. Named respondents to the case are Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and members of the Senate and the House of Representatives headed by Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, respectively. The petitioners argued that Congress committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in passing the BOL in July. The former government chief negotiator of the peace process with the MILF, Associate Justice Mario Victor Leonen, was tasked to be the ponente or member in charge of studying the petition and drafting the ruling. Philconsa filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition and asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order that will stop the respondents from implementing the BOL. “Until and unless a TRO or preliminary injunction is issued, unlawful disbursements or uses of public funds pursuant to the illegal/unconstitutional RA 11054 will escalate into continuing violations, if not a flaunting disregard or defiance, of the Constitution, and the laws further prejudicing public interest and welfare,” it added. Death toll in illegal drug crackdown tops 5,000 The death toll in the Philippines’ crackdown on alleged drug dealers and drug users has reached more than 5,000 since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, the government said yesterday. More than 115,000 operations against anti-illegal drug activity were conducted by police and other law enforcement authorities between July 1, 2016, and November 30 of this year, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. In those operations, 5,050 suspects were killed for resisting arrest from authorities, said agency spokesman Derrick Carreon. More than 164,000 suspects were arrested during the same period. More than 150 foreigners were among the detainees, including citizens from China, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, South Korea and Britain, Carreon said. The campaign against illegal drug activity is a key policy of Duterte, who vowed in July that the crackdown would be “as relentless and chilling as on the day it began,” ignoring unabated criticisms. The New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch said the true death toll of the drug crackdown, including victims of hired or vigilante killers, could be higher than 12,000, based on estimates by local rights and church groups. Two complaints against Duterte have been filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC). They accuse him of crimes against humanity for killings under his campaign against illegal drugs. Miss Philippines Catriona Gray reacts after being crowned Miss Universe during the final round of the Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok, on Monday. Former Miss Universe leads tribute to Gray By Aric John Sy Cua Manila Times T his girl is on fire,” tweeted Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach on Monday, as she led other celebrities, politicians, and netizens on Twitterverse in congratulating Catriona Gray for bringing back the crown to the Philippines. Wurtzbach, who was present in the pageant in Bangkok, Thailand, said that Gray has conquered the Universe, with her victory. “You started strong and captured our hearts with your grace, commitment and fearlessness!” Wurtzbach posted on her Instagram account. “And that walk… how could anyone forget that walk?” asked Wurtzbach after Gray’s “slow motion walk” went viral on social media. “Now, you’ve conquered the Universe! This is just the beginning. Congratulations, Miss Universe 2018 @catriona_ gray!” Wurtzbach later wrote. “You have made us all proud! Raise your flag!” Personalities in showbiz, politics, former Binibining Pilipinas titleholders and netizens also took to Twitter to congratulate Gray, a Filipino-Australian and the fourth Filipina to wear the crown after Gloria Diaz in 1968, Margarita “Margie” Moran in 1973, and Pia Wurtzbach in 2015. “Thank you for raising the flag for all Filipinos, @catrionaelisa!” tweeted actor Sam Milby. “You truly deserve the crown. Congrats!” “Congratulations Catriona!! Queen indeed,” tweeted Miss Universe 2012 runner-up Janine Tugonon. “Miss Universe 2018 is the Philippines,” Miss Universe 2013 third runner-up Ariella Arida wrote on her Instagram page. “Mabuhay ka @catriona_ gray!” “She did it!!! She brought the crown back! Congratulations Catriona!” tweeted actress Anne Curtis, who is also Filipino-Australian. “Our girl brought the crown home for the Philippines!” Miss Philippines-Universe 2017 Rachel Peters wrote on Instagram. Peters was at the pageant in Thailand. “A victory by Catriona Gray is the best way to end the year. Congratulations!” senatorial candidate Erin Tanada tweeted. “Black, white do not rule. Gray does!” tweeted singer Jim Paredes. “She will be endorsing a sunglass company,” Paredes later joked in another tweet. “The campaign will be called ’50 shades of Gray’.” “You’re so genuine and passionate in helping your country,” Zoila Maramba wrote on Facebook. “More empowering women like you, please!” Twitter netizen Regine Alonzo