Volume 24 | Number 8088 | 2 RiyalsWednesday 27 November 2019 | 30 Rabia I 1441 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 07

Murray confident of worry-free season

Al Khayyat named

Baladna Chairman

Included withtoday’s edition is a

special supplement

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTWEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019

GROUP E (11:00pm)KRC Genk vs FC Red Bull SalzburgLiverpool vs NapoliGROUP F (11:00pm)Barcelona vs Borussia DortmundSlavia Prague vs Inter MilanGROUP GZenit St Petersburg vs Lyon 8:55pmRB Leipzig vs Benfica 11:00pmGROUP HValencia vs Chelsea 8:55pmLille vs Ajax 11:00pm

Amir welcomes all to ‘everyone’s Doha’

FAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani inaugurated the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, which got under way yesterday with a spectacular ceremony that left a packed Khalifa International Stadium in awe.

“In the name of Allah, the Merciful, and upon the blessing of Allah, I announce the opening of the 24th Gulf Cup. In the name of every Qatari, we welcome eve-ryone, to everyone’s Doha,” H H the Amir said while declaring the eight-nation tournament open.

The opening ceremony was attended by Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Personal Representative of H H the Amir; H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani and H E Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Hundreds of performers took part in the opening ceremony

yesterday that lasted for almost 45 minutes ahead of the inaugural match between Qatar and Iraq.

The dazzling fireworks, just before the kick off of the opening game, thrilled 37, 890 fans after the ceremony that had many features.

The opening ceremony began with a visual display of heritage paintings, a docu-mentary film about the history of the Gulf Cup since its inception

in 1970, the entry of flags of par-ticipating countries and the display of fireworks.

Performers displayed a tradi-tional sword dance during the cer-emony showcasing brotherhood among the people of the region.

Spectators were also shown the glimpse of memorable moments in the past Gulf Cup edi-tions on the giant screens erected at the Khalifa International

Stadium. The fans’ area remained illuminated with mini lights, giving a stunning look. Famous regional players and officials of the past were also honoured.

Earlier, fans were seen flocking to the Khalifa Interna-tional Stadium hours before the kick off of the opening match.

“It’s a moment of pride for all the Arab nations,” Ahmed Ali, an Iraqi enthusiast said. “We are happy

that all the eight Gulf countries are participating. Our team is good and

we are going to support our national team.” �SPORT 11&12

Qatar gives top priority to food security: Al SubaieSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

Minister of Municipality and Envi-ronment, H E Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, has said that self-sufficiency rate of Qatar in food production increased significantly during the past two years.

“Qatar gave top priority to food security issue which attracted great importance under the current situ-ation, focusing on local food pro-duction as per the available resources of the country,” said H E the Minister while speaking at the opening cer-emony of the 2nd Annual Conference on Food Security in Qatar.

The event was organised by Dar Al Arab yesterday at Doha Sheraton Hotel. The opening ceremony was attended by Vice-Chairman of Dar Al Arab Board of Directors, Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani; Managing Director and CEO of Dar Al Arab, Jaber Salem Al Harmi; Director of Food Security Department at MME, Masoud Jarullah Al Marri.

H E the Minister said that Qatar’s

self-sufficiency in production of fresh chicken increased from 49 percent to 123 percent and dairy products from 27 percent to 106 percent during past two years. He said that local eggs and red meat productions also increased from 13 percent of total need of the country to 28 percent and 12 percent to 16 percent respectively.

H E the Minister said that food security has many aspects, as it is con-nected to both the agricultural and the industrial sector. He said that Qatar’s strategy will focus on producing local goods that the country has a compar-ative advantage in producing including fresh produce, dairy, dates, red meat, poultry, eggs, and fish.

“The other element of the strategy is to build a strategic stock of the most crucial products that are not produced locally, most important of which is wheat, sugar, rice, and cooking oil. Fol-lowing the directives of H E Prime Min-ister and Interior Minister to achieve the goals of food security in the State, several projects related to food security were awarded to private investors,” H E the Minister said. �P3

50 new products from Baladna to hit market soonSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

Baladna, Qatar’s largest dairy and beverage producer announced yesterday that the company, as part of expanding its portfolio, will introduce 50 new products to the local market within the next two months. Another 50 new products will hit the market later in 2020.

Speaking to the media yes-terday, on the sidelines of

company’s Consecutive General Assembly, the Board Member Ramez Mhd Ruslan Al Khayyat said the company will receive new shipment of cows from the US in January-February months of 2020 .

“Currently we have a stock of 18,000 and we are expecting nearly 2,500 in two months time,” Ramez said.

As part of expanding its port-folio, Baladna will increase its juice production capacity by

three times. Baladna is currently in the local market with 10 dif-ferent varieties of cheese. It has now plans to introduce more than 20 types.

Early this year, Baladna announced it received a total of 2,275 heifers in the previous shipment. London Dairy Inter-national Farms Ltd of Ontario has supplied over 6,000 Hol-stein-heifers to Baladna since its first shipment started 2018.

The first batch of cows

arrived on a Qatar Airways cargo flight from Budapest, Hungary, in 2017.

Baladna then said it will fly in a further 4,000 cows from the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and the US.

Baladna Farm is equipped with state-of-the-art technol-ogies. It has a controlled climate cooling system that enables to control humidity and decrease the temperature inside the barns up to 25 degrees Celsius,

compared to the outside ambient temperature. This will help to accl imatise the cows comfortably.

On the company’s expansion plans, Ramez said Baladna, partnering with Malaysia’s Felcra Bhd, is setting up its maiden dairy production business in that country. With the approval of the Board of Directors, Baladna can double Malaysia’s milk production capacity.

Minister of Municipality and Environment, H E Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (centre), and Vice-Chairman of Dar Al Arab Board of Directors, Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani (right), during the 2nd Annual Conference on Food Security at Doha Sheraton Hotel, yesterday. PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/ THE PENINSULA

Kahramaa commissions Al Bidaa Metro SubstationTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has commissioned Al Bidaa Metro Substation at a cost of QR300m.

With the opening of new project yesterday, all five elec-tricity substations of Kahramaa pertaining to Doha Metro project of Qatar Rail have been completed. The Al Bidaa Sub-station is embedded with multi- storey car parking with capacity of 625 vehicles. �P6

24th Arabian Gulf Cup kickstarts at Khalifa Stadium

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and other dignitaries during the inaugural match of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup at the Khalifa International Stadium, yesterday. �P2

On behalf of every Qatari, we welcome all to everyone’s Doha

02 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019HOME

Amir greets President of Romania on his re-electionDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

and Deputy Amir H H

Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad

Al Thani sent yesterday

cables of congratulations to

Klaus Iohannis on the occa-

sion of his re-election as the

President of the Republic of

Romania. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWS

Minister of Justice meets Morocco Chief Public ProsecutorDOHA: The Minister of Jus-

tice and Acting Minister of

State for Cabinet Affairs, H E

Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al

Nuaimi, met yesterday with

the Chief Public Prosecutor

in the Kingdom of Morocco

and the King’s Attorney-

General, Mohamed Abdel

Nabawi. They reviewed

areas of legal coopera-

tion between the State of

Qatar and the Kingdom of

Morocco and the exchange

of experiences between the

two countries in the fields

of rehabilitation and train-

ing, in addition to a number

of issues of common inter-

est. QNA

SJC President meets Morocco Chief Public ProsecutorDOHA: The President of

the Supreme Judiciary

Council (SJC) and President

of the Court of Cassation,

H E Dr. Hassan bin Lahdan

Saqr Al Mohannadi, met

yesterday with the Chief

Public Prosecutor of the

Kingdom of Morocco and

the King’s Attorney-General,

Mohamed Abdel Nabawi.

They discussed issues of

common interest, as well as

ways of legal and judicial

cooperation between the

two sides. QNA

Palestinian President arrives in Doha

The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, arrived in Doha, yesterday, on a work visit to the State of Qatar. The Palestinian President and his accompanying delegation were welcomed upon arrival at Hamad International Airport by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, and Palestinian Ambassador to Qatar, Munir Abdullah Ghannam.

JLF Doha to enhance Qatar’s literary sceneRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) Doha, the first of its kind event in Qatar and the region, is set to contribute to the country’s thriving literary scene with engaging sessions and stimu-lating discourse featuring prom-inent figures from Qatar and around the world.

Marking the first foray in the Middle East of Jaipur Literature Festival in India, JLF Doha, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ooredoo, is slated from December 12 to 14 at Qatar National Library.

“The local literary scene is flourishing, and there is nothing to hold back both experienced and emerging writers. JLF Doha is an incredible opportunity for the people of Qatar to share and widen their own interests and knowledge through thoughtful exchanges with a mix of the world’s greatest writers, literary figures and thought leaders. We encourage all authors, students, teachers and anyone interested

in literature to come and be inspired at JLF Doha,” said Dr. Sohair Wastawy, Executive Director of the Library.

JLF Doha will recreate the magnificent spirit, colour, energy and ambience of “the greatest lit-erary show on Earth” with a packed weekend of events cel-ebrating books, creativity, ideas and culture. Among the sessions

will be by Manu S. Pillai and William Dalrymple, two chron-iclers of the story of South Asia, who will examine the colorful tapestry of Indian history in the session “Of Thrones and Sultans: Tales from Indian History.”In conversation with academics Firat Oruc, Buket Uzuner will explore the changing face of the city she calls home, Istanbul,

with reference to her book I Am Istanbul.

Musharraf Ali Farooqui, the maestro of the mysterious and the unexpected, will take the audience through his latest novel, The Merman and the Book of Power, a heady mix of the past and present, history and mythology, told in the classical qissa style of storytelling fables common to the oral and written literature in Urdu, Persian and Arabic. In his book Early Indians, Tony Joseph will take the audience on an intriguing foray into our common past with a look at the life-changing journeys our ancestors took and our attempts to trace their pat-terns of migration, the spread of Homo sapiens and the genetic evidence found in the course of the human journey.

Numerous members of the Qatari community will speak as well such as Lolwah Alkhater, Spokeperson for Qatar’s Min-istry of Foreign Affairs; Minister of State H E Dr. Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari; and Amal Mohammed Al-Malki, Founding

Dean of the College of Human-ities and Social Sciences at Hamad bin Khalifa University

Ibrahim Al Hashmi, Media Affairs and Special Projects, Spokesperson’s Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “We are delighted to be part of a landmark moment for our lit-erary landscape, the latest example of Qatar’s role in the global exchange of culture and ideas. JLF Doha is a formidable example of how the Library works with international partners to bring different cul-tures together, and is also a tes-tament to a cultural friendship between two nations with a long, rich history of cooperation.”

Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, said: “JLF Doha, a confluence of East and West, brings together enlightened voices from across the world, to recognize similar-ities, engender empathy and cel-ebrate the timeless appeal of lit-erature and of ideas which are integral to our times, in resplendent Qatar.”

FROM LEFT: Ibrahim Al Hashmi, official from Media Affairs and Special Projects at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson’s Office; Sanjoy K Roy, Director of Teamwork Arts; Dr. Sohair F Wastawy, Executive Director, Qatar National Library; and Ahmed Al Malki, Head of Young Adults at the library, addressing a press conference on JLF Doha at QNL, yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani; Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, Personal Representative of H H the Amir; H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani; H H Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Thani, and H E Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa Al Thani at the opening of the 24th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup at Khalifa International Stadium yesterday.

Amir welcomes all to ‘everyone’s Doha’

Speaker of Kuwaiti National Assembly: 24th Gulf Cup achieved success before it beganQNA/DOHA

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the State of Kuwait, Marzouq bin Ali Al Ghanim, expressed happiness at the participation of all GCC states in the 24th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup, which Qatar hosts until December 8.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the State of Kuwait, Marzouq bin Ali Al Ghanim, said that the participation of the eight teams represents a success of the tournament even before it starts, wishing all teams success in presenting the image that befits the reputation and prestige of the Gulf football. The

draw for the tournament put Kuwait in Group B along with Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Kuwaiti team will start the competitions tomorrow against Saudi counterpart.

Kuwait holds the record number of winning the title of the Arabian Gulf Cup, winning 10 tournaments out of 23 in total.

Kuwait holds the record number of winning the title of the Arabian Gulf Cup, winning 10 tournaments out of 23 in total.

03WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

Speaker of Shura Council meets Djibouti counterpart, APU PresidentQNA DJIBOUTI

The Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, met yesterday with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Djibouti, Mohamed Ali Houmed, on the occasion of his participation in the 42nd Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the African Parliamentary Union (APU).

They reviewed the parlia-mentary relations between the two brotherly countries and dis-cussed the most important topics on the agenda of the conference.

The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Qatari-Dji-boutian Friendship Committee, Saqr bin Fahd Al Meraikhi, a number of the Shura Council’s members and Charge d’Affaires at the Qatar embassy, Faisal bin Rashid Al Nuaimi.

H E the Speaker also met with the President of the African Parliamentary Union and Pres-ident of the National Assembly of the Republic of Burkina Faso, Alassane Bala Sakande. They reviewed the cooperation rela-tions between the Shura Council and the APU and ways of enhancing them, in addition to the most important topics on the

agenda. The meeting also reviewed the parliamentary relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Burkina Faso and ways of pro-moting them.

H E the Speaker of the Shura Council also met with the Pres-ident of the National Assembly of the Central African Republic, Laurent Ngon, on the occasion of HE participation. The meeting reviewed the parliamentary relations between the two coun-tries and ways of developing them, as well as the topics listed on the agenda. The meetings were attended by a number of Shura Council members.

Qatar calls for steps tomake Middle East anuclear-weapon-free zoneQNA VIENNA

The State of Qatar stressed yesterday that regional and international tensions in the world and the irresponsible calls from some parties to launch a new international arms race requires strengthening of disar-mament and non-proliferation efforts, including action to implement the 1995 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Review and Extension Conference.

Sultan bin Salmeen Al Man-souri (pictured), Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in Vienna, said in a statement to the Board of Governors at the Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Qatar is keen to work in various forums, including the IAEA Board of Governors and IAEA General Conferences, in an effort to make the Middle East a

zone free of weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons, as a result of the coun-try’s belief in the establishment of a region free of weapons of mass destruction represents an effective contribution towards the goal of nuclear disarmament and the universality of the NPT.

Al Mansouri expressed regret that the efforts to establish a Middle-East region free of nuclear weapon and other weapons of mass destruction was stalled by the lack of political will on the part of some countries to implement the 1995

Treaty.He said that Qatar is actively

participating in the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, which is currently being held in New York, in accordance with a UN resolution.

He added that it is a major step in the efforts of the interna-tional community towards the implementation of international obligations, and states that have not participated in it should reconsider their decision and engage in the joint effort, under the auspices of the UN to achieve the goal of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Qatar’s progress in precision medicine highlighted as CUDOS concludesFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The third annual Congress of Current Understanding in Diabetes, Obesity and Related Syndromes (CUDOS) with a main focus on paediatric precision medicine concluded, yesterday.

The three-day Congress hosted by Sidra Medicine and focused on paediatric precision medicine led by a cohort of spe-cialists across a broad spectrum of disciplines, at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

Sessions on the third day of CUDOS emphasised genomic and drug intervention, behav-ioural medicine and psychology and precision medicine in neu-rocritical care. The sessions were led by Sidra Medicine specialists in different specialities including pulmonology, neurology, ado-lescent medicine, oncology and human genetics.

“The congress is an excellent learning experience for spe-cialists and practitioners.

Precision Medicine is emerging as an important topic in med-icine. It is based on finding the right treatment, for the right patient at the right time,” said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former president of Global Research and Devel-opment at Sanofi and Member of the Board of Governors at Sidra Medicine.

The last day of the congress featured opening keynote speech by Professor Hakon Hakonarson, Director of the Center for Applied Genomics at the Joseph Stokes Jr. Research Institute of Children’s Hospital of Phila-delphia (CHOP).

Dr. Khalid Fakhro, Acting Chief Research Officer, Director of the Precision Medicine Program and Head of Human Genetics department, Sidra Med-icine, speaking to media on the sidelines of the congress said that they were focusing on generating benefits on different fronts including clinical, research and academia.

“In clinical, we are learning

from international experts about how they manage and treat dia-betes specifically in children and on the research front we learn about the latest research and developments in the field including stem cells and novo therapies to treat patients who are affected by these conditions,”

he said. In the reply to a question on where Qatar is going in terms of precision medicine, Dr Fakhro, said, “There is a national drive to go towards precision medicine and Sidra is well-posi-tioned because of our access to patients and presence of high quality clinicians who focus on

providing the best care for their patients.”

“By bringing the best tech-nology from around the world and great scientists to the fore-front of the clinical service that is available at Sidra, we hope for precision medicine to evolve naturally here,” he added.

Dr. Fakhro said that Sidra Medicine is not doing this alone and are part of a national scien-tific community that is growing and thriving. “I believe as a nation, we are going to mature towards precision medicine.”

He also highlighted that Sidra Medicine has best physicians and practitioners in the clinics, researchers and scientists in the labs and some of the most advanced technologies to power our hospital as well as our research and cl inical programmes.

“This unique combination, which underpins our three pillars of patient care; research and medical education have allowed us to start ground-breaking studies and clinical care services that will positively impact the health of the women and children of Qatar. The impact that we hope to create is far reaching not only for the people of Qatar but across the Middle East region and the world,” said Dr. Fakhro.

The experts from Sidra Medicine during CUDOS 2019.

The Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Djibouti, Mohamed Ali Houmed, on the occasion of his participation in the 42nd Conference of Speakers of Parliaments of the African Parliamentary Union in Djibouti, yesterday.

The Minister of Municipality and Environment, H E Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie; Vice-Chairman of Dar Al Arab Board of Directors, Sheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani, with officials from MME and media organisations during the Food Security Conference organised by Dar Al Arab at Doha Sheraton Hotel. PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/THE PENINSULA

Qatar gives top priority to food security: Al SubaieFROM PAGE 1

The Minister said that these projects will help achieve self-sufficiency in high-quality agri-cultural products and to build up a strategic stock with low prices. Another main goal is to reach optimum levels of production that would reflect on the growth of the agricultural sector.

Jaber Salem Al Harmi, in a key note speech, said that the Conference aims to forge a new concept of partnership between the public, private and media sectors, as the meeting of these

parties supports a new type of cooperation that contributes effectively to the development and advancement of prosperity in the national economy.

He said that the media plays an active role in the devel-opment of the national economy and is a key partner in building society in its various sectors.

The CEO of Hassad Food Company, Mohamed bin Badr Al Sadah, and Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Ansari, Member of the Board and Vice-Chairman of the Com-mittee on Food Security at Qatar

Chamber, highlighted the roles of Hassad and Qatar Chamber in assuring food security in the country.

Dar Al Arab launched ‘Green Report’, a collection of figures, facts about food security in the country, to be a reference guide for researchers and those inter-ested in this aspect.

The participants, guests and sponsors were honoured for their contribution to ensure food security in the country at the end of opening session of the conference.

EAA cooperates with Italian government and Unesco to bring Iraqi children to schoolQNA DOHA

The Education Above All Foun-dation (EAA) signed an agreement with the Italian government and Unesco to support its project in Iraq to enrol 150,000 children in schools in Babil, Baghdad, Erbil, Ninawa, Saladin and Dhi Qar governorates.

Based on this agreement, the Italian Development Cooper-ation supports the EAA and Unesco project in Iraq to support children not attending schools with 1 million, aimed to rehabil-itate 10 schools to provide quality education and school supplies for 17,000 children in Saladin and Baghdad governo-rates, in addition to a campaign to enroll children in schools.

EAA Representative Leena Al Derham stressed that the agreements signed with EAA’s partners focus on bringing about systematic change, representing

an entry point to transform edu-cation and make it available to every child. She pointed out that this agreement comes within the framework of continuous efforts to reach out-of-school children in Iraq, expressing gratitude for the Italian government’s support for the Iraq project and looks forward to working together in other countries.

Speaking about the need to act quickly to provide education in the region, the Director General for Development Coop-eration of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Giorgio Mar-rapodi, said, that the situation in Iraq is increasing in the need to provide knowledge and skills to school students, more than any

other country. Therefore, he added, Iraq, Italy, EAA and Unesco will devote their expertise to support various edu-cational activities.

He expressed hoped that this pilot project would result in a formula for joint cooperation with EAA to promote devel-opment in Iraq and other countries.

