Volume 24 | Number 7973 | 2 RiyalsSunday 4 August 2019 | 3 Dhul-Hijja 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 14 SPORT | 20

QREC committed to Arabian racing: CEO Al Kaabi

Georgieva emerges as EU’s

candidate for IMF head

Five foreign firms bid for Qatar’s first solar projectTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has received five bids from international developers qual-ified for the first solar power project in Qatar to produce elec-tricity by using photovoltaic technology, which was offered by the public-private part-nership system, where Kahramaa reviews and eval-uates technical, legal and commercial offers.

The West Doha Solar Power Plant project is being built near the Al Kharsa’a district on an area of 10sqkm. The total capacity of the solar power project is estimated to be at least 700MW.

Some 350MW will be con-nected to the grid in the first quarter of 2021, and commercial operation will begin in the first quarter of 2022.

Kahramaa has already qualified 16 of the world’s leading companies to establish and develop solar power plants, where bids were

received from companies and alliances from France, Japan, South Korea and China, dem-onstrating the strength and attractiveness of the Qatari market and the interest of international companies in the partnership.

The project was offered by building and operation mech-anism for 25 years, then the assets were transferred to Kah-ramaa according to the interna-tionally recognised BOOT system.

The plant is part of the com-pany’s plans to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency by diversifying sources of elec-tricity production. �P2

Prime Minister meets Airbus Chief Executive Officer

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with the Airbus Chief Executive Officer, Guillaume Faury. They reviewed areas of cooperation between the two sides, especially in the field of aviation.

Amir holds telephone talk with French PresidentQNA DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a tele-phone conversation yesterday evening with President Emmanuel Macron of the friendly French Republic.

During the phone call, they reviewed bilateral relations and aspects of developing them in various fields, in addition to the most prominent regional and international developments.

Over one million visit Qatar in JuneIRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Owing to various initiatives taken by the Qatar National Tourism Council, a large number of visitors from around the globe are visiting Qatar and their number crossed one million in June this year.

According to recently released figures by the Planning and Statistics Authority, as many as 1,053,015 people visited Qatar in June 2019.

The official statistics reveal

that 113,302 visitors belong to GCC countries; 76, 666 people from other Arab countries; 21,052 from other African coun-tries; 408,071 from other coun-tries of Asia including Oceania; 338,692 from Europe and 95, 232 visitors came from Americas.

The ‘visitor-arrivals’ in Qatar Monthly Statistics Bulletin measures non-residents trav-elling to Qatar on a short-term basis for all purposes.

The statistics of the month of June also indicate very good

occupancy rate of hotels in Qatar. Overall occupancy rate in all star categories remained 65 percent in June this year.

The occupancy rate of 3-star hotels topped the list showing 76 percent occupancy rate followed by 2- and 1-star hotels (75 percent); 4-star hotels (67 percent) and 5-star hotels (61 percent).

The performance of hotel apartments also remained prom-ising in June 2019 showing overall 73 percent occupancy rate.

In May this year, residents of Qatar were enabled to invite their relatives and friends easily as the country further eased visa processes as a part of the ‘Summer in Qatar’ programme which began on June 4 and will conclude on August 16.

To facilitate visitors under the ‘Summer in Qatar’ pro-gramme, an electronic visitor authorisation system was also launched by the Ministry of Interior and the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) in June this year. �P3

The total capacity of the solar power project, coming up at Al Kharsa’a district on an area of 10sqkm, is estimated to be at least 700MW.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The sale of subsidised sheep, which came in the framework of the joint national initiative to promote local production and subsidise the prices of sheep meat, will begin today.

The initiative, announced by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment and Widam Food Company, aims to encourage domestic pro-duction and to maintain the balance of supply and demand, thereby l imit ing price increases. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement issued yes-terday that the sale will con-tinue from today until August 13 (12th of Dhul-Hijjah 1440 Hijri - the third day of Eid).

An agreement was reached with Widam Food Company to ensure a supply of 9,000 sheep of Arab origin (local and Syrian) according to the fol-lowing weights and prices: Local sheep weighing 35kg and over to be sold at QR1,000 while Syrian sheep weighing 40kg and over to be sold at

QR950. The sheep will be sold through Widam Food Company at a number of loca-tions, such as the central market and other Widam slaughterhouses in Al Shamal, Al Khor, Al Mazrouah, Umm Salal, Al Shahaniya and Al Wakra. Home delivery services will also be available.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in coordination with Widam Food Company, is prohibiting the sale of underweight sheep, and according to the terms of the

initiative, sheep will be sold to each Qatari citizen who shall present a valid ID card.

The buyer should be at least 20 years old (born in 1999 or later) and shall have the right to purchase only one sheep. This will ensure the availability of sheep for the targeted segment.

To ensure compliance with the subsidised prices and the implementation of safety pro-cedures, the ministry will intensify its inspection cam-paigns from today.

02 SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019HOME

GAC holds seminar on ‘Import for Re-Export’ serviceTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The General Authority of Customs (GAC) has organised a seminar on “Import for Re-Export”, a service provided by GACA to facilitate traders in some customs procedures and mech-anisms to pay customs duties imposed on imported goods.

It was attended by a number of owners and representatives of import companies in the country.

The service recently launched by the Authority is to give traders and companies the ability to import goods into the country without paying the set customs duties for a period of six months from the date of customs release, with the possibility of re-export the whole or part of the shipment if not sold within the country, in accordance with certain conditions and bank guarantees.

In his opening speech, Sultan Al Nuaimi, Director of Customs Affairs at GAC, stressed the Authority’s keenness to provide the necessary customs facil-ities that serve the import and export operations with the aim of supporting the needs of the domestic market and enhancing the economic movement of the State.

He noted that the import service for the purpose of re-export was launched in order to ease the financial burden on traders and companies oper-ating in the State of Qatar by post-poning the payment of customs duties until the completion of the sale.

He referred to the Authority’s belief in its role in contributing to the achievement of sustainable economic development of the State, through cooperation and coordination between the State departments and the private sector. He said that the Authority is keen to implement best practices to improve the work, customs systems and procedures that contribute to enhancing the economic situation of the State of Qatar at the regional and global levels, and emphasising its

regional role in trade exchanges taking place across the Middle East and the Gulf region.

For his part, Khalifa Hassan Al Hayal, from the Department of Exemp-tions and Outstanding Conditions of Fees in the Customs Affairs Department, presented a visual presentation on all aspects of the import service for re-export, identifying the service “import for re-export, the most important objectives and conditions and controls and procedures for submission and

other details required .. Noting that all the conditions for the use of this service are available on the website of the Authority.

He stressed that the GAC seeks through these services to participate actively in achieving Qatar National Vision 2030 by encouraging local industries and the adoption of customs systems characterised by easy and rapid release and attract foreign com-panies to contribute to the service of the economy and investment.

A session during the seminar organised by the General Authority of Customs on “Import for Re-Export” service.

Shahry, Qatarna customers using Ooredoo App to get even more valueTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo yesterday announced a promotion that gives Shahry and Qatarna customers using the Ooredoo App even more value.

With the new promotion, all Shahry and Qatarna customers will receive 35% discount on up to two Uber rides, up to a value of QR20 per ride.

Shahry 100, Shahry 150 and Shahry 200 customers will get one promotional code per month, valid to use only once, and Shahry 250 and all Qatarna (350, 500, 600 and 850) cus-tomers will get two promotional codes per month, each one valid to use only once. Shahry and Qatarna customers can redeem

a promotional code from the “Offers” section of the Ooredoo app. Once the code has been redeemed, customers can use it in their Uber app and the dis-count will apply to their next ride.

Speaking about the new promotion, Manar Khalifa Al-Muraikhi – Director PR and Cor-porate Communications at Ooredoo – said: “Our tie-up with Uber is a great way for us to offer additional value to our customers and accessing the promotion via the app is quick and easy, in line with our com-mitment to complete digitali-sation and enhancing our cus-tomers’ digital lives.” Customers can sign up to a Shahry or Qatarna pack at any of our Ooredoo shops around town.

AACE Qatar Section and NQSQ sign agreementTHE PENINSULA DOHA

AACE Qatar Section and Nigerian Quantity Surveyor Qatar (NQSQ) signed a cooperative agreement recently. The agreement estab-lishes the framework for AACE and NQSQ to pursue opportu-nities that are mutually bene-

ficial. AACE and NQSQ will each appoint a point of contact (POC) to explore these opportunities and propose the specific details on what each party will pursue and how the details associated with each should be handled

According to the agreement both organizations will share excellence in learning and

strategic collaboration for the development of best practices in project/program management, estimating, budgeting, cost man-agement, risk management, earned value management, claims management and dispute resolution.

The agreement was by Avinash Gaikwad, president,

AACE Qatar Section 2019-2020 and Abraham Mooray Alhassan, chairman, NQSQ.

AACE Qatar Section is one of the most active sections of AACE International. AACE Qatar Section activities are managed on voluntary basis, purely on the professional and service interests of the members of AACE.

The representatives of AACE Qatar Section and Nigerian Quantity Surveyor Qatar during the agreement signing ceremony.

Five foreign firms bid for Qatar’s first solar projectFROM PAGE 1

It is also aimed at increasing the proportion of renewable energy, in accordance with the directives of the wise leadership to reduce dependence on oil and gas in the economic activities of the State to achieve economic diversification and in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 within the pillars of economic development and environ-mental development, to diversify sources of electricity production and increase the proportion of renewable energy.

Kahramaa is the sole owner and operator of the network of electricity and water distribution systems in the State of Qatar.

Kahramaa is responsible for the purchase, distribution and sale of electricity and water from independent producers and provide technical and insti-tutional support for the estab-lishment of power generation and desalination plants, and owns, constructs and operates electricity and water distribution networks in the State of Qatar, as well as preparing plans and programs for the development of electricity and water distri-bution networks, setting the rules governing the work of electrical connections and water installations for various

buildings and facilities, and pro-v i d i n g s e r v i c e s a n d

consultations in the field of their activities.

The Kahramaa headquarters.

Eid Al Adha: Sale of subsidisedsheep to begin today

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum34oC 44oC

HIGH TIDE 05:44 – 18:59 LOW TIDE 02:07 – 13:27

Hot daytime with slight dust at some plac-

es and some clouds.

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 38 AM05. 02 AM

11. 40 AM03.08 PM

06. 20 PM07. 50 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

03SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019 HOME

beIN launches ‘Return of the Giants’ campaignTHE PENINSULA DOHA

In line with its commitment to offer its viewers and fans the best content in sports and enter-tainment, beIN has launched the ‘Return of the Giants’ campaign.

The promotion, which is valid until the August 31, allows new subscribers to the sports package a free upgrade to the premium package as well as complete access to beIN’s exclusive streaming service beIN connect and 8 US dollars’ worth of credit to watch and keep the best Hollywood movies on beIN’s On Demand service.

The premium package offers viewers access to a wide array of sports and entertainment

content including all beIN sports channels and entertainment channels such as beIN Movies, beIN Series, beIN Drama, Fox, Fatafeat, Baraem, beJunior and much more. Existing subscribers

to the sports package can also benefit from the promotion if they renew their subscription.

With the upgrade from sports to premium, beIN sub-scribers have the chance to

access beIN Sports’ wide array of sports content including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and domestic football leagues across Europe including The Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Bun-desliga and more. The premium package also provides viewers with access to the best enter-tainment channels and content in the region with Hollywood’s latest movies such as The Meg, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rampage and Avengers: End Game all available exclusively on beIN.

To subscribe to the SPORTS Package and get a free upgrade to premium, visit www.bein.net/promotions or WhatsApp www.wa.me/97440090000.

Turkey witnesses rise in Qatari tourist arrivals THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatari nationals continue trav-elling to Turkish cities in rising numbers, according to the latest figures released by the Turkish Cultural and Tourism Office.

A total of 30,160 Qataris have visited multiple destinations across Turkey within the first four months of the year, repre-senting a 14.09% increase when compared to the same period last year, according to recently released data.

Some 12,766 Qatari nationals travelled to Turkey during the month of April, representing a 101.77% increase when com-pared to April last year. As of now a total of 66 flights depart from Qatar for several destinations across Turkey each week.

“We are delighted to see Turkey climb to one of the most popular tourist destinations for Qatari as well as other Gulf

nationals. Visitors from neigh-bouring nations have always played a significant role in driving economic growth within Turkey by boosting its tourism sector,” commented Salih Ozer, Attaché of Culture and Infor-mation, Turkey.

Over 8,735,200 tourists from around the world flew into Turkey in April, representing a 24% increase in comparison to April last year. The largest influx of tourists into Turkey in the first four months of 2019 has been from Germany at just over 803,480 visitors, followed by Bulgaria and Russia.

Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya also recently

broke its record for the number of tourists arriving by air on a single day — 85,205 visitors flew into the city on June 8. Inbound tourist traffic per month also rose by 17% in June with 570,422 vis-itors to the city. So far, 3,870,211 tourists have visited Antalya this year with an 18% increase when compared to the same period last year. The Attaché added, “Turkey has a lot to offer tourists, from an adventurous holiday at the shores of the Black Sea to a relaxing vacation on Mediter-ranean beaches, from historic sites to iconic attractions, to plenty of exclusive shopping. The country’s proximity coupled with relaxed visa formalities makes it

the perfect destination for our Arab neighbours. The outlook for

the tourism sector is indeed quite positive, and we are hoping to

hit record-breaking highs throughout the year.”

The scenic beauty of Antalya, a Turkish resort city.

A total of 30,160 Qataris have visited multiple destinations across Turkey within the first four months of the year, representing a 14.09% increase when compared to the same period last year, according to recently released data.

Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital opens second outpatient psychiatry clinicTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) newest hospital, Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital (HMGH), has introduced its second outpatient psychiatry clinic as part of a wider strategy to facilitate easier access to specialist mental health services in the country.

The new clinic, which began receiving patients late last week, will care for those who require routine outpa-tient psychiatry assessment and treatment.

Dr. Majid Al Abdulla, Medical Director and Acting Chairman of Psychiatry, Mental Health Services, said the introduction of a second outpatient clinic is a notable milestone on the journey toward the establishment of a multidisciplinary mental health service at the new com-munity-based hospital.

“Our second outpatient clinic will provide psychiatry and mental healthcare to those living and working in the Industrial Area of Doha. Since our first outpatient clinic opened in May, we have cared for patients at around 90 out-patient visits, covering all adult psychiatric conditions, including anxiety disorders, psychosis, and depression. The establishment of a second out-patient clinic will allow us to even better serve our patients,” said Dr Al Abdulla.

Dr. Hani Kilani, Medical Director of Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, said the establishment of a second out-patient clinic is a response to the growing need for com-munity-based psychiatry and mental healthcare services. He says the demand for mental healthcare services continues to rise and the establishment of a second clinic is part of ongoing efforts to improve the support available to patients with moderate to severe mental illness.

“The establishment of this second clinic means that patients will now have access

to outpatient psychiatric clinics each Tuesday and Wednesday. Patients who present at our Emergency Department, and those admitted on surgical and medical wards or seen in other outpatient clinics, can be referred to these specialist psychiatric clinics. We will also receive patients from our local Qatar Red Crescent clinic who require routine outpa-tient psychiatric care,” said Dr Kilani.

Iain Tulley, CEO of Mental Health Services at HMC and National Health Strategy Lead for Mental Health and Well-being, said HMC’s ongoing expansion of community-based mental health services is in line with the National Mental Health Strategy’s objective to design and build a comprehensive and inte-grated mental health system. He said this latest expansion is aligned with the National Mental Health Strategy and is a reflection of efforts to develop partnerships that facilitate easier access to mental healthcare in the community.

Dr. Kilani said the estab-lishment of the second outpa-tient psychiatry clinic and last month’s launch of surgical services at Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital are part of a planned expansion program that will see several other services open this year at the new hospital. He said plans are underway to launch a dental service, prosthetic lab, and outpatient cardiology services, and he noted that a second Intensive Care Unit and expanded Emergency Department will also open before the end of the year.

Located in the Doha Indus-trial Area, Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital provides care for adult male patients and particularly those living and working in that part of the country. The hospital, which was officially opened in December 2018, offers a range of outpatient, inpatient and emergency care service.

Dr. Majid Al Abdulla, Medical Director and Acting Chairman of Psychiatry, Mental Health Services, at HMGH. RIGHT: Iain Tulley, CEO of Mental Health Services at HMC.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The ‘4th Local Dates Festival 2019’ concluded its activities yesterday and succeeded in marketing over 170 tonnes during the 12 days.

The event ran from July 23 till yesterday between 4pm to 10pm in a large tent at Souq Waqif. The festival also succeeded in attracting about 51,000 thousand visitors.

In the last two days of the event, the complete stock of dates of the festival was sold which was about 14 tonnes and 394kg. Also, around 12,800 people visited the fes-tival in the last two days.

The event was organised by the Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment with the participation of 86 local farms and a number of com-panies specialised in this regard.

Fourth Local Dates Festival concludes with whopping sales of over 170 tonnes

Over one million visit Qatar in JuneFROM PAGE 1

The authorisation system has enabled residents to invite family and relatives from around the world to visit Qatar during the ‘Summer in Qatar’ programme and obtain a free visa upon arrival after applying through the online portal: http://www.

qatarvisaservices.com. Online authorisation system

streamlines application process with a 24-hour turnaround time.

To boost tourism in Qatar, the Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) last month part-nered with Chinese technology giant Huawei in a deal that will

help to attract more visitors from the world’s fastest-growing visitor source market.

The partnership saw a Huawei camera crew visit Qatar to capture iconic and historic attractions around the country using the Huawei P30 Pro. The breathtaking images can now be

used as wallpaper on Huawei phones. Huawei also will promote videos taken by Huawei P30 Pro in Qatar through their online channels such as Huawei APP, social media and other video platforms, giving images of Qatar significant exposure to Chinese consumers.

A bustling corner of the 4th Local Dates Festival 2019 where visitors are seen bargaining with sellers on the concluding day of the festival yesterday at Souq Waqif. RIGHT: A click at the festival venue.

Visitors moving out with purchased dates.

04 SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019HOME

Exclusive Eid Al Adhaoffers from The WestinDoha Hotel and SpaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa has announced its exclusive Eid offers for families and travellers looking for a comfortable getaway.

The offer is designated for residents in Qatar and visitors from across the region to make the most of their vacation with an attractive deal where they can book a deluxe room for QR600 for single occupancy and QR700 for double inclusive of breakfast and lunch at Seasonal Tastes. Also, children under 12 can enjoy their meals compli-mentary throughout the hotel venues. For those wishing to explore a brunch experience, Seasonal Tastes Restaurant will open its doors to host a special brunch on the first day of Eid in a traditional ambiance with a lavish buffet featuring a wide array of flavours from

international cuisine along with an area dedicated for kids.

In addition, Heavenly Spa is offering an ultimate journey of treatments through the most luxurious Hammam treatment from a deep exfoliation, to a hair treatment completed with a full body mask and massage topped with a super nourishing body butter for only QR1395.

From his side, Ammar Samad, Hotel Manager at The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, said: “We are thrilled to share the spirit of Eid Al Adha with all our guests and we are offering our guests the opportunity to embrace the special moments with their family and friends in our generously sized room starting at 46sqm. In addition, we have an extensive recreation facilities and lush green gardens which allow families to spend the most beautiful moments with their loved ones in a relaxing atmosphere.”

The Deluxe room of The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa.

QF’s ABP hosts orientation event for 290 new students THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Academic Bridge Program (ABP), part of Qatar Foundation’s Pre-University Education, recently hosted an orientation event for its 2019-2020 new joiners at the Learning Resource Center in Penrose House (Liberal Arts and Science building).

Welcoming 290 new stu-dents, the orientation event included a comprehensive tour of the building housed in Edu-cation City – introducing joiners to the school’s programme, its facilities, policies, services, and activities, as well as faculty and staff. Dr. Bryan Lewallen, Director, ABP, welcomed stu-dents in an opening address at the orientation event. “Our

faculty and staff members work hard to ensure that everything runs smoothly on the very first day of the new academic year. I am very proud of our ABP stu-dents and the continuous accomplishments they achieve, and look forward to a very suc-cessful and rewarding year ahead,” he said.

The students also met Asmaa R. Al Qaysi, Assistant Director, Student Services, who detailed the school’s activities, pro-grammes, clubs, and events designed to build various skills;

Dr. Mark Newmark, Assistant Director, Academic Affairs, who emphasised the importance of academic com-mitment in order to benefit from the program, as well as the need to be diligent and to work hard; and Hassan Zeidan, Registrar and Admissions Coordinator, who provided information on class schedules, ABP’s grading system, and tests.

The school counsellor, Jac-queline Nottingham, was also on hand to explain her role at ABP, which includes helping students with college admissions and

facilitating communication with universities around the world, as well as raising awareness of academic courses that can

improve students’ skills. Since its inception in 2001, the ABP has graduated more than 3,100 students, with more than 85

percent of them going on to enrol at international univer-sities, including in the US and the UK.

The orientation event hosted by the Academic Bridge Program, part of Qatar Foundation’s Pre-University Education, for its 2019-2020 new joiners at the Learning Resource Center in Penrose House.

Translation and Interpreting Institute at HBKU offers language courses for children, teenagersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Six foreign language courses for students aged five to 15 years are now on offer at The Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII), part of the College of Human-ities and Social Sciences (CHSS), at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

The classes will run for 15 weeks and are set to commence in September 2019.

The fall courses, which are offered through the Language Center at TII, include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Por-tuguese, and Spanish. A specially designed Arabic course for non-native students aged 8 to 11 years will aim to strengthen the reading skills of students and develop their communication abilities. The course will utilise simple dialogue exercises to help students read and understand short passages that address daily life.

Students can look forward to an enriching and culturally rewarding experience where they will be taught the history of the language through carefully planned lessons that use up-to-date methodologies and activ-ities such as songs, games, crafts,

music, drama, and art. Dr. Nima Nazari, Director of

the Language Center, TII, HBKU, said, “Research shows that children have a stronger innate ability to learn languages and gain proficiency when compared to adults. Therefore, our courses focus on developing the cog-nitive skills and creativity of the students by encouraging them to learn in a supportive envi-ronment. In a multicultural country like Qatar, where several foreign languages and cultures are intertwined, being able to

speak another language is a val-uable asset for children because it strengthens their cross-cul-tural understanding and boosts their critical thinking skills.”

Students are taught entirely in the foreign language as part of a fully immersive experience, and will be encouraged to think creatively and collaborate with other students. The classes are taught by qualified instructors with prior experience in teaching children, and will be held every Saturday from September 7 to December 14.

The fall courses offered by TII’s Language Center further the institute’s mission to provide world-class foreign language education that enables learners to acquire a new language in a natural setting.

All courses will be held at Penrose House (previously LAS Building) in Education City. To enroll for one of TII’s language courses, please visit http://tii.qa/language-center and www.tii.qa/kids-courses. Registration ends on September 3 for adults and on September 10 for children.

Children brushing up their language skills at the Translation and Interpreting Institute, part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

Since its inception in 2001, the ABP has graduated more than 3,100 students, with more than 85 percent of them going on to enrol at international universities, including in the US and the UK.

Indian playback singer Rafi rememberedTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Indian Cultural Center in association with Al Zaheem events held a melodious evening for music lovers in Qatar to commemorate the 39th death anniversary of Mohammed Rafi.

He is one of the most influ-ential singers of the Indian sub-continent. More than one hundred persons attended the event. Rafi had received six film

fare awards and one national film award. In 1967, he was hon-oured with the Padma Shri by the government of India and had recorded as many as 7,405 songs in many languages. The pro-gramme was held at Ashoka Hall. All-time hits and world famous songs originally sung by Rafi were presented by singers.K M Varghese, the Chairman of Advisory Board of Indian Cultural Center, felicitated the artists and organisers. The event

was coordinated by Bhumeshwar Padala, Managing Member of Indian Cultural Center, and Head of C o u n s e l l o r Services and External Events, and supported by R a m a c h a n d r a Shetty, Managing C o m m i t t e e member and Head of In-house activ-ities.

05SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019 HOME

QRCS concludes successful ‘Little Hearts’ project in BangladeshTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed its extraordinarily and successful “Little Hearts” project in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Over 10 days, the medical team performed 79 cardiac cath-eterizations for the listed children, offered more than 250 medical examinations, and referred one patient to the Department of Open-Heart Surgery.

As the charitable task came to an end, the Director of the National Institute of Cardiovas-cular Diseases (NICVD), which hosted the procedures, per-sonally thanked the delegation for their great work, sending his special thanks to QRCS, the gov-ernment and people of Qatar, and, particularly, the benevolent donors.

The staff of the Embassy of Qatar in Dhaka had much to do in this success. They helped the delegation on arrival,

transported the medical mate-rials to the hospital using their own cars, gave them all the facil-ities required, and escorted them until their departure to Doha.

QRCS’s delegation visited Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) to meet with its Pres-ident, Secretary-General, and board members.