noticed the three-year gap between Miss Universe winners for the Philippines. “History repeats itself,” she tweeted. “1969, Gloria Diaz then three years later Margie Moran. Then 2015, Pia Wurtzbach and three years later Ms. Universe 2018 Catriona Gray! Congrats, team Philippines!” The Miss World organisation also congratulated Gray who finished in the top five of Miss World 2016. “Well done Catriona!” the organisation posted on Facebook. “Congratulations from all of us at Miss World to Catriona Gray on being elected Miss Universe 2018!! Catriona was a Miss World Top 5 finalist and Beauty With A Purpose Winner in Miss World 2016 and we are delighted to see her win the Miss Universe crown! Catriona’s brilliant Smokey Mountain Beauty With a Purpose project captured all our hearts as it revealed her dedicated vision to support the most vulnerable in our society. To the Miss Universe organization, you have a great winner.” However, some netizens did not buy the statement, saying that Gray was robbed in 2016 and compared the pageant to a cooking show. “Boo Hoooo!!! After cheating her of the crown???!! Miss World who? Stephanie del Valle who? Thank you any- way, because Catriona doesn’t deserved this cooking show,” commented Arch Bala. “It’s so ridiculous Miss World,” commented Le Quang Phung. “You did rob her crown two years ago.” “Thank you Miss World for not crowning Catriona last 2016,” commented Van Pira Patague. “She showed your world is just a tiny bit grain of salt in the universe.” “The World’s crown was not given to our queen Cat because she’s meant to wear the Universe’s,” commented AJ Castro Jose. Other netizens said that they should be grateful that Gray won Miss Universe and that she was meant for a bigger platform. “I’m really hurt when she did not get the crown in 2016, but now, I’m more than thankful for the organisation for not letting her win,” wrote Anton Rodriguez. “She is meant for something bigger. Bigger platform so she can inspire more people.” “Enough na guys! Everything happens for reason so let us not bash or say some below the belt comments,” wrote Mahid Tanggo Romampat. “In fact we should be thankful. Mga kababayan, let’s move on and celebrate our victory with positivity. Thank you, Miss World for being part of Catriona’s life changing journey and making her stronger.” ELECTIONS Man held after boy held hostage By Catherine A Modesto Manila Times A man who ran amok held a five-year-old boy hostage at gunpoint for almost two hours on Monday near the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa in Manila. The man, Dominador Abrinno, 38, of Taguig City, injured six persons when he fired a gun he stole from a security guard. Police Senior Inspector Ariel del Rosario said the suspect surrendered to police authorities . Abrinno said he is facing a slew of problems, including the death of his brother who was killed recently during a police operation in Pampanga. “I never thought of taking someone hostage. I did not know what I was doing,” he said. My problems have piled up. He admitted that he used to take illegal drugs. He said that he stole the gun of a security guard at the Philippine National Railway Sta. Mesa station because he suspected that five men, whom he did not recognise, tried to harm him. He fired shots and injured six people who were hit by stray bullets. Police seize firearms from couple By Roy Narra Manila Times P olice arrested a couple allegedly working as illegal arms dealers for terrorist groups and rogue politicians in a buy-bust operation in Valenzuela City on Sunday night. Authorities seized P1.2mn worth of weapons and ammunition sealed in boxes bearing the name of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), indicating that they were taken from the military arsenal. The Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde, and Police Director Guillermo Eleazar of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) identified the suspected arms dealers as Edgardo and Rosemarie Medel. The Medels allegedly worked for the Abu Sayyaf Group, Maute Group, other terror groups and rogue politicians, the PNP said. The couple will face charges for violating Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition. Officials presented 12,893 rounds of live ammunition, three high-powered firearms, and boxes bearing the name of AFP in Camp Crame at noon on Monday. Albayalde said the buy-bust operation was launched by the NCRPORegional Special Operations after a week-long intelligence and surveillance efforts resulting from an anon- ymous tip. The Medels were arrested after receiving P1.2mn in marked money. Two poseur-buyers told the couple they needed weapons and ammunition for the 2019 elections. Albayalde said a retired soldier living near Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija was connected to the couple and was being investigated. “We cannot really say if the seized ammunition and guns came from Fort Magsaysay. He was probably assigned in the supply section during his term and he hid it…There is a possibility that it was stocked here a long