The Director of Unesco Iraq Office, Paolo Fontani, expressed gratitude for EAA and the Italian government for their appre-ciated support, stressing that improving the ability of out-of-school children to access quality education is an important addition to the future collective efforts and the reality of edu-cation in Iraq.

EAA Representative Leena Al Derham stressed that the agreements signed with EAA’s partners focus on bringing about systematic change, representing an entry point to transform education and make it available to every child.

Al Mansouri expressed regret that the efforts to establish a Middle-East region free of nuclear weapon was stalled by the lack of political will.

04 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019HOME

Qatar, Norway discuss boosting ties

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, met yesterday in Oslo with Second Vice-President of Parliament in the Kingdom of Norway, Morten Wold. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral cooperation and relations, as well as issues of common interest.

Ooredoo launches promotion for Nojoom membersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo announced yesterday an amazing new promotion for members of its popular loyalty programme, Nojoom, at partner store Village Markets.

Nojoom members will get 10X Nojoom points on all pur-chases from the Fresh section — meat, fish, deli, vegetables and fruit — every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday until January 31, 2020, as well as the chance to win one of 10 QR3,000 shopping vouchers on every purchase at stores.

There will be two raffle draws — one on December 31, 2019 and one on February 2, 2020 — with five vouchers up for grabs in each draw. Winners

will be announced on Ooredoo’s social media accounts and the relevant promotion page on ooredoo.qa.

To get the 10X Nojoom points, customers will simply need to let staff know they are a Nojoom member and provide their QID or mobile number, and points will be credited. To get an entry into the raffle draws, cus-tomers simply need to shop at the branches, with each pur-chase being considered as one entry except for transactions paid for with redeemed Nojoom vouchers.

The 10X points and shopping vouchers promotion is available at the Muaither branch in Al-Rayyan and the Salwa Road branch.

Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi,

Director PR and Corporate Com-munications at Ooredoo, said: “We appreciate our customers’ loyalty and are always looking for ways to give our valued Nojoom members more. We’re delighted to offer this exciting new promotion at Village Markets, which will mean extra rewards with our awesome network of Nojoom partners and of course the chance to win an incredible QR3,000 in shopping vouchers. We hope our members will enjoy shopping and earning extra points, and wish them the best of luck in the raffle.”

Labour Minister meets Jordanian delegation

Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Yousuf Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo, met yesterday with the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Labour of the Kingdom of Jordan, Farouk El Hadidi, and his accompanying delegation who are visiting the country. During the meeting, they reviewed aspects of joint cooperation, especially on issues related to job opportunities and employment, and ways to support and develop them.

Nojoom members will get 10X Nojoom points on all purchases from the Fresh section at Village Markets every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday until January 31, and a chance to win one of 10 QR3,000 shopping vouchers on every purchase.

Ashghal, ACI sign MoU to enhance cooperation in improving concrete structuresTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ has signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) to enhance cooperation in improving concrete structures through exchange of infor-mation, expertise, training, accreditation and copyright.

The deal was inked at Ashghal Head-quarters by Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmed Al Muhannadi, President of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), and Dr. Randall Boston, President of ACI, in the presence of several senior officials from both sides.

On the sidelines of the signing cer-emony of MoU, two winners of the Inter-national Concrete Construction Com-petition were feted with the ACI award in coordination with Ashghal, as Ashghal is the authority for nomination and eval-uation of Qatar-based projects that are competing to win this international reputation.

Ghanim Al Ibrahim, Executive Director of Operations at Qatar Foun-dation (QF) received the first position award for Qatar National Library Project of QF in the “Decorative Concrete” cat-egory. Abdulla Al Khanji, CEO of Qatar Port Management Company (Mwani Qatar) received the award for Hamad Port’s Visitor Centre, being ranked first in the category of “low rise buildings”.

The MoU signed between Ashghal and ACI aims at coordinating the enhancement of concrete works and designs through exchange of infor-mation and technical expertise, in terms of various researches and studies with

copyright.The MoU includes cooperation in

joint sponsorship of conferences, work-shops, trainings, qualification of tech-nical personnel and provision of inter-national certification in the field of con-crete construction within the scope of Ashghal program for technical qualifi-cation. The MoU also aims at boosting communication between the two sides through visits and meetings in order to exchange information and technology in the field of enhancing concrete and related construction works as well as marketing of joint activities.

Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmed Al Muhannadi, President of the Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ expressed his delight in signing the MoU between Ashghal and ACI, stressing that the cooperation between Ashghal and international insti-tutions like ACI is expected to enhance Ashghal’s international reputation.

The President of Ashghal further explained that the MoU with ACI comes

within the framework of efforts to improve the quality of concrete works through exchange of information with expert entities in the field. The MoU stip-ulates cooperation in the field of research and studies, organization of training workshops, qualification and training of technical personnel, as well as conducting meetings and conferences to produce working papers that will contribute to the improvement of quality of various concrete structures and enhance their efficiency.

Dr. Randall Boston, President of ACI, said that ACI is honoured to sign this MoU with Ashghal and expressed his hope for further cooperation in the field of concrete construction.

He pointed out that the cooperation between Ashghal and ACI will include copyright, provision of training courses approved by the institute and holding regular bilateral meetings to update the latest means of technology in the field of concrete.

Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmed Al Muhannadi, President of Ashghal, and Dr. Randall Boston, President of ACI, after signing the MoU at Ashghal’s headquarters.

SC and Jordan Hashemite CharityOrganisation sign partnership pactTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Generation Amazing has announced it is partnering with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation for Arab and Islamic Relief, Development and Cooperation (JHCO) in order to bring the football for devel-opment programme to refugees and vulnerable communities in Jordan and across the world.

Generation Amazing, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC)’s flagship CSR pro-gramme joins forces with JHCO, who are known for their cross sectoral relief and humanitarian work across Jordan and interna-tionally, bringing emergency assistance and providing aid for victims of man-made and natural disasters.

The partnership aims to implement the Generation Amazing methodology into already existing sport for devel-opment infrastructure in Jordan as well as initiate an exchange of knowledge and operating space in Jordan, Qatar and worldwide.

An official partnership signing ceremony took place on November 21 during the WISE

2019 Summit at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha. The event was attended by JHCO Chairman of the Board of Trustees, H R H Prince Rashid bin El Hassan; SC Secretary-General, Hassan Al Thawadi and the JHCO Secretary-General H E Ayman Al Mufleh.

“We are proud and excited to partner with such a renowned international humanitarian organ-isation, and will be further enhancing our Generation Amazing reach and impact across the region and the world by working together with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation over the next four years,” said Hassan Al Thawadi, SC Secretary-General.

“We see that this partnership will not only ensure that both GA

and JHCO are able to serve refugee and other vulnerable populations over the coming years, but as well innovate respectively as organi-sations working in the humani-tarian sector. We look forward to implementing this collaborative effort which will use football for development to improve the lives of young people.”

The Generation Amazing football for development pro-gramme works with participants to develop communication, lead-ership and teamwork skills while also promoting values like inclusion, integration, gender equality and building a higher sense of active citizenship among youth through the power of football.

The officials during the partnership signing ceremony.

05WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

06 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019HOME

Deputy Speaker of Shura Council meets UN official

Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Sulaiti, met yesterday with E Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, of the United Nations Human Rights Council and her delegation. During the meeting, they reviewed the efforts of the State of Qatar to support workers’ rights and the commitment to provide various forms of economic, social, health care and legal protection of their rights and wages. The meeting was attended by Secretary-General of the Shura Council, H E Fahd bin Mubarak Al Khayarin.

QA congratulates Flamengo, winnerof CONMEBOL Libertadores 2019THE PENINSULA/DOHA

Qatar Airways extends its congratulations to Flamengo, who were crowned CONMEBOL Libertadores winners, defeating River Plate in the Final in Lima, Peru on Saturday.

Flamengo will now travel to Qatar next month as the South American representative at the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019, taking place in Doha from December 11 – 21. FIFA’s six con-tinental confederations will be represented in Qatar, as world football comes together this winter in Doha.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Following a passionate and thrilling CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores cam-paign, I congratulate Flamengo on emerging as worthy Champions. CONMEBOL’s competitions offer some of the world’s most exciting and competitive professional football and

we look forward to welcoming Fla-mengo and their travelling supporters to Qatar next month for the occasion of the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019.”

“It’s a pleasure for CON-MEBOL to be able to count on the support of Qatar Airways and its commitment to CONMEBOL Libertadores”, said José Asti-garraga, General Secretary of CONMEBOL.

Qatar Airways, the first-ever airline partner for CONMEBOL’s club competitions, is leveraging high brand association and large audience visibility across the South American continent.

Qatar Airways, as ‘Official Airline Partner’ of the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 invites all football enthusiasts to book flights to see the stars of world football in action across three stadiums in Doha.

Qatar Airways and Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) recently also launched Qatar Live – a series of music concerts and festivals taking place in Doha from 4 to 20 December. Global superstar Katy Perry, legendary band Maroon 5 and international Latin music star Maluma feature among seven scheduled concerts.

Two-day workshop on prison-based rehabilitation programs beginsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The regional workshop on prison-based rehabilitation programs organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in cooper-ation with the Ministry of Interior started yesterday at the Sheraton Doha Hotel.

The two-day workshop is part of the implementation of the Doha Declaration Global Program, with the participation of experts from several countries and members of the working group on the implementation of the Doha Declaration.

Brigadier Mohammad Saud Al Otaibi, Director of the Penal and Correctional Institutions Department at the Ministry of Interior, said in his speech that the workshop sheds light on topics related to rehabilitation and reintegration programs, which are among the priorities of the Doha Declaration issued at the conclusion of the United Nations Congress on Crime Pre-vention and Criminal Justice in 2015.

He added that the workshop programs included a visit to the Penal and Correctional Institu-tions in the State of Qatar to learn about the rehabilitation

and care programs implemented in the country as a practical

e x p e r i e n c e f o r t h e participants.

Speaking at the opening session of the workshop,

Alejandro Mata, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), pre-sented the UNODC roadmap for the development of the prison-based rehabilitation programs in accordance with international standards.

The workshop will discuss a number of topics (prison reha-bilitation from an international perspective, prison rehabili-tation programs in the Middle East and North Africa and clas-sification of prisoners). The workshop will also discuss the technical guide to create national brands for prison products.

The regional workshop under way on prison-based rehabilitation programs.

Flamengo will now travel to Qatar next month as the South American representative at the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019, taking place in Doha from December 11 – 21. FIFA’s six continental confederations will be represented in Qatar, as world football comes together this winter in Doha.

BBQ night, picnic brunch back at Al Aziziyah Boutique HotelTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Al Aziziyah Boutique Hotel has announced the return of its legendary BBQ Night and the much-awaited Picnic Brunch at the newly opened outdoor Recreation Center.

BBQ Night, being the only culinary night overlooking Aspire Park, quickly became a sold-out event for every week, last year. Now, its highly anticipated return brings back the promise of exciting evenings, with extended live sta-tions (Asian & Italian), empha-sizing on a BBQ corner show-casing a selection of slow cooked smoked meats, freshly grilled seafood, steaks and oriental grills.

In addition to exotic salads, a cold seafood corner is featured with smoked salmon, shrimps, crabs, mussels, as well as the famous cold & warm sushi from Blue restaurant. Don’t miss the sweet end of dessert

selection especially the signature Umm Ali corner with kunafa topping and the waffle stand.

Situated at the scenic garden area around Patio Café, an idyllic setting for a perfect night out with family and friends before the weekend. BBQ Night is available every Thursday from 7pm to 10:30pm priced at QR195 per

person including cold beverages (kids 6-12 years QR 70).

Apart from Thursdays, Al Aziziyah Boutique Hotel wel-comes back guests’ favorite, Picnic Brunch. Spread in the green lawn around Patio Café, a vibrant space nestled among blossoming pergolas, this family-friendly classic re-ignites the fun spirit in

town, featuring live entertainment and extended food stations.

Find your favorite spot, sit comfortably on a bean bag and feast on dishes from land and sea, with grilled meats and seafood and plenty of live cooking stations. A buffet selection of international cuisine, along with freshly rolled sushi, unlimited starters and des-serts and live entertainment will set the pace for the weekend.

Priced at QR210 per person (kids 6-12 years QR 70) Friday brunch is available from 1pm to 4pm. Join the feast for unlimited fun for the little ones too with outdoor play zones, equipped with seesaws, swings, trampolines, football goals and hand boats and an air-conditioning playground.

If these do not work, free access to the pool for kids below 12 years will keep the little ones entertained for hours.

Seafood BBQ at Mercure HotelMercure Hotel will be having a Seafood BBQ today at their Oryx Hall and Poolside from 7pm to 11pm. Executive Chef Lahcen together with his team will be preparing excellent specialities and the Food & Beverage team will be awaiting to welcome the guests. It is reasonably priced at QR95 net per guest with 50% discount for children between 4 to 12 years.

Legendary fashion designer visits VCUarts QatarTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Legendary fashion designer, author and activist Diane von Furstenberg, who created the iconic wrap dress, shared her insights with students, faculty and guests at the Atrium at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) recently.

The talk was moderated by VCUarts Qatar’s Chair of Fashion Design, Christopher Fink.

Von Furstenberg, who was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, was welcomed by Amir Berbić, the Dean of VCUarts Qatar, who said, “We are honored that she is here with us today to share her vitality, expe-rience and wisdom, and we know our students will appre-ciate this great opportunity to meet her, learn from her, and be inspired by her.”

In the hour long talk with VCUarts guests in the Univer-sity’s Atrium, Von Furstenberg spoke of her commitment to building on the strength of self as the most important element of success. Her call to action is be “in charge” and encourages all people, with a special emphasis on women, to take control of their lives and be all that they can be.

“To be in charge is a com-mitment to ourselves, it is owning who we are – it is respecting and trusting our char-acter knowing that it is forever the home and the core of our strength,” she advised. The second half of her visit included a brief ‘critique’ in the Fashion Design Department where she met with faculty and students from VCUarts Qatar’s fashion design program and reviewed the work they were developing for the upcoming Fashion Trust Arabia Competition.

Kahramaa commissions Al Bidaa Metro SubstationTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corpo-ration (Kahramaa) has commissioned Al Bidaa Metro Substation at a cost of QR300m.

With the opening of new project yesterday, all five electricity substations of Kahramaa per-taining to Doha Metro project of Qatar Rail have come to an end. The Al Bidaa Substation of Kahramaa is embedded with multi- story car parking with the capacity of 625 vehicles.

Al Bidaa 33/123 KV Electricity substation is a part of phase 12 of Qatar electricity trans-mission network expansion project. The sub-station is fed from Al Suwaidi super by 132 KV cable with the length of 5.4 km. The substation has 132/32 KV transformers, 132/33 KV GIS and other allied equipment. The substation capacity is 100 MVA. Kahramaa President Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari said: “We are proud to com-plete all electricity substations Kahramaa implemented for Qatar Rail to provide Doha Metro Project will all electricity needs.”

Al Kuwari added that Kahramaa gives top priority to Doha Metro substations in project awarding where we manage to accomplish as per the approved timetable and as per highest standards, as the substations for Doha Metro are equipped with special technology to ensure

uninterrupted power supply in emergency situations.

The substation building has sixth- story car parking which will be completed soon and will have the space for 625 cars. It is being equipped with the latest safety and security systems fol-lowed in Qatar. The main entrance of building and floors’ entrances have been provided with electric display screens, displaying the number of vacant parking lots available at each floor.

This substation is one of kahramaa achievements as a key partner in the devel-opment of the projects witnessed by the State, which reflects Kahramaa’s commitment in

implementing the infrastructure projects in line with the pursued time schedule.

Kahramaa has commissioned five elec-tricity substations for Qatar Rail to provide Metro Station will all requirements of electricity with total cost of QR900m . Ras Abu Funtas metro substation was commissioned in July 2017 and the second one Lusail Metro elec-tricity substation in March 2018.

Al Waab metro substation was commis-sioned in June 2018, Doha West metro sub-station became operational in September 2018. The last substation ‘Al Bidaa Metro’ was com-missioned in November 2019.

Kahramaa officials during the opening of Al Bidaa Metro Substation yesterday.

07WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

QA to sponsor Philippines Football LeagueTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways has signed a three-year agreement to be Official Airline Partner of the Philippines Football League (PFL).

The partnership will see the Qatar Airways logo feature on all PFL club and officials’ shirts, and provide brand awareness through perimeter boards, stadium flags, LED screens and online digital content, as well as other activity.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are very pleased to announce this new partnership, which will see Qatar Airways increase its exposure in the Philippines whilst supporting the development of football in the country. We are continually striving to boost our global sporting sponsorship port-folio, and this partnership is just one more example of our dedi-cation to sport and our belief in its power to bring people together. Qatar Airways has strong ties with the Philippines

operating 26 weekly passenger services to Manila, Clark and Davao from Doha. This part-nership demonstrates our long term commitment to further growing and developing our operations in the Philippines.”

Philippines Football Feder-ation President, Mariano Araneta, said: “We are grateful for the support of Qatar Airways in our effort to make the Philippines Football League bigger, stronger and more sustainable. The success of the PFL is instrumental in ensuring that other programs

of the Philippine Football Feder-ation also achieve their goals. The PFL not only showcases the best talents in the country, but also inspires young players to hone their skills and see football as a career path. “We are humbled by the trust and belief of the award-winning global brand Qatar Airways. This partnership will only strengthen our resolve to make the PFL an even bigger brand and to continue working towards becoming one of the best leagues in the region and continent.”

Qatar Airways holds an extensive global sports portfolio, sponsoring top-level sporting events and some of the biggest football clubs around the world including AS Roma, Boca Juniors and FC Bayern Munich. As official FIFA partner, Qatar Airways sponsors the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, reflecting the values of sport as a means of bringing people together, some-thing at the core of the airline’s brand message - Going Places Together.

The Philippines Football League players celebrate after winning the match.

‘VisCHI reflects Qatar’s place at forefront of developments in computer-human interaction’THE PENINSULA/DOHA

Qatar’s growing technological prowess was on display at the first International Conference on Visu-alization and Computer-Human Interaction (VisCHI), recently.

Organised by Qatar Com-puting Research Institute (QCRI) and the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), the event gathered experts and users of scientific and data visualisation as well as computer-human inter-action technologies.

VisCHI featured an eclectic mix of discussions and interactive ses-sions designed to raise awareness of local and global contributions to visualization and computer-human interaction capabilities. Pro-ceedings also included a poster competition and hackathon. For the poster competition, participants from academia, industry and the public sector were tasked with

designing posters highlighting cutting edge research in data vis-ualization, user-centric design and interrelated disciplines.

VisCHI’s hackathon contest encouraged the full use of rel-evant visualisation technologies to disseminate real-world data. Participants also benefited from a series of evening lectures in the build-up to the event that pro-vided them with the necessary skills to design effective visuali-zation materials and resources. Dr. Michael Aupetit, a senior sci-entist at QCRI, said, “We believe this first VisCHI was a resounding success for two key reasons. First, our ability to attract global experts to this event reflects Qatar’s place at the forefront of developments in visualisation and computer-human interaction. Second, our blend of discussions and interactive sessions allowed participants to engage freely with researchers and designers of these technologies.

Korean Embassy hosts series of eventsRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

More than 1,000 people attended the Korean Ambassador’s Cup Taekwondo Championship 2019 held recently at Al Gharafa Sports Club.

South Korea’s Ambassador to Qatar, Kim Chang-Mo; Eid Ali Almuraikhi, General Secretary of Qatar Taekwondo, Judo and Karate Federation; Eisa Abdulla Al Harami, Director of Sport affairs Department at the Min-istry of Culture and Sports, and Choi Sang hwan, Director of Kuk-kiwon (World Taekwondo Head-quarters), attended the event.

The event, held on November 16, was also attended by ambas-sadors, diplomats, Qatari citizens

and members of the Korean com-munity in Qatar, as well as other expatriate communities.

Tracing its origins to Korea, taekwondo is recognised as one of the oldest forms of martial arts in the world, dating back over 2,000 years. It combines combat and self-defence techniques with sport and exercise. It is a disci-pline that enhances one’s spirit through training one’s body and mind.

The sports event was hosted by the Korean Embassy in Qatar in collaboration with Qatar Taek-wondo, Judo and Karate Feder-ation and Kukkiwon.

