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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
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka
Deputy Managing Editor
K T Chacko
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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