time ago,” he said. Albayalde also said police would co-ordinate with the AFP to investigate how the couple obtained boxes bearing the name of the AFP. The boxes and bullets bore serial numbers. The PNP is also verifying information about the politicians who had supposedly ordered illegal firearms and explosives from the couple. “It is still a subject for validation although the couple is not yet revealing any names of politicians…They will be subject for police operation for follow-up operations although we cannot charge them immediately,” Albayalde said. The military will conduct its own investigation, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday. “We’ll investigate how these (ammunition and firearms) ended up in the wrong hands,” Lorenzana told reporters in a text message. National Police chief Oscar Albayalde inspects the firearms seized from a couple in Valenzuela City. Vote machine software turned over to Comelec The election software system that will be used in the 2019 midterm elections is now in the possession of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after a successful “trusted build” process spearheaded by a US-based international certification company, Manila Times reported. Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, chairman of the Comelec steering committee, on Monday turned over the election management system (EMS) executable file to the Comelec en banc. The file will be deposited inside a highly secured vault at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as required by Republic Act (RA) 9369 or the “Automated Election Law.” The EMS holds the configuration for the vote-counting machines (VCMs), like precinct number and the number of voters per precinct, among others. On Friday, Alabama-based international certification agency Pro V&V Inc. broadcasted live to the Comelec office the “source code review” for the EMS, which was the final step in assembling the software system to be used in next year’s elections. Casquejo said the source code review showed that the code passed all criteria. The results will be shared with local source code reviewers, subject to Comelec policy, as provided in RA 9369. Comelec defines trusted build as “the process whereby the source code is converted to machine-readable binary instructions (executable code) for the computer.” 26 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 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 44350478 (News), 44466404 (Sport), 44466636 (Home delivery) 44350474 facebook.com/gulftimes twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar GULF TIMES Choice for India: macroeconomic stability or growth India’s $2.3tn economy is widely seen on track to hit the country’s long-term target of taking its place as the third largest, behind China and the US. India will overtake Germany in 2022 as the world’s fourth-largest economy, based on an analysis of growth projections by the International Monetary Fund in 2017. Ranking countries and regions on their gross domestic product for 2017 and 2022 based on IMF forecasts, India, growing at 9.9% a year in nominal terms, will surpass Germany by 2022, with the UK dropping out of the top five after 2017. So far, so good; but here’s the catch. India risks being pushed into a crisis if the government sacrifices macroeconomic stability for growth, according to economists including IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath and the nation’s former central bank governor Raghuram Rajan. To achieve macroeconomic stability, the nation needs to maintain low and stable inflation, ensure combined government budget deficit leaves room for private investment and keep a check on external-financing requirement, they said in a recent report. There are widening areas of concerns, clouding the outlook for the economy. India is part of the so-called ‘Fragile Five’ club economies that are heavily reliant on foreign inflows and vulnerable to rising US interest rates. As bonds are being dumped and stocks and currencies weaken in emerging markets, sentiments have weakened on the rupee, Asia’s worst performer this year. The currency has lost nearly 11% against the dollar this year. India’s current account deficit widened to a five-year high in September. A widening CAD is seen as a key risk for the economy and one of the main reasons why India became a target in a global EM selloff this year. Stunning electoral losses for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in three key states last week have added to political uncertainty. Most political strategists still expect the BJP to cling on to power, albeit with a smaller majority, in the federal elections due by May next year. For sure, India’s demographics are considered better than China’s. An ageing population and low birth rates are causing the prime working-age population - aged 15-59 - to decline in China. From 2015-2040, this group is estimated to shrink by more than 115mn, whereas India’s prime working-age population will increase by 190mn. But the country now needs to take bolder measures