The Kukkiwon team has been a pioneer in globalising taek-wondo as a leading martial art since the organisation, which is

also known as the World Taek-wondo Headquarters, was founded in 1972. It organized the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demon-stration Team in 1974 and since then, the group has toured over a dozen countries each year.

Composed of South Korea’s top 70 taekwondo practitioners, the team takes pride in spreading Taekwondo and Korean culture as civilian diplomats. A 20-member delegation flew to Doha for this event.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Embassy also organized Korean cooking classes which taught stu-dents and foodies how to prepare a number of famous Korean dishes. Students from Qatar Uni-versity, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar and Northwestern

University in Qatar (NU-Q) in addition to members of other expatriate communities attended the classes held on November 21.

They learned how to prepare “Dosirak” - a Korean packed lunch that people carry from home which has existed for a long time in many different shapes. In particular, they were taught how to make Korean rice ball called “Jumeokbap,” which is literally translated as “fist rice” since it comprises hand-shaped rice balls which come in different ingredients and seasonings. They also prepared “Gimbap,” which is a Korean dish made from cooked rice and other ingredients that are rolled in gim—dried sheets of nori seaweed—and served in bite-sized slices. And

to complete the packed lunch, the participants also learned how to

cook chicken crisp and prepare salad.

South Korea’s Ambassador to Qatar, Kim Chang-Mo, and Eid Ali Almuraikhi, General Secretary of Qatar Taekwondo, Judo and Karate Federation; during the Korean Ambassador’s Cup Taekwondo Championship 2019 held recently at Al Gharafa Sports Club.

H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya said that the Security Council’s reform process aims to achieve the goals and purposes of the UN Charter, pointing out that any violation of the Charter and the international law weakens the role of the United Nations, undermines the credibility of its organs and affects international efforts to strengthen mechanisms for the maintenance of international peace and security.

NOAH SMITH BLOOMBERG

08 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019VIEWS

Qatar reiterates commitment to take part in UNSC’s reform negotiations

The State of Qatar reiterated its commitment to participate actively in the negotiations on United Nations Security Coun-

cil’s reform, stressing the growing need for dialogue and openness to face the current and growing chal-lenges with a Security Council repre-senting the whole world, reflecting the current geopolitical and economic realities and keeping abreast of devel-opments and changes witnessed by the world.

This came in a statement delivered by H E Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani at the plenary meeting of UN General Assembly on the “Question of Equitable Represen-tation on and Increase in the Mem-bership of the Security Council and Other Matters related to the Security Council.”

H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya said that the Security Council’s

reform process aims to achieve the goals and purposes of the UN Charter, pointing out that any vio-lation of the Charter and the interna-tional law weakens the role of the United Nations, undermines the credibility of its organs and affects international efforts to strengthen mechanisms for the main-tenance of international peace and security.

Threat-ening the sov-ereignty of States and the use of force represent a challenge to

the mandate of the Security Council and the international community, and constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, inter-national law and the resolutions of the General Assembly and the

Security Council, HE said, pointing out that after more than two decades of the discussions on the reform of the Security Council, and the increasing need to the in-depth dia-logue and openness, the State of Qatar provided an opportunity to advance intergovernmental negotia-tions, as in 2017, it hosted the Doha Retreat on Security Council Reform, with the participation of Council’s Member States and State’s represent-atives from all groups.

Her Excellency explained that the discussions confirmed that facing the current and growing challenges with a Security Council is representing the whole world, embodying the current geopolitical and economic realities and keeping pace with the develop-ments and changes witnessed in the world.

She also pointed out that the dis-cussions in the intergovernmental negotiations stressed the importance of small States and Small Island Devel-oping States to have the opportunity in the decision-making process in the expanded Council, stressing that the reform of the Council should not harm small States, and that they should have the representation they deserve in the expanded Security Council.

HE the Ambassador reiterated that any reform of the Council should go hand in hand with improvements in the working methods of the Council and the decision-making mechanism, noting the important role of the General Assembly on matters pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with Article 11 of the Charter, including the recommendations to the Security Council, as the comple-mentary relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly is vital and crucial to the balance of the UN work.

In the statement, HE reiterated the State of Qatar’s position which affirms that the veto is a central issue to the Council’s reform process, explaining that experience had shown that restricting or refraining from using it help to prevent serious crimes such as war crimes, genocide or ethnic cleansing.

The issue of Security Council reform is an important challenge for the international community, as it is closely linked to one of the main pillars of the United Nations, namely, the maintenance of inter-national peace and security, she said, adding that the success of the reform process will contribute sig-nificantly to the realization of the goals of the United Nations and the attainment of a world based on norms, multilateralism, equity and regional balance.

Security Council reform process has been and remains an important topic not for the Member States only, but also for the entire United Nations system, since the presence of the Council that enjoys greater represen-tation, efficiency and transparency, enhances the legitimacy of its deci-sions and accelerates its implemen-tation, as well as strengthens multilat-eralism and contributes to efforts to achieve a more democratic and effective global governance system, H E underlined.

At the end of the statement, HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambas-sador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani said that the State of Qatar stressed that it would continue to par-ticipate positively in the governments’ negotiations for the reform of the Security Council with a view to reaching an effective and accountable Council capable of taking timely deci-sions for the maintenance of interna-tional peace and security.

QNA NEW YORK

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We need quick wins to reduce emissions as much as possible

in 2020. We need to catch up on the years in which we

procrastinated.

Inger Andersen Executive Director of UN

Environment Programme

The web might be a monopolist’s best friend

Lots of pundits and policymakers have concluded that monopoly power is a huge economic problem resulting from gov-

ernment influence, digital network effects or the natural tendencies of the capitalist system. Some economists, however, have urged caution. It’s possible, they argue, that big dominant companies gain market share not because the system is rigged or unstable but because some companies are simply a lot more productive than others. If those companies are more profitable, this story goes, it’s because they put out better products or find clever ways to hold down costs.

There’s also a third possibility that falls somewhere between these extremes. Though economists typically think only about how technology affects productivity, it’s also possible that new technologies have altered the ways com-panies compete.

The internet makes it easy for com-panies to gain market knowledge, promote their products, advertise and manage supply chains across great dis-tances. Whereas three decades ago expanding a store or brand to a new location required lots of boots on the ground, now much of the work can be done remotely. This is even truer of online services companies, which have little physical presence apart from their main offices. Meanwhile, the internet

also allows rapid development of new products, letting companies easily enter one another’s lines of business.

The internet thus puts companies in greater competition with one another than ever before. Businesses for which vast distances or niche specialization once provided a refuge are now forced to battle multiple rivals on a suddenly level playing field. And the companies that win in one place tend to also win everywhere because they have some edge in terms of quality, efficiency or innovation. So industrial concentration rises nationwide.

That’s the theory, anyway, but there is some evidence to back it up. Several recent papers have found that even as national concentration has risen, local concentration has gone down. That sug-gests that a few juggernaut companies are competing away the hometown heroes in towns across the country.

Meanwhile, a paper by economists German Gutierrez and Thomas Philippon found that the country’s most efficient companies have experienced slower pro-ductivity growth since 2000 even as their size has increased. This could be because the top companies secured more intellectual property protections or gov-ernment favors. Or it could be because technology helps them expand into more markets as their initial productivity edge goes from being a slight advantage to an overwhelming one.

Now, economists Philippe Aghion, Antonin Bergeaud, Timo Boppart, Peter

Klenow and Huiyu Li have a theory attempting to explain how this process works. Their research suggests new tech-nology lets companies expand more easily into new product lines within an industry. The companies that are more efficient win the competition. Their initial efforts to expand produce a burst of productivity growth as they strive to develop new products. But after they win in those markets, they slow down and become complacent super-dominant incumbents. That’s when monopoly rot sets in and productivity growth drops.

That story fits disturbingly well with the estimates by Gutiérrez and Philippon. They found that in the 1990s, superstars really did behave like superstars, making outsized contributions to productivity. But the effect reversed after 2000. And though Aghion and his colleagues didn’t model geographic competition, the math probably works the same in many ways.

So it’s possible that the superstar companies dominate American capi-talism simply because the internet has made dominance easier. If that’s true, antitrust crusaders and regulators need to rethink their approach. Breaking up behemoth companies by region, as was done with Standard Oil Co. and Bell Tele-phone Co., might not be as effective with modern superstars because it would be so easy for them to expand back into their old markets. Breakups by product line, such as a proposed separation of Facebook and Instagram, might suffer similar rapid reversals.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Lending voice to UNSC reforms

Qatar has reiterated its commitment to actively par-ticipate in the negotiation on United Nations Security Council’s reforms stressing the importance of imper-

ative dialogue and openness to face the current and growing challenges with a Security Council representing the whole world.

The Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN, H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, while addressing the plenary meeting of UN General Assembly on the ‘Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council’ said that the reform process aims to achieve the goals and purposes of the UN Charter, adding that any violation of the Charter weakens the role of the UN, undermines the credibility of its organs and affects international efforts to strengthen mechanism for the main-tenance of international peace and security.

The clamour for the Security Council reforms has been going on for several years and Qatar has played a major role in promoting the dialogue process as in 2017 the state hosted the Doha Retreat on Security Council Reform with

the participation of the Council’s member states and states’ rep-resentatives from all groups.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has made pro-posals to reform the world body since the beginning of his term in January 2017. He said: “The goal of reform is a 21st century United Nations focused more on people and less on process, more on delivery and less on bureaucracy. The true test of reform will be measured in tan-gible results in the lives of people we serve and the trust of those who support our work.”

The Security Council was established in 1945 and ever

since the geopolitical realities have undergone a sea change, but the Council has changed very little. The victors of the Second World War envisaged the UN Charter in their national interest assigning themselves the permanent seats and associated veto power among themselves.

Since the formation, the veto power has drawn criticism at several critical junctures. Ambassador H E Sheikha Alya reiterated Qatar’s position, which affirms that the veto is a central issue to the Council’s reform process, saying that experience had shown that restricting or refraining from using it help prevent serious crimes.

Under the modern geopolitical situation there are several countries which deserve more say in the international affairs and the small and island countries should get a better treatment. Bringing in changes to the Security Council is not an easy process. It can be done only through frank and sincere efforts with laborious negotiations and by reaching a consensus by the member states. Any amendment to the UN Charter can come into force only after its adoption by the vote of two thirds of the members of the UN General Assembly and ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by two thirds of the UN members, including the permanent members of the Security Council.

The clamour for the Security Council reforms has been going on for several years and Qatar has played a major role in promoting the dialogue process.

H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani addressing UN General Assembly plenary meeting.

Wherever you look in Qatar you will see transformation. All the transformation is well planned to make a better life for the people of Qatar. I can say with full confidence that history will show that Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani transformed the nation to be one of the most advanced countries making the lives of their people better with focus on the health and happiness of their citizens.

09WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 OPINION

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France reels from new blowin tough Africa mission

How to make lives of people healthier: An observationSALAH WERFELLI

MICHEL MOUTOT AFP

The death of 13 French soldiers in a helicopter collision in Mali has dealt a new blow to France’s battle against

jihadists in West Africa as attacks intensify and calls grow for other EU members to share more of the burden. The accident brings to 41 the number of French troops killed in the Sahel region since Paris intervened against Al Qaeda-affiliated extremists in Mali in 2013. While the initial operation to free northern Malian towns from extremists took only a few months, the threat has since metastasised, spreading to southern

Mali as well as neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Despite the support of France’s 4,500-strong counter-terrorism force Barkhane, an EU military training force and an UN peace-keeping mission, regional armies have appeared outgunned by the jihadists. Paying tribute to the “thirteen heros” killed when two French helicopters collided on Monday, Defence Minister Florence Parly said this was “not the time for questioning the merit or not” of France’s military intervention in the Sahel.

But with insurgent attacks mounting, hostility towards France is growing in the region, including in

Mali where the French were acclaimed as liberators in 2013.

“Since the beginning of the French military involvement in the region, everything got worse. There is no progress. The situation has deterio-rated,” Jeremy Keenan, a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London said.

“Maybe this incident (the heli-copter crash) will make French people take notice and say ‘it’s not working, it’s more and more like Afghanistan’,” he said.

The hard-left France Unbowed party on Tuesday waded in to the fray, with its MPs saying it was time for “a serious and rational discussion to find a way out of a war, the meaning of which is lost on a large number of our fellow citizens as well as Malians themselves.”

But no other parties followed suit, with the leaders of the Com-munist Party, the Socialists, the main opposition Republicans and the far-right National Rally all instead lauding the courage of soldiers

enlisted in the fight against terrorism.Francois Heisbourg, a special

adviser at France’s Foundation for Strategic Research, said he did not expect the crash to lead to a pro-found rethink of France’s military involvement in west Africa. But Heis-bourg said he did expect a debate on why France was being left by other EU members to do most of the heavy lifting. Speaking on RTL radio, former airforce general Jean-Paul Palomeros said Tuesday that the latest French casualties showed the limitations of a “purely national” intervention.

“Our European friends, if they want to ensure their long-term safety against terrorism, must help us and step up now,” he added, warning that failure to do so would result in the creation of “an Islamic State in Africa”. Parly denied that France, which has repeatedly called on its European partners to commit more troops and funds to the fight against terrorism in West Africa, had been abandoned by its allies.

Through my travels for the past 40 years and visiting about 50 countries I can say that Qatar is one of the best

and most beautiful countries I have visited. I first visited Qatar in October 2018 and fell in love with the country and its people. I opened a new technology company for cyber security, AI, and social media in Doha, which is what brought me to your country.

Wherever you look in Qatar you will see transformation. All the transformation is well planned to make a better life for the people of Qatar. I can say with full confidence that history will show that Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani trans-formed the nation to be one of the most advanced countries making the lives of their people better with focus on the health and happiness of their citizens. There are trans-formations in transportation, tech-nology, education, economy, com-munications and health in addition

to other areas. In this article, I want to explore health as an example.

Qatar has the best hospital system in the region if not in the world. They have the most sophisti-cated and modern facilities and best doctors from all over the world. And as a USA citizen from the Silicon Valley, California, I can testify to this.

However, with all of these won-derful achievements, there is one issue I have observed that, if not addressed, will likely negate some of these great achievements in the area of health. This issue is not caused by the citizens of Qatar but rather by the residents of Qatar as I have observed. The problem is the extensive and invasive smoking almost everywhere you go.

I am not saying that the citizens of Qatar don’t smoke; I am saying that the majority of smokers seem to be residents of Qatar. I have never observed people smoking in the Majlis (and I visited a large number of Majalis). However, you can see the problem of smoking in the coffee shops, hotels, in front of banks, stores, the markets, on the roads, and in most public areas.

I finally decided to write this article after an incident that hap-pened to me on November 9, 2019, motivating me to do something about it if possible. I traveled to Souq Waqif to visit and have dinner with two friends. The smoke from cigarettes and the shisha there was every place like smoking chimneys, and we heard a number of other visitors saying “Too much smoke, let’s leave”.

We looked at each other and agreed that was a good idea so also left Souq Waqif and went to The Pearl. We arrived at The Pearl, sitting outside to have dinner. There were people smoking but at some distance from us. We decided to sit next to a family with children to ensure that the next table to us was non-smoking. Within just a few minutes the two men with the family started to smoke without any regard to the two infants (few months old) and the other five children ages ~ 3 to 5 years old. One of the infants started to have problems breathing and the mother moved away from the table for some time with her infants and the two men just kept smoking. Again these people were residents of Qatar and not citizens of

Qatar. As resident of Qatar, we should help improve and not bring destructive habits which cause harm. Causing people to breathe our smoking is like attempting murder. There is absolutely no difference; I can even go further to say it is worst than attempting murder. Because this harmful act is repeated in hourly basis 365 days a year. Here is the affect of your secondhand smoking on the country and its people. As background, the US has an extensive education program warning about the health impact and implications regarding smoking and secondhand smoke and the insidious ways it can penetrate our environment and impact our lives.

I am neither a medical doctor nor an expert in the subject of the effects of smoking and secondhand smoke on the health and the economy of a nation and its popu-lation. So I referred to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US for an Overview of Diseases/Conditions.

Smoking and secondhand smoke leads to disease and disa-bility and harms nearly every organ system of the body. It is the leading cause of preventable death. Here are the facts about diseases and conditions associated with smoking: Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer. Hence this can represent a significant burden to Qatar’s healthcare system, cause early deaths, and cost billions of Qatari Riyals in medical costs and loss of productivity to deal with something that is preventable.

Poisons in cigarette smoke can weaken the body’s immune system, making it harder to kill cancer cells. When this happens, cancer cells can

tobacco smoke can damage or change a cell’s DNA. When DNA is damaged, a cell can begin growing out of control and create a cancer tumor. Breathing secondhand smoke can cause coronary heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.

smoke causes nearly 34,000 early deaths from coronary heart disease each year in the United States

who breathe secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk

of developing heart disease by 25–30%. Secondhand smoke increases the risk for stroke by

smoke exposure causes more than

Breathing secondhand smoke inter-feres with the normal functioning of the heart, blood, and vascular systems in ways that increase your

briefly breathing secondhand smoke can damage the lining of blood vessels and cause your blood to become stickier. These changes can cause a deadly heart attack.

Smoking and secondhand smoke cause type 2 diabetes. In fact, smokers are 30–40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers. And people with diabetes who smoke are more likely than nonsmokers to have trouble with insulin dosing and with con-trolling their disease. The more cig-arettes you smoke or the more exposure to secondhand smoke, the higher your risk for type 2 diabetes. No matter what type of diabetes you have, smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke makes your diabetes harder to control.

If you have diabetes and you smoke, you are more likely to have serious health problems from dia-betes. Smokers with diabetes have higher risks for serious complica-

legs and feet that can lead to infec-tions, ulcers, and possible ampu-tation (removal of a body part by

Retinopathy (an eye disease that

neuropathy (damaged nerves to the arms and legs that causes numbness, pain, weakness, and poor coordination)

Since sometimes it is very hard for people to change their destructive behavior, an inter-vention is needed to help them and protect others.

In this case, to solve the behav-ioral problem, we may need to look at changing the structure. By observing nature we may learn how. For example we cannot change the behavior of lighting but we can change how we build struc-tures to avoid damage from a potential lighting strike. We put lighting rods on the building to direct the charges to the ground. Problem solved!

In our case with smokers, we may not be able to stop the smoker from smoking but we can change the structure to avoid the sec-ondhand smoke damage caused to the people around them and to the health system. Here are some steps we might take: 1) No smoking in restaurants, coffee shops and the hotels. Hotels can optionally provide enclosed places for smokers if they wish. It is the hotel’s option. This ban can be extended to any places in the country as the government deems appropriate such as shops, schools, train sta-tions, airports, etc. 2) Forbid the Shisha smoking in all public places. 3) Smoking must happen at least 30 meters from the doors of any public place such as banks, government buildings, shops, super markets,

hotels, restaurants, apartments, offices etc. 4) No smoking in the streets and sidewalks where people are walking or public seating is provided such as in parks and rec-reation areas. 5) Social agencies may intervene if it is determined by a medical doctor that smoking parents have caused a child’s illness. 6) Impose a large tax on cigarettes with the money going into education regarding the impacts of smoking and sec-ondhand smoke and the healthcare system to defray the costs resulting from smoking. 7) Encourage the selection of nonsmokers to work in the country if at all possible. 8) Educate, Educate, Educate.

Finally, I hope that this article is taken as intended. To help people live better lives and not cause harm to others, directly or indirectly. Harm is harm and we should be aware of the affect of our habits and actions. May Allah guide all of us to the right path. With love and respect for all.

Salah Werfelli is CEO of Ogoul Technology based in Doha, Qatar. Dr. Salah M. Werfelli is an estab-lished Silicon Valley serial entre-preneur with over 30 years expe-rience in system and integrated circuit (IC) design solutions with an Executive Management track record of building industry leading business enterprises.

Werfelli holds patents in his fields, a B.S.E.E. degree from Washington University School of Engineering, St Louis, MO with studies at UCLA in Nuclear Engi-neering and is a graduate of the PhD Executive Program for Sci-ences and Engineers from the Uni-versity of California San Diego.

10 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019GULF / MIDDLE EAST

Palestinians stage a protest against US decision on illegal Israeli settlements in Nablus, West Bank, yesterday.