Amid extensive media cov-erage, the meeting discussed the ongoing bilateral humani-tarian projects and how to ensure their effectiveness and sustainability.

Then, the group visited BDRCS’s Holy Family Hospital, a major health facility in Dhaka. They took a tour of the various departments, spending more

time at the dialysis centre. Devel-opment projects were proposed to improve this vital health facility, which serves thousands of families in the country.

Among the cases dealt with by the medical team were atrial septal defects (ASD), ventricular septal defects (VSD), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), aortic and pulmonary stenosis balloon valvuloplasty, right-side and left-side catheters, diagnostic cath-eterizations, pre- and during-procedure echocardiography (ECG), transesophageal echocar-diography (TEE), defibrillation, and coronary stents.

The delegation of QRCS fea-tured Dr. Mohamed Salah Ebrahim, Executive Director of

Relief and International Division and head of delegation; Dr. Khaled Alam Al-Huda, coordi-nator of medical convoys; Dr. Mohamed Tawfik Noaman, pae-diatric cardiologist and pro-fessor at the University of Texas

(USA); Dr. Iad Al-Amouri, pae-diatric cardiologist (Jordan); Dr. Hassan Ismael, paediatric anaesthetist (West Bank); Abdullah Ashkanani, senior catheterization technician at Hamad Medical Corporation

(HMC); and Qatari volunteers Aliaa Al-Maadheed and Tomador Al-Boeneen — the founders of Box of Joy initiative, who distributed toys and gifts to the patients, with support from Qatar Airways.

The QRCS medical team performed 79 cardiac catheterizations for children, offered more than 250 medical examinations and referred one patient to the Department of Open-Heart Surgery during its 10-day medical project in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

GU-Q celebrates achievements of IEDM programme cohortTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Guests from across Qatar and the world gathered at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) recently to celebrate the achieve-ments of the second cohort of the International Executive Master’s in Emergency and Disaster Management (IEDM) degree programme.

This year’s IEDM cohort rep-resents a wide variety of sectors and professionals from across Qatar and other nations, from ministerial officials to medical directors to army and police pro-fessionals, as well as crisis com-municators, and IT and telecom specialists.

They share a driving desire to ensure the safety and security of their nations and their people in times of crisis.

Keynote Speaker at the event, HE Dr Abdulla Al Thani, Advisor, Amiri Diwan, said, “Today we celebrate the aca-demic achievement of these out-standing graduates of Geor-getown University, in the critical field of emergency and disaster

management, which is essential to the security of Qatar and soci-eties worldwide.

“I am confident the graduates will play a leading role as stewards of our collective safety, whether in government, the private sector, or nonprofit organisations.”

The 24 graduating students presented their capstone projects in a gallery walk prior to the graduation ceremony.

The projects showcased the students’ in-depth research and analysis on improving emer-gency preparedness in Qatar and

around the world in areas such as the national emergency health system, the use of car parks as emergency shelters, enhancing the chemical hazards framework on construction sites, and food security.

Kelly Otter, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, which administers the programme, also spoke to the gathering. “Our graduating students join a pow-erful network of Georgetown

alumni who are excelling in their organisations. As communities across the globe entrust their public safety to these graduates, we have every confidence in their abilities,” she said. Several students were singled out for

academic excellence and contri-butions to the community. Farukh Mohammad Azad, manager of Digital Transfor-mation at Ooredoo, received the IEDM Ambassador Award and Dr Salih Al Marri, Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Health, received the Outstanding Com-munity Engagement Award.

Dr Hassan Al-Thani, Head of Trauma and Vascular Surgery Sections at Hamad Medical Cor-poration, was selected for the Outstanding Capstone Impact Award for his project on “Crisis Surge Capacity and Mitigation Plan Based on Real-Time Trauma Registry Data.”

Welcoming its third cohort in September 2019, the IEDM programme helps the next gen-eration of global leaders prepare for and respond to a wide variety of natural, technological, and man-made disasters.

The programme offers a blend of virtual learning and five on-site international residencies in five different countries that provide critical hands-on experience and engagement opportunities with leading experts in the field.

Officials and graduates of the International Executive Master’s in Emergency and Disaster Management (IEDM) degree programme pose for a group photo at Georgetown University in Qatar.

Aspire Zone Foundation successfully concludes 2019 Summer CampTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) has successfully concluded its second edition of the Summer Camp following four weeks of edutainment and sport activities for more than 250 children aged 6 to 13 years old.

This year’s programme included a blend of field trips to the National Museum of Qatar, Katara’s Thuraya Planetarium, KidZania Doha, as well as a variety of sporting activities, including athletics, gymnastics, aerobics, long jump, tennis, bad-minton, swimming lessons and training sessions in basketball, handball, taekwondo, football and volleyball.

Commenting on the successful conclusion of the Summer Camp 2019, Abdulla Aman Alkhater, Director of Venues and Events at AZF, said: “More than 250 children have invested their free summer time in useful and energetic educational and sports activities. Our experts have been keen to provide the best experience for them. We look forward to organising the winter edition during the upcoming school break, so that more children can enjoy the taste of what AZF offers to the youngsters.”

The 2019’s Summer Camp was organised in partnership with the Cultural Village Foundation – Katara, KidZania, the National Museum of Qatar, the Cage Sport, Planet Medical Center and the STEM Xplorers.

QRCS visited and met officials of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and discussed the ongoing humanitarian projects and how to make them more effective and sustainable. The QRCS team, comprising specialists and volunteers, also distributed toys and gifts with support from Qatar Airways.

The 24 graduating students in the 2nd cohort came from across Qatar as well as other nations, representing various sectors and professions, from ministerial officials to medical directors to army and police.

More than 250 children between 6 and 13 years of age took part in four weeks of sports, entertainment and education activities at Aspire Zone.

06 SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Sudan activists, army agree on constitutional declarationAFP KHARTOUM

Protest leaders reached “full agreement” with Sudan’s ruling generals yesterday on a hard-won constitutional decla-ration, the African Union said, paving the way for a promised transition to civilian rule.

Thousands of jubilant Sudanese took to the streets of the capital Khartoum when the deal was announced before dawn to celebrate the prospect of a civilian government.

The declaration builds on a landmark power-sharing deal signed on July 17 and provides for a joint civilian-military ruling body to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian gov-ernment and parliament to govern for a three-year tran-sition period.

The deal is the fruit of dif-ficult negotiations between the leaders of the mass protests which erupted last December against the three-decade rule of president Omar al-Bashir and the generals who eventually ousted him in April.

“I am announcing to the Sudanese, African and interna-tional public opinion that the two delegations have fully agreed on the constitutional declaration,” AU mediator Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt told reporters.

He said further meetings would be held to work out the technical details of the deal and discuss the signing ceremony.

An initial inking of the agreement is expected to take place today, protest leaders said, ahead of a formal signing in front of foreign dignitaries.

The talks between the protest movement and the generals had been repeatedly interrupted by deadly violence against demonstrators.

They were suspended for weeks after men in military uniform broke up a long-running protest camp outside army head-quarters in Khartoum on June 3, killing at least 127 people according to doctors close to the protest movement.

They were briefly suspended again earlier this week when paramilitaries shot dead six demonstrators in the city of

Al-Obeid, four of them schoolchildren.

The Arab League welcomed the agreement yesterday, saying the signing of the constitutional declaration “would launch a new and important phase in line with the Sudanese people’s aspirations”.

Demonstrators among the crowds that took to the streets in the early hours hailed victory in their struggle for a new Sudan.

“For us, the revolution suc-ceeded now and our country set foot on the road towards civilian rule,” said 25-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim as he joined the cav-alcade of vehicles that criss-crossed the streets of Khartoum, horns blazing.

Fellow protester, Somaiya Sadeq, said she hoped there would now be justice for those who had given their lives.

“We have been waiting for a civilian state to seek fair retri-bution from the murderers of our sons,” she said.

Doctors linked to protest umbrella group the Alliance for Freedom and Change say more than 250 people have been killed in protest-related violence since December. Protest leaders have blamed much of the violence on the feared paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces, who sprang out of the Janjaweed militia notorious for alleged war

crimes during the conflict in Darfur.

The military announced on Friday that nine of them had been dismissed and arrested on suspicion of involvement in this week’s fatal shootings in Al-Obeid.

Protest leaders said they had

won the military’s agreement that the RSF irregulars would be integrated in the army chain of command.

“The paramilitary RSF will report to the head of the armed forces,” said protest leader Monzer Abu al-Maali.

Many Sudanese expressed

relief that an end was finally in sight to the seven and a half months of protests and political unrest that have gripped the country. “We cannot keep pro-testing indefinitely. It was important to reach a middle ground between all factions,” said Gomaa Hussein, 45.

Demonstrators wave national flag as they celebrate the announcement of the ‘full agreement’ between Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders, in Khartoum, yesterday.

Zarif: Iran to further reduce commitments to nuclear dealREUTERS GENEVA

Iran will take another step to reduce its compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday without elaborating, according to parliamentary news agency ICANA.

Iran has repeatedly said it will reduce its commitment to the nuclear accord in stages and may even withdrew from the pact altogether unless the remaining signatories find ways to shield its economy from US sanctions. Washington pulled out of the deal last year.

“The third step in reducing commitments to (the nuclear deal) will be implemented in the current situation,” he said.

“We have said that if (the deal) is not completely imple-mented by others then we will also implement it in the same incomplete manner. And of course all of our actions have been within the framework of (the deal).”

Last month, Iran threatened

to restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20% purity in a move away from the nuclear deal.

Iranian officials have said that all of Tehran’s moves in reducing its commitments to the nuclear deal are reversible as long as the remaining signatories uphold their commitments.

Tensions have risen since US President Donald Trump withdrew last year from the 2015

deal and revived a panoply of sanctions. The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Zarif himself, blocking any property or interests he has in the United States, although Zarif said he had none.

He added at a charity event on Friday night that he is proud to be sanctioned by America for defending the rights of Iranian people, the IRIB news agency reported.

A file photo shows Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before a meeting in Tehran on July 27, 2019.

Israeli forces injure journalists covering Palestine protestsANATOLIA GAZA, PALESTINE

Israeli forces injured three jour-nalists as they were covering protests in Jerusalem and Gaza on Friday, according to the Jour-nalist Support Committee (JSC) in Palestine.

They attacked AP photog-rapher Iyad Hamad, who was covering protests in the Wadi Al Hummus area of Jerusalem, breaking his foot, said Saleh al-Masri, a representative of the committee.

Local reporter Osama Al Kahlut was shot in the foot with a live bullet and Hatem Omar, working for China’s Xinhua news agency, was injured by a rubber bullet, Al Masri said.

A total of 49 people were injured by Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Friday, the JSC official said.

Since the Gaza rallies began in March last year, two jour-nalists have been killed and 353 others injured by Israeli forces, he said.

Palestinians on Friday con-verged near a security fence that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel to demonstrate against Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories.

Gaza’s National Authority for Return and Breaking the Siege (NARBS), which organises weekly rallies, called on Pales-tinians to attend the demon-stration and affirm their right to return to their villages in his-torical Palestine.

NARBS dubbed the Friday rallies as “the massacre of Wadi al-Hummus” in reference to the demolition of Palestinian buildings in the area.

In mid-July, bulldozers accompanied by hundreds of Israeli soldiers moved into the neighbourhood of Wadi Homs in East Jerusalem and began razing several buildings in the area. Since the Gaza rallies began in March last year, nearly 270 protesters have been mar-tyred and thousands more wounded by Israeli troops deployed near the buffer zone.

31 fighters dead in blast at Syria military base, says monitorAFP BEIRUT

A munitions blast killed 31 regime and allied fighters at a military airport in central Syria yesterday, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain and relies on a network of sources on the ground, said it was unclear what had caused the deadly explosion at the Shayrat airbase in Homs province.

But state news agency SANA reported that a “tech-nical fault during the transport of expired ammu-nition” had killed an unspec-ified number of victims.

The Shayrat airbase is one of the regime’s most sig-nificant installations in the centre of the country.

Iranian fighters — who support the regime in Syria’s ongoing civil war — are based there, according to the Observatory.

In 2017, US air strikes hit the base in response to a sus-pected sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in northwest Syria that killed more than 80 people.

According to the Pentagon, US intelligence had established that the base was the launchpad for the alleged chemical attack.

Syria’s war has killed more than 370,000 people since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Libya’s Mitiga airport halts air trafficREUTERS CAIRO

Libya’s Mitiga airport halted air traffic yesterday after a shelling, the airport authority said on its Facebook page.

Mitiga is the only working airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli, which has been under attack by the eastern-based Libyan National Army, com-manded by Khalifa Haftar.