to anchor long-term growth and employ a workforce that will become the world’s largest by 2030. Going deep, economists are also concerned about India’s banking system and the overall health of its public finances. India is seen as a laggard on productivity, too. Of the potential global oversupply of 90mn low-skilled workers in 2020, 27mn will be in India, according to a 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report. India, for sure, can dream big. But the country’s policymakers need to learn from mistakes committed in the past to adopt a more stable framework for monetary and fiscal policy. The shallow, short-term economic thinking should give way to a sustainable long-term growth vision to lift millions of Indians out of poverty and ensure social inclusion. The rupee, Asia’s worst performer, has lost nearly 11% this year Brexit lessons: make referenda non-binding By Ngaire Woods Oxford N ow that British Prime Minister Theresa May, facing certain defeat, has postponed Parliament’s vote on the deal she concluded with the European Union last month on the United Kingdom’s departure from the bloc, the case for a “people’s vote” – a second Brexit referendum – is gaining ground. But is a referendum really the right mechanism for settling political issues that the people’s elected representatives cannot or will not? Referenda give people a voice. That is their appeal in an era when people are angry and dissatisfied with the political establishment. But without rules, a referendum is little more than an invitation to a collective roar of anger. This must be distinguished from a national policy decision. The latter takes a careful weighing of everyone’s interests. That is not – and cannot be – the job of every citizen. On some issues, what is good for one person might be very bad for others, and what is bad for others might end up being even worse for the individual. Most people do not have the time, interest, knowledge, access, or desire to gain a strong understanding of such considerations on issue after issue. Yet that is exactly what is needed to make decisions on behalf of an entire community. This is the raison d’être of representative democracy. Voters entrust politicians with becoming informed – making full use of public servants, information, and analysis – and weighing alternatives with a longterm, big-picture perspective. Politicians must then take their conclusions to a forum (Parliament) that is designed to represent different interests through competing political parties, constituencies, and representatives. They are held accountable for their choices by voters, other elected officials (in the form of parliamentary scrutiny), and independent media. The danger is that politicians can use a referendum to avoid responsibility for difficult decisions. Even before taking power, Mexico’s newly inaugurated president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was using “informal” referenda on issues such as the cancellation of Mexico City’s new airport (which is already 30% built) and support for his ten main social and infrastructure programmes. So how can countries ensure that putting public policy to a direct vote does not undermine the quality of decision-making in a representative democracy? Of course, governments could simply not hold referenda. That is the case in Belgium, Malaysia, and Indonesia (where plebiscites were used during the intensification of authoritarian rule in 1985-1999). But if countries still want the option of referenda, they should impose formal rules that help to ensure that politicians cannot use them to dodge difficult decisions. For starters, countries should limit when they can be called (say, only with regard to constitutional amendments), establish a minimum threshold for turnout, and require a supermajority. In Australia, for example, referenda can be used only under certain circumstances and can pass only with majority support in a majority of states (in addition to an overall majority). Such limits should be applied in the UK, with referenda requiring not just an overall majority, but also separate majorities within England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Another way to avoid the pitfalls of referenda is to make them non-binding. Finland and Norway permit referenda only on this basis, while Australian politicians have the option of calling non-binding plebiscites. This serves another essential feature of an effective referendum: ensuring that politicians take ownership of the policy response. In Switzerland, for example, a referendum might be used to get a sense of the public’s preference, but politicians must take responsibility for crafting the policy that best serves the national interest. That was the case in a February 2014 referendum, in which a majority of Swiss voters and cantons expressed their preference for limiting immigration through quotas. But simply introducing such quotas would have violated the terms of Switzerland’s participation in the EU’s single market. So, in 2016, the government offered its own