Palestinians protest US decision on Israeli settlements in ‘day of rage’AP/RAMALLAH, WEST BANK

Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated across the West Bank yesterday to protest the recent US announcement that it no longer believes Israeli settlements in the West Bank violate international law. As the so-called “day of rage” continued, groups of protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in several flashpoints.

Around 2,000 people gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah by midday. They had set ablaze posters of US President Donald Trump as well as Israeli and American flags. Schools, universities and government offices were shut-tered and rallies were being held in city centers around the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“The biased American policy towards Israel, and the American support of the Israeli settlements and the Israeli occupation, leaves us with only one option: To go back to resistance,” Mahmoud Aloul, an official with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, told the crowd in Ramallah. Demonstrators held signs reading: “Trump to impeachment, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to jail, the occu-pation will go and we will remain on our land.”

At Israeli checkpoints near Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, dozens of protesters threw stones at Israeli forces who responded with tear gas. There were no immediate

reports of injuries.The protests came just

hours after the death of a Pal-estinian prisoner in Israeli custody following a battle with cancer. Organisers had also called for the demonstrations —planned since before his death — to call for the release of Sami Abu Diak, 35, to allow him to die at his family’s side. Israeli officials denied the request.

Organised by Fatah, yes-terday’s “day of rage” pro-tested the Trump administra-tion’s announcement on Israeli settlements last week. The decision upended four decades of American policy and embraced a hard-line Israeli view at the expense of the Pal-estinian quest for statehood.

Israeli leaders welcomed the US decision, while the Pal-estinians and most of the world say the settlements undermine hopes for a two-state solution by gobbling up land sought by the Pales-tinians. Israel says the fate of the settlements should be determined in negotiations, even as it steadily expands them. Israel captured the West

Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and quickly began settling the newly con-quered territory.

Today, some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the two areas, which are both claimed by the Palestinians for their state. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had specifically announced that the US was repudiating the 1978 State Department legal opinion.

That opinion had been the basis for more than 40 years of carefully worded US oppo-sition to settlement con-struction that had varied in its tone and strength, depending on the president’s position. President Ronald Reagan, for instance, said settlements were not inherently illegal, though he called them unhelpful and provocative. Other administrations had called them “illegitimate” and “obstacles to peace.”

Meanwhile, Israeli prose-cutors have charged the leader of a Jewish extremist group with incitement to violence and terrorism for inflam-matory remarks about Palestinians.

Palestinian dies in Israeli prisonANATOLIA/RAMALLAH

A Palestinian detainee has died in Israeli prison, a local NGO said yesterday, blaming the death on medical negligence.

“Sami Abu Diak, 37, died in Assaf Harofeh medical center where he was transferred after his health has deteriorated,” the Pal-estinian Prisoner Society said.

Abu Diak, from the West Bank city of Jenin, was detained by Israeli forces in 2002 and sen-tenced to three lifetimes in prison. According to the NGO, Abu Diak suffered a medical error after undergoing a failed surgery at the Israeli Soroka hospital, where part of his intestine has been removed.

It went on to accuse the Israeli authorities of killing the cancer-stricken detainee.

“Israel started to kill Abu Diak even before he was diagnosed with cancer as he was subjected to medical negligence,” it said.

There was no comment from Israeli prison authorities on the detainee’s death. The Palestinian Authority (PA) held Israel accountable for Abu Diak’s death. In a statement, the PA warned of “the continuation of the slow death of prisoners in Israeli jails” due to its policy of medical negligence, according to the official Wafa news agency.

Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, blamed “Israel’s policy of medical negligence” for the detainee’s death, describing the policy as a “a crime against humanity and a brazen violation of all inter-national law and norms”.

Ahmad Al Tamimi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organ-ization (PLO)’s executive com-mittee, described the death as an Israeli crime against the Pales-tinians. Last week, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for an urgent international intervention to release Abu Diak and provide

him with the necessary medical treatment.

Abu Diak’s mother had also appealed to the world to put pressure on Israel to release her son. Before his death, Abu Diak issued a letter, in which he called for allowing him to see his mother.

“To every person with con-science, I live my last hours and days. I want to be in my last days and hours beside my mother and my loved ones, and I want to die in her arms. I do not want to die while my hands and feet are cuffed and in front of a jailer who loves death and nurtures and delights by our pains and sufferings.”

Around 222 Palestinian detainees are estimated to have died in Israeli prisons since 1967, five of them passed away this year.

Over 5,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons located throughout Israel, according to Palestinian official figures.

Istanbul to host World Halal Summit, Halal ExpoANATOLIA/ISTANBUL

The 5th World Halal Summit and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) 7th Halal Expo will kick off in Istanbul tomorrow.

Leading companies, top offi-cials, decision-makers, experts, academics, scientists, and stu-dents from 80 countries —including the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Far East, America — will attend the summit.

“The summit aims to raise

awareness about halal by hosting conferences where halal-related topics in finance, tourism, food, medicine, pharmacy, cosmetics, textile, modest fashion and other sectors are discussed at,” according to its website.

The four-day annual summit is organised in cooperation with the Islamic Centre for Devel-opment of Trade (ICDT) and the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC).

The summit, which will be

held under the main theme of “Halal for All Generations”, is expected to make halal trade and develop multilateral relations between countries.

The 7th Halal Expo, which is the largest exhibition in the halal sector, will gather the sector players with large international participation.

Some 40,000 visitors and 9,000 professional delegates are expected to attend the expo which will exhibit 316 domestic and foreign companies from 35

countries. Last year, the expo hosted 200 buyers from 25 countries. Both events will be organised under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey in Istanbul’s Eurasia Exhibition Center.

Yunus Ete, the president of the World Halal Summit Organ-ization, said while the Muslim population is rising rapidly in the world, their consumption is also increasing. “A few Muslim coun-tries, including Turkey, take less share than other world countries

from the $4trillion halal market,” he noted in a press release.

He recalled that currently Turkey’s halal market volume reached $15bn, while the global halal market volume is expected to reach $7bn in 2021.

He also said Turkey has 150 of the total 350 halal touristic facilities in the world. The halal tourism volume is expected to reach $300bn globally and Turkey can take a $20bn share from this volume as of 2023, Ete underlined.

The father of a demonstrator who was killed at an anti-government protest, reacts during a funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday.

Protester dead, dozens wounded across IraqAFP/BAGHDAD

A protester was shot dead yesterday in the Iraqi capital and dozens more were wounded across the country’s south, where burning tyres blocked highways and thick black smoke blanketed its restive cities.

The casualties in clashes with security forces were the latest episode of violence in the nearly two-month-old grassroots movement demanding the total overhaul of Iraq’s political class.

At least 350 people have been killed and around 15,000 wounded since the protests broke out on October 1 in Baghdad and the Shia majority south. The latest victim fell in Baghdad, shot by a rubber bullet near Al Ahrar bridge, which leads to a cluster of government buildings on the west bank of the river Tigris.

Fearing protesters would cross it to storm those offices, security forces have sealed off Al Ahrar and used volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and live fire to keep crowds back. Demonstrators — most of them teenagers — throw rocks from behind their own makeshift barri-cades in daily skirmishes that have transformed the historic heart of Baghdad into a flashpoint.

T h e c l a s h e s l e f t

another 18 demonstrators wounded near Al-Ahrar on Tuesday, according to a medical source. Many of the young men had been there for days or weeks without going home, with one telling AFP: “We won’t leave unless it’s in coffins.”

“Either way, I’ve got no job, no money, so whether I stay here or go home, it’s all the same,” said another.

An Iraqi tricolour tied around his shoulders, he went on bitterly: “I’ll never be able to get married without work or a salary, so I’ve got no family and no home anyway.”

Coloured smoke bombs went off all around them, filling the colon-naded streets with puffs of orange, green and purple. In the south, it was protesters themselves who were responsible for smoke. They burned tyres along highways outside the city of Diwaniyah, blockading main bridges and one of the province’s three power stations. In the city itself, massive crowds marched through the streets, tearing down posters of poli-ticians and drumming on them with their shoes to insult them.

“It’s been two months, we’re sick of your promises,” they chanted.

Schools and public buildings have been shut in Diwaniyah for the past month by strikes and road clo-sures, but skirmishes with riot police

have been rare. In nearby Hillah, the usually peaceful sit-ins took a violent turn overnight when security forces fired tear gas grenades at protesters, wounding around 60, medics said.

Demonstrators and security forces in the Shia holy city of Karbala lobbed Molotov cock-tails at each another. Nighttime skirmishes have become routine in the city, but on Tuesday they carried on into midday and live fire could be heard ringing out in the afternoon, a reporter said.

In Dhi Qar, arteries linking key cities and the three oil fields of Garraf, Nasiriyah and Subba were shut. Clashes with police guarding

the fields left 13 officers wounded.The three oil fields together produce around

200,000 of Iraq’s roughly 3.6 million barrels a day. Iraq is ranked Opec’s second-biggest crude producer and, according to Transparency International, the world’s 12th most corrupt country. The turmoil since the start of October has not significantly impacted oil production or exports, which fund virtually all of the coun-try’s state budget. Iraq’s cabinet is currently discussing the 2020 budget before it is sub-mitted to parliament and government sources say it is expected to be one of the country’s largest yet.

Iran takes action against TV channel that aired protestsAP/DUBAI

Iran has imposed punitive measures on individuals asso-ciated with a London-based TV channel that aired videos of anti-government protests.

The judiciary’s website said it imposed “judicial and legal restrictions” on property held by individuals associated with Iran International, without elaborating. The Persian lan-guage channel had aired several videos of the anti-government protests that erupted across Iran last week in response to a fuel price hike.

Amnesty International says at least 143 people were killed and that security forces fired on unarmed protesters. In 2017, BBC filed a complaint to the United Nations over Iran freezing the assets of more than 150 people linked to its Persian service.

Around 2,000 people gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah by midday. “The biased American policy towards Israel, and the American support of the Israeli settlements and the Israeli occupation, leaves us with only one option: To go back to resistance,” Mahmoud Aloul, an official with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, told the crowd in Ramallah.

2 Iraqi lawmakers arrested for corruptionANATOLIA/BAGHDAD

Two Iraqi lawmakers have been arrested for corruption, the country’s integrity commission said yesterday.

The commission said Sadiq Madloul Al Sultan and Ahmed Al Jabouri, the former gov-ernors of the Babel and Saladin provinces, were arrested upon orders from the Central Anti-Corruption Court. Al Sultan faces accusations of committing irregularities by allowing imported cement into the country without tariffs when he was a governor, the com-mission said. It said Al Jabouri, meanwhile, faces charges of committing irregularities in the construction of student dormi-tories at the University of Tikrit.

Last month, the Iraqi par-liament voted to lift the immunity of MPs accused of corruption.

Flooded Mogadishu street

11WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Hariri says he does not want to be PMREUTERS/BEIRUT

Lebanon’s Saad Al Hariri said yesterday he did not want to be prime minister of a new government, putting the onus on adversaries including the Iran-backed group Hezbollah to find an alternative who can steer the country out of crisis.

Hariri, who is Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician and is aligned with Western and Gulf Arab states, said his decision was final. He quit on October 29 in the face of nationwide protests against Lebanon’s ruling elite over rampant state corruption. His decision leaves no clear front-runner to form a government that

must tackle the worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. The post is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Five weeks since the protests began, the situation facing Lebanon is as grave as any since the end of the civil war, raising concerns for the stability of a

heavily indebted state riven by sectarianism. Hezbollah and its allies had wanted Hariri to return as premier but rejected his demand for the formation of a cabinet of expert ministers with no political parties represented. Instead, they sought a gov-ernment comprising both tech-nocrats and politicians.

Russia eyes further military cooperation with TurkeyANATOLIA/MOSCOW

Russia and Turkey have “big plans” on military cooperation, Alexander Mikheev, head of the Rosoboronexport, the only authorized exporter of Russian arms, said yesterday.

As the delivery of the first S-400 air defense system is com-pleted, Russia and Turkey dis-cussed the supply of the second set with partial production local-ization in Turkey, but the military cooperation between the two countries is not limited to the S-400s, Mikheev said in an interview with the Russian state-run RIA news agency.

According to Mikheev, Turkey paid in full for the S-400 system, and Russia delivered all components of the system.

Turkish staff is currently under training in Russia, which they expect to complete by the end of the year.

He also said all financial questions are settled, money is received in full, acts of acceptance and delivery are signed, and all equipment is

ready to install. “Until the end of 2019, we will complete the training of combat crews in Gatchina [military base near Saint Petersburg], and we will train guarantee officers,” Mikheev said.

The second S-400 system, suggesting partial localization of its production, can be delivered in 2020, Mikheev said.

“It should be noted that cur-rently technical issues with the Turkish side have been resolved, and negotiations on the financial issue are underway. We hope that in the first half of 2020 we will sign the contracts,” he said.

Sensing that its protracted efforts to purchase an air defense missile system from the ally U.S. was not heading toward success, Turkey in April 2017, signed a contract with Russia to acquire the S-400 anti-missile shield. Opposing deployment of the Russian system, U.S. officials argued that the S-400s would be incompatible with the NATO systems and expose its fifth gen-eration, the state-of-art, F-35 jet, to possible Russian subterfuge.

Somali men pushing their rickshaw through flood waters after a rainfall in Mogadishu, yesterday.

Sudan scraps law abusing women’s rightsAFP/KHARTOUM

Sudan’s cabinet yesterday scrapped a controversial law that severely curtailed women’s rights during the 30-year tenure of deposed Omar Hassan Al Bashir, state media reported.

Hundreds of women were flogged, fined and even jailed during Bashir’s rule under the public order law for “indecent and immoral acts”.

“The council of ministers agreed in an extraordinary meeting today to cancel the public order law across all prov-inces,” the official Suna news agency reported.

The cabinet’s decision is still to be ratified by the ruling sov-ereign council, which is an 11-member joint civilian-mil-itary body. Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989, severely restricting the role of women in Sudan for decades.

During his rule, authorities implemented a strict moral code that activists said primarily tar-geted women. Bashir was deposed by the army on April 11 after months of protests against his rule.Women were at the forefront of demonstrations.

Activists say the public order law was used as a weapon, with

security forces regularly arresting women even for attending private parties or for wearing trousers.

A senior member of Bashir’s ex-ruling National Congress Party contended that it had been implementation of the law by individual actors — rather than the law per se — that had created problems. “Some policemen were using this law to harass women,” said Mohamed al-Amin, who is also a defence lawyer for Bashir.

“What we need is to pre-cisely define under article 152 the dress code for women.”

Sudan’s new government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has assured citizens it will uphold women’s rights.

Yesterday, the cabinet also decided to “restructure the country’s judicial system in order to prepare it for the new era,” Suna reported without elaborating.

36 dead after heavy rain pounds DR Congo capitalAFP KINSHASA

Thirty-six people died in the DR Congo capital Kinshasa after torrential overnight rains, with some swept away by landslides, a top city official said yesterday, giving a provi-sional toll.

“The (provincial) interior minister has just advised of a toll of 36 dead. The search (for survivors) is continuing. The loss, in terms of property and lives, is really huge,” Kinshasa’s vice governor, Neron Mbungu, said. At least two bridges col-lapsed as well as a part of a major road in the capital, Mbungu said, adding that the dead included a child who was electrocuted.

Fatal floods and rains are frequent in Kinshasa. In January

A road surface swept away by a landslide caused by torrential overnight rains in the Lemba district of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, yesterday.

last year, dozens were killed in landslides and floods and after houses collapsed following just

one night of heavy rain. Africa’s third largest city,

Kinshasa counts around 10

million inhabitants, many of whom live in precarious dwellings.

US officials meet Haftar to end Tripoli offensiveAFP WASHINGTON

Senior US officials met with Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on Monday night to discuss steps towards ending his offensive on Tripoli, and accused Russia of exploiting the conflict, the State Department said.

The delegation, which included the US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, aimed to establish “steps to achieve a suspension of hostilities and a political resolution to the Libyan conflict,” the statement read.

The officials underscored full US “support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Libya and expressed serious concern over Russia’s exploitation of the conflict at the expense of the Libyan people.”

The discussions built on talks held by a delegation from Libya’s fledgling unity government in Washington earlier this month. “These include concrete efforts to address militias and extremist elements, and the distribution of resources so they benefit all Libyans,” the statement said. Haftar in April launched an

offensive to seize Tripoli that has killed more than 1,000 people. Russian mercenaries have been reported to be fighting on the side of Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army.

The New York Times reported earlier in November that the fighters were believed to be controlled by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, an allegation denied by Moscow.

Washington first accused Russia of exploiting the conflict in Libya after the November 14 meeting with Libyan unity gov-ernment representatives.

Western powers have sent mixed signals with France and Italy welcoming Haftar for visits and Trump after a phone call hailing his role in “fighting ter-rorism and securing Libya’s oil resources.”

But the United States later distanced itself from Haftar and joined calls for a ceasefire.

Haftar enjoys strong support from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which appreciate his opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the broad Islamist movement across the Arab world.

Zimbabwe senior doctors stop work as hospital strike spreadsREUTERS/HARARE

Senior doctors at Zimbabwe’s public hospitals went on strike yesterday to protest against the dismissal of junior colleagues who have boycotted work over pay for nearly three months, deepening a crisis in the coun-try’s health sector.

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade that has seen resurgent inflation soaring to three-digit levels, eroding salaries and savings and re-igniting mem-ories of the hyperinflation era

of a decade ago. Senior doctors had con-

tinued to provide emergency services after their junior col-leagues stopped working on Sept. 3. to demand higher pay. At least 448 junior doctors have been fired and many more are awaiting disciplinary hearings.

“We are no longer able to offer any emergency services as from the 26th of November 2019... until all the fired doctors are reinstated and there is ade-quate redressal of their inca-pacities,” the Senior Hospital Doctors’ Association (SHDA)

said in a statement. An SHDA spokesperson

would not say how many of the 200 senior doctors, including specialists, had gone on strike.

The strike by junior and middle-level doctors has para-lysed state hospitals, used by Zimbabwe’s poor majority. Even before the strike, the hospitals had already been struggling with shortages of drugs and other basic products.

Health Minister Obadiah Moyo told a post-cabinet media briefing that he was not aware of the strike by senior doctors

and said the government would continue its disciplinary action against those who were boy-cotting work.

Moyo said the government would this week post advertise-ments to fill vacancies left by the sacked doctors. However, Zim-babwe already has a shortage of doctors, with many having gone abroad to seek better opportunities.

Critics say President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to keep promises he made in last year’s election campaign to revive the economy by

pushing through reforms, attracting foreign investment and rebuilding collapsing infrastructure.

Many Zimbabweans are angry that top government officials continue to travel abroad for treatment while state hospitals are turning away patients because of the doctors’ strike.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga returned home on Sat-urday after spending four months in China receiving medical treatment for an unknown illness.

Car bomb leaves17 dead inTurkey-controlledregion of SyriaAFP/ISTANBUL

A car bomb killed at least 17 people and wounded 20 others in the Turkish-controlled region of northern Syria yesterday, Turkey’s defence ministry said.

The attack took place in the Tal Halaf village west of the city of Ras Al Ayn, which is now controlled by the Turkish mil-itary after its offensive in October, the ministry said on its official Twitter account.

Several vehicles were reduced to charred shells by the blast at a village market, images from the scene showed.

It blamed the attack on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara accuses of being the Syrian off-shoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984.

“The PKK/YPG terror group continues its car bombings aimed at civilians. The child murderers this time detonated a car bomb in Tal Halaf village west of Ras Al Ayn, killing 17 people and wounding more than 20,” the defence ministry said on Twitter.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attack but gave a lower toll, saying 11 people, including at least three civilians had been killed. But it said the death toll is likely to climb.

Thousands displaced by Nigeria ‘bandit’ attacksAFP/KANO

Thousands of villagers have been displaced following days of attacks by armed “bandits” on 10 remote communities in central Nigeria, emergency services said yesterday. Gunmen on motorbikes stormed into a string of villages in the Shiroro district of Niger state from Friday to Monday, shooting and torching homes and forcing resi-dents to flee. “We have so far documented 4,000 people displaced by the bandits,” Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) spokesman Ibrahim Audu Hussein said.

The cabinet’s decision is still to be ratified by the ruling sovereign council, which is an 11-member joint civilian-military body.