A health worker dressed in protective suit is seen at the newly-constructed MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Ebola treatment centre in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, yesterday.

DR Congo tests 12 more patients for EbolaAFP GOMA, DR CONGO

Twelve people were ordered to undergo testing for possible Ebola infection in Goma in DR Congo yesterday, only days after three patients in the densely populated city tested positive for the disease, the country’s pres-idency said.

“A total of 12 people from various centres on the outskirts (of Goma) are undergoing testing after the response team triggered the alert protocol,” it said in a statement. Six others suspected of carrying the virus were dis-charged after testing negative on Friday, the presidency added.

A one-year-old girl became the third patient to test positive for Ebola in Goma, local officials said Wednesday.

She is the daughter of the second patient, a gold miner, who died earlier in the week.

His wife, also infected, and the young girl were in stable condition yesterday, the presi-dency said. Goma is the capital of North Kivu province, which has borne the brunt of the year-old epidemic that has claimed

more than 1,800 lives.Other countries in the region

fear the virus could spread from DRC to their territories.

The Ebola virus causes fever, vomiting and severe diarrhoea, often followed by kidney and liver failure, and internal and external bleeding. The disease is spread by contact with infected body fluids and is fought with laborious techniques of tracing

contacts and quarantining them.There is no medical cure for

Ebola, although an unlicensed but tested vaccine has been widely deployed to help protect frontline workers.

The latest epidemic is the second deadliest on record after more than 11,000 people were killed in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia between 2014 and 2016.

AFP MAPUTO

Mozambique yesterday set up disease checkpoints along its border with Malawi as a precaution against any spreading of a deadly Ebola outbreak, a senior health ministry official said.

Mozambique has yet to report an Ebola case, but DRC’s regional neighbours have been on high alert while the World Health Organi-zation (WHO) has elevated the crisis to a global health emer-gency. Checkpoints began operating in the Milage and Morrumbala districts in the Zambezia province and con-trols are expected to widen to other provinces of Mozam-bique that share borders with Malawi, according to a min-istry of health official. Rwanda on Thursday shuttered its border with DRC.

Mozambique sets up Ebola screening at Malawi border

Turkey seizes 1 tonne of explosivesfrom DaeshANATOLIA/ANKARA

In a joint operation, Turkish Gendarmerie forces and the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) seized 1 tonne of explosives from the Daesh terror group in northern Syria, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said yesterday.

The forces confiscated explosives in the possession of the Daesh terror group in the central Bab district, northern Syria, the ministry added.

Turkish forces also cap-tured Daesh terrorists who were planning to enter Turkey to launch attacks with explo-sives. Security forces also seized a variety of tools for making improvised explosive devices (IED), such as cell phones, elec-trical wire, 833 fuses, 300 bat-teries, and suicide vests.

According to the Interior Ministry, the joint operation thwarted possible large-scale bloody attacks of Daesh terrorists.

The declaration provides for a joint civilian-military ruling body to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian government and parliament to govern for a three-year transition period.

07SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019 HOME

The English Job says British involvement in Iran has a centuries-long traumatic history. It has not only resulted in deep historical distrust of the British authorities, but even spawned a common phrase in Persian - “when things go wrong, it’s always an English job”, which Straw aptly uses for the title of his book.

THE WASHINGTON POST

08 SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019VIEWS

Iran, the US and the ‘English job’

The plot of the latest escalation in the Gulf involving the United States, the United Kingdom and Iran seems

increasingly repetitive like a badly written political thriller.

On May 12, shortly after the sec-ondary US sanctions kicked in, forcing many countries to reconsider their dealings with Iran, four commercial vessels were attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. A month later, two tankers were hit by explo-sions in the Gulf of Oman. The US and the UK accused Iran of perpetrating the attacks, Iran denied.

Then on June 20, the Iranian Revo-lutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down an American drone that - it alleged and the US denied - had entered the Iranian airspace. Less than a month later, Washington alleged and Tehran denied that it destroyed an Iranian drone approaching a US air-craft carrier in the Gulf.

Meanwhile, on July 4, British forces seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, which London claimed and Tehran denied, was carrying oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions.

Two weeks later, the IRGC impounded a British-flagged tanker, which - Tehran claimed and London denied - had violated inter-national mar-itime rules.

Notice the pattern - not only in terms of actions and reactions, but also in terms of allegations, counter-alle-gations and denials? In the age of Trump, eve-ryone seems entitled to their own claims, alter-native facts and expert

opinions. Following this pattern, all three -

the US, the UK and Iran - have decried and denounced, dug in, doubled down, and cautioned about serious conse-quences, all the while insisting that war must be avoided.

Iran has been putting its bets on US aversion to military escalation - and that may last as long as President

Donald Trump thinks he is going to win the next election. The Islamic Republic has taken this opportunity to confront its historical archenemy, taking great pride and pleasure in elic-iting sharp condemnations from Washington.

But if badgering America is satis-fying, bullying the “old colonial fox”, Britain, is even more so. Iranians’ hos-tility and distrust of Washington goes back decades, but their distrust and disgust with Britain go back even further.

The English JobAs former British Foreign Affairs

Minister, Jack Straw, has pointed out in his latest book The English Job, British involvement in Iran has a centuries-long traumatic history. It has not only resulted in deep his-torical distrust of the British author-ities, but even spawned a common phrase in Persian - “when things go wrong, it’s always an English job”, which Straw aptly uses for the title of his book.

In his own words, he summarises two centuries of British interference in Iranian affairs as follows:

“We bribed and cajoled Iran to do our will throughout the 19th Century and early part of the 20th Century and, if that didn’t work, we landed troops. We invaded Iran in the First World War, helping cause a catastrophic famine in the process. In the Second World War, with the Russians, we jointly occupied the country for five years from 1941-6. We deposed a Shah in 1941 and installed his weaker, more compliant son.

“When the Iranian parliament waged an eight-year struggle to nationalise BP’s huge refinery and vast network of oil wells, MI6 and the CIA responded by organising a successful coup against the elected prime min-ister, Mohammad Mossadegh, in August 1953. We helped prop up the Shah in the mid and late 1970s, even when it was obvious that he was losing popular support. Catastrophically so, in fact.

“But the worst was to come in 1980, when Iraq’s newly appointed

president, Saddam Hussein, decided, without any justification, to invade Iran. Millions on both sides lost their lives in the bloody war that followed.”

These are clear and categorical admissions by a former British official, who served as an MP for three decades, and home and foreign sec-retary for nine years.

Unfortunately, Straw seems to explain and at times justify much of this as realpolitik; empires acting as empires do, whether in competition with the Russian empire to secure the western gateway to India and other Far East colonies, or simply in pursuit of trade monopolies. He even justifies Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons.

Straw also spends much more time explaining, rather superficially and selectively, Shia Iranian political history (for example, drawing heavily on hateful and sectarian writings of Iranian-American academic Vali Nasr), instead of analysing the mindset and mechanisation of British foreign policy.

He also says close to nothing about - let alone apologise for - his and his government’s support for the disas-trous 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq which had far-reaching conse-quences for Iran - an invasion he claimed he could have stopped. And when it comes to the master of the “English job”, Tony Blair, Straw men-tions him as much as he does British ambassador Dominick Chilcott’s puppy, Pumpkin - twice and in passing.

But to his credit, the former British official doesn’t hesitate to come after the late premier Winston Churchill for his support and enthusiasm for the 1953 British-American-instigated coup in Iran.

This, despite the fact that he is the ultimate national hero of newly elected Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Many have rushed in recent weeks to compare Johnson with Trump, including the US president himself. Yes, Johnson does have a reputation for deception, populism and xeno-phobia, but he aspires to be compared with his historical idol.

MARWAN BISH ARA AL JAZEERA

QUOTE OF THE DAY

All of Venezuela, in a civic-military union,

repudiates and rejects the statements of

Donald Trump about a supposed quarantine,

of a supposed blockade.

Nicolas Maduro Venezuelan President

The danger rises in Hong Kong

China’s people’s liber-ation army this week released a propa-ganda video threat-

ening military violence against protesters in Hong Kong. There are rumors of a growing military presence on the border between mainland China and its city-state, which, according to China’s past assurances, is meant to operate under a dif-ferent (and freer) rule of law. In these circumstances, the United States should be doing everything possible to warn against a disastrous, Tiananmen-style crackdown. Instead, President Trump on Thursday effectively flashed a green light, referring to the mostly peaceful protests as “riots” that China has to “deal with . . . themselves.”

It’s not that Trump is unwilling to pressure China. This week, he was busy threatening new tariffs on imports from China and even criticizing that nation’s Com-munist dictator, Xi Jinping, for whom Trump is normally full of praise. But the pressure is purely mercan-tilist. Trump cares about how many U.S. soybeans China buys. He doesn’t care about China’s laying waste to human rights - its concen-tration camps in western China, its imprisonment and torture of human rights lawyers, its threats against Hong Kong’s freedoms.

A wiser president would care about both trade and liberty. A crackdown in Hong Kong would have dire conse-quences, not only for the many American businesses located there and the tens of

thousands of Americans living there but also for China’s reputation in Con-gress and beyond. If Beijing cannot keep its commitment to “one country, two systems,” under which Hong Kong is meant to operate with autonomy, why would anyone trust other promises it makes? A president inter-ested in constructive U.S.-China relations would be making that point - while pushing back on the absurd Chinese accusations that the United States is fomenting the protests in Hong Kong.

In fact, people in Hong Kong began their protests when their leaders, who are unfailingly responsive to Bei-jing’s wishes, promoted leg-islation that would have allowed for the easy extra-dition of people from Hong Kong to mainland China,

including for political purposes.

The massive popular outpouring prompted the leaders to suspend, but not withdraw, the bill. Now the protests have blossomed into calls for more democracy, which China over the years has foolishly blocked. In an unprecedented display of independence, thousands of civil servants defied orders to remain politically neutral by protesting Hong Kong’s gov-ernment on Friday.

Financial employees and medical practitioners have also held rallies. More pro-tests are scheduled for this weekend. But instead of looking for accommodation, the official response has included riot charges against a number of protesters that could lead to 10-year prison terms.

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

Time for actionGreenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory

between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans that has 82% of its surface covered in ice, last Wednesday

has topped world news related to the climate change raising the level of concerns over the continuing global warming and its impact on human wellbeing.

The heat wave this summer has accelerated the melting of ice sheet in Greenland causing massive ice loss in the Arctic. “The area of the Greenland ice sheet that is showing indications of melt has been growing daily, and hit a record 56.5% for this year on Wednesday,” AP quoted Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist with the Danish Meteoro-logical Institute.

Mottram also quoted as saying, “More than 10 billion tonnes (11 billion US tonnes) of ice was lost to the oceans by surface melt on Wednesday alone, creating a net mass ice loss of some 197 billion tonnes (217 billion US tonnes) from Greenland in July.”

This development has come after the heat wave that engulfed Western Europe last July, which considered by scientist at the UN’s World Meteorological Organization

as the hottest month in recorded history.

World Weather Attribution (WWA) said on Friday that “human-driven changes to the atmosphere added from 1.5 degrees to 3 degrees Celsius to the heat wave”, dangerously rising concentration of green-house gasses in the atmos-phere and making the carbon dioxide (CO2) reach its highest levels.

Siberia, in Russia, which is one of the coldest places in the earth, has become subject to forest fires caused by hot, dry weather and spread by high winds raging over nearly 30,000 square kilometres.

“These kind of heat waves are weather events and can occur naturally but studies have shown that both the fre-quency and intensity of these

heat waves have increased due to global warming,” Sparrow, expert told AP. According to experts, in a pre-industrial climate, thermometers might reach that high only once every 1,000 years but in recent decades is taking place frequently.

Climate breakdown is one of the greatest human rights issue people face, as climate change is causing drought and forced displacement of people, to cyclones and hur-ricanes that are causing flooding and destruction.

“It means food supplies failing, fuel shortages, dwin-dling access to drinking water, and homes being swal-lowed by the sea. It means forced migration and wors-ening resource conflict, more frequent and ferocious natural disasters,” Kim Bryan, associate director of 350 movements told Anadolu Agency.

Under these negative indications of accelerating global warming caused by human activities, governments approach to climate change should not be limited to words and global actions are required.

Climate breakdown is one of the greatest human rights issue people face, as climate change is causing drought and forced displacement of people, to cyclones and hurricanes that are causing flooding and destruction.

09SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019 ASIA

Thousands leave J&K after security alertREUTERS SRINAGAR

Thousands of people have started leaving Kashmir after the local government issued a security alert related to possible militant attacks in the area, a senior government official said yesterday.