solution, enacting a law permitting employers to give priority to Swiss job-seekers (without limiting the free movement of EU workers to Switzerland). When holding referenda, politicians must also take responsibility for the context in which people decide. They must ensure that the question it asks is well crafted and that there is time to deliberate and good-quality information. In Switzerland, a longstanding tradition of lengthy local deliberation and consultation creates a slow-moving but highly deliberative form of decision-making. Spring a referendum on people without such preparation and you get an instant reaction. In ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy, citizens voted on the first day of debate to put to death the entire male population of Mytilene as punishment for their revolt against Athenian imperial control. By the next day, citizens had cooled off, and they voted for leniency. In the UK, terms like “Brexit,” “no deal,” and “remain” have become heavily loaded, with campaigners for each priming voters to support their view. One way to help counter that priming – supported by past surveys – could be to direct voters, first, to consider what they actually know about the topic, including what they understand by the key terms. Politicians who argue for a choice among three options should be aware of the “compromise effect,” whereby people tend to choose the middle option, rather than considering each carefully. The UK has held only three countrywide referenda in its history: one on European Economic Community membership in 1975; another on the alternative vote system in 2011; and the Brexit vote in 2016. But it now may be set to hold another highly consequential vote. As referenda become more frequent, countries need to specify rules to ensure that politicians do not abuse them. This means making referenda nonbinding, at least in most cases. It means providing the time, information, and opportunity for genuine deliberation across the electorate. And it should never let politicians (or their advisers) off the hook. They were elected to enact policies that will advance the national interest. They must be held to account for that. - Project Syndicate zNgaire Woods is Founding Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. To Advertise advr@gulf-times.com Display 44466621 44418811 Classified 44466609 44418811 Subscription circulation@gulf-times.com © 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved TOPSHOT - Attendees hold up signs with slogans at a political rally organised by the pro-Brexit ‘Leave Means Leave’ campaign group in central London on December 14, 2018. The Leave Means Leave group, supported by political figures like ERG chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, held a political rally to “Save Brexit” as the latest Brexit summit in Brussels leaves Theresa May facing a dwindling number of options over Britain’s exit from the EU. 27 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 COMMENT Making retirement work By Edoardo Campanella Milan In most developed countries, a retirement of leisure is one of the great socioeconomic innovations of the past century. But it is quickly becoming a luxury that few countries can afford, particularly in Europe. The retirees enjoying a second youth may not want to hear it, but it is past time that governments made public pensions partly conditional on community work. Overly generous pension benefits are destabilising public finances, compromising the intergenerational social contract, and fuelling support for far-right populist movements. Across Europe, potential debt obligations due to unfunded pensions range from 90-360% of GDP. In Italy, some retirees receive pensions that are 2-3 times higher than their workingage contributions would entail. And across the European Union, the median income of people over 63 is almost as high as the median income earned by active workers. Moreover, as a result of earlyretirement policies, around 30mn pensioners across the EU are under 65 years old, which is to say that about 25% of all European retirees are not old at all. Making matters worse, the official retirement age has not been adjusted to account for longer life spans. When German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck introduced the world’s first public pension system in 1870, the eligibility age was 70, and the average life expectancy was 45. Today, the average European retires at 65 and lives until he or she is at least 80. The standard way to fix this problem is to raise the retirement age or cut pension benefits. But each of these measures comes at a cost. The longer Pensioners participate at a demonstration in central Athens, Greece, on 20 November 2018, protesting over pension cuts and demanding the refund of losses due to austerity measures. that older workers remain in the labour force, the more exposed they are to technological unemployment. From an employer’s perspective, older workers simply do not have the skills to compete with fresh graduates or younger colleagues. Greece’s experience during