12 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019ASIA

Maharashtra: Setback for BJP as Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar quit after 80 hours in power

IANS NEW DELHI

Within a night’s span, a deal with NCP leader Ajit Pawar saw the BJP forming a government in Maharashtra with Devendra Fadnavis seeming set for another term as Chief Minister. But before the test of strength in the Assembly ordered by the Apex Court, both Fadnavis and his deputy quit yesterday.

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the Fadnavis government had to secure a vote of confidence in the house by 5pm today. A few hours later, Ajit Pawar put in his papers and subse-quently, so did Fadnavis, admitting the BJP did not have the necessary numbers in the 288-member Assembly.

Thus nor did the BJP succeed with “Operation Kamal” in the western state, and neither did Ajit Pawar fulfil his promise of luring away the requisite number of Nationalist Congress Party

legislators to prop the government.Seeing there was no hope of cob-

bling a majority, Fadnavis threw in his towel, announcing his resignation at a press conference at 3.30pm. Ajit Pawar had been Deputy Chief Minister for 78 hours, and Fadnavis for 80 hours. When Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were suddenly sworn-in at 8am on Saturday — a few hours after the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP combine had reached a final agreement, the BJP had hailed the development as a “major master stroke”.

On social media, BJP supporters and sympathisers had lavishly praised the sudden turnaround. But, as soon as NCP supremo and Ajit Pawar’s uncle, Sharad Pawar tweeted that this was his nephew’s individual decision and the NCP was not part of a BJP-led gov-ernment, the political scenario began to change hour to hour.

At first it was being believed that Ajit Pawar had his uncle’s tacit support, but the way the senior Pawar kept up coor-dination with the Sena and the Congress, and participated in the unprecedented ‘public parade’ of the combine’s 162 MLAs at the Hyatt hotel here on Monday evening, these rumours were dispelled.

After not achieving the necessary numbers, the BJP zeroed on the expedient of using the whip option. It was decided that the Pro-tem Speaker would confirm the power to issue the whip lay with the junior Pawar, and then ways to save the government would be devised. However, it was realised that this step would open the way to questions on the competence of the Centre, Governor, Assembly, and the Pro-tem Speaker and the matter could reach the Supreme Court. There were apprehensions of the measure leading to a Constitutional spat.

Uddhav to be sworn-in as Chief Minister tomorrowMUMBAI: Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray yesterday staked his claim to form the government in Maharashtra before Governor B S Koshyari, party sources said. The Governor has accepted the claim and announced that Thackeray will be sworn-in as Chief Minister on 5pm on November 28 (Thursday) at Shivaji Park. A high-level delegation including NCP leader Praful Patel, NCP state chief Jayant Patil, Congress state President Balasaheb Thorat, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, Samajwadi Party state President Abu Asim Azmi and other leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi met the Governor and submitted a letter from Thackeray, support letters of all alliance partners, and other docu-ments, to the Governor. The development came hours after Thackeray was unanimously elected as chief of the ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’.

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the Fadnavis government had to secure a vote of confidence in the house by 5pm today. A few hours later, Ajit Pawar put in his papers and subsequently, so did Fadnavis, admitting the BJP did not have the necessary numbers in the 288-member Assembly.

Cartosat-3 satellite’s launch countdown beginsIANS CHENNAI

The countdown for the launch of India’s advanced earth obser-vation satellite Cartosat-3 using the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) is progressing smoothly, said an official of the Indian space agency.

The rocket is scheduled to

blast off from the second launch pad at 9.28am today. The 26-hour countdown for the launch began at 7.28am yes-terday. According to ISRO, the Cartosat-3 is an advanced agile satellite to obtain panchromatic and multispectral imagery with an operational life of five years.

The payload has the capa-bility to take sharp pictures with a ground resolution of

0.25 metre in Panchromatic and 1metre ground resolution or ground sample distance (GSD) in 4 Band Multispectral modes with a swath of 16km, said ISRO.

The Indian space agency also said, Cartosat-3 has many new technologies/elements like highly agile structural platform, payload platform, higher rate data handling and transmission

systems, advanced on-board computer and new power elec-tronics, dual gimbal antenna and others.

To be placed in an orbit of 509km at an inclination of 97.5 degrees, the Cartosat-3 will furnish images that cater to the demand of urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development, coastal land use and land cover and also for

strategic/defence purposes. The Indian space agency officials used to say that they would supply the required images for various agencies. It is for the user agency to decide on the image use. Sharing the ride with Car-tosat-3 will be 13 nano satellites from the USA for an undisclosed fee to be paid to NewSpace India Ltd -- the new commercial arm of ISRO.

Students hold placards and candles during the 11th anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai militant attack, at a school in Amritsar, yesterday. Militants laid siege to India’s financial capital Mumbai in November 2008 for three days, killing 166 people and injuring hundreds more.

Remembering martyrs

Two dead, seven injured in Kashmir grenade attacksAFP SRINAGAR

At least two people were killed in grenade attacks in Kashmir yesterday and two militants shot dead by Indian forces, officials said, in one of the region’s most violent days since New Delhi imposed a security clampdown.

The Indian government shut down Internet and phone lines and flooded the Muslim-majority region with security forces to back its August 5 move to strip Kashmir of its auton-omous status and impose tighter central control.

Amid heightened tensions, suspected militants staged two

grenade attacks yesterday, a top police official, speaking on con-dition of anonymity, said.

One was thrown at a group of village councillors and gov-ernment officials waiting outside an administration building in the village of Hakura, south of the main city of Srinagar. The police official said two people were killed and at least four injured. The second grenade was lobbed into a store next to an entrance to the University of Kashmir in Srinagar, injuring three people, the official added. The attacks were the worst on one day since the clampdown — which has been gradually eased by India — started.

Sabarimala row: Trupti leaves, vows to returnIANS KOCHI

After a day-long standoff, Trupti Desai, the activist who stayed put at the Kochi City Police Commis-sioner’s office with her team insisting police protection to visit the Sabarimala temple, decided to leave for the airport to fly back to Pune.

“For the time being, we have decided to leave. But we will return,” Desai told the media after coming out of the Police Commissioner’s office, where

she was holed up since early morning.

The 2018 apex court verdict on Sabarimala was still valid and there had been no stay on it and so we decided to come and pray at the shrine, she said.

“We came here straight from the airport to seek police pro-tection for our trip to Sabarimala. But they told us the issue was sub judice and hence they were unable to provide us security. I told them it’s not true,” said Desai. During the day she had talks with several top police

officials and all of them advised that it was not safe to travel to the temple town as there could be pepper spray attack or even acid attack, Desai said.

Desai took the decision after right wing protesters returned to protest in front of the Com-missioner’s office after knowing that Desai was yet to leave and return to Pune and was adamant on praying at the Sabarimala temple. After hearing about Desai’s arrival in the morning, the right wing activists began their protest. It was called off

after the police assured them that she would not attempt to visit Sabarimala. Desai and her team were holed up at the Com-missioner’s office for over 12 hours. She and her team after arriving at the Kochi airport around 5 a.m drove straight to the Commissioner’s office and sought protection to visit the temple, located about 200 km from here, even as the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government in Kerala has stated that it will not make any effort to ensure entry of women into the temple.

IANS NEW DELHI

#Constitution Day trended on Twitter with 76,000 tweets yesterday as President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended their greetings to the people and reminded them of their rights and duties.

The President wrote on the official Twitter handle @rash-trapatibhvn: “Rights and duties are two sides of the same coin. Our Constitution provides the fundamental right to ‘freedom of speech and expression’ and it also enjoins upon citizens the duty to safeguard public property and to abjure violence.”

Yearlong nationwide activ-ities have been launched on November 26 to mark the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution by the Constituent Assembly.

PMO India’s Twitter handle @PMOIndia reminded people of the historic day and quoted Modi: “70 years ago we adopted our great Constitution. As proud citizens of India, let us think about how our actions will make our nation even stronger.” A user posted the 1950’s black-and-white group picture of the Constitution Drafting Committee Chair Babasaheb Ambedkar along with other members.

Twitterati greets nation on Constitution Day

Shiv Sena Party leader Uddhav Thackeray (right) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar attend a joint meeting along with leaders of Congress Party in Mumbai, yesterday.

Party sources said that amid all these eventualities, the party realised that its haste to form a government had been counter-productive. The party also felt that the support it had gained at not forming a government for 29 days had been dispelled by forming one without the necessary majority. The BJP also realised it had taken Ajit Pawar at his

word, and become over-confident as a result. It had believed that since Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule focussed on Central politics and Ajit Pawar was state in-charge, he had the necessary influence over party legis-lators. But this did not happen and the BJP’s gambit seemed a self-goal, raising questions over its power and strategy.

IANS/NEW DELHI

Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, here yesterday, launched a ‘Kejriwal fir se’ (Kejriwal again) campaign, ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls and said the AAP changed the political narrative in the national capital so much that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) couldn’t do Hindu-Muslim politics.

While celebrating the AAP’s eighth foundation day, Kejriwal also launched a mobile number for people to become the party volunteer and urged the volun-

teers to gear up for elections.“Never thought people will

give us so much love in so less time. This is god’s blessing and people’s love,” he said while addressing the party leaders and workers. The Delhi Chief Min-ister said the people were doubly excited to vote for the AAP than in 2015 Assembly polls.

He said the party achieved three things in the last seven years – “We proved that it’s pos-sible to run an honest gov-ernment; everything is possible, and the BJP too need to highlight the work done and can’t seek votes by dividing people.”

Aam Aadmi Party launches ‘Kejriwal again’ campaign

13WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 ASIA

Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa

Pakistan SC suspends order to extend army chief’s tenureINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Supreme Court of Pakistan yesterday suspended the Imran Khan government’s notification confirming the extension in the job of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was set to retire tomorrow (Thursday), for another three years.

Chief Justice Asif Khosa, during the hearing on the with-drawal application of a petition challenging the extension of General Bajwa’s three-year tenure as Pakistan Army chief, said that only the president can extend the tenure of the army chief.

The top judge rejected the application and took up the petition in public interest under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, turning the petition into a suo moto notice.

“The prime minister [Imran Khan] does not have the power to extend the tenure of the army chief,” the chief justice remarked.

To this, the attorney-general told the court, “Army chief’s tenure was extended after the

President’s approval.” “If the President approved

the summary on August 19, then why did the prime minister give the approval for the summary again on August 21,” Chief Justice Khosa questioned.

“The prime minister signed the summary after the approval from the cabinet,” the attorney- general responded.

“Did the president give approval again after the approval from the prime minister and cabinet?” Khosa enquired. “The initial approval is supposed to be given by the President,” he further said, adding that “the approval given by the President before the cabinet might not be according to the law.” “We can

take the approval from the pres-ident again,” the attorney-general suggested.

“Only 11 members of the cabinet gave approval of the summary for the extension of army chief’s tenure. We cannot say the majority gave the approval,” the chief justice remarked.

“In a democracy, the deci-sions are made through the opinion of the majority. Those members who did not give an answer, we should wait for their answer. These members did not say ‘no’ either. Did the gov-ernment assume that the answer of those who did not give an answer translates into ‘yes’?” the chief justice asked.

“The prime minister was told he did not have the power. Then it was found out that both the prime minister and the president did not have the power and the final decision rests with the cabinet and on August 21, the matter was sent to the cabinet,” Khosa said.

The top judge also wondered why the notification referred to the extension as a re-appointment. “The entire process

was upside down. First, the cabinet should have given the approval, then the prime min-ister and President should have been advised,” he said.

The court then suspended the notification of the army chief’s extension and adjourned the hearing till today (Wednesday), the last day of the current army chief’s tenure.

On August 19, Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved

extension to the tenure of COAS Bajwa as the Chief of Army Staff.

“General Qamar Javed Bajwa is appointed Chief of Army Staff for another term of three years from the date of completion of current tenure,” said a notifi-cation from the office of Prime Minister Imran Khan back in August. “The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment,” the noti-fication had added.

Pakistan Law Minister quits to represent govt in COAS extension caseANATOLIA ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s Federal Law Minister, Farogh Naseem, resigned yesterday shortly after an emergency Cabinet meeting, officials said.

Federal Minister for Railway Sheikh Rashid Ahmad and Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood confirmed Naseem’s resignation and said he volun-tarily left the post.

“Law Minister tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Imran Khan and he will rep-resent the government in the army chief case in the Supreme Court,” Sheikh Rashid told reporters.

Rashid said Imran accepted Naseem’s resignation.

Geo News reported that Imran expressed displeasure about Naseem’s negligence in the army chief extension procedure.

But Rashid rejected those reports and said Imran appre-ciated Naseem’s service as Law Minister in the Cabinet meeting.

The federal minister said the emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Imran approved a new summary to extend the tenure of General Qamar Javed Bajwa as chief of army staff (COAS).

Earlier yesterday, Paki-stan’s Supreme Court sus-pended a three-year extension for Bajwa. A three-member panel of the apex court led by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa suspended a notification issued on August 19 by Imran to extend Bajwa’s term for three years in August.

Court dismisses contempt plea against ImranINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) yesterday dismissed a contempt of court petition filed against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The decis ion was announced in the afternoon. Earlier in the morning IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had reserved the verdict after hearing the initial arguments regarding the maintainability of the petition.

The petition filed by former inspector general of police, Saleemullah Khan, contended that the prime minister in his speech on November 18 com-mitted contempt and tried to m a k e t h e j u d i c i a r y controversial.

The former top cop had taken the stance that Imran ridiculed the judiciary, and therefore the transcript of the prime minister’s speech and recording should be submitted to the court.

The plea had further said that contempt of court was clear in the text of the speech and had appealed to the court to sentence the prime minister under the contempt of court laws. The high court, however, dismissed the petition.

Musharraf moves LHC to stop verdict in high treason caseINTERNEWS LAHORE

The Lahore High Court (LHC) yesterday removed its objections against a plea filed by former military dictator Pervez Mush-arraf seeking the court’s inter-vention in stopping the special court from announcing its reserved verdict in the high treason case against the former army chief.

During the proceedings yes-terday, LHC Justice Mazhar

Naqvi accepted the petition and sought replies from the federal government and the Ministry of Interior by November 28.

The judge also directed the federal government and related officials to appear before the court on the same date.

Musharraf, in his plea, has appealed to the court that in view of the Supreme Court’s verdict, the hearing should be held again. It has also appealed to the court that the notification issued by the special court

should also be suspended.The former president has

also appealed to the court that an independent medical board be formed to determine his health.

On Monday, the court had raised objections against the petition and directed the former president’s lawyer to submit a detailed response today.

The LHC had questioned whether the plea falls under its jurisdiction as the former

president is a resident of Islamabad.

The court had also said that the case is with the Supreme Court of Pakistan and under the circumstances the petitioner should reach out to the apex court. Interestingly, the former president has also approached the Islamabad High Court requesting it to stop the special court from announcing its reserved verdict in the high treason case against the former army chief.

A cycle rickshaw puller rides on a road as pedestrians walk on the side under heavy smog conditions in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday.

Bangladesh to shut down brick kilns as air quality soars to world’s worstAFP DHAKA

Bangladesh said yesterday that it will shut down hundreds of soot-belching brick kilns around its capital Dhaka as part of measures to reduce thick smog enveloping the city and pushing air quality levels to among the world’s worst.

Residents in several other cities in South Asia, including India’s capital New Delhi and Lahore in Pakistan, have also been breathing toxic smog in recent weeks amid uncontrolled emissions and crop burning.

Air Visual, an independent online air quality index (AQI) monitor, pegged Dhaka’s air quality as the poorest in the world on Monday.

“The situation is very critical. Just a few days ago air quality of

Dhaka was the third or fourth worst in the world. But now it tops the ranking,” Environment Minister Mohammad Shahab Uddin told reporters.

The minister announced a range of measures to combat the severe pollution levels, including shutting down illegal brick kilns and sprinkling water on major roads and construction sites twice a day.

Waste burning would be halted at dozens of sites and trucks carrying construction materials such as sand would have to be covered, he added.

The government was backed by the High Court, which ordered the closure of the illegal kilns by the next 15 days, deputy attorney-general Abdullah al Bashar said.

As part of longer-term efforts, the government said it

would phase out the use of bricks in its construction projects.

Soot from brick kilns —which use coal and wood to make bricks from clay — is a major air pollutant and the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide.

The kilns in Bangladesh mostly run from November to April and have been identified by authorities as a key cause of air pollution.

“We have started phasing out use of bricks from this year and by 2025 their use will be completely phased out,” Envi-ronment Ministry secretary Monsurul Alam said.

Leading environment group BAPA said the illegal kilns made up the majority of those in use in the country.

Chief Justice of Pakistan, Asif Khosa, said only the President of Pakistan could extend the army chief’s tenure, and that the Prime Minister does not have this power.

Myanmar begins rare court martial after probe into Rohingya atrocitiesREUTERS YANGON

Myanmar’s military began a rare court martial of soldiers yesterday following a probe into alleged atrocities during a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, a spokesman said, as the country prepares to face genocide charges at an interna-tional court in the Hague.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape a Myanmar military offensive launched in August 2017 that UN investigators described as having been executed with gen-ocidal intent.

Soldiers, police, and Bud-dhist villagers are alleged to have razed hundreds of villages in the remote western Rakhine state, torturing Rohingya as they fled, carrying out mass-killings and gang-rapes.

Myanmar says the army was f ighting a legit imate

counter-insurgency campaign against militants who attacked security posts.

Spokesman Zaw Min Tun said that soldiers and officers from a regiment deployed to Gu Dar Pyin village, the site of an alleged massacre of Rohingya, were “weak in following the rules of engagement”.

In a statement published on its website, the army said the soldiers being court martialed were involved in “accidents” in Gu Dar Pyin.

The Associated Press reported the existence of at least five mass graves in the village, through interviews with sur-vivors in refugee camps in Bang-ladesh and time-stamped cell-phone videos. Myanmar denied the allegations made in the AP report.

The country is facing a wave of international pressure over its treatment of the Rohingya, with cases filed against it at courts around the world.

AP/YANGON, MYANMAR

A man from the Netherlands was killed and a woman from Argentina was injured by a land mine explosion in northern Myanmar yesterday, a charity worker from the area said.

Ko Myo of Charity Without Borders, a nonprofit organisation that provides ambulance services, said police in Hsipaw township in northern Shan state had his group take the two casualties to a hospital after the explosion.

Ko Myo said the Dutch man was 40 years old. Neither the Hsipaw hospital nor Hsipaw police could be contacted for further details, including the victims’ names.

The U.S. State Department travel advisory for Myanmar, last revised in October, suggests people should not travel to Hsipaw and several other areas of Shan state “due to civil unrest and armed conflict.”

Nine Pakistan Navy personnel die in bus crash REUTERS QUETTA

At least nine members of the Pakistan Navy were killed and 29 other people injured when their bus fell into a deep roadside ditch in the south of the country yesterday, officials said.

The bus was on its way to Karachi from a naval base in Balochistan province when it developed a technical fault and crashed on a mountain pass on the Makran Coastal Highway, Muhammad Jameel, assistant commissioner for Bela town near where the accident took place, said.

“Nine soldiers of the navy were killed and 29 others including women and children were injured in the incident,” Jameel said, adding that victims were transferred to a nearby navy hospital.

Dutch man dead in land mine blast in northern Myanmar

14 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019ASIA

Hong Kong leader appeals for calm after election drubbing REUTERS HONG KONG

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam renewed her appeals for peace in the Chinese-ruled city yesterday but failed to offer any concessions to anti-government protesters despite a resounding victory for pro-democracy parties in local elections.

Lam spoke a day after results showed democratic candidates secured almost 90% of 452 dis-trict council seats in Sunday’s elections, which were widely seen as a barometer of the oppo-sition to the Beijing-backed pol-itician following months of unrest.

China has not directly com-mented on the results, and news outlets in Chinese media largely avoided detailed reporting of how Hong Kongers voted.

Lam acknowledged that voters in the city wanted to express their views on many issues, including “deficiencies in governance”.

She thanked people for voting peacefully and hoped the calm weekend was a signal that residents want an end to unrest that has convulsed the city for six months.

“Everybody wants to go back to their normal life and this requires the concerted efforts of every one of us,” Lam said during her weekly address at the

government’s headquarters.“So, as I have said

repeatedly, resorting to violence will not give us that way forward. So please, please help us to maintain the relative calm and peace...and provide a good basis for Hong Kong to move forward.”