Security officials on Friday said they had found evidence of attacks planned by Pakistani mil-itary-backed militants on a major Hindu pilgrimage in Kashmir.

The security officials said a mine with Pakistan ordnance markings was among caches of ammunition retrieved following intelligence reports of likely attacks on routes used by devout Hindus who trek to the region’s holy Amarnath cave every year.

A local government order effectively called off the pil-grimage, asking the pilgrims and tourists to return home.

Yesterday, a senior local gov-ernment official in Kashmir said the advisory had caused panic and led to the departure of “thousands” of tourists, pilgrims and labourers.

The official did not give a

specific number, but he said most of the 20,000 Hindu pilgrims and Indian tourists and the more than 200,000 labourers were leaving the region.

Around 60 international tourists arrived in Kashmir yes-terday, however, the official said. The Indian advisory had cau-tioned tourists in general, but did not give any specific advice to foreign nationals.

However, yesterday Germany and the UK issued advisories to their citizens discouraging them from travelling to Jammu and Kashmir.

“Travellers staying in Kashmir (especially the Kashmir Valley and

the Armanath Yatra Pilgrimage Route) are advised to leave Jammu and Kashmir,” the German Min-istry of Foreign Affairs said.

The UK’s Foreign Office advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir with the exceptions of travel by air to Jammu and within the city, and within the region of Ladakh.

Tensions have run high in the mountainous region since a vehicle laden with explosives rammed into an Indian police convoy on February 14, killing 40 paramilitary policemen, and leading to aerial clashes between the two nations.

Prabakar Iyer, 45, had trav-elled to Srinagar from the southern Indian city of Ben-galuru on Thursday with his family for a 10-day holiday, but they returned on Friday night.

“I was staying in a houseboat on Dal Lake when the advisory was issued. I fail to understand why we are being asked to leave. Every-thing is normal here,” he said.

Labourer Manjit Singh, a car-penter from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh who has been working in Kashmir for the last

nine years, also left.“I am not afraid but the gov-

ernment advisory has created panic and my family wants me back... I will return if the situation improves,” he said.

Meanwhile, provisions are fast vanishing from the shelves of departmental stores and even from small grocery stores in towns and villages across the Valley. Petrol pumps are going dry as unending

queues of cars, two-wheelers and even people carrying cans hope that supplies would come and they would be the first to have their vehicle tanks and cans filled.

Hospitals have been alerted to keep their necessary com-plement of doctors present at emergencies and for patients. ATMs across Srinagar city and in districts like Ganderbal, Badgam, Pulwama, Kulgam, Baramulla,

Shopian, Kupwara and Sopore town are running out of cash as people fear long hours of curfews could be imminent.

“Ambulances have been made ready to cope with emer-gencies. We have been advised to lodge at places close to the hospital or at hospital quarters”, said Dr Nisar Shah, a super spe-cialist at Srinagar’s largest hos-pital, the SMHS Hospital.

Rapid Action Force personnel look on as they arrive in Kashmir, after security measures have been reinforced, in Jammu, yesterday.

Rahul’s letter for a bridge in Wayanad upsets local MLA

IANS WAYANAD

A letter by Wayanad Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi to District Collector A R Ajaya-kumar requesting a permanent bridge on the Kalindhi river has not gone down well with local CPI-M legislator O R Kelu.

Kelu represents the Manan-thavady Assembly constituency, part of the parliamentary con-stituency represented by Gandhi.

Gandhi wrote the letter to the Collector on Wednesday requesting construction of a bridge for over 150 residents of the Nettara tribal colony.

“With all due respects to Gandhi, I would like to tell him what he should be doing is to ensure the full support of the Centre for the overall devel-opment of Wayanad.

“Gandhi should leave things like bridges to the legislator, who has been working hard for this bridge for the past two years. Since he has raised the issue, my humble submission to Gandhi is to ask what his party colleague, who represented Wayanad in the Lok Sabha since this constituency was formed in 2009, was doing for this bridge,” Kelu said.

M I Shanawaz was the Con-gress Lok Sabha member for almost two terms from here. He passed away in 2018.

“Gandhi should make efforts to see that the long-standing dream of a railway line passing through Wayanad is achieved, get a complete farm package and steps are taken to remove bottlenecks in smooth inter-state traffic to Bengaluru.

Kerala scribe run over by car, IAS officer arrestedIANS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

An IAS officer in Kerala has been arrested over a road accident in which K M Basheer, a journalist working with a Malayalam daily, was killed, here yesterday. He has been charged under non-bailable sections.

IAS officer Sreeram Venki-taraman and a medical profes-sional were accompanied by his lady friend Waha Firoz, to whom the car belonged, were returning after a late-night party.

Basheer, 35, bureau chief of the Siraj newspaper, was returning home on his two-wheeler at around 12.45am when the car knocked him down in the high security zone area of the

state capital. He died on the spot.Venkitaraman, the Director

of Surveys, was driving the car at a high speed and was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred.

The police arrested Venkita-raman from a private hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for injuries received during the accident. He is likely to be shifted to the state-run Medical College Hospital.

The arrest followed ques-tioning of his lady friend Firoz, whose statement was also recorded before a magistrate. She told the police the car was being driven by Venkitaraman.

Surprisingly, many CCTV cameras on the road on which the accident took place and is used

by VVIPs including the Chief Min-ister and the Governor, were not working, the police claimed.

A witness to the accident said the car was in a high speed when it hit the bike. The driver was under the influence of alcohol and a lady was with him, the eyewitness added.

Another witness who claimed to have called the police said, “The man driving the car was drunk. He was in total panic after the accident. Soon after the police arrived, he called a taxi and sent the lady away.

Aravind S Sasi, a senior jour-nalist, said he reached the accident site soon after hearing the news and was shocked that the police, after coming to know that the person involved in the

accident was a senior IAS officer, were trying to save him.

“The lady was allowed to go home. Venkitaraman was not given the mandatory blood test and was allowed to get treatment at a private hospital,” said Sasi.

Sanjay Gurudin, Commis-sioner of Police, said probe was on. “The forensic examination is on. The blood sample of the person can be taken only after following certain procedures. We are going forward as per the law,” said Gurudin.

Former Superintendent of Police George Joseph said there was a foul play. “The police should have immediately taken them into custody and conducted a medical check-up. The delay is nothing but to save the senior

IAS official,” said Joseph.The Kerala Union of Working

Journalists’ Thiruvananthapuram unit has demanded from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan proper investigation and justice to the victim.

State Transport Minister A K Saseendran said: “In this incident certain things were not done in the right manner. The District Collector and the Transport Sec-retary have both been asked to submit their reports to the gov-ernment,” said Saseendran.

In the afternoon, the body of Basheer was brought to the Press Club where Vijayan, several Min-isters and hundreds of people paid their last respects. The body was later taken to his hometown near Kozhikode for the last rites.

A general view of the Pushkar Lake after heavy monsoon rains made the water level rose in Pushkar in Rajasthan, yesterday.

Monsoon swells Pushkar Lake

Four drown as rains pound Mumbai for second straight weekIANS MUMBAI

Four college girls drowned in a raging waterfall in Navi Mumbai yesterday as entire coastal Maharashtra experienced torrential rains and the region went on a high alert for the next 72 hours, officials said.

Three teenaged students — Arti Naik, Neha Dama and Shweta Nand, students of Second Year BCom at SIES College of Arts, Commerce and Science in Nerul, Navi Mumbai — who bunked lec-tures for an impromptu picnic to the treacherous Pandavakada Waterfalls, drowned here yes-terday morning.

The details of another victim, Neha Ashok Jain, who hailed from Chembur are not known.

According to Senior Inspector Pradeep Tidar of Kharghar Police Station, the bodies of two girls, Arti Naik and Neha Dama have been recovered and a massive search is on to trace the other two victims.

For the second consecutive weekend, heavy rain lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri, hitting normal life and road traffic, though suburban trains and flights continued to function with some delays.

A huge 78-metre long and 1,478 tonne cargo ship from Hazira, Gujarat, went adrift owing to heavy rains and was washed on the rocky shores of Vangaon village in Palghar early yesterday.

Vangaon police chief Rahul Patil and ship’s captain V V Nair said there are 13 crew members on board who are safe, have suf-ficient food and water on board and await help from the Surat-based owners, M/s Eco Pronch Logistics Ltd.

The ship’s propellers and the hull have reportedly suffered damage as it hit the rocks in the Arabian Sea at 4am, paralysing the vessel.

In another incident, a fire due to suspected electrical short circuit broke out in Navrang Building in the congested Abdul Rehman Street in south Mumbai. Three women and a man who were trapped in the smoke were rescued safely. However, at least three firemen — A B Pawar, C S Gupta and Anil Mhatre — suf-fered injuries due to suffocation and were hospitalised.

Mumbai, which has been experiencing virtually incessant rains since 10 days, witnessed a fresh spell of heavy downpour since midnight, with many low-lying areas in the city and suburbs, subways and arterial roads submerged under three-four feet of water, severely dis-rupting traffic.

Water-logging was reported from many areas in Nala Sopara, Vasai, Virar, Vikramgad (Palghar district), Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane City, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Titwala, Ulhasnagar (Thane), Roha, Pali, Mangaon, Karjat, Pen, Panvel (Raigad), and Mandangad, Chiplun, Dapoli (Ratnagiri).

Goa taxi strike continues, CM says govt ‘equipped’IANS PANAJI

Strike by the All Goa Taxi Oper-ators Union continued for the second day yesterday, even as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured inbound tourists that his administration was “equipped” to handle the situation.

“Our state administration is equipped to handle matters con-cerning the tourism industry. I want to assure the tourists vis-iting Goa that there are adequate intra-state transport arrange-ments. Tourists, domestic as well as international, are most welcome to Goa!” Sawant tweeted yesterday.

Earlier in the day, taxi union leader Bappa Korgaonkar was arrested by the Goa Police for allegedly threatening a cab driver working for GoaMiles — a government appointed cab aggregator service. He was later released on bail.

“The strike will continue until the GoaMiles taxi aggre-gator service is scrapped by the government. I have been arrested on false charges,” Kor-gaonkar told reporters.

The strike has caused hard-ships, especially to tourists, many of whom arrived in Goa to spend the long weekend.

Gagan Malik, Airport Authority of India (AAI) airport

manager for Goa, said, airlines had been instructed to inform inbound passengers about the taxi strike before they alight from the aircraft.

“We have set up a 24*7 help desk in the airport departure zone. We are also helping pas-sengers download the GoaMiles cab app on their phones to help them access the taxi service,” Malik said.

The frequency of airport coaches had also been increased to handle increased passenger volumes, he added. The airport handles nearly 11,000 inbound passengers every day.

Several drivers of 30,000-odd tourist taxis have

often been accused of over-charging, intimidating and oper-ating in an unregulated environment.

Several attempts by the state government to implement a fare-meter system have failed. The August deadline set by the high court to install fare meters in Goa’s taxis has also not been met.

The Chief Minister had appealed to the striking taxi drivers to end the strike and either join the already-existing cab aggregator service or approach the state government to set up a new cab aggregator service for the taxi union drivers.

Provisions are fast vanishing from the shelves of departmental stores and even from small grocery stores in towns and villages across the Valley. Petrol pumps are going dry.

10 SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019ASIA

UN: July deadliest month for Afghan civilians since 2017AP KABUL

July saw the highest number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in a single month since 2017, the UN mission said yesterday.

Its preliminary findings indicate more than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded, mainly due to a spike in casu-alties from insurgent attacks. It did not provide a breakdown of deaths and injuries, but said the overall number was the highest for a single month since May 2017.

It said more than 50% of cas-ualties were caused by bombings. A roadside bomb tore through a bus in western Afghan-istan on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people.

A complex attack on the office of the Afghan president’s running mate last weekend killed at least 20 people. The target of the attack, former intelligence

chief Amrullah Saleh, escaped unharmed. No one has claimed either attack.

The Taliban, who effectively control half the country, carry out daily attacks on security forces and government targets that often kill and wound civilians. An Islamic State affiliate also operates in Afghan-istan, targeting security forces as well as minority population.

A roadside bomb in the western Herat province killed a district chief and another indi-vidual yesterday, according to police spokesman Farzad Farotan, who said five others were wounded in the blast. In the southern city of Kandahar, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle

wounded at least eight civilians, according to provincial police spokesman Jamal Naser Barekzai. No one claimed either attack.