the euro crisis showed that cutting benefits can force retirees to reduce their consumption, causing recessionary pressures. Lastly, the purely technocratic approach is a recipe for pushing older voters into the arms of populists. After appealing to retirees in the election earlier this year, Italy’s populist governing coalition is now trying to dismantle a technocratic pensionreform package that former Prime Minister Mario Monti pushed through in 2011. If they succeed, they will have undermined the stability of the system, all but ensuring that pensioners collect fewer benefits in the future. A policy of mandatory active retirement would avoid some of the pitfalls of the standard approach. Although most seniors are ill-suited for today’s fast-changing labour market, they still have the skills, wisdom, and experience to contribute to society. As such, governments should start treating them as a segment of the workforce, rather than as a burden on public spending and economic growth. With able-bodied retirees “working” for a pension, consumption patterns among the elderly need not decline, and governments would have more fiscal space to support the most vulnerable. Better yet, society as a whole would benefit from older citizens’ more active day-to-day engagement. Contributions from the elderly could take many forms. As a first step, governments should survey pensioners to determine their competencies and the kind of community work they would like to perform. The focus should be on filling roles in education, social services, and healthcare that would otherwise require hiring publicsector employees. Whatever is paid out in pensions would be at least partly offset by reduced public-sector wage costs. Alternatively, pensioners could serve as labour-market reservists whom the government could call upon when the need arises. Needless to say, the activeretirement condition would apply only to those who are physically and mentally fit to contribute, and the commitment to work would decline with age. At the same time, governments could impose financial penalties on those who refuse to contribute – particularly those who do not even remotely qualify as “elderly.” Pensioners would instinctively resist any such reform, arguing that they earned their benefits in full, and that they already provide unpaid services such as child care within the home. In 2012, when Lord Bichard, a former head of the British Benefits Agency, suggested that retirees could make a “useful contribution to civil society,” pensioners-rights campaigners reacted angrily. But community work would have benefits for pensioners, too. Studies show that idle retirement leads to a sharp decline in one’s cognitive skills, whereas a policy of active retirement would encourage older people to pursue fulfilling new challenges. At the end of the day, conditioning retirement benefits on work represents a fair compromise between the selfdefeating technocratic approach and the unsustainable populist approach. Asking governments to cut pensions at a time of rising job insecurity is a political nonstarter, whereas continuously promising more benefits is financially suicidal. Enlightened politicians should appeal to older voters’ sense of fairness. Younger generations are being asked to contribute to a system that will pay out ever-smaller returns over time. If younger workers are to remain committed to the current system, they will need to see a display of reciprocity from their elders. Idle retirement is a remarkable socioeconomic experiment that has been rendered unsustainable by current economic and demographic trends. It is time to put it out to pasture and try something new. – Project Syndicate zEdoardo Campanella is a Future of the World Fellow at the Centre for the Governance of Change at IE University in Madrid. Democrats can win by giving Trump his wall By Ramesh Ponnuru Bloomberg News T he arguments over a wall at the US-Mexico border encapsulate much of what’s wrong with American politics. The wall has become a much larger issue than it deserves to be, and the parties have been unable to make a deal over it that ought to be easy to make. The debate is overwrought on both sides. It was a mistake for immigration hawks to become as fixated as they have on building a wall on the southern border. Even if it is completely successful in stopping illegal border-crossings, it won’t stop people from coming here legally and then overstaying their visas. Estimates of the fraction of illegal immigrants who get here that way range from twofifths to two-thirds. Requiring employers to use E-Verify to make sure that all new hires are legally allowed to work in the US, on the other hand, would reduce the incentive for both illegal border crossings and illegal overstays. The rationale for a wall would shrink. But while the wall seems like a foolish priority, President Donald Trump has made it one of his most politically important initiatives. He has talked about it so much that his reelection really may depend on showing some results. Those congressional Republicans