The international financial centre has been rocked by six months of often violent anti-government unrest that has plunged it into its biggest political crisis in decades.

Protests have sprung up on an almost daily basis since June, with crowds gathering with little notice, at times forcing the gov-ernment, businesses, schools and even the international airport to close.

The violence had escalated up to last week, with protesters

hurling petrol bombs and firing arrows at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Police say they have shown restraint in the face of potentially deadly attacks.

Demonstrators are angry at what they see as Chinese med-dling in the freedoms promised to the former British colony.

China denies interfering and says it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time.

While calm has descended across most of the city, a handful of protesters remain holed up in Polytechnic University, sur-rounded by police following clashes at the campus on Kowloon peninsula in the run-up to elections.

In her speech Lam urged them to leave peacefully as soon as possible.

University staff combed the campus yesterday looking for holdouts, finding one female protester who appeared “phys-ically weak and emotionally unstable”, the university said.

Riot police arrive to disperse people gathering in support of pro-democracy protesters during a lunch break rally in the Kowloon Bay area in Hong Kong, yesterday.

China summons US envoy over HK rights billAFP BEIJING

China has summoned the US ambassador to demand that the United States scrap legislation backing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, or “bear all the consequences”, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

The Hong Kong bill awaiting President Donald Trump’s sig-nature supports human rights and democracy in the city, while threatening to revoke the terri-tory’s special economic status.

A separate measure bans the sale of tear gas, rubber bullets and other equipment used by the

security forces to suppress pro-democracy protests.

Vice-foreign minister Zheng Zeguang summoned US ambas-sador Terry Branstad on Monday to voice a “strong protest” over the bill, the ministry said in a statement. The legislation “bra-zenly interferes in China’s internal affairs” and “indulges and supports the violent criminal behaviour by ‘anti-China dis-rupting Hong Kong’ forces,” the ministry said.

The foreign ministry urged the US to “immediately correct its mistakes, prevent the above-mentioned Hong Kong-related bill from becoming law, and stop

any words and deeds that interfere in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs.” “Otherwise, the US side must bear all the consequences,” it said.

A US embassy spokesman said that Branstad told Zheng that the United States was watching the situation in Hong Kong “with grave concern”.

“He conveyed that we condemn all forms of violence and intimidation,” the spokesman said. “The ambassador added that the US believes that societies are best served when diverse political views can be represented in gen-uinely free and fair elections.”

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong Chief Executive

Philippine rebel spokesman arrested in Manila hospitalAP MANILA

Philippine military officials said a communist guerrilla leader and spokesman has been arrested while being secretly treated for high blood pressure in a hospital in an upscale residential and shopping district in suburban Manila.

Military officials said yes-terday that army troops and police arrested Jaime Padilla, who uses the nom de guerre Ka Diego, and three men who were guarding him on Monday night in a room at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in the Greenhills district of San Juan city. President

Rodrigo Duterte has been to the same hospital in the past for medical tests.

Padilla, who is in his 60s and known for his trademark Maoist rebel cap, has given interviews in the past to journalists in his mountain jungle camp southeast of Manila where young Marxist guerrillas marched and dis-played their weapons in front of photographers and TV cameras.

The communist insurgency has continued in the Philippines for more than 50 years, making it one of Asia’s longest-running rebellions. Battle setbacks, sur-renders and infighting, however, have weakened the guerrilla

group, which is considered a ter-rorist organisation by the United States and remains a key Phil-ippine security threat.

The rebellion has left about 40,000 combatants and civilians dead. It also has stunted eco-nomic development, especially in the countryside, where the military says about 3,500 insur-gents are still active.

Aside from serving as a regional rebel spokesman, Padilla is also a ranking regional guerrilla leader and a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philip-pines, Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said.

Padilla’s arrest is a “decisive

blow to the communist terrorists for it will result to further demor-alisation among their ranks brought about by a leadership vacuum, thus, further pushing them to the brink of collapse,” Burgos said.

Metropolitan Manila police chief Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas said the three men arrested with Padilla will be charged with har-bouring a fugitive. He said inves-tigators are checking whether they also belong to the New Peo-ple’s Army, the communist party’s armed wing.

Padilla has been charged with four counts of murder in at least one case in the past, offi-cials said.

Communist guerrillas con-demned Padilla’s arrest, which they said in a statement would endanger his life because he was being treated for a serious heart ailment in the hospital.

Duterte, who calls himself a socialist, initially pursued peace talks with the guerrillas but later protested continued insurgent attacks on government forces, while the guerrillas accused troops of violating the govern-ment’s own cease-fire by con-tinuing combat operations in what they said were their rural strongholds.

Duterte later terminated peace negotiations with the guerrillas brokered by Norway.

Australia bush fireAn aerial view of a bush fire in the Richmond Valley, in the New South Wales, Australia, yesterday. Bush fire-prone Australia has experienced a horrific start to its fire season, which scientists say is beginning earlier and becoming more extreme as a result of climate change, which is raising temperatures and sapping moisture from the environment.

Body of missing Briton found in AustraliaAP PERTH, AUSTRALIA

Australian police said yesterday that they have found the body of British backpacker who ran away from his campsite last weekend.

Aslan King’s body was found yesterday morning in a creek close to the campground and was identified by friends, said Sergeant Danny Brown of the Victoria State Police.

King was camping with four British friends when he disap-peared early Saturday.

Indonesia arrests 85 Chinese nationals in phone scamAP JAKARTA

Indonesian police said yesterday they have arrested 85 Chinese citizens for involvement in a cross-border telephone and Internet fraud ring after receiving a tip from Chinese police.

The suspects, including 11 women, were paraded at a police news conference in the capital, Jakarta, a day after being arrested.

Jakarta Police Chief Gatot Eddy Pramono said the suspects were arrested in several raids in Jakarta and East Java’s Malang city. Police believe they are members of a telephone fraud and online investment scam syndicate.

Pramono said most of their targets appeared to be fellow

Chinese who were called over the Internet and tricked into transferring money to them. A preliminary investigation showed the gang collected at least 36 billion rupiah ($2.5m) over the past year.

He said members of the syn-dicate had come from China to Indonesia for three months at a time since last year, using tourist visas.

“They were committing the crimes from Indonesia after China cracked down their net-works,” Pramono said.

He said Indonesian police are working closely with immi-gration officials and Chinese police in dealing with the sus-pects. Six Indonesian helpers who worked with them were also detained, but Pramono said they were not directly involved in the scam.

Malaysian court frees Australian grandmother in drug caseAP PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA

An Australian grandmother escaped the death penalty and was released yesterday after Malaysia’s top court acquitted her of drug trafficking, a rare ruling that could bolster calls for an end to capital punishment in the country.

Defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the Federal

Court unanimously overturned Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto’s con-viction by an appellate court and ruled she could walk free after a five-year legal battle.

“The judges said this is not a case safe enough for them to declare a conviction... because there is so much dissatisfaction over the features and the evi-dence that have been presented,” he told reporters.

Exposto, a 55-year-old

mother of four from Sydney and also a grandmother, was taken into immigration custody because her visa had expired but was released later yesterday and was expected to fly home soon.

“I’m thrilled. I’m very happy because I can go home to my family,” she told reporters, saying she had expected an acquittal because she had faith in her lawyers.

She was convicted by the

Court of Appeal last year of having 1.5kg crystal methamphet-amine in her bag when she was arrested in December 2014 at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport. The appellate court had overturned her acquittal by the High Court in 2017 following an appeal by prosecutors. The Federal Court’s decision is final.

Exposto has said she went to Shanghai to meet a US serv-iceman but he never turned up.

She said she befriended a stranger and was asked to carry a bag full of clothes but was unaware that drugs were concealed inside. She was detained while catching a connecting flight to Melbourne.

Malaysia has a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of carrying more than 50 grams of a prohibited drug. Three Australians have been hanged for drug offenses in Malaysia since 1986.

Vietnam jails six on security chargesAFP HANOI

Vietnam yesterday jailed six people on various security and anti-state charges in three separate cases, in one of the harshest days of sentencing in the communist country where dissidence is routinely quashed.

The one-party state has long jailed its critics, though a hardline leadership in charge since 2016 has ushered in an uptick in arrests and convic-tions of activists, dissidents and bloggers.

Six people were sentenced to jail in various trials across the country yesterday.

The longest was for Russian-educated activist Pham Van Diep who got nine years for “making, storing and spreading anti-state material”, according to his lawyer.

Diep was accused of pro-testing and posting on Facebook after an environmental disaster in 2016 that killed tonnes of fish in central Vietnam, and also for railing against a controversial cyber security bill.

His attorney said he was merely expressing his opinions and did not break the law. “This was a pre-arranged verdict,” Ha Huy Son said after the trial in central Thanh Hoa province, adding that Diep would file an appeal. Protests of any kind are banned in Vietnam.

University staff combed the Polytechnic University campus yesterday looking for holdouts, finding only one female protester.

15WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 EUROPE

13 French troops dead in Mali helicopter collisionAFP PARIS

Thirteen French soldiers were killed in Mali when two heli-copters collided during an oper-ation against militants in the country’s restive north, officials said yesterday, the heaviest single loss for the French military in nearly four decades.

The accident occurred late Monday when three helicopters and a squadron of Mirage jets arrived to support ground troops pursuing extremists in the Liptako region, near the borders of Burkina Faso and Niger, the defence ministry said.

The accident brought to 41 the number of French troops killed in the Sahel region since

Paris intervened against al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in Mali in 2013.

It also underscored the chal-lenge for France of trying to control an insurgency in an area the size of Western Europe as a time of escalating violence.

French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly said Monday’s operation was particularly risky because it took

place in “total darkness” on a moonless night, but the exact cause of the collision remains unknown. Shortly after troops engaged the insurgents, who fled on motorbikes and in a pick-up truck, a Tiger attack helicopter collided with a Cougar military transport helicopter, killing all onboard the two aircraft.

Mali has been besieged by militants carrying out deadly strikes against army bases and other targets in recent weeks, a flare-up of violence despite years of efforts to stem the attacks.

Parly told reporters Pres-ident Emmanuel Macron would lead a commemorative service for the soldiers at the Invalides military hospital and museum in Paris “in the coming days”.

General Francois Lecointre, speaking alongside Parly, said the “black box” flight data recorders had been recovered from both aircraft.

He did not identify the insur-gents, but said the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) — an affiliate of the group active in Iraq and Syria — was the main rebel force in the area.

One of the victims on Monday was the son of French senator Jean-Marie Bockel, a centrist former government min-ister who sits on the senate’s armed forces committee, the father confirmed.

“These 13 heroes had just one goal: To protect us. I bow my head in front of the pain of their families and comrades,” Macron

said on Twitter.Mali’s President Ibrahim

Boubacar Keita said the soldiers had died for Mali and all Sahel countries, as well as for France.

“The loss is heavy but the peoples of the Sahel share your bereavement,” he said in a letter to Macron.

France’s 4,500-member Barkhane force in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauri-tania, is tasked with building up and training local security forces but also participates in opera-tions against the insurgents.

Yet French officials acknowledge that local security forces remain woefully under-equipped and under-financed for shouldering the fight despite years of French engagement.

Two men walk past a long row of farmers lining up with their tractors along “Strasse des 17. Juni” Avenue during a protest against the German government’s agricultural policy, in Berlin, yesterday.

Thousands of farmers in mass tractor protest in BerlinAFP BERLIN

Thousands of farmers drove their tractors to Berlin’s famed Brandenburg Gate yesterday in a mass protest against new envi-ronmental regulations they say threaten their livelihoods.

Long convoys brought traffic to a standstill in the heart of the city’s government district, in the biggest display yet of farmers’ anger over agricultural policy changes agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet in September.

“First the plants starve, then the farmers, then you,” read one sign attached to a green tractor.

“Do you know who feeds you?” read another.

The government’s policy package includes plans to limit the use of fertiliser to tackle nitrate pollution in groundwater, and ban the controversial weedkiller glyphosate by 2023 to protect insect populations.

Furious farmers say the envi-ronmental protection measures go too far and pose an existential risk to their farms.

Many are also fed up with the “farmer bashing” they say has cast them as villains in the fight against climate change.

Police said more than 5,000 tractors rolled into Berlin for the four-wheeled protest. Organisers said as many as 8,500 tractors took part.

Other German cities have seen similar demos in recent weeks.

Iran N-deal committeeto meet next week: EUAFP BRUSSELS

The five-nation commission overseeing the Iran nuclear deal will meet in Vienna next week, the European Union said yesterday, with fears growing the accord could collapse.

Officials from Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia will meet Iranian dele-gates on December 6, two weeks after the UN nuclear watchdog demanded Tehran explain the presence of uranium particles at an undeclared site near Tehran.

The 2015 agreement to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities is in a parlous state, faltering since US President Donald Trump pulled out last year and reim-posed swingeing sanctions, prompting Iran to breach some parts of the deal in response.

“A meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Com-prehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) will take place in Vienna on 6 December 2019,” the European Union said in a statement, using the agree-ment’s official name.

“The Joint Commission will be chaired by European External Action Service (EEAS) Secretary General Helga-Maria Schmid and will be attended by the E3+2 (China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom) and Iran.”

European efforts to shield Iran from the effects of US sanc-tions by creating a mechanism to carry on legitimate trade with Tehran have borne little fruit, much to Tehran’s frustration.

The EU is growing increas-ingly concerned by Tehran rowing back from its commit-ments, notably by stepping up uranium enrichment, and earlier this month Germany warned that the dispute reso-lution mechanism in the deal could be triggered if Iran con-tinued down this path.

This mechanism has numerous stages with numerous deadlines, but after a process probably lasting several months, it can even-tually culminate in the UN Security Council voting on whether Iran should still have relief from sanctions lifted under the deal.

France, Germany propose EU overhaul post-BrexitREUTERS BRUSSELS

France and Germany put aside bilateral tensions yesterday to call for an overhaul of the EU, which has been buffeted over the past decade by a euro zone debt crisis, an influx of migrants and refugees, rising eurosceptic populism and Brexit.

Some European Union leaders fear that regional and political rifts could tear apart a project they credit with keeping peace and prosperity on the con-tinent, including in eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc.

Paris and Berlin, long seen as the axis of the continent’s

post-World War Two unification process, said a “Conference on the Future of Europe” was nec-essary to make the EU “more united and sovereign” across a range of challenges.

These include Europe’s role in the world and its security, they said in a document that comes amid growing concern that Europe is ill-equipped to deal with new security and economic challenges, especially from a rising China.

The two-page Franco-German paper said other areas where Europe needed to be more united included its near neigh-bours, digitalisation, climate change, migration, the fight against inequality, the “social

market economy” and the rule of law.

It said a reflection lasting more than two years should consider reforms that would, among other aims, promote democracy and the functioning of a bloc that will group 27 countries after Britain’s expected departure on Jan. 31.

Many EU citizens feel their voices are not heard in Brussels and have little trust in its insti-tutions, sentiments that drove Britain’s 2016 referendum vote to leave the bloc.

The EU’s two heavyweights said citizens would need to be closely involved in the reflection on Europe’s future through a “bottom-up process” of consultations.

They said recommendations agreed at a closing conference in the first half of 2022 should be presented to the European Council of member states’ leaders for debate and implementation.

Diplomats said the document sent a message, ahead of an EU summit on December 12-13, that member states must be closely involved in reflections on Europe’s future amid institu-tional jockeying for a leading role.

A new European Com-mission, the EU’s executive branch, which starts its five-year mandate on December 1, has already proposed a 2020-2022 conference.

Protesters demanding the government’s resignation and early parliamentary polls march towards the parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Monday.

Georgia opposition vows ‘permanent protests’AFP TBILISI

Georgia opposition parties yesterday vowed “permanent protests” in a rare show of unity against the country’s ruling party after police arrested protesters and used water cannon to disperse an anti-government rally.

Opposition supporters have staged a series of rallies in the capital Tbilisi over the last two weeks after the ruling Georgia Dream party voted down legis-lation to hold parliamentary elections next year under a new proportional voting system.

Up to 20,000 people took to the streets on Monday, urging the government to resign and

calling for fresh parliamentary polls.

Braving sub-zero tempera-tures, hundreds of protesters stayed outside parliament over-night, blocking all four entrances. Riot police used water cannon to disperse the crowd yesterday morning. The interior ministry said 28 protesters were arrested and several injured.

Three formerCzech leaderscharged overborder deathsAFP PRAGUE

Three Czechoslovak leaders are facing prosecution for abuse of power over their role in communist-era border killings, Prague prosecutors said yesterday.

The Czech police’s office for investigating communist crimes (UDV) blames former Com-munist Party chief Milous Jakes, Czechoslovak prime minister Lubomir Strougal and interior minister Vratislav Vajnar for the deaths.

It says they allowed the use of weapons against those who wanted to leave the communist country for West Germany or Austria.

The UDV launched pro-ceedings against all three men yesterday, with the agreement of the Prague prosecutor’s office, “They were aware that firearms were being used by the border guards against those who wanted to cross the border” to leave Czechoslo-vakia, said a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

“In spite of this,... they did not take any steps to prevent the use of firearms,” it added. “Because of their inaction... nine people were shot dead or killed by dogs and at least seven were injured.”

Medical worker goes on trial for six murdersAFP MUNICH

A Polish health care assistant accused of killing six people under his care with insulin overdoses went on trial in Germany yesterday.

The defendant on trial in Munich has been named by prosecutors only as Grzegorz Stanislaw W., 38.

He is also accused of three attempted murders and has been charged with stealing from his victims.

The court heard that the man had access to insulin because he has diabetes — unlike his patients. The man visited the homes of at least 69 patients between April 2017 and February 2018, leading to media speculation that more victims could be found.

A total of 41 French troops have died in the Sahel region since Paris intervened against al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in Mali in 2013.

Nine arrested as Spain probes match-fixingAFP MADRID

Police in Spain arrested nine people yesterday over suspected football match-fixing in the second division as part of an operation that saw players and club executives arrested in May.

The latest arrests are linked to suspicions that a second division club paid players of a rival in June 2017 to ensure that they reached the promotion play-offs.

“To make the payment dif-ferent individuals and legal entities directly and indirectly related to the club, advanced various amounts in cash,” police said in a statement.

The nine arrested are sus-pected of corruption, money laundering and abuse of cor-porate assets.

The investigation was carried out with Europol. The authorities have not released the names of the suspected individual and clubs.

A police spokesman said they could give no further infor-mation. The operation follows the arrest in May of 10 people, including current and former players, as part of a probe into a match-fixing gang that allegedly operated in Spain’s first and second divisions.

The police said their inves-tigation, named “Oikos”, has led them to identify “at least three” matches in the first, second and a lower division that they believe were fixed.

The headquarters of Huesca, promoted for the first time in 2018, were searched in May. At the time, Huesca released a statement denying any wrongdoing.

Police said the arrests were related to “several handwritten sheets” seized in May which revealed an operation for the “collection, distribution, payment and delivery of money to rig the result of a second division match.”

16 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019EUROPE

Powerful quake leaves 16 dead in AlbaniaREUTERS TIRANA

At least 16 people were killed when the most powerful earth-quake to strike Albania in decades shook the capital Tirana and the country’s west and north yesterday, tearing down buildings and burying residents under rubble.

Residents, some carrying babies, fled apartment buildings in Tirana and the western port of Durres after the 6.4 magnitude quake struck shortly before 4am (0300 GMT).

The Balkan country was jolted by 100 aftershocks after the big tremor, two of them of magnitude 5, testing strained nerves.

In the northern town of Thumane, Marjana Gjoka, 48, was sleeping in her apartment on the fourth floor of a five-storey building when the quake shattered the top floors.

“The roof collapsed on our head and I don’t know how we escaped. God helped us,” said Gjoka, whose three-year-old niece was among four people in the apartment when the quake struck.

The quake was centred 30km west of Tirana, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, and was also felt across the Balkans and in the southern Italian region of Puglia.

Hours later a magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit Bosnia, with an epicentre 75km south of Sarajevo, monitors said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Ten bodies were pulled from collapsed buildings in Durres, the main port and tourism destination, the Defence Ministry said, adding 42 had been pulled out alive from under the ruins.

In Thumane, five people were found dead in the rubble of apartment buildings and a man died in the town of Kurbin

after jumping out of a building, the ministry added.