The Taliban have kept up a steady tempo of attacks despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States in recent months. “As peace efforts have intensified in recent weeks

so too has the conflict on the ground,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN envoy to Afghanistan. “I call on all parties not to ramp up military opera-tions thinking that doing so will give them a stronger position in talks about peace.” On Tuesday, the UN released a report saying most civilian deaths in the first half of the year were caused by

Afghan forces and their interna-tional allies.

The report apparently referred to civilians killed during Afghan and US military opera-tions against insurgents. The Afghan government disputed the results and methodology of Tuesday’s report, saying it makes every effort to prevent civilian casualties.

Military helicopters flying over Kabul yesterday.

INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation on August 18.

According to official sources here yesterday, the prime minister will take the nation into confidence over the government’s one-year performance.

Furthermore, the prime minister’s office said, PM Imran has directed all ministries and divisions to submit their one-year performance report.

The prime minister has instructed the ministries and divisions to highlight five big achievements during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf gov-ernment’s first year in power by August 9.

PM Imran toaddress nationon completinga year in office

Smoke rises after Indian forces attacked near the Line of Control in Pakistan.

Pakistan claims India used clusterbombs near LoC, leaving 2 dead

FIA arrestsIndian nationalwith fake travel documents INTERNEWS GUJRANWALA

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested an Indian national from Gujranwala in Punjab province, who had been living in the city on a fake passport and docu-ments for the last 10 years.

According to FIA here yes-terday, Panjam Tiwari, a res-ident of Banaras (Varanasi) met Kamran, a resident of Gujranwala, in Dubai in 2009. After some time, Tiwari with Kamran’s help came to Pakistan.

Deputy Director FIA, Amir Nawaz, said Tiwari forged doc-uments, including a compu-terised national identity card (CNIC) through his friend and changed his name to Bilal and married a Pakistani woman.

A case was registered against Tiwari, as well as five others including Kamran for helping him.

Tiwari was produced before a judge yesterday and was remanded into the FIA’s custody for five days.

He would be presented before the court against after the completion of his remand.

Tiwari, in his statement to the FIA, said he met Kamran, his business partner, in Dubai. He said he later changed his religion after being inspired by him.

He further said a human trafficker had brought him to Pakistan where he married Kamran’s sister and has three children with her. Tiwari added that he was afraid to return to India after changing his religion.

People participate in a protest against the US for sanctioning Myanmar’s top military officers, in Yangon, yesterday. The US has banned visits by Myanmar’s army chief and three other top officers due to their alleged role in the “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya minority, urging accountability for their brutal campaign.

Pakistanis living abroad for less than 8 months to pay taxINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to enforce a new taxation regime from this fiscal year for the Paki-stanis who stay abroad for a certain period in a year, ending the possibility of litigation that could affect the revenue collection. Rectifying its mistake

in its previous circular it had issued on Tuesday, the FBR issued the “corrigendum to circular” to illustrate important legal changes that were intro-duced in the budget 2019-20.

The new definition of res-ident Pakistani would take effect from tax year 2020 — the fiscal year 2019-20 — according to the FBR’s new circular. Now a

person will be treated as resident Pakistani and will be liable to pay income tax, if he stays in Pakistan for four months — down from six months.

The earlier circular had said that the FBR gave effect to the change in the definition of res-ident individuals for tax pur-poses from the previous fiscal year, 2018-19.

Prior to the Finance Act, 2019, an individual was treated as a “resident individual” for a tax year if the person was present in Pakistan for a period of 183 days (over six months) or more in a tax year. Now, this period has been reduced to four months which means a person will have to stay abroad for eight months to claim tax-free status.

FBR extends deadline for filing tax returnsto August 9INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan has extended the last date for filing of income tax returns for tax year 2018 until August 9 in order to facilitate individuals who have failed to file their returns.

The FBR has extended the last date for filing of returns eight times consecutively for the last fiscal year — unprec-edented in the history of the FBR.

Moreover, the filing of new returns for the tax year 2019 will commence from next month as well.

Under the Income Tax Ordinance, the last date for filing of returns for any fiscal year is end September. However, the dates have been extended to a maximum of mid of December in the past.

But in the case of tax year 2018, the last date was extended several times citing many reasons for extensions.

The FBR has received more than 2.2 million tax returns for the first time in its history but the government has set a target of four million income tax returns for the tax year 2019.

Pakistan Senate: Report about defections went unheededINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Four hours before the no-confidence motion was tabled against Pakistan Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, leading opposition senators sat together in the office of Senator Raja Zafar-ul-Haq to review preparations.

A PML-N senator there shared the information which caught his colleagues in disbelief. It was about the efforts being made to create in-roads within the opposition; the most consequential was a meeting held late Wednesday.

According to my guerilla report, Mushahid Hussain Sayed told the par-ticipants, a businessman had a mid-night meeting with a PPP leader. He named the tycoon and the person he met. Role of the businessman was of a messenger sent to convey that Sindh government will be toppled in case of no-cooperation in the Senate.

Other facilities will also be

withdrawn, it was further warned. The PPP leader subsequently passed on message to a blood relative who is also in politics for desired instructions onward.

Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Mian Raza Rabbani, Sherry Rehman and Javed Abbasi were in attendance there.

Raza Rabbani told participants that he couldn’t either deny or confirm the meeting between the businessman and his party leader but was pretty sure that no instructions had been conveyed to PPP senators. Sherry Rehman was dis-missive too. Mushahid then advised them to disregard what he said never-theless keep an eye on their senators.

According to Mushahid, the PPP leader had instructed five party senators to vote against the party line.

A source in the government circles involved in the wheeling dealing revealed that another couple of PPP senators had also voted for the conti-nuity of Sanjrani.

ANATOLIA ISLAMABAD

The Pakistani army yesterday claimed that India’s armed forces used banned cluster munitions to target civilians near the de facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir valley.

Inter-Service Public Relation (ISPR), the Pakistani army’s media wing, said in a statement that the Indian army had used cluster muni-tions to “deliberately target” civilians

— including women and children — in the Neelum Valley near the Line of Control (LoC). It added that Indian sol-diers targeted civilians in the region via artillery using cluster munitions on Tuesday night, killing two civilians, including a 4-year-old boy, and crit-ically injuring 11.

Due to their severe impact on non-combatants, the use of cluster muni-tions is prohibited under the 2008 international Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The UN mission, in its preliminary findings, said more than 50% of casualties were caused by bombings.

Maldives police arrest formerV-P after India denies entryAGENCIES NEW DELHI/MALE

Maldives police yesterday said they had arrested former vice-president Ahmed Adeeb and were bringing him to the capital Male after he was refused entry to India.

Adeeb, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2016 for allegedly plotting to assas-sinate the Maldives’ then-president Abdulla Yameen, was detained early on Thursday in the southern Indian city of Thoothukudi after arriving illegally by tugboat.

“We would like to confirm that Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor of H Saamaraa has been arrested and is being transported to Male under our custody,” Maldives police said in a Twitter post.

An Indian port official in Thoothukudi said Adeeb had been sent back to the Mal-dives late on Friday on a boat escorted by a coast guard vessel.

Adeeb is expected to reach Indian Ocean island chain by today or tomorrow, an official at the Maldives’ foreign ministry said.

The two sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Police officials in the Maldives and India’s foreign affairs ministry declined to comment.

Adeeb, 37, was also convicted three years ago of corruption and terrorism and faced a total sentence of 33 years.

A court in the South Asian archipelago ordered a fresh trial on the same charges this year after cancelling his convictions, citing undue political interference.

A key witness in a money laundering case against Yameen, he was once seen as a future leader of the Maldives. Yameen has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Adeeb was freed from house arrest earlier this month.

London-based legal group Guernica 37, which is representing Adeeb, said in a statement on Thursday that he had “sought the protection of India” and initiated the process of claiming political asylum after fleeing Maldives for fear of his life.

Guernica 37 did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours yesterday.

Indian authorities were tipped off about Adeeb’s arrival in Thoothukudi by the company operating the Singapore-flagged tugboat carrying him, port and police offi-cials had said.

A government source in New Delhi said Adeeb “was not permitted to enter India since he was not entering through a desig-nated entry point and did not possess the valid document”.

Adeeb had his passport confiscated by a court order due to pending court cases, according to police.

Protest against US sanctions on Myanmar generals

11SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019 ASIA / EUROPE

North Korea tests another rocket launcher systemAP SEOUL

North Korea said yesterday its leader Kim Jong-Un supervised another test-firing of a new multiple rocket launcher system that could potentially enhance the country’s ability to strike targets in South Korea and US military bases there.

The report by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected North Korea firing projectiles twice into sea off its eastern coast in its third round of weapons tests in just over a week.

Experts said the North’s increased testing activity is aimed at ramping up pressure

on Washington and Seoul over the stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States and planned US-South Korea military exercises, and that its weapons displays could intensify in the coming months if progress on talks isn’t made.

North Korea has said Kim supervised the first test of the same rocket artillery system on Wednesday.

KCNA reported that Kim expressed “great satisfaction”

over Friday’s tests, which it said confirmed the system’s “altitude control level flight performance, track changing capability, accuracy of hitting a target and warhead explosion power of the guided ordnance rocket.”

The report didn’t include any direction mention of the United States or South Korea.

South Korea’s presidential office had said the US and South Korean militaries shared an

assessment that Friday’s launches were likely of short-range ballistic missiles.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were con-ducted at 2:59am and 3:23am from an eastern coastal area and said the projectiles flew 220km on an apogee of 25km and at a max speed of Mach 6.9.

The range would be enough to cover the metropolitan area surrounding Seoul, where about half of South Koreans live, and a major US military base just outside the city.

On July 25, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles that Seoul officials said flew 600km and as high as 50 km before landing in the sea.

North Korea said those tests

were designed to deliver a “solemn warning” to South Korea over its purchase of high-tech, US-made fighter jets and the planned military drills, which Pyongyang calls an invasion rehearsal. The North also tested short-range missiles on May 4 and 9.

The North’s new launches came as the United Kingdom, France and Germany - following a closed UN Security Council briefing — condemned the North’s recent ballistic activity as violations of UN sanctions and urged Pyongyang to engage in “meaningful negotiations” with the United States on eliminating its nuclear weapons.

The three countries also urged North Korea “to

take concrete steps toward its complete, verifiable and irre-versible denuclearisation” and said international sanctions should remain in place until its nuclear and ballistic missile pro-grams are dismantled.

In a separate report carried through KCNA yesterday, an uni-dentified spokesman of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry criti-cised the statement released by the three countries, saying that the North never has and never will recognise the UN resolutions it sees as an “insult, disregard, and grave provocation” against its government.

US officials have down played the threat of the launches to the United States and its allies.

HK police fire tear gas at protesters in tourist districtAFP HONG KONG

Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas yesterday evening at pro-democracy protesters in a popular tourist district, as violence rocked the international finance hub once more despite increasingly stern warnings from China.

The semi-autonomous southern Chinese financial hub has seen two months of protests and clashes triggered by oppo-sition to a planned extradition law that quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reforms.

Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing this week signalled a hardening stance, including with the arrests of dozens of pro-testers, and the Chinese military saying it was ready to quell the “intolerable” unrest if requested.

But protesters have remained unyielding, vowing to hold multiple occupations and rallies in the coming days.

Yesterday’s violence — the

ninth consecutive weekend of clashes — took place in Tsim Sha Tsui, a usually bustling har-bourside district known for its luxury malls and hotels.

Officers with gas masks and shields charged at hundreds of protesters who had been besieging a nearby police station.

Masked demonstrators had smashed the windows of cars in the police parking lot and daubed nearby walls with graffiti. One team of protesters created a large slingshot — held up by two members — to launch bricks at the building.

Police fired volleys of tear gas followed by baton charges and made multiple arrests.

Earlier in the day tens of thousands of protesters had marched through nearby streets, embracing their mantra “be water” — a philosophy of unpre-dictability espoused by local martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

The seized roads, built bar-ricades and even briefly blocked a cross-harbour tunnel.

“We will fight as guerrillas

today and be water,” a masked and helmeted 19-year-old, who gave her surname Lee, said.

Hong Kong has witnessed two months of huge rallies — often followed by violent clashes between police and small groups of hardcore protesters.

And there is no sign of the chaos abating.

Many of the chants and graffiti tags thrown up yesterday called for residents to join a planned city-

wide strike tomorrow.Two marches are also

planned for today while the call for strike action appears to be gaining more traction than pre-vious walkouts.

Under the terms of the 1997 handover deal with Britain, the city has rights and liberties unseen on the Chinese mainland, including an independent judi-ciary and freedom of speech.

But many say those rights

are being curtailed, citing the disappearance into mainland custody of dissident booksellers, the disqualification of prominent politicians and the jailing of pro-democracy protest leaders.