who roll their eyes about the wall may be underestimating how much it now matters to their party. Whether they like it or not, their political fortunes in 2020 are closely tied to his. Given its political importance to them, you’d think that Republicans would be eager to get a bill passed that funds construction of the wall. The obvious path for passing a bill is not, as the president has once again suggested, shutting down the government until Democrats give it to him. It’s cutting a deal with the Democrats that achieves important priorities of theirs and funds the wall. Could the Democrats accept such a deal? Their arguments against a wall are not strong. The chief liberal objections, as far as I can tell, are that the wall would be ugly symbolism and wasteful spending. That second point represents a concern about the budget so selective as to raise doubts about whether it is truly motivating much of the opposition. Democrats have much stronger interests in other aspects of immigration policy than in blocking the wall. Getting permanent legal status for illegal immigrants who came here as children, for example, ought to be higher on any rational list of priorities. Trump has no objection to giving them that status: He claims to be for it himself. So you can see the outline of a deal that combines wall funding and legal status for this particularly sympathetic subset of illegal immigrants. Each party would have gotten something that matters a lot to it – the legal status for the Democrats, the wall funding for the Republicans – while doing no damage to any of its important policy interests. Democrats would have to swallow letting Trump have a political victory, but they would have one of their own as well and would continue to have many other cudgels with which to hit him in 2020. Three-day forecast TODAY This deal made so much sense that Senate Democrats actually offered it to Trump at the start of the year. Trump turned it down, making additional demands – most ambitiously, for a cut in legal immigration, too – that had no chance of winning majorities in Congress. Once again, the man who boasted endlessly of his deal-making ability proved incapable of applying it in Washington. As it becomes clearer that the only way for Trump to make any progress on his wall is by giving the Democrats something, and as the re-election campaign gets closer, Trump may find himself more willing to make concessions. The Democrats will then be well-placed to make big asks of him. But the nation’s capital has been out of the habit of legislative horsetrading for so long that even this small deal will probably prove impossible. – Tribune News Service zRamesh Ponnuru is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a senior editor at National Review, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and contributor to CBS News. Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature 260c 180c : : 240c 170c : : 260c 190c THURSDAY Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature FRIDAY Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Fisherman's forecast WARNING Inshore Offshore WEATHER Inshore Offshore WIND Inshore Offshrore Visibility Offshore : Nil : Expected strong wind and high sea to the north by afternoon : Misty at places at first becomes mild daytime with sctd clouds, and relatively cold by night : Partly cloudy at times : Northwesterly 05-15/18 KT : Northeasterly 05-15/22 KT : 4-8/3 KM : 2-4/7 FT Around the region Baghdad Kuwait City Manama Muscat Tehran Live issues : : Weather today Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Max/min 18/11 21/12 24/18 26/17 12/03 Weather tomorrow P Cloudy P Cloudy Sunny Sunny S Showers Max/min 18/08 24/15 23/18 26/17 11/06 Benefits of statins far outweigh risks By Linda Carroll Reuters Health T he benefits of statins in reducing the odds of heart attacks and strokes far outweigh any risks of side effects, according to a scientific statement released by the American Heart Association. The statement, based on a review of a plethora of studies evaluating the safety and side effects of the widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs, is scheduled for publication in the journal Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. “For consumers, the message is that the benefits of statins well outweigh the risk of important harms,” said statement coauthor Dr Larry Goldstein, Ruth L Works Professor and chairman of the department of neurology and co-director of the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute KY Clinic at the University of Kentucky. Patients “should discuss the reasons for taking statins and any concerns about risks with their healthcare provider.” Currently, one in four Americans over age 40 takes a statin drug, Goldstein and his colleagues noted. But as many as 10% stop taking statins because of symptoms they fear are caused by the medications. The authors urge patients to see a healthcare provider before quitting statins because of presumed side effects, except in the case of one type of symptom: dark urine the colour of cola or coffee. That symptom can be the sign of the rare, but dangerous, side effect called rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which muscle fibres break down rapidly. The condition can result in acute kidney failure. Rhabdomyolysis is seen in fewer than one in 1,000 patients taking statin therapy, Goldstein and his coauthors reported. The other serious side effect is severe liver damage, which the authors reported occurred in about one in 100,000 patients taking statins. “Routine tests of muscle and liver function are not recommended,” Goldstein said in an e-mail. “An assessment of muscle symptoms and other medications that can affect the muscles is recommended as a baseline.” Most muscle aches and pains in people taking statins “are not serious and are not necessarily caused by statins,” Goldstein said. “These symptoms are more likely to be statin related if they affect both sides of the body and the thigh and shoulder muscles and occur within the first few weeks or months of starting treatment.” For statin users worried about muscle pains and aches, blood tests to measure creatine kinase levels can confirm or rule out rhabdomyolysis. “Severe liver impairment is very rare,” Goldstein said. “Symptoms can include skin and eyes becoming yellow, dark urine, abdominal pain, itchy skin, pale stool and bruising.” The researchers also determined that statins could raise the risk of diabetes – but only in people who were likely to develop the disease anyway, based on their risk factors. The risk for bleeding in the brain was not increased with statin use, except in those who had already had a stroke. However, the authors found “no convincing evidence for a causal relationship between statins and cancer, cataracts, cognitive dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy, erectile dysfunction, or tendonitis.” While there can be side effects, even rare serious ones, patients should ask, “‘What is the ‘side effect’ of not taking statins?’ It’s a 25 to 50% increased risk of having a heart attack, a stroke or a premature cardiovascular death,” said Dr Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles who was not involved with the new article. With respect to one of the more serious side effects - rhabdomyolysis - it’s even more rare than the new statement suggests, if you look only at patients without heart disease who are taking statins to lower cholesterol as a preventive measure, said Fonarow. In those patients, the risk “is more like one in 50,000 or 100,000,” he added. Statins are among the “very few medications invented in the modern era that save lives,” said Dr Omar Ali, medical director of Cardiac Cath Lab at Harper University Hospital at the Detroit Medical Centre. “For the appropriate patients, taking statins for primary prevention saves lives and even in secondary prevention statins save lives,” said Ali, who was not involved with the new article. “The most important thing is to be in direct consultation with a cardiologist or primary care physician, so if you start experiencing any of the side effects, you can get in touch with your doctor sooner and get the appropriate care.” Around the world Athens Beirut Bangkok Berlin Cairo Cape Town Colombo Dhaka Hong Kong Istanbul Jakarta Karachi London Manila Moscow New Delhi New York Paris Sao Paulo Seoul Singapore Sydney Tokyo Weather today Cloudy Rain M Sunny M Cloudy Sunny P Cloudy M Sunny P Cloudy M Sunny Rain S T Storms Sunny S Showers S Showers Cloudy Fog M Sunny M Cloudy P Cloudy M Sunny S T Storms T Storm Clear Max/min 11/06 18/14 33/24 03/01 22/13 22/17 30/23 24/15 22/19 08/04 32/24 26/12 10/07 31/24 -9/-11 22/06 07/03 10/06 30/22 07/-4 31/26 22/20 14/05 Weather tomorrow P Cloudy Rain Sunny Cloudy M Cloudy Cloudy P Cloudy Sunny P Cloudy Cloudy S T Storm Sunny P Cloudy I T Storms Cloudy Fog S Showers P Cloudy S T Storms P Cloudy S T Storms S T Storms Clear Max/min 13/05 16/14 34/24 05/03 20/13 24/18 29/24 26/15 22/19 07/05 32/25 28/11 10/07 30/24 -10/-14 22/06 09/07 10/07 32/23 08/-4 32/26 27/20 12/05 28 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 19, 2018 QATAR Amir participates in Ardha performance His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani participated yesterday in Qatar’s Ardha, which was held in Amiri Diwan yard on the Corniche of Doha, to celebrate Qatar National Day. Also taking part in the Ardha were HE Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Khalifa al-Thani, His Highness the Personal Representative of the Amir, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa al-Thani. Also participating in the Ardha were HE Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, a number of their excellencies sheikhs, ministers, members of the Advisory Council, dignitaries, and citizens. A spectacular view of the fireworks, one of the highlights of the Qatar National Day celebrations on the Doha Corniche yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil Another view of the fireworks on the Doha Corniche yesterday as part of the Qatar National Day celebrations. PICTURE: Sajin Orma