Firefighters, police and civilians were removing the debris from collapsed buildings in Thumane. Most of the buildings that collapsed were built of bricks, a reporter said.

Rescuers in Thumane used a mechanical digger to claw at col-lapsed masonry and remove a tangle of metal and cables. Others groped with bare hands to clear rubble.

Two people were pulled from rubble in Thumane four hours after the quake, a Reuters reporter said. Doctors said they were in a bad condition.

“Everything at home kept falling down,” Refik, a Tirana resident, said of the impact on his sixth-floor apartment.

“We were awake because of the previous quakes, but the last one shook us around,” he told Reuters, referring to smaller tremors recorded in the hour before the main quake.

Rescuers told local media one of the dead was an elderly woman who saved her grandson by cradling him with her body.

Defence Minister Olta

Xhacka said the quake’s epi-centre was in Durres. It was fol-lowed by 100 aftershocks. At least 135 people were injured, with 72 hospitalised, she said.

“Durres and Thumane are the areas worst hit. Rescue-and-save work continues in the col-lapsed buildings there,” she said as troops pulled a victim from a hotel in Durres.

Fellow Nato-members Italy, Romania, Turkey, Greece and Croatia were sending specialised rescue equipment.

Neigbouring Kosovo sent trucks and Serbia was sending 13 officers.

“Firefighters and army staff are helping residents under the rubble”, in Durres and Thumane, the Defence Ministry said.

Located along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, between Greece and Macedonia, Albania experi-ences regular seismic activity.

An 5.6 magnitude quake hit Albania on September 21, dam-aging around 500 houses. The Defence Ministry had said it was

the most powerful quake in Albania in the last 30 years.

The images of damage from yesterday’s quake suggested it was stronger than one in 1979 which razed a district of a northern town. Neither of those two earlier quakes caused deaths.

The Balkan nation is the poorest country in Europe, with an average income of less than a third of the European Union average, according to Eurostat data.

Emergency workers clear debris at a damaged building after an earthquake in Thumane, 34km northwest of capital Tirana, yesterday.

Defence Minister Olta Xhacka said the quake’s epicentre was in Durres. It was followed by 100 aftershocks. At least 135 people were injured, with 72 hospitalised.

Journalist murder probe: Chief-of-Staff of Malta PM quitsAFP VALLETTA

Malta’s prime minister said yesterday his chief-of-staff had quit amid an ongoing probe into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who was killed after exposing high-level corruption.

The resignation of Keith Schembri marks the biggest political fallout to date since Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb in October 2017.

Sources said that Schembri had been called in for ques-tioning by police after his name was mentioned by the main

suspect in the case, business mogul Yorgen Fenech who was arrested last week.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat refused to say what prompted Schembri’s decision, telling reporters it was pre-mature to speculate on “whether he is being questioned or what he is being questioned about”.

The timing of the resignation was “unfortunate”, he added.

Caruana Galizia, a popular journalist and blogger described as a “one-woman WikiLeaks”, became known for exposing cro-nyism and sleaze within the country’s political and business elite.

She alleged that Schembri and former energy minister Konrad Mizzi had been involved in corruption. Both men have denied the claims.

Caruana Galizia’s murder sparked outrage and protests, with her family accusing Muscat of protecting those involved in her death.

Yesterday, they called for Muscat’s resignation and the prosecution of Schembri and Mizzi.

Failure to bring them to justice “will have fatal conse-quences for Malta’s democracy,” the family said in a statement.

Caruana Galizia’s son

Matthew tweeted that Muscat “simply cannot be trusted to not obstruct justice”.

The prime minister, however, rejected this.

“I never turned a blind eye to impropriety,” Muscat said. “What is happening with the recent developments shows that whatever people might say or think, the institutions are working.

“I would definitely resign if there were any association between myself and the murder”.

Schembri has served as Mus-cat’s chief-of-staff since 2013.

Much of Caruana Galizia’s work related to what the 2016

Panama Papers data leak revealed about high-level cor-ruption in Malta, including con-nections between politicians and a Dubai company called Black 17.

Leaked emails related to the Panama Papers appeared to show that companies owned by Schembri and Mizzi — currently the tourism minister — stood to receive payments from 17 Black, later found to be owned by mogul Fenech.

Fenech, whose business interests span the energy to tourism sectors, remains in custody after being arrested on his yacht last week.

Spanish police tow drug submarine to portAP MADRID

Spanish police yesterday managed to tow a sunken submarine believed to be carrying tons of cocaine into a northwestern port and began preparations to extract its cargo.

Police were hoping to crane-lift the 20-metre submarine onto the dock at Port of Aldán so that they could get inside more easily, an official from the gov-ernment’s office in the province of Pontevedra said.

The submarine sank as police tried to intercept it on Sunday in the Aldán inlet in the northwestern region of Galicia. It was not clear if the crew, two of whom have been arrested,

sank it on purpose.Work on bringing the vessel

ashore began on Monday in bad weather and had to be suspended.

Spanish authorities said it was the first time a submarine had been found to be used in drug trafficking in the country. Police divers pulled out one package of cocaine from the vessel on Monday.

Media reports said the vessel could be carrying three metric tons, but the official said this couldn’t be confirmed yet. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with government rules.

Police were still searching for a third crew member who managed to flee.

Slovenia backs ban on paramilitary groups after militia patrol borderREUTERS LJUBLJANA

The Slovenian government approved legislation yesterday that will prohibit paramilitary groups, after a group led by a nationalist politician began conducting border patrols in the woods in recent months.

“Guarding the state border is an exclusive responsibility of the police,” the government said in a statement, adding paramil-itary groups were obstructing the work of the police and causing alarm and fear.

Two weeks ago Reuters reported that a more than 50-strong group, dressed in camouflage uniforms and armed with air rifles, were patrolling a border zone between Slovenia and Croatia where the group’s leader said illegal migration is rife.

The leader, Andrej Sisko, who heads a fringe nationalist party, Gibanje Zedinjena Slovenija, had said authorities were failing to protect Slovenia against what he saw as a migrant threat.

Under the legislation approved by the cabinet and

now due to be passed by par-liament in coming months, civilians will be banned from conducting patrols of the border area and obstructing the work of the police.

They will be prohibited from using masks, uniforms or objects that resemble weapons in such a way as to give the impression they are state or army officials. The fine would be between $550 to $2,200 per person.

Anti-immigrant sentiment in Slovenia and other ex-com-munist EU countries has risen sharply since 2015.

Hunt under wayafter Dresden jewellery heistAFP BERLIN

Police in Germany were hunting robbers who snatched priceless 18th century jewellery from a state museum in Dresden in what local media have called the biggest art heist of all time.

Authorities across eastern Germany have been put on alert after thieves made off with treasures from the Green Vault at Dresden’s Royal Palace in an astonishing smash-and-grab raid early Monday morning.

Police have called for wit-nesses to step forward and released images of the stolen items, which were taken from a collection of jewellery of 18th-century Saxony ruler Augustus the Strong.

They include a sword whose hilt is encrusted with nine large and 770 smaller dia-monds, and a diamond bow decorated with 662 brilliants.

Extraordinary CCTV footage of the two men going about their raid have also been released by investigators.

In the black-and-white clip, one of the two suspects was seen using an axe to smash the display case.

The thieves launched their brazen raid after having set off a fire at an electrical panel near the museum in the early hours of Monday, deactivating its alarm as well as street lighting, police said. Despite the power cut, a surveillance camera kept working and filmed two men breaking in.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Estonia’s President Kersti Kaljulaid inspect a guard of honour, in Tallinn, Estonia, yesterday.

Ukraine did not meddle in US vote: ZelenskiyAFP TALLINN

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday dismissed suggestions that his country interfered in the 2016 US presi-dential election, rubbishing a conspiracy theory promoted by some allies of US President Donald Trump.

Zelenskiy, elected in April, said that Ukraine did not interfere in the elections or the geopolitics of the United States.

Trump has been dogged by allegations that Russia helped him to win the 2016 election. While various investigations have found evidence of Russian meddling, none has linked those actions directly to the US president.

Some in Trump’s inner circle

have promoted an alternative theory that — contrary to the findings of US intelligence services — it was Ukraine that interfered in the election to support Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton.

This theory has been debunked by intelligence offi-cials — the latest being White House adviser Fiona Hill who said the Ukraine allegations were a “fiction” created by Russia.

“We do not interfere in the elections, in the geopolitics of the United States,” Zelenskiy told journalists in the Estonian capital Tallinn.

A phone call between Zel-enskiy and Trump is at the centre of attempts to impeach the US leader.

During the conversation, Trump’s opponents say the US leader threatened to withhold military aid until his Ukraine counterpart agreed to investigate an American political rival.

The Democrats pursuing the impeachment inquiry against Trump say the phone call shows he used the office of president to forward his political ambitions.

Zelensky sought to play down the importance of the impeachment hearings on his young presidency, telling reporters his country had many problems of its own — a war in the east of the country, sepa-ratist-occupied territory and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

“We have things to do, beyond telephone conversa-tions,” he said.

17WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 AMERICAS

Impeachment: First public hearing on December 4BLOOMBERG WASHINGTON

The House Judiciary Committee will hold its first public hearing on impeaching Trump on December 4 as the House moves into the next step of the proceedings, according to Chairman Jerrold Nadler.

The hearing aims to explain high crimes and misdemeanors, the constitutional grounds for impeachment, and how the evi-dence collected by numerous House committees applies.

Nadler sent Trump a letter notifying him of the hearing and giving him until December 1 to say whether he or his attorney plan to participate. Officials who briefed reporters said that no final decision has been made on whether to push for testimony from witnesses who have so far refused to appear.

The officials declined to discuss the schedule or timeline for committee actions beyond nest week’s scheduled hearing. That includes when the Judiciary Committee expects to wrap up its work and possibly send articles of impeachment to the House floor for a vote.

Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said on Monday in a memo to House colleagues that his committee expects to transmit a report on its impeachment inves-tigation of Trump to the Judiciary

Committee soon after this week’s Thanksgiving recess.

House Budget Committee Democrats said the Trump administration abused its own rules in withholding US security aid to Ukraine and may have vio-lated a law on spending money appropriated by Congress.

“It is clear that the appor-tionment process has been misused to withhold congres-sionally enacted appropriations, undermining Congress’s consti-tutional power of the purse and raising serious legal concerns about impounding funds in vio-lation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974,” according to a summary of documents turned over by the Office of Man-agement and Budget that was provided by the committee.

As part of the House impeachment inquiry, Demo-crats are investigating whether

President Donald Trump held up the $391m in aid in order to pressure Ukraine to announce it would investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential challenger to the president in 2020.

The White House budget office provided some of docu-ments connected to the Ukraine aid that had been sought by the House panel. Democrats allege the process was violated by having political appointee Michael Duffey take over the oversight of the funding and by using an “apportionment” to slow down foreign aid without proper justification.

U n d e r t h e 1 9 7 4 Impoundment Control Act the executive branch is legally obli-gated to spend the money that Congress approves and which the president signs into law.

Trump said in a series of

tweets yesterday that he’d like top officials in his administration to testify in the impeachment inquiry but that he’s “fighting for future presidents and the Office of the President.”

His tweets followed news that the Department of Justice sought a stay of a judge’s order that former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify to Con-gress. Trump said he would “love” for his secretary of State, former secretary of Energy, acting chief of staff and former national security adviser to testify, indicating he believes they would help to exonerate him.

Two new polls registered little change among the nearly half of Americans who believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office since Con-gress held public hearings this month.

A CNN poll released yes-terday found that 50% support for impeaching Trump and removing him from office, with 43% opposed.

That’s the same split as an earlier CNN poll conducted before the five days of public impeachment inquiry hearings kicked off on November 13.

But, in potentially trou-blesome news for Trump, the poll showed the share of Repub-licans saying Trump has improperly used his office to gain political advantage has doubled.

A Politico/Morning Consult poll had similar findings, with 48% of 1,988 voters surveyed between November 22 and 24 saying they strongly or somewhat supported the impeachment probe, the exact same result as a poll done a week earlier.

Melania Trump booed at Baltimore youth eventREUTERS BALTIMORE

Melania Trump was widely booed when she took the stage at a youth event in Baltimore yesterday, an unusually hostile reception for a US first lady.

The sustained boos, which bookended her remarks and were interrupted by some cheers, marked the latest neg-ative reception for President Donald Trump and the first lady at recent pubic events. The Republican president is seeking re-election in November 2020 as an impeachment inquiry against him heats up in Congress.

Baseball fans booed the Republican president at a World Series game in Washington in October. Days later, he was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos at a Mixed Martial Arts event in New York City. All three cities are heavily Democratic.

The first lady spoke about opioid addiction at the B’More Youth Summit hosted by the US Drug Enforcement Adminis-tration and the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, a nonprofit group founded by the actor.

Hello, everyone,” Mrs. Trump said as she tried to talk through sustained boos at the start of her brief remarks.

The jeering subsided, then restarted as she concluded by telling the audience: “Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. May God bless you, your families and the United States of America.”

Donald Trump has few friends in Baltimore, a city he derided as “disgusting” and “rodent-infested” over the summer during a war of words with late hometown con-gressman Elijah Cummings, a harsh critic of Trump’s policies. Protests greeted the president during a September visit to the city.

French citizen, actor kidnapped in Mexico freedAFP ZINACANTEPEC

A French citizen and a Mexican actor kidnapped in a national park in central Mexico were freed on Monday, officials said.

The two men, identified as Frederic Michel and Alejandro Sandi, were traveling in all-terrain vehicles in the park around the Nevado de Toluca volcano when they were ambushed and abducted on Sunday, witnesses said.

“Both the French and Mexican nationals have been freed,” a Mexican government official said.

The French and Mexican governments later also con-firmed the men had been freed, without giving further details.

A source with Mexico’s anti-kidnapping unit said both victims were unharmed.

The news came shortly after Mexican Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said the kid-nappers had demanded a ransom.

“There have been commu-nications, and a ransom payment was, in effect, requested,” Durazo told journalists. “We hope to have good news very soon.”

The French foreign ministry

thanked the Mexican authorities for their “vital help” in ensuring the victims were freed.

Mexico’s anti-kidnapping office vowed to continue the investigation “with the aim of finding those responsible.”

Police and National Guard troops had launched a search in the area around the snow-capped volcano, which is located about 50km northeast of Mexico City and is popular with hikers and campers.

Sandi is an actor who played a secondary role in the TV series “Lord of the Skies,” a drama about drug traffickers broadcast

by US-based Latin American network Telemundo.

Two Mexican actresses traveling with him said gunmen intercepted them and took their car by force, but let them go free.

“We were on our way to visit the Nevado de Toluca when armed men blocked the road and took our car,” actress and singer Esmeralda Ugalde said in a video posted on Twitter, speaking alongside fellow actress Vanessa Arias.

Mexico has seen a surge in kidnappings this year: 1,700 from January to October, a rate of more than five per day — a 38

percent increase on the same period last year, according to the watchdog group Alto al Secuestro (Halt Kidnapping).

Foreigners are regularly tar-geted, but details are often scarce, and authorities rarely give information on the negoti-ations leading to victims’ release.

Leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December 2018, is struggling to rein in violent crime widely blamed on Mexico’s drug cartels and other criminal gangs.

This year appears on track to break Mexico’s murder record, with 28,741 so far.

DC govt sues e-cigarette maker Juul over teen useAP WASHINGTON

The District of Columbia is joining several states in suing the nation’s largest e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, saying the company’s online ads and promotions illegally targeted minors.

Washington, DC, Attorney General Karl Racine announced the lawsuit yesterday, alleging that Juul’s viral marketing con-tributed to the surge in underage vaping by teens in the district and across the US.

The lawsuit also says that Juul misled consumers about the potent nicotine levels con-tained in its flavored pods.

The move follows similar lawsuits filed last week by Cal-ifornia and New York. North Carolina became the first state to sue the San Francisco startup in May.

A Juul spokesman said the company’s products are intended for adults and that it is committed to combating underage vaping.

Under intense legal pressure, Juul recently suspended its US advertising and halted sales of all but two of its flavours, menthol and tobacco. Addi-tionally, the company closed its social media accounts, tightened age verification for online sales and replaced its CEO.

Juul, which launched in 2015, now controls roughly two-thirds of the US retail market for e-cigarettes. The company also faces separate investigations by Congress, the FDA and other federal regulators.

Snow snarls travel with flights cancelled in DenverBLOOMBERG DENVER

A powerful winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow over parts of the US Rockies, snarling plane traffic in the middle of the busy holiday travel period.

More than 400 flights were cancelled at major transport hub Denver International Airport, according to the airport’s Twitter account. Early yesterday morning, the airport said more than 7 inches (18 centimetres) of snow had blanketed runways, with more flakes falling.

Denver saw the most can-celed flights of anywhere in the world on Tuesday, according to the website for Flight Aware, an airline tracking service in Houston.

The Colorado Department of Transportation reported “treach-erous” road conditions and mul-tiple closures, including along Interstate 70.

The problems come as mil-lions of Americans plan travel for the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow. Denver is a key hub between the East and West coasts.

Winter-storm warnings remain in effect from the Colorado and Wyoming Rockies to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the National Weather Service said in a note

yesterday morning. Power outages in Colorado were extremely limited, with Xcel Energy Inc reporting just 13 customers without power in the state.

A man shovels some of the 11 inches of snow that fell, in Denver, Colorado, yesterday.

Bolivia police demand paymentafter mutiny, says MoralesANATOLIA ANKARA

Bolivia’s former leader Evo Morales revealed a document that included payment demands of the country’s police force from the de facto government proof of a coup against his government earlier this month.

“The Commander of the Bolivian Police demands the de facto regime the fulfillment of the payment for making the mutiny that consolidated the coup d’etat,” Morales claimed in a tweet yesterday that salary demands.

The document dated on Monday, signed by head of police, Rodolfo Antonio Montero Torricos, list salary proposals which will equate payments and collateral benefits for police officers with officers of the National Armed Forces.

Turmoil in Bolivia began in October, when the indigenous leader won a fourth term in office and faced immediate resistance from opposition parties that challenged election results.

Protesters took to the streets claiming the ballot was rigged. After weeks of upheaval, Morales resigned from his position

under pressure from the military sand moved to Mexico, where he was offered political asylum.

Conservative Senator Jeanine Anez then proclaimed herself interim president. But public demonstrations have yet to subside, with mostly rural and indigenous pro-Morales supporters taking to the streets, including the capital of La Paz, as well as Sacaba and Cochabamba, since he left the country.

Backers of Morales insist his ouster was a coup.

Jerrold Nadler sent Trump a letter notifying him of the hearing and giving him until December 1 to say whether he or his attorney plan to participate.

Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkeyUS President Donald Trump with First Lady Melania Trump pardons one of the 72nd National Thanksgiving Turkeys as Wellie Jackson, who raised the turkey, holds it during turkey pardoning ceremonies in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, DC, yesterday.

18 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019AMERICAS

Cuba accuses US of violating Vienna ConventionAP HAVANA

Cuba’s foreign minister yesterday accused the United States of violating the Vienna Convention and the deal re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Soon after, the United States announced a new sanction on Cuba meant to cut off the island’s supply of petroleum from Venezuela.

In two tweets, Foreign

Minister Bruno Rodríguez said unspecified “illegal actions” by the US Embassy in Havana

violated both the international codes of conduct for diplomats and the agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015.

“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are inter-ference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Rodríguez tweeted. “They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the re-estab-lishment of relations and Cuban and US laws.”

The US Treasury said it was designating the Cuban company Corporacion Panamericana S.A. as a violator of American sanc-tions on Venezuela.

Such designations make it difficult for companies like Pan-americana to do business even outside the United States due to third parties’ fears of repercus-sions for dealing with a sanc-tioned entity.

The Treasury Department said that after the US sanctioned the state-owned oil importer

Cubametales, Cuba moved employees and contracts over to Panamericana, which was not yet sanctioned.

In one example that occurred over the summer, Cuba shifted its dealings with a North African oil provider from Cubametales to Corporacion Panamericana, the Treasury Department said.

A Cubametales official who also worked in a similar position at Corporacion Panamericana negotiated a deal to buy gasoline from a European company, the

Treasury statement said.The announcement comes

amid rising tensions between the US and Cuba over Washington’s steadily increasing pressure on the communist government.