Public anger has been com-pounded by rising inequality and the perception that the city’s dis-tinct language and culture are being threatened by ever-closer integration with the Chinese mainland.

Police fire tear gas during a protest in Tsim Sha Tsui district, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

KCNA reported that Kim expressed “great satisfaction” over Friday’s tests, which it said confirmed the system’s “altitude control level flight performance, track changing capability, accuracy of hitting a target and warhead explosion power of the guided ordnance rocket.”

Strong quake leaves four dead in IndonesiaAFP JAKARTA

Four people died and several were injured after a powerful undersea earthquake rocked Indonesia’s heavily populated Java island, triggering a brief tsunami warning, the national disaster agency said.

The 6.9 magnitude quake on Friday evening sent residents fleeing to higher ground, while many in the capital Jakarta ran into the streets.

An official from Indonesia’s national disaster agency warned the quake could generate a tsunami as high as three metres, but the alert was lifted several

hours later. Three people died of heart

attacks as the strong quake rocked the region, agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said yesterday.

Another person fell to his death while trying to flee his house when the jolt happened, he said.

Seven arrested over Italian club stampedeAFP ROME

Seven suspected members of a gang of thieves have been arrested over a stampede at a rap concert in central Italy which left six dead and dozens injured, prosecutors said.

Six of the group are accused of using a pepper spray-like substance at the venue in the town of Corinaldo, near Ancona, in December last year in a bid to take advantage of the disorder and steal valuables, said Chief Prosecutor of Ancona, Monica Garulli, who is in charge of the investigation.

“They are youths aged between 19 and 22 who took advantage of busy concerts to commit the crimes by using an irritant spray,” Garulli said.

The seventh is accused of receiving stolen goods.

The victims included three girls and two boys, aged between 14 and 16, and a 39-year-old woman who accompanied her daughter to the club. Some 120 people were also injured.

The force of the fleeing crowd made a railing collapse near the concert exit and dozens of people fell, crushing those at the bottom of the pile, an initial investigation found.

Far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said: “We promised a serious and rigorous investigation to hold those responsible for this tragedy... Hope that justice will send all of them to prison, without sen-tence reductions or mitigating circumstances.”

Former Slovakia PM eyes political comebackAFP BRATISLAVA

Former Slovak prime minister Vladimir Meciar, a hardline nationalist once criticised by the West for his dictatorial style, said this week that he was launching a new party to contest next year’s general election.

Meciar served three terms as prime minister between 1990 and 1998, with the United States and many European nations accusing him of authoritarianism

and corruption while in office.The West also warned at the

time that his rule risked under-mining Slovakia’s bid to join the EU and Nato, which it did under his centre-right successors in 2004.

Meciar, 77, told the pluska.sk tabloid news website that he is building a new political party but declined to specify whether he would lead it in the election.

“I have been doing a lot of work to create the party structure from the bottom. It has

taken two years,” he told the site.Borrowing a slogan from US

President Donald Trump, Meciar said he plans to officially launch the new party that “puts Slovakia first” in September.

Jan Baranek, an analyst with the Bratislava-based Polis Slo-vakia think-tank said that Meciar had “very limited” chances given strong competition from “numerous conservative and anti-liberal parties in Slovakia”.

In 2017, Slovak police

dropped a probe into the unsolved 1995 abduction of the son of the country’s first pres-ident, a crime long suspected to have been masterminded by then premier Meciar.

He has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Meciar’s new political bid comes after liberal former pres-ident Andrej Kiska launched a centrist political party in June intended to join forces with the opposition to defeat the populist government.

Exiled Thai critic attacked with chemicals in JapanREUTERS BANGKOK

An exiled Thai critic of the coun-try’s military and monarchy said he was attacked in his home in Japan last month and believes Thai authorities were behind the incident, an accusation that was ridiculed by the kingdom’s army chief.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a 48-year-old associate professor at Kyoto University, said he was asleep with his partner when a man broke into their home last month at about 4am and sprayed the couple with a sub-stance that burned their skin.

Neither was seriously hurt, but Pavin said they have been told by police not to return home. Japanese police con-firmed they were investigating a July 8 incident in which a Thai man was sprayed in his house.

“The attacker clearly wanted to intimidate,” said Pavin, adding that he had no personal

disputes that could have been behind the attack. “The doctor said the chemical was not deadly, but said that the burning sensation will stay for quite some time.”

A prominent political dis-sident who has denounced the Thai military’s coups in 2006 and 2014, Pavin has also openly criticised King Maha Vaji-ralongkorn, breaking a taboo in Thailand, where criticising the monarch is illegal.

Pavin accused the army of being behind the attack and said he had been told this by sources. But he said he had no evidence and did not identify the sources or say how they would know.

The suggestion was rejected by Thailand’s army chief, General Apirat Kongsompong, who is also head of the king’s Royal Guard Force.

He said he had heard about the attack, but was astonished at any idea that the military could be involved.

Residents sit at the house damaged after an earthquake, in Banten province, Indonesia, yesterday.

Seven dead, 31 rescued after boats capsize off PhilippinesAP MANILA

At least seven people died and 31 others were rescued when three ferry boats separately capsized in bad weather yesterday between two central Philippine island provinces, the coast guard said.

Police said at least seven people were missing after the inter-island ferries either turned over or sank in rough seas, wind and rain between Guimaras and Iloilo provinces. A search by the coast guard, police and villag-ers was underway.

The dead included six women and a man, coast guard spokes-man Armand Balilo said, adding that one of the ferry boats, M/B Chichi, was carrying at least 42 passengers. Another boat, M/B Keizha, reportedly had four crewmen on board, while the third ferry, M/B Jenny, carried an unspecified number of people who were rescued and brought on board a coast guard ship, he said.

Video from ABS CBN TV net-work showed a rescuer carrying a child from a motorboat to an ambulance in an Iloilo pier, where frantic relatives waited.

Forecasters have warned of heavy monsoon rains and thunderstorms amid a brew-ing storm about 875km off the country’s eastern coast.

Classes and work have been suspended in the Manila metropolis amid heavy rains and flooding, which caused heavy traffic jams Friday in low-lying areas in the capital.

About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year, making the archi-pelago belt one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

12 SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019EUROPE

Russian police detain over 600 at Moscow protest

Investigators searching the home of Gheorghe Dinca, the alleged killer of Alexandra, 15, and Luiza, 18, in Caracal City, in Romania.

Royal Navy ship shadows Chinese destroyer in English ChannelAP LONDON

Britain’s Royal Navy said that one of its ships shadowed a Chinese destroyer as it sailed through the English Channel.

A navy statement yesterday said that the HMS Westminster met up with the guided-missile destroyer near the Dover Strait and shadowed her through busy merchant shipping as she sailed south through the English Channel

Three weeks after her sister frigate HMS St Albans escorted the Chinese warship up the Channel and into the North Sea, Westminster did the same as the Xian returned from her par-ticipation in Russia’s annual Navy Days event in St Petersburg.

“The Royal Navy routinely monitors other country’s war-ships through territorial waters as part of our ongoing mission in support of the defence of the UK,” said Com-mander Will Paston, HMS Westminster’s Commanding Officer.

“The Xian conducted herself in a safe and professional manner throughout.”

The Westminster has been attached to a Nato task group since March and training for anti-submarine warfare off the west coast of Norway.

DNA tests confirm death of missing Romanian teenager: ProsecutorsAFP BUCHAREST

The DNA of a missing Romanian teenage girl whose case has sparked massive protests has been found in calcinated human remains at the suspect’s home, confirming her death, prose-cutors said yesterday.

“Laboratory analysis done until now revealed the genetic profile of one person, Alexandra Macesanu”, the prosecutor’s office for organised crime said in a statement.

The case of the 15-year-old who was abducted while trying to hitch-hike home has shaken the country and led to several high-level resignations after a public outcry.

Although she managed to

call emergency services three times and give clues as to her location, it took police almost 19 hours to intervene.

The slow response sparked huge protests against the author-ities’ handling of the case, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets of Bucharest last weekend.

The suspect is Gheorghe Dinca, a 65-year-old man who was arrested. He confessed to killing Alexandra but also a second girl, Luiza, 18, who had gone missing in April.

The suspect accompanied the police to his house on Friday in search of evidence. Prose-cutors have found blood stains and bones in Dinca’s house.

There has been a major political fallout from the case,

with four high-ranking officials being sacked or resigning in the past week.

The latest is education min-ister Ecaterina Andronescu, who was fired after telling a radio station: “I was taught not to get into a car with a stranger”.

She later said that she received news of her dismissal from the media and that her intention had not been to blame the victim.

The interior minister, the chief of police and the head of the Special Telecommunications Service also lost their jobs.

In Caracal, a southern town of almost 30,000 inhabitants, locals said the case has shattered what little trust they had in the police and made fear part of their daily lives.

Man in mistaken trafficking charges wins asylum in ItalyAFP ROME

An Eritrean wrongly accused of being a human trafficking kingpin in a case of mistaken identity has been granted political asylum in Italy and set free, his lawyer said yesterday.

Carpenter Medhanie Tes-famariam Berhe was arrested in Sudan in 2016 on suspicion of being at the heart of one of the world’s largest migrant traf-ficking networks.

He was accused of being Medhanie Yehdego Mered, known as “the General”, and extradited to Italy, but after a 21-month trial a Palermo court ruled that police had the wrong man.

The court ordered he be immediately set free, but he was instead taken to a detention

centre from where he was to be expelled.

His lawyer, Michele Calantropo, immediately filed a request for political asylum which was granted on Friday, and Berhe was free to go. At the time of his arrest, Italy, Sudan and Britain hailed his capture as the stellar result of a joint oper-ation which had dealt a signif-icant blow to the people-smug-gling business.

Despite differences in appearance between the two men, and DNA evidence sup-porting Berhe’s case, Italian prosecutors stuck to their guns throughout and had called for a 14-year jail sentence.

A New York reporter was told by “the General” himself in 2017 that the Italians had the wrong man.

Ukraine leader’s chief-of-staff files resignation letterREUTERS KIEV

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief-of-staff sent in a letter of resignation, after two months in his job, but Zelenskiy has not signed it, according to a statement on the presidential website.

Mystery has surrounded the status of Andriy Bogdan (pic-tured), the head of the presi-dential administration, since Thursday evening. The local

news agency Interfax Ukraine had reported Bogdan’s resig-nation but later retracted the story.

His appointment was con-troversial. He was previously a lawyer for Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s most powerful tycoons, whose business ties to Zelenskiy have been under scrutiny since the start of Zelen-skiy’s election campaign this year.

“Ukrainian President Volo-dymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed

the existence of a letter of resig-nation of the chief of his staff,” a

statement on the presidential website said. “The head of the state clarified that he had not signed the letter yet”.”

Zelenskiy won the presi-dential election in April by a landslide on promises to fight corruption and transform Ukrainian politics.

But he has come under the spotlight for his business ties to Kolomoisky, who is one of Ukraine’s richest men and who has been at loggerheads with the authorities over control of

Ukraine’s largest bank.Zelenskiy has repeatedly

pushed back against suggestions that he would take Kolomoisky’s side in the PrivatBank dispute.

“We — all the key people who came with me — agreed from the beginning that we would write letters of resignations,” the statement quoted Zelenskiy as saying. “If society or the President feels that one or the other person cannot cope with the tasks set by Ukraine, then at any moment, this person... will resign”.

REUTERS MOSCOW

Russian police forcibly detained nearly 700 people attending a protest in Moscow yesterday to demand free elections, including prominent activist Lyubov Sobol, after authorities warned the demonstration was illegal.

Police removed Sobol from a taxi and bundled her into a van minutes before the start of what anti-Kremlin activists described as a peaceful walk to protest against the exclusion of their candidates from an election next month.

Soon after the start of the protest, a reporter saw several hundred people milling around at one of the designated protest points in central Moscow. Minutes later, a line of riot police began to squeeze people out of the area.

OVD-Info, an independent monitoring group, said police had detained 685 people, in some cases beating them with truncheons as they lay on the floor. Reporters witnessed dozens of arrests. In one case police carried off a man as he clung upside down to his bicyle.

Police said they had detained

600 and said 1,500 had attended the protest, though footage of demonstrations which flared in different parts of Moscow sug-gested many more had taken part.

Yesterday’s protest was smaller than one a week earlier, but underlined the determination of some Kremlin critics — espe-cially younger people — to keep pressing to open up Russia’s tightly-choreographed political system.

The focus of protesters’ anger is a prohibition on a number of opposition-minded candidates, some of whom are allies of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny, from taking part in a September election for Moscow’s city legislature.

That vote, though local, is seen as a dry run for a national

parliamentary election in 2021.Authorities said opposition

candidates failed to collect enough genuine signatures to register. The excluded candidates say that is a lie and insist on taking part in a contest they believe they could win.

“They (the authorities) are wiping their feet on us,” said Elena, a student attending the protest.

Another attendee, Yevgeny Snetkov, a 61-year-old engineer, described as brazen the way the authorities had prevented oppo-sition candidates from running. “I had no option left but to protest,” he said.

Some protesters chanted “Putin is a thief” as they marched.

Observers said the police presence was one of the biggest at such a protest in nearly a decade. Mobile Internet access went down in some areas and police cordoned off swathes of central Moscow to stop people gathering.

At a similar protest a week earlier, police detained more than 1,300 in one of the biggest security operations of recent years that brought wide interna-tional condemnation.

Authorities carried out a new

round of detentions and home searches before yesterday’s protest and opened criminal pro-ceedings for what they term mass civil unrest, an offence which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in jail.

Activists said the Russian constitution allows them to freely protest. But authorities say they need to agree the timing and location of any demonstrations in advance, something that was not done ahead of protest.

Opposition activists said the

authorities have repeatedly refused to allow protests in central Moscow, leaving them with no choice but to go ahead anyway.

At least eight of Sobol’s allies, including Navalny, are in jail for breaking tough protest laws. The ruling United Russia dominates the national parliament and Navalny plus his allies are starved of media air-time.

According to Russian inves-tigators they had opened a criminal investigation into the

alleged laundering of $15.3m by an anti-corruption foundation which Navalny set up. Navalny and his allies say the foundation is transparently financed from public donations.

President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have not com-mented on the standoff with the opposition, but Moscow prose-cutors on Friday warned would-be protesters that demonstration had not been approved and its organisers could be brought to account.

Riot police officers arresting a participant of an unsanctioned rally urging fair elections at Pushkinskaya Square, in Moscow yesterday.

According to Russian investigators they had opened a criminal investigation into the alleged laundering of $15.3m by an anti-corruption foundation which Navalny set up.

Efforts to shore up UK dam intensifyAFP WHALEY BRIDGE

Emergency services battling to stop a reservoir dam in central England from collapsing brought in new pumps yesterday to reduce the water levels, as more storms were forecast.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the Der-byshire town of Whaley Bridge, after part of the dam holding back the Toddbrook Reservoir above them collapsed following heavy rain.

The Met Office weather centre warned of further down-pours and thunderstorms in the area today.

During a visit on Friday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the dam wall as “dodgy but stable”, but said the 180-year-old structure would require a “major rebuild”.

A Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter has been dropping bags of aggregate onto the section of the dam spillway which was damaged on Thursday after heavy downpours.

A police spokeswoman said that extra pumps were being put in on yesterday as officials raced

to bring the water level down in the reservoir.

After two nights out of their homes, some locals were allowed back briefly yesterday to collect any essential items — and family pets — but warned that there remained a high risk to life in the area.

A photo shows bags of aggregate deployed with the help of a Royal Air Force helicopter in the damaged section of the spillway of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam.

13SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019 AMERICAS

Pentagon chief favours placing missiles in AsiaREUTERS SYDNEY

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said yesterday that he was in favour of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia relatively soon, a day after the United States withdrew from a landmark arms control treaty.

Esper’s comments are likely to raise concern about an arms race and could add to an already tense relationship with China.

“Yeah, I would like to,” Esper said, when asked whether he was considering placing such missiles in Asia.

“I would prefer months ... but these things tend to take longer than you expect,” he told reporters travelling with him to Sydney when asked about a timeline for when the missiles could be deployed.

The United States formally left the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia on Friday after determining Moscow was violating the treaty, an accusation that the Kremlin has denied.

On Friday, senior US officials

said that any deployment of such weaponry would be years away.

Within the next few weeks, the United States is expected to test a ground-launched cruise missile, and in November, the Pentagon will aim to test an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Both would be tests of con-ventional weapons - and not nuclear.

The 1987 pact banned ground-launched nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500-5,500km.

US officials have been warning for years that the United

States was being put at a disad-vantage by China’s development of increasingly sophisticated land-based missile forces, which the Pentagon could not match due to the US treaty with Russia.

The United States has so far relied on other capabilities as a counterbalance to China, like missiles fired from US ships or aircraft. But advocates for a US land-based missile response say that is the best way to deter Chinese use of its muscular land-based missile forces.

“I don’t see an arms race happening, I do see us taking

proactive measures to develop a capability that we need for both the European theater and cer-tainly this theater,” Esper said, referring to the Asia-Pacific region.

While no decisions have been made, the United States could theoretically put easier-to-hide, road-mobile conven-tional missiles in places like Guam.

Esper did not say where in Asia he was considering placing missiles, but he is expected to meet senior regional leaders during his visit to Asia.

In a sign of the importance Asia — and countering China —has for the Pentagon, Esper is visiting the region just two months after his predecessor made a similar trip.

In Australia, Esper and Sec-retary of State Mike Pompeo will take part in talks with their Aus-tralian counterparts.

In addition to China, the talks and much of Esper’s trip, are likely to be dominated by dis-cussion on what the departure of the US from the INF treaty means for Asia and recent missile tests by North Korea.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper and his wife Leah arrive at Sydney Airport, yesterday.

Judge blocks Trump’s asylum restrictionAFP WASHINGTON

A judge blocked a move by US President Donald Trump’s administration to stop migrants from claiming asylum unless they had entered the country at an official border crossing, news outlets reported.

The policy, enacted by Trump last year, is among a host of measures his government has taken against the movement of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Central America

and elsewhere who have recently tried to cross into the US from Mexico and request asylum.

Federal judge Randolph Moss, sitting in Washington, ruled that the policy was “in excess of statutory... authority,” ABC News reported.

Moss said it contradicts standing US immigration law, which allows undocumented people who are physically present in the country to apply for asylum even if they did not enter at an official port of entry,

The Hill newspaper said.The policy had earlier been

blocked by a judge in San Fran-cisco, a ruling the government is appealing.

Trump’s immigration policy has been the subject of numerous court challenges.

Last week, a federal judge in California issued a prelim-inary injunction blocking the administration’s new rule barring most immigrants from obtaining asylum in the US if they transit through Mexico.

That policy would have

effectively prevented most Central American asylum seekers from gaining entry into the United States at the southern border, as the majority come through Mexico.

Day later, Guatemala signed an agreement with the US that, according to Wash-ington, makes it a “safe third country,” meaning migrants who want to seek asylum in the United States but travel through Guatemala must request asylum in the Central American country.

Emergency responders attending to a cliff collapse at a beach in Encinitas, California, yesterday.

“I don’t see an arms race happening, I do see us taking proactive measures to develop a capability that we need for both the European theater and certainly this theater,” Mark Esper said, referring to the Asia-Pacific region.

John Ratcliffe withdraws from intelligence chief nomination, Trump saysBLOOMBERG WASHINGTON

Texas Representative John Ratcliffe withdrew his expected nomination as Director of National Intelligence after scrutiny of his qualifications for the position, President Donald Trump said in a tweet.

Soon after, Ratcliffe tweeted, “While I am and will remain grateful to the President for his intention to nominate me as Director of National Intelligence, I am withdrawing from consideration.”

Trump announced last week that he would nominate Rat-cliffe, a Republican, to replace Dan Coats, who’s scheduled to resign August 15. Republican senators had been unusually silent on Ratcliffe since the announcement, while Demo-crats tore into him as a Trump loyalist who would undercut the traditional independence of the intelligence agencies.

Ratcliffe’s withdrawal pro-duced questions about who Trump will nominate instead — and whether he will seek a way to oust Sue Gordon, who is deputy director of national intel-ligence and is in line by law to

become acting director when Coats departs.

Trump told reporters yes-terday that he likes Gordon “very much” and may name her acting director.

Several Trump allies outside the White House said before Ratcliffe’s withdrawal that they’re urging the president to get rid of Gordon, a career intel-ligence official. Some portrayed her as an associate of former CIA Director John Brennan, whom Trump has called “the worst CIA Director in country’s history.”

After House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a Cali-fornia Democrat sharply critical of Trump, praised Gordon, Donald Trump Jr tweeted, “If Adam Schiff wants her in there, the rumours about her being besties with Brennan and the rest of the clown cadre must be 100% true.”

Trump, who said he has several candidates in mind, would be able to win confir-mation for Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to a member of Congress.

Cliff collapses on California beach, 3 deadAP ENCINITAS

A popular surfing beach was closed yesterday after a cliff collapsed, sending tons of sand-stone onto beachgoers and killing three people.

A 30-foot-long slab of the cliff plunged onto the sand near Grandview Beach north of San Diego. A KNSD-TV helicopter captured footage of beach chairs, towels, surf boards and beach toys strewn about the sand.

Other beachgoers and life-guards at a nearby tower scrambled to the towering pile of debris, which was estimated to weigh tens of thousands of pounds, to help dig out victims.

“I saw first responders, and I saw lifeguards frantically digging people out of the debris,” Jim Pepperdine, who lives nearby, said, adding that he saw people trying to resuscitate a woman before her body was covered.

A woman died at the scene, and two more people later died

at hospitals. Another person was taken to a hospital, and a person who had minor injuries was treated at the scene, according to statements from the city.

Search dogs were brought in to hunt for other possible victims, and a skip loader was brought in to move the dense, heavy debris.

The beach is reached by wooden stairs from a parking lot above. Homes atop the cliff were not in any danger, Encinitas Fire Chief Mike Stein said.

Autopsy of RFK’s granddaughter shows no signs of traumaREUTERS CAPE COD

An autopsy conducted on the 22-year-old granddaughter of the late Robert F Kennedy (known as RFK) found no trauma to her body, leaving cause and manner of death to be determined following toxi-cology tests, the local district attorney’s office said.

Saoirse Kennedy Hill (pic-tured) was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts shortly after 3pm on Thursday after she was found unre-sponsive at the Kennedy fam-ily’s compound in nearby Hyannis Port, the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Hill, the granddaughter of 91-year-old family matriarch Ethel Kennedy, was pro-nounced dead at the hospital.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed people described as close to the family, said that Hill was believed to have died of an overdose.

“An autopsy performed today has revealed no trauma inconsistent with lifesaving measures. The cause and manner of death are pending the toxicology report,” the dis-trict attorney’s office said in the statement.

The case was under inves-tigation by Barnstable Police and State Police detectives, according to the statement.

Venezuela government, opposition reiterate desire to resolve crisisAFP/CARACAS

Representatives of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido “reiterated their willingness” to resolve the country’s political

crisis during talks in Barbados, mediator Norway said.

The delegates arrived on Wednesday for a third round of talks in Barbados in negotiations that originally began in Oslo in May. Three weeks ago the rival

factions agreed to set up a platform for “continuous” negotiations.

A statement from Norway’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said the two sides had “reiterated their willingness to advance in the

search for an agreed-upon and constitutional solution, focused on the well-being of the Vene-zuelan people.”

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Soreide described it as “positive”

news but gave no details.Crisis-wracked Venezuela

has been mired in a political impasse since January when Guaido proclaimed himself acting president, quickly receiving the support of more

than 50 countries.The oil-rich, cash-poor

country has been in a deep recession for five years. Shortages of food and medicine are frequent, and public services are progressively failing.

Gunmen kill five inmates in Mexico police stationAFP/CELAYA

Gunmen have burst into a police station killing five detainees in central Mexico, local authorities said.

The group opened fire on the five unidentified men in their cells at Guanjuanto state police station on Friday after arriving in several vehicles, state security commission spokesman Juan Jose Martinez said. He did not say why the victims were being detained by authorities.

A guard present when the attack occurred managed to escape unharmed.

“We have agreed with the mayor to help reinforce security and support the request for the greater presence of federal authorities in the area,” said state interior secretary Luis Ayala.

Rapper A$AP Rocky back in US after Swedish trialAP LOS ANGELES

Rapper A$AP Rocky is back in the United States as the verdict in a Swedish assault case against him and two other Americans looms, Los Angeles television stations report.

Local stations report the American artist was among a group of people shown emerging from a private air-plane at Los Angeles Interna-tional Airport in footage broadcast late Friday night. A private jet carrying the 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, left Stockholm Arlanda Airport on Friday.

The Stockholm District Court released A$AP Rocky, David Rispers Jr and Bladimir Corniel until August 14, when a verdict is expected. They’re accused of beating 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari on June 30, outside a fast-food restaurant in Stockholm.