The US has prohibited cruise travel to Cuba, US flights to cities outside Havana and support for Venezuela oil shipments to the island. The Trump adminis-tration says it hopes to cripple the Cuban government’s ability to support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Peru court orders release of oppn leader Keiko Fujimori

Wildfire burning on Southern California mountains growsAP GOLETA

A wildfire burning on Southern California mountains north of Santa Barbara forced as many as 6,300 people from their homes, but an approaching storm offered hope that the flames would be doused, authorities said.

The fire was a threat to an estimated 2,400 structures, Santa Barbara County fire spokesman Mike Eliason told KEYT-TV.

The National Weather Service said rain was expected to reach the area by midnight.

The fire started at about 4pm on Monday in Los Padres National Forest as winds gusted up to 48kph.

By yesterday morning it was estimated at more than 16 sq km with no con-tainment. No homes had been lost and there were no injuries, Eliason tweeted.

The fire was mainly burning through dry, brushy canyons and ridges of the

Santa Ynez Mountains but evacuations were ordered in populated foothill areas.

A 1990 wildfire in the same area destroyed more than 400 homes.

Firefighters were told during a morning briefing that the area had not received any rain in 180 days and vege-tation was ready to burn, as was demon-strated by the fire’s exponential growth in its early hours.

The firefighters were cautioned that roads into the rugged area may be too narrow for their engines, and that many residents had not left.

The arrival of an expected low pressure system and its accompanying rain also posed hazards ranging from shifting winds to debris flows from steep mountainsides, the firefighters were told.

As much as an inch (2.5 centimetres) of rain was expected in the area, and crew were warned to not drive across flowing water.

The dangers of the cycle of fire and flood is a raw memory in the region.

Firefighters battling flames off Highway 154 north of Santa Barbara, in California, yesterday.

“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are interference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Bruno Rodríguez tweeted.

Chile President seeks military help as abuse allegations mountREUTERS SANTIAGO

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera yesterday asked lawmakers to allow troops back on the streets to defend key public infrastructure, even as a human rights group reported “grave” abuses by security forces over five weeks of sometimes violent riots.

The continuing protests in Chile over inequality and a shortfall in some social services have left at least 26 dead and thousands injured. They have also hobbled the capital’s public transport system, once the envy of Latin America, and caused bil-lions in losses for private business.

Riots have erupted in coun-tries across Latin America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia in recent weeks as regional unrest has spiraled into violence and demands for broad-based reforms.

Pinera sent a bill to Congress yesterday morning to allow the military to protect transmission lines, electric plants, airports,

hospitals and other public infra-structure in order to assure “basic services.”

He said the move would “free up the police force ... to protect the security of our citizens.”

Pinera’s announcement came shortly after international rights group Human Rights Watch said in a report that police had brutally beat protesters, shot teargas cartridges directly at them, and ran over some with o f f i c i a l v e h i c l e s o r motorcycles.

“There are hundreds of wor-rying reports of excessive force on the streets and abuse of detainees,” said José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, after meeting with Pinera yesterday.

The group stopped short of alleging the abuses had been sys-tematic, but its conclusions were in line with a report last week by Amnesty International on the seriousness of many violations. More than 200 Chileans have suffered severe eye injuries alone in clashes with police using rubber bullets.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recommended an immediate overhaul of police protocols and accountability measures to address the mounting allegations of abuse.

Police and military officials have said any cases of alleged abuse are under investigation by civilian courts.

Roadblocks snarled traffic

around the Chilean capital San-tiago yesterday around midday, as protesters set up burning bar-ricades on major streets and highways around the city.

Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in front of the La Moneda presidential palace shortly after Pinera’s speech there. Many took to the city’s main boulevard afterward, bringing traffic to a standstill.

“This never ends,” Rosa Olarce, a pharmacy worker, told Reuters as she waited for a bus. “We’ll see what comes of it.”

Pinera in his speech yes-terday ticked off a list of reforms, from boosting the minimum wage to slashing the prices of medicines and public transpor-tation, aimed at quelling the protests.

A demonstrator is detained by riot police during a protest against Chile’s government, in Santiago, in Chile, yesterday.

AFP LIMA

Peru’s Constitutional Court ordered the release of opposition leader Keiko Fujimori (pictured), after more than a year of pre-trial detention.

Fujimori, 44, has been held since October last year pending her trial in a corruption case linked to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

“The court has agreed to accept habeas corpus,” the pres-ident of the court Ernesto Blume said, announcing a ruling that cannot be appealed.

The legal phrase “habeas corpus” refers to the right of a prisoner to be brought before a court or released.

Blume made clear that the Constitutional Court ruling — by a vote of four judges to three —had no bearing on the corruption case against her.

She was expected to be released later in the week after complying with legal formalities.

The eldest daughter of dis-graced former president Alberto Fujimori, Keiko Fujimori is accused of accepting $1.2m in illicit party funding from Ode-brecht for her 2011 presidential campaign.

Once Peru’s most popular politician, yesterday’s decision theoretically gives her time to campaign for presidential elec-tions set for July 2021.

However, while she remains a key figure inside her right-wing Popular Force party, her popu-larity has fallen dramatically since the corruption scandal.

“Justice has been done, a divine justice. God is great!” said her American husband Mark Vito. Vito has been on hunger strike outside his wife’s prison

on the outskirts of Lima for the past 13 days to press for her release.

“I want my wife out of prison so we can go home with my daughters,” he told reporters.

Dozens of supporters flocked to the women’s prison in the southern suburb of Chorillos, where they hugged and prayed with Vito.

Following a previous appeal, the Supreme Court had halved the detention period to 18 months, earmarking her release for next April.

Three former presidents are being investigated over Odebrecht while a fourth, Alan Garcia, com-mitted suicide in April after police arrived at his house to arrest him for money laundering.

Virginia grants parole to German national for 1985 slayingsAP FALLS CHURCH

Virginia granted parole to a German diplomat’s son who was serving a life sentence for the 1985 killings of his girl-friend’s parents.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s office said the state parole board granted Jens Soering parole for the murders of Nancy and Derek Haysom. The board had rejected his 14 previous parole requests.

In a statement, board chair Adrianne Bennett said “the parole board has determined that releasing Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom ... is appro-priate because of their youth at the time of the offenses, their institutional adjustment and the length of their incarceration.

“The release and per-manent expulsion from the United States is an enormous cost-benefit to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Virginia and we have determined that their release does not pose a public safety risk to the com-munity,” Bennett said.

Soering’s lawyer, Steven Rosenfield, said he had not received notice of the parole board’s decision. In previous parole applications, Rosenfield said his client had been a model prisoner and planned to live in Germany if paroled.

Soering initially confessed to the killings but later recanted, saying he was covering for girl-friend, Elizabeth Haysom.

She also was granted parole on Monday. She had been serving a 90-year sen-tence after pleading guilty to being an accessory to murder and testifying against Soering at is trial.

German officials have sought Soering’s release. Mul-tiple governors, including Northam, rejected his bids for pardons or clemency.

Northam’s office says both Soering and Haysom will be deported and unable to return to the US.

New Hampshire’s presidential primary elections set for February 11AP CONCORD

New Hampshire’s presidential primary elections is set for February 11, eight days after Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Secretary of State Bill Gardner made the date official yesterday during a statehouse news conference.

On the Democratic side, the campaigns of two candidates in nearby states, Senator Eliz-abeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, have empha-sised New Hampshire’s impor-tance to their campaigns. A third candidate geographically familiar with New Hampshire, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, began a primary effort earlier this month.

Former vice-president Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg are also among the leading Democrats placing an emphasis on New Hampshire.

In the Republican primary, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld and former Illinois con-gressman Joe Walsh are attempting longshot campaigns against President Donald Trump.

Gardner has been an ardent defender of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary status. Former Housing Sec-retary Julián Castro’s presi-dential campaign, which has wound down its presence in the state, criticised both New Hamp-shire and Iowa in a statement earlier this month, saying the states “have had a monopoly on going first, despite a severe lack of diversity that is at odds with how we are winning elections across the country.”

19WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019 HOME

CROSSWORD MALL ROYAL PLAZA

Prestigious award for WCM-Q doctor and student teamTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A doctor and student at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q) have received a prestigious award for their research into the rela-tionship between calcium deposits in coronary arteries and high blood pressure.

Dr. Mohamed B Elshazly, car-diologist & assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, and Amal Abdellatif, who is in the final year of her medical degree, were presented with the Paul Dudley White International Scholar at Scientific Sessions award for their work on arterial calcium deposits, hypertension and cor-onary heart disease. The award is given to the highest ranked inter-national abstracts at scientific ses-sions of the American Heart Asso-ciation, with the ranking performed by independent cardiovascular researchers.

In collaboration with interna-tional researchers, the pair examined whether the presence of calcium deposits in coronary arteries are an indication that

doctors should intervene with intensive hypertension treatment to prevent future heart disease, even when other high-risk factors like old age, diabetes and chronic kidney disease are not present.

Working with scientists at a number of international institutions, including Johns Hopkins Hospital and the National Institute for Pre-vention and Cardiovascular Health in Ireland, Amal and Dr. Elshazly performed the research at WCM-Q using the US’s multiethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA) database. MESA is a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that examines early atherosclerosis – a condition where the arteries narrow through a build-up of plaque.

The research was presented at a scientific session of the American Heart Association, which is the largest annual cardiovascular med-icine conference in the world.

Amal said: “I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to take part in such a study with potentially significant clinical implications. Every stage of the process from study design, up to presenting the

poster in a conference hosting pio-neers in cardiology, has been remarkably enriching in this stage of my training. “Dr. Elshazly has been a wonderful mentor and guide and has gracefully introduced me to the rewarding field of clinical research. I am hoping I can extend what I gained from this experience into my future career to answer more clinical questions.”

The research involved exam-ining the records of 1,859 partici-pants with stage one hypertension who are included on the MESA database. Just over half were male and the participants had an average age of 63 years. Whether or not they had coronary calcium deposits - and how severe those deposits were - were then compared with their medical outcomes when other risk factors had been taken into consideration.

The research found that the presence of coronary artery calcium,

particularly a score greater than 100, does increase the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease in patients with mild hypertension.

Dr. Elshazly, himself an alumnus of WCM-Q, said: “This is the first MESA study to be per-formed by Qatar investigators. It is an important example of how global the process of research has become. A study funded by the US National Institutes of Health with US patients has allowed us, as investigators from Qatar, to analyse the data and produce science that can impact worldwide blood pressure guideline development and around a billion patients with hypertension around the world. “The study is very important for the entire world including patients with hyper-tension in Qatar. Moreover, it sets a good example that scientists in Qatar can build international col-laborations and do research any-where across the world.”

Amal Abdellatif and Dr. Mohamed B Elshazly researched the relationship between calcium deposits in coronary arteries and high blood pressure.

UCQ to host event for prospective nursing studentsTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) is set to host its first ever “Experience UCQ” event for prospective nursing students and their families. This informative, interactive event will take place on November 30 on the UCQ campus on Al Forousiya Road (opposite the horse race track) from 10am to 2pm.

“Experience UCQ will be an

exclusive opportunity for future UCQ students to experience what it’s like to be a nursing student at our university,” said Justin Fox, Director of Student and Enrolment Services. “This is an exciting opportunity to engage with faculty, alumni, and current stu-dents in one-on-one conversa-tions and interactive nursing dem-onstrations and tours of our unique Clinical Simulation Centre.”

The University of Calgary in Qatar is the only Canadian uni-versity in Qatar and is the coun-try’s exclusive provider of Bachelor and Master nursing edu-cation. More than 700 nursing leaders have graduated from UCQ and are now working in all facets of Qatar’s healthcare system.

Accredited in Canada and adapted to the local culture, the University’s curriculum provides its nursing students with the

knowledge and expertise to become fully-integrated leaders in Qatar’s healthcare sector. UCQ’s enrolment has grown dramatically as demand for nurses has increased. The university expects to double its enrolment over five years to address the need for nurses in Qatar.

Applications to UCQ’s pro-grams are open to Qatari nationals and residents of Qatar through April 1, 2020.

Ford v Ferrari (titled Le Mans ‘66 in the UK and other territories) is a American sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller.

LE MANS ’66 (FORD VS FERRARI)

Aayushmanbhava (2D/Kannada) 2:00pmSanga Thamizhan (2D/Tamil) 4:30pmAndroid Kunjappan 5.25 (2D/Malayalam) 3:00 & 5:30pm; Frozen II (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:30, 6:30 & 7:15pm; Le Mans ’66 (Ford Vs Ferrari) (2D/Action) 8:00 & 11:00pmCharlie’s Angels (2D/Action) 9:00pmJack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 8:30 & 11:15pmKnives Out (2D/Action) 11:15pm

Frozen II (2D/Animation) 10:30am, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15 & 7:30pm; Adithya Varma (2D/Tamil) 10:30am, 4:45 & 11:00pm; Pagalpanti (2D/Hindi) 11:30am & 5:30pm21 Bridges (2D/Action) 9:45pm & 12:00pmJack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 1:45 & 8:00pmSanga Thamizhan (2D/Tamil) 2:30 & 8:30pm; Akashaganga II (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pm

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Pagalpanti (2D/Hindi) 6:15, 11:15pm

Jack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm

Adithya Varma (2D/Tamil) 6:15pm

Android Kunjappan 5.25 (2D/Malayalam) 8:45pm

Sanga Thamizhan (2D/Tamil) 9:15pm

ASIAN TOWN

ROXY

FLIK Mirqab Mall

21 Bridges (2D/Action) 10:10am, 2:10, 4:10, 6:15, 8:10, 10:20pm & 0:20amAdithya Varma (2D/Tamil) 6:10pmBehind the Trees 11:30pm & 0:35amCharlie’s Angels (2D/Action) 10:25am, 11:40am, 11:55pm & 0:25amFrozen II (2D/Animation) 10;30am, 11:00am, 11:30, 12:40, 1:10, 1:40, 3:20, 3:50, 5:00 , 5:30, 7:40, 9:20, 9:50pmFrozen II (3D/Animation) 2:50 & 7:10pmJack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 3:05 & 9:30pmJoker (2D/Crime) 11:10pmLast Christmas (2D/Comedy) 10:30am, 12:35, 2:40, 4:45, 6:55 & 9:00pmMaleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2D/Adventure) 2:00, 4:25 & 6:50pmTerminator: Dark Fate 11:25pm

10 Minutes Gone (2D/Action) 1:30, 1:45, 10:00 & 10:30pm; 21 Bridges (2D/Action) 11:30, 3:15,6:00, 8:00, 7:45, 3:50, 10:00, 10:30 & 11:45pmAdithya Varma (2D/Tamil) 1:30, 3:30, 8:00 & 10:00pmFrozen II (3D/Animation) 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30, 12:45, 1:30, 3:00, 3:40, 5:00, 5:15, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:15, 7:30, 8:10, 8:15, 9:30pm; Jack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 1:30, 3:20, 7:40 & 11:30pmSanga Thamizhan (2D/Tamil) 10:30am, 12:30, 4:40, 8:40 & 11:00pm; Pagalpanti (2D/Hindi) 10:30am, 12:30, 5:00, 7:00 & 11:30pm

Adithya Varma (2D/Tamil) 2:00pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 2:15, 4:00, 5:00 & 7:00pm Charlie’s Angels (2D/Action) 9:00pmAndroid Kunjappan 5.25 (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:00pmSanga Thamizhan (2D/Tamil) 5:00pmLast Christmas (2D/Comedy) 7:15pmJack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pmPagalpanti (2D/Hindi) 6:00pm21 Bridges (2D/Action) 9:15pm;Le Mans ’66 (Ford Vs Ferrari) (2D/Action) 8:00 & 11:00pm

Android Kunjappan 5.25 (2D/Malayalam) 2:00 & 8:45pm Kabaddi Kabaddi Kabaddi (2D/Nepali) 2:00, 4:15 & 6:30pm; Frozen II (2D/Animation) 2:00, 3:45, 4:15, 5:30, 6:30 & 7:15pmLe Mans ’66 (Ford Vs Ferrari) (2D/Action) 8:30 & 11:15pm Pagalpanti (2D/Hindi) 9:00pmKnives Out (2D/Action) 11:30pm; Jack And Daniel (2D/Malayalam) 11:15pm

20 WEDNESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2019MORNING BREAK

QA launches Aviation Academy at KidZania DohaSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Qatar Airways yesterday opened an Aviation Academy at KidZania Doha as part of its new role as Official Airline Sponsor of Qatar’s first educa-tional-entertainment concept for children.

The airline unveiled the installation of one of its aircraft at the Aviation Academy at a press conference led by Qatar Entertainment Company (Tasali) Board Member and Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Aspire Logistics, Rashid Al Khalifa; and Manager Cadet Pilot Program, Captain Ahmad El Said.

The aircraft has been con-verted into a simulator that allows kids to role play as pilots and cabin crew and immerse themselves as in the world of aviation and travel, learning how to ensure the safety and comfort of pas-sengers onboard. Parents can join in the fun as they role play as passengers receiving award-winning inflight hos-pitality from their children. Visitors entering KidZania Doha will be welcomed at the Qatar Airways branded check-in desks, by personnel dressed in Qatar Airways uniforms.

Qatar Airways Senior Vice- President, Marketing and

Corporate Communications, Salam Al Shawa said: “We are delighted to contribute and stimulate the minds of the youth by allowing them to ignite their imagination as they role play as Qatar Airways pilots and cabin crew. Our partnership with KidZania Doha brings children’s aviation dreams to life in a way that

integrates education and entertainment together. At Qatar Airways we take seri-ously our role in inspiring and encouraging our aviation leaders of the future.”

Qatar Entertainment Company (Tasali) Board Member and Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Aspire Logistics, Rashid Al Khalifa,

said: “At KidZania, we seek to encourage and stimulate the early development of children through playful learning and the use of imag-ination and creativity toward their future paths. We com-pletely align our efforts with Qatar’s National Vision 2030 to help boost human, educa-tional, social and economic

development in the State of Qatar.”

KidZania Doha is an edu-cat ional-enterta inment concept for children designed by educators, where children can independently choose from an array of real life activ-ities to simulate. It manages more than 28 parks worldwide, of which Qatar Airways is a proud co-sponsor of its Kuwait and Singapore locations, in addition to Kid-Zania Doha located in Aspire Park.

Built around the concept of the ‘City of Education and Entertainment,’ KidZania fea-tures an interactive kid-sized city, which was developed for and is managed solely by children between the age groups 2-14.

The self-sufficient city includes more than 60 real life simulation activities across diverse business environ-ments, and allows children to dress up and role-play real-istic tasks in a safe, interactive a n d m e a n i n g f u l environment.

The Edutainment park, with its own economy and cur-rency, has been designed to provide a holistic experience to support physical and mental development amongst children, and help improve their self-esteem and confidence.

Officials from Qatar Airways and Qatar Entertainment along with children during the opening ceremony of Aviation Academy at KidZania Doha.

Vodafone Qatar offers exciting activities for fans during Arabian Gulf CupTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Vodafone Qatar, the Official Tele-communications Sponsor of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, has announced exciting activities and offers that will turn football enthu-siasts from mere spectators to

active participants in one of the region’s most important sports events.

Vodafone Qatar’s cus-tomised offerings will rely heavily on digital engagement including its Social Media and a specially designed prediction

platform www.fans.vf.qa that everyone in Qatar can enjoy. This includes: Predict & Win – Players will have to predict match results on a daily basis and in real time can check other players’ predictions.

Qatar’s Greatest Fan – A

series of daily quizzes and trivia to celebrate fans knowledge about Arabian Gulf Cup history.

Players from both games have a chance to win exciting prizes from Vodafone Qatar including a free Unlimited 750 mobile plan subscription for 1

year, a free GigaHome 600 sub-scription for 1 year and an iPhone Pro 256B.

Vodafone Qatar Chief Exec-utive Officer, Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Thani, said: “At Vodafone Qatar, we under-stand that the modern football fan

is looking for more than just a 90min experience. The digital world is now an integral part of the game and as a digital first operation, we are perfectly placed to offer fans an unforgettable and engaging football experience that extends beyond the pitch.”

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum22oC 28oC

HIGH TIDE 05:09 – 16:04 LOW TIDE 12:26 – 23:41

Misty at places at first, scattered clouds

with chance of rain at some places at

times.

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 39 AM05. 59 AM

11. 21 AM02.23 PM

04. 45 PM06. 15 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS